DCP: On The Job

There was plenty of information about working in recreation on your CP when it came to Children;s Activities and a good bit of info about Marina, so I thought I had a clear picture of what I could be doing down here. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong. I am assigned to the marina so I do work on the docks from time to time but I am primarily assigned to work Gates.

My location is the Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, home to the absolutely wonderful Stormalong Bay. The bottom of the pool is covered in sand, there is a lazy river in the middle of the pool complex, and the wrecked ship on the beach is home to the top of a pretty killer water slide. This awesomeness caused many people from other resorts to travel to our pool and crowd out the Y&B guests, prompting the need for a way to control who gets into the pool. Guests need a current reservation at Y&B to get onto the pool deck which means that somebody has to stand at the four entrances and tap Magic Bands all day. That somebody is me.

I was not prepared at all for how physically demanding this work is. I am on my feet from 8:45 in the morning to 7:15 pm with one 30 and one 45 minute break during the day. I always have about four hours between my first break and my second but sometimes my first break is at 10:30 in the morning – way too early to eat my lunch – so by my second break I am starving and feel sick.  My heels constantly feel like they are bruised and my knees and hips have started to ache whenever I move. There are some crazy long days on gates where I am pretty sure my entire body is going to fall apart before I get to the break room to clock out and go home.

That being said, I adore my coworkers. The other CPs and I get along pretty well and the full timers are equally wonderful. I will always complain about my job itself but I could never complain about the place I work. The people are wonderful, the resort is beautiful, and of course the company is magical. I am 100% enjoying my perks like the free admission and cast discount (and probably spending way too much money with the latter). I am so grateful for this experience and everything I am learning about myself from it.

DCP: Move in Day!

I know everybody and their mother has covered what move in day is all about but I want to add my two cents about this whole triple occupancy thing. And also to talk about myself because that’s my favorite topic ;)

Three of my roommates and I had stayed a couple nights at Disney’s All-Star Music Resort so we woke up bright and early and only had a short-ish drive over to check in. I was scheduled for the earlier check-in with one of my roommates while the other four were at the second one. Since I didn’t bring a car down I got a ride with my other early check-in roomie and off we went. The line was already long-ish when we arrived and it was barely past the start of the check-in window. After waiting a bit we found out that we were definitely roommates (hooray!) and were living in Chatham (also hooray!). That was also when I found out that I would be working in the marina a for my recreation role, but more on that later.

We got our keys and checked in a few other places and then I found out he roommate who brought me to check-in and was supposed to drive us to the apartment had her casting right away. So I was stranded! Thankfully the cast members running check in put me on a bus that went from Vista to Chatham and I was the first one into the apartment. I set up the internet right away because I am nothing without my wifi and then claimed a bed. We hadn’t exactly talked about the whole bunk bed situation before then other than if somebody absolutely didn’t want the top bunk. I chose the semi-lofted single bed because I’m used to them. I probably should have waited until everybody was there so we could have all picked beds, especially since I also picked the largest room, but that’s just a lesson to you all: discuss things beforehand if you get that triple occupancy email!

One of my roommates had recently had arm surgery and she was the next person to show up so I helped her get all of her stuff from her car. I only had two suitcases and my two carry-ons so it was nothing to get my things inside. Everybody else showed up and we moved them in and the rest of the day was mostly spent attempting to find where to put everything. We didn’t find out for a while that we were able to use 3M Command strips so the apartment was super boring looking for ages.

We went shopping at Target to buy food and apartment stuff like bed pillows (necessary) and a cute shower curtain (obviously also necessary) that night and I spent far too much money. It ended up being so worth it, though, because the apartment started feeling more like home and less like an alien planet that I was visiting. It definitely still feels a bit odd, but I think it’ll get better once I start working regularly!

Care Packages 2.0

Last week I wrote about how to build the perfect care package. There are a few problems with the traditional care box, though. The biggest one is that they just take so dang long to get together! There’s the trips to buy everything, finding the right box, taking it to the post office, paying for postage. I’m exhausted just thinking about it! So for those of you who are busy busy, I’m going to give you a few updated ideas on how to get your far away loved ones a little something without needing to spend too much time getting everything in order.

Subscription services are an internet staple but not many people build the bridge to being able to buy them for others. The gifts don’t have to be indefinite subscriptions that you keep paying for – they are just as easy to cancel as they are to set up. A few years ago for Christmas I gave my mom 6 months of Netflix. I’m still paying for the Netflix but that’s a different story ;). There is something for every interest – and every pocketbook.

1. Oyster Books – When I tell friends about this company I describe it as Netflix for books. They have over 500,000 books in their library and they have apps for Apple, Google Play, and Kindle Fire as well as the ability to read in your browser. I absolutely adore Oyster! I’ve read so many more books for fun in the past month than I did through all of college thanks to this app (and my long commutes). The variety of genres is pretty astounding and there’s absolutely something for every type of reader.

2. Loot Crate – For the geek in your life, look into Loot Crate for an awesome gift box alternative. The box comes filled to the brim with merchandise goodies to tickle any fancy and all of the products are top quality. I haven’t personally tried this one; I heard about it when I saw an unboxing video on YouTube and was so jealous of the things she got! From what I can tell each box comes with something wearable, a few figures/collectibles, and stickers. The stickers are a major selling point for me!

3. Kiwi Crate – I stumbled upon Kiwi Crate when looking for fun projects to do with my favorite little munchkin during our days together last summer. I never ended up ordering one because it was just easier to keep him out of his momma’s hair when we left the house. What I did find when looking around for information was quality activities with a wide age range (from age 3 up to and through 16) that look to all be things that kids actually want to do. If your loved one is pint sized or has a munchkin of their own this would be an amazing gift for them!

4. Blissmo Box – For your earth conscious friends, check out Blissmo! It’s a sample box service centered around eco-friendly products and organic food. They send a bit of each every month, featuring well known brands as well as new things your eco-pal might not have heard of yet! The company also has StarBell (boxes tailored to stressed students), GiftLeaf (individual Blissmo boxes), and BreakBox (multiple size boxes to keep breakroom snacks healthy). I can’t wait to try this one out, it’s been on my list for a while! This is a great option for college students or workaholics to keep them from all the junk food from getting them down.

5. Birchbox – Now that Birchbox has TV commercials I am sure a good number of you are familiar with this company but it never hurts to stick with a tried and true staple of the subscription world. Birchbox sends samples of top quality beauty products to your door and makes it easy to order the products that you loved in their shop. Since they make boxes for both him and her, Birchbox is a wonderful option for somebody who needs a bit of pampering and love from far away.

I hope you consider one of these options next time you want to send somebody your love from far away. They’re quick and easy for you but still an amazing gift in the end! Do you like the idea of using subscription services to take the place of care packages? What other services would you add to this list?

Have a great day!

How to Build a Care Package (& a Printable)

In my opinion the best part about going away to school was the care packages. For my first two years I did not have a car on campus so I went home very rarely. It was sooo nice to get care packages from family and friends to have a bit of home in my dorm. Care packages aren’t just for college kids from parents, though! So many other people will appreciate a little box just as much:

• Someone who just moved to a new city
• A friend you haven’t seen in a while
• Those loving parents you just left
• A student studying abroad
• Someone who moved away for an internship in Florida ;)

The best thing about care packages is that they don’t have to be big or expensive to be wonderful. They can be extravagant, of course, but at the very least they should contain one thing from three different categories: cute, consumable, cozy. Read on for ideas to fit each category and for a nifty wish list printable to either hand to the loved one you’d like to make them a box or to fill out on your own and leave in really obvious places for your family to find. 

DCP: Nail Polish Wish List

According to the Disney Look female cast members may have their nails painted if they are  an ‘appropriate, neutral color’ which includes ‘deeper, richer shades of polish’ – a description which sounds like something of a contradiction but what do I know. Black, gold, silver, multicolored, and neon polishes are definitely out which is fine by me since I don’t really wear any of those. I will dearly miss my glitter polishes, though!

Another few that I am going to miss are my lovely pale purple and blue polishes that I got just a few weeks before school ended. I suspect they don’t quite fall under the ‘neutral’ category. In the face of many long months of wearing a uniform, I’ve decided I’ll probably want to paint my nails a little more often to change things up where I can. I’ve put together a few things that I want in my arsenal to liven life up a bit without getting too wild and crazy:

Old Navy sale!

This morning I got an email from my lovely friend Katie telling me that Old Navy Outlets are having a store wide 40% off sale through next Sunday. Score! I’m sorely in need of new warm weather clothes for Florida so I hopped in my car and drove the 30 minutes to the outlet mall near me.

I love the word sale. Sometimes it gets me into trouble because I’m more likely to over spend when things are on sale. Just the word makes me feel like I’m getting an amazing deal. I would probably buy something for $20 if it had a sale sticker on it even if the regular price was also $20.

Thankfully 40% off is actually an amazing deal and I hit gold:

Sweet summer time!

Next weekend is the first official day of summer. That means shorts weather! Cook outs! Vacation! Bonfires! Hooray! But for me summer starts when these bad boys hit the freezer:


Freezer pops are my must have for summer. I know straight up sugar water isn’t good for me or my teeth but I inhale these things. I’m also incredibly picky about them! What a strange thing to have a preference for, I know, but it’s a real thing. My favorite brand is Pop-Ice in the fruit flavors variety. They come in “regular” 1 oz. size and GIANT 1.5 oz. size.

When I get a box home I throw the whole thing in the freezer and let them sit over night. There’s something to be said for that quick freeze where there aren’t any jagged ice crystals in the pop. They taste… smoother is probably the wrong word for it but it’s closest to what I feel they’re like.

The other day, after putting a box in the night before, I pulled a sheet of pops out only to find they weren’t quite frozen yet. But imagine my surprise when they all started icing up in my hand! They had super cooled without freezing and when I grabbed them the cascade was set off! Google “mythbusters instant frozen beer” to learn the science behind it and see some cool experiments.

And yes I did eat that whole bunch of freezer pops in one go, I can’t help myself! It’s probably a good idea to take them all apart once they’re frozen so you’re not tempted to binge like I do and can enjoy them one little treat at a time.

What rings in summer for you?

Favorite new Starbucks Drink

Starbucks, Sbux, *$, whatever you want to call it, there’s one undeniable fact: we’re all completely stupid over their stuff. We’ll pay out the nose for it, gladly. The only better thing to happen to the beverage world in recent memory is that Disney now has multiple Starbucks locations on grounds. Maybe you’re the ‘oooh, fight the power, down with Starbucks’ kind of person, okay, that’s fine. But would you turn down a cold frappuccino on an 85 degree day? Probably not, they’re amazing.

Until recently, the double chocolate chip frap (double blended with no whip) was my favorite Starbucks beverage. I would even get it in the winter when the temperatures were in the negatives, I liked it so much. It will still my go-to if I need something chocolatey but there’s a new boss in town and it’s the Shaken Tea Lemonades.

I like both the green and the black teas but I haven’t tried the passion fruit yet so I’m not sure if that one is great or not. I’m not huge on fruit teas so I don’t expect to like it. Oops. I usually get them sweetened but the black tea one is okay unsweetened – green tea not so much. They also taste better in the grande size, something about the ratio of stuff I guess. So for the rest of the summer I will be paying way too much for what is essentially Arnold Palmer and I’ll be damn happy while doing it.

Adventures in babysitting: balls and boxes

Any mom, aunt, babysitter, occasional bystander when children are present knows that no matter how expensive the toy is the box will always be a bigger hit. Today Kaleb and I put a smallish box at the bottom of the stairs, got a few different sized balls from his toy bin and went to town. He always enjoys throwing balls up the stairs and letting them roll down but adding in the challenge of trying to get them to land in the box made him so excited

We did that for almost half an hour and he would have kept playing if it hadn’t been nap time! I think that’s my favorite thing about little kids: when they love something they really, really love it. They’ll play with the same toy for hours or watch the same Mickey Mouse Club House episode a dozen times in a row. And maybe it’s annoying for us as adults but trying to get them to do something else isn’t worth it in the end. Let them love what they love as much as they can, don’t teach them that there is a limit to how much they can enjoy the world.

Shopping is in my future

After four years in a sorority, I have amassed a pretty solid collection of business casual pin attire. This was a godsend when I realized I would need to be in business attire for the first week or so of training at Disney. And then it was terrible when I realized that most of my clothes were suited for September through May in Wisconsin – thick dress pants, thick blazers, ect. I do have a good handful of dresses but most of them need cardigans or blazers over them to be considered okay for the workplace (thinner straps or low backs, purchased because I knew I’d be wearing something over them). I’m absolutely not going to want to wear any layers in the heat and humidity of August in Florida, so back to the drawing board I go. Or rather, back to the racks.

I need to wait after this next weekend before I can actually go buy anything so I’ve been doing a bit of window shopping online to see what there is to see. I’m wish the sale on shirts at J.Crew Factory would still be going on then but that’s the struggle. It’s so hard for me to buy things online anyhow, I’d likely have had to send at least half of what I bought back because the fit was wrong.

Here are a few combinations I’m feeling today, a mood board of sorts for what I aim to look for at the stores.

 

Dress & Necklace | Floral Shirt & Skirt | Pink Shirt & Patterned Skirt

Here’s to hoping I have a more productive trip a week or so from now than when I went to the mall on Friday. I went to about six stores and not a single pencil skirt in any of them fit me. There were a few that might have worked with the touch of a tailor. But what’s the point of spending all that money on a good skirt only to spend additional money to have half the thing lopped off? Shopping the petite section only gets me so far – I have to size up my jeans because my butt is so big. The petite sizes are no better in the end.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!