March 31, 2013

Plans for the Future

So I am currently studying Communications and Rhetoric with a minor in Graphic Design back at school.  I really didn't have a good idea of what I wanted to do with this type of degree once I graduate. 

Since being at Disney, I have finally figured out what I want to do when I "grow up."  I am going to become an event planner and eventually make my way into wedding planning.  My dream job is to become a Disney wedding planner for their Fairytale Weddings. 

My area director and managers found out that this is what I have decided to do and they are helping me out.  My wonderful area director knows the manager of Sports Event Planning here at Disney and was able to set up a meeting for me to go and talk to him.  It was really great and extremely helpful to talk to someone in the field. 

We met for about a half an hour and he gave me many tips and pointers and answered all of my questions.  This manager used to be the manager for the USA Olympic Track Team and his wife is on the Olympic Event Planning Board.  It was so awesome to talk to him about how he has gotten to where he is today. 

I asked him if I was in a good program to be studying and it was really relieving to hear that based on schooling I would have more experience than he had.  He got a degree in advertising and then decided he didn't want to go into the real world yet so he went to law school and got a law degree.  He got out of school and didn't want to be a lawyer so he became an event planner.  This is one of those careers where any type of degree will work.  I was very happy to hear this.  I was worried that I wasn't studying the right things. 

He asked where I eventually want to go with event planning and so I told him weddings.  After I was finished explaining why, he told me that he could tell it is something I really want to do because I lit up while talking about it.  He told me to take that and run with it. 

He then gave me a list of more people I should contact to talk more about event planning as a whole since he only deals with the sports aspect of it.  I walked out of that meeting very excited and feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders because I finally have a plan of what I want to do someday. 

A week later, I got to go to a seminar at the Wedding Pavilion at the Grand Floridian.  Here, I listened to a panel of Disney wedding planners, consultants, and interns talk about the different roles that are present in the Disney wedding industry.  They talked about the different types of weddings they offer here.  On top of that, they all individually talked about how they got to where they are today.  Some started out on the College Program just like me.  It is really nice to see and hear that many of the leaders of the company have started out in the same position that I am in right now. 

All of my dreams are still coming true.  And it is all because of my favorite place in the entire world.  Everyday continues to be a dream come true and I still cannot believe I am here, working for Disney.  I keep thinking I will wake up one of these days and this will have been all of a dream but until then I am going to continue to enjoy this magical world before I have to leave and go back to reality.

Enjoy!!!

Getting All Caught Up

Oh my gosh!  My time here in Disney is just flying by so quickly.  I can't believe March is already over.  A lot has happened since my last post (I'm sorry it has been so long.  I've been kept busy because everyone is on their spring breaks).  I have been working a lot and mostly relaxing on my days off.  I haven't spent much time in the parks lately, mainly because there are so many people here on vacation and the lines are all CRAZY!!

Anyhow,  like I said in my last post, I had reservations at "Be Our Guest" in the Magic Kingdom.  I can say that it was amazing and magical and just perfect.  It was literally like you had just stepped in the movie with Belle, the Beast, and the rest of their enchanted friends.  The ballroom was gorgeous, the West Wing was dark and gloomy, yet perfect.  The magic of Disney was definitely present throughout the meal.  While seated in the Ballroom, snow fell outside the windows.  In the West Wing, thunder was booming.  The Beast even made appearances throughout our meal.   We even got to meet the Beast and take photos with him after we finished all of the delicious food.  I ordered the rotisserie chicken, which was delicious.  For dessert, the waiter brought a cart of yummy desserts right to the table and we got to choose what we wanted.  I had the lemon meringue cupcake.  SO GOOD!  And because our party was celebrating a birthday, we were lucky enough to get to try "the gray stuff."  It was delicious!  I would describe it as a chocolate flavored mousse that is gray.  They top it off with edible pearls.

Now, unfortunately, I currently do not have any photos of my dining experience.  I took pictures throughout the night but I was not using my camera.  I had borrowed my roommate's camera and her mom accidentally took the memory card home with her after her visit.  We are working on getting the card back.  But don't worry!! I will most likely be returning for at least one more dinner there within the next month and I will definitely have pictures up then.

Since my night out to "Be Our Guest" I have been working a lot.  Most of my time is spent on the pool deck as a lifeguard.  However, I was able to steal a shift at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex a few weekends ago.  That was a lot of fun.  We started off with wiping down all of the seats in the baseball stadium.  That went surprisingly fast for the amount of seats that we had to wipe down.  For the majority of the shift though, I worked the main entrance to the Atlanta Braves Spring Training game.  I got to scan tickets with a little machine as fans entered the ballpark.  At the end of the game I got to go down onto the field with a giant Mickey hand and sit on third base.  There I high-fived all of the kids that were running the bases after the game.  And the best part...Mickey, Minnie, and Donald were with me!!!  It was sooooo much fun!  After that we had to clean the stadium.  We picked up all of the garbage and swept all of the peanut shells.  

I was only scheduled to work the baseball game but it was a very busy weekend for Wide World of Sports.  On top of the MLB, there were field hockey, softball, and lacrosse teams.  But the sport that was the main focus- the International Cheer Competition.  Because of this, the area was very understaffed that day and so I offered to stay an extra four hours to help out with the cheerleaders.  I ended up inside the cheer competition directing all the competitors and their families to where they needed to go.  I had a sore throat by the end of the night because of all of the hairspray and glitter that I inhaled during those four hours.  It was really awesome though to work the competition because I usually watch it on TV every year and now I can say that I saw it live while working there! I made new friends all in the process as well which is always an added bonus.

Now back to my actual role.  My managers chose me to help out with some of the Easter activities my resort had planned for Easter morning.  I was beyond excited.  I got to help out with the Candy Scramble.  It was so much fun.  We started our day at 6:30a.m. and got everything set up.  This included taking a ton of candy and creating designs with it in designated grassy areas.  One area, we created a giant palm tree that said "Happy Easter" under it.  Then we created a giant Mickey Mouse, an Easter egg, and an Easter bunny.  They all turned out very well and we received many compliments.  For an hour we let children of all ages come in and fill as many bags with candy as they wanted.  We also had Donald and Daisy there with us taking pictures with guests.  Also making an appearance was the Easter Bunny himself.  The activity was a huge success in my book and it was a lot of fun for everyone.  It was really nice to be out of my lifeguard costume having even more fun at work with some of my amazing coworkers. 

Disney has opened many opportunities for me and continues to do so.  I have applied to extend my program until August and I am waiting to hear back about it.  I am also in the process of applying to become a Campus Representative when I return back to school in the fall.  I will continue to keep you all posted on what I plan on doing.