Training Wheels

 Howdy!

These past few weeks I have been engrossed in training for my job as a front desk cashier at Disney's Pop Century Resort. The first four days of my training were at Disney University. Disney University is basically where Disney host classes for training and other necessities. It is a cute little building with little Disney touches throughout. Here are some pictures of the building:

During these four days I participated in two classes, Disney Lodging: The Journey Begins and Destination Cashier Day 1-3. The Journey Begins class was mostly learning about all the different Disney resorts, their themes, and the different resort operational lines of business. We also covered a bit about the History of Walt Disney World Resort Hotels, as well as a bit about the hospitality industry as a whole. I was informed about the expectations of the Disney Resort Hotels and about the American Automobile Association hotel diamond rating system. I also learned that Disney has four tiers of resorts, value, moderate, deluxe and Vacation Club.This was my favorite part of training. I liked learning about the different themes of Disney's 27 Resorts here in Orlando. It amazes me that every single resort has a story that goes along with the resort theme so the guests get the full experience of the resort while they are staying there.

The next three days of training were more challenging. I learned all about the reservation system that Disney uses, as well as the 11 steps to check-in a guest, and the 6 steps to check-out a guest. I learned how to convert, exchange and take  foreign currency as payment, how to process travelers checks, and Disney Dollars. I also learned how to give change back the "Disney Way". Disney's Magic Bands have recently gone property wide. I also learned how to encode, distribute, attach credit cards to, and problem solve with the Magic Bands. I also learned how to use another program for the Disney Magical Express. Disney's Magical Express is a bus and luggage system that picks guests up, and returns guests and their luggage from the Disney resorts and airports. I also had a lot of practice in "lab", which was a mock front desk where I was given front desk requests to process. I also learned about the language bank, a tool used to communicate for guests who speak a different language. Finally, the biggest thing that was covered was guest problem solving. It was A LOT of information covered in a short amount of time. However, I do feel like Disney did give me adequate training to prepare me for the job.

The fifth day of training I participated in a class called Memories, Movies, and Magic! This class was specifically about my resort, Pop Century. We learned about the story of Pop Century, took a resort tour, played some question and answer games, and received our costumes for work. I plan on doing a whole blog post specifically about my resort, so I will save all those details for later! Here is a picture of my costume:

The following week, I had training at Pop Century for five more. My trainer's name was Myrna, who has been working for Disney for 15 years. She showed me the ropes around the front desk and how things work specifically at Pop Century. On the last day of training I took a 50 question test, and was assessed by a manager. I passed!

It has been a whirlwind since i've been here! I have made it to the parks a couple of times to ride rides and eat too much food. Free admission to the parks is probably the best job perk I have ever and will ever have! The biggest thing I am looking forward to is the Flower and Garden Festival in March. I will do a post to cover all the beautiful creations that Disney Displays! We have had a couple beautiful days in the mid-high 70's here, but it has been much chillier here than I anticipated!

Have A Magical Day!
Alexa