I have been living in Florida for 3 months now and I love it. I work for an amazing company, and I get to meet new people every day. I also have made some great friends to spend my time with down here when I’m not working. It has gotten much easier for me to operate the boats, and I am having more fun when it comes to interacting with our guests. Once I was on my own driving the boats without a trainer it was very overwhelming. However, I came to realize that it was actually less stressful without a trainer than it was with a trainer. The reason being is that I got to get a feel for the boat myself and create my own way of driving rather than following the exact instructions from my trainer. Now it is almost second nature to me. Even when it gets windy and throws off my docking, I know how to control the vessel and dock it safely.
My day starts out with me signing up for a boat. There is two sign up sheets at the dock; each row on the sheet contains a time and two blank spaces for our names. One sheet is for the Lagoon boat, and the other is for our main boats, which transport guests from Epcot to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I look for the next available boat to take and I sign up for it. For instance, if it is 4:30, and the next available boat is 5:00, then I would sign up for the 5:00 boat and greet guests at the dock until my boat arrives. Once I know whom I will be driving with, I have to find out whether he would like to drive out or drive back. If I were driving out then I would position myself at the helm as he loads up the boat. Then he unties the stern and tells me to back up so he can get the front rope off, and jumps on board. I now just focus on driving and getting to each stop along the way, as he talks to our guests on the PA system. Along with driving, I use the radio to make bridge calls telling other boats when I am about to travel under one of our bridges, and also use the horn make different signals. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Once we arrive and unload, it is my turn to load the passengers and tie and untie the boat. On the way back I then talk to our guests as he drives to each dock. Each boat ride takes about a full hour, and I usually take about 3-4 boats a day. I also have mostly closing shifts, so I have to take a boat back to the marina to be stored for the next day. Some nights I get to open the drawbridge in China to allow all eight boats to return to the marina.
My experience here isn’t all work. I also go to volunteer events, which Disney holds to raise money for different charities. For instance, I just attended a Bowl-a-thon last week with my co-workers to raise money. It’s fun and brings all of us together outside of work. I also hang out with the other captains after work. Since most of my shifts are closing, we tend to go out to dinner once a week after one of our shifts. I get along with all of my co-workers and it’s nice to see each other outside of our workspace. My roommates and I also get along very well. One of my biggest fears was moving away from home for the first time, and living on my own. My roommates and I go to the parks or the beach during our days off. At night we usually grab dinner or go out. We come from all over the country; I have one other roommate from Connecticut, two from New York, one from Alabama and another from Texas. I thought it would be a challenge to live with people from different parts of the country; however, it turns out that we don’t have issues, and we all are able to hang out and not have problems. I am loving this Florida heat and having a blast here in Orlando. A couple weeks ago I saw John Stamos walking around in Epcot, surprisingly not many people recognized him.
Danny Piroli
Danny is from North Haven Connecticut. He is a junior at Albertus Magnus College majoring in Business Management with a concentration in International Business, and participating in the Disney College Program. In his spare time, Danny plays Hockey for the Connecticut Hockey League and is certified as a Boat Captain in the state of Florida.