Taking on a Disney Class

Other than going to work and going to class nothing much has happened so I'll talk about the class I'm taking.

While I am here in Florida, I am taking one class through Disney.  I am taking Corporate Communications.  We just finished our 4th week and so far it is going very well.  I really enjoy my professor and the class material. 

We learn about how large corporations communicate within the company and through the media.  The class focuses on the Disney company but with our group project underway, we are able to research other large companies.  My group is researching Google. 

This week we had to create our own press release for our company (Google).  It was actually kinda fun to make up important news to write about.  I wrote my press release on the Google search engine crashing.  I wonder what would really happen if Google crashed?...Well hopefully we won't have to find out. 

Each class is four hours long but it is only once a week so it isn't too bad.  Luckily my professor is really fun and time goes by quickly.  It almost doesn't even feel like a class, which I really like.  Our next assignment is to look in our pantries, refrigerators, and freezers and find a product that has an advertisement for another product on it.  Homework couldn't get any easier.

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Tomorrow night I will be eating at the new "Be Our Guest" restaurant in New Fantasyland with my two roommates, Kelsey and Katie, and our friend Kevin.  It is in celebration of Katie's birthday, which was last week.  I am really excited to go there because it is themed entirely from "Beauty and the Beast".  It is located in the new Beast's Castle in Magic Kingdom.  I will let you all know how it is and post pictures as well sometime within the next week or so.  

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Have a magical day!!

My First Magical Moment

I know I have only been at Caribbean Beach for a short time but I had the best experience in the world.  About a week ago or so, I was in the Aqua Play Area part of my rotation.  This area is for children who are 48 inches tall or shorter, so it is for younger kids.  It is my favorite stand to be on because we have the freedom of interacting with the guests and playing in the water.

Our APA consists of a pirate ship that has crashed.  There are a total of three waterslides coming off of the shipwreck along with a big barrel that dumps water every 75 seconds.  It also has a number of water features such as fountains, hoses, and spouts.  It is nearly impossible to stay dry when brave enough to venture too close. 

There was a day last week when the resort was hopping with families with younger children so the APA was constantly busy.  When I rotated into the area, it started out like any other rotation in there.  It soon changed into a rotation I will never forget.  There was this family in the area playing in the water that consisted of a grandmother, a mother, and a little boy about three or four years old.  The little boy was racing down the little slide every chance he got.  He would splash down the slide and, as quickly as he could, run back up the structure to do it again.  He did this for a good 15 minutes, just while I was there.

You could tell he really wanted to try the bigger slide though because he started to pause at the top of the ship trying to decide whether or not he should climb a little higher.  Eventually he built up the courage to make it to the entrance of the big slide.  He stood at the top calling down to his grandma and his mom, asking them to come up there and help him.  His grandma came over to me asking if his mom could go down the slide with him just once.  I, unfortunately, had to say no because those were the rules.  The grandma understood and went to break the news to her grandson.

The little boy began to cry at the top of the slide and threw a little temper tantrum.  His mom told him that they were going to leave since he was so upset.  He came down from the top and headed over to their belongings still very upset.  I was observing this entire scene and I felt really bad because I could tell how much he really wanted to try the big slide.  So, I had an idea!

I went over to my stand and opened the first aid kit.  Here, we keep little figurines of different Disney characters to hand out on various occasions, like an injury.  I took out a Mickey Mouse figurine and by this point the little boy and his family were just about packed up and headed toward the gate to leave.  I went over to the grandmother and pulled her aside.  I showed her the Mickey and asked what the little boy's name was.  She told me it was Tate so I called him over and asked him if he really wanted to go down the big slide.  He said he did.  I then told him I had a little surprise for him and that it would help him go down the slide. 

His face immediately lit up and his eyes grew wider.  I opened my hand and Mickey was inside.  I handed him the Mickey and said to Tate,  "I want you to have this Mickey Mouse.  He is going to help you go down the slide.  You can keep him in your pocket and he can be your ride buddy."  Tate was so excited and opened up the little pocket on his swim trunks and put Mickey there.  He smiled at me and said, "thank you."

His grandmother turned to me, also with a big smile on her face and said, "Thank you so much."  She also said to me that Tate had just celebrated his birthday the day before and that it was his first time in Disney.  I just smiled and said, "Well I hope you are enjoying your time here."  She replied with a big yes and said goodbye. 

The next day I was back in APA when Tate returned to the pool.  Him and his grandmother recognized me and came up to me to let me know Mickey Mouse was still in his pocket.  A few minutes later Tate was going down the big waterslide with a smile on his face.  I did not see him go down the little waterslides once in the whole 30 minute rotation while I was there.  It made me so happy knowing that I had made that little boy's day all because of a little Mickey Mouse.  It made me so excited, that it was the first thing I told my roommates and friends when I saw them that night. 

My managers found out about what I did and recognized me as demonstrating the "Four Keys" of Disney.  These "Four Keys" are the foundation for all that Disney does and they consist of "Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency."  I got a little award from them stating that I demonstrated "Courtesy."  I was not expecting anything like that at all so it just made my day even better. 

Moments like these are what makes me love Disney so much and now I get to create that magic for guests like Tate.  I still cannot believe that I am here providing magic to our guests.  It doesn't matter what age the guest is, they still feel the magic Disney and their Cast Members create.  I know Tate and his grandmother were touched by the simple little gesture I did and it makes me so happy.  This is a moment I will never forget. 

All About Training to be a Lifeguard at Disney

Okay so I am very, very sorry for not posting anything in a while.  I have been extremely busy with everything here at Disney.  I think I can finally say that I have gotten into my new routine though.

So in the past month, a lot has happened.  I left off at the beginning of the Ellis Lifeguard Training Class so I will start there.  This training was a total of three days for a total of 24 training hours.  On the first day, we learned many different rescues to perform when alone in the water.  These included the "Front Drive", "Rear Hug", "Duck Pluck", and then modified versions of these three.  We also learned CPR and all that for the adult and child.  Day two consisted of practicing more CPR and learning how to perform it on an infant.  We also practiced rescues using the backboard and trauma bag.  The trauma bag has an oxygen tank and an AED in it so we learned how to use those as well as when to use them.  Later in the afternoon we learned your basic first aid and then it was time to head home to study/practice.

The last day of training is a full day of testing.  We started out reviewing CPR.  After that we went right into our written multiple choice test.  This was made up of 60 questions.  I am proud to say I only got three wrong.  After the test we went into CPR test outs.  We were given a scenario by an instructor for each an adult, a child, and an infant.  We performed each accordingly.  This took up a little bit of time because there was 37 of us in this training class.  After CPR, we ate lunch.  Then we got back into our teams of three or four from the previous day so we could practice a little bit for our group test outs.  We practiced using the trauma bag and the backboard rescues. 

The way the group test outs work was that the pool was split in half so that two groups would go at a time.  The groups being tested were sent inside so the rest of the class could get ready.  The instructors picked a couple of "victims" and then everyone would get in the pool to be the "guests".  When the instructor gave the appropriate signal, the victim it corresponded with would begin his/her task.  This could have been anything from pretending to drown, being unconscious, or to having a spinal injury.  Everything was random, that way there was no predicting what scenario you would get.  My group got a surprised girl who was having a hard time staying above water and then the one I jumped in for, an unconscious child.  For this one, we had to get the victim out of the pool with a backboard and use the trauma bag.  Everything went well and we "saved" the child.  After all of the groups had finished we went inside to fill out paperwork and then that was that.  We became licensed lifeguards! WOO!!

I had one day off and then I was off to the "Spirit of the Islands" Orientation at Caribbean Beach Resort.  Here we learned about the resort, took a tour, and got our costumes.  The lifeguard costume is pretty generic but I like it.  We wear a red swim suit, red shorts, a white polo, and then black shoes, black sunglasses, and a red hat.  All of the Disney Lifeguards where the same costume so guest can easily identify us.  The costume also consists of a whistle and a hip-pack that we received on the first day of training with Ellis.

After Orientation, I had one day off and then it was time to begin my On-Site-Training.  This was three days of training at Caribbean Beach, where I learned the ropes of being a lifeguard at this resort.  My trainer was really awesome and we had a lot of fun throughout those three days.  On day one, we were there for the opening of the pool so we helped with that and I learned how it is all done.  We also practiced being on stand and joined in on the Dance Party that takes place on the pool deck every afternoon. 

On day two, I learned how the pool closes and what those procedures are.  I also practiced VAT testing, which is a type of training that continues randomly throughout your time as a lifeguard.  This is when a silhouette of a person is place somewhere in the pool and you have to spot it and treat it as if it were a real person.  If you spot a VAT, you have to blow one whistle, turn off the waterslide, and jump in to retrieve the silhouette.  This tests to make sure we are always watching our water.

Throughout the first two days, we walked around the resort and I became familiar with the area.  I learned all of the island names and which buildings correspond with what color.  On the third day, I had to test out again.  This one is known as KAPA.  I had to perform CPR, take a written test of multiple choice questions specific to the resort, and then be on each of the stands with one VAT dropped without me being aware of it.  I passed everything with flying colors and became the newest lifeguard of Caribbean Beach. 

I have now been there fully on my own for almost three weeks.  I absolutely love my co-workers, coordinators, and managers.  They are a very fun group of people to work with and make going to work very enjoyable.  I have been working about 30 hours a week so far but that will soon be increasing because the pool will be open more hours as we head into the peak season.  I have rescued two children so far and retrieved one VAT.  I have a lovely tanline on my feet from the gorgeous Crocs I wear everyday.  I'm even starting to get the polka dots on the tops of my feet from the little holes.

So far everything is good as a lifeguard.  If there are any specific questions that I did not answer about this role, feel free to ask me in a comment.  That's it for now.  Thanks for reading!!