The New Lifeguard in Town

So, with this post I can proudly state that I am now a fully fledged, qualified Lifeguard! :D After a 2nd day of training last Saturday I was all prepared to combine everything I had learnt from both days, and apply such skills to the 3 tests on my final day of training. Test 1 was the Group Test, basically it was a randomly thought up scenario that would cover everything we had learnt in to one emergency rescue. Our scenario comprised of a basic conscious struggling victim rescue, leading on to an unconscious child emergency. It all went very smoothly and we pretty much aced the test :P Test 2 was a written test with 60 questions, 80% was needed to pass but the questions were so straight-forward there were no worries there. Test 3 was the CPR test on Adult, Child & Infant. I actually managed to score a perfect 100% on this test and was awarded a special badge for my efforts :)

To celebrate, I decided to go check out Hollywood Studios that same very night and watch Fantasmic! The park was pretty cool, I got through a fair chunk of it (Photos are on FB) and the show was amazing :)

Monday was my very first day at Typhoon Lagoon, I was there from 8am-6pm for a Property Orientation and for learning Emergency Action Plans (EAP's) etc...The park seemed rather large at first, but after a while it gradually shrunk, now I see it as being pretty small! The real excitement was to come though, you see, Monday was the day this beast laptop I am currently typing on arrived, oh and how I love it!! :P

Tuesday brought about my Shallow Rotation training in which I actually performed the job, just with a trainer to help me out. We visited all of the shallow guard stands, fairly easy stuff but you must always remain attentive, especially with random audits always looming. The auditors will literally drop a 'shadow figure' (VAT) on the pool bottom and you are given 10 seconds to spot it and 20 seconds to get it out of the pool, all whilst following correct procedure (Hitting the Operational Alarm [OA], Blowing your whistle etc). This is called 10/20 protection which is strongly enforced. As night rolled around I joined some Aussie friends going to a club called Mako's on the International Party Bus. I enjoyed the bus, disco lights flashing, music blaring...and the club went off, but being sober through it all was just a nightmare and therefore I have decided to not attend any more clubs haha it's too depressing because it's so good (If drinking).

On Thursday I had my Deep Rotation training with another trainer just there to help me out along the way. The deep stands have a lot more action going on and I jumped in a good 4 times for various strugglers coming out of the Storm slides, and in the Shark Reef. Thats right, the Shark Reef :) In the deep rotation there is a stand called 'Reef Float' in which I am to just float around in the reef and be there to assist any of the guests who have problems getting across. I also do the 'Reef Dispatch' stand where I have a little spiel about the masks/snorkels etc and get the guests in to the water and off in to the 10ft deep reef. Needless to say the Deep Rotation is a lot more exciting than the Shallow Rotation, but there is also a lot more responsibility that comes associated with it.

Today I checked out Epcot and managed to do everything in the entire park, which is an accomplishment as the place is HUGE! lol photos of the things I saw are on my FB. Overall, it was a fairly average park, but I did still enjoy having a good look around and just experiencing everything it had to offer (A lot of slow-motion tour like rides >.< )

Tomorrow I have another day of Deep Rotation Training before I begin for real the day after! Wish me luck haha not that I'll need it I'm sure - Highly skilled you see ;)

Anyway, that's all for this week! C ya.

First Week Complete

Well well, I've survived a week here @ Disney and I've gotta say I'm really enjoying it :) Aside from the fact that I just got word my new laptop won't be here until Monday, everything is great! So lets take a look back at what I've been up to since arriving here at Disney...

On the 16th I moved in to Vista Way, Apartment #2606, and got all settled in before heading down to Walmart on the Disney Bus and purchasing all of my bedding sheets, some food etc etc...Later that night it was 'Lone Star' for dinner with about 16 other Aussies/Kiwis & then drinks back at Jayden's room, sucks I couldn't ACTUALLY drink (Grape Fanta FTW), Booze is so ridiculously cheap over here its insane!! Oh well...

The second day was rather boring, it was scheduled as a day off for all of the others arriving on the group flight. With no computer and no free access to the theme parks yet because our Disney ID's were yet to be issued, it was pretty bad...I tried out the pools a few times just for the hell of it though, they're so nice and refreshing! :)

We then had 2 days of Orientation which just included a couple welcome/information meetings and the completion of some forms...Groups of us chilled by the pools and just relaxed during the afternoons, was pretty nice. I also had my swim test which I passed easily.

On the Wednesday there was 'Traditions' class, our official welcome to Disney with Disney ID's issued, Name Badges given out and a little tour under and around Magic Kingdom. I also received a little Disney toy from Mickey himself when he burst through the doors lol shook his hand and got a picture, that was cool :) Afterwards I went to Walmart, this time by myself, and did my big shop for the week. I bought a good amount of food, as well as some other apartment essentials. I came back to the apartment and did my 1st load of washing which was extremely easy! I ate dinner and then headed out to Magic Kingdom to experience the Fireworks show 'Wishes', with the 'Electric Avenue Parade' before it too. The fireworks were awesome, but the Memories show which turned the entire Cinderella Castle into a projector screen was soooooo good! After the shows Jake and I went on a quick Buzz Lightyear ride and saw a Monsters Inc show which was really funny :P

The next day I had a class 'Welcome to Recreation' which was extremely boring with about 5 virtual lessons and other stupid crap, but I got paid so all good haha

Today I had my first day of lifeguard training (Day 1 of 7) which was actually rather interesting. We did the swim test once again before learning 5 different rescue methods that adapted to different situations. After lunch we learnt all about CPR and did all of the breathing/compression drills on dummies and eachother etc...was good.

So there you have it, my first week at Disney, it wasn't exactly a standard week I can soon expect but it was a pretty good insight in to what its going to be like and I'm not complaining :) I do really miss Amanda though...and Farhaad, you are somewhat missed too lol...Dylan - No! Jokes <3 haha aaaaaaaaaand I guess my Family too! lol anyways thats all I have to say for now...

Peace.

Pre-Disney Adventures

Ok so its nearly midnight here on the final night before I head on down to Disney at 8.30am tomorrow morning! Very excite :D So anyways I just thought I'd let you guys in on what I've been up to for the past 3 days here in Orlando...

July 13th:

Alright so here we took a trip down to one of the Orlando Premium Outlet Malls at the end of International Drive and had a rather large clothes shopping experience, very unusual for me I know but it was great. Everything was so cheap and I managed to pick up 3 pairs of Levi Shorts (2 Jean, 1 Cargo), a casual-dress type Levi shirt, Good Quality Jandals & White Chuck Taylor All Stars shoes, 2 Nike T-Shirts and Awesome Boardshorts for USD$200 :) After heading back to the hotel we received notice that Hard Rock was to be dinner for tomorrow night instead and ended up heading to the girls hotel about 10mins up the road. We all went to get food at Denny's across the road which was alright (American food is absolute shit!) and after Jake and I headed back to the hotel. We did go for a nice walk over to Walmart to look at bedding etc for Disney and then that was it for the day.

July 14th:

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!! :D We caught the 8.50am shuttle in, arriving by 9.20am, and went straight on in. Right off the bat we went on the Rip-Ride Rock-It, followed by Twister, The Mummy, Jaws & The Simpsons (Best Ride of the Day!!) We then had some lunch before going to see Jess get 6 scorpions  put on her head at Fear Factor Live which was a great show, park guests doing the Fear Factor challenge right in front of us! Afterwards we went on an assortment of other rides/attractions, did The Mummy a good 4 times or so (Good fun) and just took in the atmosphere snapping photos constantly. Afterwards we went and had dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe which was pretty good, I got some Spicy Chicken Wings and Fries. We ended up getting the 8.40pm shuttle back to the hotel and decided to jump in the pool until around 10pm before bed. 

July 15th:

Definitely the biggest and baddest day of them all, a 5.30am wake-up got us on our way, catching a taxi-cab to the park in order to get full use out of our early-access passes - and wow was it worth it! Upon arriving we were among the very 1st in the gates right on 7am along with what must have been 300 others...EVERYONE went straight on up to 'Hogsmeade' in Harry Potter World, all for 'The Forbidden Journey' Ride which was well known for producing extremely long wait times all throughout the day. After experiencing the ride for myself with essentially no wait time there was no question as to why that is...BEST-RIDE-EVER! :P Its really hard to explain on here what it was like but wow was it good, edging out The Simpsons Ride to take top spot. We then went on 'Ride of the Hippogriff' and the 'Dragon Challenge' twice which was cool before sitting down to breakfast at 'The Three Broomsticks'. The food was pretty terrible, Butterbeer was good though, was like a butterscotch icecream spider. After having a good look around all of Hogsmeade and taking tonnes of photos we moved on to the other areas of the park which included Jurassic Park, a few Water rides, Marvel Island (Sweet area), Cat in the Hat and a Lost City area. We got absolutely drenched on the water drop rides, The Amazing Spiderman Ride was awesome and Hulk was pretty cool too. All in all the park was a lot of fun and we left there about 5pm. Jake and I then got some BK before lining up for nearly 2 hours for Harry Potter 7 Part 2 at AMC Cineplex just outside the parks in amongst the CityWalk. Lucky we did too! When we got there, there were already 50 or so people in the line and it didn't take too long in stretching quite a way behind us! The movie (In IMAX 3D) was amazing, it of course being the culmination of around 10 years of Harry Potter year in, year out :D Caught a Taxi home afterwards and well now here I am, ready and packed to set off for Disney in the morning! So I guess I'll end this here, will fill you all in about how I settle in and such next week kk, Peace! ^_^ 

Made it!

Woot! Just thought I'd make this post to inform you all that I have arrived safe and sound in Orlando. After a quick flight to Auckland with its fair share of turbulence in the storms I was all set and ready to hit the skies big time with the 12 hours to LA. The flight was delayed an extra hour due to said thunder storms preventing ground staff to get us up and running, but once we were in the air it was pretty smooth sailing all the way. I watched 4 movies - Rango, Morning Glory, You Again, and The Princess & The Frog, plus 6 assorted TV show episodes to keep me stimulated during the long haul. The dinner was actually awesome too! Butter Chicken mmmmm :P

Upon arrival into the US I went through customs with ease before encountering a bit of confusion at LAX, the worst airport ever haha. I eventually figured it all out and decided to flag any LA adventures, so just checked in waaaaay early and endured life sucking boredom at a Terminal with about 4 shops...To feed my face I got a combo from 'Ruby's Diner', average...Next I was off to Newark, New Jersey which was a PSP filled flight to ward off the constant presence of boredom...McD's for brekkie there and then finally I was on my way to Orlando which was a nice, quick 2 hour flight :)

Orlando International Airport was great! I took a few photos so I'll upload those on to Facebook once I get the chance. I had a look around all of the shops killing time while waiting for Jake to arrive which he did 3 hours later. Another quick McD's combo later (hehe keeping count?) and we were off to the hotel on a $2 bus, cheap huh! The hotel is amazing, its so freakin' hot and humid here we had to have a swim which was great, we then went for a walk down International Drive which is jammed pack with things to do and shopping malls etc...had dinner (Taco's & Burrito's this time lol) & 2 Banana Split Sundaes for $3 to cap it off.

So thats about it, here we are! I hope it all made sense up there lol probably not the best flow in the world but I really can't be bothered proof reading a blog so deal with it :P That and my brain is probably not at its optimal capacity at present as I have not slept in 60 hours! xD Anyways, off to the big mall and Hard Rock Cafe tomorrow, Universal the next day and Islands of Adventure the next! Until next time have a good week, I know I will ^_^