You know the saying "Roll with the punches" well that's sort of what is like being in Guest Relations. We recently had a "town hall" meeting with our Guest Relations cast at DTD. We talked about the changes that Guest Relations has gone through in the past year and what additional changes were still coming.
The ability to adapt and work through new processes is a very important skill to have in any job. Being in Guest Relations right now is very demanding in this sense. But I am enjoying the challenge. As the weeks progress there are new issues, procedures and opportunities to make our guests feel special. Something new this week is the ability for Annual Passholders to order their very own Magicbands! This is very exciting as many of our Passholders have been asking for months when they would finally get the chance to have their very own Magicbands!
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
DTD Training, Working, and Construction
I've finished my training at DTD. I did not have to do very much because I have spent the last 6 months at Animal Kingdom.
One thing I did need to do is become Window and GR@PE trained, as well as do property orientation at Typhoon lagoon.
Window training typically involves more complicated ticketing situations. I felt like I had a strong background in our ticketing system so I did not have much trouble with this training. In fact I'd say in the last two weeks at DTD I have become so much better at ticketing than I was before!
I am really enjoying DTD so far, I think the team and the leaders here are excellent! Everyone I have worked with is friendly and helpful and I feel that the leadership team is very cast focused and supportive. I also really enjoy the different positions at DTD. Because we rotate with Greeter positions and GRAPE at Disney Quest it really adds variety into the day. So each day I spend some time at the counter/window, then sometime out at our greeter positions assisting guests find shops/restaurants and answering questions. It makes the day go by quicker by not being in the same spot all the time.
Of course DTD is undergoing a huge overhaul as we transition to Disney Springs. There are big changes happening and almost everyday there is a new construction wall or signage for future expansions. This does make navigating DTD a little confusing for our guests, but that is why we have greeter positions at some of these new construction walls to help our guests get to their destinations!
Some exciting things that I know of that are coming to DTD is of course a PARKING GARAGE! Now this may not seem that exciting but if you have ever been to DTD on a Friday or Saturday night you know what a nightmare parking can be. And since with the expansion we will be almost doubling in size we will need more parking! And there will be not one, but two Starbucks! Slated to open in Spring of 2014 there will be one near World of Disney on the Marketplace side and one where Wetzel's Pretzels used to be on the West Side.
I myself am looking forward to the release of more information on new restaurants that will be joining the property. Most recently DTD added Food Trucks and House of Blues opened a quick service BBQ stand. I haven't tried out these yet, but I've been told they are very tasty!
One thing I did need to do is become Window and GR@PE trained, as well as do property orientation at Typhoon lagoon.
Window training typically involves more complicated ticketing situations. I felt like I had a strong background in our ticketing system so I did not have much trouble with this training. In fact I'd say in the last two weeks at DTD I have become so much better at ticketing than I was before!
I am really enjoying DTD so far, I think the team and the leaders here are excellent! Everyone I have worked with is friendly and helpful and I feel that the leadership team is very cast focused and supportive. I also really enjoy the different positions at DTD. Because we rotate with Greeter positions and GRAPE at Disney Quest it really adds variety into the day. So each day I spend some time at the counter/window, then sometime out at our greeter positions assisting guests find shops/restaurants and answering questions. It makes the day go by quicker by not being in the same spot all the time.
Of course DTD is undergoing a huge overhaul as we transition to Disney Springs. There are big changes happening and almost everyday there is a new construction wall or signage for future expansions. This does make navigating DTD a little confusing for our guests, but that is why we have greeter positions at some of these new construction walls to help our guests get to their destinations!
Some exciting things that I know of that are coming to DTD is of course a PARKING GARAGE! Now this may not seem that exciting but if you have ever been to DTD on a Friday or Saturday night you know what a nightmare parking can be. And since with the expansion we will be almost doubling in size we will need more parking! And there will be not one, but two Starbucks! Slated to open in Spring of 2014 there will be one near World of Disney on the Marketplace side and one where Wetzel's Pretzels used to be on the West Side.
I myself am looking forward to the release of more information on new restaurants that will be joining the property. Most recently DTD added Food Trucks and House of Blues opened a quick service BBQ stand. I haven't tried out these yet, but I've been told they are very tasty!
Monday, January 6, 2014
Greeter Training at Downtown Disney Guest Relations!
Yesterday and today I had my Greeter training at DTD. My trainer's name was Christine who is called "Christine the Machine" by nearly everyone and Kyle who was shadowing to become a trainer. Both were really helpful and knew so much about DTD. Lauren, another PI who is extending from Magic Kingdom was also training with me.
So DTD is a big place. It is actually 1.5 miles from end to end. The first day of our training was focused on the Marketplace side. The purpose of these two days was to learn the greeter role at DTD. Basically it is our job to create more of a Cast Member presence at DTD, answer guest questions and welcome them to DTD. The greeter positions rotate with the lobby and West Side window locations. What is interesting is the majority of Cast at DTD aren't really Cast Members at all, they are operating participants, meaning they work for an outside company.
We went into every shop and resturant DTD has to learn more about what they have to offer our guests, as well as learning where the ATM's and restrooms are. We got to learn some really neat things about some of the places we went into, like getting to see how they print the T-shirts at the Hanes Create a Tee and even getting to see the kitchen at T-REX! Which interesting enough has two full kitchens, one for even numbered tables and one for odd numbered tables. Another interesting fact I learned is that the bars at Ragland Road were REAL bars from Ireland, they actually packed them up and shipped them here for the restaurant. We even got to eat lunch at Pollo Camperno.
The day was exhausting because of all the walking around we did. We did get to play some scavenger hunt type games to learn more about the stores so it was fun over all. However due to all the changes coming to DTD we were cautioned that things would be moving or be replaced by other things.
Today we did it all over again but on the West Side. The West Side is home to DisneyQuest, House of Blues, Cirque du Soeil and other shops and restaurants. We started off with a tour over at Cirque, which is celebrating it's 15th year at WDW. We got to see some cool backstage things today because the theater is dark tonight (meaning there are no performances).
Later, Lauren and I had a scavenger hunt inside DisneyQuest. If you aren't familiar Disney Quest is a 5 story interactive amusement park. It is like an arcade but also has several virtual reality games. We played a Pirates themed game and made our own roller coaster at Cyberspace Mountain. They even had a "Fix it Felix" game from Wreck it Ralph. It really is a hard game to play.
We also did a tour of AMC, and I got to see their Fork and Screen theater, where you can get food served to you. It looks really cool and I think I want to go sometime. We did another scavenger hunt later at some of the stores and finished by taking our assessment for Greeter training. We both passed! Tomorrow is "Our Town" which is the DTD property orientation.
So DTD is a big place. It is actually 1.5 miles from end to end. The first day of our training was focused on the Marketplace side. The purpose of these two days was to learn the greeter role at DTD. Basically it is our job to create more of a Cast Member presence at DTD, answer guest questions and welcome them to DTD. The greeter positions rotate with the lobby and West Side window locations. What is interesting is the majority of Cast at DTD aren't really Cast Members at all, they are operating participants, meaning they work for an outside company.
We went into every shop and resturant DTD has to learn more about what they have to offer our guests, as well as learning where the ATM's and restrooms are. We got to learn some really neat things about some of the places we went into, like getting to see how they print the T-shirts at the Hanes Create a Tee and even getting to see the kitchen at T-REX! Which interesting enough has two full kitchens, one for even numbered tables and one for odd numbered tables. Another interesting fact I learned is that the bars at Ragland Road were REAL bars from Ireland, they actually packed them up and shipped them here for the restaurant. We even got to eat lunch at Pollo Camperno.
The day was exhausting because of all the walking around we did. We did get to play some scavenger hunt type games to learn more about the stores so it was fun over all. However due to all the changes coming to DTD we were cautioned that things would be moving or be replaced by other things.
Today we did it all over again but on the West Side. The West Side is home to DisneyQuest, House of Blues, Cirque du Soeil and other shops and restaurants. We started off with a tour over at Cirque, which is celebrating it's 15th year at WDW. We got to see some cool backstage things today because the theater is dark tonight (meaning there are no performances).
Later, Lauren and I had a scavenger hunt inside DisneyQuest. If you aren't familiar Disney Quest is a 5 story interactive amusement park. It is like an arcade but also has several virtual reality games. We played a Pirates themed game and made our own roller coaster at Cyberspace Mountain. They even had a "Fix it Felix" game from Wreck it Ralph. It really is a hard game to play.
We also did a tour of AMC, and I got to see their Fork and Screen theater, where you can get food served to you. It looks really cool and I think I want to go sometime. We did another scavenger hunt later at some of the stores and finished by taking our assessment for Greeter training. We both passed! Tomorrow is "Our Town" which is the DTD property orientation.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Animal Kingdom GR Photos
About a week ago two other interns and myself got to work early to take photos around Animal Kingdom in our full plaid glory. Just thought I would share since this chapter of our lives is coming to a close. The other interns in the photos are also extending their internships until June. Mehlanie will be going to Magic Kingdom and Mark will be at Epcot. If you ever see them there be sure to say "Hello".
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Adventures in Fastpass+ at Disney's Animal Kingdom and the Holiday Season
Animal Kingdom always gets to test out new things. First we got an "Allergy Kiosk" where guests can find information about dining with food allergies, purchase allergy friendly snacks and more. The feedback has been overwhelming positive and many guests hope that this will continue to spread to the other parks as time goes on.
Because AK has less attractions than the other parks it made sense for them to begin the next stage of testing MyMagic+ there. So about a week ago they covered up all the old Fastpass machines that guests would recieve paper tickets from. All guests, even those staying off site are now able to book their 3 FP+ attractions. (Onsite currently gets the benefit of booking ahead of time, but we will see how that pans out in the future for offsite guests). Gone are the days of "double dipping" which is when resort guests were using their 3 FP+ booked ahead of time and then using their room keys to get extra paper ones. Basically it has leveled the playing field for all guests (somewhat).
Now when I heard about this, I'm not going to lie, I panicked! I was unsure how this would all play out, how guests would react, and what if the system crashed! But everything worked out very well. We did not have guest complaints, many guests were confused and needed a little extra guidance along the way. They even beefed up the staffing for the FastPass+ kiosks bringing in cast members from other parks to help us out. The test doesn't seem to have an end date in sight and I would guess they will start at the other parks soon. Just part of the next phase in this huge undertaking.
Working through the holiday season at WDW is something I have never experienced before. I've done Easter, Spring Break and busy times in the summer but never around the holidays. Thanksgiving was crowded as was Christmas. What was nice is that our area had a pot luck on both of those days. The company provided the Turkey and gravy and people brought in side dishes and desserts. AK was not as crowded on the actual holidays as the other parks but still had a high attendance.
I've been spending a lot of time on our Regional rotation out in the parks and not a lot of time in the lobby. We have a new Service Center for guests who need help with their Magicbands and so far things seem to be going really well. I think the whole process has really come a long way and the issues we were experiencing earlier in the summer at the beginning of the test have really died off. There are still issues but things seem to be running quite smoothly.
This week begins my last week at DAK, starting on Jan 5th I have training at my new location at Downtown Disney. I love my DAK family but I am also looking forward to joining the team at DTD! I'll post more about that in the coming days!
Because AK has less attractions than the other parks it made sense for them to begin the next stage of testing MyMagic+ there. So about a week ago they covered up all the old Fastpass machines that guests would recieve paper tickets from. All guests, even those staying off site are now able to book their 3 FP+ attractions. (Onsite currently gets the benefit of booking ahead of time, but we will see how that pans out in the future for offsite guests). Gone are the days of "double dipping" which is when resort guests were using their 3 FP+ booked ahead of time and then using their room keys to get extra paper ones. Basically it has leveled the playing field for all guests (somewhat).
Now when I heard about this, I'm not going to lie, I panicked! I was unsure how this would all play out, how guests would react, and what if the system crashed! But everything worked out very well. We did not have guest complaints, many guests were confused and needed a little extra guidance along the way. They even beefed up the staffing for the FastPass+ kiosks bringing in cast members from other parks to help us out. The test doesn't seem to have an end date in sight and I would guess they will start at the other parks soon. Just part of the next phase in this huge undertaking.
Working through the holiday season at WDW is something I have never experienced before. I've done Easter, Spring Break and busy times in the summer but never around the holidays. Thanksgiving was crowded as was Christmas. What was nice is that our area had a pot luck on both of those days. The company provided the Turkey and gravy and people brought in side dishes and desserts. AK was not as crowded on the actual holidays as the other parks but still had a high attendance.
I've been spending a lot of time on our Regional rotation out in the parks and not a lot of time in the lobby. We have a new Service Center for guests who need help with their Magicbands and so far things seem to be going really well. I think the whole process has really come a long way and the issues we were experiencing earlier in the summer at the beginning of the test have really died off. There are still issues but things seem to be running quite smoothly.
This week begins my last week at DAK, starting on Jan 5th I have training at my new location at Downtown Disney. I love my DAK family but I am also looking forward to joining the team at DTD! I'll post more about that in the coming days!
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Extending my Internship
I have been offered to extend my current internship in Guest Relations! I will be moving to Downtown Disney in January and staying there until June! I am very excited to start my new experience at DTD but also very sad to leave my Animal Kingdom family!
It was with careful consideration that I chose to accept this opportunity. As you recall I had planned to apply for a full time position and was hoping for a role in lodging. However at this time it makes more sense for me financially to extend my internship.
Downtown Disney is an area with a lot of shops and restaurants, an AMC movie theater, Splitsville (a bowling alley) and home to Cirque Du Soleil. Downtown Disney is going under an extensive remodel and will be transitioning into Disney Springs in the future.
This location will allow me to work the Marketplace Lobby, the Window location on the West Side as well as GRAPE (Guest Relations at Park Entry) for the Waterparks and the ESPN Sports Complex.
This location will also allow me to gain extensive knowledge on ticketing. As many people choose to take care of their ticketing issue at DTD because there is no admission cost to visit there. I am very excited to start this new adventure and I have heard great things about this location from other Cast Members.
It was with careful consideration that I chose to accept this opportunity. As you recall I had planned to apply for a full time position and was hoping for a role in lodging. However at this time it makes more sense for me financially to extend my internship.
Downtown Disney is an area with a lot of shops and restaurants, an AMC movie theater, Splitsville (a bowling alley) and home to Cirque Du Soleil. Downtown Disney is going under an extensive remodel and will be transitioning into Disney Springs in the future.
This location will allow me to work the Marketplace Lobby, the Window location on the West Side as well as GRAPE (Guest Relations at Park Entry) for the Waterparks and the ESPN Sports Complex.
This location will also allow me to gain extensive knowledge on ticketing. As many people choose to take care of their ticketing issue at DTD because there is no admission cost to visit there. I am very excited to start this new adventure and I have heard great things about this location from other Cast Members.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Please Donate!
It is very difficult to be far away from your family when something is wrong. I have never shared a lot of personal information on this blog. I have been told that others have found the info here helpful, and now I ask if you can please help me and my family.
A service dog can alert others to her seizures, retrieve a phone for help, retrieve medication, and lay beside her during a seizure to prevent injury. The dog can also help balance her during minor seizures and help her be more independent.
A service dog can alert others to her seizures, retrieve a phone for help, retrieve medication, and lay beside her during a seizure to prevent injury. The dog can also help balance her during minor seizures and help her be more independent.
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