Fall 2011 vs. Spring Advantage 2013
I few days ago I had an anon ask me if I liked my second CP as much as my first one. To be honest, it's quite difficult to compare the two. Even if I just count my actual cp from January-mid June when I started my PI, this CP was still longer than fall 2011. Anyway, that anon inspired me to do a little breakdown of my CPs by role, roommates, etc.
Fall 2011: I worked Quick Service Food and Beverage at ABC Commissary at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Because I'd previously worked in a fast food restaurant, I wasn't crazy about my role. With the exception of being kitchen trained, something I never did at my old job, I was basically doing the same thing I'd already done. While I expected that going in and I was just so excited to be doing the program that I didn't care much about my role, it was still a little disappointing and I wish I had been able to do something different. Also, while I loved working at Hollywood Studios, my location wasn't ideal. With the exception of some rushes during lunch and dinner hours, it was pretty slow and I'm the type of person who needs to be kept busy or else I end up staring at the clock and time feels like it drags on and on. All that said, I worked with an incredible group of people who I love and still miss. It was a smaller location so I actually knew almost every single person I worked with.
Spring Advantage 2013: For my second program, I was Merchandise at World of Disney at Downtown Disney. I'm pretty sure I secured my spot on the WOD Squad when my interviewer asked if I said I preferred to work at a fast or slow pace and I said I needed to work somewhere busy, otherwise I stare at the clock. What better place for me to work than World of Disney, the world's largest Disney store? This store is massive, crazy busy, overwhelming, and stressful. But I loved it. I still remember going into World of Disney a day or two after check in and thinking to myself that there was no way I could work there. Then at training, I was just so overwhelmed with information that I was sure I would never remember it all. I even considered trying to get retrained at ABC so that I could trade my WOD shifts to work there. However, it didn't take long for me to pick it all up and for the store that once seemed enormous to suddenly feel so small. I worked with great people and unlike ABC, my shifts almost always flew by. The one thing I missed about ABC though was the feeling of family I guess among the Cast Members. Over 600 Cast Members work at World of Disney so there's no way for you to know them all. I actually had two roommates that worked at WOD as well and there'd be nights we'd be home talking about work and one of us would mention someone in a story and the others would be like, "Who?" Of course, there were people all three of us knew, but there were plenty we didn't. And also, more CMs means more opportunities for drama, something there was no shortage of at WOD. A day wouldn't go by without rumors going around about who was dating who or so and so said something about someone else. That's another plus for ABC; there was very little drama.
Conclusion: While there were things I loved about ABC Commissary, I definitely enjoyed my time at World of Disney more. I'm sure that if I had accepted a PI after fall 2011 I wouldn't have ever picked up ABC shifts, whereas now, I check the hub every single day for a World of Disney shift I can pick up so I can go visit some of my favorite people that still work there.
Fall 2011: One of the best parts about working at Hollywood Studios were the hours. Except for EMH nights, the park was never open later than 10. What was even better about my location was that we were only open from 11-a half hour before the park, or park close once the Osborne Lights started. We were even only open for the first hour of EMH nights so the latest I think I ever got scheduled at ABC was 11 and that was rare. My shifts were usually between 6-10 hours, with my longest shift being 12:15-2 am on New Year's Eve when I was deployed to Studios ODV.
Spring Advantage 2013: We all know CP stands for Closing Person. I almost always closed at ABC Commissary but that still meant most of my shifts were over around 9-10. Not a big deal. Where I said above that the latest I got scheduled at ABC was 11, that became an early night at WOD. The store closes at 11 from Sunday-Thursday and 11:30 on Friday and Saturdays. Most of my shifts ended between 11 and 1:30 am and I could probably count the shifts where I got off earlier than 11 on one hand. Like ABC, my shifts were usually between 6-10 hours, with the occasional 11 or 12 or day during peak seasons. My longest shift at WOD was 13 hours but I can't complain about it because I picked up a 6 hour shift on a day I was already scheduled so I did it to myself.
Conclusion: Working at ABC definitely meant better hours than WOD and was a schedule I'd much rather have than the one I kept while working there. However, I won't lie and say I don't miss those nights staying up until 3 am with Angie and Connie eating McDonald's we'd picked up on the way home from work or deciding 2 am was the perfect time for the saltine challenge or to watch the Hunger Games. Because I absolutely do.
Fall 2011: I lived in a two bedroom apartment at Chatham Square. Chatham 22301. I had talked to my three roommates on Facebook for a few months before the program started. Two of them quickly became my best friends while we had a few issues with the third one. However, all things considered, our situation could have been a lot worse than it was. We had problems, sure, but I think that's always going to happen when you're living with people you don't know. We all got along great right away but as the program went on, problems came up, but we were always able to solve them by having a roommate meeting with all 4 of us. And despite everything that happened, we were always able to stay civil with each other.
Spring Advantage 2013: Like fall 2011, I spent the few months before my program started talking to three girls on Facebook about being roommates. Unlike fall 2011 though, on our check in day, by the time we got to the housing portion, there were no two bedrooms available in either Chatham or Patterson so we ended up choosing a three bedroom in Patterson Court. Patterson 4104. This meant we'd be living with two random roommates. One of our randomly assigned roommates was awesome while the other...not so much. We had problems right from the start. She just didn't like us and actually ended up moving out after only a few weeks. After that we got a roommate from Thailand who was super sweet but her program ended in May and after that we got a roommate who was a spring extension CP. I was only there for two weeks though before I had to move out because I was starting my PI. All in all though, I loved my roommates. I was super close with my actual roommate right from the start but as we started working, I actually ended up getting a lot closer to Angie and Connie since we worked together and the two of us kind of drifted apart. We still got along though but there was still some drama among us, but again, the situation could have been a lot worse.
Conclusion: I was incredibly lucky that for both of my programs, I was able to live with awesome people and consider my roommates some of my best friends.
Fall 2011: Fall is jam packed with special events. Food and Wine, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, it's just an awesome time to visit Disney. The decorations for the holidays are absolutely amazing and I'm so excited that it's already decorated for Halloween at Magic Kingdom and the first Halloween party is tomorrow night. I was also lucky enough to be in Orlando for Magic Kingdom's 40th Anniversary.
Spring Advantage 2013: This spring had some fun "events" because of Limited Time Magic. Long Lost Friends Week and True Love Week just to name a couple. Spring also has the Flower and Garden Festival, Star Wars Weekends, and the Super Bowl Parade at Magic Kingdom with the Super Bowl MVP. Plus for all the baseball fans out there...Spring Training!
Conclusion: Fall is my favorite time of year at Disney. The weather is cooler and like I said, the holiday decorations are amazing. I definitely enjoyed spending the spring here, if I was going to suggest a season for someone to do the CP, I'd recommend the fall. The events going on are just a lot more fun with the holidays.
That's all I can really think of right now. All of this said, which I know was a lot and if anyone read all of this, I love you, I definitely enjoyed this program as much as my last one. It was a completely different experience but still one I wouldn't trade for anything.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me!!
