That's right, I DO have a brand new blog!
This new blog is called "Orlando Vacation Tips From a Disney Cast Member." Here I'm going to be posting tips that I've learns, tips that readers have submitted, theme park news, and other ways to beat the crowds and save some cash!
Please if you have time, check it out at www.orlandovacationtipsblog.com
I also have a twitter for this new blog you can tweet me @OVTips
I have a facebook page which you can view by clicking here!
And I have an email address that you can send me a message through, which just so happens to be ovtips@gmail.com
Well I hope that you can sign up for updates, say hi on the social networks, or just stop by the new blog.
Thanks,
-James
Hey everyone. My name is James and on the 9th of September 2008 I went to work for The Walt Disney Company at The Walt Disney World Resort. After extending and finishing my contract in October 2009, I applied to work for the Disney Cruise Line section of the company. After hearing the great news that I had got the job, I decided to start this blog up again so you can all follow me on my journey with The Walt Disney Company.
Tuesday 16 October 2012
Thursday 12 July 2012
Hooooowwwdyyyyy!
Ok... Ok... Ok... Ok... I'm SOOOOORRY!
I totally got lost with working on Disney Cruise Line... There pretty much isn't time to do anything but work, sleep, and eat on land when you can.
So now that I finished my second contract I thought I'd post all that's been going on.
So I went to the Disney Magic as a Merchandise Crew Member. Wow. In the job I learn't sooo much about Merchandising and I have certain managers that I thank for that. As with any job there are some good points and some bad points.
The good points.
- You get to visit AMAZING places. I had the great opportunity to do the Christmas and New Year period. It was pretty hectic with work yes, but they put in extra ports. I basically saw pretty much 40% of the islands in the Caribbean. Then when we were in the Mediterranean on my second contract I got to see Italy, Spain, Malta, France, and a few more places. It's truly a great opportunity to travel, sometimes I may have forgotten that with all the work.
- You get to meet and work with some great people. Some of my team members were amazing at their jobs and I learnt so much from their experiences. Many of them had a great history with the company so getting to share stories with them was great. Many times we had special guests from the company come on board to give presentations.
I met some Imagineers from WDI. One of them (Eric Goodman) gave me a WDI pin... I guess they must carry them around for that reason. I was his host when he came on board and expressed to him my great interest with WDI. He told me all about his work with the Haunted Mansion queue extension, and I attended all of his presentations on board and got a good insight into everything that goes on at WDI. It truly would be a dream to work for them. But I now know how hard I'll have to work to get there.
I met Don "Ducky" Williams, who cruised with us throughout the Christmas cruise. He is an amazing artist and it was fun to watch him draw the characters.
I met a very nice Disney Historian called Stacia Martin. I spoke with her the first night on board and she told me where I could find some info on her history with the Company. Wow is all I can say about this lady. She is ever so sweet and complimented me on the way I speak with Guests... What can I say? I'm British ha ha. Anyway, I attended a presentation that she did privately for the Crew. She drew a few of the characters and we drew out of a hat who would get them... And I won one. I could chose who I wanted so I went to Cinderella as I knew someone special who would want it. I told her that it wasn't going to be for me but I really appreciated her drawing it. At the end of the cruise after speaking a bit about the History of the Company and her learning that my favourite character was Figment, she came into the shop and handed me a scroll, I opened it to find a very nice drawing of Figment with the words "James, One little spark lights up for you." Truly the greatest gift I've ever had. I hope that one day our paths might cross in the company and I can work with her.
- The pay. Now I'm not gonna talk much about this, but imagine if all your meals and rent were paid for and you were confined to one place (a ship for example). You wouldn't spend any of your earnings. So basically I saved a whole lot and came away rich!
The bad points.
- As in every job... Some people aren't there for the right reasons. I met some truly terrible Disney employees. And quite frankly I'm surprised at how they have kept their jobs at all. The loop hole is that people from corporate don't work on the ship and when they do visit the crew tends to put on a show for them. It truly sucks, because they could represent the company so much better by learning from other sectors. Enough about that though.
- The crew food... Wow. It is truly terrible. I mean TERRIBLE! I often wouldn't eat because it was that bad. At first I tried to try new things, but all the food is covered in grease. The only good part is at 10:30 at night they bring all the left over food from the Guest restaurants. Left overs... It's quite shocking now that I take a step back and say that. I ended up buying a lot of dry food (we can't bring all foods on board) and eating it in my cabin.
- Hierarchy. I know it was a ship, and as such we have to follow maritime standards. But there is a serious issue of "I'm wearing a uniform so I'm better than you" mentality. Imagine walking around Disney World and a manager not picking up a piece of trash because it is "beneath them." That's exactly how it is. Now not all of the crew were like that. But it's surprising at how many people weren't like that who came from different sectors of the Company.
Overall I am so glad that I got to work with the Disney Cruise Line part of the company. I'm sure that with the new ships now sailing they will grow and get better and better at their Guest Service. But for now I think I'll stick to working for Disney on land.
My plans for now are to sort some schooling out. I plan on taking some type of Business and Administration/ Management course and then progressing from there. I would love to work for the Company again, so for now just hold tight and I'll make an update when I'm finished with school.
See ya real soon!
I totally got lost with working on Disney Cruise Line... There pretty much isn't time to do anything but work, sleep, and eat on land when you can.
So now that I finished my second contract I thought I'd post all that's been going on.
So I went to the Disney Magic as a Merchandise Crew Member. Wow. In the job I learn't sooo much about Merchandising and I have certain managers that I thank for that. As with any job there are some good points and some bad points.
The good points.
- You get to visit AMAZING places. I had the great opportunity to do the Christmas and New Year period. It was pretty hectic with work yes, but they put in extra ports. I basically saw pretty much 40% of the islands in the Caribbean. Then when we were in the Mediterranean on my second contract I got to see Italy, Spain, Malta, France, and a few more places. It's truly a great opportunity to travel, sometimes I may have forgotten that with all the work.
- You get to meet and work with some great people. Some of my team members were amazing at their jobs and I learnt so much from their experiences. Many of them had a great history with the company so getting to share stories with them was great. Many times we had special guests from the company come on board to give presentations.
I met some Imagineers from WDI. One of them (Eric Goodman) gave me a WDI pin... I guess they must carry them around for that reason. I was his host when he came on board and expressed to him my great interest with WDI. He told me all about his work with the Haunted Mansion queue extension, and I attended all of his presentations on board and got a good insight into everything that goes on at WDI. It truly would be a dream to work for them. But I now know how hard I'll have to work to get there.
I met Don "Ducky" Williams, who cruised with us throughout the Christmas cruise. He is an amazing artist and it was fun to watch him draw the characters.
I met a very nice Disney Historian called Stacia Martin. I spoke with her the first night on board and she told me where I could find some info on her history with the Company. Wow is all I can say about this lady. She is ever so sweet and complimented me on the way I speak with Guests... What can I say? I'm British ha ha. Anyway, I attended a presentation that she did privately for the Crew. She drew a few of the characters and we drew out of a hat who would get them... And I won one. I could chose who I wanted so I went to Cinderella as I knew someone special who would want it. I told her that it wasn't going to be for me but I really appreciated her drawing it. At the end of the cruise after speaking a bit about the History of the Company and her learning that my favourite character was Figment, she came into the shop and handed me a scroll, I opened it to find a very nice drawing of Figment with the words "James, One little spark lights up for you." Truly the greatest gift I've ever had. I hope that one day our paths might cross in the company and I can work with her.
- The pay. Now I'm not gonna talk much about this, but imagine if all your meals and rent were paid for and you were confined to one place (a ship for example). You wouldn't spend any of your earnings. So basically I saved a whole lot and came away rich!
The bad points.
- As in every job... Some people aren't there for the right reasons. I met some truly terrible Disney employees. And quite frankly I'm surprised at how they have kept their jobs at all. The loop hole is that people from corporate don't work on the ship and when they do visit the crew tends to put on a show for them. It truly sucks, because they could represent the company so much better by learning from other sectors. Enough about that though.
- The crew food... Wow. It is truly terrible. I mean TERRIBLE! I often wouldn't eat because it was that bad. At first I tried to try new things, but all the food is covered in grease. The only good part is at 10:30 at night they bring all the left over food from the Guest restaurants. Left overs... It's quite shocking now that I take a step back and say that. I ended up buying a lot of dry food (we can't bring all foods on board) and eating it in my cabin.
- Hierarchy. I know it was a ship, and as such we have to follow maritime standards. But there is a serious issue of "I'm wearing a uniform so I'm better than you" mentality. Imagine walking around Disney World and a manager not picking up a piece of trash because it is "beneath them." That's exactly how it is. Now not all of the crew were like that. But it's surprising at how many people weren't like that who came from different sectors of the Company.
Overall I am so glad that I got to work with the Disney Cruise Line part of the company. I'm sure that with the new ships now sailing they will grow and get better and better at their Guest Service. But for now I think I'll stick to working for Disney on land.
My plans for now are to sort some schooling out. I plan on taking some type of Business and Administration/ Management course and then progressing from there. I would love to work for the Company again, so for now just hold tight and I'll make an update when I'm finished with school.
See ya real soon!
Saturday 11 September 2010
Test Results
Well I found out today that I passed my medical examination :D
They have sent me the original forms that I filled in and the other copies have been sent to the agency and to Disney too I think.
They have sent me the original forms that I filled in and the other copies have been sent to the agency and to Disney too I think.
Medical Exam
Hey everyone.
Well on Tuesday I had my medical examination in London. Nothing too much to report here.
When me and my Grandma got to London we found out that the underground trains were all on strike, so we had to get the bus... This made me get to Harley Street a bit later than I should have been there (as they ask you to arrive 20 mins before your appointment in order to fill out forms).
After running down Harley Street to find number 127, I arrived and checked in. I went though all my forms and got asked to go upstairs to see the doctor.
The doctor was a lady... BINGO!!! :D Ha ha. She was very nice.
I had to do the usual things to do with medical tests. I got checked on my eye sight. She took my height, weight, blood pressure, flexibility, and joint reflexes. She also checked my chest and looked in my ears.
As I had to run to make my appointment my blood pressure was sky high! I explained and she agreed but told me to just watch it in the future incase it stays high.
I then went down the road to number 111 to have my blood taken. She filled 4 tubes of it (which she told me equalled to 4 tea spoons).
That's basically all that happened. Me and Grandma went to Leister Square for dinner (which I liked because thats where they have all the UK movie premiers).
I will find out soon if I have passed my tests.
Here are a few photos from the day :o)
Well on Tuesday I had my medical examination in London. Nothing too much to report here.
When me and my Grandma got to London we found out that the underground trains were all on strike, so we had to get the bus... This made me get to Harley Street a bit later than I should have been there (as they ask you to arrive 20 mins before your appointment in order to fill out forms).
After running down Harley Street to find number 127, I arrived and checked in. I went though all my forms and got asked to go upstairs to see the doctor.
The doctor was a lady... BINGO!!! :D Ha ha. She was very nice.
I had to do the usual things to do with medical tests. I got checked on my eye sight. She took my height, weight, blood pressure, flexibility, and joint reflexes. She also checked my chest and looked in my ears.
As I had to run to make my appointment my blood pressure was sky high! I explained and she agreed but told me to just watch it in the future incase it stays high.
I then went down the road to number 111 to have my blood taken. She filled 4 tubes of it (which she told me equalled to 4 tea spoons).
This is me after my tests with some cotton on my arm ha ha. Sorry for the blurriness in the photo. Thanks Grandma :p
That's basically all that happened. Me and Grandma went to Leister Square for dinner (which I liked because thats where they have all the UK movie premiers).
I will find out soon if I have passed my tests.
Here are a few photos from the day :o)
Toy Story 3 :D
Grandma took this photo so it is a bit blurry :p
Buckingham Palace.
Wellington Arch.
Wicked :D
I seem to take this photo every time I come to London ha ha.
Wednesday 1 September 2010
Vaccination records!
Well today I got my vaccination records from my doctor. I have to take these with me to my medical examination on Tuesday!
I never realised that I've had so many shots! Looks like I'm very healthy. But I guess I'll be finding out on Tuesday just how healthy I am. Ha ha.
I never realised that I've had so many shots! Looks like I'm very healthy. But I guess I'll be finding out on Tuesday just how healthy I am. Ha ha.
One day closer :o)
Tuesday 31 August 2010
LIGHT SPEED TO ENDOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!!
G'DAY GAVNOR!!!
Well I have my medical examination booked for Tuesday 7th of September. :D It feels sooooo good to start getting things done finally.
I've heard a bit about what I'm going to do during my medical. But until I actually have it I can't say for sure. I've heard it's just the usual medical type stuff... With tubes and needles ha ha. Nice :D
In other news, it was "the last tour to Endor" recently at Disney's Hollywood Studios. So in this post I would like to include a photo I found on google...
Well I have my medical examination booked for Tuesday 7th of September. :D It feels sooooo good to start getting things done finally.
I've heard a bit about what I'm going to do during my medical. But until I actually have it I can't say for sure. I've heard it's just the usual medical type stuff... With tubes and needles ha ha. Nice :D
In other news, it was "the last tour to Endor" recently at Disney's Hollywood Studios. So in this post I would like to include a photo I found on google...
Happy Tuesday!!!
Saturday 14 August 2010
Well well...
I got an email today with info on obtaining my US criminal record check... I haven't got any black marks thankfully :op
I will be sending that off tomorrow along with my UK Criminal Background Check :D
Feels like I'm getting closer every day...! Which I am :op
And to make you smile... Here is a picture of the chimp brothers! :D
I will be sending that off tomorrow along with my UK Criminal Background Check :D
Feels like I'm getting closer every day...! Which I am :op
And to make you smile... Here is a picture of the chimp brothers! :D
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