Seven days ago today (Tuesday), a group of us from the UK Pavilion were lucky enough to experience a backstage tour of Fantasmic! Fantasmic for those of you that haven't seen it, is an evening stage show in Hollywood Studios that uses fountains, fire, fireworks and Disney characters to delight guests each evening. 

Whilst I cannot divulge any secrets of the show that we were lucky enough to hear about; I can tell you that we got to on the island and get up close and personal with some of the effects used in the show! We got to meet Maleficent in her dragon form, see the characters, Steamboat Willie and see the control room, projectors and Pocahontas porch! For someone who's a massive tech geek, I loved seeing how it all worked and I have a new found appreciation for how clever the show is. 

The tour was arranged by the lovely UK Pavilion management team and we were those lucky enough to be drawn from the hat. It was such a great experience and certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity! Fantasmic will never compare to the magic of Wishes or Illuminations for me personally but I appreciate it so much more now! 

Thursday at work, I got my very own magical moment! A young princess named Lillian came up to the podium in her father's arms. He said to her "go on then, do it." She put her hand to her chin like a princess and said "hello you lovely lot." Safe to say I DIED! She was the cutest thing and she made my day! Her dad tweeted me the photo but as Lillian is just a princess in training, I don't wish to post the photo here which I'm sure you'll understand. 

Friday the new Steps album came out and I AM LIVING! Growing up, Steps was my all time favourite band! They were the first concert I ever went to and I even got to see their reunion tour a couple of years ago! Anyone working will tell you that I jumped for joy when I realised it was out. I was jamming to it for my entire lunch hour! I love 'Story of a Heart' (original and remix) and 'Neon Blue' right now! 

Saturday was my day off. What a waste of a day off though! I was so excited to get out and have fun after five days at work but the atmoshperic pressure here was so high that it deflated me almost instantly. I slept until noonish to catch-up on sleep but as soon as I set out, it was like having someone squeezing your head constantly. I became very indecisive in my day and ended up flippantly going from Disney Springs to the Polynesian, to Magic Kingdom and then to Wilderness Lodge before realising I should just go home. I was so frustrated that nothing had really excited me that day. 

In conclusion, my day off was a waste of time and I wish I had been working or just stayed asleep the whole day! 

Sunday this week was Extra Magic Hours at a very busy Epcot. It was the Star Wars marathon weekend which brings a lot of guests and locals to the Disney parks. I was working from 2pm until 11pm and spent the whole day on the Chippie registers. Luckily it's a position that makes the day go a whole lot quicker. Closing later did mean that I wasn't going to make it to my favourite and only current night out destination, Parliament House. However, after doing a lightning fast close of the position, power walking to cast services and managing to catch a bus just as I got back to cast services, I was going to make it in time for the taxi! 

I believe it was fate that got me to go out that night. After my Saturday of disappointment, I really wanted a night on the dance floor and a couple of drinks to let my hair down. It was exactly what I needed and the people I was with helped make it such a fun night. 

Last night (Monday), my friends Jess, Ella and I decided that we needed a good olde buffet after work to help us recover from the previous night at Parliament House. Ella and I both agree that Trail's End is one our faves and Jess had never been before. Plus with our 40% special discount right now, it was everything we needed and more! 

Today was my first 'luxury shift' in which I had the joy of coming in at about 11/12 and leaving at about 5/6pm! It's a slightly shorter shift than I've been used to since I've been working mostly 11am-9pm but I am not complaining! It's nice to feel like you have time to do something in the evening if you choose to. 

I booked off Dapper Days, a few days for when my friends are here and then also a couple of days incase I wanted to go to Playlist Live. Turns out my days off have fallen in-between my booked vacation time so I'm off for a proper staycation! I won't be staying in a resort except for a few days but I'm looking forward to going to Dapper Days, Starlit Splash (which you'll hear more about next time) my friends being here and then possibly Playlist Live! I just may need to pick up some shifts at work if my budget looks set to be a little tight!

Until next time... Have a magical day!
​Adam 

So far this has been my longest stretch without having touched base with you lovely lot. As the title of this post suggests, I've only recently completed a ten day stretch of days at work. It happened to be that way because of the way my days off fell whilst my schedule begins to settle in. 

So the day after my last post, I had my last day off before the 10 day stretch. I chose to head to Animal Kingdom this day after having picked up my Main Entrance Passes from the offices in Celebration. 

Main Entrance Passes are the tickets that we and our guests may use to enter the parks. It just so happens that they weren't able to send out our Main Entrance Passes on account of us not changing our address to a 'mailing address' soon enough. So just a hop, skip and a jump over to the tallest building in Celebration and to the eighth floor, then bish, bash, bosh! We were in business! 

I did try to vlog the part of the day at Animal Kingdom but both of my camera batteries were almost dead. I did get a bit of footage which I may try and spin into a vlog on my main channel. 

After that adventure in Animal Kingdom, I had a date would you believe?! I haven't been on a date in about... three years. So whilst I'm not going to go into all the details of the evening, I'll just say that I had a lovely meal at Sanaa with great company. 

Then began the working days. What with my current seniority status in the front of house, my shifts tend to be open to close at the moment. It's not all the time, but mostly. The longer you're here on the program, the nicer your shifts become as you move up the list of seniority. 

Also on the 7th I booked the last few details of my trip to California this July! I've had my time off at work confirmed and so booked my flight and airport transfers to Anaheim for the D23 convention! I am so excited for this trip you have no idea! 

Booking time off is so much easier this time round. You go on the Hub (Disney's intranet) and simply request the dates on a calendar. Immediately it will tell you if you've had the time approved or whether you're on a waitlist... and if you are on a waitlist, how many people are in front of you. 

It used to be that you had to send a request for time off and then have a nerve wracking couple of days until you heard back from the scheduling team as to whether your time off had been approved, denied or waitlisted. If time off is waitlisted, it's approval depends on if someone cancels their time off or if there's availability for you to also have the time off at the time of the schedule posting. You basically don't find out until the schedule comes out whether it was successful if it's waitlisted. 

On the 9th of April I didn't start until about 2pm. I took this opportunity to try the Hot Pockets I bought in my first trip to Publix. To say the expectation and the reality of this dining experience was somewhat different is the understatement of the century! 

On the evening of April 10th, I had the luxury of finishing early at about 3:30pm. On this day I had the pleasure of conducting the welcome day alongside the UK Food & Beverage proprietor (sort of like an area manager). The welcome day is the day in which the new arrivals get to experience a tour of the area, an overview of our procedures, some e-learning and they get to try on their costume for the first time. 

It was a really enjoyable day for me welcoming the new arrivals but in the evening, it was especially enjoyable when Ashley, Hope and I got dressed up for an evening meal at Citricos in the Grand Floridian! One of my all time favourite Disney restaurants. 

​Our server was so incredible! So much so that I asked one of her colleagues to pass my compliments onto the management. After concluding our meal, we decided to take a stroll from the Grand Floridian to the Polynesian Village resort. Along the way we got the pleasure of enjoying Wishes from the beach and then settled into the terrace bar at the Poly for a Spikey Pineapple cocktail. Basically it's alcoholic Dole Whip and it's very dangerous since it just takes like Dole Whip! 

Then just more work, work & work! Work is enjoyable and I like being in a guest facing role again instead of just stuck behind a desk. It's tricky working with so many people which each have such different personalities though. However, for the most part everyone's friendly and good at their job. I think the hardest thing for me at the moment is my meals. 

As shifts chop and change and then most nights I won't be home before 10pm, it's tricky to get onto a good meal routine. That includes finding the time to shop and cook a decent meal. Only a couple of days ago did I manage to do my second big publix shop since arriving! It was so big in fact, that I had to take an Uber back to housing. My mother however will be pleased to know that I have stocked shelves and protein in the freezer. 

Wednesday April 12th was our throw-in! Now after writing about regretting not going to my throw-in on my last program, there was no way I was backing out of this one. A few of us opted for an Uber over the group taxi van that is normally custom on a group night out. Just as those of us in the Uber are not too comfortable with tight spaces/lots of people in one van. It worked out nicely actually as we were running earlier than everyone else, so decided to get McDonalds before meeting the others at Murphy's Irish Bar. 

It was a very chilled out evening actually. No scary trials or anything, just a quiz night like atmosphere where-by we got to introduce ourselves and everyone joined-in in playing some games to get to know one another and those in the UK Pavilion. 

Thursday April 13th was my arrival group's one month anniversary! As most of us were scheduled to work, we opted for a breakfast celebration. We met at the Yacht Club's Captain's Grille for what I would call, the best buffet breakfast on property! The variety was spectacular and the food was top notched (plus it's a 40% discount location at the moment!). I had smoked salmon alongside egg white, spinach and tomato cakes. I felt oh so very fancy... until the Mickey Waffles plate of course. 

After breakfast, those of us that didn't start for a bit or had the day off, had a little wonder around the World Showcase. We managed to ride Frozen Ever After and have a little look around the Seas before Ashley and I had to leave the group for work. 

The last two days of my ten day stretch were the most difficult. Since we didn't get back until late after the throw-in on Wednesday, then had to be up early for our breakfast, my body clock was out of it come day 10! Both days I was lagging so much that I had to request an early release (ER). An early release in UK Food and Beverage is where you may request to leave early should the location have too many people in that day or the coordinators have the ability to send someone home after the breaks have complete. Lucky for me, on both days I got an ER! Granted, they weren't used for anything special. The first enabled me to do my washing and the second enabled me to do the aforementioned Publix shop. 

Friday the 14th was my day of freedom. And how did I choose to spend it? Filming a vlog of course! In all fairness, I slept until nearly midday, then stumbled over to Disney Springs before going to the cinema and meeting my friend Josh for dinner in Magic Kingdom. You can watch the vlog of Friday below! 

After that one day off it was back to work on Saturday for one day before another day off on Sunday. Saturday was probably my hardest day at work. I was stocking in the afternoon and I was run off my feet! From about 5pm when I picked up the role until close at 9pm, I was busier than ever. After that day, I was dead to the world.

On Sunday, Hope and I planned an afternoon in Magic Kingdom, mainly to ride Space Mountain since neither of us had been able to ride it since arriving. I also vlogged this day so I won't give too much away before the vlog goes live, but I got my hair cut at the Grand Floridian which was divine, met Hope for our afternoon in Magic Kingdom then called it a day about 6pm as a result of being so exhausted from the day before. 

Now we come to today! This morning was an early start for the Train the Trainer class in which I became a Disney Trainer! This means that I can train and sign-off new cast members in training shifts. The class itself doesn't have all that much to it in my opinion but our facilitator Nancee was cracking us right up! Just what you need on a Monday morning to make you somewhat conscious. That class was followed by a short shift at work and then it was out the door at 4pm. 

I met my friend Claire at Disney Springs for a meal at Art Smith's Homecomin' where I got to try the infamous Fried Chicken with Donuts. Don't worry... it lives up to the hype! 

After that, I just retreated back to my apartment in an effort to write this post for y'all and get an early night in ready for another early start tomorrow when I get to go on a backstage tour of Fantasmic! AHH! So exciting! ​

Until next time... Have a magical day!
​Adam 

The good times are still rolling in Orlando! The past week has probably been the most exhausting week so far from the training I've been doing and the fun I've had on my days off!

After writing my last post, it was back to work for me. That Sunday was my training in closing the Fish and Chip shop. During the day I was in the filling position in which I form guest orders as they come through on the screen. It's a little monotonous but I kind of like it now. It certainly makes the day go faster! 

During the day, two young girls and their family came round the corner and waved into Chippy. They wanted to say hi to me as they watch my videos and I was more than happy to say hi. I appreciated however that they respected I was working and made an effort to just say a very quick hello. Later that day, one of the servers Milly, popped into Chippy (the Fish and Chip shop) and asked if she could borrow me. Turns out that family were dining in the Rose & Crown restaurant that evening and they had mentioned to Milly how excited the two young girls were to meet me. This hasn't really ever happened to me before and I was so flattered to see that just me saying hi was enough to make them happy. 

I came to the table with Milly. They didn't see me coming up to the table so I just asked 'how is everyone enjoying their meal?' They thought it was another server before they clocked it was me. The whole family were so charming and made me feel very special. If John and the family are reading, thank you for coming to say hi and respecting I was at work. It was a true pleasure. 

I've had a few people come say hi whilst I've been in work which truly befuddles me. I've probably been recognised all of three times in the six years I've been on YouTube prior to starting here. Most of the time, everyone's been very respectful that I'm at work and just done a fleeting hi and goodbye. I do appreciate that. However, I'd just like to mention that if I am at work and you wish to come say hi, please use your better judgement to see whether it may be appropriate. If I'm not serving a guest or busy, I'm happy to say hi. However if I am serving another guest, in the middle of something or otherwise engaged, please know that it is not a good time for me as my job comes first. 

Yesterday a lovely lady (Monica) and her family came to me whilst I was at Beer Cart. I appreciated her saying how much she enjoyed the videos I was making. She was kind enough to give me a card with a lovely message and gift inside. The gift was far beyond what I could have imagined someone being kind enough to gift another human being. With that, please do not ever feel the need to send or give me a gift. I do what I do because I enjoy it and a simple hello or thank you is all I ever need. So thank you Monica, it was lovely to meet you and your gift was far too kind. 

Monday was just another day training and likewise so was Tuesday. However, Tuesday was my 'Friday' in which I had Wednesday and Thursday off! No one else had those days off or if they did there was already plans floating about so I thought it best to get a vlog filmed and have some me time. 

If you're not already aware, as cast members we're able to save some money on resort stays and have little staycations here and there. So I managed to get an amazing deal on two nights in Pop Century. I checked in on Tuesday and spent the evening just popping to Disney Springs to buy myself some new Under Armour shorts and a Sprinkles Cupcake for when I needed a sweet tooth fix. 

Waking up on Wednesday in a resort bed was the nicest feeling. I hadn't slept that well in a long time! Whilst there's nothing all that wrong with my bed in housing, when there's someone else in the room making little noises, it's hard to sleep all the way through the night. Especially if we're waking up and going to sleep at different times. 

However, I got to experience what I believe to be my very first magic moment. I was watching Wishes from New Fantasyland in an effort to avoid the crowds of Main Street. It was a great spot to enjoy the big fireworks from the back of the park. A photo-pass cast member was stationed there and everyone was all too occupied with the fireworks to bother with photos. 

Thursday morning was checkout day for me. I had chocolate chip pancakes from the quick service in Pop Century and then chose to go to Disney Springs to see Beauty and the Beast. Whilst I didn't hate it. I did not like it. I enjoyed the experience of watching it but I also enjoy the experience of watching many other films that are not necessarily Disney classics.

For me personally, the casting was all wrong bar Gaston and Le Fou. My opinion is that if you're going to have a movie with characters that have French accents, hire French actors/actresses. And whatever you do, do not get Emma Thompson who is in fact British, to put on a fake British accent. Be Our Guest for me is the best part in the original Beauty and the Beast. It just wasn't right for me in the live action. As Belle is live action and everything around her is CGI, it just looked like you were watching Emma Watson react to imaginary things and Ewan McGregor's French accent was getting on my last nerve by that point.

This is just my opinion again but Emma Watson for me was the wrong choice. The sinning throughout the film was edited beyond it's life. So much so that the sync with the picture was often a little off. If you want to release a musical, hire a singer, not a name. Cinderella for me was perfect since they picked the best fit for the character, not the best fit for the box office. I think they should've done the same for Belle.

The past two days have been my beer cart and stocker training shifts. Definitely the most difficult days of the training schedule for me. Stocking requires a lot of hard work and physical activity. I had a great trainer so I feel ready to handle any time I have to be stocking. Right now though I feel a little dishevelled from all the work! At least I have a day off today to recover. 

Until next time... Have a magical day!
​Adam