In an attempt to stop spending money and eating excessively I have opted for a ‘quiet’ night in, although I have succeeded on the no spending front I find myself eating anything an everything in my cupboard, as I write this I am munching on a oatmeal and raisin cookie, in addition I have the entire box within arms reach and I can pretty much guarantee I will embrace the American eating habits and finish the box tonight. But its ok oats are healthy and raisin is a fruit so its a healthy snack by US standards. Admittedly this is quite a bizarre way to start a post supposed to be about my life in Florida, however its actually quite appropriate because I firstly want to bring to everyone’s attention the food out here sucks (see, Ive fully grasped the American lingo already) everything is trans fat this and added cheese that, vegetables are near impossible to find and according to a very sweet yet incredibly misguided lady in walmart, fries are considered one of my five a day because a potato – according to Americans is considered a vegetable.

Im probably been over harsh on the notoriously bad US eating ethics, and this is not intended to be offensive or in any way representative of the American people, in fact the opposite, as I have met some fantastic people from all over the US, their warmth and friendliness towards me has been incredible,  but when one is used to a particular eating habit  and thrown in to a calorie / carb / fried food fest its difficult to adapt. Ok rant over I think I’ve made my opinions clear on the food out here, so I shall continue with what people actually want to hear about DISNEY!

Recently I have been feeling disappointed with this years program, of course I love been here, and I love the company but I don’t feel I am suitable for the role of mousekeeping, the work is hard, physical and by its very nature carries an element of isolation, I don’t object to the physicality of the work I actually enjoy the challenge – its the lack of contact with people that was eating away at my positivity, whilst bordering on arrogant I feel I can say my skill set lies within the boundaries of customer service and being taken out of the guest arena is somewhat demotivating. However I am very fortunate to work for a exceptionally supportive manager who I believe does have my best interests at heart, so after a week or so of moaning and a dubiously high amount self doubt  I am beginging to see my potential within housekeeping and I now believe I can make just as much impact aesthetically as I can with face to face contact. Although I still feel I am yet to reach the peak of my pessimism, day by day I can feel the positivity starting to resurface and therefore don’t mind getting up at 6am as much as I did before.

Having worked in a guest facing environment for the majority of my (arguably short) working life I still crave the interaction with people, so thanks to the extra hours hotline(EHH as its collectively referred to in Disney*) I have been working at the Magic Kingdom as a parade audience controller. I pick up shifts when available and it means a long day because I work at pop in the day then MK at night, but I do not consider PAC to be work, this to me is fun I essentially get paid to watch the fireworks and nightly parade, the people interaction is great and I pick up overtime pay which is always a nice boost to the wage packet. I was fortunate to be working on 4^th July this year (yes fortunate I do love PAC) and the independence day celebrations were incredible although clearly not American I couldn’t help but feel in total awe at the huge fireworks display choreographed to star spangled banner, although I don’t  pretend to know where the strong sense of American pride stems from, judging by the fireworks display at MK my guess would be .... Disney. So yeah in short I love PAC.

At this time I am a little behind on my blogging, I do have loads to write about but feel any one post can only be so long so am having to constrain myself to ensure you don’t get bored, I hope what I am writing so far is interesting and provides an insight in to what Im getting up to here in Florida. So thanks for continually reading you attention is appreciated. See ya real soon   

*- Disney Thrive on acronyms if it can be abbreviated, it is. I could laboriously detail examples but the relevancy is questionable and I doubt most of you will even be interested.    

wooop first post on us soil

Wow I actually love my life, it currently consists of beaches, cocktails, beer, amazing food, perfect weather, fireworks and of course Disney.  As my previous posts were fairly mundane and didn’t really instil much excitement I thought I would postpone my blogging until events demanded a post be created.  Therefore as I sit in my Chatham Square apartment I happen to be writing  my first post on US soil and this time I have an abundance of exciting Disney related news to report on. The only difficulty is where to start, the flight would be sensible but I think we all know the intricacies of a long haul flight and apart from a entertaining attempt by me and laura to name as many Disney characters as possible (we managed about 70) there is nothing extra ordinary to bring to your attention. Nor with our arrival in Orlando the journey was pretty average, and despite been considerably delayed in Miami due to the notorious Floridian storms we arrived in Orlando with out any issues, although through a fortunate error immigration at Miami had to extend my visa by a further 6 months – very useful if I actually had the funds or purpose  to stay in the US however at the time of writing i have neither, but nice to have the option.

After collecting bags we made our way to Vista Way to check in to our home for the next few months, I always love been greeted by very happy, very enthusiastic members of the housing operations department and despite been horrifically tired you also make a valiant attempt to be just as happy and enthusiastic. After an initial introduction you are issued with your key – a critical moment which much anticipation had surrounded, however the god of housing operations smiled on me and although Patterson was unavailable I was lucky to be allocated Chatham. So far so good the rooms are great actually bigger then Patterson which is nice and I have some pretty cool roommates, and quite bizarrely a strange sense of de ja vue (yes spelling isnt my forte - nor is french, but you get the idea)   as I am again sharing with 2 Turkish, guys, 2 French guys and 2 British guys, in addition this year we also have 2 Dutch guys which is great and we are all getting on pretty well. 

As anticipated the first 2 days of Disney were spent in the commons club room going through the laborious, monotonous paperwork and housing regulations  although its for our benefit it is undoubtably the most boring 2 days of the program.  Plus side, we did get our specific role assignments and this is always a fun moment to compare locations, its clear to see who is elated with their location and who is majorly disappointed with where they will be working for the summer. Im afraid I was bordering more on the disillusioned side as it was confirmed i will be working at pop century, although in complete contrast to my previous experience I will now be working in a value resort, not exactly what I wanted but open mind and all that so the show must go on.

My first couple of days on location were actually alot different to what I was expecting, I envisioned a Travelodge style hotel with dull decor, miserable staff and dilapidated building, but of course this is Disney and with that comes the notorious level of guest service, instead i was greeted with a flamboyant, colourful, immaculately maintained pleasant resort that carried a not so subtle element of entertainment . For those of you that don’t  know pop century is a themed hotel that features different decades from the 50’s  to the 90’s  and exhibits over size iconic items appropriate to the decade, so the 90s building has a huge (and I mean huge) cell phone on either side, its difficult to depict in writing so see the photo below to fully exemplify the eccentricity of this resort.

At this point I feel I should talk about traditions although slightly out of sequence it is a defiantly worth a mention. For most traditions is a little dull, I however love the traditions class it really emphasises the value of the Disney company and what it means to people across the world, and to be a part of that is incredibly exciting. Traditions really does instill a sense of pride and also a momentary period of self reflections as you consider your own ability to make magic. (yes I know cheesy, but when you think over 3000 people applied for this position and less then 500 were selected really does make you want to do the best you can do for the guests.

Well I think that’s enough for this blog, I have another one already in the pipe line so see ya real soon

  

lets give this another go ...

So this is my second blog post, the first, as expected did not prove to be an internet sensation nor did it catapult me in to the domain of online stardom. So with no photo shoots for glossy magazines to attend or celebrity parties to partake in I find my self writing the second instalment of my diary as a mousekeeper. Furthermore I have accepted the nature of this blog has shifted from being an attention-grabbing, entertaining, informative insight in to the world of Disney to more of a personal hobby, which serves the simple purpouse of passing time (which I have way too much of since finishing uni) but Mandela, Ghandi or Walt Disney him self didn’t give up at the first post (no generic blogging pun intended) and therefore I have decided to continue with the diary of a mousekeeper.

Purely coincidently I happen to write this particular post once again on a Tuesday, and once again many fellow cast members are on their way to (perhaps already arrived ) at Disney, since last week my envy has grown and grown, I am seeing pictures of people recivcing their costumes or reading status updates about traditions class, or where they are working or where they are living etc and in the nicest possible way – I hate you all – I say this with love, as my jealously stems from my strong desire to be out there too. I unfortunately have to wait another 18days or so which on reflection isn’t long at all, but right now Disney is on my mind 24/7 – If I were taken to a psychiatrists im pretty sure the prognosis would be a slight touch of Disney obsession.  But good things come to those who wait (or some other variety of cliché) and I too will be out in Orlando very soon.

Today I was in two minds as to whether I should create this post, part of me is screaming to write as much as I can about my favourite subject and another part of me thinks A) who cares and B) why waste everyone’s time because admittedly as of yet I don’t actually have anything to report, so I aim to keep this short as possible. But if most of you reading this know me then I think we know this probably wont happen.

So what is new this week? Well honestly I don’t have much to report, I did buy a new suit for traditions and that I’m afraid is about the most exciting news I have. Although I don’t have anything remotely Disney to report I have been thinking a lot about my experience last year and have spent most of the week praying to the God of Disney Housing Operations that I am allocated patterson court as my housing complex. Last year was incredible we had the best people living at patterson and my roommates were amazing we all got on so well (guys if your reading this you all rock – Baris & Everan WTF crazy turkish!!!) and I just hope I am fortunate enough this year to get a similar group of people.

Well I meant what I said about keeping it short so I think that’s enough for now I don’t want to bore everyone at my second post. Have a Magical day folks, till next time… se ya real soon ;-)  

Not that I’m counting but in exactly 25 days 19 hours and 25 minutes, I will be onboard a plane heading in the general direction of Orlando. Holiday (or vacation ?) it is not but I am still unbelievably excited as once again I will be working for the Mouse. So in just under a month it will be good bye England and hello Disney. Given the recent explosion of Disney bloggers, I too thought I would jump on the blogging bandwagon and share my experience about working in the happiest place on earth.

I feel like I should start this blog with the usual who I am, where I come from, what my favourite part of working for Disney is … etc etc but I am pretty confident this will come out in due course. So therefore I guess for the majority of people reading this, the only information you actually care about is the following question (which I promise to fellow cast members heading out for the first time, is the only question you will  hear continually for about 4 weeks) What is your Role? – Well this year my role in the show is …..Mousekeeping. sounds like I am a personal assistant to the mouse him self right? I wish. Im afraid my role is not as exciting as it sounds, I do however get to create magic ever day for our valued guests, let me explain -  I will be working in one of the Disney resorts in the housekeeping department. Typically this role is looked down on but realistically plays a vital contribution to the overall guest experience, the mousekeeping team make sure the rooms are cleaned to the highest of Disney standards every day. We make the beds, clean the rooms and throw in a few magical moments along the way to ensure the guests enjoy every aspect of their stay. Although I am expecting it to be hard work, I can honestly say I am looking forward to it – plus my work area is fully air conditioned and I promise when the Florida. heat hits you, you will be envious of us mousekeepers

So as you have already guessed, this is my second season working for Disney, if you are going out for the first time, I promise it will be the best summer of your life, although there are countless websites, blogs, help sheets already out there if you have question you can not find an answer too then feel free to email me (adamtumelty@hotmail.co.uk) and I will do my very best to give you the answer you are looking for. or just add me on good old Facebook. Anyway the purpose of this blog is not for me to appear big headed so moving on.

As I write this I know many fellow cast members are already on a flight out to Orlando – and for those who have been periodically delayed due to an Icelandic volcano, hang in there you will be out in Disney soon enough just keep smiling after all you work for Disney now its kinda within you job description.

If you have read this far then I congratulate you, as this is my first ever attempt at blogging. I do not proclaim to be a journalist able of creating capitulating  scenes nor do I accept that I am by any means a professional social media-ite, but I hope what ever I post over the forthcoming weeks will be an insight in to my season working for the Walt Disney Company. Although blogging by its very nature is a somewhat pointless exercise, I do however have a subliminal objective if this is of any use (or interest) to just one of you then my “writing” has served it purpose. Good luck to all those starting with  Disney this summer look forward to meeting as many of you as possible and for those who have wilfully chosen to follow my blog thank youuuu (send me your address and I will make sure a postcard or two arrives whilst I am in the US of A)