Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

One of the best things about being at Disney in the Fall (other than Food & Wine Festival, but  more on that later) is Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! The party is held on select nights throughout September and October. This is a special event that you need to purchase a ticket for and it is held at the Magic Kingdom.

If I could pick one word to describe this event is would be: AWESOME! I was lucky enough to receive a free ticket to this event as a Guest Relations Cast Member but there are also discounted tickets available to Cast Members for certain dates.

First thing to know is that almost everyone wears costumes! Even adults! In fact many families dress up in themes, I saw families where they were all characters from Alice in Wonderland, Wreck it Ralph, and the Wizard of Oz. It is really cool to walk around the Magic Kingdom and see everyone dressed up! Some people go all out for their costumes, and some look better than our characters look! I wanted to pick a Disney character but wanted one that I didn't think everyone would choose! You see a lot of princesses at this event! I chose to be Lilo from Lilo and Stitch.

Then there is a fantastic parade called Mickey's Boo to You Halloween Parade. This is the best Disney parade I have ever seen, and is regarded as one of the best parades on property. My friend in entertainment says the performers are the best of the best here at Disney and to be selected for this parade is a huge honor.


Next, special Hallowishes fireworks! Which like the parade can only be seen at the Halloween party! I wasn't as impressed with these fireworks as I was with the parade but they were still very good!

Many of the attractions were open but I didn't bother with that because there was so much else to do! There are many character meet and greets with characters that are not normally present in our parks. If you want a picture with the 7 Dwarfs this is your chance! The lines for rare characters can get very long so make sure you plan ahead! I didn't get to meet any characters but next time I will for sure!

Finally, the most important part: CANDY. There is trick or treating locations throughout the park where kids and adults can get candy. It is pretty good candy but they only give you a few pieces at a time, however as it gets later in the night they start becoming more generous.

Managment Internship Interview

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday I completed my interview for an MI! This round I have applied for Lodging and Theme Park Operations. And I am In Progress for both! I was invited to do the initial phone interview for Lodging but was told by the recruiter that it potentially could be used by Theme Park Ops as well.

I was pretty nervous to begin with but my phone was giving me a hard time! Because I am cheap I have put off buying a new iPhone even though I was elligible for an upgrade for the past 2 years. I sort of figured why pay money for something newer when what I have works just fine. Except now I'm at the point where it doesn't always work just fine! I have this problem while I'm talking that the mic stops working and the other person can't hear me! Not exactly ideal for the phone interview! I scoured around for friends who I could borrow their phone but after no luck I realized that I never had the problem when the phone was connected to the hands free calling in my car (since the mic being used was the one in car) So I decided to do my interview there! (Parked of course)

My interview was scheduled for 8pm but was a few minutes late, I've done enough phone interviews feel that this was actually a good sign and that my interviewer probably was very thorough. My interviewer was Nancy and she was fantastic! She kept right up with typing all the things I was saying, I even apologized for talking so much and she said not to worry that her fingers were nice and warmed up from previous interviews.

This interview was a little bit different then the Alumni Only interview I took last year. There were less questions but I felt the questions asked were more detailed ones.

I was asked:
What do you hope to gain from an MI?
What qualties do you think a leader has
Tell me about a difficult situation with a guest, co worker or manager
Tell me about a leadership position you have held
Tell me about skills you have learned from these position that will help you in this role
How do you manage interuptions to ensure everything gets done
Did I have more of an interest in Front Office or Housekeeping
If I had anything else to share
Disney look questions

The interview was 26 minutes long and I felt went pretty well, but you can never really tell. Only time will tell if I get a second interview!

Management Internships

This season I have decided to apply for Management Internships as my #1 goal. I have chosen to apply for Lodging and Theme Park Operations. There are several segments within each of these roles so I'll give you a little more detail.

Lodging consists of: Front Office (front desk, concierge, bell services), Housekeeping and Resort Custodial. My first choice here is Front Office, as my background is in front desk, as well as this role has a lot more guest interaction, something I am very used to from my previous roles. I am not discounting Housekeeping or Custodial however and feel that I could shine in those roles as well.

Theme Park Operations consists of Attractions, Transportation, Custodial, Main Entrance (Park greeters, parking, auto plaza, and sometimes Guest Relations). My only TPO experience is in Guest relations, however I think I could enjoy and excel at any of the positions if given the chance and would be a great opportunity to learn about a new line of business. 

Of course the first step is applying and getting your resume through the scanner. I had multiple people look over my resume before I submitted my applications. So far I am "In Progress" for TPO and "In Submission" for Lodging.

Also today I got an email from a recruiter basically saying "based on your major here are some internships you might be interested in" They are all advertising related ones. I applied for most of them last round, not sure if I want to apply again this round or not.  I also have the option to extend in GR but will need to apply again via the Alumni Only posting. I am not sure yet if I am going to apply to extend or not. Wish me luck!

How to keep calm when dealing with a difficult guest

Anyone who has worked in the service industry knows that sometimes customers can be difficult and at Disney it is no exception. One of the most important things to know is that when a guest is upset or yelling at you, it is not personal. The guest is frustrated at the situation, not particularly at you. Sometimes just letting the person vent is really all the guest really needs, other times you may need to provide some type of recovery for the guest.

Sometimes there are guests who just leave you feeling frazzled once they leave. Yesterday was really the first time for me that a guest left me feeling that way. To make a long story short, she confused me (and I think was a little confused herself) which led me to selling her the wrong ticket type. Then as I was feeling frazzled I made another mistake while trying to correct the initial error. In the end I was able to fix the error and the guest walked away satisfied. However I felt particularly hard on myself for making such a silly mistake in the first place.

It would have been really easy for me to blame the guest for me selling the wrong ticket type, or ignore the mistake I had made, but that is poor service. First regardless of fault, the guest had the wrong ticket and it needed to be fixed for them, end of story. Second ignoring the mistake actually cost the guest additional money they were owed, which would be unethical. And would have made the guest more upset when they discovered it later on.

What is nice is that there is almost nothing you can do that cannot be fixed. If you make a mistake and you are unsure of how to fix the situation reach out to other Cast Members or a Leader to assist you. Yesterday I had a really great fellow Cast Member who helped me through the situation and how to resolve the error I made.

So in summary if you have a difficult guest situation remember to keep calm, listen to what the guest is really upset about, and if you can't solve the problem yourself reach out to someone who can help you!