I was out of work for a few weeks and I knew that the newest attraction in Winter Haven, FL was about to open soon. I went online and started looking for the website to put my application in, but all that would come up was snag-a-job ads and others, I do not like to use those sites at all to look for work. So I go to Legoland's website, and put in the application directly. A few days later, I had received a call to come in for a group interview. Something I had never done before. When I get to the interview there are hundreds of people there all waiting for the same jobs. I began to panic, a bit. I sat there waiting to see what we were to do next. They separated us into groups and along we went to the next phase. We arrive in a conference room each group at separate tables, with lego bricks in the center. I kind of thought to myself what have I gotten myself into. The man who was conducting the interview tells us to each make something out of the lego bricks, and to think outside the box. I had no idea what to do my mind drawing a blank...So I built a little wall.
The man goes around and asks each person what is this you have created and why. I told him, I have created this wall here not only today, but in life, and this is just another way for me to tear down that wall brick by brick. I felt pretty confident in myself, even though it was not creative at all, nothing like the creations others came up with, but I do know my answer stood out. I was called in for the hiring interview. The man I had my interview with told me that it must have taken a lot of guts to stand up against the crowd the other day. I told him it definitely was something I was unaccustomed to, but it was the truth. I told him I literally was going blank and thought hey what better thing to create than the wall that was already there. He told me it is great to have me along and that the orientation is next week.
I started this job the week before the grand opening.
I never knew what it takes to keep the amusement parks in great working order for the guest. I had to be there at 4 am to clean the sidewalks with a pressure washer, and a commercial vacuum for the acorns. It was a lot of walking, but I was happy to do the walking, it was one of the best thing's about the job.
So here it is grand opening and there were soooo many people there, I thought I was in for a ride! You know at the grand opening of things there is loads of confetti, right? Well, there was tons of it, red, yellow, blue, & green confetti, everywhere! The bushes, the flowers, my hair, when I got home I even had confetti in my shirt!
The excitement was so beautiful, to see that many faces, and all of them smiling! That made me want to come to work every day! Hearing little children tell their parents and sometimes the people who were just passing by, that this is the best day of their lives! I really loved trading mini-figs with the kids, and sometimes adults too!
Yes, I want to be here, I wanted every day to go to work even if I did have to get up before everyone in the house and stay some days until everyone was in bed. I still enjoyed the fun times at Legoland. They put on a great 4th of July celebration, and since I was there they have expanded their park, it now has a water park, and a themed hotel. If I ever move back to Winter Haven again I definitely will be making a few phone calls!
One of my favorite places to walk through aside from the botanical gardens, was Lego miniland, it is so detailed with over 20 million bricks! The excitement you could hear through miniland was awesome. There are so many details, you could take a whole day to explore it alone.