Thursday, September 26, 2013

Rock Babies and Bags of Acorns

Camp never fails to entertain me while at work. Whether I am with the Chipmunks or roaming from kiosk to kiosk, I get to work with a fun group of characters. I never know what I'm getting into with them!

I was with Baloo and King Louie and after having a banana smoothie break, Baloo found a large rock that he brought to the kiosk with him and tried to give it away as a present to the families. Let's just say, he did not succeed. Later in the day...he tried again...this time he brought the rock out as his baby. He still had no takers. It was very funny. He kept his smile big but he was very sad that no one wanted his rock baby present. Do you blame them? I tried to explain that humans don't respect rocks like bears do and he didn't understand why. At the end of the day he still had his little rock friends which he took home with him. At least Baloo made a new friend!

Another day I was with the chipmunks all day and they were hyper the entire day! It made the day go by quickly. They were determined to take the cutest baby home with them, luckily I kept that from happening. Then this little girl came up with her hands behind her back. She had a special surprise for our chipmunk friends. Her mother informed me that she had been collecting acorns from their backyard just to give them to Chip and Dale. When it was her turn she went right up to them and gave them her surprise. They were so excited! Jumping up and down, and giving so many hugs! They were so thankful for their present. I tried to get them to let me hold them while they took pictures and they wouldn't let me! So I gave them each a marker so they could label their bags, then they made all the people in line witness that I will give them the bags back once they were finished with all the pictures. Once it was time for them to check on their acorn pie, I gave them their bags of acorns back and they happily added them to their separate acorn piles. I did have to chase after Chip once because people said Dale was number one and Chip got upset and started to walk away. We reeled him back in by getting the entire line to say Chip was number one. Those two! I swear! They are the most competitive best friends! At least they can agree on one thing...Donald Duck is not number one.

Thanks to these lovable characters that Walt and his animators created so many decades ago, I get to work with the coolest and most lovable characters in the world. Everyone asks us if it is hard to smile all day at work. Working with characters like Chip and Dale or Baloo and King Louie makes smiling seem so natural that I don't even realize I've been smile for nine hours straight. People who are unhappy in Walt Disney World don't know how to let go and believe in the magic. Once you believe in the magic, this place becomes more than just a theme park. It becomes a place that people can escape from reality every single day.

Have a magical day, I know I am!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

First Day of School!

I may not be at school but I still have a class. Part of the Disney College Program includes a learning experience. My learning experience is through the Creativity and Innovation class. It is a four hour class once a week that I get to take with other CPs. The class meets 10 times during my program and I am looking forward to all the assignments that are on the syllabus.

Our first class was all about creative thinking. We spoke very generally about how creative thinking has to be more than just thinking out of the box. We looked at some famous inventors and philosophical people that have been known for their creative thinking and talked about their thought process and creative environments. Out of it all, I learned that creative people are like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike. Which is why I am really looking forward to the rest of this class.

For the majority of the class we were assigned to tables so we could get to know other people and have people who thought differently around us. Then, during the last part of class, we were able to form groups based on what everyone's passions were. I went with my theatrical passion and helped form the performing arts group. We had one girl who loves event planning but couldn't find a group so we created a way for her to be a part of ours. When asked to create a name for our group we came up with "The Producers" because 1) it's the name of a musical and we have musical performers and teachers in our group, 2) our event planning friend is also a fan of musical theatre and has liked the production side of showbiz...kind of like a producer... 3) we thought it was totally creative!

It was so much fun to meet so many new people who all want to gain that extra edge for our resumes. We have such a diverse group of people in the class too. Computer science, early education, music, theatre, business and communications, and animation. I'm looking forward to see what other experiences this class brings!

Have a magical day, I know I am!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Unleash the Villains!!!!!!

LIMITED TIME MAGIC! That is what 2013 is all about in the Disney parks. And luckily, 2013 also has a Friday the 13th. And lucky for me, it was while I was here and right before Halloween. With Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party starting up this month, Disney decided to do a little Limited Time Magic event just for some of our underrated characters...or should I say villains. Thirteen of our evil friends joined us in Hollywood Studios Friday night for Unleash the Villains hosted by three of my favorite characters from the underworld; Hades, Pain, Panick and Megara!


Who knew the event would be such a hit? Not Disney! Cast members were not prepared for the plethora of people that swarmed into Hollywood Studios for the night. The event did note even start until 8pm. The limited edition shirts were sold out by 7pm and the traffic to get in took more than an hour! It was complete madness. But the villains wouldn't want it any other way!


The opening to the event was very cool! Hades and Megara introduced each of the villains that came to visit. There were so may of them, I can't even remember who was there...but I'll try!
Captain Hook (Peter Pan)
Boller Hat Guy (Meet the Robinsons)
Oogie Boogie (Nightmare Before Christmas)
Prince of Nottingham? (Robin Hood)
Big Bad Wolf (Three Little Pigs)
Cruella De Ville (101 Dalmations)
Jafar (Aladdin)
Dr. Facilier (Princess and the Frog)
The Evil Queen (Snow White)
Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)
Gov. Radcliffe (Pocahontas)
Judge Frollo (Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Shan Yu (Mulan)

Hey look at that! Got em all...ok I may have looked at my videos from that night as a resource...


Seeing all those villains in one place was the coolest thing ever! They definitely need to make this an annual thing, or at least a recurring event. It was so popular that they wouldn't be very smart if they decided to scrap the idea all together. Could the event have been better? Absolutely. There's always room for improvement. Disney is always improving itself. Was it a success? I'd say so! It may not have been the perfection that people are used to at Disney, but in normal terms it was a very successful event. It brought a lot of people to to the park that would not have been coming to the parks at this time of year usually. I'm excited to see what this event turns into in the future and even what this event leads to in future development in the parks. Cheers to future Disney events! I had a great time at the event.


My absolute favorite part had to have been the fireworks display. Since placing the large hat in the middle of Hollywood Studios, they have not set off fireworks in that park. Well they set them off with a bang, no pun intended. It was the BEST fireworks display I have ever seen! It topped all other Disney fireworks shows I have seen. Disney outdid themselves with fireworks! All together it was a great event to attend as a guest and I gave my sympathies to all the people pulled in to work the event. Great first try Disney!


The event made me even more excited for Mickey's Not So Scary and Food and Wine Festival! I get to work the Halloween party on Friday and I get to attend it as a guest on Tuesday! And then I just have to wait patiently for Food and Wine to begin. Did I mention I love Disney magic?!

Video links!!!!!!!! Hades introduction and the introduction of the 13 villains!

Hades Intro
13 Villains Intro

Have a magical day, I know I am!

Seeing Double - Two Chipmunks, Two Dogs

What do you get when you put Chip and Dale, and Goofy and Pluto together? My work week. This past week I have hung out with them exclusively. Chip and Dale at Camp and Goofy and Pluto in Dinoland. All four of them were so much fun to work with!

I got to work with Chip and Dale on a slow day in the park. Sometimes there wasn't even a line of people waiting so they would go out into the middle of camp to get guests to visit their kiosk. They were a lot of energy to keep up with but they were very fun. We'd come back from getting a snack and Chip would try to be a gentleman by opening the gate for Dale and I and then Dale would go in first and close the gate and lock us out. Luckily, I have the power and was able to get Dale to let us in. Those chipmunks are trouble sometimes, but they really are adorable!

We had a pair of Japanese teenagers visit our friends a total of four times throughout the day. They were more excited every time they came into the line. It was the cutest thing in the world! The third time they came, they gave Chip and Dale homemade buttons that had Chip and Dale on them. So adorable! But the most adorable duo award has to go to the two siblings that dressed up as Lilo and Stitch for the day. The outfits were spot on! The Lilo dress looked exactly right and the Stitch outfit was a blue dress made to look like Stitch's body and then she put a hat on that was the head. Everyone around them was more interested in them than our friends, but our friends loved seeing the Lilo and Stitch look-a-likes as well! We also had a little boy come up to Chip and Dale with a book for them to autograph. The book was a guide to Disney World for kids. In the book, it gave hints to different hidden Mickeys in all the parks (among other things). The book said something about a hidden Winnie the Pooh head being on one of the kiosks in Camp. We searched all over the kiosk and finally Dale found it right on the front of a post sticking out of the roof. He was so proud of himself. It was really cool to be able to share that extra time with a curious child as well. It made my day more magical that's for sure!

I've also been spending a lot of time in Dinoland with Goofy and Pluto. The other day they must have had sugar for every snack because they were so hyper! It we had been inside, they would have been bouncing off the walls, literally! Walking them to and from their snacks was a challenge for me because they kept getting distracted. Pluto would see a squirrel or a bird and want to follow after it, and Goofy would see a stroller and decide he wanted to push it. A few times they decided to play tag on the way to get a snack and they would run all over the place! Goofy would jump over to the trash cans to try and hide and then when Pluto found him he told Pluto to go over to the "pet relief" area. They were quite a handful but it was worth it. It made for a good day at work. Pluto got impatient and really wanted to go on the rides that kids were going on and tried to escape to them a few times but I caught him. That silly puppy! Today Pluto wanted to ride Dinosaur and I told him he had to wait for the park to close and then he got me back later in the day by jumping in the big puddle right in front of me and Goofy just stood there laughing. Overall it has been a fun couple of days with those two goofballs.

Tomorrow I'm off to play in Future World in EPCOT and buy my costume for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party...I guess I should buy the ticket for that too...

Have a magical day, I know I am!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Park Play

One of my favorite perks of being a cast member is free admission to all the Disney parks! They are like our personal playgrounds. And we take full advantage of it. Being that I work mostly at Animal Kingdom, I get the luxury of only having to work till 5, 6, or 7 every night. Animal Kingdom closes the earliest because they have to make sure the animals are taken care of before they go to sleep. That gives me plenty of time to play in the parks. This week I have gone to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

One of my friends celebrated her birthday this week so we all went to Epcot to help her celebrate. He hopped over to Morocco for some delicious Moroccan food. I can't spell or pronounce what I ate but I know it was delicious. We had also planned to see Illuminations but by the time we decided on a place to eat, we knew we would still be eating when Illuminations was happening. It's okay though because we have so much more time here!



Another night, Nina and I went to Hollywood Studios just for the dance party as the big hat in the middle of the park. Some of our favorite friends were out that night (Minnie, Eeyore, Tigger, Raffiki, Mr. Penguin, Jafar, Genie and even Mr. Smee)! We also rode Tower of Terror in the dark for the first time ever. I must say, it's even scarier when you know it's dark outside. Although, the view, when that elevator door opens up and you see the whole park a second before you fall again, is one of the best sights I've seen in Disney. Everything is lit up and shining. Even the "Earfil Tower" (water tower in Hollywood Studios that has a mouse ears hat on top) lights up. It's very cool! Jordyn and I went back to Studios yesterday to see our friends Sully and Tigger! There's just so much to see and so many characters to visit!



We also spend a lot of time in Downtown Disney. It's not technically a park but it's still Disney property and we get discounts at the shops and select restaurants. There is so much to do here and who knows if even four months will be a long enough time to see and do everything. Only time will tell. More adventures are brewing!

Coming up soon: Night of Villains in Hollywood Studios on Friday the 13th and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Magic Kingdom now through Halloween!

Have a magical day, I know I am! :)

First Week out of Training

This week as been nerve racking but exciting all at the same time. Starting a new job is always a little scary, but I've had so much fun! In my first week, I have worked with Pocahontas, Baloo and King Louie, Goofy, Pluto, Mickey and Minnie. Working at Dinoland and Camp Mickey Minnie was really fun...very hot...but fun! They were also easy spots to start in and the other people I had to work with were so nice and helpful. Everyone was great about anticipating my questions and answering them before I could even get a chance to ask them! My role has a lot of small things to keep track of every time I am out in the parks with characters. But each time I go out there it gets a little bit easier. I've also made a lot of friends that are in entertainment as well so it's really comforting to have people to eat lunch with and talk to on breaks at work. All my captains and my managers have been so wonderful as well. But I think my favorite part of my job is seeing the smiles on the guests faces when they see their favorite character for the first time, or even for the tenth time.

While I was with Baloo and King Louie, I had this family come into my line, two little boys with curly red hair and their parents, and started giggling when it was almost their turn. I knelt down to talk to them and I asked them if they were excited.The giggled even more and shook their heads "yes" with so much enthusiasm. When it was their turn they ran up to the characters and gave them a ton of high fives and hugs. The little boys could not stop giggling and their laughter was contagious. They had everyone waiting in line, myself, and the Photopass photographer laughing along with them. They were the cutest things ever!

The next day I was working in EPCOT at the Character Spot with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. The first few families came through and all the little kids were so excited to meet Mickey. Then the family I recognized from the previous day came wandering up. I said hello and told them that I recognized them from Animal Kingdom yesterday. The little boys gave me high fives and when I asked if they knew who they were coming to see they said no. I then asked them who they hoped would be behind the wall and they told me they wanted to see Mickey Mouse. I played along with them and said that I hadn't seen Mickey yet because he is so busy running from park to park making sure everything is running smoothly but I promised the little boys that they would love who was here in this room. They started jumping up and down and giggling again.

I saw Mickey wave goodbye to the family before them and gave a nod to the photographer to let him know he was going to get some good reaction photos from these kids. So I ask the little boys if they were excited and the anticipation kept building till finally I told them to come in. They started running into the room and stopped dead in their tracks, both screamed "MICKEY!" and ran up to him giving the biggest hugs in the world while giggling. The photographer got some awesome shots and as they went deeper into the room to see Pluto and Minnie, their excitement never weakened.

Those are the families that make my job fun. The families that believe completely in the magic, the families that just live the magic for their entire vacation. It makes it so easy to smile for hours everyday and stand out in the Florida sun all day. Every cast member who loves their job has hundreds of these memories, that is why we are all here working in the Happiest Place on Earth.

Have a magical day, I know I am!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Wilderness Explorer for the Day

Today was a rare day off and I took advantage of it! I headed off to Animal Kingdom to get a feel for how the park is laid out. It is the park I am least familiar with and it happens to be the main park I'll be working in. Just my luck. But it was nice to walk around and not be in a rush. I didn't get on any of the rides or see any characters but I took some awesome pictures! It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to get to know the park. It's essentially a big circle so I just keep walking around until I ended up back where I started. I got to introduce myself to some of the other attendants and I tried to scope out each one for the character spots so I was prepared. I found myself looking for smoking areas and restrooms that were closest to each spot also. That training must have really sunk in already! I also found myself trying to eavesdrop on conversations to see if I knew what places in the park people were talking about and if I could think of where they would need to go as if they had asked me the question. Long story short, I did a lot of thinking and picture taking at Animal Kingdom today.




 After lunch I headed over to Magic Kingdom because I knew that Pluto would be hanging out by the flagpole and I wanted to wish him a happy birthday. Today is Pluto's 83rd birthday so it's a very exciting day! I walked around snapping some more photos and went to visit Marie (because she will always be my favorite kitten princess) and then headed over to wait for Pluto. That is one popular puppy, especially today! Finally I got up to see him and he looked like the sugar from all that birthday cake had finally set in because he was jumping and playing around and giving lots of hugs. He was so much fun! We got some really cute pictures and then I headed off to be a grown up and run some errands. That's the only downside I have for this job so far, you feel like every day is a vacation to the happiest place on Earth (even when you're working) and then you leave the parks and you still have to buy groceries and run normal errands.



I went over to the Company D store and got a few things that I need for work, picked up a few things from costuming and went to an awesome Disney store that had a really cool Wonderland mug that is big enough for my "normal" size cups of coffee. All in all it was a pretty awesome day. It was cool to be a guest and
a cast member all in the same day! Yay!


Have a magical day, I know I am!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Make a Wish Magical Moment

My trainers said it doesn't happen often. In their many years with the company, they have only seen two or three of these before yesterday.

Yesterday was my last day of training. We headed out to a surprise character spot in Canada in Epcot. Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale, Gapetto, and King Louie were all there to greet their fans. Groups came with cameras ready. I was with Gapetto and one older man came up to me and told me Gapetto was one of his favorite characters and he had never been able to meet him. Another man came up to me with a picture of him with Chip and Dale when he was a child on his first trip to WDW. He then ran over to Chip and Dale for another picture. Afterwards he came up to me and said it seemed like the chipmunks remembered him. Those brothers have great memories!

Later in the day a little boy was hovering around Goofy. He kept saying, "Goofy! Goofy!" His mother kept reminding the child that they had already met Goofy earlier in the day. Right after that I was walking Goofy back to Max and he got a call from Mickey asking him to do something special. We went back to the previous location with all the other friends we were hanging out with to see a very special little boy.

It turned out the same boy from earlier was there from Make A Wish. His name is Tommy, or TJ, and he told us he is "two, almost three!" When all our friends surprised him his face brightened with excitement. Tons of hugs were shared, and he even had a conversation with Goofy. We gave him so many stickers and his smile was wider than I have ever seen on a child. When he asked where Mickey was we told him that Mickey was waiting for him in the Magic Kingdom. He asked us if his shoes (green and gold crocs) would be alright and we told him that Mickey would love his shoes.I am not usually a huggy person but getting to huge that young child has moved to the top of my favorite hugs list. He was so full of joy and whatever struggles were happening in his reality had bee completely forgotten for those few minutes. His parents were so thrilled to see their child's dreams come true right in front of them. They were so humble and grateful for the magic that it made all of us so happy to be a part of it.

It was an honor to be part of such a magical moment in this little boy's short life. It solidified the feeling of belonging. It made me understand why I am meant to be here. If everything happens for a reason then I already know the reason I am here. I can't wait to get into the parks and create more magical moments, no matter how big or small, with guests every day!

Walt wanted to create a place where you can escape from reality and he wants us to keep the magic alive. I will happily accept that challenge by creating magic every day in the happiest and most magical place on Earth.


Proud to work in Walt Disney Entertainment.



Have a magical day, I know I am! 

Monday, September 2, 2013

Everyone has a First Time

Through the last few days of training, we have been meeting up with other trainees in the entertainment part of the parks. Today we actually got to train together and all went into the parks with some of our favorite furry friends. In the morning I got to dance around with King Louie and it was an absolute blast! Being in the park as a working cast member knowing what was going on was such a different experience than anything I could have possibly imagined. The trainers had been throwing information at us for days and this was our first chance to put all the tools into action.

The adrenaline was pumping and my nervous butterflies were fluttering quicker than usual, but once I stepped into the park and the first child ran up to King Louie with wide arms and an even wider smile, my stomach settled and I felt totally in control of my role. King Louie had to do a little work gathering friends because no one expected him to be in Epcot! He and our other furry friends decided to make a surprise appearance right by the American pavilion today to help us newbies get some experience.

After lunch, Pluto hoped over from the character spot for a few minutes to hang out with me. He is such a funny puppy to hang out with! He's very easily distracted so it was a little bit of a challenge keeping him away from the bushes and squirrels. He also loves to chase his tail which was adorable! All the guests love him! Who wouldn't?! He's a big puppy that loves good boy treats and birthday cake!

 After Pluto, Eeyore came over to Epcot to find someone to help him rebuild his house. But since he's so popular, he stays for a while to sign autographs because so many fans came out to see him. He was so cute and cuddly. Christopher Robbin definitely has awesome stuffed animal friends!

 And I finished my day by playing around with Chip and Dale. Those two love to cause trouble! They would get everyone together for a picture and then Dale would decide he wanted to switch places with Chip or vice versa. They were very cute. At one point, Dale even took some acorns from Chip to see if he would notice. Those two brothers are crazy, but so much fun to hang out with!
Tomorrow is my last day of training and I am so excited! I hope I get to hang out with some VIP's in the company tomorrow. I'll sign off now since I know tomorrow is an early day.

Hope you all are having a magical day, I know I am!


Photo credits:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5554273507_0458e7d664.jpg
http://kennythepirate.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/eeyore-ep-2013.jpg
http://land.allears.net/blogs/lindamac/Epcot02Pluto.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsbpiSbKnPH_B0FUcKLPogWtQ3Q_zA-wcGKUJ0_Lzniu7iQHcpdlpkjeA-eWu3yBg4mBzidw3_QwYfUOtbe0y7hF3hs0kWzdSA2MJIKREZo8_5R1kOelYMrLuIKGDtnEFdH4glCIHkh-G/s200/Chip+and+Dale+5.25.10.jpg

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Magical Moments Backstage

The last three days have been filled with backstage information, company secrets, and rules for my specific role. Most of the information must be kept a secret and is only known by people within the company. However, I can tell you that it is the best training I have ever been through. I have had so much fun and learned so much just in the last three days. I have three days left before I can start working and the anticipation is killing me. The early mornings have all been worth it. My costume is comfortable and makes me feel like I am definitely where I belong. I am so excited to actually get into the parks and start learning the rules of the road for my specific role. Everything guests see is part of our show and being that I am in entertainment, I get to help make the magic happen.

I can already tell this is going to be a fantastic semester and I can't wait! After my first day of training, I and a few friends headed straight for the parks. One of them had never been a guest in WDW so we needed to change that. The lines were super short and made it very easy for us to show him as much of Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom as possible. Our night ended with Wishes, the fireworks spectacular over Cinderella's castle. The tears welled up and reminded me why I've always wanted to work for this wonderful company.

For now, I'm going to go back to training so I can start creating magical moments for so many guests here at Walt Disney World.

I hope you all are having a magical day, I know I am!