A Day At The Castle

Hello!! It's been a few weeks since I've written. Life at the castle has been wonderful. I officially started at the Boutique without a trainer a week (and a few days) ago. I've gotten comfortable very quickly. My fellow FGiT's have welcomed me with open arms and have been so amazing. I love them all already! My managers and leaders are also wonderful. They have expressed their approval with me and I couldn't be happier. I've received two GSF (Great Service Fanatic) cards from two different managers for creating magic with our guests. It's a great feeling to know that I'm so well liked and appreciated!

So what does a typical day at Cinderella's Castle look like? It depends when I start. When I open the Boutique, I go in at 7:30am. It sounds early but once I get there I'm up and ready to go. We get to go out of the Castle (one of the very few times Fairy Godmother let's us!) and welcome the princesses and bring them in. It is so much fun! It's really special to not only welcome them, but to bring them in, seat them, and THEN we get to be their FGiT! Once we finish our princess, we walk them up to the cash register where they pay and we say goodbye. We go in the back, wash our hands, and come back out! If there is a chair open we take that chair and another princess. If not, we help other FGiT's with makeup and painting princess's nails. I LOVE when I have another FGiT to help me or when I help them. The stories we tell when we're together are hilarious. They always say two is better than one and it couldn't be more true in this situation. One FGiT can be so great at "playing the part" but when you put two together, we play off of both each other and the princess. It's so much fun! At the end of the night we do something fun called "Final Farewell". When the last princess of the night is about to leave, all of the FGiT's line up and we do something magical and send them off. I've seen lots of tears from the Queen and sometimes even the King of the princesses. It's beautiful.

We've had an exciting week at the Boutique! We had a visit from "Honey Boo Boo" or Alana Thompson. I unfortunately left an hour before she came however I heard that she was a lovely princess who had only positive things to say and was very appreciative. She went around the room and told other princesses how beautiful they looked. How wonderful is that?!

The other day I was graced with my first lice sighting. We are trained at how to handle this and have a strict protocol when this happens. We sanitize everything and the FGiT involved also takes sanitizing measures. I was really worried about how I would act when I would get my first lice encounter. I freaked out internally but I managed to keep my cool and still make the princess feel special. I'm actually really proud of myself for handling it how I did. I thought I would for sure make a face and the parents would know, but thankfully I didn't. So moral of the story, everything worked out!

Oh and one last thing! I was media trained! That means that when a form of media comes to the Boutique (an interviewer, cameras, celebrities...), I am able to talk to them and do their hair! Exciting right?! Okay I have to go get ready for another day at the Castle! I'm so blessed that I can go to work every day with a smile on my face and come home just as happy. I absolutely love it!

- Andrea

And It Begins

I'm officially a FGiT trainee! Yesterday and today were my first two days of training. My trainer is a wonderful Puerto Rican woman who is the biggest sweetheart I've ever met. She calls me "mi amor" or my love all the time and tells me how good I'm doing. Everyone I tell that Margarita is my trainer tells me that she is the best of the best. I'm also told that my hairstyles will be perfect because she trains her girls so well. Yesterday I learned all 4 hairstyles. There is the Fairy Tale Princess (a bun with a tiara), Disney Diva (a bun with a hair piece), Pop Princess (twists with clips and a hair piece), and the Courtyard (twists with extensions). I did really well and I felt extremely confident at the end of the day. I learned all of the basics and got a tour of the area too. Today I observed in the Boutique and watched the FGiT interactions with the princess (the girls we make over). My trainer then broke the news that she was confident enough in me that once she demonstrated each hair style, I would do the next one! Holy nerves! I only got the chance to do a Fairy Tale Princess (which is my weakest one, so that was good!) but I was able to transform about 7 princesses! Let me tell you, hair on mannequin heads is a LOT easier to do than clean, smooth, and shiny human hair. It was really hard. It was stressful and nerve wracking and I wasn't enjoying it too much.

Okay that's a lie. I was totally loving life. I didn't stop smiling all day. I'll admit, I talk like an obnoxious Disney princess when I'm there. Just imagine my sweet little high voice saying, "why hello there princess!". Annoyed yet? I'm sure! It's so wonderful though. I feel like a celebrity there. Those princesses act as though they're meeting Cinderella or their idol when I speak. I AM a Fairy Godmother to them and they look at me with stars in their eyes. I may not be in Entertainment but holy cow, working here I feel like I am.

I have the next two days off because my trainer is off, and then I go back on Tuesday.  I'm SO excited to see how far I come along next week when I finish my training and go solo. I've started a journal of all the crazy, adorable, and wonderful princess moments I've had, so I'll leave you with one from today :)

4 year old princess: "do you know what I want to be when I grow up? The boss of everyone. And a doctor. And a mommy. And a teacher. But the boss too."

- Andrea