Orientation (finally)

Today was my orientation day of the Contemporary resort. Usually, trainees have their orientation (where you learn the history of the resort and take a tour to learn about the amenities available to guests)before they start training, but there was a bit of a mix up for me and so I ended up having it rescheduled today, on one of my days off. It was a fun day, and I actually learned a lot about my work location (including the answers to quite a few questions I had been asked that I couldn't answer beforehand.)We started the morning at 9:30, in a Cast Member meeting room where we introduced ourselves and rereRE-learned some Disney basics that we had all heard during Traditions and our training. An hour later, we took a short tour of the cast member area of the building (costuming, break rooms, cafeteria, etc.) It was a bit weird for me since I had been working in the environment for about a month, so I did my best to stick to the back of the group. After a short break, we went outside to the pool area to take a group picture and start a tour. We got the picture printed out with a nice a contemporary background, to "remember the experience" - featured in my photo is me, the only merchandise person in the group, about four Cafe workers, a few custodial workers, a student in the culinary program, and a sous-chef who had been with Disney for 18 years. No idea why he was there, but he was a nice guy, and now I can say I know a sous-chef. We toured the docks where people can rent boats, go para-sailing, and even get picked up by a pirate ship for a mini cruise at night. Then we visited the top floor, where the California Grill and a spectacular view of all of Disney World is located. It was really cool to imagine dining up there, dressed up with a romantic atmosphere and the fireworks exploding into the sky behind me. Of course, it's extremely expensive. To rent out the restaurant, say for a business meeting or a wedding, would be $65,000- not including the food. We also visited the time-share (again I have delivered groceries, so I was familiar with it and zoned out a but. Which got awkward when my Spanish group leader was asking me about the proper way to pronounce "hors d'oeuvre" because she saw my french name tag.)After another hour of walking and touring, we took a 30 minute lunch break and I went to the merchandise floor to visit my co-workers. My manager, Eric, was in Fantasia and let me know there were ice cream treats in the freezer in the breakroom to reward the team for 90 days with an accident or major incident. It was delicious! After our final hour of review in the meeting room again, I was released to go home, and so instead I decided to get some food and discount shopping done at Cast Connections. I got from there some apples, bananas, and sweet potatoes, a Disney umbrella (it's been raining a lot and ponchos are like 8 bucks each), a pair of sunglasses for 50 cents, and a couple of presents for some kids I know. I'm back home, surrounded by my British roomates. A few new groups of CP's(college program) have arrived and as our room is on the first floor and in the building right next to the Welcome Centre, we have been spying on everyone who walks by. My one roomate, Charlie, has been squishing her face against the window to spook people. It's worked. Now, I have been singing along to some Bob Marley songs and making plans to go to Lonestar for dinner with some Canadians. Have a good evening! ----Later------ And so we had a blast at Lonestar for dinner! We were laughing our heads off (mostly at Jeremy) and ate delicious and cheap steak and were merry. Here's a few pictures!