Not all Strollers are Created Equal

In our attraction, there are many different positions that must be filled. One of those is Stroller Greeter. This position involves one cast member whose sole purpose is to stand there and help direct guests with strollers to the parking area so that our location does not become "Stroller Chaos" with 100's of strollers parked wherever their driver felt the first inclination to drop it off. Here at this post it is also our job to make sure that the stroller parking area stays neat and tidy, meaning that we arrange and in some cases move the strollers to different locations. Over all it is sometimes either relaxing, or the worst position ever, especially when guests feel that they are above the parking area and just roll their stroller somewhere else.

As I stood in stroller parking today, arranging the rows into nice, neat and perfectly orderly lines that only someone of slight OCD behavior can do, I made this realization. "Not all Strollers are Created Equal." Why did I make this realization? well because as i attempted to move one particular stroller to the side, I realized that it's front wheels were stationary and they did not rotate to the sides at all and simply always would face forward. So naturally, I took it for a slight test drive to see how it maneuvered and the verdict was that it did not. In order for it to turn you needed to lift up it's front two wheels. I then wondered, "Why on EARTH would someone EVER purchase this stroller?" Because let me tell you, this stroller was not small, it came equipped with a baby carriage holder and everything.

This then led me to wonder why some people choose to purchase some of the strollers that they do to take to disney. So I developed a few rules for those families who are about to brave the Walt Disney World Resort with a Stroller in toe.

Beginners Guide to Strollers:
1: Do not bring a Jogger's Stroller. (no matter how great you think that one wheel in the front is going to be, with it's superb 360 degree turning ability and it's large tread wheel, it will NOT, I repeat, NOT function in the park as it does in your unrealistic dream. It will tip to either side, dumping the precious cargo of your child on the ground. these strollers are typically heavier than all the others either. All in all, a bad choice.)
2: Stadium Seating is NOT the way to go. (lots of strollers are trying to play to the fact that parents think their kids in the double stroller need a movie theater type view of their surroundings. These strollers are long, awkward, and heavy with horrible turning radius. Do not be fooled by their flashy outer appeal, your child does not care where he sits, or how unobstructed his view is while sitting, he only cares that he is sitting.)
3: Being Cheap is not always a win. (Winning on the receipt does not always constitute a win in the parks. When buying a cheap stroller, realize that you are going to be putting it through it's paces in the resorts and that a cheaply bought stroller means it was a cheaply made stroller, and cheaply made strollers often lead to broken strollers. When you have to fanangle your way around the park by counter balancing the broken leg wheel with your superior steering abilities and keeping little Timmy from falling out of his seat, you will not be turning to your wife with excitement on your face as you did in the Penny Pincher store after buying this stroller for only 9.99 and assuring her that it would last longer than the 50.00 stroller she wanted to get. Oh no, you will not be making one complaint about the broken stroller and will be avoiding any and ALL eye contact with your lovely bride.)
4: Folding Ability can be a Selling Ability. Many of our park guests are also our resort guests. That meaning that many of our stroller rolling guests will be boarding a bus numerous times throughout the day and unfortunately, strollers must be folded before being allowed on the bus. Test this out, numerous times in the store before you buy the stroller. Your strollers ability to fold fast and efficiently can be the difference between you making your resort bus at the end of a long day or your staying to catch the next one.
5: Be Unique. Do not buy the umbrella stroller that is the cheapest and the most generic color. Odds are, everyone else in the park did too, make sure that your stroller has some personality that sets it apart from the others. Something that says, "Hey, I'm your stroller, and you know it!"
6:Trial Runs are a MUST. This is the most important rule of all. Every stroller must be given a trial run before entering the parks. Pack your kids up in it and take them on a stroll through the busy mall or a few times around the local park or even around your neighborhood. Get the feel for your stroller. Turn quickly, stop randomly, stare at a map blankly and look for random landmarks like you will be doing and see if it rolls away, park it somewhere and see if you can relocate it, collapse it and open it back up again, do anything that you think you might be encountering in the parks to this hopefully worthy stroller and see if it can stand up to the test. if not, then bid it adieu and know that you may just have to take a standard Disney stroller at the front gate, because a stroller can be one of the largest nuisances on your Disney vacation or one of the best saving graces. It's your choice.

Days Off Don't Get Any Better

After a 46 hour week of hard Disney Work, i was excited to finally have a day off. And when you live in Walt Disney World, your days off honestly don't get any better. This morning I started my day out by registering for a cast member only, backstage tour of the Expedition Everest roller coaster in Animal Kingdom, which was a limited, 15 person availability and I was lucky enough to get in, (this tour will be next week, February 2nd, so be on the look out for that blog!) I then went to the Magic Kingdom in order to get my little sister Emma the best birthday greeting she had ever received, took one of my roommates to the best show in Fantasy Land of which she had never seen, moseyed on over to EPCOT on the monorail and went Soarin' then went under The Seas, talked with a turtle, watched Mickey Scuba Dive, traveled around the world, stopped in Japan to watch a Candy Art demonstration and then a drum show, stopped in Norway and went on a Viking Adventure on the Maelstrom, and leisurely made my way back to my quiet Disney apartment home. Days off don't get any Better.

Me and My Costume

So i've had a decent amount of requests from people to see what my costume is like for my job. This isn't the greatest picture, but, this is how I get to dress every day for work. Very flattering, I know.

Notes on Working in Paradise

On first thought, working in Walt Disney World sounds like one of the most amazing things that anyone could ever possibly do with their lives. after doing just that for the last few weeks, i can tell you first hand, that what it appears to be from the guest perspective, isn't exactly what it is like for the Cast Members.

I honestly think that working in WDW could be one of the most trying and difficult jobs that anyone could face. Everyday, hundreds of these world renown Disney Cast Members get up and go to work with one goal in mind: Make that Magic Happen. (haha, that would be great, but most of them get up more with the "Let's pay the bills" mentality, Making the Magic is just a side bonus when it happens.) These wonderful people, these Cast Members get up and go to work where, in there job, if there is 16K guest predicted for the day, we all freak out and wonder "why on earth is it so slow today?" because this time of the year, the average projection is anywhere from 24,000 - 30,000 guests for the day. Knowing that you are going to go work with that much guest interaction is intense. Everyone expects the CM's to know every answer to their questions that they have, while most are fine if they don't, others take it as a hideous error that this cast member was not able to solve their every vacationing need.

The crowds are intense and the interaction within must be not just great, but the best ever, for it is that, the interaction with the cast members that has made Disney World the Number 1 vacation destination in the world, not it's rides, which are great, but it's workers, it's cast. Everyday the bar for disney's cast members is set at the highest level, and everyday there are multiple guests who end up testing each and every cast members limits. As a cast member myself, I find it absolutely shocking sometimes to see just how rude and inconsiderate some of these guests can be. They come to the happiest place in the world and they can't try to raise their own bar of cordiality just a little bit.

These guests can test the Cast Members patience, pushing their knowledge and execution of the "Disney Basics" to it's limit, and amazingly the Cast Member triumphs, and has done Disney proud.

So why do cast members get up every day, drive to any location on the Walt Disney World Resort, whether it be one of the four theme parks, water parks, hotels, or restaurants if they know that they could and probably will be presented with guests like this?

It's because of moments like this:
Today I was working the Nemo attraction in the wheelchair assistance bay when i was greeted by a family of three. This family hailed from New York and their ten year old son was confined to a wheel chair, due to a severe physical disability. I explained to them that I had a wheelchair accessible clammobile for their son so that he would be able to enjoy the ride, explained how it would work, and told them that it would be a few minutes before the clam would be at the loading dock. They smiled and said that that was perfectly fine. For the few minutes that we were waiting there, I engaged in conversation with this family. Upon asking if this was their first time visiting the parks, they just laughed and said that it was their son's 13th time in ten years. I asked their son if he liked coming to Disney World, he gave me the biggest smile and looked up, which i was told was his non verbal que for "Yes." His father turned to me and told me that with a wheelchair bound child, they can't even make it around their neighborhood that well, let alone the areas of New York that they might need to visit. He said though that Disney World is the most handicap accessible place in the world that he has ever been to, and that when you find a place like this, you keep coming back, and that each time it only gets better. As the clam neared the loading dock, he turned to me and thanked me, for everything that I had done for him and his family and for everyone else, that my work was not unnoticed or unappreciated. Thanking him, I helped them onto the clam and watched them ride away.

It is gusts like that that make the Cast Members of Disney get up everyday and drive to work to face the crowds, to face the long 12-13 hour shifts, and the inevitable disgruntled guest. It's people like that family, the young princesses running around, enjoying their day in their kingdom, and those that have saved for years to be able to come, for just one week, to the happiest place in the world. That is why they do it, and that is why Disney is different.

You know you have money when...

On Monday, i had the absolute pleasure of getting to work a 13 hour shift. yeah, you can imagine that that felt like one of the longest days of my life, " 'Watch your step Sir, the floor is moving'....'Two or three per shell folks'....'Who wants to see Crush?!?'....'please get inside your shell, Sir'" Yeah, you can imagine how much fun that was towards those last 5 hours. Now while normally i wouldn't want to work a 13 hour shift, this one did come with some bonuses. 1: Overtime (haha, had to put that in there) and 2: A large company called Granger, rented out the East side of Future World from 7pm to Midnight for 4000 of their workers. This only happens maybe two times throughout a year that a company will actually rent out a Walt Disney World park so it was actually quite the sight to see. First off, everything was free for these people, they had the disney culinary people cooking food for them all around the park area, they had our ice cream stands giving out our disney ice creams for free, there were open bars at every corner, and they had the full run of the Future World area of the parks. But it gets better, at 11:45pm they also had a private showing of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, the EPCOT fireworks show that is honestly spectacular.

Now, I can only imagine what this must have cost these people to be able to rent out EPCOT, keep all the attractions open, (those that they had were Soarin', Mission: SPACE, Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Turtle Talk with Crush) have the money to keep all the positions staffed and cover for the cost that Disney would have made if they would have allowed the 26K guests that were projected for the day to be able to stay into the park, to have EPCOT perform another expensive fireworks show literally hours after their daily scheduled ones, and whatever else the costs would have been to keep the place running. To see just how much work it took to get the place ready and to have everything running for these people was really cool. During the conventions, there were Evergreen Tree Walls that were put up all over the park (which was great since I am allergic,) there were men walking around on stilts in lighted costumes interacting with the people, there were two men on acrobatic stilts that were jumping around doing front and back flips all over, there was a magician walking around, there were DJ's, Helium lighting, etc etc etc. It was an all out party and it looked amazing. I just wanted to take pictures, but unfortunately, i was on the clock.

Overall it was a really cool experience to see and I had a great time working it. Regardless of the fun and excitement though, there was no better feeling than clocking out and being able to leave The Seas and go home. I was unable to resist snapping the shot of The Seas with Spaceship Earth (or the commonly called Disney Golf Ball) in the back ground. And with the party over, there were already cleaning crews out power washing everything, getting ready for the next days new round of guests, and putting up that world class Disney Show.

Full Fledged Nemo Ranger!

Well, I have been getting a lot of questions from people to know just what it is that I do in The Seas and after my first full fledged day as a Nemo Ranger i can tell you, I do a lot. There are a lot of positions that we all must hold for both the Ride and Theater show to make sure that everything can be up and running smoothly. The many things that I do in a typical day include:

Nemo Ride:
Load 1: Assist guests into their clam shell. making sure that every guest is instructed to "Watch their Step," as they have to board a moving belt to get in their clam for the ride.
Load 2: This position is basically the "head Honcho" of the ride. This position holds the main control panel for the entire ride. Here i can see everything that is going on in the ride and if there are any problems, it is Load 2's job to make sure that the proper procedures are carried out. When in this position I constantly walk on the moving belt and make sure that the guest are actually getting into their shells safely and quickly before entering the ride. but i also answer the radio and check on other positions and with the manager or coordinator if need be.
Unload: Self explanatory, I make sure that the guests get off their shell, and constantly walk on the moving belt.
Wheel Chair 1: make sure that guests with a wheelchair or ECV are taken care of, that if they need are wheelchair accessible clam that they are helped into the clam when it comes around and that their entire party is able to get on the ride at the same time.
Wheel Chair 2: assists WC 1 with the guests with wheelchairs. also looks out for any guests with Guest Assistance Cards, Make a Wish Kids, or any other priority entrance pass that a guest may have.
Pavilion Greeter: Probably my favorite position. I get to stand outside under an umbrella and greet all of the guests that are going into the aquarium to ride the ride. I have to send in Flik Cards (cards that help us know how long our estimated wait time is) through with guests every 3 to 5 minutes and I am also able to pin trade with the guests as well. It is by far my favorite position because i get to really interact with the guests.
Stroller Greeter: This position is similar to Pavilion greeter except it is their job to make sure that everyone is parking the strollers in the designated stroller parking area and not elsewhere in The Seas area.

Turtle Talk With Crush:
Pre Show: This position is where I keep track of how long till the next Turtle Talk Show, letting guests know when it will be, directing them to the waiting area, and helping any guests with disabilities back into the alternate entrance path so that they can get situated before the larger audience loads the theater. It is my job, when in this position, to make announcements over the intercom to let people know the time we will be starting, what they should do, how they should load etc.
Grouper: keeps count of how many people are in line for the show and is responsible for cutting it off when we reach maximum capacity (210 people.)
Host: hosts the show. responsible for warming up the crowd, memorizing and delivering the spiels, and finding the kids/adults that Crush is wanting to interact with. This position is a lot of fun too and I really enjoy getting up in front of everyone and hosting the show and getting them excited for it.

But yeah, that is basically most of what I do. It's tiring work but when you get those few guests that pull you aside and let you know that what you did was amazing, or that they really appreciated the way you went out of your way to make sure that they, their children, or whomever was happy and having a good time, it makes it all worth it.

First Week of Work: TRAINING!

Sorry to anyone who tries to follow me on my blog, I was experiencing some internet difficulties in my apartment and was unable to connect to update my blog. Which in a way was good because i have been so busy this week with Training that It has been just draining every ounce of energy that I have left after giving it all to the Magic of Disney in EPCOT.

After 5 days of intense training at The Seas, I had my assessment today and passed with flying colors! I've "Earned my Ears" as we call it and am ready to fly solo. The last 5 days have been grueling for a number of reasons. It is just impossible to think that I have only been here for less than a week and a half. It feels like its been two months. Working at The Seas with Nemo and friends is good for the most part. I can't wait to get out there on my own and jump into rotations. I had a great trainer but I am totally ready to not be running drills and see what working the ride and show is really like. haha.

I've been missing everyone a lot lately. Being in Disney World, a place where I only have had memories with my family makes me wish that they were there and that we were on vacation. But I am making plenty of new ones now and I can't wait to have visitors and show them around my new home.

On Monday I was able to enjoy a full day in the parks with some friends. Starting the day off in the Animal Kingdom and ending it in The Magic Kingdom watching the Wishes Fireworks show on Main Street right in front of the Castle. Standing there amidst all the guests listening to the show, I realized that a year ago I was standing in almost the exact same spot, watching the same show, wishing that one day i would be able to work here. Knowing that I did it, that I'm here and that this is my new home, was a great feeling.

EPCOT: Discovery Day

Today was my first official training at the EPCOT theme park where I will be working for the next 5 months. It was exciting to clock in for the first time and see the back stage areas of my new home away from home. In this "Introduction to EPCOT" class we were given a tour of the park, a lesson in it's history and Walt's original Dream for it (it was actually suppose to be a real live, living, breathing, working community; not a theme park,) and what the mission is for the park and how it is to provide to it's guests. This tour was a lot of fun and very interesting. If anyone had any uncertain feelings about working in this park, they were soon done away with and replaced with some extreme park pride! Working in, literally, the Heart of Disney World is a really cool place to be.
While participating in discovery day we ventured out into the park itself, rode some rides, cheered for the marathon runners that were making their way through the parks (Disney holds an annual Half Marathon and Marathon once a year through it's parks) and then walked to the geographical center of the Walt Disney World Resort where, with the large crescendo of music that resonated throughout the entire park, we were welcomed into the EPCOT family and cheered for by the entire park community. It was a really cool feeling as we all stood there in our new home.
The exciting part of this day, other than all of the little surprises that they had in store for us here, was that I was able to find out just exactly where i was working! I am joining the team under the sea in The Seas aquarium in the east side of the park. here, in this large 5+ million gallon tank are the two attractions that I will be working with, one is "The Seas with Nemo" in a cute little sit down ride where the guest is taken through the aquarium in search for Nemo who has wandered off again, getting to see all their favorite friends from the movie Finding Nemo, and I will also be working with the show "Turtle Talk with Crush" which is an interactive show for guest to sit down and enjoy a few minutes with Crush the Turtle, asking him questions and answering a few of his own. This show is actually really really cute and I am excited to work with it because the little kids just get so excited when they participate in it. It's a lot of fun.
My Training starts on Tuesday the 12th and I can't wait to see and learn just what I will be doing in this area. It's a lot to learn and take in, but I'm up to the challenge!

Traditions

Traditions is a course that each and every employee of the WDW company must take. It goes over the heritage that you now will be upholding and why you are a vital part of the "we" that makes up the team of cast members that, each and every day, make the magic happen for the guests that come to the WDW resort. This over four hour long class takes place at Disney University (yes, they have a legit university!) and was actually really really cool. Were we in the classroom for those four hours? oh no! we went on a back stage and on stage tour of the Magic Kingdom! seeing just how the park is run and how no detail is spared in order to keep the story running for the guests within the park. I was able to go into the legendary underground tunnels that run all through the Magic Kingdom. Yes, I am telling the truth. It was amazing. These Utilidors were made to help the cast members tell the story without any breaks in the pages, and it allows them to quickly get from one end of the park to another. at one time, i was directly underneath Cinderella's castle. very cool. Without going too far into it, some of the fun things I saw were: Cinderella texting, Peter Pan chatting it up with someone from what appeared to be Frontier Land, and parade performers right after a show that I had just witnessed on stage. The winding tunnels that literally can take you anywhere you want to go were full of life and people going from place to place. It was amazing.
The best part of this class though however, even better than the underground tunnels, which were amazing, was the fact that I am now officially a Disney Cast member, or at least, it now feels official for me. Here I received my all access pass to the parks! This official Disney ID gets me into the parks. Anytime, Anywhere, I get in for free! I received my Name Tag! Holding that Disney name tag in my hand, i just wanted to jump up and down yelling "I DID IT! I DID IT! I finally work for DISNEY!"

Parties: by Disney

Tonight, the Disney College Program threw a party for all it's DCP participants. Equipped with free food (delicious pizza,) chips, drinks, and a rockin DJ. The place was adorned with lights, and encased in a white tent on the tennis courts in the Chatham Square apartments. (there are four disney apartments, all housing DCP students: Chatham Square, Patterson Court, The Commons, and of course Vista Way, where I live.) Here we were able to dance, enjoy music, eat, and talk with fellow DCP kids from across the globe. I was lucky enough to sit with some young girls from Japan. While getting over the language barrier was difficult at times, we pushed through and learned lots about one another. It was amazing to think that not only did these girls travel all the way from Japan, but they have never been to the Walt Disney World Resort in their lives! The courage to come here from half way across the globe to work somewhere where you have never even been, not knowing what you are going to be doing is amazing. Needless to say the night was a lot of fun and getting to Cha-Cha Slide with Mickey Mouse was hilariously fun. Here, there is just so much energy by absolutely everyone. We are all so excited at the opportunity to be here and be with friends from all over the world while working in the happiest and most magical place in the world.

Disney Day 3!

Today I decided that it would be wise to ride my bus route to epcot to see how long it would take to get to work so I could plan accordingly. I found out that it took 10 minutes. And in those ten minutes I saw just how diverse the Disney College program kids are. Everywhere around me someone was speaking a different language. Whether it was chinese, spanish, english, or german everyone was from someplace different. Sitting on the bus amidst all this was a strange feeling. While they were all speaking in theor native tongue so fast to one another, I couldn't understand a thing they said. Yet, I knew that I could never have that anonymously public conversation that they were having. Speaking english would be completely understood among just about everyone on that bus. It was a weird feeling, yet it gets me excited knowing that I will be working at the most diverse park withing walt disney world.

Official Resident of Vista Way Apartment 1310

Checking in today at Disney was WAY overwhelming. After 3+ months of planning and anticipating today, I couldn't even begin to comprehend the fact that it was upon me. from the moment i got out of my car i was ushered in to the sign in building and there I entered the world of paperwork, new people, more paperwork, photo ID stations, loads of informational sheets/packets, Met my new roommate, and, oh yeah, a little bit more paperwork. Just kidding, the paper work wasn't really that bad. but just going through everything was crazy, knowing how much i had to learn instantly and how much more was on it's way to me. After about 2 hours or so, I had to catch a bus that would take me to the Disney Casting center where I would undergo even more steps in the check in process. Here however I was to find out where I was to be working. ahhh, nerve racking!
But before I get to that, I have to tell you about the casting building itself. WOW! absolutely amazing. I had never seen any building like it anywhere else. Disney doesn't miss a beat in the detail department. From the amazing disney, hand painted murals on the walls, to the Peter Pan ceiling painting on the three story + high domed ceiling above you, the large columns that stretched magnificently to hold the whole place up and the amazing colors and lights that you can only find inside a disney building were just absolutely amazing to look at while I waited in line with all the other DCP new cast members.
When I arrived at the first station, I was informed that I will be working in the Future World East attractions in the Epcot. These attractions could include: Spaceship Earth (the large, iconic ball that is the face of Epcot,) Mission: Space (the intense G-Force simulator that takes it's riders on a fast paced trip to Mars,) and Test Track (the high speed ride that lets you be the dummy.)
Overall the Casting experience took over 3 hours and needless to say i was dog tired after that.

Missing everyone from back home!!

Onward to Orlando

Well, today i officially started my journey towards Orlando. With the temperature at a whopping -5 degress, the promise of warmer weather and sunshine has never sounded better. It is three months and two days to the day since i found out i'd be leaving the midwest for the coast and after much planning and preparing i still cant believe i am two days away from the most magical place in the world. Excitement and nerves have been bundled into one large stomach mess. Trying to pack my life into three suitcases and a carry on was impossible, especially since i had to leave the most important part of my life behind. But with all things considered, i am excited for what lies ahead, eager for the experiences i'll have, and hopefull for what this may mean for my future.