Yep. I accomplished pretty much nothing. I had so many plans, but I didn't follow through on any of them. I slept until 11, then I laid in bed until 2:00. At which point I got up long enough to get an apple and some string cheese for my brunch. I watched some Disney movies and sat on the internet.
That was really the extent of my day. I was going to get up and go places, but when I decided to do that there was a sudden down pour. I just figured that was mother natures way of saying, you have the day off, just stay in bed. So I oblidged. I got my hair piece set in curlers, so in another week I'll be able to wear that. I was going to dye my hair, but I keep putting it off cause it's such a pain. I watched confessions of a teenage drama queen starring Lindsey Lohan with Kim and Julie. I think I annoyed them a little, because I like to talk through movies, sort of like Mystery Science Theatre. I comment on everything and point out the obvious, I also try to guess the plot. So eventually I just shut up and watched. By the way, don't ever waste your time, it was wretched. That really was about all I did, sad I know.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: How many individual triangles make up the exterior shell of Spaceship Earth?
11,324
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Looooong Day
I slept late today, I did not hear the alarms go off. I woke up with about 15 minutes to get ready. I normally have an hour. And on top of it, Julie was in the bathroom, I was in my room spazzing out. I got out the door, about 10 minutes later than I wanted to, but I made it to work on time. I picked up a ride position, so I headed down there to see where we were at in the opening procedures. Turns out CDS had mis-scheduled (like that never happens) and didn't assign anybody to help open the ride, so they were behind. They already had all the opener positions taken, but I stayed anyway to watch because they were training how to open on the console, and I'm still shaky on that, so it was good practice. We got a brand new ADA car, so we had to test a few more things with that. We opened a little late, but they coordinator walked the people through slowly so we'd be ready.
I felt like I spent all day at Load 1, saying watch your step. I had a short time on load 2, which is the position that freaks me out, but Moises taught me this great joke. Now you have to read your audience for it work, you just ask them to put their seat belts on (we don't have seat belts) and they just keep looking for them and can't find them. Of course when they look up I have a huge grin on my face and they get all mad and say they can't believe they fell for it. It certainly passes time faster. Someone today told me they do the lap bar one (where you have to pull a bar from over your head down to your lap). I haven't tried that, but it would be funny to see if people really do reach for it. I of course, have to be sure there are no children around, because if they overhear to put on their seat belts and realize they don't have any, I may freak them out. So I only get to do it every once in a while, but it's entertaining.
I had a training on my schedule for an hour, but it said Soarin'. Everyone thought it might be a meeting of some sort, but when I signed in it said it was a training. Luckily, the coordinator was in the room, so she called around for me and concluded that it was a mistake, and then put me back into rotation for the hour. Once the hour was up, I ended up getting the pavilion greeter. I spent a couple hours outside doing that today, and of course since I was late this morning I didn't get the sunscreen on. Luckily it was a pretty cloudy day, we even had a few light showers while I was out there. We had a little bit of a problem on the ride and were stopped for a while, so our wait time doubled to an hour wait and just as I was about to start telling people, I got to go on my break! Yeah, I didn't have to deal with it.
CDS went down, which meant the coordinators had to figure out by hand where everyone should go and who needed breaks or bump offs. It was craziness for a while. When it was time for my bump off I was so excited. Today was 10 hours and 45 minutes. Ick. I will probably do it again though. Now, I'm horribly tired and I have tomorrow off, so I am going to catch up on my beauty rest.
Today's Trivia Question: How many individual triangles make up the exterior shell of Spaceship Earth?
I felt like I spent all day at Load 1, saying watch your step. I had a short time on load 2, which is the position that freaks me out, but Moises taught me this great joke. Now you have to read your audience for it work, you just ask them to put their seat belts on (we don't have seat belts) and they just keep looking for them and can't find them. Of course when they look up I have a huge grin on my face and they get all mad and say they can't believe they fell for it. It certainly passes time faster. Someone today told me they do the lap bar one (where you have to pull a bar from over your head down to your lap). I haven't tried that, but it would be funny to see if people really do reach for it. I of course, have to be sure there are no children around, because if they overhear to put on their seat belts and realize they don't have any, I may freak them out. So I only get to do it every once in a while, but it's entertaining.
I had a training on my schedule for an hour, but it said Soarin'. Everyone thought it might be a meeting of some sort, but when I signed in it said it was a training. Luckily, the coordinator was in the room, so she called around for me and concluded that it was a mistake, and then put me back into rotation for the hour. Once the hour was up, I ended up getting the pavilion greeter. I spent a couple hours outside doing that today, and of course since I was late this morning I didn't get the sunscreen on. Luckily it was a pretty cloudy day, we even had a few light showers while I was out there. We had a little bit of a problem on the ride and were stopped for a while, so our wait time doubled to an hour wait and just as I was about to start telling people, I got to go on my break! Yeah, I didn't have to deal with it.
CDS went down, which meant the coordinators had to figure out by hand where everyone should go and who needed breaks or bump offs. It was craziness for a while. When it was time for my bump off I was so excited. Today was 10 hours and 45 minutes. Ick. I will probably do it again though. Now, I'm horribly tired and I have tomorrow off, so I am going to catch up on my beauty rest.
Today's Trivia Question: How many individual triangles make up the exterior shell of Spaceship Earth?
I LOVE Turtles!
So, today I started out at the Seas for 3 hours. That was pretty normal, a little slow going for the morning, pretty relaxing. Then I got to head over to the Wonders of Life pavilion, I can't remember the last time I was in there, for a Turtle Talk workshop. We went over teamwork and supporting each other, interactive theatre, how to pump up the crowd, what not to do or say, some tips on making the show flow smoothly, and then we got to put it into practice and try out our spiel in front of the group. I did my spiel and Eddie (our facilitator) told me if I was his kindergarden teacher he would do anything I said. If I told him to punch another kid he'd get all excited and ask which kid. I always play my spiels to the kids, because that's who the show is about, that's who I need to get pumped and feeling comfortable. Plus, dad was so right when he said engage the children and the adults will follow, it works every time. Eddie also said that if he had his eyes closed during my spiel he would have gotten everything I was trying to get across, because my inflections were great, there was variety and it was interesting. I was so pumped, what great compliments, and especially from someone whom I respect so much.
I went back to work and when we got back the ride was down (it was down when I left yesterday as well, our ADA(wheelchair) car had a problem). So because the ride was down there weren't any jobs for us to do, so everyone kept getting tasks. I of course, went right over to Kidcot to hang out with my new bestest friend Brandon. He is a ton of fun! I spent about an hour with him. He even came back with me to get an assignment and then took me on a mini tour of the aquarium and pointed out some of the fish to me. While we were hanging out one of the other CMs said when I did my spiel he thought I could be a face character, he said my voice was just so pleasant. And then he said he thought I looked like Cinderella. I just said thanks, but I really wanted to say stop getting my hopes up!
The ride went back up and I went over to load one, where all I do is say "Go right ahead, watch your step. Go ahead, watch your step on the platform. Go ahead. Watch your step. Watch your setp on the platform. Go ahead." Yep, it's very redundant, and you can't make conversation with anybody cause there's barely enough time for a hi, sometimes there's not even that much time. The day still felt pretty short, I only had a couple hours left after the workshop and I hung out with Brandon for half of it.
I didn't have time for a nap today, I just had time to eat dinner and get ready. But, today was fantasyland so I was excited to go to the fireworks. It was a totally different group of people, and there was a different coordinator. She was nice, but she hadn't done it in a while, so she said she was kind of rusty. I was supposed to get the same position I was the first time, front of castle. But they had people helping from toontown, so because they had a different costume, they had to be the front of castle positions. I got Snow White exit. We set up ropes so that during the fireworks there was an alternate entrance and exit because the whole area is blocked off as a fallout zone. My job was to direct people where to go and make sure nobody jumped the ropes. Now, if only people listened right? I had some people who went right under and when we asked them to come back they refused, and were of course very rude. It drove me nuts because not only would people not listen, but I had a partner who was the other side of the line, and she wouldn't pay attention. We could have prevented a lot of them if she was watching and caught it immediately. There are some people who walk through that you just keep your eye on, because they look like they may jump the line. She wanted to look the other direction instead, which made it hard because I would get halfway to where she was standing to get someone back before she even turned around and realized what was happening. And then I would get yelled at because I left my post.
I had one group go through I had very clearly instructed them to go all the way to the other end of the rope. But there was a kid, probably about 12 who decided to go under the ropes and into the restricted area. I immediately ran over and told him to come back right now. Well the kid just stood there, so I got very stern and said he could not be in that area he needed to come back on the other side of the ropes right now. Well, the kids father got in my face and said don't you dare discipline my child, you ask me first and I will take care of it. To which I said, I'm very sorry sir, but it's an issue of safety, that is my number one concern. They guy flipped out and said he was tired of cast members berating his children and he needed to see a manager right now. Well I let him know I could not leave my post. So he wanted to know where the main office, clearly someone who isn't very educated on the structure of Disney. I told him to stop by guest relations, and he stared at my nametag like it would intimidate me and stormed off. I know that I was correct. Yes, most times you want to be polite, but safety is number one above all else, and I need to do whatever I need to, to keep our guests safe. The manager then came over and started to yell at me again for leaving my post, but the pyrotechnics specialist in the area came over and defended me and said I was correct, I was dealing with a guest who was in the danger zone.
The fireworks were super loud, because there was a good portion that were being lit of right in the area. I didn't even attempt to look, because I was so concerned with getting people through the area, I was afraid they may stop and try to look and then jump the line to get a better view. So I was on high alert. The other lady wasn't even phased, I don't think I'd like to work with her again. They wet the area with sprinklers in case there was any fallout, and people kept asking if it was raining. I kept getting wet though, since it was right on my back. When we finished I was putting the poles and ropes away and who walks into the Philharmagic but some of my coworkers. So I got to say hi to them and chat for a bit, and then we were done for the night. Pretty simple, although much more stress this time.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: How many happy haunts reside at the Haunted Mansion?
999, but, there's room for one more... Any takers, hmmm?
I went back to work and when we got back the ride was down (it was down when I left yesterday as well, our ADA(wheelchair) car had a problem). So because the ride was down there weren't any jobs for us to do, so everyone kept getting tasks. I of course, went right over to Kidcot to hang out with my new bestest friend Brandon. He is a ton of fun! I spent about an hour with him. He even came back with me to get an assignment and then took me on a mini tour of the aquarium and pointed out some of the fish to me. While we were hanging out one of the other CMs said when I did my spiel he thought I could be a face character, he said my voice was just so pleasant. And then he said he thought I looked like Cinderella. I just said thanks, but I really wanted to say stop getting my hopes up!
The ride went back up and I went over to load one, where all I do is say "Go right ahead, watch your step. Go ahead, watch your step on the platform. Go ahead. Watch your step. Watch your setp on the platform. Go ahead." Yep, it's very redundant, and you can't make conversation with anybody cause there's barely enough time for a hi, sometimes there's not even that much time. The day still felt pretty short, I only had a couple hours left after the workshop and I hung out with Brandon for half of it.
I didn't have time for a nap today, I just had time to eat dinner and get ready. But, today was fantasyland so I was excited to go to the fireworks. It was a totally different group of people, and there was a different coordinator. She was nice, but she hadn't done it in a while, so she said she was kind of rusty. I was supposed to get the same position I was the first time, front of castle. But they had people helping from toontown, so because they had a different costume, they had to be the front of castle positions. I got Snow White exit. We set up ropes so that during the fireworks there was an alternate entrance and exit because the whole area is blocked off as a fallout zone. My job was to direct people where to go and make sure nobody jumped the ropes. Now, if only people listened right? I had some people who went right under and when we asked them to come back they refused, and were of course very rude. It drove me nuts because not only would people not listen, but I had a partner who was the other side of the line, and she wouldn't pay attention. We could have prevented a lot of them if she was watching and caught it immediately. There are some people who walk through that you just keep your eye on, because they look like they may jump the line. She wanted to look the other direction instead, which made it hard because I would get halfway to where she was standing to get someone back before she even turned around and realized what was happening. And then I would get yelled at because I left my post.
I had one group go through I had very clearly instructed them to go all the way to the other end of the rope. But there was a kid, probably about 12 who decided to go under the ropes and into the restricted area. I immediately ran over and told him to come back right now. Well the kid just stood there, so I got very stern and said he could not be in that area he needed to come back on the other side of the ropes right now. Well, the kids father got in my face and said don't you dare discipline my child, you ask me first and I will take care of it. To which I said, I'm very sorry sir, but it's an issue of safety, that is my number one concern. They guy flipped out and said he was tired of cast members berating his children and he needed to see a manager right now. Well I let him know I could not leave my post. So he wanted to know where the main office, clearly someone who isn't very educated on the structure of Disney. I told him to stop by guest relations, and he stared at my nametag like it would intimidate me and stormed off. I know that I was correct. Yes, most times you want to be polite, but safety is number one above all else, and I need to do whatever I need to, to keep our guests safe. The manager then came over and started to yell at me again for leaving my post, but the pyrotechnics specialist in the area came over and defended me and said I was correct, I was dealing with a guest who was in the danger zone.
The fireworks were super loud, because there was a good portion that were being lit of right in the area. I didn't even attempt to look, because I was so concerned with getting people through the area, I was afraid they may stop and try to look and then jump the line to get a better view. So I was on high alert. The other lady wasn't even phased, I don't think I'd like to work with her again. They wet the area with sprinklers in case there was any fallout, and people kept asking if it was raining. I kept getting wet though, since it was right on my back. When we finished I was putting the poles and ropes away and who walks into the Philharmagic but some of my coworkers. So I got to say hi to them and chat for a bit, and then we were done for the night. Pretty simple, although much more stress this time.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: How many happy haunts reside at the Haunted Mansion?
999, but, there's room for one more... Any takers, hmmm?
Booo to Mainstreet
So, today seemed like a really short day. I started out in the Disney Basics class. I spent 2 hours learning about what they call the "soft skills". Being polite, courteous, staying in character, keeping the integrity of the show, going above and beyond... things like that. Things that I am already amazingly good at, that should be second nature for anyone in a service field, but is obviously not. The class was just fun, we got to share and play some games. Plus I got a free diet coke, nice.
Then I went over to the Seas, I only worked for 4 hours over there. I got to do one Turtle Talk show. But it was a good one. It didn't really feel like I worked much. It was kind of nice. I went home and took a nap for a while.
I worked the fireworks again, but this time I was on Mainstreet. I got there and headed to the Mainstreet deployment base where my instructions had told me to go. Turns out that was closed, I waited for someone to show up in the area, but nobody did. The message when I clocked in said the scheduling books were in Fantasyland, so I headed over there. I explained my situation to the person working there and she gave me directions to the break room at the front of the park. Well I headed onstage, and of course it's right before the parade so it's crazy busy outside. I saw a group of people dressed like me and someone who appeared to be a coordinator or a manager so I walked up to the group. I was completely ignored, the coordinator took questions from people who'd walked up way after me and then when they finished talking he started to walk away. I couldn't believe how rude he was being. I finally had to get right up to him before he would answer. He gave me some odd directions, I wasn't sure what he was talking about. So I tried my best to follow what the first lady had told me. I found the break room, but there was nobody in my costume. I found a managers office and stood in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt since he was fixing something in CDS (our scheduling system) for another CM (cast member), but he wouldn't look at me. Another manager walked by and I asked for her help. She said they'd already deployed and told me to go to the plaza outside the ice cream parlor. She started to take me out to point out where I needed to go when another CM said she was headed to her break and could take me there.
Once I got there, there was one other person he handed me a sheet and said here are the VIP names then started to walk away. I had to stop him and let him know I've never done this before and ask him to please tell me what I'm supposed to do. All I did was stand at the ropes and not let anybody in unless their name was on the list. I only had one group show up. Otherwise it was telling people they couldn't come down, pointing out bathrooms and the smoking area. It was kind of boring and I didn't feel like I was treated well. In the whole time I was there only one person said Thanks for picking up the shift, otherwise almost everyone was rude. It was a bad experience.
I finished that and we got ER (early release), but by the time we did all the walking between the Fantasyland base where we had to apply for ER and the mainstreet base which was the only area we could clock out, we only had like 5 minutes of the shift left anyway, so it was kind of a waste. Oh well.
I went home and changed quick to meet up with the roomies at Jelly Rolls. It's a cabaret style bar where they have dueling pianos. The format was similar to Erin Schwab and Jay Fuchs shows in Minneapolis at Jitters, except that I knew the songs Erin did. I only knew the Disney medley. It was some girls birthday so I had to watch her stand on stage and try to do head shoulders knees and toes while drunk. It was the most rediculous thing I've seen. And I really hate when women allow themselves to be treated with disrespect by the men in the room and actually egg it on. It's so innapropriate, and it makes men think their behavior is justified. I was pretty much checked out from that point on. It was fun otherwise, but I only knew a few of the songs. They take requests, but you have to pay them, and then wait for them to play it. It was also a bar that you could smoke in which bothered me, but it wasn't as bad as the other one. I only stayed for an hour and a half maybe and then left with Julie. Maybe a night I don't have to work will be better.
Then I went over to the Seas, I only worked for 4 hours over there. I got to do one Turtle Talk show. But it was a good one. It didn't really feel like I worked much. It was kind of nice. I went home and took a nap for a while.
I worked the fireworks again, but this time I was on Mainstreet. I got there and headed to the Mainstreet deployment base where my instructions had told me to go. Turns out that was closed, I waited for someone to show up in the area, but nobody did. The message when I clocked in said the scheduling books were in Fantasyland, so I headed over there. I explained my situation to the person working there and she gave me directions to the break room at the front of the park. Well I headed onstage, and of course it's right before the parade so it's crazy busy outside. I saw a group of people dressed like me and someone who appeared to be a coordinator or a manager so I walked up to the group. I was completely ignored, the coordinator took questions from people who'd walked up way after me and then when they finished talking he started to walk away. I couldn't believe how rude he was being. I finally had to get right up to him before he would answer. He gave me some odd directions, I wasn't sure what he was talking about. So I tried my best to follow what the first lady had told me. I found the break room, but there was nobody in my costume. I found a managers office and stood in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt since he was fixing something in CDS (our scheduling system) for another CM (cast member), but he wouldn't look at me. Another manager walked by and I asked for her help. She said they'd already deployed and told me to go to the plaza outside the ice cream parlor. She started to take me out to point out where I needed to go when another CM said she was headed to her break and could take me there.
Once I got there, there was one other person he handed me a sheet and said here are the VIP names then started to walk away. I had to stop him and let him know I've never done this before and ask him to please tell me what I'm supposed to do. All I did was stand at the ropes and not let anybody in unless their name was on the list. I only had one group show up. Otherwise it was telling people they couldn't come down, pointing out bathrooms and the smoking area. It was kind of boring and I didn't feel like I was treated well. In the whole time I was there only one person said Thanks for picking up the shift, otherwise almost everyone was rude. It was a bad experience.
I finished that and we got ER (early release), but by the time we did all the walking between the Fantasyland base where we had to apply for ER and the mainstreet base which was the only area we could clock out, we only had like 5 minutes of the shift left anyway, so it was kind of a waste. Oh well.
I went home and changed quick to meet up with the roomies at Jelly Rolls. It's a cabaret style bar where they have dueling pianos. The format was similar to Erin Schwab and Jay Fuchs shows in Minneapolis at Jitters, except that I knew the songs Erin did. I only knew the Disney medley. It was some girls birthday so I had to watch her stand on stage and try to do head shoulders knees and toes while drunk. It was the most rediculous thing I've seen. And I really hate when women allow themselves to be treated with disrespect by the men in the room and actually egg it on. It's so innapropriate, and it makes men think their behavior is justified. I was pretty much checked out from that point on. It was fun otherwise, but I only knew a few of the songs. They take requests, but you have to pay them, and then wait for them to play it. It was also a bar that you could smoke in which bothered me, but it wasn't as bad as the other one. I only stayed for an hour and a half maybe and then left with Julie. Maybe a night I don't have to work will be better.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
MK Envy
Today was kind of a low key day. I started at 8:30, which I thought meant I was going to go to our morning meeting. Nope, I got area cleaning. Which meant I had to walk around with a picker and a bucket and pick up garbage. Not exactly fun. But I did get to see the bunnies, who are very used to people so they let you get pretty close. Then I finally got a ride through! Yeah, I always wanted to get that task. After I did that for 15 minutes, I picked up the 2nd wheelchair assistance position. It was really early to pick it up, especially since there were so few guests let alone wheelchairs. But, I got to talk to TJ for a while. TJ used to work at the Seas and is now on the Epcot Dream Squad. So I was talking to him about that. I am so jealous!!!
The coordinator came over and asked if anyone wanted ER (Early Release). I obviously didn't, I've been trying to pick up more hours. Because we were overstaffed. I went to Kidcot for a short time, and then we had two people who were on modified duty who came to help out, so they dropped me and had me go over to Turtle Talk. I did all the positions outside, but didn't get to go in. I only got one show in all day. But I've never laughed harder than I did. We had a little boy that Crush asked if he had a question and this is what the boy said, "My question is, you said you were a hundred and fifty. But the thing is the oldest turtle on record was a hundred and fifty. And he's dead." My mouth just dropped, there was a gasp in the audience. And Crush gave the best face, swam over to the hydrophone and said, "Security. Yeah, is this thing on. We've got one of those kids." It was great.
It was only a six hour day and I got 45 minutes worth of tasking which made it go by pretty quick. I went over to MK (Magic Kingdom) costuming on my way home. I had picked up the fireworks shifts and so I needed to get the costumes. They were so nice in there. It was set up so much nicer and neater than ours at Epcot. They had signs in every aisle that said what was in the aisle as well as a mannequin on the end that showed exactly how the costume should look. I had an older gentleman point out where mine were and he chatted with me for a while about his career and Epcot. He was very nice. The Fantasyland costume is super comfy. It's breathable fabric, unlike the stuff we wear at the seas, and it's soft. I took a short nap when I got home and then got ready.
I was really nervous to go over for the shift because I didn't really know what was going on. When I got there, I made my way to the deployment base like my instructions had told me. There was a lady who helped me out. Apparently they don't meet in the deployment base like they tell you, I don't know why they don't change it on the sheet. But they told me where to wait and who I was waiting for. The coordinator was really nice and helpful. They had lanyards you wore that listed all the duties of your position which was really helpful. I also got the radio which saved my butt a couple of times. The people seemed really nice and were very welcoming.
I got the position in front of the castle on one of the ramps. All I had to do was rope off the ramp and prevent anyone from going up. Seems easy right. Big white rope, the Disney sign for do not enter here, surely the guests will know that and obey. Of course not, they all tried to jump the rope, walk under, some even wanted to hop the fence and cut through the grass. There is apparently a whole different breed of people who come to Disney in the summer. They are rude and have short tempers and think they can get away with anything. I had quite a few guests come up and yell at me because they couldn't get through the crowd like I'm going to wave my hands and the crowd will magically part like the red sea just for them. What did you expect with 10 minutes until the parade, you should know better. I don't know what they wanted me to do. I even had one guy who was standing at the base of the castle try to pass his child up over the railing onto the ramp. I asked him to get down and the guy freaked out. "Well he has to 'tete' are you going to come down here and get us through the crowd then so he can 'tete?'" Then he just sat back down, so I doubt he really had to go.
I did have a really nice family who kept saying what a hard job I had. They chatted with me and ended up staying the whole night. The mom was really helpful, she would stop people from jumping the rope and let me know when someone climbed on a trash can. They were such pleasant people. Although she was very technically minded and so she wanted to know all the "secrets". She asked me things like how many Cinderellas are there? What is that line coming out of the castle. I was so excited to hear that last question because I finally got to use my favorite response ever: "It's a magical line of pixie dust so that Tinkerbell can find her way home in the dark." Then I just got to watch the fireworks. That was pretty much all there was. I really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun, I can't wait to do it again.
I also have to say that the people at MK are so much nicer. At Epcot nobody, I mean nobody will smile back at me. It's really frusterating, plus a lot of the people are just downright rude. And I don't think they have chilvary in any of the other Epcot countries because the boys are jerks cutting in front of you in line. At MK everyone smiled at me and some even said hi. It was such a change of pace and I loved it. I talked with some of the girls about what they do, they usually run the attractions in Fantasyland, so we were discussing the differences between our rides. It was fun, I enjoyed myself.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: How many Mickey Bars are sold at WDW each year?
3 million
Today's Trivia Question: How many happy haunts reside at the Haunted Mansion?
The coordinator came over and asked if anyone wanted ER (Early Release). I obviously didn't, I've been trying to pick up more hours. Because we were overstaffed. I went to Kidcot for a short time, and then we had two people who were on modified duty who came to help out, so they dropped me and had me go over to Turtle Talk. I did all the positions outside, but didn't get to go in. I only got one show in all day. But I've never laughed harder than I did. We had a little boy that Crush asked if he had a question and this is what the boy said, "My question is, you said you were a hundred and fifty. But the thing is the oldest turtle on record was a hundred and fifty. And he's dead." My mouth just dropped, there was a gasp in the audience. And Crush gave the best face, swam over to the hydrophone and said, "Security. Yeah, is this thing on. We've got one of those kids." It was great.
It was only a six hour day and I got 45 minutes worth of tasking which made it go by pretty quick. I went over to MK (Magic Kingdom) costuming on my way home. I had picked up the fireworks shifts and so I needed to get the costumes. They were so nice in there. It was set up so much nicer and neater than ours at Epcot. They had signs in every aisle that said what was in the aisle as well as a mannequin on the end that showed exactly how the costume should look. I had an older gentleman point out where mine were and he chatted with me for a while about his career and Epcot. He was very nice. The Fantasyland costume is super comfy. It's breathable fabric, unlike the stuff we wear at the seas, and it's soft. I took a short nap when I got home and then got ready.
I was really nervous to go over for the shift because I didn't really know what was going on. When I got there, I made my way to the deployment base like my instructions had told me. There was a lady who helped me out. Apparently they don't meet in the deployment base like they tell you, I don't know why they don't change it on the sheet. But they told me where to wait and who I was waiting for. The coordinator was really nice and helpful. They had lanyards you wore that listed all the duties of your position which was really helpful. I also got the radio which saved my butt a couple of times. The people seemed really nice and were very welcoming.
I got the position in front of the castle on one of the ramps. All I had to do was rope off the ramp and prevent anyone from going up. Seems easy right. Big white rope, the Disney sign for do not enter here, surely the guests will know that and obey. Of course not, they all tried to jump the rope, walk under, some even wanted to hop the fence and cut through the grass. There is apparently a whole different breed of people who come to Disney in the summer. They are rude and have short tempers and think they can get away with anything. I had quite a few guests come up and yell at me because they couldn't get through the crowd like I'm going to wave my hands and the crowd will magically part like the red sea just for them. What did you expect with 10 minutes until the parade, you should know better. I don't know what they wanted me to do. I even had one guy who was standing at the base of the castle try to pass his child up over the railing onto the ramp. I asked him to get down and the guy freaked out. "Well he has to 'tete' are you going to come down here and get us through the crowd then so he can 'tete?'" Then he just sat back down, so I doubt he really had to go.
I did have a really nice family who kept saying what a hard job I had. They chatted with me and ended up staying the whole night. The mom was really helpful, she would stop people from jumping the rope and let me know when someone climbed on a trash can. They were such pleasant people. Although she was very technically minded and so she wanted to know all the "secrets". She asked me things like how many Cinderellas are there? What is that line coming out of the castle. I was so excited to hear that last question because I finally got to use my favorite response ever: "It's a magical line of pixie dust so that Tinkerbell can find her way home in the dark." Then I just got to watch the fireworks. That was pretty much all there was. I really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun, I can't wait to do it again.
I also have to say that the people at MK are so much nicer. At Epcot nobody, I mean nobody will smile back at me. It's really frusterating, plus a lot of the people are just downright rude. And I don't think they have chilvary in any of the other Epcot countries because the boys are jerks cutting in front of you in line. At MK everyone smiled at me and some even said hi. It was such a change of pace and I loved it. I talked with some of the girls about what they do, they usually run the attractions in Fantasyland, so we were discussing the differences between our rides. It was fun, I enjoyed myself.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: How many Mickey Bars are sold at WDW each year?
3 million
Today's Trivia Question: How many happy haunts reside at the Haunted Mansion?
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sleepy Sunday
Yeah. I slept in until 10:00. I had breakfast, some Cheerios and bananas which was really good. Then I went back to sleep until 1:00. I got ready and headed to work. It was a pretty short day. Only a 6 hour shift. Since I didn't have a dinner break I didn't bring any food so I just had a slim fast on one of my 15's. I did a lot of wheelchairs again, go figure. I only got to do 1 Turtle Talk show, but it was fun. I spent some time outside of Turtle Talk, which I enjoy a lot.
It was the day of stupid guests though. The other people said it's just cause it's later in the day, that people get tired and cranky and don't listen anymore. I had to yell at people all day, they would not listen to me, wouldn't control their kids, would push my arm out of the way to walk on to the ride even though I had told them not to. It's just so rude. In turtle talk the children are allowed to sit on the floor in front so they can get a better view of Crush and he can get a better view of them. Well, I had and adult who decided to sit on the floor as well. Sometimes I'll let one adult slide if it's a small show. But I turned around and the whole back half of the carpet was adults. So I said sorry, children only on the floor. Most of them got up and moved, but I had two women who wouldn't listen, and wouldn't make eye contact. I asked them three times before I had to single them out and finally they got up. It's just so stupid, I asked you to move nicely, why don't people listen. It's not like if you don't look at me you become invisible, I can still see you, and you're still breaking the rules.
When I finished I walked over to Japan to get some Yakitori since I hadn't eaten dinner and that's one of the few things that has sounded good to me. Then I got on the bus behind the American Adventure and headed back to cast services. I chatted with a guy who hangs out in the learning center for a while. Then I called mom on my way home.
Tomorrow is a relatively short day hours wise, I only work 9 hours. However, I start at 8:30, get off at 2:45. Then I have a break for a while, and it's over to MK to do crowd control for the fireworks at 8:00, until 10:45 or so. I'm a little nervous about that, just because I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing. Once I figure that out I'll be fine. I have fireworks 3 days this week. M-W. Then Thursday is my 12 hour day. So I should probably get some sleep while I still can.
Today's Trivia Question: How many Mickey Bars are sold a year at WDW?
It was the day of stupid guests though. The other people said it's just cause it's later in the day, that people get tired and cranky and don't listen anymore. I had to yell at people all day, they would not listen to me, wouldn't control their kids, would push my arm out of the way to walk on to the ride even though I had told them not to. It's just so rude. In turtle talk the children are allowed to sit on the floor in front so they can get a better view of Crush and he can get a better view of them. Well, I had and adult who decided to sit on the floor as well. Sometimes I'll let one adult slide if it's a small show. But I turned around and the whole back half of the carpet was adults. So I said sorry, children only on the floor. Most of them got up and moved, but I had two women who wouldn't listen, and wouldn't make eye contact. I asked them three times before I had to single them out and finally they got up. It's just so stupid, I asked you to move nicely, why don't people listen. It's not like if you don't look at me you become invisible, I can still see you, and you're still breaking the rules.
When I finished I walked over to Japan to get some Yakitori since I hadn't eaten dinner and that's one of the few things that has sounded good to me. Then I got on the bus behind the American Adventure and headed back to cast services. I chatted with a guy who hangs out in the learning center for a while. Then I called mom on my way home.
Tomorrow is a relatively short day hours wise, I only work 9 hours. However, I start at 8:30, get off at 2:45. Then I have a break for a while, and it's over to MK to do crowd control for the fireworks at 8:00, until 10:45 or so. I'm a little nervous about that, just because I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing. Once I figure that out I'll be fine. I have fireworks 3 days this week. M-W. Then Thursday is my 12 hour day. So I should probably get some sleep while I still can.
Today's Trivia Question: How many Mickey Bars are sold a year at WDW?
Long Day, But Fun Day
So today was long. I worked 11 hours. The problem was I only got 15 minute breaks. Grrr... Which meant that I didn't have any real time to eat lunch. Plus, my breaks came so early I wasn't hungry. So I ate my sandwich and some cheese and that was it. I got to do a few Turtle Talk shows. When I had just finished one a turtle came down and said, "About that last show..." I thought I had done something horribly wrong and was so nervous. But he told me I was the best new host they had. I was shocked, he said I am really good at getting to the kids and I'm so fast at it that he can't believe it. He also said that my opening spiel is really good, it's right on target, my timing is perfect, and he understands everything I say. I said thank you like a million times, I was just not expecting it and it was so nice. Of course it helps that it's one of my favorite turtles to work with.
I did a lot of wheelchairs again, I don't know what it is about me and wheelchairs, but we spend a lot of time together. I finished work and stayed for a little bit after since Justin's trainee wanted to practice his spiels in front of people. Then I ran off to Cast Services because I had a lot to get done in an hour. I headed to Company D to get my free pin. Then to costuming to drop off my old costumes. Then I went to the learning center to return my two movies and get two more. While I was there, the lady told me to go check the shelf again and let her know if there's anything interesting on it. There was a card with Lilo (from Lilo and Stitch) and it said to bring it to the desk. Well, it turns out I won the Wishes contest at the learning center. I got a little sign with my name on it, and they're displaying one in the learning center. I also got a $5 gift card to Aramark, the company that owns our cast cafeterias. So that was pretty cool. But it took so long to get that taken care of that I was rushing through costuming to pick up what I needed.
While I was walking through the aisles a Moroccan guy came up to me and asked me if I was new here. I thought it was an odd question, but I said yes. Then he asked if we could keep in touch. I realized he was hitting on me, so I said no. Then he wanted to know why. I just said no. Finally he gave up and walked away. It was really awkward. Well I put the costume on and must have grabbed the wrong size because I was swimming in the shorts, so I had to run back and get another pair. And the costuming people aren't fast or accommodating. So by the time I finished that I was running late. I drank a slim fast so that I'd have something in me. I just missed the bus, so I decided to hoof it over to the American Adventure. I did it in less than 5 minutes, which is crazy fast. And showed up on time. Of course, nobody else was there. Only 2 other coworkers and no manager.
They talked to us for a little bit and then sent us on break for half an hour. Then we took positions, I ended up at the back of the theatre greeting guests, and stopping strollers. I had the section that was usually two people so I had to chase down a few strollers. I had one that decided to stop just past the ropes and stand in the shade. She didn't want to take the kids out and since it wasn't a fire hazard I thought it was fine. Well the coordinator came over and yelled at me and sent the lady away. It was kinda rude how she handled it. There are just some people who are good with others, and some people who are not. The concerts went by pretty fast, my feet definitely hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I just kept moving.
When I got out I had a message from Kim inviting me out to Karaoke. I called her back and got directions. It was a little, very smoky bar. It was Kim, Julie, Ryan (Kims friend), and Ryans roommate Frankie. We chatted for a while and sang along with people. There were some pretty good singers there. Ryan and Frankies roommate showed up with her boyfriend for a while. Then Omarr came with his sister who was in town for the week. I got along really well with his sister and we talked for a while, then Omarr cut in the conversation for a while. Kim and Ryan did Waterfalls by TLC and it was hilarious!! Kim is such a riot. I did Redneck Woman, because it's my jam. And that went pretty well. There was apparently some guy who wanted to buy me a drink that Kim told I wasn't interested. Well he went up and performed later. He was a very white guy who decided to sing Fergalicious. And he knew every word by heart. It was sad. Then he came over after he sang and some lady asked him if he was gay, he said very loudly "I am heterosexual, I am a heterosexual, though you wouldn't have guessed it from that." Then he walked over to me and asked me to "slow dance". That's officially the funniest, most awkward moment I've had. I said no, obviously and Omarr told him I was his girlfriend to make him stay away.
I stayed until it pretty much closed. I've never been in a bar for last call before. I think I wound up going to bed around 3:30-ish. So it was a really long day. But so much fun. I got along with everyone, and I laughed a lot. I hope to do it again soon.
Answer to Yesterday's Trivia: How many "mountains" have imagineers built worldwide?
There are 8 mountains.
I did a lot of wheelchairs again, I don't know what it is about me and wheelchairs, but we spend a lot of time together. I finished work and stayed for a little bit after since Justin's trainee wanted to practice his spiels in front of people. Then I ran off to Cast Services because I had a lot to get done in an hour. I headed to Company D to get my free pin. Then to costuming to drop off my old costumes. Then I went to the learning center to return my two movies and get two more. While I was there, the lady told me to go check the shelf again and let her know if there's anything interesting on it. There was a card with Lilo (from Lilo and Stitch) and it said to bring it to the desk. Well, it turns out I won the Wishes contest at the learning center. I got a little sign with my name on it, and they're displaying one in the learning center. I also got a $5 gift card to Aramark, the company that owns our cast cafeterias. So that was pretty cool. But it took so long to get that taken care of that I was rushing through costuming to pick up what I needed.
While I was walking through the aisles a Moroccan guy came up to me and asked me if I was new here. I thought it was an odd question, but I said yes. Then he asked if we could keep in touch. I realized he was hitting on me, so I said no. Then he wanted to know why. I just said no. Finally he gave up and walked away. It was really awkward. Well I put the costume on and must have grabbed the wrong size because I was swimming in the shorts, so I had to run back and get another pair. And the costuming people aren't fast or accommodating. So by the time I finished that I was running late. I drank a slim fast so that I'd have something in me. I just missed the bus, so I decided to hoof it over to the American Adventure. I did it in less than 5 minutes, which is crazy fast. And showed up on time. Of course, nobody else was there. Only 2 other coworkers and no manager.
They talked to us for a little bit and then sent us on break for half an hour. Then we took positions, I ended up at the back of the theatre greeting guests, and stopping strollers. I had the section that was usually two people so I had to chase down a few strollers. I had one that decided to stop just past the ropes and stand in the shade. She didn't want to take the kids out and since it wasn't a fire hazard I thought it was fine. Well the coordinator came over and yelled at me and sent the lady away. It was kinda rude how she handled it. There are just some people who are good with others, and some people who are not. The concerts went by pretty fast, my feet definitely hurt, but it wasn't unbearable. I just kept moving.
When I got out I had a message from Kim inviting me out to Karaoke. I called her back and got directions. It was a little, very smoky bar. It was Kim, Julie, Ryan (Kims friend), and Ryans roommate Frankie. We chatted for a while and sang along with people. There were some pretty good singers there. Ryan and Frankies roommate showed up with her boyfriend for a while. Then Omarr came with his sister who was in town for the week. I got along really well with his sister and we talked for a while, then Omarr cut in the conversation for a while. Kim and Ryan did Waterfalls by TLC and it was hilarious!! Kim is such a riot. I did Redneck Woman, because it's my jam. And that went pretty well. There was apparently some guy who wanted to buy me a drink that Kim told I wasn't interested. Well he went up and performed later. He was a very white guy who decided to sing Fergalicious. And he knew every word by heart. It was sad. Then he came over after he sang and some lady asked him if he was gay, he said very loudly "I am heterosexual, I am a heterosexual, though you wouldn't have guessed it from that." Then he walked over to me and asked me to "slow dance". That's officially the funniest, most awkward moment I've had. I said no, obviously and Omarr told him I was his girlfriend to make him stay away.
I stayed until it pretty much closed. I've never been in a bar for last call before. I think I wound up going to bed around 3:30-ish. So it was a really long day. But so much fun. I got along with everyone, and I laughed a lot. I hope to do it again soon.
Answer to Yesterday's Trivia: How many "mountains" have imagineers built worldwide?
There are 8 mountains.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Day Off
It was so nice to have today off. I needed it. I went over to Sun Trust and opened a bank account. They had one for Disney Employees that gave me all the benefits I need and more for free, much better than Vista Credit Union. I also got checks with Cinderella Castle on them. So that's pretty cool. I went grocery shopping to stock myself for the next week, since I only get out once a week, it's such a long drive I wouldn't want to have to go more often. I did some laundry and picked up my room. I would have liked to have gotten a little cleaning in, but the place isn't really that bad. I also got my main gate pass. That means I can now let friends/family in for free (lots of restrictions apply) so you can all come visit now.
I watched the movies I'd picked up at the Learning Center. An Extremely Goofy Movie and Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Neither were that good, but were entertaining enough to keep my mind of life for a while. That's all I was really looking for. I emailed my manager finally to ask about cross training at the other attractions, merchandise, or taking extra classes that could help further my career. We'll see how it takes for him to respond.
I talked to Joe for a little bit today. I had gotten a few messages online from him and they were really nice. My day was going pretty well and then it got really bad when I got those and then talked to him. It's not bad, it just made me homesick you know. He reminded me of the good times and we had a few laughs. I just miss that, you know, how easy that was. I am having such a hard time with people here and then to have conversation just flow and not have the silences feel awkward, it makes me miss it so much. Why can't it be that easy with everyone else. Or even just someone else. To feel like you can say anything and you wont be judged and you can be yourself without having to worry what others will think of you. I just makes me wonder why I can't have that all the time, or even some of the time down here. It would be nice to meet more people like me who have the same interests and morals. I feel like I'm so different from everyone else in the world. I've always felt like and outsider, but being down here and trying to make friends makes it even worse. People used to like my differences, I don't think that's the case, which puts pressure on me to conform and there's nothing I despise more than that.
Well, we'll see how people treat me tomorrow when I go back to work. If it's the same as before, or if I've become a true outsider. Cross your fingers for me. I have a long day ahead of me. I have a 6 hour shift at Nemo, which isn't too bad, but it means I don't get a lunch break, so I have to eat my lunch on a 15. Then I have an hour break and it's back to crowd control for the Bee gees tribute for another 5 hours. So I work 11 hours, which would normally mean I get a lunch break, but because they're separate and don't figure in each others hours, I only get 3 15 minute breaks. So we'll see how I handle that one. I'm just hoping my feet aren't killing me by the end of the day. Maybe I should bring some Advil along just in case.
Today's Trivia Question: How many "mountains" have imagineers built worldwide?
I watched the movies I'd picked up at the Learning Center. An Extremely Goofy Movie and Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Neither were that good, but were entertaining enough to keep my mind of life for a while. That's all I was really looking for. I emailed my manager finally to ask about cross training at the other attractions, merchandise, or taking extra classes that could help further my career. We'll see how it takes for him to respond.
I talked to Joe for a little bit today. I had gotten a few messages online from him and they were really nice. My day was going pretty well and then it got really bad when I got those and then talked to him. It's not bad, it just made me homesick you know. He reminded me of the good times and we had a few laughs. I just miss that, you know, how easy that was. I am having such a hard time with people here and then to have conversation just flow and not have the silences feel awkward, it makes me miss it so much. Why can't it be that easy with everyone else. Or even just someone else. To feel like you can say anything and you wont be judged and you can be yourself without having to worry what others will think of you. I just makes me wonder why I can't have that all the time, or even some of the time down here. It would be nice to meet more people like me who have the same interests and morals. I feel like I'm so different from everyone else in the world. I've always felt like and outsider, but being down here and trying to make friends makes it even worse. People used to like my differences, I don't think that's the case, which puts pressure on me to conform and there's nothing I despise more than that.
Well, we'll see how people treat me tomorrow when I go back to work. If it's the same as before, or if I've become a true outsider. Cross your fingers for me. I have a long day ahead of me. I have a 6 hour shift at Nemo, which isn't too bad, but it means I don't get a lunch break, so I have to eat my lunch on a 15. Then I have an hour break and it's back to crowd control for the Bee gees tribute for another 5 hours. So I work 11 hours, which would normally mean I get a lunch break, but because they're separate and don't figure in each others hours, I only get 3 15 minute breaks. So we'll see how I handle that one. I'm just hoping my feet aren't killing me by the end of the day. Maybe I should bring some Advil along just in case.
Today's Trivia Question: How many "mountains" have imagineers built worldwide?
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Loneliness??
I went over to AK this morning to meet Justin, Melissa (another trainer also works at Imag), Wendy (one of our coordinators), and Travis (works at the Land). We headed right to Everest to get fastpasses. Then they wanted to go on Kali River Rapids. Now, I've never been on this ride, simply because of the rapids part. I don't want to get wet, because I hate being uncomfortable and wet is one of the worst kinds of uncomfortable. But I wasn't about to be the party pooper, so we got in line and I kept my freaking out to myself. The real problem was that I had to work later and didn't want to look like a drowned rat. As we got closer and I saw people getting off the ride completely soaked I must have gotten really big eyes because Justin picked up on it. He said, you didn't want to get wet today did you? I was like no. But I was going to do it anyway. It was fun, I ended up being the driest of everyone, but it was still too wet for me. I was trying to be a good sport though.
Then we headed over to Primeval Whirl. We'd done the wash cycle, now we needed the dry cycle. That was fun, I like that ride a lot. It is pretty jerky though. I'm used to riding it by myself, with another person you slam into each other because it whips you so hard, not exactly comfortable. We got some fast passes for Dinosaur and then waited the 40 minutes for it to come up. Justin hates lines, I don't how you work at Disney and hate lines as much as he does, but I guess it works for him. So we did everything in as short of a line as possible.
The waiting part was probably the hardest, it made me realize just how different I am than the other people. Well, people in general. We sat and talked, well they talked I just listened. It was hard to get a word in with this group, so I didn't really. Plus, I'm pretty shy especially when it's a group of people I don't know, so I hung back and kind of observed. I like to feel people out before I really open up, so I know how much I want to open up and how fast, things like that. Well the conversation turned a little rated R for my tastes. Of course, modest little me over here has no idea how to deal with things like that, so I just didn't say anything. The more time I spend with others the more it becomes clear that I am so not the norm. I think I need to meet more people at church, they're a little more my speed. It just felt very ackward and uncomfortable to me and I was trying so hard not to show that.
Dinosaur was not too bad. Although the building smelled really bad and made me want to throw up. We did Everest, which I was scared of. I was in the front this time, which meant the drop wasn't so bad, it still felt icky though. All my ride pictures turned out the worst faces, Justin seemed to get a kick out of them, but I was definitely feeling some anxiety in the photo.
We headed over to Epcot to go to the cast picnic. It was pirate themed, all the managers were around speaking pirate and dressed up. They had some info booths in the front, nothing too exciting. Then the food, which didn't look or smell very good to me so I just had some bread and a Mickey bar. Yep, I got a free Mickey bar. It was amazing. They were doing a culinary challenege with the restaurants in Epcot. Sort of like Top Chef, they all created a dish. Judges picked a winner and the cast got to sample them and pick a winner as well. I didn't eat any of those. We had pirate Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald, and Jack Sparrow around for photo ops. I'm not very into the whole pirate thing, so I wasn't totally thrilled with it. It was definitely cool, but not exactly up my alley. They also had the merchandise shop with deeply discounted "booty". Up to 75% off, so there were some really good deals. There was nothing that caught my eye, and I didn't want to spend money anyway, so I didn't look to hard.
The day was a lot of fun, I had a good time with everyone. But for some reason I felt more lonely when I was with the group than when I was just with myself. I don't know how that works. If it was just me and one other person or even two, it was fine. But the whole group was kind of overwhelming and I felt very left out. I knew it would happen, it always does. It's just that I didn't feel comfortable forcing myself into the conversation. And then some of the topics made me feel very isolated in my opinion, one that I didn't feel I could share. So that part of the day wasn't fun. I'm just not very assertive, so I don't really know how to address things like that.
I had to do crowd control tonight at the American Adventure, so I ditched out early from the group, they were going to MK to hang out and catch Wishes. I got my costume and had to mess around with sizes for a while. Then I went to get on the bus, which was late, so I was also late, but I'd already clocked in, so it was no biggy. We got to spend the first hour over at the picnic. I looked a little harder at the merchandise, nothing that I really wanted to buy, but this time I didn't look all that hard because I had nowhere to store it. The job was pretty simple: No strollers, you can't block the aisle, count the people who come in. That's about it. I just enjoyed the concert. It did get pretty hard to stand towards the end of the night, the last hour was so unbearable. I'm glad I'm finally off of them.
When I got home, Julie and Kim said they were going to PI (Pleasure Island). I was so exausted and in pain I was just not in the mood to do anything but lay down and sleep. I feel so bad saying no. I want to go, it's just that I need a little notice to plan ahead. I look like crap, and I wasn't about to go out that way. Hopefully something'll come up soon that I can do with them. I want to hang out, the timing jut never works. Now I work pretty much every night next week, I picked up some shifts doing Wishes, we'll see how that goes.
Then we headed over to Primeval Whirl. We'd done the wash cycle, now we needed the dry cycle. That was fun, I like that ride a lot. It is pretty jerky though. I'm used to riding it by myself, with another person you slam into each other because it whips you so hard, not exactly comfortable. We got some fast passes for Dinosaur and then waited the 40 minutes for it to come up. Justin hates lines, I don't how you work at Disney and hate lines as much as he does, but I guess it works for him. So we did everything in as short of a line as possible.
The waiting part was probably the hardest, it made me realize just how different I am than the other people. Well, people in general. We sat and talked, well they talked I just listened. It was hard to get a word in with this group, so I didn't really. Plus, I'm pretty shy especially when it's a group of people I don't know, so I hung back and kind of observed. I like to feel people out before I really open up, so I know how much I want to open up and how fast, things like that. Well the conversation turned a little rated R for my tastes. Of course, modest little me over here has no idea how to deal with things like that, so I just didn't say anything. The more time I spend with others the more it becomes clear that I am so not the norm. I think I need to meet more people at church, they're a little more my speed. It just felt very ackward and uncomfortable to me and I was trying so hard not to show that.
Dinosaur was not too bad. Although the building smelled really bad and made me want to throw up. We did Everest, which I was scared of. I was in the front this time, which meant the drop wasn't so bad, it still felt icky though. All my ride pictures turned out the worst faces, Justin seemed to get a kick out of them, but I was definitely feeling some anxiety in the photo.
We headed over to Epcot to go to the cast picnic. It was pirate themed, all the managers were around speaking pirate and dressed up. They had some info booths in the front, nothing too exciting. Then the food, which didn't look or smell very good to me so I just had some bread and a Mickey bar. Yep, I got a free Mickey bar. It was amazing. They were doing a culinary challenege with the restaurants in Epcot. Sort of like Top Chef, they all created a dish. Judges picked a winner and the cast got to sample them and pick a winner as well. I didn't eat any of those. We had pirate Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald, and Jack Sparrow around for photo ops. I'm not very into the whole pirate thing, so I wasn't totally thrilled with it. It was definitely cool, but not exactly up my alley. They also had the merchandise shop with deeply discounted "booty". Up to 75% off, so there were some really good deals. There was nothing that caught my eye, and I didn't want to spend money anyway, so I didn't look to hard.
The day was a lot of fun, I had a good time with everyone. But for some reason I felt more lonely when I was with the group than when I was just with myself. I don't know how that works. If it was just me and one other person or even two, it was fine. But the whole group was kind of overwhelming and I felt very left out. I knew it would happen, it always does. It's just that I didn't feel comfortable forcing myself into the conversation. And then some of the topics made me feel very isolated in my opinion, one that I didn't feel I could share. So that part of the day wasn't fun. I'm just not very assertive, so I don't really know how to address things like that.
I had to do crowd control tonight at the American Adventure, so I ditched out early from the group, they were going to MK to hang out and catch Wishes. I got my costume and had to mess around with sizes for a while. Then I went to get on the bus, which was late, so I was also late, but I'd already clocked in, so it was no biggy. We got to spend the first hour over at the picnic. I looked a little harder at the merchandise, nothing that I really wanted to buy, but this time I didn't look all that hard because I had nowhere to store it. The job was pretty simple: No strollers, you can't block the aisle, count the people who come in. That's about it. I just enjoyed the concert. It did get pretty hard to stand towards the end of the night, the last hour was so unbearable. I'm glad I'm finally off of them.
When I got home, Julie and Kim said they were going to PI (Pleasure Island). I was so exausted and in pain I was just not in the mood to do anything but lay down and sleep. I feel so bad saying no. I want to go, it's just that I need a little notice to plan ahead. I look like crap, and I wasn't about to go out that way. Hopefully something'll come up soon that I can do with them. I want to hang out, the timing jut never works. Now I work pretty much every night next week, I picked up some shifts doing Wishes, we'll see how that goes.
Wonderful Wednesday
Yep, today was wonderful! Why, I'm not totally sure. There wasn't that much difference. I got to spend about 2 hours in Turtle Talk hosting. That was a lot of fun. I spent another 3 hours assisting wheelchairs in Nemo. That was pretty fun actually, I got to hang out with PJ who was a riot. I love watching how different people interact with guests and pass the time in their positions. PJ is definitely a jokester and he loves to have fun at work. I smiled a lot during that time. He has a background in theatre, he said he studied musical theatre, so it'd be cool to chat with him about that sometime.
I had a couple little girls today just come up and give me hugs. That's so nice. The one I had chatted with for a bit, but the other I'd only said hi. I think a hug from a child can turn a whole week around, and I got two of them. I had one little girl who came to see Turtle Talk 3 times. She was super animated and really into the show, but Crush didn't pick her out to talk to. She was my little helper, she came over and would tell me before the show that people were taking pictures which wasn't allowed. It was so cute. I could just see her getting more upset every time. On the third show he finally picked her and she grinned ear to ear the whole time. When the show was over I went over and gave her a high five and asked her about her day. She said it was her favorite part of the day. Her dad said thanks, because he didn't think she would leave until she got to talk to Crush. That was a lot of fun.
I went over to MK when I finished work to catch the fireworks. I got Rock star parking and came into the park just as the Cinderella float was passing by. I watched the end of the parade and then headed to Casey's to have a hot dog. I waited at the end of Main Street for the fireworks to start. I was pretty bored, so I was texting Justin. The guy who was standing by me asked if I was sending a book, he just laughed at how fast I was going. Justin invited me to go to AK (Animal Kingdom) tomorrow and then to the cast picnic at Epcot with some people. So I was game, I had the day off and it sounded like fun. I watched the fireworks, which I love so very much. It's much more relevant with the music.
Then I headed over to Thunder Mountain. I proceeded to ride that 5 times in a row. Then I had to leave since they were closing the ride for the night. Boo. I strolled my way through the park and made it the back way to Main Street since the second parade was coming through. I went through the Emporium and got out the other side with perfect timing as the parade had just finished the last float, so I headed right over to the Monorail. I only had to wait for one train and was on the very next one. Since I'd parked so close, I also didn't have to wait for the tram, I just walked to the car. It was a great night.
Answer to Yesterday's Trivia Question: How many seconds are between clams on The Seas with Nemo and Friends? 3.2 Seconds, now you know how much time I spend with the guests.
I had a couple little girls today just come up and give me hugs. That's so nice. The one I had chatted with for a bit, but the other I'd only said hi. I think a hug from a child can turn a whole week around, and I got two of them. I had one little girl who came to see Turtle Talk 3 times. She was super animated and really into the show, but Crush didn't pick her out to talk to. She was my little helper, she came over and would tell me before the show that people were taking pictures which wasn't allowed. It was so cute. I could just see her getting more upset every time. On the third show he finally picked her and she grinned ear to ear the whole time. When the show was over I went over and gave her a high five and asked her about her day. She said it was her favorite part of the day. Her dad said thanks, because he didn't think she would leave until she got to talk to Crush. That was a lot of fun.
I went over to MK when I finished work to catch the fireworks. I got Rock star parking and came into the park just as the Cinderella float was passing by. I watched the end of the parade and then headed to Casey's to have a hot dog. I waited at the end of Main Street for the fireworks to start. I was pretty bored, so I was texting Justin. The guy who was standing by me asked if I was sending a book, he just laughed at how fast I was going. Justin invited me to go to AK (Animal Kingdom) tomorrow and then to the cast picnic at Epcot with some people. So I was game, I had the day off and it sounded like fun. I watched the fireworks, which I love so very much. It's much more relevant with the music.
Then I headed over to Thunder Mountain. I proceeded to ride that 5 times in a row. Then I had to leave since they were closing the ride for the night. Boo. I strolled my way through the park and made it the back way to Main Street since the second parade was coming through. I went through the Emporium and got out the other side with perfect timing as the parade had just finished the last float, so I headed right over to the Monorail. I only had to wait for one train and was on the very next one. Since I'd parked so close, I also didn't have to wait for the tram, I just walked to the car. It was a great night.
Answer to Yesterday's Trivia Question: How many seconds are between clams on The Seas with Nemo and Friends? 3.2 Seconds, now you know how much time I spend with the guests.
Terrible Tuesday
Yes, that's right. It was a horrible day. Why, I'm not totally sure. Nothing significantly bad happened. It was a pretty normal day, I started out at Kidcot coloring and chatting with kids. Spent a few shows at Turtle Talk and then did some Nemo. I tried to extend my shift, but they didn't accept my request. So I only worked a 6 hour day. I don't like those, I would much rather work 8 hours, you get an extra 45 minute break. It's unpaid, but still. I need more hours, so anything helps. Just for whatever reason I wasn't feeling well. I've been kind of sick, my horrible stress stomach that doesn't like when I eat is back. I don't think I've eaten dinner in a couple weeks. Which means all I eat is my oatmeal for breakfast, then my PB& Honey sandwich and chips for lunch. Not a whole lot of food, but it hasn't bothered me. At least not the lack of food part. It's when I have to eat that causes the problem, it's pretty painful and sometimes I have to force food down. I've also got this sinus thing going on so that doesn't help.
I don't know it was just one of those days I felt really lonely and homesick. I called mom and talked to her for a while. That helped a little, but sometimes it makes it worse. I spent the night in my room. I sang for a while, just until my roommates came home. I played a little keyoard and did a little karaoke. So it gave me some variety. That made me feel a little better, but it was tough since my throat's been bugging me, so there was a lot I couldn't sing. I was in the belting mood, but I can't belt right now. Boo.
Then I watched Atlantis 2. It was ok, not as good as the first (are they ever?), but not too bad. I love the idea of Atlantis, and then seeing someone create the whole city was very cool. I was hoping that they would explore the city and go into more detail for me, but instead the whole movie took place outside Atlantis. Oh well.
I don't know it was just one of those days I felt really lonely and homesick. I called mom and talked to her for a while. That helped a little, but sometimes it makes it worse. I spent the night in my room. I sang for a while, just until my roommates came home. I played a little keyoard and did a little karaoke. So it gave me some variety. That made me feel a little better, but it was tough since my throat's been bugging me, so there was a lot I couldn't sing. I was in the belting mood, but I can't belt right now. Boo.
Then I watched Atlantis 2. It was ok, not as good as the first (are they ever?), but not too bad. I love the idea of Atlantis, and then seeing someone create the whole city was very cool. I was hoping that they would explore the city and go into more detail for me, but instead the whole movie took place outside Atlantis. Oh well.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Monday
Yeah. That's really all I have to say about today, nothing special. I started out the day working Kidcot, which I enjoyed. I got a lot of organizing done and made a lot of necklaces. I also got to talk to quite a few cool people. I did that for about an hour and a half then I went to do the Turtle Talk show outside the theatre. I did that for a while and then had a break. I got the sculpture garden greeting task again. Some people keep getting to ride through the ride on their task, why don't I get to be that lucky? Then I got another task to give OUTRAGEOUS service and Kidcot. That was pretty cool, because after I left there I went to Turtle Talk and did the show with a few of the people I'd been chatting with, and wouldn't you know it the one talkative little boy was picked by crush. I really enjoyed that.
I spent quite a bit of time today at wheelchair assist. It was crazy. We would have no wheelchairs for 20 minutes and then in 5 minutes I'd have 6 people. They'd come in faster than I could get the chairs parked in another area. It was worse when I went back later, because they dropped the 2nd assist position so I was by myself and still had the same amount of chairs to deal with. There were few times I thought my head was going to explode. It didn't help that I'm still a little rough trying to drive the ECVs (electric wheelchairs). They all have a different way to put them in neutral so that you can push them. And some have weight sensors where you can't drive unless there's someone sitting in it. It was all crazy. Gabby came over from transition greeter (a pretty useless position) she was escorting a GAC (guest assistance card) family to the alternate entrance and realized I was swamped so she stayed and helped until rotation came around. Then I went to unload for my last half hour. It wasn't too bad.
Someone finally showed me how to extend a shift today, so now I can do that. Apparently everyone is getting shorted hours, so yesterday I jumped onto the extra hours website and picked up an additional 12 hours for next week. I picked on up on my day off, and then extended another day so it's a 12 hour day, we'll see how that goes. I have the next day off, so I'll have recovery time. But even adding the 12 hours, I'm only at 42 hours total. I don't know why they're shorting everyone, because as full time I'm guaranteed a minimum of 32. Lets just hope it gets better. We get new trainees everyday, so I think I should write to my manager about cross training to give myself more opportunities.
I stopped at the learning center on my way out of work today and was really upset to see that they'd moved the books around. The whole Disney reference section was in boxes and the shelves were empty. I'm just going to hope they're reorganizing and not shipping them off somewhere else. I rented the 2nd Atlantis movie, I love the first one so much. So we'll see if the 2nd is any better.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: What was the first film in the True Life Adventure series?
Seal Island, the Disney film distibutor at the time didn't believe audiences would sit through a nature film, so Walt asked a friend to run the film in his theatre for one week in December of 1948 so it would qualify for the Academy Awards. It won the Oscar for best documentary and another 12 films followed.
Today's Trivia Question: How many seconds are between clams on The Seas with Nemo and Friends? (Come on mom, we were stuck at this part of the ride.)
I spent quite a bit of time today at wheelchair assist. It was crazy. We would have no wheelchairs for 20 minutes and then in 5 minutes I'd have 6 people. They'd come in faster than I could get the chairs parked in another area. It was worse when I went back later, because they dropped the 2nd assist position so I was by myself and still had the same amount of chairs to deal with. There were few times I thought my head was going to explode. It didn't help that I'm still a little rough trying to drive the ECVs (electric wheelchairs). They all have a different way to put them in neutral so that you can push them. And some have weight sensors where you can't drive unless there's someone sitting in it. It was all crazy. Gabby came over from transition greeter (a pretty useless position) she was escorting a GAC (guest assistance card) family to the alternate entrance and realized I was swamped so she stayed and helped until rotation came around. Then I went to unload for my last half hour. It wasn't too bad.
Someone finally showed me how to extend a shift today, so now I can do that. Apparently everyone is getting shorted hours, so yesterday I jumped onto the extra hours website and picked up an additional 12 hours for next week. I picked on up on my day off, and then extended another day so it's a 12 hour day, we'll see how that goes. I have the next day off, so I'll have recovery time. But even adding the 12 hours, I'm only at 42 hours total. I don't know why they're shorting everyone, because as full time I'm guaranteed a minimum of 32. Lets just hope it gets better. We get new trainees everyday, so I think I should write to my manager about cross training to give myself more opportunities.
I stopped at the learning center on my way out of work today and was really upset to see that they'd moved the books around. The whole Disney reference section was in boxes and the shelves were empty. I'm just going to hope they're reorganizing and not shipping them off somewhere else. I rented the 2nd Atlantis movie, I love the first one so much. So we'll see if the 2nd is any better.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: What was the first film in the True Life Adventure series?
Seal Island, the Disney film distibutor at the time didn't believe audiences would sit through a nature film, so Walt asked a friend to run the film in his theatre for one week in December of 1948 so it would qualify for the Academy Awards. It won the Oscar for best documentary and another 12 films followed.
Today's Trivia Question: How many seconds are between clams on The Seas with Nemo and Friends? (Come on mom, we were stuck at this part of the ride.)
Fathers Day
We had extra magic hours today. Which I didn't know, so when you head into the park thinking you're going to have a leisurely stroll enjoying the emptiness and you turn the corner to find a whole slew of people, it starts the day off a little rough. But I got to start out at Turtle Talk in our photocell position. Which means I escort wheelchairs to the priority entrance and make the spiels. It's not a bad place to be. When it was my turn to take over the show, I missed the beginning by a few minutes so I had to wait outside while they finished the show. Then I went in to load the next show and by the time I finished loading someone came to give me my break. That's twice in two days. I didn't think I was ever going to get to do the show. When I got back from my break I went back to where I started. I got to do some shows later on and that was pretty fun. Crush wished all the dads Happy Fathers Day, that was pretty cool. There was a definite "AWWW" reaction from the crowd, which made me laugh.
I spent some time at Kidcot, which I always enjoy. You just sit at a table and color with kids. How can that be bad? I spend the time organizing the station and chatting with kids and their parents. I really like that spot. I had a task where I had to go out and greet people at the sculpture gardens. Boy was it hot, there's no umbrella to stand under at that spot, so it was tough. But luckily it was only for 15 minutes.
Justin, the guy who did my assesment, invited me out to MGM for Star Wars weekends. I told him I was completely Star Wars ignorant, but he insisted I go anyway. So I did. It ended being Justin, me, Joe (another coworker), and Joe's wife Ultra. It was a lot of fun. I spent the whole night laughing. We did a few rides. I went on star tours for the first time. It was ok, but made me a little dizzy, I didn't think it was cool enough to feel that dizzy. We went on the Great Movie Ride, and saw the Narnia exibit (not as cool as it seems)... Hmm, I don't think we accomplished a whole lot, we kind of strolled through the place, it was a good time. We were going to go to Fantasmic, but by the time we got there it was SRO, so we decided to leave and head over to Downtown Disney to get something to eat. By the time I got home I was so exausted I just went to bed.
I spent some time at Kidcot, which I always enjoy. You just sit at a table and color with kids. How can that be bad? I spend the time organizing the station and chatting with kids and their parents. I really like that spot. I had a task where I had to go out and greet people at the sculpture gardens. Boy was it hot, there's no umbrella to stand under at that spot, so it was tough. But luckily it was only for 15 minutes.
Justin, the guy who did my assesment, invited me out to MGM for Star Wars weekends. I told him I was completely Star Wars ignorant, but he insisted I go anyway. So I did. It ended being Justin, me, Joe (another coworker), and Joe's wife Ultra. It was a lot of fun. I spent the whole night laughing. We did a few rides. I went on star tours for the first time. It was ok, but made me a little dizzy, I didn't think it was cool enough to feel that dizzy. We went on the Great Movie Ride, and saw the Narnia exibit (not as cool as it seems)... Hmm, I don't think we accomplished a whole lot, we kind of strolled through the place, it was a good time. We were going to go to Fantasmic, but by the time we got there it was SRO, so we decided to leave and head over to Downtown Disney to get something to eat. By the time I got home I was so exausted I just went to bed.
SIM Training
Sim. That stands for Safety in Motion. It is a pretty useless class about how to move your body correctly to prevent injury. I was supposed to go to the Land building 4th floor and arrive 15 minutes early. Well, there I was, but nobody else was around. So I started peeking down hallways and someone came out to help me. He said he thought it was in a trailer back by cast services. It took him about 10 minutes to confirm that for me and get me directions. I went over with one other person who had also showed up on time. The other guy wouldn't stop and ask anyone else for help, he just kept booking it past where we were told to go, typical guy right? When he finally stopped, we had gone way to far and had to ask 2 people before we finally ended up in the right place. Turns out nobody had gotten the memo that it had been moved and we were the first ones there. The facilitator of the class blamed our training coordinators for not contacting us, but when I talked to management later they said they didn't get the email until an hour into our class time. The class was pretty lame, I didn't learn anything, and most of it was irrelevant because we all worked attractions so there is no heaving lifting involved.
When I got to work I had to relieve the person doing the Turtle Talk show. Well I got in and loaded the first show and then got my break, so I felt like I'd done nothing all day. I spent some time doing the show later, and some time loading the ride. Nothing too terrible. It was a pretty short day too.
When I got home I decided to just take it easy. I chatted with Kim for a while, we watched some Mighty Ducks. She invited me out to Cowboys, this country bar with line dancing. But I was tired and had to work the next day. Plus, I'm not so into the bar/club scene. I guess I haven't experienced much of it, but it's not really my thing. So I watched some TV, searched around on the Disney sites and talked on the phone for a while. It was a nice relaxing night.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia Question: How many bricks make up Cinderella's Castle?
None. It is made of steel and fiberglass. The bricks are painted on and utilize forced perspective to make the castle look even taller than its actual 189 feet.
Today's Trivia Question: What was the first film in the True Life Adventure series?
When I got to work I had to relieve the person doing the Turtle Talk show. Well I got in and loaded the first show and then got my break, so I felt like I'd done nothing all day. I spent some time doing the show later, and some time loading the ride. Nothing too terrible. It was a pretty short day too.
When I got home I decided to just take it easy. I chatted with Kim for a while, we watched some Mighty Ducks. She invited me out to Cowboys, this country bar with line dancing. But I was tired and had to work the next day. Plus, I'm not so into the bar/club scene. I guess I haven't experienced much of it, but it's not really my thing. So I watched some TV, searched around on the Disney sites and talked on the phone for a while. It was a nice relaxing night.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia Question: How many bricks make up Cinderella's Castle?
None. It is made of steel and fiberglass. The bricks are painted on and utilize forced perspective to make the castle look even taller than its actual 189 feet.
Today's Trivia Question: What was the first film in the True Life Adventure series?
Friday, June 15, 2007
Another Day Off
So I slept in til 10:00 and it was glorious. I decided to head over to Epcot to get some Yakitori. It is now called Teriaki Chicken, and it's no longer on skewers. Boo, but it still tastes mostly the same, they use more bad pieces of chicken so it's a little chewier sometimes. I got my fastpass for Soarin, which didn't come up until 4:30, so I went to the American Adventure and watched the fife and drum core, the Voices of Liberty, and then the American Adventure show. It was very cool and allowed me to be in the air conditioning for a while. After that I decided to head over to MGM to ride Rockin Rollercoaster.
So I walked over to the yatch and beach club to catch the boat and wouldn't you know it, they closed up the doors just as I came up and wouldn't let me on. So I decided to walk, yep, walk to MGM. I always thought those people were crazy, I still agree with that, it's just that now I'm one of them. It might be nice if it was early in the morning or later in the day, but I went at 2:00 and it was blazing hot. I was sweating like a pig by the time I got there, which was just in time for the crowds to line the streets for the parade. I headed over to Rockin Rollercoaster, and wouldn't you know it, closed for technical difficulties. So I went to the Great Movie Ride to cool down. Now, keep in mind it is Star Wars Weekends, so there are a lot more people at the park, and they are in costumes, or just odd people. So the wait time was about an hour. But I finally cooled down and the parade was over when I got out. I decided to go check on Rockin Rollercoaster and it was up and running, also an hour wait. But I had a good time, I enjoyed it very much.
Then I caught the bus back to Epcot since it was about time for my Soarin fastpass. By the time I got there, I was 4 minutes late and my pass had expired, but I was hoping they'd let me in anyway since it was clear that I had booked it to get there. He did, and I had a great time on that one. It's such an amazing ride, I definitely recommend it. I went over and road test track before I headed out.
I stopped at MK to ride Thunder Mountain. I had my fastpass from last week when the ride closed due to weather so we couldn't use it. The time on it was right for when I had gotten there and they didn't check the date (I suppose because most people don't keep old fastpasses) so I got on pretty quickly. And I loved that too. I was going to go on Space Mountain as well, but that was an hour and a half wait and they were out of fastpasses, so I nixed that idea and just did Buzz Lightyear on the way out. I'm getting pretty good at my aim, I improve the score every time, so by the time you all come visit I can kick your butts.
So by the time I finished tonight I had hit 3 parks, and walked 8 miles (I wore the pedometer: 21,308 steps). Insane, huh? Oh yeah, I also left my legacy. You know those giant slabs in the front of the park with peoples faces on them. For anyone who's gone with me, where I dragged you to see the NSYNC faces. Tomorrow is the last day to do it, they're closing the purchasing. So I decided since this is home, this is a huge part of my legacy I'd pay the $20 for 25 years. I got a discount for being a cast member. I hate the picture though, it's horible and they wouldn't redo it for me, so I was really upset. But when I'm almost 50 years old, there will be my face in Disney World from the first week I spent as a cast member. And hopefully I'll have some amazing job still with the company and it'll be very cool to look back on that. And if not, I know that a part of me will always be here, right where I would like to be.
Today's Trivia Question: How many bricks make up Cinderella's Castle?
So I walked over to the yatch and beach club to catch the boat and wouldn't you know it, they closed up the doors just as I came up and wouldn't let me on. So I decided to walk, yep, walk to MGM. I always thought those people were crazy, I still agree with that, it's just that now I'm one of them. It might be nice if it was early in the morning or later in the day, but I went at 2:00 and it was blazing hot. I was sweating like a pig by the time I got there, which was just in time for the crowds to line the streets for the parade. I headed over to Rockin Rollercoaster, and wouldn't you know it, closed for technical difficulties. So I went to the Great Movie Ride to cool down. Now, keep in mind it is Star Wars Weekends, so there are a lot more people at the park, and they are in costumes, or just odd people. So the wait time was about an hour. But I finally cooled down and the parade was over when I got out. I decided to go check on Rockin Rollercoaster and it was up and running, also an hour wait. But I had a good time, I enjoyed it very much.
Then I caught the bus back to Epcot since it was about time for my Soarin fastpass. By the time I got there, I was 4 minutes late and my pass had expired, but I was hoping they'd let me in anyway since it was clear that I had booked it to get there. He did, and I had a great time on that one. It's such an amazing ride, I definitely recommend it. I went over and road test track before I headed out.
I stopped at MK to ride Thunder Mountain. I had my fastpass from last week when the ride closed due to weather so we couldn't use it. The time on it was right for when I had gotten there and they didn't check the date (I suppose because most people don't keep old fastpasses) so I got on pretty quickly. And I loved that too. I was going to go on Space Mountain as well, but that was an hour and a half wait and they were out of fastpasses, so I nixed that idea and just did Buzz Lightyear on the way out. I'm getting pretty good at my aim, I improve the score every time, so by the time you all come visit I can kick your butts.
So by the time I finished tonight I had hit 3 parks, and walked 8 miles (I wore the pedometer: 21,308 steps). Insane, huh? Oh yeah, I also left my legacy. You know those giant slabs in the front of the park with peoples faces on them. For anyone who's gone with me, where I dragged you to see the NSYNC faces. Tomorrow is the last day to do it, they're closing the purchasing. So I decided since this is home, this is a huge part of my legacy I'd pay the $20 for 25 years. I got a discount for being a cast member. I hate the picture though, it's horible and they wouldn't redo it for me, so I was really upset. But when I'm almost 50 years old, there will be my face in Disney World from the first week I spent as a cast member. And hopefully I'll have some amazing job still with the company and it'll be very cool to look back on that. And if not, I know that a part of me will always be here, right where I would like to be.
Today's Trivia Question: How many bricks make up Cinderella's Castle?
Discovery Day:Take Two
Yep, nobody got back to me, so I went on Discovery day for a second time. It was basically the same thing, there were different teachers so they threw in some different facts. Like Mouse Gears, the large gift shop in Epcot is 2nd largest in the WDW Resort only to The World of Disney at Downtown Disney. And it can do $100,000 of business in a day. However, the few weeks before Christmas it can easily do $1,000,000 in a day. Crazy, huh? The one instructor works at The Seas and Soarin, she's been in attractions the whole time she's been with the company which is about a year and a half. So maybe one day I'll get to teach the class. They did call me the star pupil, cause I knew all the answers. But the questions were basic Disney Trivia and facts. I couldn't believe I was the only one who knew. I had a lot of CPers (college program) though, they usually have only one thing on their mind and it has nothing to do with work.
When I finished Discovery Day, I had to race over to work, which meant I changed into my costume in record time and bolted across the park. Of course when I got there it wouldn't let me clock in since I was technically late for my shift. So we had to wait for a manager to fix it, and then I had my break before I started, thank God, I was about to pass out. My first assignment by myself was Turtle Talk. Yep, I got to host the show. It was so much fun! I had a little girl who was so upset that Crush didn't say hi to her she was in tears. I tried to say that he'd said hi to everyone, but that wasn't good enough for her. So, since the theatre was clearing out I said, "You know what I can do, I'll turn the hydrophone back on and you can say bye to Crush and I bet he can hear you while he's out surfing." She was a little hesitant, but once she did it she grinned all the way out the door. Well, her father thought it would be a good idea to get her in to see the next show so she could really talk to him. Well, he didn't call on her and she was even more devastated than before. I was mad at that dad, he should have let it be. I got to do 4 shows, which was about an hour and a half. So that was a good chunk of time.
Then I had another break, which was nice since doing the show had made me really hot and thirsty. When I went back I had what we call a task for 15 minutes to help out the Turtle Talk show escorting wheelchairs and answering questions. Then I had to go outside and be the pavilion greeter for about an hour. It's a fun job, you get to chat with people and answer questions, but it is definitely a hot job. I was out from 2:30-3:30, so it was fairly warm. Then I went inside and was the load 2 position. Which is the position that scares me the most because you have the most responsibility. You have to make sure everyone gets into the clams safely and you're also in charge of the console. It went ok, I had a few angry people who tried to sit 3 adults, the recommended is 2 adults and one child. The groups wouldn't have fit everyone. I had one who threw a hissy fit and then tried to get out of the clam after the doors had closed, because her son (who was probably 17) wasn't in the one next to her. I just apologized and sent the clam on its way. I did that for about an hour and then I was done for the day.
I was going to head over to MK (Magic Kingdom) for the night, but I decided to take a nap first. I went to sleep at 5:30 and didn't wake up until Roger called around 9. I talked to him for a while and then surfed the internet for a while. I went back to sleep at midnight and then woke up around 10:00 this morning. It was a nice long sleep, and I really needed it.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: What is the tallest structure in the WDW resort?
Some good guesses, but it's actually Mickey's Wand on Spaceship Earth. The actual sphere is 180 feet, but with the addition of the arm and wand, it now stands 240 feet. Tower of Terror is the next tallest at 199 feet. You will find that every attraction will stay at 199 or shorter. Why you ask? Because once a structure is over 200 feet it has to have a blinking light on top for airplanes, how realistic would Mount Everest look if there was a blinking red light on top? So unless it works with the theming (as in the wand) it will be under 200 feet.
When I finished Discovery Day, I had to race over to work, which meant I changed into my costume in record time and bolted across the park. Of course when I got there it wouldn't let me clock in since I was technically late for my shift. So we had to wait for a manager to fix it, and then I had my break before I started, thank God, I was about to pass out. My first assignment by myself was Turtle Talk. Yep, I got to host the show. It was so much fun! I had a little girl who was so upset that Crush didn't say hi to her she was in tears. I tried to say that he'd said hi to everyone, but that wasn't good enough for her. So, since the theatre was clearing out I said, "You know what I can do, I'll turn the hydrophone back on and you can say bye to Crush and I bet he can hear you while he's out surfing." She was a little hesitant, but once she did it she grinned all the way out the door. Well, her father thought it would be a good idea to get her in to see the next show so she could really talk to him. Well, he didn't call on her and she was even more devastated than before. I was mad at that dad, he should have let it be. I got to do 4 shows, which was about an hour and a half. So that was a good chunk of time.
Then I had another break, which was nice since doing the show had made me really hot and thirsty. When I went back I had what we call a task for 15 minutes to help out the Turtle Talk show escorting wheelchairs and answering questions. Then I had to go outside and be the pavilion greeter for about an hour. It's a fun job, you get to chat with people and answer questions, but it is definitely a hot job. I was out from 2:30-3:30, so it was fairly warm. Then I went inside and was the load 2 position. Which is the position that scares me the most because you have the most responsibility. You have to make sure everyone gets into the clams safely and you're also in charge of the console. It went ok, I had a few angry people who tried to sit 3 adults, the recommended is 2 adults and one child. The groups wouldn't have fit everyone. I had one who threw a hissy fit and then tried to get out of the clam after the doors had closed, because her son (who was probably 17) wasn't in the one next to her. I just apologized and sent the clam on its way. I did that for about an hour and then I was done for the day.
I was going to head over to MK (Magic Kingdom) for the night, but I decided to take a nap first. I went to sleep at 5:30 and didn't wake up until Roger called around 9. I talked to him for a while and then surfed the internet for a while. I went back to sleep at midnight and then woke up around 10:00 this morning. It was a nice long sleep, and I really needed it.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: What is the tallest structure in the WDW resort?
Some good guesses, but it's actually Mickey's Wand on Spaceship Earth. The actual sphere is 180 feet, but with the addition of the arm and wand, it now stands 240 feet. Tower of Terror is the next tallest at 199 feet. You will find that every attraction will stay at 199 or shorter. Why you ask? Because once a structure is over 200 feet it has to have a blinking light on top for airplanes, how realistic would Mount Everest look if there was a blinking red light on top? So unless it works with the theming (as in the wand) it will be under 200 feet.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Day Off
Yes, that's right I had the day off. I slept in until 9am. It was glorious. I was going to go to bed early, but it's 11:30 and here I am typing away, so clearly that didn't happen. I got a lot done. I ran my errands, did the laundry, and got things ready for lunches. I have a whole section of baggies of chips and cookies so that if I am running short on time I can just pick up the bags and take an uncrustable from the freezer and voila, instant lunch.
I went over to Vista Credit Union to open an account. Apparently my timing sucks, there were 15 international college program kids filling out paperwork and getting information. I asked if I should come back later and since I wasn't college or international she said she'd get someone to help me. Well when the lady started to explain the accounts, I was not too pleased. They were going to charge me $10 to open a savings account, which I had to have, and then another $3 every month unless I had $1000 or a loan with them. I let her know that Disney doesn't pay me enough to keep $1000 in an account. I am simply looking for a checking account so I have access to my money. So I didn't open it, because I feel that I should not have to pay to bank, I am giving you my money that should be enough. I'll just go to a big bank down here.
I went into Company D which is the store for cast members. It has discount merchandise as well as cast member exclusive merchandise. I had a good time, I had to restrain myself. Disney must know that pins are a weakness for me. I did buy two pins, but they were 75% off the original price and gorgeous.
I picked up my prescription and that didn't go so well. Disney requires you to wait 3 months before you're elligible for health insurance, so I'm uninsured at the moment. I found out my prescription is $30 a month, everyone here wants to take my money, jeese. I also picked up a cheap pedometer because I am very curious to see how much I walk a day. Especially with the conveyor belt involved, I mean you have to walk constantly.
Then I went over to Animal Kingdom. I wanted to see Finding Nemo the Musical. I got there just in time to get in line for it. The show didn't start for another hour or so, but I had great seats. The show was so good. I definitley recommend it, it's a must see. It did remind me of being at work though since we use a lot of the same elements. This is the musical version of the movie and we have the ride version of the movie. I did find myself responding to Crush though. He said "Dude, you so totally rock," and so I gave the response "Dude!" Because "If a green sea turtle says 'You so totally rock' the proper response is 'Dude!'" Of course nobody around me got it though. While I was in the theatre the storm went through, so I missed it.
I then decided to go ride Expedition Everest, the newest roller coaster. Now I was a little afraid of this one, because it is much larger than the others in the parks and I knew it had a larger drop than I like. But I decided to do it anyway. I went in the single rider line, so it didn't take as long as the regular line. It was ok, not as bad as I thought. The drop was horrible, I just wanted it over, and I was in the back so I had all the momentum. You ride for a while backwards which was very odd, and then as you go backwards you go upside down. It felt very disorienting to me. I wouldn't choose to ride it again, but I'm glad I went on it, if someone asked me I'd probably go on it with them.
I also went on the Safari, but it had rained and it was later in the day, so it wasn't very good. The morning Safaris are much better. Most animals were not around or there was only one. The lion however was prancing back and forth on the cliff, it was cool and a little scary to watch. He look aggitated. It starting raining again partway through the Safari, so I decided that was my cue to go home and relax. It was such a nice day. I also picked up a couple extra shifts next week working crowd control for the concert series at Epcot. Next week it's the Beegees tribute band. I hope I can work the Billy Joel or Garth Brooks tributes, that would be cool.
Well, I am off to another Discovery Day tomorrow. I tried and tried to get a hold of 3 different managers using mulitple means of communication over the last week and nobody responded. So to me that means, just attend a second time. If I'm late or don't show I'll get a point against me and I don't want that because they didn't get back to me. At least it's a fun training. And then I have Friday off. I'm not sure what I'm doing, I know there'll be some park action, but I'm not sure what yet.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: In which cartoon did Mickey's signature white gloves appear?
Jason is exaclty right and he's rocking the Q&A, where are the rest of you? It was in The Opry House in March of 1929. They were created so that when Mickeys hands were next to his body you could distinguish the two.
Today's Trivia: What is the tallest structure in the WDW resort?
I went over to Vista Credit Union to open an account. Apparently my timing sucks, there were 15 international college program kids filling out paperwork and getting information. I asked if I should come back later and since I wasn't college or international she said she'd get someone to help me. Well when the lady started to explain the accounts, I was not too pleased. They were going to charge me $10 to open a savings account, which I had to have, and then another $3 every month unless I had $1000 or a loan with them. I let her know that Disney doesn't pay me enough to keep $1000 in an account. I am simply looking for a checking account so I have access to my money. So I didn't open it, because I feel that I should not have to pay to bank, I am giving you my money that should be enough. I'll just go to a big bank down here.
I went into Company D which is the store for cast members. It has discount merchandise as well as cast member exclusive merchandise. I had a good time, I had to restrain myself. Disney must know that pins are a weakness for me. I did buy two pins, but they were 75% off the original price and gorgeous.
I picked up my prescription and that didn't go so well. Disney requires you to wait 3 months before you're elligible for health insurance, so I'm uninsured at the moment. I found out my prescription is $30 a month, everyone here wants to take my money, jeese. I also picked up a cheap pedometer because I am very curious to see how much I walk a day. Especially with the conveyor belt involved, I mean you have to walk constantly.
Then I went over to Animal Kingdom. I wanted to see Finding Nemo the Musical. I got there just in time to get in line for it. The show didn't start for another hour or so, but I had great seats. The show was so good. I definitley recommend it, it's a must see. It did remind me of being at work though since we use a lot of the same elements. This is the musical version of the movie and we have the ride version of the movie. I did find myself responding to Crush though. He said "Dude, you so totally rock," and so I gave the response "Dude!" Because "If a green sea turtle says 'You so totally rock' the proper response is 'Dude!'" Of course nobody around me got it though. While I was in the theatre the storm went through, so I missed it.
I then decided to go ride Expedition Everest, the newest roller coaster. Now I was a little afraid of this one, because it is much larger than the others in the parks and I knew it had a larger drop than I like. But I decided to do it anyway. I went in the single rider line, so it didn't take as long as the regular line. It was ok, not as bad as I thought. The drop was horrible, I just wanted it over, and I was in the back so I had all the momentum. You ride for a while backwards which was very odd, and then as you go backwards you go upside down. It felt very disorienting to me. I wouldn't choose to ride it again, but I'm glad I went on it, if someone asked me I'd probably go on it with them.
I also went on the Safari, but it had rained and it was later in the day, so it wasn't very good. The morning Safaris are much better. Most animals were not around or there was only one. The lion however was prancing back and forth on the cliff, it was cool and a little scary to watch. He look aggitated. It starting raining again partway through the Safari, so I decided that was my cue to go home and relax. It was such a nice day. I also picked up a couple extra shifts next week working crowd control for the concert series at Epcot. Next week it's the Beegees tribute band. I hope I can work the Billy Joel or Garth Brooks tributes, that would be cool.
Well, I am off to another Discovery Day tomorrow. I tried and tried to get a hold of 3 different managers using mulitple means of communication over the last week and nobody responded. So to me that means, just attend a second time. If I'm late or don't show I'll get a point against me and I don't want that because they didn't get back to me. At least it's a fun training. And then I have Friday off. I'm not sure what I'm doing, I know there'll be some park action, but I'm not sure what yet.
Answer to Yesterdays Trivia: In which cartoon did Mickey's signature white gloves appear?
Jason is exaclty right and he's rocking the Q&A, where are the rest of you? It was in The Opry House in March of 1929. They were created so that when Mickeys hands were next to his body you could distinguish the two.
Today's Trivia: What is the tallest structure in the WDW resort?
Assesment Day
I had my assesment, and it was the craziest day ever! Gabby and I were late coming in because one of the older guys walked us through on a mini tour, telling us about his favorite fish. Everytime I tried to start walking away he'd talk again, I was really upset about it. Justin was the person who was assesing me and Gabby. He was great, we had a lot of fun together and traded Disney Trivia and old school Disney World memories. I hope I get to hang out with him more, we're a lot alike. But we did have a day of craziness, it seemed like everything went wrong.
So then I came home and to celebrate I went to the Magic Kingdom. Everything there seemed to time out perfectly. I walked right on to the rides I wanted. I only waited in a few lines. I came in just as they started the show on the castle stage, so I got to watch that. When I went to ride Thunder Mountain (my favorite ride) the fireworks were going off. So I got to watch the fireworks while on the ride. It was so cool. Then I returned at the end of the night to Thunder Mountain and picked the right train, nobody else was in our line so they let us stay on and ride again. It was a lot of fun.
So first we went to open the ride and I asked him to show us how to open the console, so he did. However, we had two people who were upset that we had taken "their" position (they're older and don't like change) and were pretty rude about it. The position is a lot of chaos. We have to test all the phones and intercoms and radios and intrusion mats, and doors. And then we had people come in from higher up who wanted to take pictures in the ride and they were setting off the mats. So there's constant noise and Gabby and I were totally lost. On top of the chaos when we went to power up it wouldn't go. We had another two people standing around putting in their two cents, it made my head want to explode. It took about 10 minutes before we realized it was something with maintenance and had to get him over to push a button on his console for us. When we finally got it taken care of we went on break number one.
After our first break we headed in to host our Turtle Talk shows which is my favorite part. I had a great show and Crush talked to me this time. It was so cool, he even knew my name. It made me act just like the kids. Well in the middle of Gabbys show we had a protien spill(vomit) in the back of the theater and then as the gentleman was leaving we had another outside the doors. Luckily we had extra bodies, so one guy escorted the gentleman out, I went to call for help and then block the spill outside the theatre and Justin blocked the one inside. We had to cancel the next show until it was cleaned up, so it was a good thing we both finished.
When we took over the positions to load the ride the camera crew showed up again. They wanted to film families getting on the ride. They of course came at the busy part of the day, and didn't tell anyone what was going on. We didn't know what they wanted so aparently we were doing it wrong, but rather than letting us know what they would like they just complained. I had a family who decided to run all the way down the belt as I was checking the console and I had to force them to go back and start again, because they'd gone past the loading point. Now it would have been nice had they clued the families in so they weren't so clueless. Then the camera crew got mad at me, and here I am testing. Craziness. Well, we left.
We headed back to Turtle talk to take over the positions outside the theatre and I had an angry guest. Aparently someone had given her wrong information about when to come back for the next show and now we were at capacity. She had an autistic child with her so they couldn't wait in the main area. I just went to get Justin immediately. We finally made her happy by doing what we'd told her we could in the first place, go figure.
I passed everything, and can now perform all of the positions. Lets hope that things don't stay so crazy. I don't mind a little excitement, but this was a little much.
So then I came home and to celebrate I went to the Magic Kingdom. Everything there seemed to time out perfectly. I walked right on to the rides I wanted. I only waited in a few lines. I came in just as they started the show on the castle stage, so I got to watch that. When I went to ride Thunder Mountain (my favorite ride) the fireworks were going off. So I got to watch the fireworks while on the ride. It was so cool. Then I returned at the end of the night to Thunder Mountain and picked the right train, nobody else was in our line so they let us stay on and ride again. It was a lot of fun.I just spent the night enjoying everything. I was grinning from ear to ear just thinking, I can't believe that I really live here. I can do this anytime I want. This is so amazing. I also picked up a Mickey watch since the last watch I bought broke and I need one for work. And I also got my stuffed Mickey, I had never seen one like this, he's made entirely of supersoft fur and is stuffed just perfectly. I love him and it was cool to use my discount. It's summer hours now, so the park doesn't close til midnight. I left around 12:45. It gave me lots of time to enjoy.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Review Day
Today was a pretty laid back day. I got to go in and host two Turtle Talk shows, which was a lot of fun. I had no problem today. We had some pretty big crowds too, we were up to capacity which is about 200 people. We went over the tests that we'll be taking tomorrow. And then went over the positions that we wanted some more practice with. I feel pretty comfortable with everything. I'm just nervous, anytime somebody is going to test me it freaks me out. I'm sure I'll be just fine, but still.
I am a little upset with myself since I forgot to tape the Tonys last night. That is my one night a year that I HAVE to watch tv, it's my favorite event. And like and idiot I got distracted with work and forgot to program it. Grrrr.
We have storms once again. The weird thing about storms here is the sky, it turns a reddish orange and then doesn't go away for a while. Although I hear that happens even without storms. I've been told that because we are on the peninsula that the weather doesn't always go the same way, so you have to watch the sky to see which way each storm is travelling. Different.
I am nervous for tomorrow, but I am also excited to be able to do it on my own. And then I have Wednesday off and I am planning on going to the parks. It shall be glorious. Although it is supposed to rain all week, so I'll have to be careful and bring an umbrella. But I'm excited. I also signed up for the canoe races today. Every summer in July the WDW resort cast puts together teams and has canoe races down the Rivers of America (in the Magic Kingdom). When I went for showchoir they were racing and I loved the idea and wanted to participate. Turns out my timing was amazing as they just posted the sign up sheet for Futureworld West attractions today. Soarin has their own team and challenged the other attractions, but nobody seemed interested so I just joined a team. I have no idea what I'm doing, I haven't canoed since I was in the 6th grade at Patrol Camp. But I'll learn, and I'll get some buff arms right? :-)
Answer to yesterdays trivia: What was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon that Walt drew?
Plane Crazy. Yes, Steamboat Willie was the one that took off, but Plane Crazy was released a whole 6 months before. Audiences were only luke-warm about the cartoon, but Walt was determined so he kept on going.
Today's Trivia: In which cartoon did Mickey's signature white gloves appear?
I am a little upset with myself since I forgot to tape the Tonys last night. That is my one night a year that I HAVE to watch tv, it's my favorite event. And like and idiot I got distracted with work and forgot to program it. Grrrr.
We have storms once again. The weird thing about storms here is the sky, it turns a reddish orange and then doesn't go away for a while. Although I hear that happens even without storms. I've been told that because we are on the peninsula that the weather doesn't always go the same way, so you have to watch the sky to see which way each storm is travelling. Different.
I am nervous for tomorrow, but I am also excited to be able to do it on my own. And then I have Wednesday off and I am planning on going to the parks. It shall be glorious. Although it is supposed to rain all week, so I'll have to be careful and bring an umbrella. But I'm excited. I also signed up for the canoe races today. Every summer in July the WDW resort cast puts together teams and has canoe races down the Rivers of America (in the Magic Kingdom). When I went for showchoir they were racing and I loved the idea and wanted to participate. Turns out my timing was amazing as they just posted the sign up sheet for Futureworld West attractions today. Soarin has their own team and challenged the other attractions, but nobody seemed interested so I just joined a team. I have no idea what I'm doing, I haven't canoed since I was in the 6th grade at Patrol Camp. But I'll learn, and I'll get some buff arms right? :-)
Answer to yesterdays trivia: What was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon that Walt drew?
Plane Crazy. Yes, Steamboat Willie was the one that took off, but Plane Crazy was released a whole 6 months before. Audiences were only luke-warm about the cartoon, but Walt was determined so he kept on going.
Today's Trivia: In which cartoon did Mickey's signature white gloves appear?
Storms and hail??
That's right folks, yesterday we were pelted with a very large storm. Luckily I was in the building the whole time. We had a lot of flooding, some because of too much water and some because of clogged drains. We also got hail. I had no idea that Florida could get hail. It was kinda cool. All it meant for us was that nobody new was coming onto the ride. We had to open an alternate entrance so that people could re-ride without exiting the building. I was working wheelchair assist, which made things pretty boring. It was only a matter of time before people just sat on the floor to wait out the storm. We got to go around and make conversation for a while and then took our break for the second half.
A lot of people left because of the storm so we were slow the rest of the night. They let me host a Turle Talk show which was a lot of fun. I had a little trouble finding the first kid to talk to, but after that it was all good and it went well. It was a lot of fun. We also went out to the front to do the greeter position for a while. I really liked that, we got to pin trade out there. We just have one lanyard that gets worn by whoever is at the position. Nobody wanted to trade with me though. You get to say hi to everyone, chat, and answer any questions. It's a lot of fun, though I I was out there at 8:00, I can't imagine it's as nice in the afternoon heat.
I then learned how to close the building which was pretty interesting. Travis threw out some interesting facts. He didn't point out the exact location of the hidden Mickeys, but he told me which wall they're on. We watched the clownfish who usually like to be in their anemones at night. But the tank their in doesn't have any, so instead they clump together because they see other clownfish as camouflage. They fight to be in the middle of the clump and once they get there they face out because they want to see whats coming. So they're constantly moving, and they do it all night long. It is a sight to see.
Here's what my costume looks like:
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Turtle Talk
Today was all about Turtle Talk with Crush. This is the highlight of the pavilion and as far as I'm concerned one of the best attractions in all of the parks. It's a live show where the little ones can interact with Crush, the sea turtle from Nemo. Now when I say interact I mean really interact, its very Kids say the Darnedest Things-Esq. Crush really talks and asks and answers questions. It's so cool, and very funny, very well done. We got to watch the shows for about an hour, which is very entertaining, kids are never boring. Then we went around and started to learn all of the positions at the show. In the one role you basically answer questions and interact with guests, which is fun, but I'm still a little shy about it. It's hard to jump in, especially when there's a bunch of other people watching. This is where I have the spiel to learn, I've got it down I think, and then I can assist Crush with the show which I think is the best job of all.
Then we went over the test, oh yes there is a test you have to pass in order to be able to run anything. We only went over part of it, but I did well on that part, the rest comes tomorrow. Also tomorrow Travis is going to let us try a Turtle Talk show if we get the spiel memorized, so needless to say I was doing it before I even got home.
We also got to go on a tour of the aquarium. It was so cool, I remember going in as a kid and just staring at all the animals. I got to see the manatees up close, the coolest part. We couldn't see the dolphins because they were doing some kind of training, but we got to see the entire aquarium from the top. We were visiting just before feeding time so a lot of the animals were coming up to the surface which made for some great views. I also got to see some baby stingray. The girl gave us so much information, which I loved hearing, but there's no way I'm going to remember any of it, at least not well enough to inform others if they have questions. Luckily we have specialists around until 5:00 every day, so at least for the busy times I've got help.
The highlight of my day, however was the very beginning. I got to participate in the rope drop ceremony. The characters come out and mingle with the crowd, then they send off the family of the day in one of the Test Track vehicles. Now all of the attractions cast members (anyone who isn't needed to run the ride) in future world have gathered in the area and mingle with the guests. Then we count down and let everyone in. The main purpose of this is because about 95% of the people who are standing in that line are going to Soarin and they don't want anyone getting hurt by people running. So we walk over to our stations and the crowd follows the soarin cast members over to the ride. They of course play some of that classic Disney music to welcome everyone. It was just very overwhelming. I mean, I can't believe that I really am here doing this, it still hasn't hit me. I'm not sure when it will.
But I am very excited, I have a great group of people working with me, everyone seems to get along great and they're all a lot of fun. The people at the other attractions are also great. I haven't met a bad person yet, which pleases me very much. You walk through the backstage areas and everyone smiles and says hi. It's such an amazing environment. What other job lets you create magic?
I am pretty excited because I get to sleep in a little tomorrow. I dont work until 1:15, so that will be nice. But then it's 7:30 for the next 2 days, so I'll have to enjoy it while I get it.
Trivia Answer: What WDW restaurant is the busiest in the U.S. and 2nd busiest in the world?
Cosmic Rays Cafe in Tomorrowland of Magic Kingdom
Todays Trivia: What was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon that Walt drew?
Then we went over the test, oh yes there is a test you have to pass in order to be able to run anything. We only went over part of it, but I did well on that part, the rest comes tomorrow. Also tomorrow Travis is going to let us try a Turtle Talk show if we get the spiel memorized, so needless to say I was doing it before I even got home.
We also got to go on a tour of the aquarium. It was so cool, I remember going in as a kid and just staring at all the animals. I got to see the manatees up close, the coolest part. We couldn't see the dolphins because they were doing some kind of training, but we got to see the entire aquarium from the top. We were visiting just before feeding time so a lot of the animals were coming up to the surface which made for some great views. I also got to see some baby stingray. The girl gave us so much information, which I loved hearing, but there's no way I'm going to remember any of it, at least not well enough to inform others if they have questions. Luckily we have specialists around until 5:00 every day, so at least for the busy times I've got help.
The highlight of my day, however was the very beginning. I got to participate in the rope drop ceremony. The characters come out and mingle with the crowd, then they send off the family of the day in one of the Test Track vehicles. Now all of the attractions cast members (anyone who isn't needed to run the ride) in future world have gathered in the area and mingle with the guests. Then we count down and let everyone in. The main purpose of this is because about 95% of the people who are standing in that line are going to Soarin and they don't want anyone getting hurt by people running. So we walk over to our stations and the crowd follows the soarin cast members over to the ride. They of course play some of that classic Disney music to welcome everyone. It was just very overwhelming. I mean, I can't believe that I really am here doing this, it still hasn't hit me. I'm not sure when it will.
But I am very excited, I have a great group of people working with me, everyone seems to get along great and they're all a lot of fun. The people at the other attractions are also great. I haven't met a bad person yet, which pleases me very much. You walk through the backstage areas and everyone smiles and says hi. It's such an amazing environment. What other job lets you create magic?
I am pretty excited because I get to sleep in a little tomorrow. I dont work until 1:15, so that will be nice. But then it's 7:30 for the next 2 days, so I'll have to enjoy it while I get it.
Trivia Answer: What WDW restaurant is the busiest in the U.S. and 2nd busiest in the world?
Cosmic Rays Cafe in Tomorrowland of Magic Kingdom
Todays Trivia: What was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon that Walt drew?
The Seas
So I met my trainer in the breakroom and found that I was also training with Gabby who is part of the International College Program. She's from Costa Rica and will be with us until January. My trainer is Travis, he's a lot of fun. He was part of the opening team for the ride, it's only a few months old, so he knows the ride inside and out like nobody's business. We went and got our costumes, not the most attractive, but not as bad as most. I'll get a picture the next time I go to work so you can see, because it's not exactly easy to describe. I found out that Disney sizing sucks, you have to go up 2 pants sizes because everything runs small. So I'll be checking out my 5 at a time, so I don't have to look at it every day. All our costume pieces are barcoded so when we take them out they scan everything: shirts, pants, belts, hats, ponchos, jackets, pins, everything. Then when you return them you scan them back in, just like at the library and then they all go to laundry. Nice not to have to launder my own.
So then we headed over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. It's a slow moving omnimover (the cars don't stop moving) where you ride clamobiles under the sea to go explore the ocean. But along the way Nemo gets 'lost' again and it's up to the cast of characters to find him. It's more enjoyable for children than adults, but it has it's cool moments. When we got to the building Travis took us on a tour of the queue explaining along the way some of the cool signage or why they did things. He also pointed out some hidden mickeys. Then we rode the ride where Travis explained everything as we went through. We then started to go through each individual position and what the duties were then he let us go for it, nights are pretty slow for us so it was a managable way to jump in. I really enjoyed it, each position has about enough guest interaction for a smile and a hi, and everything has a small part of the responsibility associated with it, so you have a lot of help and other cast members not far behind.
When we went through the closing procedures we got to be the last people to ride for the night and then we performed the walkthrough, where they turn on all the work lights and you walk through the ride to make sure there's no problems. It was very cool, I'm always interested in how they create the magic, so it was a lot of fun. Travis also bestowed some secrets of the ride that very few know. You will not be among them, sorry, we have to preserve the magic for everyone else.
So then we headed over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. It's a slow moving omnimover (the cars don't stop moving) where you ride clamobiles under the sea to go explore the ocean. But along the way Nemo gets 'lost' again and it's up to the cast of characters to find him. It's more enjoyable for children than adults, but it has it's cool moments. When we got to the building Travis took us on a tour of the queue explaining along the way some of the cool signage or why they did things. He also pointed out some hidden mickeys. Then we rode the ride where Travis explained everything as we went through. We then started to go through each individual position and what the duties were then he let us go for it, nights are pretty slow for us so it was a managable way to jump in. I really enjoyed it, each position has about enough guest interaction for a smile and a hi, and everything has a small part of the responsibility associated with it, so you have a lot of help and other cast members not far behind.
When we went through the closing procedures we got to be the last people to ride for the night and then we performed the walkthrough, where they turn on all the work lights and you walk through the ride to make sure there's no problems. It was very cool, I'm always interested in how they create the magic, so it was a lot of fun. Travis also bestowed some secrets of the ride that very few know. You will not be among them, sorry, we have to preserve the magic for everyone else.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Discovery Day
So today was my first official day on the job. I worked for 14 hours. Which was not supposed to happen. When I finised my training our unfriendly, somewhat rude organizers handed us packets and told us to be there for "Discovery Day" the next morning at 8am. Well my schedule had said my discovery day wasn't until next Thursday. But I wasn't about to miss an important class, so I showed up at 7:30 the next morning and explained my situation to the instructor who just added my name to the roster. Ok, I guess that works, I don't mind long days, I just didn't think Disney would want to pay me that much for training, but oh well.
So the Discovery Day is all about learning about your park, Epcot in my case. They took us around all the onstage areas and gave us a mini tour, we sampled cokes at club cool and I got to taste Beverly. It is the coke product of italy which is the most bitter thing you have ever tasted and takes a while to get it out of your mouth. Then it was fun to get other people to try it and watch the look on their faces. I enjoyed the tour and I chatted with the instructors about their positions and how they got there. The only problem is that I'm training with a lot of people from the college program. Now some of these people are great, but not the ones in my group. It felt like high school, at least that's the way they behaved, it got old very quickly. Then we toured the backstage areas, like how to get around and where the cafeteria is, the learning center (more on that later), the International center, costuming, lockers, break rooms. All the important things.
There was one very cool moment that I can't tell you about because I'm swarn to secrecy, but we were given a very special welcome as new cast members and it gave my goosebumps.
We finished the class and I had about an hour before my trainer was going to pick me up, so I went to the break room and had my lunch, which I stretched as long as I could, but it still only took me a half an hour. So I decided to visit the learning center. The most amazing place. It's like a mini library, only it's full of Disney stuff, the whole reference section is like every Disney related book ever written, I saw it and had a little heart attack I was so excited. All the books I've wanted to read, but couldn't afford, right there at my fingertips. They also have regular books on subjects. And then they have a media library with all kinds of Disney movies and cds that you can check out. It was so great! They also offer classes. Ones in powerpoint, resumes, networking, but also the history of the company, Walt's milestones, and the best are walkthroughs of rides where they take you behind the magic and show you how it's done. Behind the scenes at the different parks. I can't believe all these things that exist, and I wanted to work here without any of these perks. It's even better than I thought.
I still have another 8 hours or so of my day to tell you about, but it's 11:30 and I have to be at work bright and early at 7:30, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow. But then I get off around 4. However, it may be hard to not go into a park. I know I should wait until my day off, but it's so tempting, I mean, it's free and it's right there. We shall see how tired I am tomorrow.
Answer to "Yesterday's" trivia question. What was so special about the Oscar Walt received for Snow White? Who presented it?
Walt receieved one regular sized oscar, and 7 minature (dwarf) oscars. It was presented by Shirley Temple.
Today's Trivia: What restaurant holds the title for busiest in the United States, and second busiest in the world? Hint: It's on the Walt Disney World property.
So the Discovery Day is all about learning about your park, Epcot in my case. They took us around all the onstage areas and gave us a mini tour, we sampled cokes at club cool and I got to taste Beverly. It is the coke product of italy which is the most bitter thing you have ever tasted and takes a while to get it out of your mouth. Then it was fun to get other people to try it and watch the look on their faces. I enjoyed the tour and I chatted with the instructors about their positions and how they got there. The only problem is that I'm training with a lot of people from the college program. Now some of these people are great, but not the ones in my group. It felt like high school, at least that's the way they behaved, it got old very quickly. Then we toured the backstage areas, like how to get around and where the cafeteria is, the learning center (more on that later), the International center, costuming, lockers, break rooms. All the important things.
There was one very cool moment that I can't tell you about because I'm swarn to secrecy, but we were given a very special welcome as new cast members and it gave my goosebumps.
We finished the class and I had about an hour before my trainer was going to pick me up, so I went to the break room and had my lunch, which I stretched as long as I could, but it still only took me a half an hour. So I decided to visit the learning center. The most amazing place. It's like a mini library, only it's full of Disney stuff, the whole reference section is like every Disney related book ever written, I saw it and had a little heart attack I was so excited. All the books I've wanted to read, but couldn't afford, right there at my fingertips. They also have regular books on subjects. And then they have a media library with all kinds of Disney movies and cds that you can check out. It was so great! They also offer classes. Ones in powerpoint, resumes, networking, but also the history of the company, Walt's milestones, and the best are walkthroughs of rides where they take you behind the magic and show you how it's done. Behind the scenes at the different parks. I can't believe all these things that exist, and I wanted to work here without any of these perks. It's even better than I thought.
I still have another 8 hours or so of my day to tell you about, but it's 11:30 and I have to be at work bright and early at 7:30, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow. But then I get off around 4. However, it may be hard to not go into a park. I know I should wait until my day off, but it's so tempting, I mean, it's free and it's right there. We shall see how tired I am tomorrow.
Answer to "Yesterday's" trivia question. What was so special about the Oscar Walt received for Snow White? Who presented it?
Walt receieved one regular sized oscar, and 7 minature (dwarf) oscars. It was presented by Shirley Temple.
Today's Trivia: What restaurant holds the title for busiest in the United States, and second busiest in the world? Hint: It's on the Walt Disney World property.
Disney Traditions
I know I'm a day behind already, but I had a long day yesterday. I went to the Disney Traditions class, the very first thing you do as a cast member. When I got there I had to check in and wait in the cafeteria with another 100 people. Some of those went off into another class and then a small group of us were called. We then attended a union presentation, because a lot of the positions at Disney are union. I joined, I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing, they do take some money, but it also offers me some protection. Who knows, only time will tell.
Then they brought in the rest of our class. I had chosen the seat in the very front of the classroom, this time I didn't know that I had, but I was glad I did. I enjoy being next to the teacher, I think i get the best experience this way. We talked about the Disney Company and their values, beliefs, standards all those things. Then we played a game where your table had to name as many animated Disney characters as we could in 2 minutes. Well my table should have won, me and another girl (Teresa) spouted them off like nobodys business, but our writer was concerned with spelling and wanted to know who they were. We lost by 3, but we should have one by 15. :-( Boo.
They gave away prizes like I had heard, they're little plastic figures. I got Tigger and Minnie. She refused to give me anymore. We also went over the history of the Walt Disney company starting with the Walt era and then everything after. Well I kicked butt, and then had to explain to my table mates who thought that because they were alive for some of these things they knew them better than me, that they were indeed wrong and here's why... Frustrating, but I won when we watched the video that gave us the answers. Turns out I was one of the few people who knew what EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow, or for the guests Every Person Comes Out Tired.
On lunch I decided to sit with a different group than who was at my classroom table and it was the best decision I made. I got along great with the people and we connected over the next few breaks to chat. I spent the whole time laughing, just having a great time. 
We decided to go to the Magic Kingdom together once class was over. We apparently did it the wrong way, we went through the utilidors to get in, which is a big no-no as we were told by security on our way out if you're not working in the park that day. Oh well, it was fun and pretty entertaining to watch everyone else (mainly Mike) freak out about where we were. When we got into the park we went on a few rides. There was a lightening storm that was coming into the area so all of the outdoor rides closed down. Was a little bit of a pain, but we just stood and talked for a while. We ended up in the forecourt area of the castle doing the electric slide, the hokey pokey, and some breakdancing. Then we decided to skip to mainstreet. If any of you have been in Magic Kingdom you know what a smart idea this was. We made it about 10 feet before we had to disband because we were going to run into a slew of other people who refused to move. It was fun while it lasted. We ended up sitting on a bench on one of the side roads off mainstreet and just chatting, it was really nice. Then we all went our separate ways, but the text messages continued. I am confident that this is a good group of people and hopefully we'll have many fun times in the future.
We decided to go to the Magic Kingdom together once class was over. We apparently did it the wrong way, we went through the utilidors to get in, which is a big no-no as we were told by security on our way out if you're not working in the park that day. Oh well, it was fun and pretty entertaining to watch everyone else (mainly Mike) freak out about where we were. When we got into the park we went on a few rides. There was a lightening storm that was coming into the area so all of the outdoor rides closed down. Was a little bit of a pain, but we just stood and talked for a while. We ended up in the forecourt area of the castle doing the electric slide, the hokey pokey, and some breakdancing. Then we decided to skip to mainstreet. If any of you have been in Magic Kingdom you know what a smart idea this was. We made it about 10 feet before we had to disband because we were going to run into a slew of other people who refused to move. It was fun while it lasted. We ended up sitting on a bench on one of the side roads off mainstreet and just chatting, it was really nice. Then we all went our separate ways, but the text messages continued. I am confident that this is a good group of people and hopefully we'll have many fun times in the future.
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