Behind the Scenes, Part 1

As I mentioned in my last entry, I went on a 5-hour "Keys of the Kingdom" tour of Magic Kingdom.  I learned lots of history and in depth of how Magic Kingdom really came about.

We went on 2 attractions: The Haunted Mansion and The Jungle Cruise.  Our tour guide has worked at Disney practically his whole life and he worked these 2 attractions.  Because of this, we were given even more of an insight!  I'll share with you what I thought was most intriguing.  Don't read if you don't want the secrets revealed!

The Haunted Mansion

-They cut the grass literally with scissors to make it more uneven.
(Think how timely that is!)

-It is the most maintained and *clean* ride in the park, even though it's appearance is supposed to look just the opposite.

-When they first started making the ride there were 2 producers.  The first producer wanted the ride to be scary like it was actually haunted. The second producer wanted the complete opposite and wanted it to be corny and funny.  Because they were fighting over this, they came to a compromise--the first half of the ride is funny and then second part is scary.  This makes complete sense when going through the ride since the ending is the cemetery!

-Guess if the room really stretches or if it's just an elevator when you are in the room getting ready for the ride?  Trick question. It's both.  Disneyland in California has an elevator, and here in Disney World the room actually stretches.


-It's the only Disney attraction around the world that is in every single Disney park and in a different land also. 
(I think in Tokyo he said it is in Fantasyland?? I don't think I would fantasize about that..)


-Tony the Tiger from the Frosted Flakes is in the cemetery!


-Last but not least: the big secret! How do they do the ballroom with all those "holograms" ??
When the ride was first being created, they realized they wanted to do this scene.  So, before they went any further, they had to have a helicopter fly in with a piece of glass the length of the entire scene and place it 8 feet in front of you.  Without realizing it, behind your buggy there is a reflector that projects the images above and below you onto the glass in front of you. It is timed perfectly so that each buggy sees the same thing at the same time.  After he told us this, we looked below us and we actually could see a few "ghosts" before they were projected.  Crazy, right??

The Jungle Cruise

-Walt originally got this idea when he was in Africa. He actually wanted live animals from Africa.  After the realization of the costs and maintenance of the animals, they set out to make look-a-likes.

-There are over 300 plants on this attraction.

-They dye the water green because it's only 3 feet deep so they want to make it look more realistic and so that you do not see the bottom.

-Every single morning the skippers check the (fake) animals to make sure there is no mold on them and they wash them before the day begins.

-There is no steering at all.  The skippers pretend like they are driving the boat, when in actuality, they do it just for the show.  The boats are on a track.

-There is a part that you see mid-way through the attraction on your left side where it looks as if you are going to be ambushed.  There are 3 Indians and all sound like they are saying gibberish and yelling, however, the last one is not.  The last one says "I love disco!" but you will only be able to notice if you listen for it.  The producers of the ride put that in there as a surprise, since it was during the 70's, without Disney actually knowing.

Next blog will be on the rest of the tour.

R.I.P. Wings, until next time.

Family!

Soo everything still has been lovely here!

My family came almost a month ago, but just now have I gotten everything together! 

Here is a raw snip-it of our week. Pictures will be uploaded to Facebook soon. Enjoy Steven...
I love him.

 

  

We also saw Cirque du Soleli on one of the nights and it was BY FAR the best performance I've ever seen in my life. I couldn't take my eyes off of the acrobats. You weren't supposed to take snapshots or videos because of copyright purposes, however I sneakily did. This is all I had taken before one of the ushers told me to put my camera away.. oopsies! ;-0 

This showing was particularly special.  This show, called La Nouba, exclusively only appears in Orlando in Downtown Disney.  It does not move and you can see it nowhere else.  Because of that, I liked it even more!  Now I want to go see Cirque du Soleli everywhere else since they will all be different.  This was only about half the show, and of course the 2nd half was even better than the first, but here are just some examples.

I finally realized that I will certainly not be checking off everything I wanted to do here.  I only have 1 1/2 weeks of actually working because.. I'm going on a cruise!!!  I'm very, very excited.  I went on the Wonder in 2001 when I was a wittle baby so I obviously don't remember it that much except from the pictures. 


My roommate's 21'st birthday is April 23rd, and the ship cruises the 25th!  What a great birthday present to her!  She has never been on a cruise and she even asked me how much food was going to cost! I just laughed, because obviously it's included on the cruise. I got a great discount on it and it's the Magic (the Wonder's sister ship), therefore it will be fun to compare the 2 of what I remember.  And hey, you only live once, right???
 
I also went on a 5-hour "Keys of the Kingdom" tour at Magic Kingdom since I had half off the tour price as well.  OH MY GOODNESS did I learn a WHOLE bunch!! The next blog will definitely be about that and if you want to learn the "in's and out's" of Disney, then be sure to read that.  I learned all about how they do the special effects in the Haunted Mansion, how the Jungle Cruise came about, and the history into making the certain lands in Disney.  I thought it'd be silly to take a tour here since I work here, however, I learned more in that 5 hours than I did when I first started here!  I have a much greater appreciation for Magic Kingdom, as it's not just a "play place" and where only families go with their kids.  It's actually very intriguing to learn the thought process and how many people it actually took to make it all possible.

I'll blog on that later, take care everyone! Go Wings! :)

 
Steven just showed me this video clip.  It looks unique and fun, but realistically, it is the most illogical idea ever in my opinion.

Exactly one month left !!

^^ EEEEEK to that ! ! and so so so much more to do ! And I'm taking an early release to take a spring class at Grand Valley starting May 8th so my stay will be cut even shorter unfortunately :(

But everything has still been great here!  I literally could write at least 3 more blogs right now for everything that's happened. (parents coming, tour I went on, volunteering at a kid's resort with life-threatening diseases, etc.)


I continue to make lists of activities I want to do here before I leave.  The problem is that the list just keeps on piling up and the days keep getting shorter and shorter!  Mostly what happens is that I work 5 days a week and have 2 days off.  My one day off I will use to catch up on laundry, blogging, grocery shopping, and errand-y stuff.  The other day I will use as my "fun" day.  So realistically, if I'm working the 3-11:30pm shift and don't go to bed till 2 or 3am, you can see where I don't have much time for funzies.


Because of this, I am already interested and looking into fitness internships.  There is a small gym here for cast members along with classes, programs, etc. that any cast member can participate in.  I saw that there are opening for internships for 6-month periods.  I first want to go back to school and finish my degree since I only have one full semester left and an internship.  However, after that, I will be graduated in May and the internships are from June-January.  I thought this honestly would be PERFECT.  

Why?  In a summary, I thought that missing out on all the holidays with my family would have been sad and lonesome.  But who was I kidding?!? THIS IS WALT DISNEY WORLD! They have parades and fireworks and famous people coming ALL THE TIME!  I was looking at my friend who did the June-January this past year and she can't stop talking about how much she loved all the carolers and Christmas festivities.  It's like going to a huge carnival every day, but since there are so many holidays, and huge holidays at that, Disney goes crazy!  Everything looks way different than even before!  They have special ticketed events, special characters, and parties just for the holidays that I'm jealous I missed. Also, I will be coming right out of graduating, doing something towards my career, being able to see what Florida is like year-round (since I got this half of it done!), be in a wayy different environment, and boost my resume.  Therefore, I may be doing a blog round 2 in a year if God wants me to be here again!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in a blog or not, but I have been asked multiple times if I would want to move here permanently.  The answer is a big resounding NO.  As much as I do love the atmosphere, I do really love Michigan.  Everyone complains all the time about the weather and how it's so unpredictable but that's what I like about it!  We have all 4 seasons.  It's absolutely gorgeous when the flowers come out in the spring.  Following, our summer is just the right length and right warmth.  Then we get to see the beautiful leaves turn colors, start to fall, go to apple orchards, get into "fall" colors, and breath in that autumn air.  Lastly, yes our winters can be rough, but of course "can" is the key word as this winter there was practically NONE! (or so I've heard!)  I do miss the snow angels I can make and watching the snow fall outside my apartment.  And my hot chocolate!! (which I still have here and people think I'm crazy).  Of course I don't miss when my face is so cold from the winter I turn red and my hands turn purple.  There are downfalls everywhere.  But all in all, everything I know is in Michigan. I love Florida, but not as much as I love Michigan.  Most Michiganders move to Florida because they hate the snow, but already seeing that I'm getting 8 months of summer weather this year, I have a preview of what it would look like to live here: over 90+ degree weather with 100% humidity in the summer, lizards and snakes out all the time, etc.. not too ideal for me.

Moving on,
I have had lots of visitors come see me this month!!!

My beautiful friend Allison came with her family!

My family !

Steve SO excited for the new Toy Story ride. Typical picture.

My aunt and I at the Polynesian :)

With that said, I've been super busy! I absolutely loved everyone visiting, but it was more tiring than I thought!  When my aunt came for a week, and then my parents after, it seemed I never slowed down.  I had a pedometer here and we calculated how much we walked in the parks out of curiosity.  A few examples: 15,790 steps one day and 7.3 miles, 24,712 steps and 11.3 miles another day, etc.  I took my family to Magic Kingdom their first day since it had extra magic hours (meaning longer parks hours) so we were there from 11am-1am.  14 hours in the park.. let's just say they were a little tired .. ! (but we got everything done!!)

I have more funny videos of just them when they came but that will be the next blog. 

When my aunt was here we went to Seaworld! I hadn't been there in years so I was excited to see all my cute little animals and my dolphins!! The ticket also let you go in a second time for free within 14 days so I went once again with my roommate, Ashley.

I cut them into 2 videos because it would have been pretty lengthy.  I keep surprising myself at how long it takes to edit all these videos and they still aren't the best!

I'm sure you all will love the opening video..

Until next time, when Steve will be the star of my next blog.  Obviously..you won't want to miss out.

New jobs!

Well, lots of new opportunities have happened in the past couple weeks!

I've been super busy (as always) and have actually been trained for a few new jobs!

First, here is a snip-it I put together of just fun, random happenings!

Onto the new jobs.

First job: I was scheduled for what is called Hard of House, which is basically stocking.  It starts at 6:30am (zzz), and goes until 1 or 3pm.  Basically, I just scan boxes of merchandise in, open them, put them on a cart, and have my floorstockers stock them.  I actually love it!  Besides the waking up early, it's so nice and different because it's much more laid-back.  I like that it's manual labor and I actually sweat because it's like a mini work-out!  Since I'm ripping dozens of cardboard boxes open, I have a fun box cutter that I whip out to tear the boxes down. 

Also, since I mentioned that I love stocking, this job is perfect! It has such freedom and another stocker and myself just jam out to music, drink hot chocolate (yes, even when it's 75 degrees out!), and chat about life. We are covered outside, but still hear the birds chirp in the morning and watch the sunrise every morning.  It is so beautiful and peaceful.  Because we are doing more moving around, this requires a different costume than a skirt!! So here is what I wear for this job:

 

  

 And my butt looks really, really good in this these high-pants too.. ..

Luckily everyone has to wear these pants and surprisingly they are actually super comfy !

 

Second job: Package runner!

Boy, is this a different job! So this is the summary.  Obviously there is a ton of merchandise at the parks.  Therefore, when guests shop at the different parks, they are not going to want to carry around their 3 full bags of merchandise all day long if they bought it at 10am.  Because of this, we offer a great service, in my opinion, of free delivery to their resort they are staying at.  All they do is fill out their home address, circle their resort and room number, and when they're check out date is.  From there, we have another service who picks up packages every 3 hours or so and delivers them to the resorts so 24 hours later their package will be at the merchandise shop in their resort.

Since there are more people handling these packages, things can easily be broken, misplaced, or forgotten.  That's where I come in to play!  I "work" an 8-hour shift and carry a pager around.  Basically all I do is drive around our company 2011 new rental cars to the 23 Disney resorts and 4 parks! The cars are stocked with satellite radio and cameras for reversing which is super nice and makes me feel spoiled.  Any resort will call me if they have a packaging issue.  For example, I could have a call from Saratoga Springs saying there was a picture missing in a guest's package from Splash Mountain and ask if I am able to get it.  From there, I will drive to Magic Kingdom, go to Splash Mountain, retrieve the correct picture, and bring it to Saratoga.  So far I have been averaging about 5 or 6 different calls per night.  Sometimes it can be extremely hectic, where I don't take my 2nd break until 10:30 at night!  Other times it's extremely slow, where I just go back and help stocking at the resort.  :)

It is such a different job than any others.  I'm blessed because most jobs don't seem to train the college kids with more than 1 job because we are here for such a short time, but this is my 3rd job I know!  Also, there were 17 new college kids that joined our resort and only myself and one other girl are trained for this! I'm not sure if they choose it randomly or not, but I will surely take it as a compliment! 

My roommates are incredibly jealous as well!  When I first started training for this, I assumed that every resort had package runners, however, that would not make any sense since I get calls from all resorts.  The reason we are based out of Port Orleans is because of our location.  We are the most central location of all Disney property that has the biggest capacity to hold the package runners inventory, vehicles, packages, etc.  All 4 of the parks are extremely close which makes returning and exchanging packages even more effective.  I am still new at this job, but I really do love it so far.  I can talk on the phone, take my breaks whenever I want, wherever I want.  I come into contact with at least 3 people on each run, therefore meeting 15-20 people every night.  That's why it is hardly "work".  It just feels like I am driving all around property, listening to some oldies rock stations, and helping guests out!  It can be stressful when you have more than 5 packages, and the guests are all leaving the next day at 5am, because if you don't get it done, the resort has to complimentary ship the items, which means more loss revenue for them.

It is so wonderful to be able to see more of Disney's beauty.  Most of these resorts I've never been into, and they still blow my mind.  I park all in service vehicle parking, feeling even more important, and so I've seen plenty of characters offstage, parades about to begin, princesses, and the backside to Tower of Terror.  Also, when I'm driving at 8pm or 9pm at a park, I see the fireworks from Epcot or Magic Kingdom and they literally take my breath away.  If I'm not on a run, I can just sit in my car and watch them.  Who else can say they can do that at work!?

Since I'm power walking everywhere, they have the options to wear shorts!  This was a relief, and isn't so bad.  

 

Next will be updates on all my visitors that have came (parents next week and 6 days off!! maybe I can get a picture of Steve strangling me to death since he misses me so bad), trips to Seaworld, and volunteer work I've joined!

Some co-cast members have said that when I wear a braid in my costume I either A) look super young, or B) look like a flight attendant.  You decide.

Guest Interactions

It's crazy to think I've been here for more than a month already!  It seems much longer, yet I know it's going to fly by even faster.  With that said, I can start to share the buildup of the laughable moments I've had at work with the guests in small, scattered stories.

Interactions

• When I was ringing up a guest, they gave me their discount card.  It looked a little different so I looked at it closer and saw that they worked for ABC.  I commented saying how it must be cool to work for such a big, well-known company.  He looked at me with a strange look and replied, "You work for Disney...."  Still hasn't clicked in, I suppose!

• Next, I am SO thankful that I took 3 years of Spanish in high school.  Seeing I was not planning on going to a Spanish-speaking country any time soon, I doubted it would really come in handy.  I just had always thought it'd be fun to learn the language.  But after being here for a month, I honestly feel like I've been all around the world!  Not just speaking of Epcot, but I didn't really realize how many countries would be represented here.  I just try to chime in with the "de nada (thank you), por favor (please), lo siento (i'm sorry), un momento (one moment)" etc. phrases because if they ask me if I speak Spanish and I say "un poco" (a little) then they rattle off like a firework and I cannot understand anything past the first word; therefore, I learned my lesson that way.
• I realized also that Portuguese and Spanish can sound very similar.  Some guests do not know one lick of English, which makes me wonder how they even got here or if they even know what the heck they are doing.  Therefore, they will continuously talk in their language when I clearly respond unknowingly of their wants.  One incidence a man talked Portuguese (I think) the whole time I was checking him out (and by that I mean ringing him up..),  and at the end I smiled and said "Buenos noches!" (Have a good night in Spanish), and he laughed and walked away... oops.

• However, some guests seem to still hold truth to the core American beliefs, if you will.  One dad I rang up came rushing in and got a 6-pack of beer and a toothbrush.  He commented saying, "You only need the essentials on vacation!"

• An odd occurrence happened when I saw that a fellow co-cast member was from Michigan.  I asked whereabouts in Michigan she was from.  She answered South Haven and I perked up and said I was from Grand Rapids.  Strangely enough, she asked where that was.  I showed her on my hand, as it's a Michigan thing, that I go to school on the opposite side of the thumb.  She gave me a puzzled look and asked what I was doing with my hand.  She's lived in Michigan her whole life...interesting.

• One of my favorite tasks to do at work is to stock!  Most people don't seem to be quite fond of it; however, I crave it.  Any job I've ever had I've always loved to stock because it makes you feel like you did something and made a difference.  You can physically see that the store has products to offer, is easy to find, and isn't slacking.  Who cares how clean your store is?  Obviously you don't want it to look like there's dust bunnies who have hourly parties there...but if there's no products out, how are you going to make money?  Even if your store had some dirt here and there, it's not like it's going to prevent those who need a product from buying it.  
• Speaking of stocking, filling the coolers is one of the jobs if you do floorstock.  (which people will pay over $30 for a 6-pack of coronas! Even Epcot knows this as they have beer holders in their hoodies. They are serious about their beer..orrr just have kids).  The only downfall when filling the cooler is the anxiety that overcomes me. Knowing that the temperature is 26 degrees and that there is an emergency handle in case you get locked out frightens me just a tad.

• I lied. 2 downfalls.  This one may even top the former downfall.  This is the awkward moment when you are filling the cooler and someone on the other side is getting a drink out.  You see them, but they cannot see you.  You calmly just pause, waiting for them to finish.  If you really want to have fun, you will stock something that's really empty like the milk or water (#1 seller in Disney), so that your arm reaches all the way to the front as you await the yelp from the guest.  That is always fun.  And to top that off is when you make eye contact with them from the other side and slowly disappear...

• I probably am the jumpiest person out of anyone I know.  With that said, one of my co-cast members thought it'd be fun to stick his hand through the cooler and wiggle his fingers around onto something I was just about to fill.  Not only was I terrified by a wiggling hand from inside the cooler, but to look up and to see his bugged eyes looking at me created a slight fright, I would say.

Lastly, I also was just asked to be in Port Orlean's Mardi Gras parade, since that is our theme.  I was very excited and didn't know what to expect since I've never been in one before.  One of my fellow workers shared this link with me that will show you a glimpse of what it looked like.  It was, obviously, a smaller parade since it was just one resort and not Magic Kingdom, but still cute to see the little golf carts!  We were in the red golf cart, with the theme of the Great Movie Ride in Hollywood Studios (former known as MGM).  We had Indiana Jones, Mary Poppins, Wizard of Oz, and others presented.  I was asked to be the Wicked Witch.

This is me trying to practice my scary face.   
It didn't work out so well, but at least my eyes match!

The after-effect...freaky, I know

This is me with my cute Dorthy.
They didn't have a green hand though :(

Coming in March, I will be having a total of SIX (favorite #) different visitors at different times so I will be super busy and am super excited!! :) Good thing I'm here during Spring Break, huh!

Last week I watched Cinderella for the first time in years.  Despite not remembering what exactly happens, I came to the conclusion that Cinderella is a lot like Tom and Jerry..or in the beginning of the movie at least..which I love!

INTERRUPTION!

I just posted a new blog, but this a special edition! We had a special visitor come to Magic Kingdom yesterday and I got some great footage..or so I'd like to think.  It's on my facebook, but for those reading this without, here is a small clip I put together.  It is of Eli Manning, the MVP of the New York Giants who won the Super Bowl this past weekend.  I hardly know 2 facts about him-- and that is the previous statement, and that everyone likes Tom Brady better.  However, he still is famous and this was a rare opportunity.  And he also was the MVP before..so this isn't new to him!

Port Orleans Resort

Now that the anticipation is over, here is the rest of the info! 

My job is to work in merchandise at the Port Orleans Resort in the gift shop. 

I had more training than I could have imagined!  I assumed it was going to be very organized, since there are over 70,000 employed Disney cast members, but it was pretty much overkill.  The first week I worked was 43 hours, followed by the next week of 44 hours.  Definitely something I wasn't used too. Thankfully the hours decreased to around 35, which freed up some more time to enjoy the parks!

There are 2 different sides to Port Orleans: Riverside and French Quarter.  They are both extremely different on the outside, but the individual rooms look identical. Riverside was built in a way to reflect the classic plantation style mansions from the south. It was originally named Disney's Dixie Landing Resort, but was shortly changed after.  When my GPS came up with "Dixie Land" as the search results, I thought I'd for sure get lost again since I didn't know what that was !
French Quarter was opened a year earlier and was built to replicate New Orleans.  It only can host about 1,000 guests, whereas Riverside hosts double.  Because of this, RIverside is extremely, extremely busy and French Quarter is not at all.

Riverside has multiple activities that guests can enjoy.  There is a fishing hole stocked with blue gill, catfish, and bass.  There are boats and bikes guests can rent out for their enjoyment.  And every night there is also a big screen TV outside that will play a movie, followed by jazz music on weekdays that are extremely popular with guests.  Lastly, you can also take a carriage ride around the resort!

Next, French Quarter is my favorite to look on the outside, as you can see in these pictures.  I love how distinct the doors look since they are all different colors.  When we were on one of our many tours, they said that the architects painted them differently because of the close replication to New Orleans.  Since there is so much partying in New Orleans, it may be hard to find your door at night.  This way, you can just remember having a bright yellow door, by visually seeing it, instead of remembering a set of numbers. (pretty smart, I'd say!)  

In addition, they also print the names of the streets on the sidewalks, so it's easier to find home.

As most people know, Disney wants everything to come to life as part of their show.  So since Mardi Gras is the theme, they have multiple ways to show this.  Here are just some examples:

 

 

But then you also have creepy pictures like this that are approximately 428x your body weight that will scare the kids... (and me)..

But I do have to admit, they do have a really sweet pool for the kids at the French Quarter!

We also hand out beads, as beads were very popular for Mardi Gras, which I will show in future posts, because I am learning to make designs out of them!

And lastly, here is another video showing the resort live and in action!  This video is worse than the others...mostly because I'm not sure if I was allowed to take videos in my costume, so I just did them really quick and in disguise!

Next update will be about what we actually do at work and guest interactions...pretty humorous!

If anyone would like to send special life-sized bubble wrap over here, that would be greatly appreciated. One of my roommates has bronchitis, one has a sinus infection, upper respiratory infection, and mild bronchitis, and another one that lives in my room sounds like coughing is her laugh.......help!