The Bahamas! (part 2)

Carrying on from where I left off....

That night we had dinner at Animator's Palate, which is another amazing themed restaurant. There's detail in everything, from the bread knifes which look like paintbrushes, to the artist sketches everywhere. Again we were with the same group as the night before, but missing two of the guys as they had dinner booked at either Palo or Remy. This is the most fun restaurant to eat, at one of the other tables the server was encouraging them all to draw on the table cloths with crayons! I was completely stuffed after dinner again, so we tried to walk it off a bit before catching up with everyone else who were watching an illusionist show at one of the adult only bars. We only really caught the end of it and then we went for another walk around before calling it a night and heading back to our room to watch more Disney movies on tv while falling asleep.

The next morning we woke up at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. We went for breakfast and then came back to the room to get ready. It looked pretty cloudy at first but it turned out to be a really hot and sunny day. We got our stuff ready and then got off the ship and walked over to get the shuttle to the far side of the island first, which is the adult only area. I was far too excited to get my feet in the water at the beach! We walked along until we found some sun loungers and then ordered a couple of cocktails from one of the attendants walking up and down the beach. We started off trying to sunbathe on loungers but there was a lot of sand mites so instead we grabbed some chairs and took them down to the water where we sat in the water while sunbathing. The water was amazing! It was a bit chilly but you quickly adjusted to it and you could see tiny fishes in places. After sitting there long enough to get a decent amount of tanning done, we went to get lunch at one of the BBQ buffet spots that were set up. Charlotte really wanted to rent bikes, so that was the next thing that we did. That was a lot of fun! There's bike trails set up and you can just leisurely cycle around, the island is flat so it's a nice journey. We stopped off at various points for photos and then headed to the front to drop the bikes back off and have a wander in the shops. It started to get really cloudy and was getting later in the afternoon so we headed back to the ship. Just as we were lined up to get back on the ship, the heavens opened and it properly rained hard! By the time we had got back to our room though, it had died off and then stopped completely.

This night was the pirate party and our room attendant had left pirate scarfs in our room when servicing our room that day. We got ready and went down to watch the show that night which was amazing, but I still preferred the show from the first night. Then we went back to the room to get ready for dinner. There was a lot of families that take the dressing up thing really seriously and there was lots of pirate families walking around! We had dinner again at the Animator's Palate, however instead of the same images from Finding Nemo being on the screens as the night before, there was more of a Pirates of the Caribbean theme. When we finished dinner we headed up to find spots to watch the Pirates show. There was a Pirates of the Caribbean show, featuring Jack Sparrow which was finished off with fireworks set off of the boat which was pretty cool to see. Afterwards they make the pool deck into a family friendly dance floor. We were exhausted and I was a bit burnt so we headed back to the room for a bit... we kept saying we would go to one of the bars but we were just too tired and full from dinner to move.

The next day was our full day at sea. Sadly it wasn't hot enough for sunbathing which I would have gladly done all day! We went for breakfast and then had a chilled out day. We walked around more of the ship taking photos and then went to the cinema to watch Saving Mr Banks which I hadn't seen yet. This was definitely a lazy day but I was really tired and would have to go straight back to work the next morning. Dinner that night was at the Enchanted Garden which is beautiful and some people said it was their favourite but I preferred the other two. At the end of the meal we took group photos and then went to the lobby area to watch the little show with different characters. It was basically a quick meet and greet set up in different spots and was pretty cute. Our large luggage was getting picked up and had to be packed and outside our room before we went to dinner so anything else had to go into hand luggage. Again, we were just exhausted from doing not a whole lot that day lol. We had to get up really early the next morning so we went and paid for everything we had used our keys for and then went to bed.

The next morning we packed up everything and went back to the Enchanted Garden for breakfast. I was getting really anxious as I had to be at work for 11:30am and still had to go back to my apartment first. Myself and Charlotte got off the ship but then had a bit of a wait for the others we were travelling back in the taxi with. Eventually we set off but I was still worried! It was a complete rush, I stopped by Chatham to get my form signed off so that I could go back to work (later found out that wasn't a big a deal as they make out!), then practically threw myself out the taxi at the Commons and ran to my apartment with my luggage. As I got in my apartment I phoned for another taxi to get me to work, threw my costume on and ran back out the door. I ended up only being a tiny bit late for the pre shift briefing but at least I made it!

Disney cruise to the Bahamas! (part1)

Moving day was an interesting one....

Rather than pack and get ready to move, instead I went to House of Blues even though I was really tired as there was 21st birthday celebrations going on. And then afterwards there was a bit of an afterparty. I had until 4pm to move apartments and I woke up on my friends couch at the very far side of the Commons around 3:10pm. Woops. Not a single thing packed. So I had a nice walk of shame through the complex, got to the apartment to change clothes and then went to get my new key. My German roommate was freaking out about where I was so I messaged her and then she came to the old apartment to help with getting the first load over. I literally ran back and forth for the next hour, throwing things from everywhere into bags and cases, running across the street, up to the third floor of my new building, to dump everything and run back to start again. At least I did it! Then we went to Walmart to get some bits and pieces and then did a lot of unpacking/putting stuff away. I love my new apartment! It's soooo much bigger and brighter, everything works and I've been a lot happier since moving in. We now only have a two bed/4 roommate situation going on and it suits me. No more crazy screaming for no reason, no thumping from above, no crazy roommate skyping while I'm trying to sleep. And I sleep a lot better!

I had nearly a week in my new apartment and then it was time to go to the Bahamas! There was 10 of us going on the same cruise and more people leaving on another cruise the next day... basically over a two week period there was a lot of people on various trips and cruises and a lot of shift swaps which meant we all got a bit of trouble which was pretty stressful at the time. But finally it all got sorted :)

On Sunday morning myself and five others got a taxi to Cape Canaveral which is about an hour away. Too much excitement going on lol. When we got to the dock we showed our booking info at the entrance gate then went into the main building and went through what is very similar to airport security where they scan your hand luggage. Then we went upstairs to get checked in, there was a huge line of people but they have a lot of checking in people so it didn't take too long. We handed over our forms and passports and then we got our "Key to the World" card... which is very similar to the ones at WDW before they swapped to Magic Bands. This card gives access to your room, makes the electricity in the room work and is the only way of paying for anything on the ship or at Castaway Cay. You can link it to your debit or credit card but me and Charlotte decided to do the cash option. Which means that you have a $300 limit that you can't go over until you go to guest relations and pay your bill. And you can't get back off the ship without paying it, you need to scan your card on the way off and if you have an unpaid bill then you will be sent back to pay it.

So with all that out of the way we headed onboard! I was so excited!! We were on the Disney Dream and it was just beautiful inside and out. It's the newest of the Disney fleet and it made any other cruise ship beside it look drab lol! We split up to go find our rooms and then go get lunch. The rooms were better than I thought they would be. There's a separate toilet and bathroom and neither were tiny, then a big comfy bed and then a couch (which can all be pulled out and made into bunkbeds), and we had a balcony with a couple of chairs and table. Comfy for 2 but would start getting crowded with more than that lol.

We pretty much dumped our stuff and then headed up to where there was a buffet lunch and had a good munch, then went for a wander around. They had a Sailing Away party on the pool deck with lots of characters which was cute and then me and Charlotte went up to the adult only area and had a cocktail while watching the sun set. Then we headed down to see the first show which was called the Golden Mickeys. The shows are amazing! They are so well done and I loved that first one. When that was over we had a quick look around the shops and then went to get changed for dinner.

For dinner, you are rotated around the ships three different dinner restaurants and you have the same server each night. We ate at the same restaurant twice because we were there for four nights, but you can use that night to book at one of the adult only restaurants, Remy and Palo. You do need to book ahead for these though as they fill up and its $25 extra for Palo and $75 extra for Remy. The others booked them but we didn't and we still enjoyed everything. There's food everywhere... everywhere!!! You can pretty much eat whatever you want, all the time! I was painfully full after every night and I didn't even go crazy. Our server was really lovely as well, I told him that I was wheat/gluten free and he took care of me. In fact he spent the whole time calling me "my Jenny" lol. Me and Charlotte were at a table with 6 other people and by the end of that evening we were fast friends with two other women, one of whom works at Epcot. By the end of our stay we were friends with the two guys, but two girls were a bit standoffish with us all so we had just left them to it.

The next morning we woke up in Nassau! We had slept longer than we had intended to, so we skipped going to breakfast and just got quickly ready to go exploring instead. We wandered about through the shops, visited Starbucks and took lots of photos. The massive Atlantis resort is close by but they charge you for everything there, you need to pay a ridiculous amount of money to use their pool or see the Aquarium. The only thing you can go to is the Casino. There's water taxi's that will take you over to Paradise Island (where Atlantis is) for $8 return so we went over on one of those and had a wander around the Marina Village, checked out all the millionaires yachts and then went into the casino. Charlotte had never been in one before so we played a few slot machines with me helping her about. Had to eventually tell her to stop feeding money in, she was never going to become a millionaire from a dollar! We left there and got a frozen margarita and headed back to the water taxi. Then we went to Senor Frogs for some more drinks and the biggest portion of fries I've ever seen before going back onto the ship.

The next morning we woke up in Nassau! We had slept longer than we had intended to, so we skipped going to breakfast and just got quickly ready to go exploring instead. We wandered about through the shops, visited Starbucks and took lots of photos. The massive Atlantis resort is close by but they charge you for everything there, you need to pay a ridiculous amount of money to use their pool or see the Aquarium. The only thing you can go to is the Casino. There's water taxi's that will take you over to Paradise Island (where Atlantis is) for $8 return so we went over on one of those and had a wander around the Marina Village, checked out all the millionaires yachts and then went into the casino. Charlotte had never been in one before so we played a few slot machines with me helping her about. Had to eventually tell her to stop feeding money in, she was never going to become a millionaire from a dollar! We left there and got a frozen margarita and headed back to the water taxi. Then we went to Senor Frogs for some more drinks and the biggest portion of fries I've ever seen before going back onto the ship.

I am a bad blogger! I have tried to write this post about a million times and given up.... it's not all my fault, for a brief period of time my laptop didn't want to type "h" or "c". Not easy! So for now lets call this part one!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The holiday season is now over and things are gradually going back to normal... or what passes as normal when you work for Disney!

Christmas was a pretty low key affair... a group of us went to Raglan Road (Irish pub at Downtown Disney) for drinks on Christmas Eve. Then it was back home to feel a bit emotional :( I wasn't feeling very well at all which didn't help. I'm continuously getting a cold out here as one day the weather will be really hot, and then it drops down to as cold, if not colder than it is at home and it really messes your body up. I have a pretty crap immune system so I'm constantly getting sick. I opened my presents from home in the morning and tried to skype with my mum but it wasn't working properly. So I headed over to my friend Charlotte's apartment to begin cooking Christmas dinner. We had bought in all the stuff to make a roast dinner (with chicken, not turkey)... and we did keep getting distracted which meant that we didn't actually end up eating until 10pm, but it was a damn good dinner! A few more friends came round after they finished their PM shift and we fed them as well. Then I literally couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and had to go home and go to bed. The next day I did manage to talk to my mum though. 

Candlelight continued throughout the week up until New Years Eve so we were still busy at work. And busy after work as a lot of people were about to leave, so there was a lot of "lasts". Two weeks running of "last lasses", one was a Christmas themed dress up, and on the 30th it was "decades"... so pretty much anything themed from a past decade. Both good nights! Then I had an AM shift on New Years Eve. Had a bit of a barney with my roommate in the middle of the night and didn't sleep well and was late... meaning that I was one of the last people to get to work and as we had overstaffed, I wouldn't be serving. Instead I was a untipped busser/food runner. Not a good day... pretty boring in fact, and I couldn't wait for it to be over! 

Once I finished work, I got changed as we all brought clothes with us, with the parks being so busy we would never get back in later and everyone wanted to see all the fireworks. We had been warned repeatedly that we wouldn't be allowed to hang about the UK pavilion or spend time in the pub or restaurant because of last years drunken behavior.... so we bought our one drink that we thought we were allowed and then we got asked if we wanted a table.... We were like "... are we really allowed this, or is it a trick question?" But no, we were allowed a table for a few of us so we had dinner at the Rose and Crown around 6pm. It's actually the first time I've had a proper meal there lol. The first set of fireworks started at 6:30pm, with Illuminations and then the Holiday fireworks for the last time so we got to watch them properly. Then at 7pm, it turned Midnight back home so there was a shout out and countdown in the street that we joined in with. After this, we were all pretty tired, so we went over to Future World to do Ellen's Energy Adventure. If you don't know what it is, it's a 45 minute slow moving ride, in the dark with a few films. Perfect place to take a nap. With lines for Test Track and Soarin' reaching five hours wait time, this was a good choice. Although we still felt pretty groggy afterwords, and had to go to Starbucks to get some caffeine. Then we walked round the whole World Showcase. It was crazy! Thousands upon thousands of people, raves set up in Future World, China and Italy, a big Latin party going on at the American Gardens Theatre and a dj playing at the UK pavilion, inbetween our normal band's sets. We pretty much walked round without stopping, except at Italy as it was so unreal... everyone dancing away, from babies to adults and it properly looked like you were at a festival. We went back to the Rose and Crown and got ourselves some drinks to see in the New Year and then went down to the beer garden area to watch them. They started at 11:40pm, with Illuminations. Then they set off fireworks from behind the pavilions that had already welcomed in the New Year (like the UK, Norway, Germany, Morroco) and then they did a big countdown and then started the New Year fireworks. All the fireworks!! It was amazing, and I'm so glad that I had the chance to watch them properly. Although I was completely exhausted by the end and just wanted to get home afterwards... easier said than done. Took a couple of hours and a couple of buses, and one failed taxi attempt to get home but we made it!

Holiday Fireworks

Italy

Fireworks being set off from behind the UK pavilion

New Year Fireworks!

The next day we were all tired again, but was back to work for another AM shift. It was the last day of work for several people, some of which I have been really close with so it was a bittersweet day. Then that night, we were off to Downtown Orlando for their last night out. Bit emotional. Last night we had last drinks at Raglan Road for those that are leaving today. It's weird how many people have now left, and how many will be leaving every few weeks now. Not ready for it at all!

But on the good news front... I'm going on a Disney Cruise! In a weeks time I'll be boarding the Disney Dream, off to the Bahamas for four days. Cannot wait!! There's a lot of us going at the same time or within days of each other but we got really good deals so we had to try! Luckily I've had the shifts I needed covered picked up so now it's just time to prepare! :)

And in other happy news, I'm moving apartments tomorrow! My three American roommates have gone home and finished their program and my apartment block is being refurbished (along with several others in the Commons) so we have to move. Anyone that knows me, or has me on Facebook will know of my hatred of my Japanese roommate. People in the street ask me about her lol. So I am extremely happy to be getting away from her! Normally you would be assigned a new apartment by housing and could end up anywhere, but I want to stay with my German housemate. She knew of a nice apartment with friends thats still really close to the building we are in now, and housing have said we can move in there :) So I have a lot of packing/moving/unpacking to do but it will all be worth it in the end! 

Holiday season!

So I've been pretty crap at updating the blog recently... however life has been pretty hectic and full on and I'm usually too exhausted to do anything with any spare time, except from face planting my couch!

Work is cray-cray busy right now. We are in the middle of Candlelight, which is very full on. During December there is a show called the Candlelight Processional and its basically the story of Christmas, told by a celebrity narrator with a big choir that is made up with cast members. It's a free show, however if you want a guaranteed seat then you need to pre-book a Candlelight package, which includes a 3 course meal at one of Epcot's table service restaurants and a ticket for one of the three shows a day. It means that the restaurant lunch time is now from 12-2:30pm, instead of 3pm because we need to reopen at 3:30pm for dinner service. And we are now open until 9:30pm every day as the fireworks are pushed back by half an hour. And with Extra Magic Hours on a Friday night, we stay open until 10:30pm. It can get crazy busy very quickly and we are all trying to get people their three courses and back out the door as quick as possible so they can go get in line for the show. Guests can be really rude and it can get pretty stressful, especially when food isn't coming out quick enough. The Candlelight guests then all leave and then we just have all of our regular guests... it can feel like it's never going to end! I haven't even been to see a show yet because I'm so tired!

Sooooo.... again I'm just going to randomly talk about different things that I've been up to!

Thanksgiving has been and gone! I was due to work an am shift but called in... awkward. Wasn't feeling good at all and then I had a really horrible, home sick, bawling my eyes out on the couch moment. Ended up sleeping on the couch for most of the day and just watching tv. In the evening my American roommates cooked themselves a Thanksgiving dinner and then I made a British style roast dinner. Then headed to the mall for the sales!!! Myself and some friends went by car and bumped into a lot of people that we knew who were doing the same. Got myself some decent bargains so I was happy with that.

I've been doing A LOT of Christmas shopping for presents to send home... think I've spent around $1000... lol! I've shopped a lot for myself at the same time. And FINALLY got a new phone!!!!!!!! Life is good again!!!!

It was my friends birthday this week so a group of us went for dinner at Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and then a few of us stayed at the hotel. I love that place, it's so nice... however it's still the only place I've stayed at so I need to branch out a bit more!

There's been the usual nights out, although less than usual as we are all so tired all the time! Podium is pretty short on staff at the moment, it's the complete opposite to how things were when I was out there. So those guys are all tired as well. It's good for the money though so we all deal with it! I personally like to get as many tables as possible when I'm working, I like to be kept busy. There's been several times now when I've served the most guests, because I will keep turning my tables all night long. 

I'm at a blank to think what else I've done! It's been work intensive. I haven't done anything Christmassy yet, so that is what I'm going to try to catch up with over the next week until Christmas itself.

Where to begin?

So the last few weeks have passed like a blur!

Having my friend here was pretty cool, especially as I had the time and money to do whatever we felt like! I stayed at her hotel pretty much every night for the two weeks that she was here which was a nice change... although I didn't enjoy the early mornings when I had to get a taxi back to the Commons, to get my work stuff and then rush back to hers after!

We ended up just doing the Disney parks... Lesley told me she hated roller coasters and I didn't realise how bad this was until after I took her on Space Mountain... during the ride I shouted back at her "are you ok?" cos she was very quiet and she went "no I hate it!!!!!!!!" and then screamed quite a bit. I'm a bad friend for laughing. I managed to get her onto Big Thunder Mountain, but she had decided by this point she was going to hate it, and she did... lol. She initially really wanted to go to Sea World but then CNN kept showing "Blackfish" (the documentary film, mostly about the whales at Sea World) every night. Usually late at night, most usually when we were drunk... and every time we would be planning our protest by the end of it. 

The first day that we went to Magic Kingdom, Mickeys Not So Scary was on so we had to be out the park by 7pm. So we got lots done and then headed to Downtown Disney and had a wander through all the shops and had dinner at Planet Hollywood before heading back to the hotel. There was one night in the week before Christmas that MMNSS wasn't on, and we had been at Hollywood Studios that day, so we did all we needed to do and then headed to Magic Kingdom to watch Wishes. It was insanely busy as it was the only night not requiring an extra ticket, but we still managed to find a good spot pretty close in front of the castle. I took Lesley's camera from her and got plenty of photos for her, so that she could just enjoy it. Needless to say, she was crying by the end. I know how much coming here has always meant to her, so it was a big moment just to watch her taking it all in.

As I said, we spent a day at Hollywood Studios, seen all the shows... including a couple that I hadn't actually seen since being here. We also did a day at Animal Kingdom and I finally saw the Finding Nemo show which I hadn't seen yet! Was totally not what I expected! And of course... we did a day at Epcot. We did the Finding Nemo attraction and Spaceship Earth (cos you have to know what is inside the "golf ball!") but I knew that with Lesley's fear of heights, Soarin' was not for her and Test Track would be hit or miss... and Mission Space would have probably put her in an ambulance. So we pretty much spent all day going round the World Showcase, seeing the different shows and trying some of the Food and Wine stalls (and a fiesta margarita, cos it's like the law, or something...) I also took her on a walk down to the Boardwalk area and then we headed back to the World Showcase and got ourselves some really good seats in the beer garden area at the UK pavilion to watch Illuminations. 

We spent a day doing the Iride, going allllllllll the way from one end, to the other side and hitting the outlets. Spent. A. Lot. Of. Money. Then on the way back up we stopped for food at TGI's which was nice, apart from our server feeling the need to explain tipping and gratuities to me. I may or may not have left a note on the back of the cheque explaining that while I am British, I am also a server in this country, and do not appreciate being lectured on tipping etiquette. We also did the outlets at this side and I brought Lesley to Lasses with me :) It was our Halloween Lasses and so we got our costumes on and then joined the Lasses at a big international party. 

I was sad to see Lesley go, but I was also exhausted! Regardless, it's been back to work and business as usual. I have missed the last three Lasses now, due to sheer tiredness and this past week, sickness. Sad face. Means I missed the chance to see the last group of Lasses initiate but my days off have changed, meaning I no longer have the luxury of a Tuesday off, instead I have a 10:45am start. Yuk. However my schedule is pretty good as I have Sunday and Monday off, work an AM shift Tuesday-Thursday, and then have PM shifts on Fridays and Saturdays. So it's been nice to get finished in the afternoon and come home, eat a proper meal and just chill out a bit more. There's been so much going on... I need to try and blog a bit more :)

All of the celebrating

Soooo I may have embraced the server lifestyle with very open arms haha!! Been out so much in the last week!

After writing my last blog post I headed over to Epcot to do some Food & Wine with a few people after they finished work. It was CRAZY BUSY!!! Met everyone over at Germany and got myself a grapefruit beer at The Brewers Collection stand which sounds bizarre but is actually pretty amazing! Then we went to China and I got the chicken potstickers and a Happy Lychee cocktail that had vodka and tequila in it. Then we finished off at the Dessert and Champagne stand with a glass of Moet and Guylian chocolate truffles. We all then decided to leave early and make plans to go out later. Then that night a small group of us went to Howl at the Moon on International Drive. Never been before but it was good! Kind of like Jellyrolls with piano playing, but better drinks and more atmosphere! I got a cocktail that came in a bucket and had 68 ounces in it... Defo to blame for the next days hangover!

On Sunday I nursed my hangover and then went back out again that night. Instead of going to House of Blues like normal, I proposed going to Downtown Orlando instead. We went to Ibar but it was pretty quiet and there was a few messed up incidents, like one of the girls nearly having her bar stolen... luckily she realised it had gone and we saw the guys with it before they ran out the door!

On Monday I had the day off again thankfully, and spent the majority of it sleeping! Decided not to go to Lasses that night as I knew I would be mega ill the next day and I had my first shift as a proper server in the morning. 

On Tuesday I headed in for my am shift and had a good little indoor section, managing to turn my tables a couple of times. Boyz II Men were playing as part of "Eat to the Beat" during Food and Wine so a group of us decided to go see them after as we had a change of clothes with us. We went to Italy for dinner and then headed over to the American Adventure and got our seats. It was sooooooooo good! A bit cheesy but not too bad. Knowing they have been around for 22 years makes me feel old. They have a residency in one of the hotels in Vegas at the weekends so it's not too shabby seeing them for free. After the set, we went back to Italy and sat outside drinking Rosa Regale (yummy sparkling red wine) and chatting. Then we left before Illuminations started and it got crazy busy getting out of there.

On Wednesday I had my second am shift and had an indoor section but it was much quieter. I did have a weird incident with two women though! Twin sisters that were about 60 years old at a table together kept asking me weird questions and then one of them asked if the pub had a ghost. I was like "ummm.... no?" She then told me that she could feel a presence and then felt something touch her, that she has a guardian angel but this was different as her angel is a woman, and this was a man. The whole time, the other twin kept giggling and telling me how friendly he was, and the two of them kept telling me not to be scared... not scared, just think the two of them were mental! It was the last day for one of the servers so after the shift a group of us sat outside the pub for a few drinks. Also went to the Irish stand and tried the seafood and lobster fish pie and the chocolate cake with Baileys custard. Another country ticked off! Most people were then going to see Boyz II Men again and then do more drinking but I was feeling tired so just headed home. I had said that I would meet them later but I ended up going to sleep instead.

Yesterday I was really excited for my friend Lesley arriving!!!! Had another am shift and had a lower deck table for the first time. The weather has dropped and its getting much cooler at night, so it makes a difference to where people want to sit. Yesterday was pretty cool so I had a lot of people wanting hot teas and coffees. When I finished up I went home and then went to Walmart to get some bits and pieces for Lesley and then went home to wait for her to land! She got to her hotel about 9pm and I got a taxi over there, laden with stuff. Had a big catch up and did a fair amount of drinking! I have no idea what time we went to sleep, but I felt a bit rough this morning. I was working a pm shift today so packed up, got a taxi to work and then ran around like a crazy woman on lower deck all night. Home now and I'm exhausted, nearly all the PM's went for food and drinks but I just wanted my pjs and my bed. Tomorrow I have another PM shift and then I'll be heading back to the hotel as I won't be back at work until Thursday. Can't wait to have Disney adventures!

A whole new level of exhaustion!!

I've just woke up from a 10 hour sound sleep and have the next three days off.... relief! I have no plans what so ever, which is completely unusual! So catching up on some blogging before I go find something to do.

Starting where I left off, I said that my friends and I were going to go to Florida mall... we were too tired in the end so I headed to their hotel, we laid in the sun for a bit then headed to Hooters for a lot of food and cocktails :) After that me and Holli went and did the CSI thing on Idrive which is complete crap for the amount of money they charge but after a few cocktails we found the whole thing hilarious. Went back to the hotel and chilled for a bit longer before I needed to leave. Was pretty sad to be leaving my bestie so I had to just not prolong them too much or I would have been crying all the way back up Idrive, not ideal! This holiday will definitely be memorable for them as on the plane flight home, Iain proposed to Holli!!!!! He didn't have the proper engagement ring, instead he had a stand in.... a mickey shaped ring with a cut out love heart in the middle. So happy for them, can't believe my best pal is getting married! 

After all that excitement, it was time to get back to work for my food running week. I was scheduled to work 6 days of food running from 12pm until at least 10:30pm every night, then straight into a 8:30am start for service core training and then working from 11am-close for the next two days. Needless to say, this is more than slightly excessive! You don't realise how exhausting food running is until your actually in the middle of it, and with food and wine going on, the restaurant has been a lot busier. 

After a couple of days I was utterly knackered and completely sick from the amount of caffeine I'd been using to keep my energy up. It was my arrival groups 6 month anniversary and we had booked a stay in a Savannah view room at Jambo House at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I was expecting to be working till late so had brought stuff with me. There was three food runners that day so I asked my manager if I could leave a bit earlier... he said I could go right then if I wanted! I wanted to earn a bit of money so said I would stick it out until 8pm but by 3pm I was fading quickly so he pretty much pushed me out the door! I went home, had a nap and then headed to the lodge to meet everyone. We brought a load of booze with us but actually didn't do much drinking, instead we went to see the animals, had dinner and then all fell asleep watching tv haha! The next day I packed up my stuff and headed back to work, feeling totally refreshed! There was five food runners scheduled for the Saturday, so I got given an ADO as well for that day :)

Sunday was a very early start with our core class starting at 8:30am. Our lovely trainer Laura arranged a taxi to pick us up from housing at 7:15am, and stopped by Panera Bread on the way there to buy us breakfast :) Got to work and we went through all the stuff we needed to know to begin serving tables, like the different sections, spieling, order of service and a bit of till training. Then we helped to set up the kitchen and went to pre-meal, which is where all the servers gather with the managers and chef before the restaurant opens and goes through information we need for the day. My trainer for the day was Stuart and I watched him serve a table and then took over and served the other tables in that section for the rest of the lunch shift. He kept close by at all times and would help me ring through the orders and watch me put through the million and one different types of payment accepted at Disney! Then we banked out and that was us done for the day.

The next day Zoe and I got there for 11am and had our wine tasting class. Basically it meant that we tried each of the wines that we sell while our trainers told us about them. Slight buzz to start the day off! I had Abbie training me and again she would watch over me serving tables and frequently stop me to ask what I was doing, and then would tell me if it could be done in a better order, etc. Had our lunch break and then we came back for the dinner shift. It was pretty busy, and apart from having a cockroach fall onto a little girl at one of my tables (the dangers of an outside table in Florida at night!), it all went well. 

On the Tuesday, we headed in early again, with our Lasses hangovers (yes, despite being utterly exhausted, I still managed to go to Lasses!!) for another core class. This one involved a lot of note taking, and learning all about the flavours, etc of the different wines and whiskys that we sell and about upselling. This is what was previously needed to pass the written service test, but at the moment they are using a pre service test paper for the service class. Ridiculous, as it means you are pretty much doing the same paper twice. It was good to do the class though as it made me feel a lot more confident about what we are selling. I love upselling, especially when it comes to alcohol, so I enjoyed it. We had a long lunch break and then headed back for the PM shift. Scott was my trainer and I had an outside section that was mostly filled with big tops. I had expected to be manic busy but it was actually completely chilled out and my big tops pretty much took care of themselves. We were KD that night, which basically means being last out as we have to check off that everyone's section is clean and their sidework is done before letting the servers leave. So it was quite a late finish. 

I had Wednesday and Thursday off, on Wednesday I went to the outlets and finally spent some of my hard earned cash! Bought a bunch of new clothes and then headed back to housing to lie by the pool for a couple hours, as the weather is unseasonably hot right now. Like over 30 degrees and sunny all the time! Went out that night to downtown Orlando with a small-ish group of people and let my hair down, knowing that I could enjoy my hangover the next day! On Thursday I just chilled, studied, and made a trip to Walmart. I also finally got my rank bathroom floor replaced... and I slept through it haha! My roommates were a little bit shocked that I could sleep through that, as it was pretty noisy, I was just so tired! I had a new roommate arrive early on Tuesday morning... very early. Of course she walked in the door to me, hungover and trying to sleep after Lasses... she may as well get used to it. She is Japanese and is friendly, but extremely timid and her English isn't great. I have to keep telling her to make herself at home but she still will ask if she can use crockery, knocks the bedroom door before entering, etc. Hopefully she settles down after a while.

Yesterday was the big test day! Had to be over at Epcot for 9am (another early start, eugh) and went to do my written test which was freaking the life out of me. I hate written tests!! Thankfully it was not as horrific as expected and I passed! Yayyy! Then I headed over to the Rose and Crown to do the other half of the assessment. At the moment we aren't doing a test table (where a manager, chef and core trainer sit at a table and you need to treat them like normal guests). Instead you just work a section and a trainer and the managers will observe you. I loved my wee shift, all my tables were nice and even though I got triple sat (by accident, the assignor didn't know I was being tested), and had a table with a million allergies, it all went really well. So I passed!!! Yay!! Newest server at the Rose and Crown :):)

Everyone was hungover from a big night out the night before so there was nothing going on last night, instead I just chilled out, had a nap, read my book and then slept for what felt like eternity! My friend Lesley is arriving on Thursday for a two week holiday, more excitement!! I've managed to get some time booked off so I can't wait!!!!