Better late than ever! Back in May it officially made one year of me working in the hotel industry after working in the restaurant industry for two years while studying Engineering in college. I honestly can’t believe it’s been a year already! Time really flies! It truly feels a lot longer than just a year.
In today’s post, I’ll be answering some of the most common questions I get about the hotel industry as well as share any tips for those looking to get into the industry for themselves.
What is your favorite part of working in the hotel industry?
To be honest there are many things I love about the hotel industry. One thing I love is how each day is different and not every day is the same. For example, some days it is slow at the hotel while other days it’s crazy busy. I also love being able to bounce around and learn all aspects inside the hotel from guest services to F&B and so on. Another thing I love is how much teamwork and collaboration play in day to day tasks. The amazing team I work with is one of many reasons I love working and coming to work everyday!
What is the most challenging thing you face on a daily basis during your shift?
Wow… such a great question! I think the toughest thing I face on a daily basis is very irate, and upset guests that just scream at you for every little thing. I’ve honestly built up a tolerance for this and it really doesn’t bother me too much anymore. These are always tough situations since each time, the circumstances are different, you’re dealing with a different guest and do not know what to expect. One thing I have learned from dealing with countless of these situations is to just let the guest “vent” to you and just listen to everything before you respond. When you respond you want to be calm, professional, respectful and most of all try to solve the problem at hand.
Have you ever worked with anyone you do not get along with? If so, how do you deal with that for a whole shift?
Such a great question. I’ve actually had this happen to me a few times, as a matter of fact I’m currently dealing with this now. Honestly each person is going to be different. Not everyone is going to like you or get along with you. One thing I always do is no matter how much the person may not like me, I always remain polite and respectful at all times especially in front of house areas. I always hate when coworkers belittle you in front of guests. Not only is it awkward for you, it also makes the guest you are helping uncomfortable. I want to make one thing clear, not everyone I’m currently working with is like this at all! We are all very close with one another and act like a family.
Other things I do is, when a co-worker acts like this, I always keep my composure and treat them as if they were any other co-worker who I do enjoy working with. Why do I do this? Well, the industry is all about teamwork, collaboration and guest service. I like to look at the big picture and remember why we do what we do each day.
What’s one of the funniest moments you had with a coworker?
This is a tough one… there are so many funny moments, it’s so hard to pick the top moment! I think of the funniest moments is when my old Front Desk Manager ran outside while we all were staying over during a blizzard and began making snow angels, throwing snowballs at the window and even tried to make a snowman! YES TRENT I’m talking about you lol!
Do you ever get free food while on shift?
Yes and no. It honestly depends on if we have events going on in the ballrooms. Say there is a wedding going on, if there is any leftover food from cocktail hour or dinner service, then yes we are allowed to grab some. Some days you get a lot of food while others you get slim pickings.
What is the single most important trait you need to have to be in the hotel industry?
PATIENCE! This is one of the, if not the most important trait and skill to have. You are going to be working in tough environments, situations and sometimes dealing with back to back difficult guests.
What are your future goals and dreams you hope to achieve?
Right now in the short term I would love to get into a management role such as a Front Desk Manager. Long term after I finish school, I would love to work my way up to a General Manager and eventually one day own my own hotel.
Hint! Hint! Totally not dropping any hints here bosses! 🙂
If you could go back in time to when you first started, would you change anything?
Yes and no! I’ve definitely come a very long way from when I first started. There are definitely certain situations that I look back on that I wish played out differently, however though, for the most part I really wouldn’t change a thing. I try to keep growing every day I work and move towards my goals.
This past semester at my college I had the amazing opportunity as President of the Hospitality Club to help take the lead in opening our own student run café. It was an absolutely amazing and fun journey which I enjoyed every minute of. I proudly present Java Junction:
What Is Java Junction?
Java Junction was created by a vast team of professors, student leaders (such as myself), college professionals and others. Our goal was to take the vacant space left behind from our colleges old food service company, Canteen, and create a new space where students, professors and the community could all gather, enjoy a nice refreshing beverage and snack. Once our costs are covered, all profits go directly back to the business clubs (Hospitality Club, Business Club, Accounting Club, Legal Club, PBL, etc.), help support scholarships for students, and help support the business department in obtaining resources to further help students succeed.
When students and professors support Java Junction, they are not only supporting the café, they are also helping fellow students. This is where our mission statement For The Students. By The Students was created from. It is the single most important line that helps drive the café and the decisions we make.
Reflections & Reactions:
From the very moment I heard my Professor’s idea to take the old unused café space and turn it into a new café, I was instantly excited and wanted in on it. I will say the entire experience was full of challenges that not only pushed me as a student, it was also very rewarding and well worth the experience. Not only did I gain valuable experience, and grow my skills, I was also able to get college credits while doing so. In order to get credits, us students had to write a brief journal each week about things we learned, insight we gained and reflect on the week.
I remember when we first got approval for the space and the café, there were some interesting discoveries we made. First, the previous operators left the café in a not so clean state and there were many things not up to code. I was honestly surprised by this and shocked with how some of these items went unnoticed and were not addressed promptly. This was good though since I learned certain things I did not know previously.
During week 5 of the experience, the café was in a transition state where we had to deep clean, repair any equipment and update the café so it was up to code and could pass health inspection. It was at this time we didn’t have Ecolab supplies, soap or any basic essentials to clean. I had to “borrow” the Clorox wipes that were in the lobby to clean the café. When I was trying to clean, all I had was cold water and hand soap. I will say it was definitely interesting and reminded me of a challenge I would get as an engineering student where I had limited supplies and had to make something work.
As time moved on, we got our Ecolab supplies, got the necessary updates and FINALLY passed the health inspection. I put such an emphasis on finally since it took us at least 3 or 4 tries to pass.
Progress Photo Gallery:
Grand Opening:
During week 10 of the experience, it was grand opening week and it went very well. It honestly exceeded my expectations of what I thought would happen. Recalling my journal from that week, I wrote the following about the opening:
“This week at Java Junction was both very busy and exciting since it was grand opening week. Prior to the grand opening, there were many steps that had to be completed. First, we had to stock all of our supplies, unpack any foods that were still in storage as well as prepping anything we needed to. After these tasks were done, focus was shifted to completing the POS system set up, setting up all the grand opening décor and getting ready for ribbon cutting. Also this week at Java Junction, I kept up with my marketing and promotional efforts for the café. The designs I created for the loyalty cards for our loyalty program were sent over to the C.R. team for approval, we are in the process of getting a social media account, branded merchandise, QR codes and flyers. (I can’t wait for these items!) Overall all the marketing efforts thus far, and work we have done has paid off tremendously. I can’t wait to keep marketing the cafe and expanding it as it reaches its full potential”.
My Role at Java Junction:
I briefly mentioned this above, however for those who aren’t as familiar with my responsibilities and things I do at college, I want to explain them a little bit more. I currently serve as President of Hospitality Club and sit on the Hospitality & Tourism Management Program Advisory board. As president I am responsible for promoting the club, leading events, assisting professors with club tasks, etc. Being in this role, tied in perfectly with the creation of Java Junction. One of my specialties is marketing and promotion. Let’s take a look at some of the marketing I have done so far for the café:
Lessons Learned:
Mission & vision statements are a must. A vision statement is what goals or what you want to achieve from your business or operation. The Mission statement on the other hand, is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, identifying the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation. These two statements go hand and hand are key elements to creating your business plan, branding and marketing.
Always listen to your guests and customers. They are the lifeline of your business and it is crucial to keep guests and have them coming back. One thing I did for Java, was any time a student or Professor made a suggestion, I made sure I wrote it down in a notebook so that way when we did a food order or sat down to discuss things about the cafe, I could do my best to make their suggestions a reality.
Conduct your research! What do I mean by this? Well, in order to understand your business model or how to operate the best, conduct a survey or collect data on your target market and competitors. Use this data to help yourself out. For our cafe, I sent out a survey to the entire college to get suggestions, input and menu suggestions. This really paid off a lot! I was able to get a lot of helpful points and suggestions that I was able to use to create the cafe.
Have fun and enjoy yourself! Starting your own business takes a lot of time and effort. You have to enjoy what you’re going to be doing and have a passion for it otherwise what’s the point? My advice to anyone starting their own business is to make sure you enjoy it, have passion and are energetic about it. As the owner, it all stems down from you. If you aren’t into it and are just a wet sock (so to speak), your staff will also be.
Don’t be afraid to be creative and innovative.
6. Take every opportunity you get! Don’t be afraid to take an opportunity just because you don’t think you’re qualified or are afraid you won’t get it! I always say go for it! What’s the worst that can happen?
In our latest review, we took a weekend trip out to PA where we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Lancaster – Mount Joy and toured The Turkey Hill Experience. In today’s second part we’ll be focusing on the restaurants we ate at during the trip. So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s reviews!
Metro Diner – Bensalem, PA
Customer Service – 5/5
From the very moment I entered to the time I left, all the staff I encountered were very pleasant and on the ball. I think if you’re working at a diner or lunchent you need to have the personality and right people skills for it.
The waitress I had definitely had superb service skills, was very friendly and attentive. If I were a local to this area, I would definitely return here. Another important part of a restaurant is its food and beverage. Speaking of that, let’s dive in!
Food & Beverage (F&B) – 5/5
Overall the menu had a lot of variety and unique items on it such as chicken and waffles with ice cream on top! I’ve seen lots of variations with chicken and waffles but this one had a very interesting spin to it. Their variation was as follows: Half a fried chicken and a Belgian waffle, topped with powdered sugar and sweet, strawberry butter. Served with our signature sweet and spicy sauce.
I honestly have never seen a plate of chicken & waffles with strawberry butter. This picture doesn’t do justice! The portions are huge but well worth every bite!
As much as I wanted to order this amazing dish, It was a little too much for me since it was early in the morning when I stopped in for breakfast. I ended up ordering a short stack of pancakes and bacon. Remember how I mentioned before how portions are very large? Well… these pancakes were so big they barely fit on the plate! When I went to put butter and syrup on one of the pancakes it was partially flooding off the plate. Definitely worth it though! I even had some leftovers I was able to enjoy later on in the day.
Today’s Pizza & Mamma Rita Italian Restaurant – Mount Joy, PA
There honestly isn’t too much to say about this restaurant being it is just like any other normal pizzeria you would go to. This review is going to be a little brief and not as in depth but nonetheless, we’ll still rate it like we normally do.
Customer Service – 5/5
The staff working the counter/restaurant were very friendly, professional and helpful. I really honestly don’t have much more to comment on since the service was excellent.
Food & Beverage (F&B) – 5/5
I honestly didn’t know what to expect from the restaurant. I just googled it and saw it was just a short distance from the hotel. I’ve been to many pizza places while on vacation, most were good and some were not. I honestly have to say the pizza here was pretty good and I would definitely recommend it.
As someone who has worked in the restaurant business before making pizzas, I know the science to a good pizza. When making a pizza the two most important factors that affect your dough are time and temperature. You need to make sure the dough proofs up, but don’t over proof and you also need to make sure it is the perfect temperature. The pizza I had was excellent! The dough was not too thick and also wasn’t too thin to the point where the pizza fell apart. There was just the right amount of sauce and cheese and the pizza was cooked perfectly!
Taylor Chip Cookie Co. – Lancaster, PA
This by far was one of the best parts of the weekend gateway and well worth the stop. For those that know me personally, they know I love my cookies! I’m literally always eating cookies all the time. This stop was like a no-brainer for me.
Taylor Chip Cookie Company is a local cookie store that bakes a variety of gourmet cookies from scratch using the freshest and highest quality ingredients. (That’s their secret to a great cookie!) They currently own and operate two locations in PA and offer nationwide delivery through their website.
Customer Service – 5/5
Overall, the store had very friendly and helpful associates. Once again, I really honestly don’t have much more to comment on since the service was excellent.
Food & Beverage (F&B) – 6/5
These cookies are just too good so they break our rating scale! There are so many options for cookies to choose from including: Chocolate Chip, P.B. Fudge, M&M, Brookie and so many more! For a full list of their cookies, check out their website: https://www.taylorchip.com/.
I purchased half a dozen cookies in order to take home as many cookies as I could in order to try most of them. I purchased M&M, Chocolate chip, Brookie, Double Choco Brownie, Snickerdoodle, and Loaded P.B.
Out of all the cookies I tried, I personally liked the M&M cookie the best. But all the cookies I got were amazing. I definitely recommend trying them all.
Pro Tip: If you heat the cookies in the oven at 300 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes. They actually will taste better if you do this, especially if you eat them the next day.
Welcome back to the blog! In our previous Disney post, we discussed the history behind the creativity and innovation Disney was known for. We also discussed the shift away from Disney’s core ideas and the unfortunate move towards greed. In today’s post, we will discussing the highly backlashed Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Hotel. May the force be with us because we are definitely going to need it.
History
Let’s take it back to the very beginning. In 2017, the Star Wars franchise released Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi and there was a lot of buzz regarding the film. It was also around this time Disney was in the process of creating Galaxy’s Edge at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. With all the buzz, Disney decided to gauge interest in an exclusively Star Wars themed resort. Without surprise, the interest in the project was incredibly high. Shortly, after this the concept for the hotel was born. Let’s take a look at the concept art that first came out.
Concept Art & Announcement
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Anyone Order Some Disappointment?
Obviously concept art is meant to be a proof of concept where the idea is put down on paper and visually created in the form of sketches, renderings, etc. Throughout the stages of creation concept art is of course subject to change. Generally when changes are made, it is usually for a variety of reasons such as financial, construction restrictions, permit issues, or any other factors that affect the operations or guest experience. Usually, what we see is when the concept changes from the art, elements from the original design are still present along with the changes.
What Disney did here was kind of the opposite and it honestly is just a complete downgrade from the concepts. You would think with how Disney is they would under promise during the concept then over deliver in the actual product. In the announcement video fans were promised an “immersive, interactive Star Wars experience” where we are the characters of our own journey in the Star Wars universe. When I first heard this, I was pumped about this project and couldn’t wait to see it. However, that feeling of excitement soon turned to disappointment. Everything shown and promised was either really watered down, not done or just cheaply done.
Now to be fair, we haven’t fully seen the product yet, since it just opened, so it could possibly be better in other areas of the resort we haven’t seen as much of yet. Also with the resort just opening, there may be improvements and expansions being planned that we may not yet know about. But at the same time, it could also go the opposite direction too where the resort is worse in quality and what Disney has shown us really is the best they got. If that’s the case, that is just really sad. Regardless, the Disney community has really been full of activity during this time.
The Disney Community
Generally when Disney announces a new project there is always a split opinion between Disney fans. There is always a group that isn’t in favor, a group very much in favor and then there is the other group of fans that don’t really care either way. This project started out very much like this but as time went on, and more previews were released, fans’ opinions all very much disapproved of the project and began calling Disney out. I mean can you blame them? Let’s take a look at what the community has been saying:
Our Thoughts & Feedback
As a fellow Star Wars fan and theme park fan, I am honestly torn on this project. The Star Wars fan in me is excited behind the idea of the project yet at the same time I am disappointed with the execution of the final product. I do agree with the some of the points the community has brought up:
Promised an immersive, interactive, roleplay type experience. Very watered down version of what we were promised countless times.
Hallways are generic with Star Wars theming.
Rooms while the idea is nice, they are very boxy and pod-like.
Pricing is very high for an average family.
Overall however, I do have to say while Disney did slack big time on this project, I definitely feel like the project is not a total loss. I feel like with some adjustments to price, expansions and improvements, the hotel can be successful.
I definitely agree the promised product isn’t there and the price point does not match the value you get as a guest. I honestly feel like this project was overlooked and really pushed aside since in many areas of the resort shortcuts were made that really hurt the product. For example, the famous welcome video a guest received when they booked a reservation is really poorly done. In one of the YouTube videos linked above, it explores this idea and actually shows how bad it really is. After I watched the video for myself, while it was still floating around, I couldn’t help but agree with the points raised in that video.
I really do think that at some point this project was overhyped by marketing, there was probably some sort of budgeting issue, company restrictions imposed or some other factor that caused the project to really nose dive publicly. I honestly do feel that there is a lot to play here. Was it laziness and lack of motivation from the team? Did Disney handcuff the creativity in the project? Did the company honestly stop caring and wanted to pull out but realized it was too late? All these are very possible. Regardless, as a Star Wars fan I hope to see this project reach its potential and not be an embarrassment. Hopefully the price decreases so I can one day go and experience it for myself.
Grab your popcorn bucket and buckle up! It’s time for yet another post about the most crazy, odd, strange and unbelievable hotel stories. From handsy teenagers thinking this is prom night to crazy adults who shouldn’t even be parents! Yea… this is a wild one we got for you! So without further ado, let’s get to it!
Blake’s Stories
Save Your Drama For Your Mama!
Okay, I think this takes the cake for my most insane story ever as a front desk agent unless Hyrax or any of my co-workers can top this which I don’t think they will. So to better understand the story, just a little bit of context and background on the circumstances.
About 5 ½ months ago, this guest (we’ll call her Jane Doe for privacy purposes) called the hotel saying their house burned down to the ground and they needed a place to stay. Generally, for this they contact the Room Sales Coordinator where they can work out how long they are staying and a negotiated rate. However it was about 10 p.m. when they called. Generally, people in this situation only stay like a week or two then leave us. I quoted them the lowest rate I could for a week but they said the total amount needed to be under $500 due to the Red Cross giving them a card to pay for a hotel. After crunching the numbers with the help of my Front Desk Manager, we were able to do this for them.
From the very moment Jane Doe came in, she was a pain and just overly rude. Like listen, I get your house burnt down but when I took like 20 mins with you on the phone and went above and beyond, you could at least be respectful. This was foreshadowing of how the rest of her stay and behavior would be… Yes it gets worse!
Flashforward to the day after Christmas, all was calm on this Sunday night at the hotel until about 9:20 p.m. at night that’s when it went off the rails. Why, you may ask? Well, Jane Doe decides to call 911 from her room phone. Now, as soon as that happens there is a whole procedure you must follow and carry out as a Front Desk Agent. You have to call the room then if you don’t get a hold of them, you go down to the room with another hotel employee to go check on them.
So, I called the room three times and Jane Doe did not answer as the line was in use. After calling, I sent my housemen down there while I stayed at the desk to monitor everything. Jane claimed to have “accidentally” called 911 from her room phone and claimed to be “okay”. If you accidentally dialed, you would have hung up right away and been able to answer your room phone. She was clearly not okay, as she was acting very high strung, panicked and looked very upset. She stated to the housemen there was a fight with her partner (boyfriend. Husband, etc.) and there was a whole situation going on. She kept asking if we saw her “partner” on camera or if we bumped into him. The housemen did not as there were a lot of people coming in and out and I did not for the same reason. Think this story is crazy already? It gets crazier…
Right after asking us if we saw her “partner”, she went outside and was walking laps outside then disappeared for a solid 20 mins. After 20 mins, she calls the front desk and asks if we could check the room, make sure it’s clear and then meet her down there to give her new keys. On the phone she sounded very quiet and I could barely hear her. Anyways, I went to check her room for her and as soon as I opened the door, it was like an episode of Hoarders… Floor to ceiling was covered with crap, the floor was completely covered with clothes, and you couldn’t even open the door. To open the guest room door you literally had to push things over/out of the way. On a side note, she never came down to her room to grab the keys from me so I left.
Long story short, after all this happened, Jane Doe comes to the lobby, stops, shoots me a very evil and crazy look and does so for a solid 30 seconds before walking out. It was at this point like eight cop cars pulled up front so I guess she called them again? After this, I am unsure of the outcome since one the cops most likely took care of it and I did see her the rest of the evening.
So yes, this 100% takes the cake as the most insane hotel story ever for me. I don’t think there’s any topping that… Although anything is possible. Speaking of anything, that reminds me of my next story.
No-no, don’t touch me there, This is my no-no square!
Well… I honestly don’t even know how to tap dance around this one so let’s just get to it. During the peak summer season at nightime, a teenage couple thought it would be fun to do after prom things in the fitness center after coming out of the pool. Little did they know, there was a security camera in the fitness center area watching over them as they did so. I think you know where I’m going with this… Need I explain more? Anyways, as they started to do adult things the evening housemen walked past and caught them as they awkwardly tried to play it off as they didn’t do anything. After that happened, they left the fitness center, kissed as if it was a romance movie then went into their room. This was one of those WTF moments (can I even say that on this platform? I totally think I can…) for me and sticking out is one of the most interesting stories of the summer. Speaking of summer, what’s the summer without a nice refreshing swim in the pool or in this case a parkour course.
Wipeout! Pool Mayhem Edition.
Remember the television show Wipeout? For those who don’t know, it was a game show where contestants raced each other to complete crazy, ridiculous obstacle courses and at the end you can win prize money. Anyway, this story reminds me a little of the show.
One summer a group of two adults came up to the desk and told me there was an unsupervised kid who was throwing pool chairs into the pool, taking said chairs out and then jumping off them into the pool. The kid was pushing tables towards the edge of the pool deck, jumping off those tables and was also taking tables and chairs, putting them in one stack and diving into the pool from them. The adults said that the kid almost at one point slipped backwards and cracked his head open on the pool deck. Luckily, this didn’t happen since that would have been a headache to deal with.
You Say Potato, I Say Pot-ato.
Ahh yes… Good ol’ Ramada, always good for a good laugh and fun time. While I was at our Ramada property converting the desk for a couple hours while they had their staff holiday party, the front desk agent told me there was a gentleman staying there who was very intoxicated and would keep stopping down by the desk and just talk non-stop. And sure enough what happened? That exact thing just as the front desk agent was coming back to the desk. So the crazy drunk guy came to the desk for 10-15 mins and would not stop talking about mashed potatoes. He kept asking me if I had any mashed potatoes I could give him or if I could smell mashed potatoes since he apparently smelled them. I swear you can’t make this nonsense up…
Flooding The Hotel & Power Games
Nothing is worse than coming into the hotel and having problems with power, water or any other utility. So during the summer time I remember coming in and the hotel had half power. Literally half of the hotel had power and the other half did. Oddly enough it wasn’t evenly spread out. For example, parts of a floor would be dark, while others had light while the rest of the floor would keep flickering. If this wasn’t interesting enough shortly after having half power, the power went out fully for a couple hours. Ahh yes doing everything old school… So not fun! Luckily, the power did come back on before it got dark and before the crazy evening rushes started.
Bonus Story – Pizza Time!
Speaking of crazy evenings, this next mini story is yet another interesting interaction with a drunk person. A gentleman was attending a wedding and had too much to drink during the wedding so he decided to get a room for a couple hours to rest then go back to the wedding later on. After getting his keys he went to the room to put his stuff down and then came back to the desk. He asked if there were any pizza places around that delivered to the hotel. I gave him a menu, he looked at it and then said to me “Yo man… I’m way too wasted to order right now. If I tell you what I want, give you the cash for it, can you order for me, please?” He then proceeded to pull out his wallet and gave me $45.00 for his order. His pizza came to like $18 with the soda he wanted. I gave the pizza guy $25 total with the tip and the rest of the money was mine. I asked the guy what he wanted me to do with his change and he told me to keep it. So yea, I got a $20 tip just for calling to order a pizza.
Hyrax’s Stories
Charlie The Rock??
So let me first explain how this story actually started. During the time that I was working at the motel, I worked the second shift as per usual. My motel is located right on the edge of downtown, with the main river running thru the city just a few blocks away. Though the river is rather popular for tubing during the summer time, people also love to go fishing in the river and catch some amazing sized trout. (For example, the winning trout was a whopping 8 POUND 7 OUNCES!). Our pool that was located right by our main building had just opened for the season and guests like to relax in the water while beating the heat.
Once I had arrived for work, my manager and I got to talking about how the situation with COVID was progressing as well as any news for the day. As we walked the property to make sure things were all good, I noticed in the bottom of my eye something in the pool. My manager and I both entered the pool and I looked fully to find a huge rock in the shallow end of our pool. I am not talking about a pebble, this rock was probably the size of a watermelon or smaller. Unsure about why there was a rock in the pool, I went over and grabbed the cleaning net. Once I pulled the rock out of the water, my manager said for me to take the rock into our garden. As we were about to past the gate, a woman bathing on a sunchair beside the gate shouted “Not Charlie!”
You can imagine the looks on our faces. Just pure utter confusion. The woman explained that her daughters and herself had gone to the river earlier in the day. While river walking, they came across the rock and decided to take the rock for themselves. They brought the rock back to our hotel, washed it in the shower, then gave the name of Charlie. Then since it was so hot, “Charlie” decided to go swim and they put the rock into our pool. These would be probably the most hilarious memories I have of this year. If you were to adopt a rock, what would you name it?
Not Impersonators, It’s Entertainers.
Halloween is my favorite personal holiday. It’s the one day where you can look silly as you wish and no one questions it. The week of Halloween, we had a group of Elvis enthusiasts book our entire property. My manager warned us that calling the group Impersonators would upset the main leader. The group arrived without any issues, checked in and settled for a weekend of themed shows.
The first day was Halloween, in which I dressed up as Symbiote Spiderman. The second day was themed to Elvis Woodstock, or mainly the 50s Era. The lobby was full of Elvis singers walking, laughing and talking. The Third day was Parrothead paradise, or Margitaville themed. The funniest scene was watching this woman wearing a parrot costume with wings walk into our elevator. The last day was themed to Cousin Jethro’s Backyard, or hillbilly/redneck themed. All in all, I think it was a successful group event and honestly look forward to the next time they come around.
What day would have been your favorite? Honestly, I enjoyed Halloween as it was the only day I was able to dress up.
Cops Mania
Before I start with this story, let me explain a few things. The title is not stating I had to actually call the cops, though I had to do so sometimes at my old job. My lodge is rather popular to be booked by several groups and events including weddings, meetings, and reunions. We had two events back to back weekends where we hosted two groups of cops at our lodge.
One group of cops were actually cops from all around Georgia schools to be trained while the other group was retired cops who enjoy going on bike rides named the Blue Knights. Imagine my surprise after asking that there are also multiple groups similar to the Blue Knights but for other types of First Responders and even military branches.
It was honestly the safest I think anyone would feel with several cops at the lodge. Even the bears were deciding to hide away due to the noise of the motorcycles.. Speaking of which, that is my next story!
A Big Furry Friend Visits
During one of my evening shifts at my motel job, I had just finished folding the laundry after a rather slow night. I walked back into the office to get a cup of coffee and imagine my surprise when the horse carriage driver came barging into the office. He was rather spooked and slammed the door shut behind. I walked over to ask what the situation was and he told me of a friend digging around outside in a bin. So at a quick speed, I locked the door and grabbed the mobile phone off the hook in case of an emergency. After a while the bear left and I was able to unlock the door so the carriage driver can go home.
I am also going to add a Part 2 to this story, though it is probably a different bear. After I had just gotten off work and was heading home, I pulled up to the main street to turn right and head back south home. As I stopped and looked both ways, I noticed something moving ahead of my lights by the bakery. I took a double take to see a big black bear roaming across the street ahead of me. Quite spooked as I knew that some guests were still sitting outside having a drink, I called our Night Auditor and warned her.
Kids – 0, Dad- 1
I was told by my parents that I wasn’t a bad child to raise. Yes, I did get in alot of trouble at times. I was a curious boy who wondered if a RVC would play a sandwich, yes I actually did that. My lodge has 3 floors at our Conference Center , where you check in for the lodge. On the 2nd floor of the Center is our Fireside Room where we have our Table tennis, while the 3rd floor holds a pool table in front of our Tavern. You can imagine how popular the two upper floors to people to relax
Sometime during our Thanksgiving week, we had a full house at the lodge. Our Tavern was dealing with several guests and groups that night. While the kids decided to wait for a table, they put hand sanitizer all over the door of the 3rd floor. The kids also broke some of our pool cues, but were called out by our staff at the Tavern. Now, most of the time, parents can be like “my child is perfect. You are lying.” I am not saying all parents are like that. This father decided to take matters into his own hands and investigated the situation. He asked the kids first if they put hand sanitizer all over our Elevator door, which they denied. The father, skeptical, asked the kids to hold out their hands. You can imagine what was revealed… The kids had lied to the father.
Because kids were bored, our staff had to start logging the pool cues and supplies to guests from the front desk. Another issue would come from kids who decided to stand on top of table tennis, which caused them to break in half. Now things have changed to where we just keep the pool cues and supplies on the 3rd floor to make things easier. Lesson here: Don’t lie to your parents.
We hope enjoyed our post about even more of our craziest stories as Front Desk Agents. We always enjoy creating this posts recapping these kinds of things. Do you have a crazy work story? Share it down below!
Welcome back to Touristician and the first ever Touristician Review! Back in 2018 while on a summer vacation, I stopped in one of my favorite areas of Pennsylvania, Lancaster. Coming from Ohio to PA, I needed a place to stay the night since driving home was not feasible plus I had things I wanted to do the next day in PA before leaving the state. I stayed at hotels before and never have I ever had a bad experience like this one. Finally after all these years, I will be revisiting this experience to give it a proper rating. Before we get started let’s go over the rating system:
I will be rating the hotel on a total scale of one to five on the following categories;
customer service, rooms, amenities and finally, cleanliness/upkeep. After rating the hotel in each category, I will then rate my overall experience then give my final thoughts.
So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s review!
Days Inn by Wyndham Lancaster PA Dutch Country
Customer Service – 0/5
For the purposes of privacy, no specific names of staff are mentioned down below.
Initially when first entering the very dated and dingy lobby, there was no front desk agent present or staff at all for that matter. I stood in the lobby for five minutes with my belongings after a long day on the road. Finally the front desk agent came around behind the desk, and they seemed a bit annoyed that I was “interrupting them”. They couldn’t even be bothered to apologize for the wait or be friendly. I’m sorry, but if you’re a front desk agent that is your job and you have no right to get annoyed at a guest for wanting to check in or for needing assistance. If they truly felt this way, they are in the wrong business.
When I came back to the desk, after having problems with my room, literally nothing was done about it. The front desk agent had the nerve to say to me “Well, sir, any room I give you is going to be exactly like that so there is nothing I can really do for you.” Again, they seemed annoyed that they were being bothered again. They did not take ownership of the problems or even once apologize. They didn’t even offer me anything! It was at this point that I immediately checked out, called and had to fight for a refund and went to a Holiday Inn Express near by. In a future post, I will be reviewing that amazing Holiday Inn Express location.
Looking back and now as a Front Desk Agent myself who works for this brand, that is not acceptable by any means. I think this is one of the biggest problems with this brand is sometimes the hotels are just utter dumps that are poorly run and poorly managed. With these things unfortunately comes employees who also don’t care. I honestly don’t think this particular location was poorly run or managed based on other locations out there. I think overall they were heading the right direction but need to correct their problems to run smoother. You can tell the rooms were cleaned but there was no system to check or inspect the rooms therefore causing rooms to have cleanliness issues that should have been spotted. Speaking of rooms, let’s take a look at the rooms.
Rooms – 0/5
At this particular hotel they offered rooms with two queen beds, rooms with one king and suite rooms. From the pictures it looks like a decent, nice and affordable place to stop for the night. Unfortunately, the rooms had many issues from cleanliness to maintenance issues.
Starting off with the bathroom, which honestly for the disgusting room I had, was the cleanest spot of the room. Upon entering the bathroom, it looked like a 1990s McDonalds dining room, which honestly I could care less about except for the fact in some spots wallpaper was peeling off the walls, there was rust, dirt and hairs in the grout of the tiles. Obviously since I left, I didn’t utilize the shower despite it looking ‘clean’, I honestly didn’t trust it. Everything I touched in the bathroom was sticky and if I recall correctly, I believe the floors also felt this way. Despite all these issues, they at least got some of the basics right, clean towels, fresh toiletry items and a clean sink. Other than that, everything else like I mentioned was either subpar, dirty or was not upkept well.
Now onto the living space and sleeping area of the room, which is where the wheels truly fall off. The beds from the outside appear clean; however, once you peel the comforter off, you’re greeted with hairs, crumbs and lint all under the blankets. I honestly didn’t look at any of the pillows since I don’t usually use hotel pillows since I don’t sleep with hotel pillows. Much like the bathroom, all the furniture was sticky as was the floor too. The furniture was so bad that I had to place towels on the table I had my bags on. I think one of the most disgusting things in the room was the phone by far crushed up, and caked up layers of hairs, crumbs all over the phone and in every corner.
Amenities – 1/5
During my stay, I did not utilize many of the on property amenities since I immediately checked out. However, I did want to give my initial thoughts and feedback on what I saw at the hotel. The breakfast area was subpar and poorly executed. The entire area looked very neglected and thrown together. Seems like all this location offered was stale bagels, and old cereal in questionable looking containers. As I was putting together this post, I noticed the photo of the breakfast area looked nothing like what it did when I stayed. Makes me wonder if they finally got their acts together and improved it?
As far as the fitness center, I really did not take a look at it during my short time at the hotel. However, I do want to give my thoughts on this as well. As with the breakfast area, this fitness area shouldn’t even be called a fitness center at all. Shame on them for even attempting to call that a fitness center. If we look at the top picture this is what they are trying to pass off as their fitness center while the bottom photo is the fitness center that is actually there. You can not throw two exercise machines and weight rack in a tiny room that’s smaller than a guest room bathroom. UNACCEPTABLE!
The Reviews Don’t Lie:
For the purposes of privacy, no specific names of guests are mentioned down below.
Ouch… Looking at the ratings summary the hotel is rated a 2.9 (Fair) with a 3/5 star rating. About 60% percent of guests found safety was an major issue, 59% said cleanliness was a issue and finally the biggest percentage of them all, 83% of guests said the bathroom in their rooms was an issue. If we dive into some reviews, we see all these issues and them some:
Just as bad as the reviews are the responses from the owner. Does this owner even have a clue what the heck they are doing? For example, in the review where it mentions bed bugs, the owner has the nerve to respond by saying “The room was thoroughly inspected and no bugs were found and also the room was rented out, with no further complaints. I want to assure you that we are thoroughly investigating this claim…” TIMEOUT! This owner has the audacity to say this guest’s complaint is only a claim?!? If more than one guest is complaining review after review, clearly this isn’t a claim. The fact the owner also says the room was rented out with no further complaints is pretty much saying to this guest that they don’t know what they are talking about. If this owner responds to reviews like this then doesn’t take the proper time to take care of issues like this one then just flip the room over and resell it is unacceptable.
Here’s yet another example of this owner calling a guest out saying that their complaints are only claims. “I want to assure you that we are thoroughly investigating this claim and that although we have not found any evidence of a bug infestation, we are taking the necessary precautions to ensure that nothing is missed. We respond promptly to pest alerts with expert extermination services and also treat to deter pests on a regular scheduled basis. We take this business very seriously and assure you that management has taken all the steps to make sure that all the rooms are clean and our ultimate goal is to make sure each guest had a comfortable stay.” Okay buddy… we don’t need a whole essay here. Stop saying what guests are saying are just claims. We don’t need a essay explaining how or what you do to “address” the problem. I love how this owner thinks by writing this, they will win over future guests by showing the procedure they do. Guess what… guests do not care about your long winded response. You should be ashamed of yourself and your embarrassment of a hotel. This owner needs to be sent back to hospitality school to relearn the basics.
Final Thoughts:
Overall this hotel is in rough shape from cleanliness issues, lack of maintenance, staff problems, poor management and finally poor ownership. This definitely was one of the worst hotel experiences I had so much so it almost ruined the vacation I was on. As I was writing this, to see the hotel has not improved at all and only has gotten worse is very sad. It’s Days Inn locations that give the brand a poor image and reflect poorly on Wyndham. This hotel is in such a perfect location if they only got their acts together there is no reason they could be making bank and achieve higher ratings.
In a future post, I will be reviewing the Holiday Inn Express location that saved my vacation and helped give me my love for hotels. I hope you enjoyed today’s post. What do you think of this hotel? Have you ever had a bad hotel experience? Share your story down in the comments below!
In both high school and college everyone has their own journey, not one path anyone takes is the same. Some people are faced with challenges and fail while others have an easy time at success. The important thing is not about who you are and if you were successful or not. It’s how you respond to it. If you faced failure, did you simply give up or did you pick yourself up and keep going? If you were successful, are you keeping it going and still working hard or are you letting it get to your head? If you are somewhere in between or in a situation and aren’t sure what to do, it’s okay! In today’s post we will be covering how you can be successful, deal and cope with failure and I will also share my personal story of how I both faced failure and turned it around.
Do Yourself A Favor & Stop Pressuring Yourself!
It seems from the very moment you enter high school as a freshman you are thrown a class book and told to choose what you want to do. There is so much pressure from counselors and teachers that you must choose. Even in college, sometimes there is so much pressure on us to choose a major and we are forced to make a decision quickly.
Are you in high school or college currently and are in this same situation? Let me give you some advice: It’s perfectly okay to not know what you want to do for a career/major. Don’t let anyone pressure you into anything you don’t want. From personal experience, try different things and experience new things. By doing this, you’ll find what you are interested in and what you dislike. Keep doing this until you have that “ah ha” moment.
The Lightbulb Moment A.k.a. The Ah Ah Moment:
So what is this so-called “Ah Ah moment” I’m talking about? As you begin your exploration and try new things, sometimes you get this feeling of excitement and you suddenly realize, said activity, career or major is for you!
Everyone has these moments even if you don’t realize it. For example, I’ll tell you one of my key moments. At the very start of my freshman year in high school, there was such pressure for me to decide what I wanted to do as a career. I was given the class book and saw so many paths and I’ll be honest it was honestly overwhelming. I honestly had zero clue what I wanted to do and wasn’t sure what I was interested in. Originally I was in band ever since elementary school and was pumped to do it in high school. However, the requirements and scheduling conflicted with work and sports. I’ll be honest I was crushed and to be honest kind of lost. Band was a big part of me and I wasn’t sure where I could go from there. So what did I do? Well, like I said above, I opened myself to new things. In the class catalog I saw a class called Engineering & Design. It was this very class that led me down my path towards where I am now, well… sort of.
I should mention, if you haven’t had your “ah ah” moment yet, don’t worry! Your moment is coming. Don’t try to force it. The more you try to force it, the harder of a time you’ll have in the long run. The best advice I could give you is to keep on going and let your moment come to you. Enjoy where life takes you!
Dealing With Failure & How To Cope:
No matter the situation, dealing with failure can be a severe blow to your morale and motivation. For the purposes of our discussion, let’s focus on failure in a learning environment. You can easily take the principles we discuss and apply them anywhere.
Remember nobody likes to fail or wants to fail. If you are currently facing failure or trying to cope with it, let me reassure you everything is going to be alright! Don’t panic, take a deep breath and just relax. I know it’s easier said than done. Trust me I went through a stretch of failure, I get the feeling and know it’s not easy. (More on this later) If you are in a real bind and don’t know what to do, lean on your friends and family as they can really provide some great insight and reassurance. As I mentioned at the start of the post, it’s not how or why you failed that’s important. It’s how you pick yourself up and bounce back. If you just give up and sulk in your failure, you’ll never get anywhere in life. Failure is a part of life.
This reminds me of what a very wise and motivational Professor once told me during class one semester. She went on to explain that failure has such a negative meaning and there is such pressure put on us when we fail. Professor told us to remember the word fail means: First Attempt In Learning. Now, I know this sounds absolutely crazy, but she had a valid point. How else are we supposed to learn and grow if we never encounter failure? Not yet convinced? I don’t blame you, I wasn’t either at first but after looking at real examples of people who encountered failure at first then went on to be crazy successful, I was very convinced. Which brings me to my next point…
Look To Your Role Models:
Think about who you look up to whether it’s a family member, cultural icon, etc. I want you to think about this for a second. Do you think whoever it may be, became successful overnight? Do you think they ever not failed? Do you think they ever gave up? Take Walt Disney for example, once faced bankruptcy, mental health issues, and even labor strikes.
Walt Disney himself once said “It is good to have a failure while you’re young because it teaches you so much. For one thing it makes you aware that such a thing can happen to anybody, and once you’ve lived through the worst, you’re never quite as vulnerable afterward.”
Walt also explained his formula for overcoming failure. “To some people, I am kind of a Merlin who takes lots of crazy chances, but rarely makes mistakes. I’ve made some bad ones, but fortunately, the successes have come along fast enough to cover up the mistakes. When you go to bat as many times as I do, you’re bound to get a good average. That’s why I keep my projects diversified.”
Being Successful & Seizing Your Opportunities:
Everyone loves hitting big and being successful. But how do you become successful? To be honest there really is no correct answer. There is not one correct path or steps you need to take to be successful. Like I said at the start of the post, everyone’s path and circumstances are different. Everyone’s definition of success is not going to be the same because of this. Remember, success is what you make of it. It can be as small as finally getting straight As or as big as landing that dream job you always wanted. No matter your path or the circumstances, you need to be sure to take advantage of your opportunities as well as the tools you have at your disposal. For example, the company I work for currently, is very big on promoting within and teaching. With this, they offer lots of training and opportunities to learn everything I’m interested in and enthusiastic about. If you currently work for a company or employer who does something similar, be sure to jump on any opportunities and take the resources they offer you.
My Stretch Of Failure & How I Turned It Around
Originally, I began studying engineering and had the dream of working for Disney. I had the hope and dream of one day even starting my own park. So what happened? Well first let me say, I am not very good at math. Ever since elementary school, math was always a weak subject of mine. Despite this, I never failed a single math class in school. I always got As or a low B. Flashforward to college and I failed not just one math class, I failed two math classes! For my degree I needed to take Pre-Calc I & II, Calculus I, II, III & V. Yea it’s not as fun as it sounds, especially when math is your weak subject.
Right when I failed my first class, I was devastated and felt like giving up but then I stopped to remember my dream and what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to give up on my dream without a fight. The following semester, I retook the class I failed and not only did I pass with a B, I know the math a whole lot better. The next semester, I moved on to my next math class which was Pre-Calc I and yes you guessed it, I failed horribly. If I remember correctly, my grade was a 40 something. It was really bad! I didn’t fail out of not trying, there were a lot of factors that went into it, online class due Covid being one of them. (When it comes to math, I am a very visual learner. So math is easier for me in person with an instructor in front of me and where I can actually write things on paper).
At this point, not only was I stressed and down on morale, I also was doubting myself. I kept asking myself “What’s the point”, “Why am I doing this” and even “This was all a mistake I should have never done this.” Remember how I said before, it’s not how or why you failed that’s important. It’s how you pick yourself up and bounce back that matters.
I was faced with a very tough choice and it took a lot of thought. Did I no longer want to do engineering? Or Did I want to stick with it? After weeks of thinking and weighing my options, I decided to switch my major to Hospitality for a variety of reasons. First, besides failing math, the math in general was getting to be too much for me and was too stressful. I was only at Pre-Calc 1 and still had to do Pre-Calc 2 as well as Calc 1 – 4. I knew I didn’t want the stress of going through all that.
Second, I was very good at the science part of engineering as that came easier to me. I was very into 3D printing, CNC machines, robotics, etc. I choose rather than have the stress of doing these as a career and taking the fun away, I wanted to keep these as hobbies or interests instead.
Third and most importantly, I didn’t want to give up on my dream of eventually opening my own theme park or resort. Hence where the hospitality comes in. I was always interested in hotels and had a fascination for them. When I got my college courses catalog and saw this as an option, I always planned to have this as a double major down the road.
So did I become successful? Well, Flashforward and here I am closing in on graduating with my Associates degree in Hospitality, working at an amazing hotel company learning lots and doing this blog! So yes, I would say I am successful! Want to know more about my day to day at the hotel? Check out my post What It’s Like Working In A Full Service Hotel.
I hope you all enjoyed today’s post and found it helpful! Until next time!
Welcome back to our Blog! Today, I will be reviewing my experience upon the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad Polar Express Train Ride! In this review, I will go over the history behind the Polar Express, the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, and my ratings of the experience. So grab your tickets, a cup of hot chocolate, and relax. All Aboard the Polar Express!
History of The Polar Express
The Polar Express is a children’s book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg. It was published by Houghton Mills in 1985. The book would go on to become considered a classic Christmas story for young Children, alongside Dr. Seuss’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas. The book received great praise for its detailed illustrations and calm, relaxing storyline. Van Allsburg won the annual Caldecott Medal for his work on the book. If you have never read the story, I highly suggest you do so. To avoid any spoilers, I am going to avoid telling you the plot. That is a journey you will have to take yourself.
By 1989, The Polar Express would sell over 1 million copies and make the best-seller list four years in a row. It earned the “Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children” vote in 2007 and “Top 100 Picture Books” in a 2012 poll. In 2004, Castle Rock Entertainment would produce a computer- animated Christmas musical fantasy film by the same name. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the movie would go on to release on November 10th 2004 and grossed $286 million worldwide in ticket sales. Shortly after the movie release, a video game was released purely based off the movie during the same year. The train model company of Lionel would start releasing model trains of the Polar Express due to its popularity. The movie would also inspire train rides to pop up all over the United States, Canada, and the UK! Even some theme parks would include a Polar Express experience during their holiday season. The Polar Express would be nominated for 3 Academy Awards, A Golden Globe Award, and Visual Effects Society Award. They would win the Grammy for ‘Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media’ in 2006.
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (or GSMR) is a freight and heritage railroad located in Bryson City, North Carolina. As of 1999, they are operated by American Heritage Railways, Inc. Today, the railroad has excursions along the former Southern Railway branch between Bryson City and Dillsboro. As of right now, the GSMR has two steam locomotives (with one currently operational) and soon-to-be seven diesel locomotives. The GSMR owns 53 miles ( or 85 kilometers) of the Murphy Branch that used to be part of the Southern Railway that went from Dillsboro, North Carolina to Andrews, North Carolina. The line was completed in Dillsboro in 1883 and reached Andrews in 1890. GSMR would start operations in 1988 via lease from NCDOT (or North Carolina Department of Transportation). The GSMR route uses a route which passes through ‘fertile valleys, a tunnel and across river gorges’ in the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. In December 1999, GSMR was sold to American Heritage Railways and debuted as Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. In addition to running tourist excursions year-round, GSMR has also moved freight via interchange with the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad in Sylva. GSMR runs nearly 1,000 excursions each year! In 2004, GSMR debuted its Polar Express train ride, based on the newly released movie and licensed through Warner Bros. The ride has annually been a major economic boost for the railroad and town of Bryson City. In 2019 alone, GSMR broke all attendance records with over 91,000 people riding the Polar Express excursion alone. In 2008, as a result of recession, GSMR closed their Dillsboro Depot and focused solely on the Bryson City operations. Bryson City would become the new hometown for the railroad with the move of the Administration Offices, though excursions were still running between Dillsboro and Bryson City. Due to COVID outbreak in 2020, GSMR had to suspend operations for a short 3 months before re-opening in June 2020. GSMR also owns and operates the Smoky Mountain Trains Museum located adjacent to the Bryson City depot. The museum features a collection of over 7,000 Lionel model engines, cars and accessories!
The Polar Express Experience
Tickets And Sales: Rating – N/A
Our Tickets were pre-ordered by my grandparents as part of our Christmas present. According to the website: Prices range for $43 to $93 per person depending on which class car you book. We had received the Crown class tickets, which is the 2nd cheapest above Coach class. Upon arrival, there were signs stating that GSMR required all passengers to wear masks to prevent any outbreaks. GSMR only allows one person per family to claim pre-ordered tickets located in a tent set up by the depot. You will receive your seat ticket and a golden ticket, just like you see in the film. Depending on your boarding time, they tell you to arrive 15-30 minutes ahead of scheduled time. During this time, you are free to explore Bryson City. Once it is time, you are told to stand in a numbered station, going from 1 (by the train depot) to at most 7 or 8 possibly. During the wait for the train, the GSMR would pump music via speakers and use programmed lights to get you into the holiday spirit and keep your mind off the cold. Once the train is close, the staff ask you to stay behind a safety line before asking you to have your tickets ready and present. When the train has stopped and the last ride is fully off, they will allow boarding to start.
Boarding & Unboarding: Rating – 3 out of 5
Okay, major gripe here. I don’t have a major fear of tight spaces or anything. However, the space between the bathroom and the wall going into the actual train cart is quite a squeeze. You can imagine how you can form a slight fear of claustrophobia with everyone piling in at the same time. Also, taking into consideration the COVID situation at the moment, I feel that they could have done the boarding a bit more smoothly and controlled. Once seated and all were aboard, the train started its journey.
Coming back to the station, I wish they would have done better with the unboarding situation. The major letdown is the tight squeeze to the exit with the huge crowd heading out. Again, a major case of claustrophobia waiting to happen.
The Journey To North Pole: Rating – 5 out of 5
What is there to say on this? If you ever watch or have read the book, you can feel the spirit of the Polar Express during the whole journey. You are first introduced to your server which would have a holiday themed name (for example: Ours was named Mistletoe!). After everyone shouts their name to be introduced, a small clip from the movie would start going over the intercom and speakers. This would be the “Hot Chocolate” scene , which would be introducing the delicious hot chocolate presented to you by your server. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPWYu94mzhE&feature=emb_logo)
As well as the Hot Chocolate, which is served in a small souvenir coffee cup, you are served some cookies wrapped in a plastic bag. This cookie is about the size of your palm , probably a bit smaller but I swear it is big! I believe the cookie to be a sugar cookie or something that was dusted with cinnamon possibly. Out of my family, I would be the only one who would finish the cookie. The journey would continue forward and include cute tidbits from the movie (for example, the “Hey, you forgot your ticket” scene after the Conductors punch the tickets or the howling of the wolves as you pass over the bridge). I do need to warn that a portion of the journey will be during a time where the lights would ‘shut off due to the cold’ as we got closer to the North Pole section of the ride. The major part of the trip to the North Pole area would be taken up by the reading of the Polar Express book, so make sure to bring your own with you!
The North Pole – Rating: 5 out of 5
As you approach the North Pole, you would pass through a wall of ice and enter a small town all decked out as the North Pole. The server will give you a small tour of the town, showing you the houses of the characters from the North Pole and a few points of interest. As you go along, you pass the Town Center where Santa is atop his sleigh waving at the kids. Do note that during this time, the train will stop and pick up Santa before continuing on its journey backwards. (Oh… did I forget to mention that the train travels backwards for the journey to the North Pole, then forward back to Bryson City). The train will suddenly come to another pause where there seems to be caribou blocking the passage back. The train would switch gears and start pulling you forward once more. You may notice (if you were not in the front cars that is) that Santa is no longer on his sleigh. The server will go into a panic and run off to look for Santa. The server would come back in a short while and ask everyone if they were on the nice list. If you are on the naughty list, you get called out and told that to get on the Nice List you must do something. (I guess this can depend on the ride and person, but those naughty in our car had to do the chicken dance). WIth everyone now on the nice list and the kids chanting “Santa”, the jolly man walks in to be greeted with loud cheers. Santa will pass out bells to the kids, with some helpers handing out more bells to others.
The Journey Back To Bryson City- Rating : 4 out of 5
The journey back to Bryson City would continue after Santa’s visit. The server would have you guys play with your bells and sing some Christmas songs. They also like to tell jokes and will sometimes ask for people to share any! The journey back is not as exciting as the journey to the North Pole. You get to see the same scenery passing so I can’t really add that much here not already stated in the previous section. One thing that I can state is that I wish they had put more decorations along the train ride for us to see, as there are parts where you are passing bare spots with nothing to stare at outside the window.
Overall Experience – 17 out of 20 possible
I would definitely suggest you look into booking this incredible experience for your family! What a way to make wonderful Christmas memories! There is a dress code for the ride : pajamas!! Just like the movie, all who board the train are allowed to wear pajamas and robes as part of the experience. I have included the link to the GSMR website so that you may glance at the prices, the experience, and even more.
Welcome to the first ever Disney focused blog post! Back in 2019, I had to write a research paper about a topic I was passionate about and related to my major. For my paper, I decided to spot light the creative history Disney has had, a brief timeline of the parks and the current track record Disney has with its current leadership. While, I don’t consider myself a hardcore fan of Disney or claim to know everything about it, I wanted to share my thoughts and opinions I wrote. After revisiting this after some time, I definitely remember enjoying this paper and am glad I am able to revisit it again. So without further ado, let the magic begin!
*For easier readability, I removed the citations used throughout the paper. Please note not all quotes or facts are directly mine. I will link the sources I did use at the end of the post. Thank you!*
“To all that come to this happy place, welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future…” (Walter Elias Disney). From the very start, theme parks were created as a place of fun and to escape the craziness of life. Creating a theme park to achieve these goals takes lots of creativity and innovation. Throughout the Walt Disney Company’s existence, creativity and innovation were core principles that Imaginners and leadership followed; however as of today those very same principles seemed to have disappeared and became lost within the profits of the company.
Back in the 1950s, the theme park industry was hurting and almost disappeared forever. When Walter Elias Disney came along, he took the failing American dream of what a theme park was and with hard work and innovative thoughts for the time, created what one knows today as Disneyland. Before Disneyland, Walt was an innovator in the making of cartoons and animation. He created some of the first cartoons in color and in sound. One day while spending time with his family at a local park and sitting on bench, a radical idea hit him. The idea of creating a theme park where adults and children can spend time together in a safe and comfortable environment. Fascinated with this idea, Walt set out with his brother Roy to create his vision. Walt purchased a 160 acre orange grove near Anaheim, California where there was nothing but orange groves and no major highways. The media criticized Walt saying he was crazy and it couldn’t be done. Regardless, Walt, the Imaginners and trades workers got the park finished and opened. Walt took all of his classic, well known characters and created rides using storytelling so that riders could connect to the characters and feel apart of the story.
And So The Magic Began…
Walt didn’t just stop there with Disneyland. Throughout the years, he added to his park creating never before seen technology and elements in rides. To keep the park revelavant and market towards thrill seekers, Dick Nunis, who was the Director of Operations at the time, asked if the Imaginners could come up with something: “‘You’ll get your thrill show attraction. We are going to build a scale model of the Matterhorn and put a bobsled in it’. I had no idea what he was talking about. What Walt ended coming up with was a ride called the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Walt’s concept was having two tracks intertwining each other hidden inside of the mountain along with an opening in the mountain so that the SkyWay could pass through it. The designer of the ride had to learn extra math he never learned in high school just to be able to get the ride designed and its physics designed. The ride set the pace as the first tubular steel track roller coaster in the world. Other innovative ideas such as this came about like the It’s A Small World ride, the Monorail system which was the first ever monorail and Pirates of the Caribbean ride
The Legend Carries On:
While Disneyland was a huge success and in the process of completing these innovative projects, Walt’s health was declining due to lung cancer. When Walt died on December 15, 1966, the Imaginners who worked closely with him were devastated. Imaginners were worried about the future of Disneyland and what would be next since anything they worked on, Walt always gave feedback or worked with them on. Roy Disney took over the company and he and the Imagineers honored Walt by finishing all the projects Walt put forward before he died. Such projects include the Haunted Mansion and what would become Walt Disney World. It took a lot of innovation and creativity to solve the issues of sinkholes, swamp land,no roads and no utilities anywhere near the property. To combat this, the team put in all of its own utilities and roads and designed on ground level a network of tunnels to run all the utilities. The tunnels were also used for Cast Members to get around to the proper lands while in costumes without being seen by park goers. Don Iwerks,former General Manager of the Walt Disney machine shop recalls: “That was a major engineering job. It could run all the water systems, all the electrical systems and all heating systems all under this sort of roof.” The park featured mostly clones of Disneyland rides but also featured new and exciting experiences. One of those being Liberty Square which was themed after colonial America. After the park opened, it was clear all 30,00 acres of land could be further developed and Walt’s ideas would go on.
The Community Of Tomorrow:
Shortly after Walt Disney World opened to the public and became the companies second park to open, Roy Disney died. Imaginners still around from when Walt was alive and current Imaginners feared again what was to become Disney and didn’t know where the company was going next. Don Tatum who was Roy’s prodigy took control of finances while Card Walker who was Walt’s prodigy took control of the parks. The team under the leadership of Walker took Walt’s idea of EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) which would be a futuristic utopian community with radical ideas never thought of or designed before and finally put it forward. Card Walker, the president of the company at the time gave the following statement about the project: “More than a dozen years ago Walt Disney outlined his belief that the critical problems facing the world can and will be solved by creative people who are both dreamers and doers. He called his dream Epcot.” They ultimately gave up on the society since they couldn’t control how people lived their lives and instead took the themes Walt had created and made attractions and themed areas (Pavillons) out of them. For example, Spaceship Earth showed the evolution and futuristic advancements of communications and how it shaped society. The fact that the Imaginners were able to come up with original attractions to orchestrate a specific theme is absolutely amazing.
The Eisner Era & Revival Of Creativity.
Unfortunately, this creativery would be on the brink of collapse due to a battle of management and hostile issues at the corporate level. However when Micheal Eisner and Frank Wells took over the company, they ushered in a new era of creativity. Eisner before taking control of Disney was an executive at Paramount Pictures who helped take the studio on a legendary box office streak. From the very moment they took over, Imaginners feared that the dreaded day came where they would be getting shut down. To their surprise, Esiner loved Imagineering and respected them highly. Esiner loved Imagineering so much that he spent a lot of time there and really connected with the creative minded people he was interacting with on a daily basis.
Throughout his time leading the company, Esiner took on many ambitious and creative projects. The first of these projects was a Disneyland park in Paris. Unlike the creation of Disneyland in Japan, which was an exact clone, the Disneyland being built in Paris, while still having the same rides, was visually and creatively different and unique. Disneyland Paris’s tomorrow land for example had a more steam punk look to it rather than the traditional futuristic space theme to it. Not only was the theming different the technology behind some of the rides was different as well. Unlike the other versions of Space Mountain that started with a lift hill followed by a drop, this version used a catapult launch system created entirely by the Imagineers. It was the first inclined catapult launch system ever built in the world. This system added a whole new excitement to the classic attraction while keeping to the original concept.
Another creative project that followed suite was a chain of complexes called DisneyQuest. The idea was instead of having to spending millions of dollars on creating a park in which would be profitable in 11 years, build a complex that would be profitable within a few years. DisneyQuest was a 5 story windowless building featuring multiple attractions, games and new technologies in order to give the Disney experience without having to travel all the way to CA or FL. Despite closing in 2015 and not achieving the plans for 30 regional locations, the concept and creativity with the complex where pretty amazing since it was something never really done before and was just emerging.
Cooperate Greed… Goodbye Creativity!
Unfortunately, this creative resurgence would not last and would soon come crashing down. Starting around 1994, Disney began once again cutting costs and corners. Tom Morris, a former Imagineering Creative Executive, recalls: “…There was a time where we were encouraged to forget who we were. We’re no longer gonna be a castle park company. We are entertainment, retail, dining, and real estate development and other things.” The most obvious examples of this was seen in the creation of MGM Studios in Paris and Disney’s California Adventure which would be the 2nd gated park in CA. DCA broke the formula to how Disney created parks since there was no natural divider keeping the park immersed in the theming and rides, there were fewer themed lands and fewer attractions. Kevin Rafferty, an Imaginnering Executive, reflects: “Much to our chagrin, it didn’t adhere to our fundamental design principles of theme park design”. Disney moved away from their core principles and with MGM Studios Paris and DCA focused on making one day park experiences to complete the main parks. When a legendary Imaginner John Hench was asked to complement on the creation of DCA he stated “I preferred the old parking lot” While some may argue in order to be innovative, traditions and formulas must be strayed away from, by Disney doing so they were not innovative as in some cases. Instead, Disney only broke their formulas to cut corners and try to get the Disney experience out there poorly executed.
The Iger Era… Not Much Better?
Sadly, this creative slump and decline of innovation only carried on under Eisner’s leadership and Disney suffered. One of Disney’s major partners throughout the years, Pixar, ended their partnership with Disney. To add to the companies suffering, Roy E Disney, Walt’s nephew, resigned from the board of directors and sought to drive Einser out of leadership. Bob Iger took control of the company after Eisner stepped down as CEO of the company. What was thought to be a new start only continued the downward spiral of lack of creativity and innovation.
While Iger tried to focus on trying to get core principal’s back, he only failed and is losing the core principles even more. A common example that is clearly seen in the present day of Disney is the overuse of IPs (Disney characters or property) on rides and attractions. For example, instead of creating new rides with new characters and experiences, the same characters that have been used already are used again. Another issue connected with this is the recycling an old ride and slapping a new IP on to it. If one takes a look at Pixar Pier in DCA, all it essentially is, is the old Paradise Pier rides with new characters and color schemes. While it can be argued, the conversion of Pixar Pier was innovative and creative since it used new characters and brought new concepts to that specific area to DCA to make it feel more like Disney, all Disney did was recycle the land and just re-theme it which is not very creative. For example, the old roller coaster California Screamin’ was converted into Incredicoaster with little changes done to it. All that was done to this ride was, tunnels where installed on the tops of the drops on the tracks and the ride was repainted to fit the theme for the Incredibles. Re-theming an entire land by just repainting it and slapping new names on rides is not creative or innovative especially with a company that has such a rich history with these two core ideas.
To conclude, Walter Elias Disney created Disneyland out of a vision where adults and children can spend time together in a safe and comfortable environment. To make his dream a reality he used radical, outside of the box ideas to make it happen. Walt’s vision only expanded into what Disney has become today. However, the core ideas Disney was founded on and stood by for decades have disappeared and became lost within the profits of the company. One can only hope the company gets a new leader who stops caring about profits and returns to the core principles that founded and shaped this company. Whether it’s myself who one day works for this company making creative decisions or another Disney legend, one can only hope for the future.
Reflecting Back On My Opinions Two Years Later:
After reading the paper through again after two years, I think a majority of the observations I made where true and are still occurring today sadly. I think it is a shame that Disney keeps putting money and greed over creativity, fun and their founding principles. To be fair, I see why Disney has to do this being they build new attractions and lands that cost millions of dollars, host fireworks daily along with all the expenses. I get it adds up and they need to worry about the bottom line, but I think you still need to keep a fine balance between your finances and core ideas. Could you imagine how different and maybe even better Disney would have been right now if they didn’t always chase money and be greedy? I truly think they would be way better off. Putting finances aside for a second, we could even argue that Disney leadership possibly even doesn’t care at all anymore? WDW is crumbling (cough cough Monorails) and needs updates to it’s infrastructure and some of it’s older rides and EPCOT is just a mess.
“IP-COT”
I mean we have ECPOT which has was a very innovative and special park and now is basically a dead park and a former shell of itself. Yes, we are seeing progress but think about how long it took Disney to actually put time into this park. And yet again we are seeing Disney resort to overusing IPs especially in ECPOT. Some of the attractions make sense since they do fit the overall theme and idea of ECPOT but others you can’t help but ask yourself why. For example the monstrosity of an attraction, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is terrible. Did they even try with that show building? I mean come on… You could have done better than that. Okay genius so you slapped green paint on it to try to hide it but what about the rest of the building? Such an eyesore especially from the parking lot. To be fair, we haven’t actually seen much footage or the ride experience yet and I’m not trying to bash it to hard. I am simply just using this ride specify as an example.
It seems like all Disney is going is slapping IPs in empty spaces to fill up the park as quick as possible. What happened to the original idea of ECPOT with original attractions? Think about it, with the technology Disney has, the money they have and other resources available to them imagine if they did remake and update EPCOT. I think the ECPOT we would get would 100% look like the early concept art we saw. There are so many examples more examples I could use to illustrate my points however, I choose EPCOT since I know the most about this park.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I think if you look hard enough, we can see there is being progress made with creativity and innovativeness but I still think it’s too far berried under cooperate greed and cooperate politics. I think with all the new technology and tools that are out there now, it will be fun to see what comes from it. I really enjoyed writing this piece and be able to revisit this paper I wrote was fun to do. In the future, I hope to do more Disney content whether its reviews, reflections like this one or news. I hope you enjoyed!
Ever wonder what it’s like to work in a full service hotel for a day? You’re in luck today! Today, I will be taking you inside a day in my shoes as a front desk agent at a full service hotel. Just a quick note I want to mention, not every hotel is the exact same or runs the same since each property is unique or has different standards. For example, if you work in a select service hotel (a hotel with no ballrooms and select amenities) or a full service hotel (a hotel with ballrooms ,restaurants and expanded amenities), it will change your work environment. I hope you all enjoy it and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to post them down below!
America’s Best Value Under The Sun
Before I take you through my day to day, let’s explore the property I work at and essentially consider a second home. So prior to being a Days Hotel, the property opened as a Holiday Inn in 1974. In 2016 the property was renovated and converted into a Days Hotel. The hotel currently has two ballrooms, a restaurant, indoor pool, fitness center, outdoor patio area. There are a total of 173 rooms in the hotel which makes us the largest hotel in town.
You may be asking yourself, what’s a Days Hotel? Days Hotel is the same brand as Days Inn. The reason for using the word Hotel instead of Inn is due to the fact of how many rooms we have and also the fact we are a full service hotel. I’ll be honest, I was just as confused too when I first started but when you think about it, it does make perfect sense.
I know the Days Inn brand does not have the best image to it. You may think of a rundown or poorly kept location on the side of the interstate. Well… you wouldn’t be wrong there about the brand since a lot of locations are like that. However, not every location is like that. Take mine for example, our property is one of the best Days just simply for how well it is run and how well it is maintained. In a future article, we’ll cover this topic more.
Holiday Inn vs Days Hotel Before & After Photos:
It’s amazing how hard it was to find these photos. I really had to dig for them in the archives but I found them. It was totally amazing to see how the hotel has changed from since I was to a kid to now working there. I remember attending a wedding here as a kid and looking back at these photos and comparing them to what I see daily is just crazy and brings back some memories.
Before taking you through a day in my shoes, I just want to quickly point a few things out and explain a few of the changes made to the building. One of the maybe not so clear things is the changes to the Coral Ballroom and restaurant area. Originally as seen below in the 3rd set of photos, the ballroom was a lot smaller than it was now. When the building was renovated, a part of the restaurant was demolished to create the bigger ballroom you see in the after photo. The restaurant is still there today but is smaller than it once was. Of course by doing this that whole dining room was redone. If I am being honest, I sort of like the original restaurant layout and ballroom design better. (If any of my bosses are reading those please don’t fire me lol). However when I think about it, I see why and it makes sense to increase the size of the ballroom so we can host two events at the same time. (Which is what currently happens here a lot of times on weekends).
The only other thing I want to point out that was a major change is the removal of the saunas and hot tub in the pool area. Sadly, I couldn’t find any photos of these amenities as many of these older photos are disappearing. I am very happy to recover these photos and keep the history of the hotel alive. As I work day to day and roam the halls, I can definitely still see touches of Holiday Inn and design elements of from the past still preserved. For example, we still have in the storage area some original Holiday Inn posters with the old school Holiday Inn logo. If my bosses are reading this, DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT THROWING THOSE OUT!
Just Another “Typical” Day
First, let me begin by saying there is no such thing as “just another day” for me at my hotel. My surroundings are always changing from having 2 weddings in house to having a full house during a busy holiday weekend. Depending on what is going on in the hotel on a particular day, it all shapes how my day will be. Like, I just mentioned having weddings. If I have no weddings, then I can expect for the most part a slower day depending on the time of year. On the flip side, if I have two weddings going on at the same time, I can expect a busier day and know to be prepared for it. Despite having events or not, busy or slow, I still make sure to do the best job I know I can do and am expected to do.
The Daily Grind
Typically, I begin my day at 3pm and will wrap up my day around 11pm. When I first come in, I meet up with my team and get filled in on everything that is going on and what happened in the morning. After that, I head around to the desk where all the action happens. I typically check my arrivals, my availability and prepare accordingly. Depending on the day, I can get anywhere from 10 arrivals, if it is slow, to over 100 if it is busy. Of course one of my main jobs is to check guests in and out, serve my guests and assist them with whatever they may need.
Sometimes if there are banquets going on, I will jump in the back and help out as needed. Typically, I only can do that if there is another front desk agent working with me and if it’s not overly busy at the desk. I’m very big on being a team player and helping out where I can. For example, if I go into housekeeping to get more towels, if I see the dryers are done and finished, I’ll take the extra few minutes and empty them for the housekeepers so that it is less work for them.
Anything Can Happen…
Remember how I said how no day is ever the exact same? With the fact, anything can happen anytime and anywhere in the hotel, it makes each day different and sometimes challenging. On some days you will have a busy shift but it is quiet where nothing happens and there are other days you have a mix of both. From having emergency situations to dealing with crazy people, anything can happen. Sometimes you even have things happen that you have never seen before and you can’t believe it. Believe me, I have plenty of stories to tell and some I still can’t believe even after some time. For example one of my most recent stories includes a guest screaming at a bush outside and having a solid one on one argument with the bush. I think the bush one though… cause after a while the guest gave up. It’s things like this that make the job interesting and play a part in the idea that not everyday is the same. I can honestly, sit and write about all my crazy stories for hours. If you want to hear some of those stories go check out our Top 10 Craziest Stories as Told By Front Desk Agents blog post.
Advantages of Working Full Service:
At this point, you may be thinking why would I want to work in a full service hotel, it seems like a lot of work. I’ll be totally honest, some days are very challenging and you’re running around like crazy while other days it is a lot slower paced. One reason I love full service is for this very reason the fact there is that balance of slow days and busy days. So you’ll never just be dead slow or insanely busy all the time. I tend to notice this more on weekends where Fridays and Saturdays are insane followed by a relaxed Sunday to end off the week.
Another reason I love full service is the fact of the people you meet during your typical shift from the events going on or the large groups coming in. Sometimes you meet the coolest people from these groups and you suddenly find yourself talking with them as if you knew them for a long time. I think the best example of this that sticks out to me is the time this gentleman came up to me and told me he was inside my hotel when it was being built during the late 1970s. He told me this story of how the police department used the half built building for police drills and training. If that wasn’t cool enough, he took out his wallet and showed me pictures of the hotel during construction and of the drills. Even months later, I still put this at the top of my list as one of the coolest interactions I had.
Sunset At The Days
As the day fades into the night and it turns 11, my shift officially comes to an end. Before I leave for the night, I do any paperwork or reports I need to do, count the drawers again and finally I hand off the night to the night auditor. Typically, I fill them in on what happened all throughout the day, things they need to know and anything that needs to be passed on to the morning crew. Lastly before I clock out I make sure the cabinet with all the towels and extra linens is stocked for the night so it makes the night crew’s job easier. After all that is finished, I head out for the night and wait to do it all again the next day.
And that is a day in my life! Thank you all for enjoying this blog!
Touristician 