To My Fellow CP's

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

As I drive away from the unforgettable Vista Way today, I am hit with an overwhelming feeling of sadness. No, reflecting on my squeaky bed, ant-accessible window, and princess shower curtain are not the cause of this. There is a part of me that's sad that I'm leaving the House of Mouse, but I am officially locked in for a Seasonal job there in the fall, so it's more like I'm taking a vacation.

The real reason I am experiencing this melancholy feeling is that I am leaving behind an outstanding group of people at DAK Main Entrance Merchandise. Coming into the program, I had a pretty good idea that I would be making some new friends throughout my Disney adventures, but never did I expect to connect in such meaningful ways to the CP's I would work with.

From day one, it was easy to connect with the other CP's. We all had many things in common, from our college lifestyles back home, to our late night closing shifts, and even our unanimous distaste for any vehicle labeled "Transtar". Working with these familiar faces really helped to make work a place I wanted to be at and "going to work" quickly became "going to see my friends".

Our experiences outside of work showed me that I had found not only a great group of co-workers, but an exceptional group of friends. Whether it was a hysterical game of Telestrations or Mafia, a trip to the park for a final viewing of Wishes/Fantasmic, or a mediocre half off appetizer served by one of Applebee's finest, each occasion was proven worth it regardless of the lack of sleep or money afterwards.

Here are some of the people I encountered:

- An extremely giggly person who thought I was pregnant
- Someone who re-sparked my passion for Imagineering and the way that Disney works
- A girl who wore the same work shoes as me and once creeped on me at the Magic Kingdom
- Someone who clarified for me that Mexico wasn't just tacos and sombreros during a great chat during Stack/Unstack.
- A guy who started the program two months too late, yet still left an amazing impact on me
- A friend who introduced me to a different world view and said my hair looked like old moss.
- A roommate who was willing to stay up till all hours of the night, being real and living his life.
- A girl who braved night terrors to tell me the origins of Hello Kitty and who surprised me with a deep statement one late night at Applebees.
- An extremely happy person who loved taking out the garbage at night.
- A girl with one of the most unique senses of humor I've ever met (keep working on the driving!)
- A guy who loved to talk movies, tell stories, and whom I could trust to understand why I was laughing at something when I looked across the room at him.
- Someone with a contagious laugh who tried to convince me to go jogging with them in the middle of the night in my costume.
- A friend whose differences in opinion ended up strengthening our relationship, helping to break down each other's stereotypes
- A girl who was constantly smiling, whether in her Main Entrance costume or her Restaurantosaurus costume
- A hard worker and great CP who was too nice in letting me call them a slacker at PPU.
- A guy who lived on the edge by testing the limits of his beard and hair length
- A girl who was nice enough to invite all of us into her home for an awesome game night
- A girl whose sense of humor was definitely the most similar to my own, was super fun to mess with, and had too much fun making fun of my finger.
- An amazing friend who was there for me from the beginning while I wrote a "love letter" to one of our Coordinators. It is amazing to look back on that first meeting and see where we stand today.

There are so many more things I have to say about these incredible people, but I will selfishly store them in my mind for the future when I am in need of a good memory.

Thank you to all of you CP's for making my program as amazing as it was. I can say with sincerity that it would not have been the same without you. I wish you the best in everything that you all do with your lives.

See ya,

P.W.

Why The Name Tag Is Important

Anybody who has ever visited any of the Disney theme parks has surely noticed the staple of every Cast Member's costume: the name tag.

The history of the name tag goes all the way back to Walt Disney himself, who came up with the idea for multiple reasons. Disney wanted his Cast Members to treat the Guests as if they were actual guests in their own home and thought that going by a first name basis would help to form a friendly interaction. On the Cast side of things, Walt wanted every member of his team to feel equal, from the president of the company to the people taking out the garbage.

Maybe Walt just couldn't remember everybody's names

Through my experiences during the College Program, I have seen the purpose that the name tags serve on a daily basis. I first recognized that the name tags possessed a quality of magic during Traditions when we all received our freshly printed name tags. At most jobs, receiving your name tag is simply a part of the process and nothing to get excited over, but here at Disney, we all couldn't wait to put them on and wear them proudly.

Throughout training I was meeting multitudes of Cast Members, way too many for me to remember their names. During my first week of work, the name tags really came in handy in helping me to get to know people. Not only would it serve as a reminder if I forgot their names, but it also gave me an idea of where they were from (all name tags have either a college name or your hometown), which would help to spark more conversation.

Yes, we are all this good looking

The name tag also helped when I would interact with Coordinators and Leaders. The first name basis really helped to make them approachable and easy to talk to, an important factor in the workplace. It is also probably a big help in them learning our names and getting to know us.

I also really do believe that the name tags put all of us Cast Members on the same level. We all can relate to each other and know that we're all working hard to spread the magic. One common occurrence that I have experienced at Animal Kingdom has been during closing time. Most of the other CM's leave before my Main Entrance Merchandise crew and as I am walking back and forth between Outpost and Strollers I see many of them heading home. Without fail, almost every person that passes will happily say, "Goodnight!", sometimes throwing my name in there as well.

Yes, sometimes this happens

More important than these backstage reasons for the name tags are the interactions with the Guests. Just the fact that we have our names on display for all to see helps to make us more approachable in the Guests' eyes. Many of my interactions start with the Guest approaching me and saying, "Patrick..." followed by a question. If I am working a cart and saying goodbye to the flow of people shuffling out of the park, I am often responded to with a "Goodnight, Patrick!" or "Thank you, Patrick!". It was definitely odd getting used to hearing my name get thrown around like this, but I have grown accustomed to it and am happy the Guests feel comfortable enough to use it. There are also many times where the "UNIV OF CENTRAL FLORIDA" sparks some great conversation (usually about our epic football season last year!).


Every morning, I dress in my brightly colored costume, from the shirt down to the hiking boots. But, I never feel completely like a CM until I pin that name tag on.

See ya,

P.W.

The Highly Coveted ECV Run

ME: "Animal Kingdom Strollers, this is Patrick!"

CAST MEMBER: "Hey, this is Ashley over at Expedition: Everest and we have a broken down ECV."

Yes.

Every so often, the phone in the stroller warehouse will ring and one will be fortunate enough to have a conversation like this. It is a conversation that many love to have and one that Cast Members will even fight for. What does this phone conversation mean for the lucky CM who picks up? ECV Run.

But first, what's an ECV?

An ECV, according to Disney, stands for Electric Comfort Vehicle. Of course, the average guest usually just asks for the "Electric wheelchair".

A Disney ECV (a Disney ECV)

As you can see, you'll be riding in style if you ever decide to rent an ECV from us. A large percentage of the people who rent these vehicles are either elderly or people with broken legs. There's another "large" percentage of people who rent our ECVs, but I'll leave their description to your imagination. 

Let me tell you about an ECV run I did not too long ago.

Blurry, but you get the idea.

The phone rang in the stroller warehouse and I was lucky enough to be stacking strollers nearby. I picked up the phone and was quickly told about the broken down ECV at Kilimanjaro Safaris. After writing down some info in the ECV log, I made my way back to the ECVs to ready the Tow ECV. That's right. We have an ECV whose sole purpose is to tow other ECVs. After positioning another charged ECV behind the Tow, I pushed a button and slowly lifted up the new ECV. After switching on the piercing, orange, flashing light, I was ready to go. 

You can also tow wheelchairs...

I pulled out of the warehouse already a hero in my co-workers eyes as they all asked me the same question: "How far?" Happily, I was able to tell them Kilimanjaro Safaris, one of the furthest points in the park to do an ECV run.

My route

The trip to the destination is always the best part of an ECV run. I love getting to see parts of the park that I normally don't get to see during my shift, like the beautiful Tree of Life or the monumental Everest. Traveling at a whopping 5 MPH also provides a great laugh for many Guests as I pass by and also for myself as I picture how ridiculous I look. Many Cast Members shout out funny things to me (recently I got "The struggle is real!" as I barely made it over a hill), usually voicing their jealously towards my easy and time-consuming task. The ride there culminates in finding the Guests, which sometimes is a task in itself.

On this particular trip, I was welcomed by the CM's outside of the Safari's queue and was instructed that the Guest was broken down inside the queue itself. I parked the Tow and replacement outside and walked inside to find the Guest. I approached an early-30's man with sunglasses on who was standing next to his broken-down ECV. As I began to ask him questions, he quickly informed me that, "No speak English." Challenge accepted. As I plopped down on his ECV, I asked him what wasn't working, his answer being, "Broken." I slipped in my key, watched the charge meter jump into the green zone (meaning it is charged), and gave a little push of the lever. The ECV slid forward an inch and the man jumped back in surprise. 

Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens much too often. The ECV's have a censor in both the seat you sit on and the backrest and if they are not triggered by enough weight, the ECV will not run; a smart safety feature that does more harm then good.

I began to explain to the Guest that he had to really sit down in the seat to make sure he was activating the censor. Due to the language barrier, I spent more of my explanation using physical movements to show him what I meant. This featured myself bouncing my butt up and down on the seat, over and over, trying to show him how to really sit down. After two minutes of this, I couldn't help but laugh at myself. 

Eventually, I switched out the ECV to make the Guest happy and I began my return trek back to Strollers. While the journey back isn't as exciting as the journey out, it is still filled with wonderful sights and moments, with my favorite thing to say to Guests being, "You got to see the second parade today!"

Thanks for reading! I'm going to try and crank out a couple more posts before my program is over (May 30! I can't believe it's almost done.)

See ya,

P.W.

My Best Shift at Animal Kingdom...So Far

My Sunday shift at Animal Kingdom stands above the rest as probably my favorite shift that I've worked so far during the Disney College Program. Let me tell you about it.

How do you make change again??

I was scheduled to work from 10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., longer than any shift I had had yet. Since I'm a CP, I usually get stuck with the late or closing shifts. I'm used to coming in around 3 or 4, when the sun is already heading down and people are flocking out of the front gates, returning their strollers, wheelchairs, and ECVs on the way out.

I arrived for this shift ready to experience something different and I wasn't disappointed. I was first assigned to Outpost Cart, a small cart located outside of the actual gates and near where the trams drop people off. I had worked at this location many times, but I was used to grabbing a Safari Mickey Mouse plush and waving "Goodbye" to guests as they either went left for the tram or right for the buses. The only guest interaction that I would sometimes get is a group of guests breaking off from the stampede home who would come over and ask the very anticipated, always asked question of "How do we get to Downtown Disney??"




The first thing I noticed, however, when getting set up at Outpost Cart was the location of the sun. It wasn't hidden behind the trees as I was used to, but instead directly out in the open, beaming down directly onto my face. Let the sweat begin. But then, I noticed something else. People were actually getting off the tram and heading into the park! I quickly re-positioned myself, started waving Mickey's hand and began greeting guests with "Good morning!" and "Welcome to Animal Kingdom!" It was awesome. Instead of parents scowling at me and thinking I was just trying to lure their kid in for one more purchase on their way out (yes, this happens. I've had many parents vocally express their distaste to me), many gave me huge smiles back, realizing that I was simply having fun with my job and trying to get kids and even whole families excited for their day in the park. Many kids would wave back energetically or peek out from behind their parents legs and smile.

It was interesting how many of the kids would speak or respond back to me as if they were talking directly to Mickey Mouse. They would look directly into his eyes and say "Good morning Mickey!" Maybe it was because I held him lower at their eye level or because he's just such a recognizable and lovable character, but I felt like how a ventriloquist must feel when they take their puppets to such a realistic level that people are actually watching and interacting with it instead of the real life person. Except all I was doing was waving a hand.

One of the highlights of working at Outpost Cart was when a group of semi-elderly women slowed their walk as they passed me by. One of them told me, "Patrick, that is a wonderful smile you have and it is a free gift that you give every time you show it." It was one of the best compliments I've received and it widened my smile even more.

Eventually, I was bumped over to Outpost, a large store across from the cart that has most of the top selling items from inside the park. For the first hour or so it was a pretty normal shift that consisted of checking people out at the registers and pulling out the pin vest for people to trade. But then, this happened:

The store was for the most part empty when a middle aged woman walked in holding a bag. She approached myself and the other CM working with me and explained that she had purchased a hat for her husband, but that when they had gotten back to the car they had realized that it was too big (she made the "my husband's head is too big for his own good" joke one too many times, ha). She was looking to exchange the hat and had already checked over at Outpost Cart for the right size. I offered to first look around the store for the hat, but could not find it. I then asked her to wait as I checked back in the stock room. I searched and searched the shelves and found what I was pretty sure was the hat, only to be shown that it was similar but not the right one when I brought back out. I told her that if she had her park ticket that she could simply go back through the gates and exchange it at the store she had purchased it at. She told me that her ticket was in the car with the family, that it was the last day of their location, and that they were trying to get out of there so that they could head home to Mississippi. After a little discussion with the other CM, I decided to escort the guest to the front gate to see if we could get in.

We approached the exit gates because the cart that we would need to get to was right on the other side of it. Of course, we happened to choose the grumpiest, most unhappy, I-hate-my-job CM there ever was. She looked something like this:

She told us that there was no way we were getting in, so we went further down the line and tried one of the entrance CMs. Luckily, we picked a good one. She said it was fine as long as I escorted her in and out. Up to this point, I was beginning to form a connection with this woman. During our walking I had explained to her that I was doing the Disney College Program, how I loved Disney, and how I would love to continue working for the company in the future. She also told me a little about her family and their vacation. The guest and I checked out Guest Relations Cart where she had purchased the hat, only to discover that the size she needed wasn't there. I joked with her about how this was turning into a scavenger hunt and then we headed over to Strollers. I had her wait with another CM as I went in the back and checked the other stock room, hoping that I would discover the elusive hat, as I had no plans on what to do next. Finally I found the right shelf and discovered the right size! Woohoo! I triumphantly returned to the guest, holding the hat high! She was excited and grateful as we headed over to the register to check out. After more joking around and getting the exchange done, I prepared to say goodbye. But she wasn't finished yet. She wanted to see my manager so that she could explain the situation. Somebody alerted the current manager and as she walked out to us, I could tell she expected nothing but complaints from this guest. For the first minute of the conversation, the guest explained the beginnings of the story in a way that sounded like it was going to be a complaint, but then she switched into praising me for helping her find the hat. The best part of the story was when she directly compared me to Walt Disney and everything he stood for. Awesome.

I walked the guest out and we finally said our goodbyes, each thanking the other for what they had done. It was an amazing experience and I'm glad I got to help end their vacation on a positive note. Later, as I was clocking out for my break, the same manager came up and filled out a Four Keys card. It's basically a card that anybody can award to another CM for doing a great job in some aspect. You are entered into a monthly raffle if you receive one, but more importantly, it permanently goes on your record card.

I had many other great moments throughout the day, but I've already written too much. Next time I'll be writing about the very coveted ECV run.

See ya,

P.W.

My First Weeks Working For The Mouse

(Sorry it has been so long so I last posted. It has been a busy couple of weeks, but has given me time to reflect on my job. I hope you enjoy reading about it.)

Training was finally over. I awoke on my first day of work and took my first step into being a real, legit Cast Member: tearing the Earning My Ears ribbon off of my name tag. Some choose to leave theirs on for a little longer as a sort of safety net (if they don't have an answer for a Guest, they can point to the ribbon and say "I'm still training") but I felt confident enough in myself to rip it off.

I arrived at the bus stop to find two other CM's dressed in my wonderful pastel-blue-shorts-and-animal-patterned-shirt costume. I soon found out that they were also CP's and that they had started only a week or two before me. They explained that the first day was easy and that they would most likely place me in a location where I was working alongside other CM's who could help me should I get stumped on something. It was a very comforting conversation and helped to calm my nerves a little. 

I arrived at my work location and walked up to the CDS (the computer that clocks us in/out and assigns us our positions). I clicked "Get Assignment" and waited for my fate to print out on a small slip of paper. The paper read "Guest Relations Cart". Great. My first shift and I'd been placed at a spot in which I'd be alone and where no fellow CM'S could help me out.
Guest Relations Cart is a small merchandise cart that is located inside the park right next to the exit. Every night, almost every single guest in the park will walk by this cart on their way out. I walked onstage and over to my position, swapped out with the CM already there and got ready to make some magic. Here is a snippit of conversation I had early in my shift:

ME

Hello sir! How was your first visit??

MAN WITH 1ST VISIT BUTTON

Well, it wasn't too good.

ME

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that!

MAN

(angrily)

Ya, I guess Disney isn't for everybody....and it definitely wasn't for me!

I also encountered almost every little random request that you could ever get. Exchanges, returns, trying to use coupons, etc. I did alright for most of them but I had to turn a couple of people down because I was pretty sure there was no way to fulfill their request at my cart. After my break I was sent to Outpost, a large store located outside of the parks that acts as a sort of "last chance" for guests to grab that special Disney memento. This was good news because it allowed me to work alongside other CM's that were able to help me when needed. The rest of the night went pretty flawlessly and I left feeling good about my first day.

I have worked many days since then, so I will highlight some of my favorite experiences so far:
- One of my favorite activities is working at Guest Relations Cart and wearing a merchandise item that is basically a scarf that has two yeti paws attached at the end that work as gloves (like the picture, but minus the hat). There are many times where Guests aren't purchasing anything, so I slip these babies on and take my position next to the cart, right next to the small path that the majority of Guests walk by on their way out. I then proceed to wave and wave and wave to every single group of Guests as they walk by, throwing in many "Goodnights!" and an occasional "Have a great night!" (I have a small arsenal of goodbye-type sayings that I constantly cycle through. I enjoy getting to think of new ways to say goodbye) Mixed in between the waving are the high fives! Whenever a little kid walks close by, I stick out the paw and ask for a high five. Most of the kids happily comply, some even jumping up or walking way out of their way to get a coveted hand slap. Sometimes I will squat down to offer my yeti hand to a small child in a stroller. Without fail, all of them always take a second, staring at this large furry object that has been placed in front of them. Most of them will break a smile and slap my hand, while a small majority instead turns away in fear. The most interesting part of this "job" (read: fun) is that a lot of adults will place their hand onto mine and simply hold it there as they walk by. It fascinates me because if you were to take away the furry yeti paw, this would seem like such a strange thing for grown adults to do and something that most would never think of doing. But due to the fact that there is a piece of fabric between our palms and that we are at Walt Disney World, Guests (and I) feel very comfortable engaging in this behavior. It psychologically interests me and I have a great time experimenting with it.
- I have worked about two weeks now and have only touched strollers ONCE! What a relief! When I was first assigned to my role as Stroller Rentals, I was a little bummed at the thought of simply renting out strollers all day. Happily, I have found my job to be so much more than simply strollers and I encourage Disney to change this misleading label.

- The group of people I work with are awesome. Since I mostly work the closing shift, I don't have too much interaction with the "older folk", who enjoy opening the park (it's busier and time goes by way faster). But I have had tons of interaction with the many CP's who are doing the program like me and all of them have been super friendly and helpful. They really do make the job better.

- PINS! As I've already briefly touched on, pin trading has become a huge part of a Cast Member's job. I have had so many great experiences with pin trading, but my favorite part has been getting to share our secret pin spots! At our Stroller Rentals section, we have a Pin Stroller that we will wheel out for lucky Guests. The Guests have a great time getting to search for "that one pin" that they really need.

So happy!

Since I have worked more at Outpost, I have had more opportunities to share our Pin Vest with Guests. Imagine a large safari type vest filled with pins. Here to showcase what this would look like for you is this happy Cast Member:

Instead of wearing it though, we simply lay it on the counter, which is always followed by the Guests jaws dropping as they take in the beauty of it. They always mention how "overwhelming" it is and I have to agree with them. It's so much fun to sit and chat with the Guests about what pins they are searching for, how their day in the park was and where they are visiting from. It's a rewarding feeling when, as they leave, they give you a genuine goodbye, sometimes throwing your name in there for a personal touch.

- My favorite moment of the whole program up to this point has to be an encounter that I had with Guests just a couple of nights ago. I was working at Stroller Tag 2, a job in which I simply collect the strollers that people are returning, when two Guests came up. One of them was a middle aged woman and the other a young girl (maybe 10 or 11) in a wheelchair. Both of them were wearing Make-a-Wish buttons, an organization known by all Disney Cast Members. The woman who I assumed to be the child's mother explained that all day they had tried to get their hands on a Wilderness Explorer Badge Book, but were unsuccessful. They were wondering if there was anyway they could get one and another Cast Member mentioned that it would be hard because the Wilderness Explorer Station had closed earlier in the night. I was pretty sure I had remembered spotting one lying at the bottom of a drawer in one of the gift shops I had worked in earlier that day. I told the Guests to wait right there and then I ran off to see if I could find it. I frantically searched through all the drawers, fearing that I wouldn't be able to find it. Finally, after moving around some papers, I spotted the book and made sure it hadn't already been filled out. It hadn't been! I raced back to the Guests and had a huge smile on my face as I presented the book to them! They were super excited about it and the mother told me that it was the last night of their trip and that I had made their whole vacation. Man, what a wonderful feeling to be able to make someone say that. It was an act that any Cast Member would have done, but I am honored that I got to be the one to witness their smiling faces. It was such an amazing moment and definitely one I'll always remember.


I'm looking forward to many more experiences like the ones I've already had and I will definitely update you all on how things are going.


Thanks for hanging in there with me.


See ya,


P.W.

Finally, A Chance To Play

These two weeks have been crazy busy! Between check-in, Traditions, DAKlimation, training, adjusting to the dorm life (again), grocery shopping, and more, there hasn't been much of a chance to get out into the parks for some fun. Thursday night, I finally got to do this.

I had planned on staying at home for the night to get some schoolwork done (I'm still taking online classes at UCF). One of my roommates, Ben, got home from work and we chatted about his day. He had some schoolwork that he also needed to take care of, but he wanted a better atmosphere to do it in. Well, we're at Disney, right? Why not study AT Disney?? So we decided to take a bus over to the Contemporary Resort and study in the lobby.

Contemporary Resort Fun Facts:

• One of the original three resorts that opened with the Magic Kingdom
• The monorail runs through the hotel
• The hotel in which Richard Nixon gave his famous "I am not a crook!" speech
• The A-frame structure was built first, and then pre-constructed bedrooms were lifted by crane and inserted into slots.

We found a quiet spot in the hotel; a beautifully designed, almost rotunda-like room with comfy chairs to sit in. I finished my homework before him and sat observing the details in the room. Soon a couple of cheerleaders entered the room and started chatting. Side note: It is extremely common for groups of cheerleaders to visit Walt Disney World. Sometimes they compete in competitions at the Wide World of Sports and then spend a day having fun at the parks. It is rare to go a day at the parks without seeing a large pack of them wandering between attractions, all of them chanting in unison and swallowing up confused and terrified tourists with their large group. After a couple of minutes, more cheerleaders entered the room and the noise level grew. They kept coming and eventually the room was filled with cheerleaders and chaperones, their combined noise shooting up into the tall ceiling and then echoing back down at us with a force. Throughout the entire process, I was watching Ben trying to concentrate on his work. As the noise got louder and louder, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I waited for him to notice. Finally, it got to the point where it was just literally screaming and I busted out laughing, my laughter being the final straw that made Ben look up. He also laughed at how ridiculous the situation had gotten. It was then that we decided, hey, lets go to the Magic Kingdom.  

After a short walk from the Contemporary, we were at the front gates of the 8th most visited tourist attraction in the world. It's always a surreal experience to me, walking through the gates for the umpteenth time while around me, many Guests are entering this magical place for the first time, having saved up enough money to get the whole family across the country or even the world to experience the rides or meet Mickey Mouse. It definitely makes me appreciate living here in Disney's backyard and having the ability to visit the parks whenever I choose. I definitely don't take it for granted. This is one of the reasons I wanted to be a Cast Member, so that I could "give back" all the great experiences I've had here. 

Anyways, after grabbing a bite to eat at Pinocchio's Village Haus (Ben's place of work for the next couple of months), we headed over to the main reason we had come to the park: Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom (SotMK).

Sorcerer's of the Magic Kingdom is an almost two year old "game" created by Disney Imagineers that allows Guests to team up with Merlin to fight Hades and his recruited villians and to try and get back the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom. When you sign up at the firehouse on Main Street, they give you a booster pack of five cards for free (you get five more each day that you come). Each card is a different Disney character, each with their own card design and attack. You are also given a key card which has RFID technology built into it. To play, you basically have to find a location on the map, locate the keyhole and swipe your key card against it. This will open a "portal", essentially a video that introduces the villain(s) you are about to fight. To fight, you look through your deck of cards, and hold up the one you want to use. Cleverly hidden cameras read your card and an animation of that cards attack will happen on the screen (for instance, Frozone from the Incredibles shoots a beam of ice). After defeating that villain, you will be sent to another portal to do the same thing.

Ben casting two spells at once

Ben opening a portal. The poster is the screen.

Another portal. See the keyhole underneath?

It's a really fun game and can be very addicting. There are three different levels of gameplay, Easy, Medium, and Hard, which makes it great for all ages. Easy is definitely for kids; any card that you use will beat any villian. But as you get up into Medium and Hard, you have to figure out what weaknesses each villain has and then use the correct card against them. The game takes you around to visit different lands of the park and a lot of the portals are in little alleys or hidden locations that even the most frequent visitor may have never visited before. After playing for a while, myself and friends I have spoken with have concluded that SotMK is the closest you can get to Geocaching at Disney. There are many similarities between the two and I'm not surprised that I'm so interested in the game. I was so interested that I went back again last night and beat the whole Easy mode.

    

We had a great time at the park playing SotMK. On our way out, we got a great viewing of the Main Street Electrical Parade. Here are some photos:

See ya,

P.W.

And The Training Begins...

Hello everybody! It's been a while since I've last posted, mostly because I've been too busy. But a lot has happened since then!

My first day of training at Disney's Animal Kingdom (DAK) was called DAKlimation. I and many other new CP's met backstage at the Cast Services building which had the small elephant that used to be a part of the Kilimanjaro Safaris' finale trumpeting at us outside the front doors. After spending some time in a room learning about the history of the park and it's strong message of conservation (the perfect place for a Geocacher) we were rewarded with a trip into the park itself! Walking through one of the Cast Member only entrances, I again felt like a V.I.P. as many Guests turned their necks to see what this group of well-dressed young folk were doing. 

Our first stop was the Kilimanjaro Safaris. The Safari is an attraction that takes Guests through many different terrains and ecosystems (cleverly designed and maintained by Disney) and exhibits many types of animals. The best time to ride this attraction is early in the morning as the animals are just waking up. Not only were we riding this at around 9 a.m.., but a light drizzle of rain was just starting to fall; an even better indicator that we would be seeing lots of wildlife. Some of the highlights of the ride include seeing the mother Bongo with her just days old baby walking beside her, a giraffe walking just a couple of feet from the truck, and a congregation of hippos trying to see who could hold their breath the longest. It was a great way to start the day.

After this, we spent a lot of time exploring the different lands of this beautiful park and learning about the different conservation messages each one had to offer, along with each land's designated greeting ("Jambo!" in Africa, "Howdy, cousin!" in Dinoland). Throughout the tour, I was hearing many things that I had already known about the park (how the Tree of Life was created using an oil rig), but I ended up learning a couple of new things along the way, most importantly being DAK's love of wildlife and nature. 

I had known that the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund had existed, but had never learned much about it. Disney basically matches every dollar that is donated to the fund, while covering all of the operating costs on their own. The fund helps to preserve nature, ecosystems, and animals. Through Good Counsel Camp (the summer camp I've attended for 14 years) and Geocaching I have developed my own love and appreciation for nature and it was great to see that I would be working for a company that feels strongly about preserving and protecting it.

After eating lunch at Pride Rock Cafe and watching some more videos back in the classroom, we ended our day on a strong note, with a visit to the Costuming building! Earlier in the day I had been given a sheet of paper with pictures of the two costumes I would be wearing, both the epitome of a goofy (not the character) Disney costume.

As we entered the building, we were told that we were about to go on "the shopping spree of our lives". One in which everything was free. We turned a corner and all of our eyes widened at the rows and rows and rows and rows of costumes that seemed to stretch infinitely through the warehouse. Bright pastel colors, stripes, and polka dots mixed together to create a wardrobe that would be laughable if not for the fact that it was Disney. We were each sent off into the jungle of fabrics and material to search for our five sets of costumes. We were able to mix and match each set with either pants or shorts (yes, I did grab one pair of pants). What followed was the un-manliest locker room experience that I had ever had. Fifteen or so other guys and myself took turns changing behind curtains and then checking out what we looked like in the mirror. Each groan grew progressively louder (but none louder than the complaints traveling all the way from the women's locker room). After modeling our costume to a CM to make sure everything looked alright, we were sent to grab our accessories, like belts, jackets, gloves, and raingear for those bound-to-happen Florida rainstorms. It was a really cool experience getting to see all of the costumes. I now wish to visit the Magic Kingdom Costuming, which has to be at least four times bigger and has 2nd-story conveyor-belt type mechanisms that bring in the costumes Monster's Inc style.

Here's a look at the costume I will mostly be wearing: (Have you ever seen shirts pockets that big?)

After DAKlimation, I have spent two whole days with actual on-the-job training. I received a lanyard that came equipped with pins (pin trading has become a huge part of a CM's job) and I have already had many great experiences of pin trading with Guests of all ages. It's a great way to get conversation started and really gives the Guest a personal interaction. I have learned that Stroller Rentals really means so much more than it sounds! I would classify myself as more Main Entrance Merchandise. Although I have learned how to clean, unstack, and distribute strollers, I have also learned how to work the registers at the lockers and other nearby stores and carts.

Every single person that I have met that works in my area has been the nicest, most welcoming person and has really helped me learn the ropes. It's an area of the park that requires a lot of great teamwork and I can already tell that this group of people can definitely get the job done.

While Stroller Rentals may sound like an unimportant job, I have learned that my position is quite the opposite. We are the only group of CM's in the whole entire park that will see all 100% of the Guests every single day. We are the first interaction that they have, so we have to set the bar high and send them adventuring further into the park with smiles on their faces so that at the end of the day we will see them leaving with the same smiles.

I have a couple of more days of training to go and I am excited to finally be working all on my own. I can't wait to make Magical Moments for the Guests everyday that I work. This is definitely one of those jobs where you get back what you put into it, and I'm going to give it my all.

See ya,

P.W.

Traditions

Woo! It's finally real! These past few days I've simply been drifting along here, with only a Vista Way Housing ID in my wallet, but nothing to actually label me as a Cast Member. Well, after Traditions, that has changed.

Warning: Read at your own risk! If you ever plan to work for the Mouse and want Traditions to be a surprise, stop reading! 

I awoke this morning to the rain coming down and unfortunately, since the windows here are terrible, a freezing room. After taking a razor to Ol' Stubble Mountain, I started to get ready for my Traditions class. For some strange reason, Mr. Disney himself forgot to include "basketball shorts" on the list of acceptable clothing for this mandatory evaluation, so I had to bust out the nice clothes. Ties were optional, but I figured, what better setting for my Mickey tie? (shout-out to Chris' dad for never making me return it after that one dance)

My roommate Josh and I were scheduled for the same class, so we arrived at the bus stop only to find one other person. After a small panic, many CP's came meandering up in their business casual attire, as ready as we were. After a quick bus ride, we arrived at the Disney University. In the lobby I was greeted by this happy guy:

We were split up (bye, Josh) and corralled into a room lined with giant TVs and a plethora of pictures featuring the man himself, Walt Disney. But before we entered the room, the first step towards officially being a Disney CM occurred: we were given our blue CM ID cards! These are our tickets into the park until our Main Entrance Pass is mailed to us, so everybody was super anxious and excited to receive these. I sat at an empty round table which was soon filled with new potential friends and we were again given temporary Disney-style name tag stickers. A CM came to the front of the room and began going through a very boring SafeD video (ya, you guessed it, Disney's version of safety. Almost as corny as UCF's overusage of (K)night) The video gained a moment of credibility only after this CM began to speak in a very monotonous, "I don't really want to be here" tone. Oh no. Are the next four hours going to consist of this?? Looking around the room, I could tell I wasn't the only person thinking this. Luckily for all of us, this CM was soon replaced with two "I'm so happy to be here!" CM's, which woke us up a little. After returning from a quick break, we all found a large box sitting on all of our tables. Yes, this joke was made:

We were instructed to open them together as a table and inside we found pairs of the famous Mickey ears that millions have worn proudly around the parks. There was much rejoicing (and many, many selfies).

For the next two hours we went over the basics of Disney heritage, the present-day company, and what was required of us to be a CM. I must admit, many aspects of it were very hard to pay attention to because so much of it was common sense (don't punch the Guests) but I hung in there. Finally, things got interesting.

After being tricked into thinking we were about to have to stand in front of everybody and act out a scenario, we were instead happily informed that we would be visiting the front lines of it all, Magic Kingdom. After much cheering, we were given some more cool news: we would each be wearing a secret service type earpiece so that we could hear our guide talking to us at all times. Awesome. We all boarded a bus and were soon on our way.

Most of the bus ride was nothing different than I had done before, but things began to get interesting as we drove up the side of Magic Kingdom, the sleek Space Mountain looming nostalgically on our left. Suddenly, we passed through a gate and things began to get....dirty? The perfectly up kept Disney that I have experienced many times before quickly faded into old rusty pipes, machinery that hadn't been touched in years, and small slave children being led into It's a Small World!?!?* I knew the rumors were true! Okay, so there weren't any slave children, but there was a sense of realness that I had only seen once before on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour back in high school. After unloading behind the Storybook Circus section of the park, we began our descent into the main hallway of the Utilidors (the Utilidors are the tunnels that run underneath Magic Kingdom so that CM's/vehicles/garbage can easily be transported without guests seeing).

Although I had already once been in the Utilidors, it was still an awesome journey. We first passed the Mouseketeria (you can figure that one out on your own) and then finally made it into a main section directly underneath Cinderella's castle. As we were waiting against the wall, who else did we see but Cinderella herself, about twenty feet above us on another level. Although she wasn't in full costume, her hair and makeup obviously resembled the famous character. She heard us talking about her and looked down at us. Now, I have heard many mixed things about the princesses backstage, most of them bad, so I was expecting her to show us her fangs and snarl. Instead, she looked right into my eyes and gave me a huge smile. Pretty cool.

After a couple more minutes of navigating the tunnels, we went up a flight of stairs and stood at a pair of huge double doors. I had seen these doors many times before and instantly recognized them as the doors that act as the end of one of the side streets of Main Street USA. Many visits before, I had sat on the other sides of these doors, trying to sneak a quick peek in whenever a CM would go through them, and now I was on the other side of them. Pretty cool.

We went through the doors and were instantly immersed in the music, lights, and smells of Main Street. Our group was pretty large, so we quickly attracted attention. Two high school kids sat at the nearby table, the exact table I had frequented in the past, and one instantly began filming us with his camera as soon as we came out. We felt like celebrities as the camera and many Guests watched us walk by, leaving behind the backstage reality and entering the fantasy that is Magic Kingdom. Pretty cool.

I don't want to bore you with too many details but we basically walked around the park so that we could get a close up view of how the CM's work using the four Disney Keys (SafeD, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency). One highlight of the trip was walking by the castle as the nightly stage show was going on, which featured many constantly smiling CM's doing an outstanding job as usual. Soon after, as we were leaving through the Utilidors, we went by these same exact CM's as they were leaving, many with their overdone facial makeup still on, wigs in hand, their smiles left behind on stage. It was surreal.

Finally we made it back to the Disney University. After a couple more videos we were surprised with a visit from the Big Cheese himself, Mickey Mouse! He had brought another box with him and we soon found out that it contained our name tags! Finally, the moment we'd all been waiting for! One by one we went up as our names were called to receive our freshly printed token of legitimacy. Every person received a round of applause and cheering.

After a final farewell, we boarded the buses with our name tags on our shirts, our Mickey ears on our heads, and smiles on our faces. (Uh oh, the Disney corniness is rubbing off on me...)

It was such a unique orientation, one that I can't see many other jobs ever beating, and it certainly got me in the mood for the job. I start training tomorrow morning and I can't wait to wear my name tag proudly!

Thank you to everyone who has followed my experience so far! Sorry about the long posts this week, they will most likely get shorter as I get into the routine.

See ya,

P.W.




*This is a joke. Don't kick me out, Disney. I love you.

(B)eating the Kitchen Sink

Hello all! Yesterday was another great day here at the most magical place on Earth! But there's only one thing I need to share with you: The Kitchen Sink.

The Kitchen Sink is a legendary dessert at Beaches and Cream, a restaurant at the Yacht and Beach Club. It takes the old saying "Everything but the kitchen sink" and changes it around to "Everything AND the kitchen sink". Here are the ingredients, which are literally put into a small "kitchen sink".

• ½ cup fudge topping, warmed
• ½ cup butterscotch topping, warmed
• ½ cup peanut butter topping, warmed
• 1 medium banana, sliced in 1/2 –inch slices
• 1 cinnamon spice cupcake (2 ½ x 1 ¼-inch), quartered
• 1 angel food cupcake (3 x 1 ½-inch), quartered
• 2 4-oz. scoops vanilla ice cream
• 2 4-oz. scoops chocolate ice cream
• 2 4-oz. scoops strawberry ice cream
• 1 4-oz. scoop mint chocolate chip ice cream
• 1 4-oz. scoop coffee ice cream
• 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup
• ¼ cup marshmallow crème
• ¼ cup strawberry topping
• ¼ cup pineapple topping
• 1 14-oz can dairy whipped topping
• 1 brownie (6-inch x 6-inch), quartered
• 1 regular-sized (2 ounce) candy bar, quartered
• 4 chocolate cookies with cream filling
• 1 tablespoon sliced toasted almonds
• 1 tablespoon dark and white chocolate shavings
• 1 tablespoon chocolate cookies with cream filling, crushed
• 1 tablespoon chopped jellied orange slices (approximately 2 large slices)
• 1 tablespoon milk chocolate chip morsels
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter chip morsels
• 1 tablespoon chocolate sprinkles
• 1 tablespoon rainbow sprinkles
• ½ cup drained maraschino cherries

Making the experience all the better, they flip on bright flashing lights in the restaurant as they bring out this colossal dessert! We had to wait half an hour just to get into the restaurant and once we got in, we witnessed around four or five other Kitchen Sink's being presented to other smiling Guests. The menu says that it serves four, but we brought along one more just in case. Every time the lights began to flash, we all would excitedly look around, only to be disappointed when another table received what we believed to be our cherished treat.

                                                         Finally, we got it.

                                                           It was beautiful.

                                                             We finished it all.

It was everything we could have hoped for. We left with full stomachs and a great experience.

See ya,

P.W.

Disney College Program: Day One

(I'm posting this today, but I wrote it last night)

Hey, Howdy, Hey! Well, today was crazy! Let me start from the beginning.

I was scheduled to arrive at the Vista Way Welcome Center at 11 a.m. and was instructed not to get there any sooner. Due to the fact that my car might not make it, I left early and safely arrived at around 10:15 only to be told by the smiling, friendly Cast Member to U-turn and come back later. After waiting it out at the nearby Walgreens, I was finally cleared to enter (“Follow the purple signs!”). My previous studies of the DCP check in days on YouTube had shown me infinitely long lines of people sweating in the Florida sun. According to everybody, these were the first friends you would make and the people you would first explore the parks with. What I saw when I arrived was long sections of partitions set up to form a line, but nobody in them. As I approached the building, I began searching for where I was supposed to go and noticed another freshly shaven male doing the same. This was our conversation:

ME:

(pointing)

Hey man, I think we go in over there.

SMOOTH CHEEKED MALE:

(follows)

ME:

So, where are you arriving from?

SMOOTH CHEEKED MALE:

Arizona.

ME:

Wow! Did you fly or drive??

SMOOTH CHEEKED MALE:

Drive.

ME:

Dang, I bet you’re glad to be here!

SMOOTH CHEEKS:

Ya.

ME:

Cool, well I actually just came from Orlando

so it was only like 40 mins…

CHEEKS:

Cool.

So, as you probably already guessed, it didn’t seem like Arizona really wanted a new friend. We arrived at the door, were given temporary nametag stickers (fashioned in the recognizable Disney nametag design) and were ushered inside. Things were just getting started.

I approached a table and a Cast Member asked for my name. BAM! “Patrick, you’re at Animal Kingdom. Stroller rentals,” the CM responded as she slammed a sticker onto my new Program Guide. A role assignment already? I was barely inside! It was interesting to watch this process happen to other CP’s after me, their four month fate being forcefully thrust onto them in the blink of an eye by a Cast Member whose life was completely unaffected by the action. After this shocking moment, I was shooed down the line to where a CM checked me out to make sure I had abided by the Disney Look (Full beards only! Only moustaches that connect! Wait, didn’t Walt only have a little stache?) and was then sent to a table where another shock was thrown my way. BAM! “Vista Way. 3 bedrooms.” Vista Way? My top three (I had ranked my housing preferences before arriving) had included every housing complex BUT Vista Way. Before I could even think about this second fateful decision locking into place, I was again whooshed down the line to another CM who gave me 0.56 seconds to smile for a photo. I again followed the line to a row of…coffee machines?? I was told by this new CM that they were in fact printing out our photo, not forcing us to drink caffeine like many before me had also thought. I had a laugh about this with another new CP in front of me and thought, “This is it. This is the new friend. We are about to swap names, roles, stories, shoe sizes and soon enough we’ll be exploring Epcot together. ‘Remember that time when we met in line,’ he’ll ask me later in our program. ‘Of course’ I’ll giggle as we plummet backwards down the falls of Maelstrom, barely escaping the trolls.” But then our potential friendship was severed in the next destination, an outside patio, as we were each sent separate ways. I joined a table of six females as a CM explained to us that we were to head to Casting at 3:30 later that day. After a couple more room changes like this, I was finally coughed back out into the street, a free tote bag in my hand, and not one friend more than when I had started. This was such an interesting process and a great example of how Disney can work as a well-oiled machine, but sometimes felt like a cold, impersonal journey that could make someone feel like another number in the computer.  

Since I had a couple of hours to kill before Casting, I headed to my new Vista Way apartment. I surprisingly lucked out with a building that sits on a lake (think retention pond with ducks) and is also near the Clubhouse (main hangout spot). I walked in to find two of my new roommates, Ray and Scott, sitting on the couch. After exchanging a couple words with them, they seemed relieved to know that I was “pretty normal”. The apartment has a kitchen, 2 refrigerators, a living room, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. I soon moved in with Yuri and snagged a bed with a nice “lake” view. After meeting the rest of the roommates (Josh and Ben) we all took a break from unpacking to grab some lunch.

A couple hours later and I was ready for Casting! Ben and I headed out after discovering we had the same time. The bus that we took (buses are the main form of transportation to everywhere!) was led by an ever-smiling CM whose dream, it seemed, was to be a Jungle Cruise skipper due to his many sarcastic jokes that were nothing more than Jungle Cruise joke rip-offs. After the traditional “Everybody scream when we pass through the Disney entrance” we arrived at the Casting Center, an awesome looking building that I had seen many times from I-4. For the first time, I learned that its design was modeled after the Argyle socks that Walt Disney used to wear. Now we’re talking. After spotting the amazing doorknobs that were an exact replica of the Alice in Wonderland doorknob, we were sent into the main Atrium, a beautifully designed room with golden statues of various Disney characters. What followed was very similar to the Welcome Center, being thrust around from room to room getting this and that signed, getting my fingerprints taken, and being assigned for training. I was scheduled for Traditions (the magical orientation that every Disney Cast Member must go through) on Thursday and training on Friday. So, two days of free time (and no I can’t get into the parks yet). Bummer. I was ready to jump into things!

I returned back from Casting exhausted to find all of the roommates hanging out. We decided to go to Downtown Disney for dinner, but I won’t bore you with the details of that. Luckily, I’ve been placed with a great group of guys, and by the end of the day it was as if we had been friends for a long time.

And with that, my first day of the DCP came to an end. It was an exciting day, but one where you are only briefly introduced to that magic that lies ahead and instead find out that your sink already doesn’t work. It was extremely similar to the first day of college. All around you, people are asking, “What role are you?” and making connections through their hometowns. Things are definitely already looking up and I’m really looking forward to getting started.

Until Traditions, see ya.

P.W.