"Last" Training Day

Today was our last training day. Like I said before, we were told to come to work in guest clothes. we started off the morning by taking our assessment. There was short answers, T/F, and a practical. It was not as bad as I think most of the presenters thought it would be. I got almost all of them right, and the rest I was at least 75% right with my answers. We were given 2 hours to finish, but 6 of us finished within an hour. So one of our managers took us over to Cast Services Center in the employee cafeteria to check us off on all of our computer training. 

Then we were sent off to go and get as many Wilderness Explorer badges as we could! We had previously gotten the 10 that the Troop Leaders (us Education Presenters) give out through our training. Our group headed in the direction of Everest and got a few Africa Badges and most of our Asia badges (and HAD to ride Expedition Everest to complete to Yeti and Everest Badges.) Then we headed to DinoLand to get the 2 we needed there and rode Dinosaur. Afterwards, we headed back and got the rest in Africa and Asia (mostly Trials related ones). At this point we had collected all but the ones up at the Conservation Station and we didn't have time to go up to Rafiki's planet watch. Therefore, we have 26 out of our 31 badges! Now one of these days I will have to go and get my last 5 badges to become a Senior Wilderness Explorer!!! Then we broke for lunch at Pizzafari and even got a Conservation button for donating to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund!

Then all of the presenters met one of our Core Team leaders at It's Tough to be a Bug and we watched it as a group. Unfortunately, Hopper didn't work, but it was a ton of fun to see everyone's reactions. I don't think that I have heard so much screaming at it before. Then we walked around a bit and saw the kangaroos and giant shark catfish before going over to watch Flights of Wonder. It was an amazing show and I can't wait to go back to see it again! Anastasia even got picked to be a volunteer. At this point we went back to the classroom to go over our assessments and learn the last few things before getting done a little early.

A group of us (Amber, Allie, Diana, and I) wanted to find the Company D by Animal Kingdom (and failed to do so before it closed for the day) but we were able to get the appropriate rain gear from costuming and I grabbed another pair of shorts to see if they would fit. Then we headed back to the park and met up with Megan and Amber's friend Nick (who is pretty awesome!) and rode Dinosaur twice. After Megan left to go home we also rode Everest (we rode in the first few rows which is a completely different experience!) and Safari (we saw a ton more animals then I expected for how hot it was. We even saw some hippos fighting and a rhino was just a couple of feet from our vehicle).

I am sooooo tired. I got home and watched Pretty Little Liars with Dana (and Amber, but she doesn't know what is going on completely...), ate a delicious bowl of cereal with peaches, took a shower, and am pretty much falling asleep typing. Today was a ton of fun, but being out in the sun was exhausting. Tomorrow is our first shadow day and first full day out in the park in our costume. I am going to sleep well tomorrow. Luckily I have a later start on Thursday since I am supposed to meet up with my cousin and Aunt at Magic Kingdom tomorrow night. Well, time for an early trip to bed!

Hello, My Name is Sandy and I am from Vernon, CT

First off, I promise I will go and post about the last week and a half, but I figured I would at least try to post consistently now to not get tooooo far behind. So I'll start off from yesterday (the day off that I pretty much did nothing but watch Ghostbusters 1 and 2 on TV, uploaded photos to my laptop/Facebook, and didn't get out of my PJs until around 6pm).

Sunday Night (HS)

Last night we went to Hollywood Studios, but not as many people showed up as we wanted, but a good group of people came, including some of the Seas interns, which was fun since we don't get to see them that often anymore. Some of us went on a quick ride of Tower of Terror as we waited for Allie to show up and the wait was really short. We were going to head over to do single rider Rockin' RollerCoaster, but Allie said she was entering the park so we went to wait for her and a group of the Seas interns that said they only wanted to ride Tower once so had skipped the first time. This allowed us some time to shop around the store. Amber went and got the picture from the day before (Saturday) when a bunch of us had been on the ride and I got 2 ToT pressed quarters! When everyone met up we went on ToT and we were on a car with a bunch of first timers and there was so much screaming on that ride. Then we went and rode Rockin' and pretty much walked on in the regular standby line so we all got to ride together. A bunch of people left at this point, but Amber wanted to ride Star Tours to see how it was with a different scenario and Allie had never been on it (we barely made it on the last ride of the night. this was my 3rd time riding and it was a bit of a mix of the other 2 times I went on it). Then we headed home to get a good nights sleep (but apparently Allie got in an accident on her way home. eek!)

Monday

So today on the way to work I realized I forgot my name tag. Therefore, I got one of the extra presenter ones. One of my leaders, Josh, asked if I wanted to be from California or Connecticut and I didn't have too much of a preference, so he handed me Sandy from Vernon, CT. So all day we were joking around about me being Sandy. I confused Matt (the current Core Team intern) and Critter decided he was going to call me Sandy for the next 6 months. 

We started off with some info on the animal positions that we staff and then we headed out for a scavenger hunt to familiarize ourselves with the park (eg. nearest bathroom, smoking locations, break rooms, badge locations, animals, etc.). My group was one of the only ones to get done, pretty much since Tara had worked custodial at DAK before on a CP so she knew her way around. Afterward, we met at our trailer and split into our 3 tour groups again to tour our animal locations. We lost our leader Bethany today to another group, but got Matt. It was nice to get a different person's point of view and he even did a couple sample presentations. We got super sweaty and then broke for lunch.

After lunch we went back to the classroom and went over different emergency situations, met with a primate keeper (who was awesome!), did some practice conversations, and played a jeopardy review game for our assessment. Talking with the Primate Keeper made me think of how cool it would be to work with the SSP (Species Survival Plan) and make breeding recommendations based on a data and whatnot!

After work Allie, Amber, and I headed home. We chilled most of the night. Lexi, Dana and I watched some TV together and I made reservations for my family to visit next month (which ended up being a big mess). Tomorrow we have our assessment in the morning and were told to dress in "guest clothes" to go and do some stuff out in the park. Some of us have been guessing what we are doing (riding rides, earning non-Troop Leader badges, etc), but I am excited for tomorrow!

Training Schedule Part 2

Sorry that I haven't been good at updating! I have been making notes each day and I plan on writing more in depth about this past week or so. Today is on of my days off and the beginning of a new week. We got the rest of our schedules for the next two weeks yesterday. Today is the last day for the rest of the semester that all of the presenters have off together. We are planning on getting together tonight to go on Tower of Terror and trying to get a full elevator of animal programs interns and maybe make some signs or something.

This next week is still full of more training, including finally getting more in the park training. Then next week we start full time in the parks as the current presenters leave. Here is my work schedule for the rest of my training:

June 23-24: The last two days of classroom training, including our assessment (whatever than entails...)

June 25-26: Shadow days in the park in small groups with the current presenters.

June 27: Last day all of the Fall presenters will work all together. Time training in the park

June 28: Final day of On the Job training in the park!

In a little bit Amber, Dana, and I are planning on heading out to meet other Animal programs interns at Hollywood Studios. Hopefully, we will have a good turnout!

Training Schedule

At our Animal Programs meeting on Wednesday, we went over our training schedule a little bit. So now we now when we are working over the course of the next week.

June 12-13: We have Thursday and Friday off to allow us to get settled in and for our background check to go through (or so the rumor is...). However, all of the AP interns that scuba dive as part of their job had to get a diving physical on Friday.

June 14: On Saturday all the PIs that checked in June 11 have traditions. All of the Animal Programs interns have it in the morning, while everyone else I think is split up between the morning and afternoon seasons. I think all the AP interns have other training in the afternoon. I think we were told that Education Presenters have computer training after lunch, whereas my roommate that is in the Vet Hospital has to get a TB test and the first of the rabies vaccine shots. Our day is supposedly from 7:45 am-4:30 pm.

June 15: On Sunday we have Welcome to Ops at Disney University. I am in a different letter than my roommates Amber and Dana. Our day is supposedly from 7:30 am-5 pm. This is also the day we are planning to go to do an Animal Programs Tower of Terror event.

June 16: We have DAKlimations. Everyone who works at Animal Kingdom has to do this park orientation. I think we get our costumes this day, too. Our day is supposedly from 7:30 am-5pm.

June 17: First day of on the job training. 8 am-5 pm

June 18 and 19: Days off. The only time all the Ed Presenters will all have the same days off the entire 7 months

June 20-21: Second and third days of on the job training. 8 am-5 pm

Different areas all have different training schedules, even within AP. For example, the Living Seas people I spoke with have Friday and Saturday off (and our new MI friend, Josh). My roommate Dana (Vet Hospital Intern) has Tuesday and Wednesday off. Also, our days have typical work hours, as do those that work in offices, but not all do. One of the guys I met today (Patrick, who is doing a Guest Relations PI at MK) even has a training shift from 7pm-3:30am!