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.