I’ve been in Orlando, Florida for the past two months working for the most magical place on Earth. I loved it. Going to Walt Disney World every day was a dream come true. I met some of the best friends that I will ever have.

At the start of my Disney College Program, I was a housekeeper. I had a hard time doing my job because I have a problem with my tailbone and housekeeping is a lot of hard work. While I was making a bed, I hit my tailbone on the corner of a chair and it hurt terribly. My managers told me to go to Health Services to see a Disney doctor. They put me on light duty for about a month. I was working at Epcot being a greeter, stroller watcher, and (my favorite) a character attendant. I had such a blast working in the park, I wanted it to last for the rest of my program. Unfortunately, my contract says I had to stay with housekeeping. When my modified duty schedule ended, it said that I was of for the rest of that week and the entire week after that. I thought that would be nice to have a little vacation to go to the parks and relax a little bit in the wonderful Florida weather. However, I still had to pay rent, so at some time I was going to call my managers to ask them to put me back on the schedule.The day I decided to call my managers to put me on the schedule again, they, instead, called me and told me that I was supposed to work the past three days. I was so scared because three no call/no shows is an automatic termination. I told my managers what happened and they understood and let me come back to work. They gave me two no call no shows and one call in sick so that I wouldn’t be fired.

At this point in my program I felt that what I needed to learn had already been learned. I have grown so much as a person. I learned a lot about myself, my relationship, and how to be an adult. I came to the conclusion that I no longer had a purpose in Florida. I told my managers this and they gave me a few days to think about whether I was going to self term or stay with the program.

On the last day I had to decide, I had a massive anxiety attack. I couldn’t feel my body, I was hallucinating, and I had mood swings. My boyfriend took me to the emergency room and they gave me and IV with some medicine to calm me down. I think that all the stress from my past finally came out of me. While in the ER, my boyfriend and I had a talk about how we both wanted to go home. 

So, I ended my program and drove two days back to St. Louis. I already hate it here, but I’m glad to be around a familiar place. And I think that since I’m a totally different person, things will change around here.

I love who I’ve become, and I think that being at Disney World helped a little bit. Of course it was all me who changed, but Disney taught me that “wishes do come true.” I will never forget my time in Florida and hope to go back soon.

Read those words. Now read them again. Tell me that doesn’t sound delicious.
I am telling you this is to die for. It was so good!

Don’t do it. At least not from your home school. The work is just too much. I already had to drop one class. Plus the temptation of going to the parks FOR FREE WHENEVER YOU WANT is overwhelming.

I wish I would’ve been able to take one of the Disney courses they offer here. I think it would have been fun.

It was so cute! I went through Belle’s cottage and listened to her story. That’s pretty much it, but it was still exciting.

If any of you know me, you would know that I have a particular view on wishing.

I don’t do it.

In life, I have learned that wishing is useless. “When you know you can’t have what you want, where’s the profit in wishing?” I wished and wished for something that I wanted, and all it did was tear my heart to shreds.

Fortunately, for me, I received my wish, but only after six months of agonizing pain. Still, after that, I don’t wish. It’s even hard for me to talk about this.

But tonight was a total kick in the face. 

I went to Magic Kingdom with one of my CP friends for my day off. We had a great time! We rode Space Mountain, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and the Haunted Mansion. I tried the pineapple Dole Whip for the first time and it was so delicious! I got to see my super cute boyfriend in his super cute costume selling glow merchandise. And then we stood in front of Cinderella’s Castle to watch the fireworks show Wishes. It was my first time seeing it, and let me tell you…it was beautiful. As I watched the magnificent lights fly into the air and listen to the little girl singing, I couldn’t help but start balling my eyes out.

I am in the most magical place on Earth, and I am more than lucky to be here. Not only that, but I am here with the love of my life. Life couldn’t get better, right? I was too stupid to realize it though…Tonight opened my eyes and helped me see that wishes do come true and that I should stop at nothing to get them. Even if what if what I want is something that I might not be able to get, I should still have the hope that can push me enough to go get it. 

I am a Cast Member at Walt Disney World, the place “Where Dreams Come True.” I’m here to create magic for our guests. I think I’m going to take advantage of that magic, and use some of it for myself. I will do whatever it takes for me to get to the top here. This is my dream. As for my wishes, I like to keep them to myself. But there’s nothing stopping me from making as many wishes as I want.

I love it here. I’m not going back home.

But only for two weeks, maybe longer. 

About a week ago, I was bending down to make a bed, and I hit my tailbone on the corner of a cubed ottoman. I have arthritis on my tailbone…so you can guess it hurt me pretty badly. I told my manager, but she just kind of blew me off. Now, my bum is still thriving with pain, so I decided to go to Health Services. Apparently it was a big deal. I signed up for Workman’s compensation, took x-rays, and pulled my pants down so the doctor could check me out…or just check on the area I am experiencing pain in. The doctor (a DISNEY DOCTOR) put the following restrictions on me for the next two weeks:
No lifting, pushing, or pulling more than 10 lbs.
No bending or twisting.

Being a Housekeeper, I have to do all of those things. …So, that basically means I can’t do my job.  My managers (who I’m pretty sure hate me now) put me on Modified Labor, and I thought that I was just going to be working at the resort as a Front Desk person. BUT NO! I was moved to EPCOT! 

Today I worked at the stroller station where all I did was watch people’s strollers. It was hot and I got a little burnt, but I didn’t mind it. For my next couple of shifts, I’ll be at the front gate taking people’s tickets and greeting them. After that, I’ll be a character attendant! I’m super stoked for that!

If my condition doesn’t get any better after my two weeks are up, the doctor will hopefully extend my restrictions. I like my new job. I hate my old job.

Have a Magical Day!
-Tony 

I had to clean 7 rooms by myself. Three of them were check outs and the rest were occupied. When doing a checkout room, I have to clean everything. Make the beds, clean the bathroom, dust, vacuum, resupply the soaps/towels, and check for any items that do not belong to the resort. When cleaning an occupied room, I only have to change the sheets if they’re dirty, dust, vacuum, and resupply soaps/towels. Two of the checkouts were on the first floor and everything else was on the third floor.

I cleaned the first checkout, then went to the next, but the Guests were still there. So I went up to the third floor to work on the occupied rooms. There was no one in them which was nice because I don’t want Guests telling me what to do. That all took about 3 hours.

Then…the next room was a checkout. Usually they’re out early. So here’s how it went.
Me: *knock knock knock* housekeeping.

…no answer.

Me: *knock knock knock* housekeeping.

…no answer.

So I start to open the door and I hear:

Guest: NO! GO AWAY!!!!!!!!

So that scares the crap out of me and I run downstairs. I finish the rest of the rooms and do that one last to make sure she’s not there.