All About Quick Service Food and Beverage (Vlog)

Many cast members are placed in QSFB for the Disney College Program, and a lot of people ask me questions about what it's like. In this video I explain to you the basic jobs/positions you can have, the different options to be placed, and what training is like. If you have any more questions feel free to ask!

You can see the rest of my DCP videos here!

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Eventful Nine Days

Since I requested to have my birthday off this week, I ended up having nine days of work in a row starting Tuesday last week and ending the day before Valentines Day. Not gonna lie, it was a little brutal at some points. After the first three or four days though it ended up becoming a routine to just get up, get dressed in my costume, and walk to the bus stop to work without really thinking twice about it. Near the last few days guests started to notice that I had been working every day without a day off, and some of them actually sounded concerned for me (one asked if I was an animated character because I seem to never leave the restaurant). All of the guests that recognized me were really nice, and one actually happened to grow up in the same town as my mom! He even knew where I was from! (Which is rare, since people don't usually know Northern California above Sacramento.) A lot of people are starting to ask where my college is from, which leads to why I'm working all the way over in Florida and explaining what the DCP is. It's fun telling people about my adventure and this opportunity that not very many people actually know about.

Besides the guests who recognized me, I had some very interesting and eventful situations on the Sunday I worked in the morning. This was the first time I had worked in the morning since I had training about a month ago, so I was a little nervous. I wanted to have dining room because I didn't remember the food all that much or the dining plan for breakfast (it's a little different for lunch and dinner), but I got put on cashier and my manager helped remind me about everything. I learned I actually like doing cashier for breakfast more than dinner since it's a much smaller and simpler menu and the dining plan is just an entre and a drink (lunch/dinner is a drink and a dessert). I'm really starting to get the flow and handle of cashier, even though it can be one of the more stressful positions when it gets busy. My location's system for cashier isn't very efficient sometimes when there's a large group of guests. There are two cashiers in the center of the room, and there are lines on both sides of the register, so we have to alternate which line we go with. Sometimes guests can get mad because they'll be next for me on one side, but I'd have to take someone farther back on the other side to make sure the flow of both lines is consistent. On this particular Sunday morning, I asked for the next person in line on my right side. The woman to my right told me the man on my left should go ahead because he's been waiting longer. The man rolled his eyes and said, "No, let her go. She's been whining enough about waiting anyway." The woman started to get offended and next thing you know her husband is standing behind the man to my left staring him down. "What did you just say to my wife? Where are you from?" The woman piped in, "Obviously not from the South." (She had a Southern accent.) The husband added, "Boston? New York? You're a Yankees fan aren't you?" (I don't find this comment relevant..)

The man turned to me and kept saying, "Call security." He wouldn't respond two these southerners' words, all he kept telling me to do was call security. I picked up the phone and tried to find the number, but there wasn't one. My coworker in the register in front of me called my manager and then I managed to get the line going again before anything serious happened. Not gonna lie, I started freaking out a little on the inside. I've never had a situation like that...two guests yelling at each other almost starting a fight right in front of me. Luckily nothing happened and my manager talked to the couple once she arrived and heard about the situation (the random man had left already).

Earlier that morning another rather eventful situation happened while I was on cashier. A little girl walked up to me and asked if I remembered my customers. I asked why and she asked if I remembered a woman with her mom's name (I forget what it was). I immediately got worried and asked her if she was lost. She nodded her head and I noticed her eyes were swelled from crying. I told my coworker in front of me that I had a lost child and I needed to take care of it, so someone hopped on my register while I took the young girl to the front desk.  Luckily the little girl had her mom's cell phone number memorized, so the front desk coordinator kept calling until she finally picked up. She happened to be on the patio at my restaurant in an area the little girl couldn't see. The coordinator told the mom that I would meet her at the pool outside to make sure her daughter gets back to her safely. On the way to the pool, I talked to the little girl and she said she was in town for her cousin who was participating in the cheerleading competition that was going on at Hollywood Studios that weekend. She asked me where I was from and why I wasn't living in California right now, and I told her I came here to work. She asked if I could go into the parks whenever I wanted, and I said yes, and she said she was jealous (who wouldn't be?). As soon as we got to the pool we found her mom waving and running to hug her daughter. She thanked me and I left as soon as I knew the situation was safe. I went back to my work location and told my coworkers the girl had found her mom. I was definitely relieved.

One thing about my work location that I kind of wish would change...my restaurant doesn't really do anything for magic moments for guests. I was told they used to give away free cupcakes with lit candles to celebrate guests' birthdays, but as soon as they changed the cupcakes to gourmet they couldn't give them out for free so they stopped. Sara's location has stickers and crazy straws that they give guests to make their experience a little more special. Just this past week, I was on cashier and I found a bunch of Mickey stickers hiding behind the cash register! I put a few in my pocket, and became more aware of possible situations to give them to people.

One day when I was on dining room, a little boy with two older siblings (all very young) walked in with their parents. Their parents had a balloon, everyone had a "I'm Celebrating" button, and the youngest boy had a birthday pin on his shirt. I waited for the perfect moment, and while the little boy was standing a little bit on his own I knelt down to his level and asked if it was his birthday. He just stood there and stared at me in silence. I asked again gently, trying not to scare him or anything, and he still wouldn't answer. His dad saw me and answered for him, saying yes it was his birthday. I pulled out a sticker and asked if he wanted one, and the boy wouldn't take it. However, I turned to his older brother and sister and asked if they wanted stickers too, and they got really excited. I gave the little boy's sticker to his dad so he could have it when he wanted it, and his dad seemed super thankful and gracious to the whole situation. Even though the boy was a little shy, I still felt really happy to go a the extra mile and finally make a little magic to a guest :)

Otherwise, most of those nine days consisted of working hard and making sure I survived without being totally sleep deprived and/or exhausted. The first day I had off I went to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios with my grandparents, and it was unfortunately cold and pouring rain for the first time since I've moved here. I'll talk about this trip more in another post probably since we did quite a bit during that day. I also celebrated my birthday in Magic Kingdom on Friday, which like I said before I'll make a video blog about the whole experience since there'd be way too much to type!

Oh, about the face character audition, I wasn't chosen, and neither were any of my roommates or friends. It was a really short process after waiting in line for nearly two hours, and nearly 700 girls went to audition. They took us in rounds of 50 and took only five people at most per group, and they took none out of mine. It's all good though!

I was wondering, what would you guys like me to share with you? What do you want to know about that I haven't talked about yet? I know some of you asked about Sara and how she's doing at the Wilderness Lodge, but that requires her sitting down and telling me what to write for you or having her write it haha. I'll probably just have a video blog and have her explain how she likes it on there, since it'll be easier for her that way. We'll see!

Still, let me know what you want to hear! This coming week I'm being deployed (temporarily moved) to Gasparilla Grill in the Grand Floridian, which is such a fancy hotel! I'm pretty excited to try something new outside of my resort, even though I love the Polynesian. I'll let you know how it goes!

All By Myself

About a week ago I finally took my assessment to fully earn my ears! It was super easy. One of my managers pulled me aside during work and had me sign a few papers to finish off my training folder. After that was all complete, she asked me a few questions such as, "What's in our Polynesian salad?" and "What time do we change from breakfast to lunch?" There were really only a handful of questions and she asked if I had any questions about something that might have not been fully explained to me during training. Then I was done! Boom! Officially earned my ears!!

Since then I've been completely on my own at work, and really it's not difficult. The first day was kind of a handful because it was one of the busiest days we've seen in a while and I was on counter. My manager came out to help a little and reminded me that I needed to take care of the bakery area and make sure it was stocked (which I had done on stocking day..not counter, so I didn't know this was part of my role that day). When I get really busy and try to be fast and efficient, I guess I have a really stressed out look on my face because the chefs kept asking me if I was okay. Which I was a little frazzled from the immense amount of people on my first day on my own, but overall I was fine. I forgot that you had to tell the person in charge of stocking when we ran out of cupcakes so he could go up and get more from the main kitchen, but now I know!

For the past week I've mainly been on counter, with only one day as a breaker. As a breaker I was in charge of taking over certain people's positions for an hour or so while they go on their break. That day I was breaker for two of the cashiers and then one of the people on counter. I successfully went through two hours of cashier without forgetting a single pager!! *happy dance* When I wasn't breaking someone, I was basically on dining room making sure everything was stocked and clean for the guests. Basically, I did every position that day (besides the main stocker, which I won't really ever be doing anyway).

The rest of the week I've been counter, which makes me happy because I really like the fast paced nature of it and there aren't any pagers I need to remember to assign ;). I actually have been impressing one of my managers with how fast I handle everything in the kitchen, and then another day with how well I keep the bakery stocked even though I'm busy. Yesterday a guest told me I have a nice smile! Made me feel warm and fuzzy.

On my days off I've been mainly hanging in the parks. I'm usually a really big ride person when I visit Disney, but since I'm living here for five months I've been keeping everything relaxed and just enjoying the magic each time I visit. I'll throw in a few rides here and there, but I've mainly been exploring areas of the parks I've never seen, watching parades, or even watching children smile when they meet characters. I still need to go character hunting soon. I've met Ariel, The Incredibles, Wreck It Ralph and Vanellope, Duffy, Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. I still need to meet Mickey! I've been here for almost a month and that still hasn't happened. That needs to change, pronto.

OH! I haven't shown you guys my costume yet! Here it is, in all it's beauty:

There's also a hat that goes with it, but it's just a baseball cap that's the same color as my pants and has "The Polynesian" written on the front.

That's all for now!

Five Days of Training

As of Tuesday, I have finally finished training at Captain Cook's! Like the title says, it lasted five days in total. I'll give you guys a brief overview about what I did each day and how it went!

Day One (Stocker): I was kind of happy I got placed as a stocker for my first day of on the job training (OJT) because it eased me into everything in the restaurant and gave me an idea for behind the scenes before being thrown into helping customers. I mainly spent time in the cooler restocking drinks and whatnot. It was so cold in there! I even had my jacket and I still felt chilled. My trainer showed me around where the main kitchens are and where they keep all the stored food and drinks in case we run out at our location. The best part about training, free food! Each day I was able to have two entrées for lunch or dinner (depending on when I worked), and the first day I had the chicken sandwich and caesar salad. It was way too much food I couldn't finish! After my break I returned to the cooler and kept stocking the shelves. My trainer showed me where all of the chemicals and emergency exits were and whatnot, and I finished the last bit of my e-learning online (thank goodness).

Day Two (Kitchen/Counter): I really enjoy this role. I'm constantly busy doing something and time just flies by. Here I prepare the orders for the customers by looking at their receipt, grabbing the food made by the culinary team, adding any necessary sides such as fries, and then paging the customer to have them pick up their food. I quickly learned that Captain Cook's is BUSY in the morning, especially on a Saturday during a three day weekend. We got a little backed up in the morning but by the afternoon the crowd flow was much more steady and easier to manage.

Day Three (Morning Cashier): I've never worked with an actual cash register, so it took me a little while to get the hang of this role. I shadowed my trainer for a few hours, observing how she interacted with guests and how to use the computer system. When I finally stepped in, the hardest part was understanding the Disney dining plan and remembering to designate a pager to every order BEFORE I push total. If I don't put a pager number in, the kitchen won't know what number to page, so they'll have to call me or vice versa and to let them know what number goes with what meal order. After a while I got a better hang of the position, and it was getting easier to give back change.

Day Four (Afternoon Cashier): This was a much better day than the previous because I already had a basic idea on how to do the role. The only difference was the food because we switch from breakfast to lunch/dinner at 11 o'clock, so the computer switches menu options. Once again I was having a difficult time remembering to add pagers to orders, but by the end of the day I was making sure that was the first thing I did when someone came to pay for their food so I didn't forget. I really like afternoon shifts more than morning. Not only because I don't have to wake up at 4 or 5:30 in the morning to be ready in time to catch the bus, but the restaurant isn't as crowded and crazy. A couple days ago I went to Magic Kingdom with a couple of my roommates and we ate at Casey's Corner. Let me tell you, I'm SO happy I didn't get a QSR in MK or any other busy park. Casey's is ridiculously CRAZY busy!! I would probably stress way too much in a situation like that. It really makes me appreciate my location. At the end of my afternoon cashier shift, my trainer showed me how to take the money from the cash register to put it in the bank and counting to see if we came out even or not from the beginning of the day.

Day Five (AmBUSSador): This was the longest shift of my life. The job was really easy, and we actually had one more person than usual doing the job because I was training and needed a trainer with me to help. However, the scheduling somehow got funky and my trainer actually started work two hours before me, leaving our breaks at different times. I was basically on my own during a majority of the job, which was totally fine because it's a super easy one. All I have to do is make sure everything is stocked on the condiments bar (napkins, untensils, etc.) and clean tables and keep the dining room area clean. If I get the beverage side of the job, I also have to clean the drink machines. It's not hard, but it was a nice change of pace because we were SLOW that day. Oh, did I mention my shift lasted until 1:30 in the morning? Yeah...Captain Cook's is a 24 hour location for snacks and drinks, so I had to see what they did to prepare for the morning after and the graveyard shift before I was able to go home. I actually ended up not doing much besides restocking napkins and bussing a few tables for the last two hours of my shift because hardly anyone was coming in. A few of my roommates surprised me at work while I was cleaning the drink machines, which was nice. By the end of my shift I was the only one on the bus back home, which is a long 40 or so minute drive thanks to all the stops we have to make before we actually head back to the Chatham bus stop. I was definitely exhausted by the time I got back to my apartment.

That concluded my on the job training! I had two days off and then yesterday I had a work class for about three hours in the morning so technically I count that as another day off. Today is going to be my first day of work without a trainer, but I still have to take my assessment to officially "earn my ears." I honestly have no idea when that's going to happen because another CP that works with me finished her training on Saturday, and still hasn't taken her assessment even though she's been working on her own ever since. We'll just have to wait and see!

Resort Hopping and Traditions!

I am SO sorry for not posting lately!! Training has started and it's been absolutely all over the place. However today is my last day of training and I have the night shift so I have some free time this morning to share with all of you what's been going on! I'll start with the first week after I left off with a tour of my new apartment in Patterson.

At the Polynesian Resort beach with Sarah and Sara!

After checking in and a few days off to use for shopping and getting settled, we had our housing meeting at The Commons (the international apartment complex). A lot of people were warning us that it was boring, but it really wasn't that bad. They mainly just went over the policies with what items you can't you can't have in your apartment, if you want to bring guests into your apartment, etc. After this, my roommates and I decided to go resort hopping for our first adventure together! We really wanted to check out where we were working (for those of us not in the parks like me), so we hopped on a bus and made our first stop at my work location, the Polynesian Resort. Let me just say, my resort is breathtaking! It's like the people who placed me there saw all of my tropical photos on my tumblr and decided "Let's put her somewhere like that." Okay, maybe not, but still it's really a perfect location for me. After we spent time on the beach and exploring the location more, we hopped on the monorail and went to the Contemporary, where my roommate Briana is working in merchandise. We spent so much time in the gift shop! After the Contemporary, we needed to somehow find a way to the Wilderness Lodge, where Sara is working. It's kind of awkwardly in a different area without a monorail, but still close to Magic Kingdom so we decided to just take a stop at MK and go on a bus to the Wilderness Lodge. I am absolutely obsessed with Sara's resort. My family would go camping at least once or twice a year during the summer, so it really reminded me of home. It also reminded me of Lake Tahoe, where my grandparents live and where I've been able to visit many many times.

Where I work!

The Wilderness Lodge was the end of our visiting journey for exploring our work locations for the night, so we decided to head back to the Polynesian and eat dinner at my work location, Captain Cook's. I don't know if it was this day exactly, but this was where I had my first ever Dole Whip! SO good! After dinner we needed to head to the bus stop and go back home because Briana and Sara had early morning Traditions the next day.

Which brings me to my next important event: Traditions!!

Traditions is the ever-famous Disney orientation where you finally become an official Disney cast member. I'm honestly not going to explain too much about it because most of it needs to be kept a secret for future cast members, but I'll tell you a brief bit of what to expect.

Many CPs are pretty nervous about being able to dress appropriate to "The Disney Look" for traditions, but honestly just make sure you're presentable and wearing clothes that are conservative and business like with closed toed shoes and you'll be fine. I just wore one of my few outfits I would wear to scholarship interviews when I was in high school. I don't have a picture right now but it was just a nice shirt and black slacks with flats. Pretty simple! I would NOT recommend wearing heels to Traditions because you will be doing a lot of walking. Traditions lasts around four hours, and yes there were some boring moments where a lot of people almost fell asleep, but overall it was a good experience and we finally got our Disney IDs and name tags!! (I might actually order a new ID with my hometown on it, since I don't technically go to the college on my name tag anymore.)

Many people know that after you go to Traditions, you can officially access the Disney parks for free whenever you'd like. Since our class was in the afternoon and finished after six and the park closed at around eight, we decided to just go back to the apartment and relax to get ready for going to the parks the next day. Some people rushed home and rushed to MK within the same day as Traditions, but honestly we weren't in any hurry because we knew we had five more months to visit them whenever we felt like it!

If you have any more questions about Traditions or the like, let me know. I'll do my best to answer them!