This has all happened before, and it will all happen again. But this time it happened in the city of Anaheim, in a quite building in Tomorrowland. Now if you've ever been to Innoventions you'll get the joke here, if not come on by and visit us.
This blog was a little delayed but I wanted to get all of the way through my training before I put it up and my training was spaced out and long.
My first day of official training was Guest Interaction Training (GIT). Most people had groups of two of three and their trainer, I lucked out and was one on one. My trainer Marya was awesome, right off the bat she realized that I had plenty of Disney and Disney Park knowledge. I also found out that I won't ever get pulled for a Guest Show Organization (GSO). That means I'll never have a shift where I'm not working my attraction; it also means I won't get to work the flashlight of power. Marya and I strolled around the park bouncing facts of each other, I got to see more of the backstage areas that I hadn't seen yet. I got to work the flashlight of power for the parade, better than the flash light of power I got to wear an awesome Disneyland pea coat! I had an awesome day with Marya, she taught me somethings and I even taught her a few things.
So after my day of GIT I had six days off before I started my on the job (OTJ) training. So I did what anyone would do spend some time in the World Famous Disneyland Costuming and find pieces of my costume that fit. I learned quickly that size tags at Disney are estimates at best so it's always a good idea to have a back up pair of pants and a shirt that you know fit you. I spent a few days and nights in the park some alone and some with my roommate Sam. Sam has quickly turned into my Disney buddy, he's got an Annual Pass (AP) with no blackout dates so he can go to the park more than I can. Living walking distance of the parks has turned us into "snoby locals" who don't like waiting in line. I mean why am I going to wait over an hour for Space Mountain when I can get a Fast Pass (FP) for later in the day, go back home for a few hours, and come back at my FP time. I've also really enjoyed living so close because I can walk over and people watch. Some of the most laid back day's I've had in the parks are the days I've done the least amount of attractions.
Okay back to work talk, so my first day of OTJ training I met my trainer Robyn at Harbor Point. Here I was foolishly thinking I only had two scripts to learn, Robyn quickly informed me that we have seven scripts. She said if I couldn't handle it we could go to the managers right there and then to transfer me to a different attraction. I told her it would be no problem, even though I have minimal acting experience. So my first day mostly consisted of getting familiar with the attraction and covering the safety information.
Tuesday night however was one of the coolest experiences I've had in any Disney park. Tuesday night was the private holiday party, what that means is they close the park at six pm and only CM's and their guests are allowed in. For the CM's with families it means a rare calm time in the park during the busy holiday season; for younger CM's such as myself it means we have a chance to have a nearly empty park to cram in as many attractions as we can in a few hours. Once again Sam came with me and we hit a ton of attractions, all of Tomorrowland, most of Fantasyland (stupid Pete Pan still having a longish line), visited Mickey and Minnie in Toontown, I ate a breadbowl, hit Pirates and the Mansion. All and all it was awesome.
Lucky for me I wasn't on until 1:30pm the next day so I was able to sleep in a bit. Day two of OTJ was filled with more safety info, testing on that info, and learning two of the scripts. I was able to get one of them done that day so I was pretty happy with myself. Day three was a much earlier day, I was up at 5:30, walking to work as the sun came up, and clocking in at 7am. I was however able to finish our on show on the ring and two of the rooms in the Dream home, again very pleased with myself. Day four was another early day, but again I knocked out two more rooms in the Dream Home. Leaving me the last, and hardest room in the home. I don't want to give away too many spoilers but I will say it involves the story of Peter Pan coming to life. I practiced that for the entirety of the three hours I had before our building opened and again with guests during the day. I rocked it and was able to get signed off on all five rooms, two shows, and all the safety information in five days; that my friends is a day early. I am clearly a rockstar, you might want to get my autograph before I get too famous. Ego aside finishing a day early meant that I could come in later than 8am Sunday and Robyn could have the day off; I don't know which on of us was more excited.
Now not only was I thrilled to sleep in, it was going to be my first day done with training and in rotation. So I set of on my stroll to work in my sweet Tomorrowland jacket, y'all can hate on it but I think it's better than the brown fleece one that's our other option. I made sure I had plenty of time to battle the crowds in DTD and the esplanade, put my lunch cooler in the breakroom, got mic'd up and still had 15 minutes to spare. Better early than late right? Of course I started the day off at my least favorite show, but I was quickly bumped to my next spot and again and again and again, you get the point. I may have stumbled a bit but I think I did a pretty good job of covering it up, and soon enough it was time to close the building and head home. I've got to give it up to my coworkers they all have been super welcoming to me. They keep saying we are like a family which is great for me.
I can't wait to bring you more stories of my adventures in Neverland, whoops I meant Tomorrowland. Thanks for visiting us here at Innoventions, we'll see you around... get it, get it? Because the building rotates. These are the joke folks.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
They Call it Tradtions...
I call it the best first day at a job I've ever had.
Today started early for me, first alarm went off at 6:15, didn't even need the several backups I had set. Two bowls of cereal, shower, shave, and I was on my bike by 7:15 on my way to Team Disney Anaheim (TDA). I'm hopping I looked as dapper as I felt riding down Ball in my dress clothes. I arrived some five minutes later and was greeted by a courtyard full of many new Cast Members such as myself. We all made small talk until our Leads for the day greeted us and began to check us in.
After check in we made out way to the CM Auditorium in (TDA) and there we watched several welcome videos. The first was clips of Walt talking about his vision for the park and there were several values mixed in as well. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger was nice enough to join our class via satellite, well that's what our Leads joked. We then split off into groups to meet new people and play a game. We had to name as many Disney animated characters as we could in 90 seconds; sadly my teams was 11 shy of winning. We then we arranged in more new groups and headed up stairs with our Leads to classrooms.
We had another activity to do, it was a timeline of the Walt Disney Company. I don't mean to let my ego show to much, but I put the team on my back and only made a few errors. More video clips and Power Points slides, I enjoyed all of them, then time for a break. Kristian and David, my Leads, made mention of free coffee and it was a mad dash for most of us to go get out caffeine fix on. More video clips and Power Point slides, then it came time for our backstage and on stage tour. Backstage was something I always dreamed of seeing and now I was going to get my chance. We strolled through the backstage areas, went on stage and made several stops around the park. I couldn't have been more proud of my paper name tag at the point. During our outing in the park I shared some of my Disneyland knowledge with my new found friends. Then it was time for lunch. All I'm going to say is the Eat Ticket Cafe has some of the coolest Disneyland memorabilia hanging in it. Surprisingly the food wasn't too expensive, so maybe I'll splurge and eat there a few days a week.
It was back to video clips and Power Points slides again, I was trying to soak it all in... I hope that didn't make me seem like the over the top CM to be.... Afternoon caffeine break, more clips and slides, then we headed back down to the auditorium. This was it, this was the moment I've been waiting for. Or so I thought, they had us meet with out Onboarder (another fancy Disney term). Art gave us some forms, told us to be prepared and in the "Disney Look" for tomorrow, then sent us back in the auditorium. We watched a quick video welcoming us the the team and it ended with a segment of Walt talking. It was a truly amazing experience, but I knew what was coming next. Mickey was going to come out and give us our name tags and CM ID. I may be 23 years old but this got me a bit choked up. This was it I was finally no longer Sean the Disney Dork, I was Sean from Tempe, AZ a Cast Member at the Disneyland Resort. I have never had a job that has made me feel this way after just one day of training, nor I job I wanted to succeed to my maximum potential more than I do now. While they may just be two pieces of plastic they changed my life. I cannot say how thankful I am to my family, friends, and all of you that read this. I hope to continue this blog with stories of how my fellow Cast Members and I create happiness and magical memories.
Hold on to your hats and glasses folks, this here is the wildest blog in the wilderness.
Today started early for me, first alarm went off at 6:15, didn't even need the several backups I had set. Two bowls of cereal, shower, shave, and I was on my bike by 7:15 on my way to Team Disney Anaheim (TDA). I'm hopping I looked as dapper as I felt riding down Ball in my dress clothes. I arrived some five minutes later and was greeted by a courtyard full of many new Cast Members such as myself. We all made small talk until our Leads for the day greeted us and began to check us in.
After check in we made out way to the CM Auditorium in (TDA) and there we watched several welcome videos. The first was clips of Walt talking about his vision for the park and there were several values mixed in as well. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger was nice enough to join our class via satellite, well that's what our Leads joked. We then split off into groups to meet new people and play a game. We had to name as many Disney animated characters as we could in 90 seconds; sadly my teams was 11 shy of winning. We then we arranged in more new groups and headed up stairs with our Leads to classrooms.
We had another activity to do, it was a timeline of the Walt Disney Company. I don't mean to let my ego show to much, but I put the team on my back and only made a few errors. More video clips and Power Points slides, I enjoyed all of them, then time for a break. Kristian and David, my Leads, made mention of free coffee and it was a mad dash for most of us to go get out caffeine fix on. More video clips and Power Point slides, then it came time for our backstage and on stage tour. Backstage was something I always dreamed of seeing and now I was going to get my chance. We strolled through the backstage areas, went on stage and made several stops around the park. I couldn't have been more proud of my paper name tag at the point. During our outing in the park I shared some of my Disneyland knowledge with my new found friends. Then it was time for lunch. All I'm going to say is the Eat Ticket Cafe has some of the coolest Disneyland memorabilia hanging in it. Surprisingly the food wasn't too expensive, so maybe I'll splurge and eat there a few days a week.
It was back to video clips and Power Points slides again, I was trying to soak it all in... I hope that didn't make me seem like the over the top CM to be.... Afternoon caffeine break, more clips and slides, then we headed back down to the auditorium. This was it, this was the moment I've been waiting for. Or so I thought, they had us meet with out Onboarder (another fancy Disney term). Art gave us some forms, told us to be prepared and in the "Disney Look" for tomorrow, then sent us back in the auditorium. We watched a quick video welcoming us the the team and it ended with a segment of Walt talking. It was a truly amazing experience, but I knew what was coming next. Mickey was going to come out and give us our name tags and CM ID. I may be 23 years old but this got me a bit choked up. This was it I was finally no longer Sean the Disney Dork, I was Sean from Tempe, AZ a Cast Member at the Disneyland Resort. I have never had a job that has made me feel this way after just one day of training, nor I job I wanted to succeed to my maximum potential more than I do now. While they may just be two pieces of plastic they changed my life. I cannot say how thankful I am to my family, friends, and all of you that read this. I hope to continue this blog with stories of how my fellow Cast Members and I create happiness and magical memories.
Hold on to your hats and glasses folks, this here is the wildest blog in the wilderness.
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