Deployment! (Part One: Grand Floridian)

One thing I had read about in previous QSFB blogs was deployment. Deployment is when someone is sent to work in a different location, but (usually) with the same basic role. They could be doing this because it's a slow season and need you to have enough hours, somewhere else might need you because they're understaffed, etc. Right now Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival started, so many CPs have been deployed to there, while others (like me) have been deployed to fill their positions during the festival. I have been deployed twice so far, once to the Grand Floridian, and right now to Art of Animation. Let me tell you, it's definitely a completely different experience working in different locations!

Both of my deployment experiences have been very different. You can imagine working at the Grand and Art of Animation are very different in comparison to each other. This isn't just because one is a deluxe resort while the other one is a value. The Floridian's quick service (Gasparilla Grill) was just a tiny bit bigger than Captain Cook's, while Art of Animation's food court is like ten times the size of both Gaspy's and Cook's. About ten people work at one time in Cook's, while there are nearly 50 at Art.

I personally ended up really enjoying working at Gaspy's. It's like a little family there, and all of my co-workers were really nice, helpful, and welcoming. When you're deployed, you're 100% on your own for figuring out where to get your costume, what bus to take, where to clock in, and asking for help with your job. It's definitely intimidating and stressful at first, but by around the third day you've pretty much gotten the swing of things, know most of the co-workers, and feel more comfortable. The first day they put me at window, where I took orders from guests and then gave the person in charge of fryer the order. It was pretty simple, and if a guest had a question I didn't know the answer to, I would turn to my left and the grill person could help with the answer. That's one thing about deployment I don't really like...since I'm at a new resort, I don't know the specifics about directions to help guests, or even everything on the menu. Heck, I still sometimes can't remember what's exactly on the Aloha Pork sandwich at Captain Cook's. (BBQ pulled pork, slaw, cucumber, and tomato...btw.)

The second day I was runner/busser. Runner means that I was in charge of bringing the trays of food to the guests at their table, much like a sit down restaurant. This was actually a pretty fun job, because there was a lot of guest interaction. If I'm not running an order to a table, I was greeting guests and asking if they needed any help. One day, I was about to compliment these two little's girls' matching dresses when one of them asked me if I was a princess. This made me really excited, so I told her my name actually means princess (it's true!). I then asked if she was a princess and she shyly nodded and said yes. I asked her who her favorite princess was, and she began naming basically every princess, then telling me it's so hard to choose because she loves all of them. It was so cute!

Gaspy costume!

The next few days I was mainly in charge of bussing, and then helping the runner if things got busy. It never got toooo busy though, thankfully. For about four days in a row (if I remember correctly), I had shifts that all ended at 1:30 in the morning...so needless to say by the end of that week I was pretty exhausted and ready for my days off. Overall though, I really enjoyed working at the Floridian. Made some cool new friends, and learned a lot!

Unfortunately...being deployed to Art of Animation was not as enjoyable. I'll explain more in my next post.