1st week on the ship:

1st week on the ship:

Oh my stars; that is all I got to say… Oh My STARS. we got done with the fireworks and Magic kingdom around 11:45pm and we booked it home to pack and get out of our hotel rooms by 4:45am the next morning. Which for all of us we only slept a couple hours, if we did that. We were all extremely excited for ship life and the start of our ship lives. 

The first week was dedicated to training, training, and ill let you guess, more training. First things first. Safety: On the ship safety is the first priority and the absolute most important thing on the boat. The thing they kept stressing to us is that when there is an emergency on the ship who do you call? No one really help is thousands of miles away. So we have to be fully capable of handling every emergency. Fires, medical,  water intake, and many more. So our training consisted of us understanding what our role is on the ship (which is randomly given to us by number). I happen to be only responsible for myself because I am only going to be on the ship 4 days out of each month. But several of my other class mates are on the oxygen teams, Lift teams, and traffic control. Which is more training than I endured. 

Part of the information that we are required to know is how many life boats (16) Capacity (270), Life rafts (70) Capacity (35), Guests 4000, Crew 1400, Gathering stations for crew and guests. Fire Zones, Stair cases, Fire doors, Call points. Emergency phone numbers, Action plans, alarms, drills, survival training, and so much that I can't think of at the moment. I had training on costuming, ship guidelines, environment, guest relations, crew relations, drugs and alcohol policies (which we are subject to the breathalyzer at any time and we need to be below like .05 at all times or something really close to that. Which I am happy about :-) ) 

I have had some amazing experiences and opportunities since I have been here as well, we got to see wreck it ralph the day before it came out. We had a late night in port in Nasseu which we got to get off ship for a couple hours and I got to ride the Aquaduck! This is such an amazing experience. I am out seeing the world I can't wait to see the island and having a steady schedule!

-Gordon

End of training week one….

So I have to put the following statement on my Blog.

My Blog doesn't represent disney or speak for disney in any way shape or form. All the ideas and comments are my own. 

End of training week one….

My traditions team arrived! I have a wonderful group of people to hang out with and begin my adventure with Disney Cruise line with. Everyone is pretty much from the US in my traditions class which is very rare I hear…. We have gentleman from Italy, Portugal, South Africa, England, and one I can't remember as I am writing this. Today what we did was set up our paperwork with the shoreside HR department. Then off we adventured into the parks, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Downtown Disney, and Epcot. Yes we did accomplish 3-4 parks in one day. We had an amazing time bonding and overcoming the awkwardness of starting off with a clean slate. Rides we rode included: Everest, Festival of the Lion King, Aerosmith, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, Muppet 4d theater, Maelstorm, Flying, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, and Ended the day off with a wonderful firework display called Illuminations. 

On Saturday we sat through an 8 hour class on the history and traditions of Disney; How it came to be and how it has evolved into one of the most trusted entertainment companies in the world today. It was a very inspiring presentation complete with an underground tour of the Magic Kingdom Utilidor. (Utility/ Corridor) It is a maze of underground passage ways that allow workers to Pop up in their correct locations for work. So the magic isn't disrupted by someone who works at space mountain walking through Pirates.

We spent a ton of time covering the four basics of Disney: Safety, Show, Courtesy, Efficiency. The way that the parks are run, and every policy follows these guidelines to preserve the magic and show of Disney. After this my team and I spent the rest of the night in Magic Kingdom and the thrills of Space Mountain, Enchanted Fairytales with Belle, Haunted Mansion, and the Fireworks display! Where Tinkerbell really flys! More updates to come soon.

-Gordon Wright

At Port in Nassau

Hey Everyone I am currently at Port in Nassau of the Bahamas! I will be arriving at the wonderful Castaway Cay tomorrow! I am so excited! It has been a long 5 days upon the ship with a lot of information and work to do in preparation for my future months in the Big Blue. (Totally thinking of Finding Nemo right there.) Tonight? There is going to be fireworks in the middle of the Ocean in our Pirate Party Celebration! Did you know that Disney Cruise Line is the only cruise ship that has a fire works show? I am going to be taking some photos tonight hopefully when the internet gets fixed I will have the bandwith to update more often and with Picture and Video Content. Just an update about Island clean up... when Big Sandy hit the island was not operational on a guest level, my fellow employees have been cleaning up fallen trees and broken equipment since it was safe to start work again. As of right now everything is fully operational save the employee beach and Wifi unfortunately. But as they are the next on our list I hope they get fixed sooner than later. Until then I can receive postal mail. Here is the brief update more information and adventures to come!

-Gordon


Mailing Address: Post cards/ small envelopes:

Castaway
 Cay
Disney
 Dream
Disney 
Cruise
 Line
 – 
Castaway 
Cay
 
Gordon Wright 00754993, DD Port Adventures/ Island Rec staff - Lifeguard, Caller
#9005

Cape
 Canaveral,
FL
 32920‐9001
‐
USA
 

Packages and anything that wouldn't be considered a envelope. (Yes I have it mailing to Tyler please put my name at the end of the return label so that he knows it is mine. This is so I don't have to pay international taxes when I receive them. If it is already sent do not worry about it!)  

Disney
 Cruise 
Line
 Warehouse
 
 
Disney Dream, Tyler Landry, DD Port Adventures
 
8633
 Transport 
Drive

Orlando,
FL
32832
–
USA
 

Arrival!

Wahoo I arrived! Limo services, buses, parks, shows, and of course lifeguard training. I got on the plane around 7:10 am on a Sunday morning and got all the way here to Orlando Int. around 10:10. I dealt with a problem with the bus that was supposed to take me to Disney's All Stars Sport Resort and arrived with 9 hours to spare. After a much needed lunch on an all expense resort card. I took a calling of adventure up Mt Everest, and down in the jungles with the festival of the lion king. I laughed, I cried, met some wonderful people and crashed after a long day.

Theater Reviews:

Festival of the Lion King:
The Festival of the Lion King is a wonderful stage show that I truly recommend to any visitor heading to Disney's Animal Kingdom. Combined with humor, dance, song and acrobatics, this high energy show takes us through a musical journey of Disney's the Lion King. The stage that this show is set on an arena style seating where the seats surround the action. The stage is set when four completely talented singers come and greet the crowd energizing them and preparing them for the spectacle to come. The set pieces move fluidly into place and are continuously being transformed into different sets for the different musical numbers. Musical numbers include: Welcome, Circle of life, I just can't wait to be king, Hakuna Matata, Be Prepared, Can you feel the Love Tonight, and In the Jungle (Finale).

Score Card:
Set: 9.5 (very creative and clever)
Makeup: 6 (A bit sloppy on a few characters)
Costuming: 7 (Some were show stoppers other were... "Really?")
Content: 34 of 40
Music: 9 (Awesome blending of the four voices and each voice had a solo song)
Dance: 7 (The two birds were awesome, movers? not so much)
Acrobatics: 10 (I wish I could do what they did; Floor, Trampoline, Rings, Bar Work, Trapese, Stilts, Ariel)
Story: 8 (Continuitive and yet condense enough to maintain younglings attention)


Beauty and the Beast: 
I walked up to this ride mainly because it was my favorite disney movie.... alright, I admit it, I have a huge crush on Belle. I mean if she can fall in love with a beast it means I have a chance right? (Bwa ha ha :-)) The set was simple and direct although I was left with the feeling that they could have done more. (They have a actual broadway stage show right? Which was absolutely awesome! I recommend it.) The costumes and actors were fair and some didn't quite make sense.... Pink dresses for the chorus at the end? Don't remember that in the story. The plot took off at lightning speed and didn't show or explain how Belle got to the castle or why she left the castle towards the end. Needless to say I was highly disappointed. Recommendation status?: Maybe attend this show if you need to kick up your feet for 30 mins.


Score Card:
Set: 7 (needed more)
Makeup: 6 (Was there any?)
Costuming: 5 (nothing wowed me)
Content: 20 of 30
Music: 9 (Belle and Gaston were the only ones singing and they were good)
Dance: 7 (Had some awesome moments of great technique but then moments of urg)
Story: 4 (Missing so many important sections)

More to come!

What sleep (pshhhh).

Ahhh so it is the night before and I cannot sleep... I wonder why? I am so stinking excited, I feel that the more I think about it the more likely I am about to explode: An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner. (BWAAAA). :-) Tomorrow's AM call? 5:30am Departure?: 7:30am Arrival: 10:10am. Orlando here I come baby. 

Word of the moment: Stoked

So earlier musings of the day... I woke up, finished packing.... Then saw "Here Comes the Boom" which was a particularity good movie. I was cracking up through most of the movie, not to mention three elderly women were making comments throughout the film. Well done Doug, (King of Queens) well done. After that an excellent burger from Ruby Tuesday which ended with Matrix Reloaded. Next stop disney.... :-)


Namárië,
Gordon

Final days of the count (not finished yet.)

Hey folks,
Today I am finishing my last day of work in Michigan! This is exciting. Despite the fact I am incredibly tired from the 10 hour car ride on sunday and then getting up 5 and a half hours later to work, I am excited and stoked for what lies ahead in the next week. Tonight I am going to start getting prepared to pack my bag. I am worried that I won't remember everything I need so if you can think off the top of your head something I might need let me.

(This post is not finished. But will be tonight!)

Count down 8 and 7

So I am hanging out here at Michigan Tech loving the wonderful WARM weather of the upper peninsula. It is actually really warm for the UP somewhere in the 50s. Today's adventures included Legos, Copper Harbor, GW2, Caleb, and Wally world (So many memories of Walmart hangouts at TM). Tonight: Pizza, cake, + Snow White and the Huntsman this is going to be epic. Then a full nights sleep (6-8 hours) and off back towards metro Detroit, with 6 days left to pack and prepare. I am so excited for more of Life's Adventures to start and continue.

Quote of the day:

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” - JRR Tolkien