What Should We Do?

I wanted to put together some of my experiences that I think everyone doing the Disney College Program should try to get out and do while there are in Florida! There is so much going on in the area and I definitely suggest exploring!

House of Blue on Industry Night (Sundays)

Located on the West Side of Downtown Disney, HOB opens up on Sundays to anyone 18+ (21 to drink) and shows them a great time with a DJ, dancing and of course drink specials! The reason why everyone goes on Sundays is that it is Industry Night. Anyone 21 and over gets in FREE with a Disney ID. And with one of the bus routes stopping right outside, why not go?

Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

Yes, yes... Universal is a competitor of Disney, but why not take advantage of another awesome theme park and resort? CityWalk (their version of Downtown Disney) has lots of restaurants and a giant movie theater. If you order an annual pass (preferred pass level = $294), it pays for itself in 2 visits after you factor in parking! Even splurging for one day is worth it (at least for me) to check out the Harry Potter World and tasting the magic that is Butterbeer.

Hit up the Beach!

Even though Orlando is not on the coast of Florida, it is right in the middle. This means, its easy to make a day trip to the beach on either coast! Yes that either coast! To the East I recommend going to Cocoa Beach or Daytona. To the West, definitely take advantage of going to Clearwater Beach. My roommates and I took day trips to both as well as a nice night on Cocoa Beach. There are people who spend good money to come and vacation at these beaches and they are just a short drive away!

Cowboys

This was my favorite bar to go to on a night off with my roommate Steph. Cowboys is 18 to enter, 21 to drink. The best part is the theme! Of course its country so naturally, there's line dancing! All night long! They also have a nice outdoor patio and plenty of pool tables. Thursday nights are ladies nights and that means all girls get in for free! Many people go on Saturdays because it is dollar beer night!

Miami

Now, it's not as easy to take a trip to Miami as it is to go to Cocoa Beach or Clearwater. It is about a 5 hour drive down from Orlando. However, this city is so lively and has so much to offer! My roommates and I took a party bus down with a bunch of other CPs and spent the day on the beach and then got bused home. I'm not sure if they do these trips anymore, but it was a great time!

Downtown Orlando

Speaking of the party bus... during my program, there was a company that would bus CPs during the week to different clubs. The guys that ran them were promoters for the clubs and CPs would get in for free or at least a reduced cover. It was a great way to get out and do something crazy! And you didn't have to worry about DDs or navigating the city because they dropped you off right at the door!

EAT Around the World

Disney has sooooooo many amazing restaurants to eat at! Take a night out with your friends, get a little fancy and pick a nice place to eat for dinner or lunch! My roommates and I attempted to eat in every country in EPCOT before we left. Unfortunately, we did not meet out goal, but we so enjoyed those nights out with each other. 

Shopping!!!

If you're like me, you need a little retail therapy from time to time! Orlando is definitely a tourist area so you know what that means? OUTLETS!!! There is one outlet right across a parking lot from The Commons apartment complex and another just a 5 minute drive down I-4. If you have a car, the Florida Mall is only about a 15 minute drive! The greatest part is that a lot of the stores at the outlets will grant a discount (usually like 10-20%) with a Disney ID.

Disney Park Festivals

Food and Wine Festival. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween. Flower and Garden Festival. The list goes on! Each one has special shows and merchandise and gets you in the mood for the holidays. Definitely don't miss out of the special times in the parks. If anything, they make for a great photo opportunity! 

What is Merchantainment?

So as I mentioned, I am a Disney College Program Alumni. I participated in my first program Spring Advantage 2011 (Advantage means the semester including the summer - 6 months). On that program I was in the Merchandise Role and I wanted to give a little explanation as to what that entailed. Let me know if you have any questions! I would be happy to answer them!

Here's a picture of my costume for Merchandise at EPCOT's American Pavilion.

Featuring my roommate on her 21st!

Role: Merchandise

Park: EPCOT

Location: American Adventure Pavilion

What was a typical day like:

When you clocked in, you would get a slip that told you which station you were going to (there were 5 for us). Sometimes this was just to give someone a break or it started a "bump rotation" which meant that you would replace one person, they would walk to the next station and replace the other person, and so on until someone had to go back to the computer to get a new assignment (usually their break). Four of the stations were just merch locations - store, kiosk, and 2 people at the pin carts. The fifth location was Kidcot. EPCOT World Showcase as a passport that you can buy for your kids and at each country there is a location where they get it stamped and signed by a cast member. We also had color and chalk from time to time for the kids to play with. Throughout your shift you would be bumped from location to location and eventually out for lunch/dinner. A normal shift was 8 hours and you would get a 45 and a 15 minute (actually pretty good!). At about 8:00 the floorstock (I'll go into this position later) and another cast member would collect the extra registers in the store and one of the carts to be counted early. This was the signal to start prepping your area for closing. Once Illuminations started, the doors were shut, the carts zipped up, and the other tills were bagged and brought down to the back room. We would then count the tills down to the starting amount for the next morning and then make deposit bags for the floorstock to drop off at the end of the night. Then we clocked out and went home!

Where there opportunities to be trained as anything else: 

About a month or so into my program, I found out that they wanted me to be trained as a floorstock. This person is the one who goes back and forth to the shed with the extra merchandise and replenishes the shelves. They also make sure that the shed is neat and any new merchandise is put where it is suppose to be to make sure that the next floorstock can find it if they need it. The floorstock would also be the person who did any end-of-day paperwork and they would drop the cash drawer deposits at the end of the night.

The best part was they were the person that coordinators and managers would come to to do odd jobs or run do the different locations. Our leadership team covered America, Italy and Germany so it was great to go on trips to those locations. 

What was the best part of your location:

I would have to say the best part was the people. There weren't  too many CPs and everyone else that worked there really took the time too get to know us and we became a family. It was also so much fun to see all the guests that were drinking around the world! Since American is the center of World Showcase, no matter which side they started on, guests were always drunk by the time they got back to us! Watching Illuminations every night was also a perk since it is my favorite Disney night time show.

What was the worst part of your location:

In the summer it was hot! But that would be any outdoor location. The costumes didn't really breathe, but they have since changed that to one that looks like an airline attendant. The absolute worst part, were the seagulls. Yes, birds! There is a funnel cake stand right next to the pavilion and the seagulls would dive-bomb anyone who had food. They would just try to knock the funnel cake to the ground and then all swarm to eat it. I saw countless guests pay and then turn to walk to their family only to have the nice snack ruined. I would always try to point the guests to the covered area of the pavilion so that they could enjoy the treat in peace.

Share a magical moment that you participated in:

I loved to trade pins! As merchandise cast members, we sold pins at our location, but we also had to wear a set of tradable pins. Trading pins means that any guest can go up to a cast member and trade one of their pins for a pin on the cast members lanyard. One day a little girl was looking for Little Mermaid pins. I showed her the pins that we were selling, but her parents said that she had already gotten those ones. They looked at what I had on my lanyard, but there was no Little Mermaid. As they started walking away, one of my coordinators walked up and I noticed that he had a pin of Ariel's castle! I quickly asked him to give me the pin and that I would explain later. He handed it to me and I was off to catch up to the family that just left me. When I showed the little girl the pin, her eyes lit up! It was adorable! When I told her that she didn't have to pay or trade for it, her mom teared up. She told me that she was only interested in anything Little Mermaid and so it was really special that I found something so unique to her interests. It was such a great feeling knowing I probably made their day with such a small gesture. 

Floorstock costume for American Adventure.

What IS Merchantainment?

Merchantainment is a term that Disney has coined to represent how they want to sell merchandise. They encourage Merchandise cast members to use the merch as a prop and show how it can be used. An example was at American Adventure, we had a cart with the light up hand-helds. Someone would be assigned to "make magic" with the light cart and that meant playing with the lights and showing off how cute some of them are. By showing them in use, guests were more likely to be attracted to them and buy them.

Advise for anyone doing Merchandise:

Have fun! Yes sometimes it get repetitive and yes people will always tell you that $20 is too expensive for a fan that squirts water, but think about where you are! You could be the person that makes that guest's day or even their vacation! Don't take that for granted. Also, get to know your leadership! They are a great resource if you are looking to extend or go onto a Professional Internship or other position in the company. Get emails and make sure to keep in contact with them for references.