Yesterday (1.23.10) was my first day of on the job training at Animal Kingdom Lodge. My day began at 3AM when I woke up to get dressed in my costume for my shift. Because the buses don't run that early to AKL I had to take the special early morning van at 4:30. So I got dressed and had breakfast and walked down to the bus stop at 4:10. I had no idea what actually was coming to pick me up, be it a bus or van or whatever since I've never had to take the early morning shuttle. I happened to see my friend Kevin from First Impressions while I was there so I sat and talked to him until his bus came (some buses run 24/7). At 4:45 I was worried that I had missed the bus since it hadn't come yet so I called the bus company and they reassured me that it would be here in another 5 min. At 4:50 the A bus (Magic Kingdom Bus) rolled around and the bus driver got out saying it was the early morning bus and that he would take me to Vista where they would put us on the shuttle. So I got on the bus and went to Vista where we were directed to a van that would take us where we wanted to go. At 5, myself and 5 other cast members were driven to our respective resorts to start our shifts. Since I worked the farthest away, I was the last one dropped off at around 5:25. So at 5:30 I clocked in (we can clock in up to 15 min. early) and waited by the time clocks for my trainer. At 6, I was a little worried that I was in the wrong place because my trainer wasn't there yet so I went to the security office next door to ask if they could call the front desk to make sure that my trainer forgot about me. They told me to just wait and she would be there soon. So I waited another 15min. and convinced the my trainer forgot about me I called the training office hotline and they told me to go to the security office and they would bring me up to the front desk. So I went back and a very nice security officer brought me up to the front desk where 1 lady was standing behind the counter. I approached her and said, "Hi. My name is Jessica and it's my first day and I think my trainer forgot about me." She happened to be my trainer and after apologizing 100 times for forgetting about me she brought me in the back and I got to start my day.
My trainers name is Marie. She's from France and is super, super sweet. I really like her even if she laughs at me because I talk fast like a New Yorker. =P So she brought me in the back and explained everything for me and let me watch her deal with some guests. After about 2 hours or so she let me try and I spent the majority of my day checking in and out guests with her standing behind me filling in the holes when I forgot things and answering all my questions. It was a lot of fun but def. challenging at times with certain guests. Thankfully all the guests I got were really nice and since they knew I was in training, they understood when I made a mistake or took a little longer. Marie also took me on a quick tour of the concierge level of the hotel and all the back areas of the front office. Everyone I work with is really nice and they all seem like happy people who I'm going to like. So, so far so good. =)
I had today and have tomorrow off as well and then back to training on Tuesday. More updates then!
Love,
Jess
