OJT Day 1

Yesterday was my 1st day of on the job training at DAK! I was incredibly nervous and unsure of what to expect, or even where to really go. Backstage of DAK is very confusing! after making some educated guesses I found where to go for Guest Relations! I was relieved to see Mark and Macky there waiting to clock in.

The next few minutes was a whirlwind of people shaking my hand, introducing themselves, asking me questions! Everyone was so nice and welcoming. I met my trainer Zackery and we got started right away.
Since is was my first time being there for opening we went and did Lost and Found. All of our stuff was presorted from the night before and we had it in these really big canvas bags. We also stopped at Blizzard Beach to get their lost and found and took it all over to the Central Lost and Found. And wow are they ever organized! I've never seen so many sunglasses before in my life, but they have a system to keep track of them all.

On the way back Zack let me drive and we drove all around the backstage areas of DAK, he pointed out different areas we might have to drive to or park at for various reasons. Once back at Guest Relations he gave me a tour of the area and we checked to make sure my computer logins worked. The area for CM's is probably one of the smallest I have ever worked in. It was not uncommon that there would be 7-8 people in one small area at once. I constantly felt like I was standing in front of something someone needed or in the way!

The rest of the day was filled with meeting more people, discussing ticket issues, services for guests with disabilities and balloon daycare. Yes you heard right, balloon daycare. You see for the safety of our animals we cannot allow balloons in our park, and sometimes guests don't know or they are park hopping and bring one with them. We hold onto their balloons for them while they can enjoy the park. But many kids are very upset that we have to take their balloons, so we tell them it is balloon daycare and that we will be doing very special activities with their balloon all day!

After lunch, Zack took Macky and her trainer and I on a park tour. He really pointed out a lot of cool things about the park that we hadn't learned at DAKlimation. We even went into a few of the shops and restaurants to talk about the decor and theming. Something that I found hilarious, although it could have been from the heat is that the bridge that you walk under as you enter Dinoland is called the "Oldengate Bridge"

My first day was very good, and I feel that I am really going to like this GR location. Also since it was 4th of July I was glad to have an early morning shift. Mark, Macky and I made plans to head to Hollywood Studios to see the 4th of July fireworks there. And let me tell you, they were AMAZING. Don't let people lie to you and say MK or Epcot were great. Yes they both have fantastic fireworks displays for the holiday, but the one at Studios is definitely the best. Additionally Studios only does fireworks on the 4th and on New Year's so it is something special to see.