Evacs and Fanatics

Today was a good day by all accounts! I know I've had good days before but everything about today was fun or exciting and it was just all around enjoyable and I'm very happy to be reflecting on it now. I'm smiling just thinking about it.

I woke up with a voice mail from my girl and an e-mail from one of my new friends who just finished her program before heading back to Peru. Leaving is obviously sad, but I'm happy that we'll be staying in touch even though were who knows how many miles apart. Lazy morning, skipped on the gym because I was tired and otherwise occupied with sleep and ESPN, and that always sets a tone for a relaxing day. I totally understand people who like to get up and get going with their days because I like that too, but give me a lazy morning every once and a while too and I'll be happy.

The mansion was not as relaxing today so it was good to start the day with that tone because it quickly changed upon my arrival. I was in the office for maybe 3 minutes waiting for my clock in before we got the call to evacuate the ride. I don't know how much I am allowed to say about it publicly (especially after one of my friends got in trouble for disclosing too much info in her blog yesterday), but we cleared house and it was quite the adventure doing so... Think Country Bear Jamboree... The entire mansion staff plus most of the area managers were on hand to get it done and get the ride back up as quickly as possible. I think we completed the process in just under 30 minutes.

The rest of the day was fun too. I only got Full of Fear once, and all of my favorite people were working today for the most part. It's always nice to spend time with the mansion family even if it's only in passing as we go about our regular business. I was working in the stretch room when the door decided to not open any more. I had to manually open the other door to let myself out of the room. Last time it happened I could have fixed it and I was just being stupid, but today it actually needed some work. It got up and running quickly, the Disney maintenance team is really spot on.

As I was leaving I found one of my fellow butlers was trying to get rid of a shift on Sunday, a day I currently have off, and I was able to pick it up for him. I get an extra 7 hours next week and he gets his day off. It was a win-win. I also made it by the resort on the way home to show my ID to the front desk so that I can get my discount for when Liz comes to visit and when Rachel and her friends come down for their spring break. It went very smoothly this time and it's all taken care of. Very productive day in my book.

Now that today's adventure has been recapped allow me to jump back to yesterday and tell you about what will probably be the highlight of my week. I was working wheelchair assist when I saw a guest in an ECV ride by the gate that he was supposed to exit out of to board the ride in the proper location. I caught up with him quickly, took his entire group back through the closed section of the queue and lead them into the correct area. Apparently I did this well and with a smile because one of the managers that I've gotten to know, Jude, saw me and gave me a Great Service Fanatic card!

The GSF is basically a little badge of honor you get if someone sees you going above and beyond that goes in your record card. It's kind of like a Disney cast member version of a gold star. Much like the Xbox achievement points I like to collect that don't serve any practical purpose getting a GSF made me really happy and proud that I'm doing a good job. I got a second one today for being part of the successful evacuation. For those of you following along at home that's to GSF cards in less than 24 hours! I'll never go on a tear like that again but hey! I'm going to enjoy it.

My gold stars :-)

It's really been a great week now that I think about it. Except for that one night when I couldn't make my pasta it's been all smiles. I forgot to mention that I went to Typhoon Lagoon on Monday which was great even though the temperature dropped a whole bunch as I was leaving. We had another get together with the mansion at Applebees last night as a send off to our friends heading back to Peru. Carly and Leyla: the mansion won't be the same without you! Hopefully I'll get to Peru someday...

Cheers,
David

Song of the day - Don't Carry it All by The Decemberists