Continued....

So, where was I...

Oh yeah! After finally being let out of immigration, we grabbed our cases which I assume had been going round and round on the luggage carousels until somebody from the airport took them all off and left them at the side, and just grabbed the first taxi we saw. The airport was nice and cool and air conditioned inside, but the heat suddenly hit us when we made our way to the taxi rank. I was dripping!! Nice image there, I know...

T'was all very exciting in the taxi - especially when we saw our first Disney sign:

The drive wasn't very long at all, and we were soon pulling into Vista Way where we needed to check in; Vista Way is the largest set of apartments for its college program employees and is where the welcome centre is situated. We didn't make the best of first impressions though as our taxi driver drove round a corner and straight into a metal sign that had been placed there by Disney to welcome the ICPers. There was a massive bang, and I'm sure there must be a good few scratches on the taxi - we definitely made an entrance! Despite this we received a lovely welcome. Everyone working at the welcome centre were just so excited! I also couldn't believe the organisation of it all - superb!

Taken by the lady who was checking us in. Her name was Cathy and she kept "yee haa"ing at us....

Most of us had been placed in the Chatham Square complex. It's such a lovely place! I was placed in an 8-person apartment, where the 7 other girls were all American and they had been there for a month already. I was under the impression that we would be placed with people who were starting the program the same time as us, but never mind - it's all part of the experience, meeting new people from around the world! The only bug I have with this is that my flatmates finish their program in August and will therefore be moving out - which means I'll get thrown out of my appartment and will have to move elsewhere and into a different apartment. Don't think I mentioned to Disney how much I hate packing... Hmmm :(

Once we had unpacked a little, and met the flatmates etc we headed over to Walmart. Words I'd use to describe this experience? HORRIBLE MISTAKE! Walmart was absolutely heaving!! It's a gigantic store, but it was just full of people and their huge "carts" - I assume a lot were international CPers too who all wanted to buy the same things. So it became a grab and go situation!! I bought the necessities such as a pillow, phone and straighteners (yes, I do class them as a necessity!) and left - we just decided that we'd head back the next day to think about buying food (I suppose that was a necessity too though...). We were absolutely exhausted by this point as it was approaching midnight - awake for at least 24 hrs straight!!

Since we arrived, we've generally just been involved in different types of meetings and talks - I don't think I've ever done so much paperwork! There is literally a form for everything! Our first timetabled event was an "International Recruiting Welcome Session" which roughly translates as a 4 hour lecture on immigration and what not to do while you are working for Walt Disney World. It all started off a little strange: we were taken off in groups of around 5 where we were literally inspected to check that we adhered to the "Disney Look". I was fine, but I really felt for quite a few of the girls who have been told to dye their hair for the tiniest of things. It's all very strict, but I know that Disney does have a huge reputation to uphold!

During this session, the immigration talks were SCARY! The presentation was Toy Story themed (I assume to ease the tension a little), but it made no difference! We were told that there are "predators" everywhere who are basically out to get us and are going to steal all our money by telling us that they can get us US citizenship (who on earth would actually fall for that?!) and that if we disobey any of our immigration "rules" then it's deportation for us! The immigration officer also decided to tell us that if any of these rules are broken then he can just come and arrest us. But only if he can be bothered. If he can't then security just won't let us into our apartments. And oh, he has a gun. Lovely chap.

Awake. Which must have meant that this was taken just before the talks started...

Thanks Buzz - got the message!

The afternoon of this day was again spent having our immigration documents checked, but it was also for getting us our "housing IDs"; enabling us to get in and out of apartment complexes (no park passes yet!). Again, it was a very efficient process: documents, photo, card printed, done! This is where we were also introduced to the concept of the 3 S's. We were asked what should we always wear on entering the apartment complexes. Seeing as we were dealing with housing IDs, I thought the answer was exactly that. WRONG! The answer was: a smile! Duuuh Bethan! So, the 3 S's:

Stop. Show (housing ID). Smile!

Hey look! I'm smiling!

Today, again consisted of some more orientation - but just the afternoon today! We met with the training coordinators where we received our training schedules and paycards and other shiz. I found out today that I would be working at....

Honey I Shrunk The Kids Playground, Hollywood Studios

At first, I wasn't sure what to make of that... it's not the most exciting attraction and I assumed it would just involve me watching kids playing. I also requested it (can't think for the life of me why). But then I realised how grumpy and ungrateful I sounded! This experience is just going to be what you make of it, so it's positive thinking for me from now on! Lots of people have said that it's where the parents like to cool off so hopefully it will allow me lots of guest interaction. Also, seeing as it's outside, it means I should get a nice tan too!

The real training starts tomorrow with our "Traditions" class, learning about the history of the Walt Disney company. It's also where we get our name badges and park passes yay!! The only downside? A 6:50am start. But seeing as it's for Disney, I don't care!! I'll update more once Traditions and Hollywood Studios orientation is all done and dusted.

You'll be glad to know though, that it hasn't been all work and no play! Last night we headed over to Downtown Disney, while tonight we're going to hit the Boardwalk. And seeing as our Traditions class is just in the morning tomorrow, we'll receive our park passes during the class, just in time to hit Magic Kingdom in the afternoon! More about that in another post!

And one final thing, just to rub in how good the weather is here: I spent all morning at the apartment's pool today!!