First Day of Work

So Discovery Day was, succinctly, deadly dull. We watched a video that Walt Disney had made when he was working on the Florida Project about what he envisioned EPCOT to be, and we saw a lot of the concept art and stuff and that was all fantastic. Then they took us on a tour of the park. Most people reading this know how well I know the parks, so you can imagine how much fun this was for me. The guy leading our group handed out maps to everyone so that they could orient themselves with the tour, and he comes over to me, "English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese?" and I was like, "I don't need one." He kinda looks at me funny for a second. "Are you sure?" I smile and nod, "I'm sure." He kinda shrugs. "Okay then." I don't think he believed me.... So yeah, we went around Futureworld, we actually rode Spaceship Earth (Amy, a fellow Canadian, and I weren't really feeling the Spaceship Earth vibe that early, so to make ourselves more interested, we decided to do the ride in German), and then we did a lagoon tour of all the countries because it's more than a mile walk. I was all for it (again I got a funny look from guide dude), but apparently the boat won out. Then we had lunch with the UK guys again, and headed over for a more in-depth tour of our pavilions. The UKs were dropped off with their manager to go over some paperwork, and we went over to costuming to get our costumes. I don't mind mine as much as I thought I would, really. I just wish that the restaurant pants weren't black polyester, because that's uncomfortable in the heat on the way to work.

So that brings me to my actual first day of work. It was.... well, it was insane. We had a lot of big groups come in to the restaurant, including a family reunion group of almost 40 people! We managed it all, though, because we are thoroughly fantastic. Rob and I were training on seating, and we were taught by Allison, who is eternally perky and positive and I absolutely love her. We had a lot of fun, and I now know how to properly seat people in our restaurant. We also learned a little bit about assigning, which is the job of deciding what reservation goes to what table and when. It's really stressful, because you have to deal with the people who come late with their reservation, and if things start running behind it's your fault, but I think it would be a lot of fun, so I'm going to talk to my managers about learning it (it's not something that's automatically offered to us). I mean, it's all numbers and math and planning ahead, and I'm good at all that. Plus I learned the table numbers in the restaurant really fast, so Allison said she was going to suggest to me that I learn assigning anyway. That makes me happy.

Allison, Rob, and I went out for dinner after work last night, because Allison really wanted to go to this Italian bread/sandwich place, I'd never been there, and neither Rob nor I had any plans. It was really, really good. It's called Panero, I think, and they play classical music all the time! Plus the walls are really nice, warm oranges and reds, and the food is fantastic. Apparently they also have free wi-fi, so I think I've found my new favourite hangout spot. It's only a few minutes' walk away from where I live.

So today is my second day of work, and I'll be training as a greeter. A greeter is the person who checks in reservations, makes other reservations, and has to turn away the people who don't have reservations. You're also the first person a guest has interaction with in the restaurant, so the pressure's on to make a good impression. I have no idea who's training me; Allison said she thinks it's Craig, but she wasn't completely sure. No matter what, though, I hope things go well and that the computer system doesn't crash (apparently it did that a couple nights ago, and they had to do everything by hand). I'm working a closing shift, which means that I have to stay until the last guest leaves the restaurant so that I can wish them a good night. Anyway, I'm off to prepare for this, so I'll end here for the day.