Marine Mammals - Finally!

I just finished my first week working with the marine mammal team at The Seas and I could not be more thrilled! After weeks of long and tedious training in classrooms, it felt great to finally get to meet my team and see some of the work I'll be doing throughout the internship. 

This week I trained the 8-5 shift, which is the middle shift. There are two other shifts, opening and closing, which I will learn in the weeks to come. Each shift has a different focus, but the middle shift is most focused on guest interaction, which was a perfect start for me! This week I wrote and was approved to give my manatee spiel! About every 30 minutes (unless there is another presentation), someone will give a talk on the stage about manatees. There are two manatees at The Seas, Lil' Joe and Lou. My spiel revolves around sharing information about the manatees, talking about our manatee rehabilitation work, and giving information about manatee diet, adaptations, and conservation issues. So far I really like being on the manatee stage! I like getting to interact with guests and answer questions about the manatees and I especially like getting to feed the manatees their lettuce heads. I even like spieling! The first time I did it I was really nervous, but after getting the first one out of the way I feel so much more comfortable and actually enjoy doing them now! And, I've already caught on to some of the most popular manatee questions (do they only eat lettuce?!)

I have also done a lot of cleaning this week. One big lesson I learned is that cleaning anything is better in the water! I have gone scuba diving to clean the manatee exhibit, scrubbed the walls of the dolphin back pools, pressure washed the decks, and used the power scrubber to clean the floor of the dolphin pools! It's been a lot of hard work, but being in the water makes it a lot more fun. Besides that I also learned how to do some fish prep and a lot of other kitchen tasks. 

The third task I have been focusing on this week is observing sessions. I've watched several of the dolphin research sessions as fell as some fish feeding and marine biology sessions. I need to observe these so I can eventually learn how to narrate these sessions as well! I love watching the dolphin research sessions because not only are the dolphins adorable, but they are really smart and it's so interesting to see how they think!

While this has been a great first week, it has also been an exhausting one. I forgot how tired you get after being on your feet for 8 hours a day! Additionally, I'm in the process of adjusting my sleep schedule to waking up early... it's been rough so far, but I hope I can adjust to going to bed early and getting up early soon!

All in all, I would say this has been a very successful first week. I've learned a lot, had some fun, and finally achieved my dream of being a member of the marine mammal team at The Seas!

Check-Out Dive

Today was my last day of training before I start my next phase of training (it's confusing, I know) with the marine mammal team! To summarize, I have had a week of training that has consisted of company orientations, park orientations, building orientations, animal care operations, and several safety courses related to diving. Today was my last day of this, which consisted of a check out dive, a guest programs overview, and a review of the operating guide. Starting next week I begin my training specifically with the marine mammal team! It's A LOT of training, but I know it will be worth it once I feel comfortable in my role.

The check-out dive was definitely the best part of my day! We got to dive in the main aquarium which holds 5.7 million gallons of water and dozens of species of marine life. The Seas is so large that the entire Epcot ball could fit inside of it and there would still be room to drive a bus around it! We had to demonstrate that we were comfortable in the water and with our gear and could do a few basic skills, and then we got to free swim in the aquarium and check it out! This was really cool because the fish at The Seas are fearless. They will swim right up to you, under you, over you, and basically all around you, which is such a neat experience. I also got to swim alongside sharks, rays, turtles, and watch the dolphins through the divider!

To wrap up the day, we learned about the different guest programs offered at The Seas (Dolphins in Depth, Aqua Tours, and Dive Quest) and how to answer guests' questions about the programs. Finally, we went over the dive operating guide and took a short knowledge test on the material. All in all it was a good last day of (stage 1) training. I'm very much looking forward to my day off tomorrow so I can sleep in and play in the parks! Then, on Monday I begin my time with the marine mammal team! I can't wait to meet everyone and learn more about the animals and people I will be working with. Stay tuned!!

The newest fish at The Seas - meet the interns! 

Training Classes

I've been continuing my training at The Seas with many more classroom learning experiences. The first thing that had to happen in order for me to continue with the training was to pass a dive physical. I went to Health Services last week to get a bunch of tests, and then back a few days later to see a doctor and have the results interpreted. Thankfully, all my tests came back normal and I passed my physical, which means that I am officially cleared to dive on the job!

Besides my appointments, I have had a lot of classroom training. I have to go through all of this training before I can even begin working and learning my role within the marine mammal staff. I have to admit, the classroom work is starting to become tedious. I totally understand why I need all of it, but I am just really anxious to get to meet the marine mammal staff and get to know more about my specific duties! It's been a long wait, but luckily, I get to officially start at the beginning of next week, which is very good news.

I've had classes on dive safety, behavioral husbandry, interpretation, and CPR and first aid. In dive safety class we took a tour of all of the places we could potentially be diving and identified all of the safety features at each spot. We also reviewed important paperwork involved with diving and talked about how to practice safe diving. In behavioral husbandry we learned about training and enrichment and how Disney is combining the two to give their animals the highest quality of care. The interpretation class was all about how to talk to guests about animals. We got to give practice spiels to one another and talk about sensitive topics and how to address them in an appropriate manner. Finally, I had CPR and first aid class this morning. I was anticipating a pretty dull day, but it actually was a lot better than I originally thought! My instructors were great, they made us laugh and made the tedious tasks so much better. So, after today, I am now officially certified through DAN (Diver's Alert Network) to administer first aid or CPR in the case of a diving accident!

Tomorrow is my check-out dive and I finish up the rest of my general training. Then, it will be time to move on to specifically training with the marine mammal department! I could not be more excited to officially get started and get to know everyone on the team that I'll be working with for the next few months. Stay tuned for many more posts coming soon, and as always, keep on dreaming!

The Gathering, Traditions, Welcome to Ops, and Epcot Discovery Day

If you're wondering what my life has consisted of the past few days, it's been a lot of business casual clothing, training classes, and park tours! I'm in full swing with my training for the marine mammal internship and it has been a hectic few days!

The first major event I attended was the ASE (Animals, Science, and the Environment) Gathering. This was an opportunity to meet the fellow ASE interns, meet the talent management team and leaders, and get our training schedules! It was fun to meet everyone and it felt like the official "start" to my internship!

A few days later I had Traditions, which is Cast Members' official welcome to the Disney Company! It's a four hour class at Disney University where you learn about the heritage of the Disney Company, the Disney way, and the keys to Disney's success. This was my second time taking Traditions, so I knew what to expect, but it was still a pretty nice day. We also got to go to the Magic Kingdom to "observe" Cast Members working in action! That's definitely my favorite part of the day because we get to go in backstage Magic Kingdom and see the utilidors (the tunnels) and also get to be in the parks and enjoy the atmosphere! We also received our Company IDs and our name-tags. Getting my name-tag was great, especially because the big cheese (Mickey Mouse!) hand delivered them to us! After Traditions I went over to the Epcot Cast Services Center where I met some of The Seas Cast Members who helped me get my costume and gave me and the other interns a tour of The Seas!

The next day was a full day of classes at Disney University. My day started with Welcome to Operations, which was a 4 hour class about being an operations Cast Member. Operations Cast Members include, ASE, custodial, merchandise, transportation, resort, attractions, entertainment, and several other areas. Honestly, Welcome to Operations was not my favorite class. I felt like a lot of the information was stuff I already knew from being Cast Member before and it was just a really long and tedious class. Luckily, after lunch I got to go to a new class, which was Welcome to ASE. This one was much better because the information actually applied directly to my internship. The class was taught by two zookeepers at Animal Kingdom and they kept it interesting by telling funny stories and sharing their Disney journeys with us.

Finally, today was Discovery Day at Epcot. No matter what your location is at the Walt Disney World Resort, you will always have a location orientation day where you learn about the property. At Epcot, this is called Discovery Day. This was my third park orientation (I've done DAKlimation and On with the Show), and it was definitely the best one yet! I felt like I learned so much more about Epcot and had a blast doing it. For instance, did you know that the dancing fountain behind Spaceship Earth has water from every country represented in the World Showcase in it? Each world leader brought water from their respective countries to the dedication of Epcot and placed it in the fountain symbolically tying all of the countries of the world together. During Discovery Day we also got to ride Spaceship Earth (for research, of course!) and we took a boat tour of the World Showcase. We also learned about culture and how Epcot is unique in that it brings people from all different cultures together with one common goal - to create happiness for guests! There were even a few surprises during the park tour that I do not want to ruin for others, but let's just say that it was a great morning and I really felt welcomed into the Epcot Community!

After Discovery Day ended, I had On the Job Training at The Seas for the first time. I tried on my dive gear, learned Animal Care do's and dont's, discussed professional organizations tied to The Seas, covered Dive Safety and a bunch of other important information! I also got my training schedule for next week, when I will actually begin my marine mammal duties. Today was definitely my favorite day of training, simply because I learned the most!

I'm looking forward to finishing up the rest of my classroom training so that I can begin learning my actual duties as a marine mammal intern! Keep checking back for more updates on the rest of my training and the start of work with the marine mammal team!!

Move In, Check In, & Casting

I've had a busy few days since my last post! On Monday I moved into my apartment with my roommates, Allie and Megan. It was a crazy day of unpacking, shopping, and assembling furniture! The day was even crazier because a Tropical Storm came through the area. Luckily, I was able to get all of my furniture and belongings inside before it started raining, so I stayed pretty dry during the storm!

We moved into a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom apartment in Davenport, Florida, which is about 20 minutes from Disney property. The area is very nice and the apartment is fantastic! I had a blast decorating and trying to make my bedroom my own. We still have some more decorating to do in the common areas, but the apartment is definitely coming together very nicely and I'm thrilled to be living with Megan and Allie again.

I also had to say goodbye to my parents and sister this week. They left the day after move-in, so the night before they left the four of us went out to our last family dinner for a while. We ate at Olivia's which is the restaurant at Old Key West Resort. Dinner was really good and we even experienced a magical moment while at dinner. My parents actually became Disney Vacation Club members and owners at Old Key West during their honeymoon 25 years ago. When we were talking to the waitress about this, she decided to make some magic for us during dessert! They made a toast to my parents and brought them out complimentary champagne and gave them a customized picture of the resort as a gift! We also all took a picture together with the chef, the manager of the restaurant, and some of the Cast Members working. It was honestly so much fun and I was so excited that my family got to experience a magical moment before leaving Disney!

Thanks to the amazing staff at Olivia's for making some magic for my family!

So, after moving in, saying goodbye to my family, and getting reacquainted with the Orlando area, I officially started my internship experience today! I had a Casting appointment at 11:30 this morning where I was fingerprinted, hired, and given more information about my training schedule. Basically, once you complete your Casting appointment, you are officially hired on by the Disney Team (assuming you pass your background check, of course!) Casting was so easy today. I was in and out of the building in less than 20 minutes, which is pretty incredible considering that during my College Program it took me two hours to get through Casting. I think the process is much easier and quicker for PI's because there are fewer of us, which is great for me! 

The Casting Center

Now I am officially checked in and ready to begin my internship. Tomorrow I will attend The Gathering to meet up with the fellow ASE interns and meet the ASE managers. I'll get the rest of my training schedule tomorrow before I have Traditions on Saturday morning. Be on the lookout for many more posts coming soon because the next few weeks are going to be so exciting as I start my dream internship!

Hello, Orlando!

I've made it! After about a 15 hour drive from Pennsylvania I am finally here in Orlando!

Yesterday my mom, sister, and I drove all the way from Philadelphia to St. Augustine, Florida. It was a really long day, but we felt very accomplished to have made it to Florida in one day's worth of driving. We left at 4:00am and arrived in St. Augustine around 6:30pm, so needless to say it was an exhausting day. Thankfully, because we got all the way to St. Augustine on the first day, we had a less than 2 hour drive to Orlando this morning! As soon as we arrived, we headed right to the furniture store to buy me a mattress, dresser, and sofa! It was super exciting to be able to pick out my own furniture (I felt like an actual adult) and I was so relieved that we were able to work it out so that my stuff could be delivered on Monday morning to my apartment. After furniture shopping, we grabbed some lunch, went to the grocery store to buy some things for my family for the weekend, and then checked into our hotel. After finally relaxing for a few hours, we headed to Disney Springs (still not sure if I can get used to its new name) for dinner and a fun evening! Disney Springs was almost completely unrecognizable to me - they've made so many changes and improvements since my last visit 2 years ago! It looks fantastic though, and I'm so excited to see how it all comes together once it is completely finished.

Welcome to Disney Springs!

We ate at Paradiso 37, which was somewhere new for all of us! The atmosphere was a lot of fun, the music was great, and we had a beautiful view of the sunset. The minute I saw the sunset I immediately fell in love with Florida all over again. I had to practically pinch myself when I realized I get to call this beautiful state home for the next year (and hopefully longer)!

The first of many Florida sunsets (the pictures doesn't even begin to capture the beauty!)

Tomorrow and Sunday we plan to do some last minute shopping and hopefully hit the Disney parks! There's a tropical storm that is supposed to make landfall in Florida soon, so it looks like a lot of rain is in the forecast for this weekend, but we're hoping to snag a few nice hours in the parks before the torrential downpour reaches Orlando.

I'm so thrilled to actually be here, IN ORLANDO(!), and ready to start this next chapter of my life. I hope you all enjoy following my Disney Dream, because I know for sure I am going to enjoy living it!

One Week

It's officially one week until check-in for my professional internship and about 6 hours before I leave my home in Pennsylvania and embark on my move to Florida! My mom, sister, and I are getting up bright and early to leave for the ~20 hour road trip to Florida! The cars are all packed (that's right - we needed two!) and I am completely ready to go. I'm so excited to finally be moving, but I'm also nervous! I need to buy a bunch of furniture down there plus go shopping for groceries and other basic supplies and I'm nervous there won't be enough time to get everything done.

Our plan is to drive all day tomorrow (Thursday) until we get to a decent stopping point for the night. Then, Friday we will finish the drive to Orlando, check in to our hotel, and go furniture shopping! I need a new mattress, sofa, and dresser, so we will definitely be busy. The plan on Saturday is to finish up any shopping we need to do and hopefully make it over to one of the parks before dinner time! Then, on Sunday, we are going to spend the entire day de-stressing in the Magic Kingdom! We even have dinner planned at the Grand Floridian with one of my roommates and her dad. I'm sure by Sunday we will all be exhausted and in need of a break. Finally, Monday I get to move in to my new apartment! I'm so excited to see what it looks like and how my roommates and I can make it our new home!

Next Wednesday (June 8), I officially start my professional internship. I have an 11:30 appointment at Casting where I will be filling out all my new hire paperwork and getting fingerprinted and officially "hired" by the company. I have a busy week of training after that, so look out for more posts about the start of my marine mammal professional internship!

I'm so thankful that I got to spend a little over a week at home saying goodbye to all my family and friends and getting to do some last minute Pennsylvania things (like going to a Phillies game!) before it was officially time to leave. Now I'm off to my new adventure, and I could not be more excited for what lies ahead! Keep checking back to find out more about my Florida adventures, and as always, keep on dreaming!