Last night was spectacular. Once all my roommates and I got off work, we decided to order some Chinese food and have it delivered to our apartment. We all sat around the table eating Chinese and sharing our most embarrassing stories. We were all nearly crying by the end of the night because we were laughing so hard, and it was a wonderful bonding time I had with them. We haven't really had much time to spend with each other all together until last night.
I started in costume training today, which was exciting. I got to meet my first trainer, Amanda. She was nice enough. Not quite the cheery Fairy Godmother in Training I'd been expecting, but she taught me a lot. She briefly gave me a tour of the utilidoor (though I still get completely turned backwards down there--everything looks the same). She also took me up to one of the towers of the castle and to a door where I could look out and see the show that was going on in the castle area. It was pretty cool to be that close to the show backstage. Then she took me to the actual boutique, which was jam packed full of people, and I was thrown right into work. It was really confusing at first, especially since my trainer seemed to think that whispering in an extremely loud and busy boutique was sufficient. I have bad hearing as it is, and with her barely raising her voice to give me instructions... Needless to say, I was lost for a while. But I got the hang of things pretty quickly once she had me actually start doing the tasks, and I had a lot of fun.
Today I just learned to work the podium jobs. There are three podium jobs involved in the boutique, which are cleverly titled Podium 1, 2, and 3. Podium 1 is probably the most stressful--this is checking people in for their reservations, preparing the Princess information card that will be passed between the other two podium workers, and telling people that no, if they don't have a reservation, no matter how special they are, they can't come in. I only had one lady get a little upset with me, and that was mainly because she had tried to buy a Princess Tiana dress at the store across the street, but they were out and for some reason told her to come to the boutique to buy one, but we don't sell them. So this lady gets all upset, saying that SOMEONE needs to inform the people over at the other store because she doesn't want to be reassured that she can come to our boutique only to have us tell her no.
Podium 2's job is to take the Princess information card and help the princess shop for which dress she would like (if one has been purchased). We also have to then mark down all sizes, shoes, dresses, etc. and finish filling out the princess information card, and then mark it down on a dry erase card which we then hand to a Podium 3 worker. Once the princess is all dressed, we have to find an available chair, and then take the princess to her Fairy Godmother and introduce them.
Podium 3 is responsible for dressing rooms. Once we are given the dry erase card by a Podium 2 worker, we have to go to the back stock room and fill out the order and arrange the dresses, shoes, wands, and tiaras in a dressing room. We then have to go back to the front, mark off that we'll be taking the princess to the dressing room, and then take the princess to be changed. Once she's changed, we have to mark off on the information card that she's dressed and ready to be seated at a chair.
Of the three jobs, I think my favorite was probably Podium 3. I really liked this job, because it gave me a little bit of a break from smiling all the time (my cheeks were getting really tired), because as soon as I walked into the stock room, all of the acting could stop and I could just focus on filling the orders and arranging the dressing rooms. But I still had guest interaction because once I prepared the rooms, I could go out there and call for the princess and talk to her as I led her to her room. We also have to make the revealing of her clothes a big ordeal, and so we instruct them to shout "Bibbity Bobbity Boo!" as we throw open the curtains to reveal their clothes that have "magically" appeared because of the words they've just shouted. It's really cute to see them look so surprised, and I loved that part. But it was also nice to be able to get frequent breaks from smiling whenever I went to the stock room.
The best moment of the day inside the boutique, however, was with a particular little princess from Brazil. It was her birthday, and she was going to be flying home to Brazil tomorrow morning. Her mother didn't know that reservations were required, and so she asked if we could accept a walk-in. By this time, however, it was 15 minutes until closing, and we were still expecting a party of two to come in. All of our chairs were full, and we had no room. So we had to say sorry, but we really couldn't accept a last minute walk-in. She was disappointed and left to tell her daughter (who was off shopping with her father). About five minutes later, a woman came in and hurriedly apologized, telling us that her daughter had just fallen asleep and wasn't going to be able to make it to the appointment. Suzanne, one of the sweetest old ladies I have ever met and probably the closest thing to a Fairy Godmother I've ever seen, was practically leaping for joy, and she quickly ran out of the boutique searching for the Brazilian woman. She figured that she'd find her in a store looking for at least a princess dress, which turned out to be a good guess, because she found the woman in the shop across the street, looking at dresses while on the phone with her husband explaining how they couldn't take her daughter into the boutique. Suzanne told her there'd just been a cancellation and that they could take her quickly if she still wanted. So they rushed the little girl over, and by this time, it was about five minutes till closing. So most of the chairs were empty, and this little girl walked in to about ten Fairy Godmothers all shouting "Happy Birthday Princess!" and her face just lit up and she was so excited as we helped her pick out a dress, shoes, wand, and crown. Her mother looked about ready to cry from happiness, and the girl was beaming the entire time. I knew there would be moments like this, but I hadn't expected one to come on my first day of the job. It's times like that that make me really glad I decided to work here.
On a completely unrelated note, I'm going to have to learn to speak differently. They have an entire language that they use in the boutique, basically, that's all code words so that guests never know what we're saying. Whenever I have to use the restroom, the "wishing well is calling me." When I receive a tip, I've just received "rose petals." My lunch break is either "feeding the horses" or "picking flowers." Facebook is "the book of faces," texts are "scrolls," and the TV is "the magic mirror." My favorite--an attractive young father is "a good looking cupcake." Even phrases that aren't codes will take time to get used to. I just have to learn to talk more "princess-y" and not so... me. "That's totally fine" has to be "That is perfectly splendid." "Sorry, but no" becomes "I'm so dreadfully sorry, I'm afraid that's unavailable." Little things like that. It'll take some getting used to, but I figure if I just watch a lot of the Disney princess movies I'll pick it up fairly quickly.
I think my absolute favorite part of today, however, was outside of the boutique. As I was waiting for my trainer on "the white bench" (which I've decided is like the bench of shame. Everyone in the utilidoor walks past that bench, and they can all see that you're the newbie, waiting for the trainer) I saw a plethora of characters, because the Mousketeeria (cafeteria) is right next to it. The first I saw was Cinderella's evil stepmother and stepsisters. All three of them were wearing bloomers, these white undershirts, and a lab coat. And heels. And wigs. And full makeup. It was really interesting to see. The next to walk my way was Cinderella herself in bloomers as well, followed later by an extremely odd couple-- Princess Aurora and Captain Hook. At the time, I didn't know who he was, because he only had his makeup on. However, Bri had seen him as well and her trainer explained that he is the only face character Captain Hook and he only appears in one of the shows. It was just interesting to see a princess and a villain going to lunch together. They were followed shortly by Ariel, also in bloomers.
And then my absolute favorite part came: I saw three Peter Pans. Not at the same time of course, because everyone knows there's only ONE Peter Pan, but I saw him three times. The first was when I was walking with my trainer in Fantasyland and he was outside with a child crowing as loud as he could. I stopped without realizing and gaped at him, earning a laugh from my trainer, who quickly learned of my insane obsession with Peter Pan. The second time--my trainer and I were walking around the utilidoor and he was walking towards us, this time not in full costume, but in a baggy shirt and his green tights. The third--on the bus back to my transfer stop. I got on the same bus with him at the utilidoor and we were sitting next to each other. I wasn't sure at first if it was him, because he didn't have the hair or clothes, because he was heading home, but then after hearing him talk on a phone, I was positive that he was Peter Pan. And it's funny that even though he wasn't in costume or makeup at all, it was still that little kid amazement you get whenever you see a character walking around the park. I had that jittery panic inside while a voice in my head screamed "I'M SITTING NEXT TO PETER PAN!" Apparently he's also rich, because he made a reservation for Cinderella's Royal Table for him and his girlfriend. That restaurant is EXPENSIVE. You get to dine with all the princesses in the second floor of the castle. He's definitely making more than I am, that's for sure.
And that's about all for today. I still freak out inside every time I think that I got to see Peter Pan three times today. I remember how excited I was seeing him for the FIRST time just this past winter. He's never been a common character at Disneyland, but I guess he's a big thing here. And man am I glad for that! :)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Day 3/4
Man have my days been picking up. Monday and Tuesday I had all the time in the world, and now suddenly I'm so busy I've barely got time to grab a bite to eat. I have a feeling that I'll be on a semi-starvation diet whether or not I want to this summer. But I'm done for today, and I probably won't be doing much tonight since I'm so exhausted.
Yesterday was Traditions class: aka brainwashing time. We had to sit there and watch this half hour video of this badly animated guy whose mouth didn't match up with the words, as he pretty much made the entire room fall asleep as he droned on and on about safety, responsibility, and respect. It was all pretty common sense stuff--I doubt anyone actually learned anything new in that section of the class.
However, things started picking up once we actually met our two Traditions teachers, and they were both pretty exciting. They took us briefly into the Magic Kingdom because, according to them, how are we supposed to learn how to make the magic unless we experience it ourselves? I thought it was cool, but it was probably the least exciting part of this adventure. Here's a few of the awesome things I got to see/do/learn (that Disney will allow me to tell you, of course :P) over the past two days:
1. The famous Utilidoor. This is an underground tunnel system running beneath the entire Magic Kingdom. We got to walk right under Cinderella's Castle and the moat surrounding it, as well as Main Street. It's definitely a new experience to see Disney from the backside/underground. In one way, it's a huge shock because, well, this is my childhood I'm seeing all torn to shreds. The magic in the park is definitely not beneath it, neither is it behind all those nicely painted walls. It's all business below, and there's no fancy decorations down there. But as much as it killed the magic for me, it also increased a lot of my appreciation for Disney. I've always been a lover of being backstage, so I find it fascinating to see how everything is working.
2. The characters. We get to see characters in various states of dress--my favorite was getting on the bus with Princess Aurora in full makeup with her wig on, and in half of her skirt and a t-shirt. I've seen way more princesses and other characters in ways that the public never gets to. Today I sat next to Tinkerbell on the bus. She was wearing sweatpants, a baggy t-shirt, and this giant wig with a bun the size of my face on it. I'm fairly certain I've passed several of the princes in the Utilidoor, but none of them were in costume. But I'm assuming that's what they had to be, seeing as their hair was definitely not to Disney standards.
3. The history and detail of Disney. There is SO much that goes into the Disney parks that you never realize. Small little details, that make guests feel and think certain things as they walk through the parks. It's amazing to learn about the kinds of studies they've done for this park. Think about the trash cans for a second. Do you remember how many trash cans there are? Probably not very clearly, because they're all made to blend into the scenery. However, Walt Disney did a study when he first opened Disneyland where he gave each guest a free candy with different colored wrappers, and then he removed all of the trash cans from the park. Afterward, he went around and collected all the wrappers, measuring how far people would walk before they gave up on finding a trash can. I think it's something like ten feet. So the next time you go to a Disney park, look around. There's a trash can every few feet--one of the reasons the Disney parks stay so clean. Another really interesting one is that Main Street is scaled so that when you stand at the entrance, looking at the castle, it looks really long. The first two stores on the corners of Main Street are two stories, but they are made to look like three. As you go down Main Street, each building gets smaller and smaller just slightly so that you can't tell as you walk down the street--however, when you look from the front, it looks much, much longer than it actually is. This makes the castle look even BIGGER when you stand on Main Street. The castle itself is 189 feet tall--specifically 189 because if they were to make it 190, then they'd have to put a flashing red light on top of it to warn aircraft. And you know Disney--they're all about the show. A flashing red light on top of Cinderella's Castle doesn't quite match the show they wanted. So its 189, shorter than they'd have liked, and so Main Street was created this way to make it look taller. Another interesting tidbit about Main Street--it is ever so slightly inclined as you walk towards the castle so that when you're still full of energy you go uphill (and it also increases the illusion that it's longer than it really is) and at the end of the day when you're tired, you're walking downhill without realizing it, and it's easier on you. And one more cool tidbit about the Magic Kingdom--in Liberty Square, located next to Adventureland and home to the Haunted Mansion, there is a cobblestone path winding around the area, and the surrounding ground is red. This is a detail from the colonial days, back before restrooms. At the time setting of Liberty Square, people would use chamber pots and then throw it out the window on the ground. Cobblestone paths were created so that people didn't have to walk through this, and Disney decided to replicate that small detail in the park. This is why there is a cobblestone path through Liberty Square with surrounding red concrete. The shutters in this area as well are all slightly skewed, tilting away from the windows. This is because back then, metal was really expensive and most people couldn't afford hinges. Instead, they would tie their shutters on with leather straps. However, as the sun softened the leather over time, the shutters would start to droop as the leather stretched out. There are so many small details like this that I've been learning the past two days that just blow my mind. There has been SO much work and research put into these parks, it's absolutely fantastic.
4. Whisper phones. These things are magical. It's just like a walkie talkie earbud type thing--what you'd picture the Secret Service wearing to communicate. However, these are just ones that you loop around your ear, and one person has a mic on their's so that they can talk quietly while in the park and everyone wearing the whisper phones can hear. During our Traditions class when we actually went into the Magic Kingdom, we were each given a whisper phone and we all walked around the park in our business clothes, wearing these awesome wires in our ears, looking all professional as we listened to our teacher tell us a bunch of the secrets of Disney. I felt so pro walking around the park with that thing. We all pretended like we were in the CIA. Although I'm fairly certain the CIA would have wireless ones... :)
5. New park information. We were told SO much about new things that are going to happen to DisneyWorld over the next few years. And fortunately for you, I'm actually allowed to share them. :) The biggest one that I'm most excited for is the new Fantasyland. Currently Toon Town is shut down (they're removing it entirely), and part of Fantasyland is closed as well. This is because there is a lot of construction currently going on to create a NEW Fantasyland. But this new one isn't just a renovated version of the old one--this is an entirely different section of the park. The way Fantasyland is set up right now is as if it were Cinderella's courtyard--the walls surrounding it are made to look like the same stones from the castle, so that you feel as if you're in the courtyard of her castle. The new Fantasyland will be the Fantasy Forest--the land outside of Cinderella's castle walls. This will include the Beast's castle, Belle's village, Aurora's cottage (which she lived in till she was 16) where they will host a birthday party for Aurora turning 16 every day, I believe. It will also have a whole new section for Ariel and Prince Eric, as well as Pixie Hollow, from the new Tinkerbell movie. This is just some of what will be going into Fantasy Forest, and I'm pretty excited. Sadly, it won't be open till 2012 or 2013, so not for a while. But it's sounding like it's going to be pretty fantastic. :)
6. Ride backgrounds/stories. Most of the rides here have a general story that guests can somewhat follow. However, there are some very specific stories for particular rides--stories that make the ride even MORE fantastic once you know all the details. The biggest example of this is the Haunted Mansion. Think back to that Haunted Mansion movie that came out a little while ago starring Eddie Murphy. You know--the one where he's a real estate agent and they get stuck at this mansion, which, they come to find out, is home to a ghost seeking for his murdered loved one. The story of the Haunted Mansion is similar, but not quite the same. We were told the story today just before we were able to get on the ride, and let me tell you--the ride is SO much scarier once you've heard the story. I love the Haunted Mansion, but I think I love it even MORE now that I know the complete story.
The story goes something like this: There was once a man named Edward Gracey (look for the gravestone for a Master Gracey while waiting in line--the dirt will look as if it has been freshly placed) whose parents died when he was very young. He lived in a mansion alone with his butler, and the butler kept a diary of everything that happened in this mansion. In the diary, the butler recorded how as Edward got older, it became necessary for him to look for a companion. However, he didn't trust people in the town--most had tried to use him for his wealth, and so he had a very bad view of those living near him. So the butler took him to a woman with a crystal ball who could see the future (hence the room with the floating crystal ball and the woman's face in it). This woman showed him a girl that he thought was perfect--and this girl happened to live several towns over, so she knew nothing of his wealth. The woman warned, however, that there was a very shady aura about the girl, and that there was something in her past that was incredibly dark. He brushed it off though, knowing that people sometimes have things in their past they don't like to discuss. So he began to court this woman, and he finally proposed. She agreed, but she'd refused to tell him about her past. When she moved into the mansion, she was surprised by his wealth, and asked that in the whole mansion, she just wanted one room to store some things from her past that wouldn't be out for everyone to see. She asked to hide away her things in the attic, since no one would go up there. Edward agreed, and she moved in and they lived happily for some time. One day she said that Edward should get to know the people more and learn to trust them. There was a boy in the town turning nine, and so she suggested they throw a birthday party for him and invite the whole town. So they threw this spectacular party with a feast and dancing, celebrating with all the people in the town. The butler served all the guests throughout the party, but as he walked around, he began to notice that both Edward and his new wife were both missing. He grew worried, and so he began to search the mansion for them, knocking on all of the doors. As he found empty room after empty room, he began to panic more, dreading that something awful had happened to them. After searching all the rooms with no luck, he remembered the one place no one was allowed to go--the attic. He ran up there, and as he entered, he saw pictures and documents everywhere. The documents were all marriage licences--and the pictures were wedding portraits of Edward's wife with several different men. As he walked to the back of the attic, he saw something on the floor--Edward's body. He had been beheaded, and standing above him was his wife, holding an axe. The butler was so angry and so terrified that he ran towards her and pushed her. She fell back through the glass window and fell to her death in the garden. The butler, overcome by grief at losing his master and best friend, took Edward's body out to the yard, dug a grave, and buried him right then and there. He then went back into the party, acting as if nothing were wrong. He went into an empty hall and then hung himself.
And that is the story of the Haunted Mansion! So the next time you get the chance to go on the ride--remember the story. There are so many little details in the ride that you don't even pick up on without knowing the story beforehand. I'd never really understood the room with the bride and all the pictures until now. I'd comprehended that she'd obviously married and then killed her husbands, but I didn't see how it connected with everything else in the ride. Or the door knockers, all banging on the doors in the beginning of the ride. There are a lot of little things here and there that, once you know the story, make the ride much scarier.
Those are just a few of the things that I've learned/seen in the past two days. I'm on information overload now--there's just been so much that I've been told and shown that it's too much to process at this point.
As for my schedules and whatnot, I was thinking that yesterday was going to be my only 5:30 AM morning. Boy was I wrong. Today was another 5:30 day, and I finished at 1 PM--two hours EARLIER than my shift was originally supposed to be. Most of that time was spent walking around the Magic Kingdom or under it. Towards the end of my shift, my area coordinator took me to the Costuming building, where I was fitted for my Fairy Godmother in Training costume. I have to say, after walking around that Costuming building and seeing all the possible costumes--I'm fairly certain I have the prettiest cast costume aside from the actual characters. The Costuming warehouse is pretty spectacular--its just rows and rows and rows of pants and shirts. Then they also have a section for accessories--belts, hats, socks, headbands, etc. And then there's a changing room area with a lot of mirrors, and in the back is a giant return section where all of the returned costumes are sorted and shipped off for cleaning. I checked out two shirts, two skirts, one jacket, and one headband for my costume. I'll probably head back eventually and pick up three more shirts and skirts. My program is allowed to check out five of each at a time, and one of each accessory. I'm much more excited about my costume than I originally was--I knew it was one of the cuter ones, but man. I lucked out. It's a nice costume. And even though its like, four thick layers, I'm working indoors, so I have air conditioning.
And the BEST part yet is something that I discovered at 6:30 this morning as I met a fellow Fairy Godmother in Training--Disney has just decided that we will be the only tipped job in all of Magic Kingdom. I am now allowed to receive tips! Originally the boutique was allowed to, but then they took away ALL tips, and apparently they just recently decided to bring them back to the boutique. The girl said that she usually makes about $70 a week in tips, so that will be nice to have the extra money with my paycheck. She was telling me that the week before they implemented it, a guest tried to give her a $50 tip, but she had to refuse because she wasn't allowed to accept tips till the next week. She said it was one of the more frustrating moments of her life, knowing that if it had come a week later, she could have taken it. Thankfully for me, it's already in place, so I can accept tips from the get-go. :)
And that's about it for today. Tomorrow I start my first day of costumed on-site training. It's also nice because I don't start till 11:30, which means I don't have to be on the bus until 10:20. So I can sleep in until 9:30 tomorrow! I love that 9:30 is sleeping in for me now. It seems so late after the past two days I've had. By 9:30 we had already ridden a ride and learned a ton about Disney history. We'd been in the park for a good two and a half hours. :) However, after tomorrow, I go back to 7:30 shifts every day until next Thursday, except for Tuesday and Wednesday, which I have off. I'll begin my actual un-supervised work next Friday. I'm slightly nervous, because the girl I talked to this morning was telling me that the first day of training she was in the boutique learning how to check people in and whatnot, and then the second day she was underground the entire time, learning how to do the hair. She said that the days she was underground training, she came home crying every time because she was so frustrated. I'm sitting there thinking, hm.... not such a great first impression of my job. However, she told me that she'd had no experience with hair and that she was hired because she had experience with kids, and so that was why she was so frustrated. That came as a HUGE relief, because I at least have experience with hair--little, but I have SOME experience. I like to think that I can generally manage when it comes to doing up-dos. I also like to think I'm not quite the type who comes home crying when I've had a rough day. So we'll see how training goes. :)
Last night we went into the Magic Kingdom once we got off work and spent a few hours there. We went on Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Let me tell you--April is the BEST time to come to DisneyWorld. There were no lines whatsoever. Space Mountain had a twenty minute wait, but considering how that line is usually two HOURS? That's pretty good. We walked onto all the other rides. We were also attacked by some storks. That was pretty cool. We were minding our own business, eating churros as we rested on the edge of a planter box when all of a sudden--BAM! This stork flies straight at us, all we see is white wings, and we're all screaming and ducking and running helter skelter as this stork landed behind us. Apparently he didn't want to take the detour around us and decided to just go for the shortest possible route to the planter box. In any case, it scared the bejeezies out of us, and we were then sent into a laughing fit for about ten minutes. As soon as we stopped, the stork took off again, and a second later we hear another group of girls scream somewhere down the road, sending us into another fit of laughter. So just a word of caution: beware the storks. They like to scare you. :)
And that's about it for now! I know that's quite a lot, but I figure the next few days will probably be pretty busy and who knows how tired I'll be, so here's the update for the past two days. Now you've got a little taste of what it's like backstage. :) Oh, and by the way, there is a backstage tour called Keys to the Kingdom (sounds like a church lesson, doesn't it? :P), and I can get you 50% off of tickets for it. In case you're curious. It takes you to the Utilidoor so you can see the underground tunnels and a bunch of the backstage workings of Disney. :)
Till next time!
Yesterday was Traditions class: aka brainwashing time. We had to sit there and watch this half hour video of this badly animated guy whose mouth didn't match up with the words, as he pretty much made the entire room fall asleep as he droned on and on about safety, responsibility, and respect. It was all pretty common sense stuff--I doubt anyone actually learned anything new in that section of the class.
However, things started picking up once we actually met our two Traditions teachers, and they were both pretty exciting. They took us briefly into the Magic Kingdom because, according to them, how are we supposed to learn how to make the magic unless we experience it ourselves? I thought it was cool, but it was probably the least exciting part of this adventure. Here's a few of the awesome things I got to see/do/learn (that Disney will allow me to tell you, of course :P) over the past two days:
1. The famous Utilidoor. This is an underground tunnel system running beneath the entire Magic Kingdom. We got to walk right under Cinderella's Castle and the moat surrounding it, as well as Main Street. It's definitely a new experience to see Disney from the backside/underground. In one way, it's a huge shock because, well, this is my childhood I'm seeing all torn to shreds. The magic in the park is definitely not beneath it, neither is it behind all those nicely painted walls. It's all business below, and there's no fancy decorations down there. But as much as it killed the magic for me, it also increased a lot of my appreciation for Disney. I've always been a lover of being backstage, so I find it fascinating to see how everything is working.
2. The characters. We get to see characters in various states of dress--my favorite was getting on the bus with Princess Aurora in full makeup with her wig on, and in half of her skirt and a t-shirt. I've seen way more princesses and other characters in ways that the public never gets to. Today I sat next to Tinkerbell on the bus. She was wearing sweatpants, a baggy t-shirt, and this giant wig with a bun the size of my face on it. I'm fairly certain I've passed several of the princes in the Utilidoor, but none of them were in costume. But I'm assuming that's what they had to be, seeing as their hair was definitely not to Disney standards.
3. The history and detail of Disney. There is SO much that goes into the Disney parks that you never realize. Small little details, that make guests feel and think certain things as they walk through the parks. It's amazing to learn about the kinds of studies they've done for this park. Think about the trash cans for a second. Do you remember how many trash cans there are? Probably not very clearly, because they're all made to blend into the scenery. However, Walt Disney did a study when he first opened Disneyland where he gave each guest a free candy with different colored wrappers, and then he removed all of the trash cans from the park. Afterward, he went around and collected all the wrappers, measuring how far people would walk before they gave up on finding a trash can. I think it's something like ten feet. So the next time you go to a Disney park, look around. There's a trash can every few feet--one of the reasons the Disney parks stay so clean. Another really interesting one is that Main Street is scaled so that when you stand at the entrance, looking at the castle, it looks really long. The first two stores on the corners of Main Street are two stories, but they are made to look like three. As you go down Main Street, each building gets smaller and smaller just slightly so that you can't tell as you walk down the street--however, when you look from the front, it looks much, much longer than it actually is. This makes the castle look even BIGGER when you stand on Main Street. The castle itself is 189 feet tall--specifically 189 because if they were to make it 190, then they'd have to put a flashing red light on top of it to warn aircraft. And you know Disney--they're all about the show. A flashing red light on top of Cinderella's Castle doesn't quite match the show they wanted. So its 189, shorter than they'd have liked, and so Main Street was created this way to make it look taller. Another interesting tidbit about Main Street--it is ever so slightly inclined as you walk towards the castle so that when you're still full of energy you go uphill (and it also increases the illusion that it's longer than it really is) and at the end of the day when you're tired, you're walking downhill without realizing it, and it's easier on you. And one more cool tidbit about the Magic Kingdom--in Liberty Square, located next to Adventureland and home to the Haunted Mansion, there is a cobblestone path winding around the area, and the surrounding ground is red. This is a detail from the colonial days, back before restrooms. At the time setting of Liberty Square, people would use chamber pots and then throw it out the window on the ground. Cobblestone paths were created so that people didn't have to walk through this, and Disney decided to replicate that small detail in the park. This is why there is a cobblestone path through Liberty Square with surrounding red concrete. The shutters in this area as well are all slightly skewed, tilting away from the windows. This is because back then, metal was really expensive and most people couldn't afford hinges. Instead, they would tie their shutters on with leather straps. However, as the sun softened the leather over time, the shutters would start to droop as the leather stretched out. There are so many small details like this that I've been learning the past two days that just blow my mind. There has been SO much work and research put into these parks, it's absolutely fantastic.
4. Whisper phones. These things are magical. It's just like a walkie talkie earbud type thing--what you'd picture the Secret Service wearing to communicate. However, these are just ones that you loop around your ear, and one person has a mic on their's so that they can talk quietly while in the park and everyone wearing the whisper phones can hear. During our Traditions class when we actually went into the Magic Kingdom, we were each given a whisper phone and we all walked around the park in our business clothes, wearing these awesome wires in our ears, looking all professional as we listened to our teacher tell us a bunch of the secrets of Disney. I felt so pro walking around the park with that thing. We all pretended like we were in the CIA. Although I'm fairly certain the CIA would have wireless ones... :)
5. New park information. We were told SO much about new things that are going to happen to DisneyWorld over the next few years. And fortunately for you, I'm actually allowed to share them. :) The biggest one that I'm most excited for is the new Fantasyland. Currently Toon Town is shut down (they're removing it entirely), and part of Fantasyland is closed as well. This is because there is a lot of construction currently going on to create a NEW Fantasyland. But this new one isn't just a renovated version of the old one--this is an entirely different section of the park. The way Fantasyland is set up right now is as if it were Cinderella's courtyard--the walls surrounding it are made to look like the same stones from the castle, so that you feel as if you're in the courtyard of her castle. The new Fantasyland will be the Fantasy Forest--the land outside of Cinderella's castle walls. This will include the Beast's castle, Belle's village, Aurora's cottage (which she lived in till she was 16) where they will host a birthday party for Aurora turning 16 every day, I believe. It will also have a whole new section for Ariel and Prince Eric, as well as Pixie Hollow, from the new Tinkerbell movie. This is just some of what will be going into Fantasy Forest, and I'm pretty excited. Sadly, it won't be open till 2012 or 2013, so not for a while. But it's sounding like it's going to be pretty fantastic. :)
6. Ride backgrounds/stories. Most of the rides here have a general story that guests can somewhat follow. However, there are some very specific stories for particular rides--stories that make the ride even MORE fantastic once you know all the details. The biggest example of this is the Haunted Mansion. Think back to that Haunted Mansion movie that came out a little while ago starring Eddie Murphy. You know--the one where he's a real estate agent and they get stuck at this mansion, which, they come to find out, is home to a ghost seeking for his murdered loved one. The story of the Haunted Mansion is similar, but not quite the same. We were told the story today just before we were able to get on the ride, and let me tell you--the ride is SO much scarier once you've heard the story. I love the Haunted Mansion, but I think I love it even MORE now that I know the complete story.
The story goes something like this: There was once a man named Edward Gracey (look for the gravestone for a Master Gracey while waiting in line--the dirt will look as if it has been freshly placed) whose parents died when he was very young. He lived in a mansion alone with his butler, and the butler kept a diary of everything that happened in this mansion. In the diary, the butler recorded how as Edward got older, it became necessary for him to look for a companion. However, he didn't trust people in the town--most had tried to use him for his wealth, and so he had a very bad view of those living near him. So the butler took him to a woman with a crystal ball who could see the future (hence the room with the floating crystal ball and the woman's face in it). This woman showed him a girl that he thought was perfect--and this girl happened to live several towns over, so she knew nothing of his wealth. The woman warned, however, that there was a very shady aura about the girl, and that there was something in her past that was incredibly dark. He brushed it off though, knowing that people sometimes have things in their past they don't like to discuss. So he began to court this woman, and he finally proposed. She agreed, but she'd refused to tell him about her past. When she moved into the mansion, she was surprised by his wealth, and asked that in the whole mansion, she just wanted one room to store some things from her past that wouldn't be out for everyone to see. She asked to hide away her things in the attic, since no one would go up there. Edward agreed, and she moved in and they lived happily for some time. One day she said that Edward should get to know the people more and learn to trust them. There was a boy in the town turning nine, and so she suggested they throw a birthday party for him and invite the whole town. So they threw this spectacular party with a feast and dancing, celebrating with all the people in the town. The butler served all the guests throughout the party, but as he walked around, he began to notice that both Edward and his new wife were both missing. He grew worried, and so he began to search the mansion for them, knocking on all of the doors. As he found empty room after empty room, he began to panic more, dreading that something awful had happened to them. After searching all the rooms with no luck, he remembered the one place no one was allowed to go--the attic. He ran up there, and as he entered, he saw pictures and documents everywhere. The documents were all marriage licences--and the pictures were wedding portraits of Edward's wife with several different men. As he walked to the back of the attic, he saw something on the floor--Edward's body. He had been beheaded, and standing above him was his wife, holding an axe. The butler was so angry and so terrified that he ran towards her and pushed her. She fell back through the glass window and fell to her death in the garden. The butler, overcome by grief at losing his master and best friend, took Edward's body out to the yard, dug a grave, and buried him right then and there. He then went back into the party, acting as if nothing were wrong. He went into an empty hall and then hung himself.
And that is the story of the Haunted Mansion! So the next time you get the chance to go on the ride--remember the story. There are so many little details in the ride that you don't even pick up on without knowing the story beforehand. I'd never really understood the room with the bride and all the pictures until now. I'd comprehended that she'd obviously married and then killed her husbands, but I didn't see how it connected with everything else in the ride. Or the door knockers, all banging on the doors in the beginning of the ride. There are a lot of little things here and there that, once you know the story, make the ride much scarier.
Those are just a few of the things that I've learned/seen in the past two days. I'm on information overload now--there's just been so much that I've been told and shown that it's too much to process at this point.
As for my schedules and whatnot, I was thinking that yesterday was going to be my only 5:30 AM morning. Boy was I wrong. Today was another 5:30 day, and I finished at 1 PM--two hours EARLIER than my shift was originally supposed to be. Most of that time was spent walking around the Magic Kingdom or under it. Towards the end of my shift, my area coordinator took me to the Costuming building, where I was fitted for my Fairy Godmother in Training costume. I have to say, after walking around that Costuming building and seeing all the possible costumes--I'm fairly certain I have the prettiest cast costume aside from the actual characters. The Costuming warehouse is pretty spectacular--its just rows and rows and rows of pants and shirts. Then they also have a section for accessories--belts, hats, socks, headbands, etc. And then there's a changing room area with a lot of mirrors, and in the back is a giant return section where all of the returned costumes are sorted and shipped off for cleaning. I checked out two shirts, two skirts, one jacket, and one headband for my costume. I'll probably head back eventually and pick up three more shirts and skirts. My program is allowed to check out five of each at a time, and one of each accessory. I'm much more excited about my costume than I originally was--I knew it was one of the cuter ones, but man. I lucked out. It's a nice costume. And even though its like, four thick layers, I'm working indoors, so I have air conditioning.
And the BEST part yet is something that I discovered at 6:30 this morning as I met a fellow Fairy Godmother in Training--Disney has just decided that we will be the only tipped job in all of Magic Kingdom. I am now allowed to receive tips! Originally the boutique was allowed to, but then they took away ALL tips, and apparently they just recently decided to bring them back to the boutique. The girl said that she usually makes about $70 a week in tips, so that will be nice to have the extra money with my paycheck. She was telling me that the week before they implemented it, a guest tried to give her a $50 tip, but she had to refuse because she wasn't allowed to accept tips till the next week. She said it was one of the more frustrating moments of her life, knowing that if it had come a week later, she could have taken it. Thankfully for me, it's already in place, so I can accept tips from the get-go. :)
And that's about it for today. Tomorrow I start my first day of costumed on-site training. It's also nice because I don't start till 11:30, which means I don't have to be on the bus until 10:20. So I can sleep in until 9:30 tomorrow! I love that 9:30 is sleeping in for me now. It seems so late after the past two days I've had. By 9:30 we had already ridden a ride and learned a ton about Disney history. We'd been in the park for a good two and a half hours. :) However, after tomorrow, I go back to 7:30 shifts every day until next Thursday, except for Tuesday and Wednesday, which I have off. I'll begin my actual un-supervised work next Friday. I'm slightly nervous, because the girl I talked to this morning was telling me that the first day of training she was in the boutique learning how to check people in and whatnot, and then the second day she was underground the entire time, learning how to do the hair. She said that the days she was underground training, she came home crying every time because she was so frustrated. I'm sitting there thinking, hm.... not such a great first impression of my job. However, she told me that she'd had no experience with hair and that she was hired because she had experience with kids, and so that was why she was so frustrated. That came as a HUGE relief, because I at least have experience with hair--little, but I have SOME experience. I like to think that I can generally manage when it comes to doing up-dos. I also like to think I'm not quite the type who comes home crying when I've had a rough day. So we'll see how training goes. :)
Last night we went into the Magic Kingdom once we got off work and spent a few hours there. We went on Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Let me tell you--April is the BEST time to come to DisneyWorld. There were no lines whatsoever. Space Mountain had a twenty minute wait, but considering how that line is usually two HOURS? That's pretty good. We walked onto all the other rides. We were also attacked by some storks. That was pretty cool. We were minding our own business, eating churros as we rested on the edge of a planter box when all of a sudden--BAM! This stork flies straight at us, all we see is white wings, and we're all screaming and ducking and running helter skelter as this stork landed behind us. Apparently he didn't want to take the detour around us and decided to just go for the shortest possible route to the planter box. In any case, it scared the bejeezies out of us, and we were then sent into a laughing fit for about ten minutes. As soon as we stopped, the stork took off again, and a second later we hear another group of girls scream somewhere down the road, sending us into another fit of laughter. So just a word of caution: beware the storks. They like to scare you. :)
And that's about it for now! I know that's quite a lot, but I figure the next few days will probably be pretty busy and who knows how tired I'll be, so here's the update for the past two days. Now you've got a little taste of what it's like backstage. :) Oh, and by the way, there is a backstage tour called Keys to the Kingdom (sounds like a church lesson, doesn't it? :P), and I can get you 50% off of tickets for it. In case you're curious. It takes you to the Utilidoor so you can see the underground tunnels and a bunch of the backstage workings of Disney. :)
Till next time!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Day 2
Day 2 started out a little rougher than I would have liked. We started our housing and hiring meeting at 8:30, meaning we had to get up at 7:30... meaning it felt like 5:30. And after the horrible night's sleep we got (turns out the rumors were true- people are obnoxiously loud until 1 AM), we were all running on about four hours of sleep. It turns out that our beds are also not really beds, they're rocks. They also happen to be really LOUD rocks. So turning over wakes not only yourself, but your roommate up due to the excessive noise the mattresses make, and its hard enough to fall asleep because they're so hard, and we also have a window through which all of the street lamps illuminate our room. It's going to take some getting used to, but I think once I start working and I'm totally dead I'll just conk out without a problem.
Today I just had to fill out all of my paperwork to be hired, so I am no officially a Disney employee. We also found out where we'll be working. And when they told me mine, there was a small celebration going on in the line. Everyone is pretty much jealous that I get to be a Fairy Godmother In Training, so since we'd had to wait in line so long together, we all knew what we were hoping for, and as I went up to find out if I'd be working in Downtown Disney or Cinderella's Castle, the people behind me in line were all listening as well. And surprise! I'll be working in Cinderella's Castle! It's a harder commute, but they told me that I get the cooler costume (the blue and purple as opposed to the ugly brown and orange), and because I'm slightly shallow like that, I'd much rather have the prettier costume with a long commute than a shorter commute with an ugly costume.
Brooke knows that she's a face character now. They haven't told her specifically which one--but it means that her likelihood of being Belle or Snow White has drastically gone up. She may not be a princess (i.e. she could be a villain, but there are very few villains she could be. Most require extremely tall and extremely thin women). She's pretty much got a 99% chance of being one of the princesses.
Bri will be working in Adventureland, but she'll rotate attractions within there, so she still doesn't know what ride she'll be starting on or what her costume will look like. But that also includes the Haunted House and Indiana Jones so... she's got two REALLY good rides there already.
Allison is 20 and I think she'll be working in Tomorrowland in one of the future cafes. But I'm not entirely sure on that one. I know someone is working in a futuristic cafe. Their costumes are WEIRD. Just saying.
I can't really remember where Lindsey and Lisa are working, because let's face it--I was a little preoccupied with where I was going to be working. I've had a lot of people tell me which attractions and restaurants they'll be working in, and it's all becoming a blur. Similar to that first week of a new semester when you get 100 names shoved at you and not a single one sticks. Only this time, I've got names AND jobs shoved at me, so there's an even higher likelihood that I won't remember any of them.
After finishing our hire information, we had to hop on a bus to take us over to The Commons--the international college student housing. First off, I was at the end of the line, so the bus left before about ten of us could make it there, so we came to the housing presentation about twenty minutes late. But it didn't really matter, it's not like it could have been helped. Second--the international housing is SO much better than ours. I mean, I thought we had pretty decent apartments. No. We get to The Commons and they're all brand new, big, and well kept. We decided that no matter where you go, international housing will always be the best, because they want to leave a good impression on the foreigners.
We had a bit of our brainwashing today--not nearly what tomorrow's will be, but it was a small bit of brainwashing involving housing. They're really strict here--strict enough that you're not even allowed to bring in a toy gun or light saber, because it's considered a weapon and can get you terminated from the program. They kept using the word "terminated"-- it seems to be their favorite word.
We left the freezing cold room and went back outside where it wasn't much better--believe it or not, it's not that hot here. I wore pants and a half sleeve cardigan all of yesterday, and today I could have pulled off pants if I wanted to. I probably should have, because I was cold for most of the day. It's warm outside, that's for sure--but it's also wet. And as warm as it is, it's not that kind of warm that makes you think of lying out to tan. I'm sure I'll be saying differently come June and July, but for now, it's not TOO hot. It's pretty bearable. My hair still hates it though. :)
Tonight I'm facing a dilemma--do I go to the block party, or do I take sleeping pills and knock myself out so that I can get up at 5:30 (which will feel like 3:30) to catch a bus over to the Magic Kingdom? I start my Disney indoctrination class tomorrow at 8:30 AM, and have to catch a 6:45 bus to get there in time. I'll meet my trainer over at the Disney College at the Magic Kingdom. Judging by how noisy it was last night when there wasn't an organized party going on... I'm thinking tonight is bound to be extremely loud tonight. Especially since the block party is happening ON our street. Brooke and I are thinking we may go to the beginning of the party and then leave at a reasonable hour and crash. Supposedly there's a block party every week (could be a false rumor, but that's what I've been told), so it wouldn't be TOO bad to miss this one, but apparently this is where you get to meet everyone, and I don't want to miss out on that. Then again, I'd also like to be awake when I meet my trainer. :)
To compensate, I took a three and a half hour nap just a bit ago, so at least I've gotten some rest, right? :)
Tonight's looking to be fun/stressful, as is waking up tomorrow so early, but I'm excited to start work tomorrow. Tomorrow is the first day we start getting paid (to go to brainwashing class. How awesome is that?) and it's the first time we'll really start DOING something related to our work this summer. I can potentially start working on Thursday in Cinderella's Castle, which would be awesome, so cross your fingers. We're quickly learning that down time here is NOT as fun as it is at school. At least not while we don't know anyone except our own apartment. But I'm definitely excited to start working in the castle--come to find out, my job is probably one of the most coveted jobs by other female employees here. And also, come to find out, it's one of the harder jobs to get--apparently they want experience with hair and makeup, as well as experience with children. I guess it's a good thing that of the little experience I have, it's that. :)
I've found it extremely interesting to watch the people here in Vista Way--especially at the bus stop. Half of them are in costume and half are just walking around in their casual clothes. Part of me thinks that living here and going through this takes away the magic of Disney for me--especially listening and watching some of the employees. But at the same time, it's amazing what a transformation these people make. I'm seeing a majority of black and hispanic guys with pants at their knees and baggy shirts complete with chains, and yet, when they come to the bus stop to commute to work, they're wearing the ugliest costumes in history like it's no problem. It's just funny to see what the Disney employees are REALLY like when they're not forced to smile and only think about the guests.
Today I just had to fill out all of my paperwork to be hired, so I am no officially a Disney employee. We also found out where we'll be working. And when they told me mine, there was a small celebration going on in the line. Everyone is pretty much jealous that I get to be a Fairy Godmother In Training, so since we'd had to wait in line so long together, we all knew what we were hoping for, and as I went up to find out if I'd be working in Downtown Disney or Cinderella's Castle, the people behind me in line were all listening as well. And surprise! I'll be working in Cinderella's Castle! It's a harder commute, but they told me that I get the cooler costume (the blue and purple as opposed to the ugly brown and orange), and because I'm slightly shallow like that, I'd much rather have the prettier costume with a long commute than a shorter commute with an ugly costume.
Brooke knows that she's a face character now. They haven't told her specifically which one--but it means that her likelihood of being Belle or Snow White has drastically gone up. She may not be a princess (i.e. she could be a villain, but there are very few villains she could be. Most require extremely tall and extremely thin women). She's pretty much got a 99% chance of being one of the princesses.
Bri will be working in Adventureland, but she'll rotate attractions within there, so she still doesn't know what ride she'll be starting on or what her costume will look like. But that also includes the Haunted House and Indiana Jones so... she's got two REALLY good rides there already.
Allison is 20 and I think she'll be working in Tomorrowland in one of the future cafes. But I'm not entirely sure on that one. I know someone is working in a futuristic cafe. Their costumes are WEIRD. Just saying.
I can't really remember where Lindsey and Lisa are working, because let's face it--I was a little preoccupied with where I was going to be working. I've had a lot of people tell me which attractions and restaurants they'll be working in, and it's all becoming a blur. Similar to that first week of a new semester when you get 100 names shoved at you and not a single one sticks. Only this time, I've got names AND jobs shoved at me, so there's an even higher likelihood that I won't remember any of them.
After finishing our hire information, we had to hop on a bus to take us over to The Commons--the international college student housing. First off, I was at the end of the line, so the bus left before about ten of us could make it there, so we came to the housing presentation about twenty minutes late. But it didn't really matter, it's not like it could have been helped. Second--the international housing is SO much better than ours. I mean, I thought we had pretty decent apartments. No. We get to The Commons and they're all brand new, big, and well kept. We decided that no matter where you go, international housing will always be the best, because they want to leave a good impression on the foreigners.
We had a bit of our brainwashing today--not nearly what tomorrow's will be, but it was a small bit of brainwashing involving housing. They're really strict here--strict enough that you're not even allowed to bring in a toy gun or light saber, because it's considered a weapon and can get you terminated from the program. They kept using the word "terminated"-- it seems to be their favorite word.
We left the freezing cold room and went back outside where it wasn't much better--believe it or not, it's not that hot here. I wore pants and a half sleeve cardigan all of yesterday, and today I could have pulled off pants if I wanted to. I probably should have, because I was cold for most of the day. It's warm outside, that's for sure--but it's also wet. And as warm as it is, it's not that kind of warm that makes you think of lying out to tan. I'm sure I'll be saying differently come June and July, but for now, it's not TOO hot. It's pretty bearable. My hair still hates it though. :)
Tonight I'm facing a dilemma--do I go to the block party, or do I take sleeping pills and knock myself out so that I can get up at 5:30 (which will feel like 3:30) to catch a bus over to the Magic Kingdom? I start my Disney indoctrination class tomorrow at 8:30 AM, and have to catch a 6:45 bus to get there in time. I'll meet my trainer over at the Disney College at the Magic Kingdom. Judging by how noisy it was last night when there wasn't an organized party going on... I'm thinking tonight is bound to be extremely loud tonight. Especially since the block party is happening ON our street. Brooke and I are thinking we may go to the beginning of the party and then leave at a reasonable hour and crash. Supposedly there's a block party every week (could be a false rumor, but that's what I've been told), so it wouldn't be TOO bad to miss this one, but apparently this is where you get to meet everyone, and I don't want to miss out on that. Then again, I'd also like to be awake when I meet my trainer. :)
To compensate, I took a three and a half hour nap just a bit ago, so at least I've gotten some rest, right? :)
Tonight's looking to be fun/stressful, as is waking up tomorrow so early, but I'm excited to start work tomorrow. Tomorrow is the first day we start getting paid (to go to brainwashing class. How awesome is that?) and it's the first time we'll really start DOING something related to our work this summer. I can potentially start working on Thursday in Cinderella's Castle, which would be awesome, so cross your fingers. We're quickly learning that down time here is NOT as fun as it is at school. At least not while we don't know anyone except our own apartment. But I'm definitely excited to start working in the castle--come to find out, my job is probably one of the most coveted jobs by other female employees here. And also, come to find out, it's one of the harder jobs to get--apparently they want experience with hair and makeup, as well as experience with children. I guess it's a good thing that of the little experience I have, it's that. :)
I've found it extremely interesting to watch the people here in Vista Way--especially at the bus stop. Half of them are in costume and half are just walking around in their casual clothes. Part of me thinks that living here and going through this takes away the magic of Disney for me--especially listening and watching some of the employees. But at the same time, it's amazing what a transformation these people make. I'm seeing a majority of black and hispanic guys with pants at their knees and baggy shirts complete with chains, and yet, when they come to the bus stop to commute to work, they're wearing the ugliest costumes in history like it's no problem. It's just funny to see what the Disney employees are REALLY like when they're not forced to smile and only think about the guests.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Day 1
Doesn't this look SUPER Disney-ish? I think so. It's definitely not what I would choose for my own random ramblings, but I figured it'd be perfect for the topic of this blog--my summer here at DisneyWorld.
Today is Day 1, and I'm all moved in. My driver came to pick me up right on time (thank goodness) and took me over to Vista Way--one of the four Disney housing properties. I started my check in process, and started to learn a little bit about where I was going to be living for the next four months--party central. My driver apparently was quite experienced with the Disney interns and has dropped off many (he also had driven Tiger Woods around quite a few times. He said he was a jerk and never tipped. Just a fun fact :P), and so he was the first to give me the low-down on Vista Way. Just a little bit ago, we had the self-proclaimed "party crew" come and introduce themselves to us--four guys who have been here since January, and who run a shuttle service to a bunch of the nightclubs around here. They also told us all about the parties in Vista Way, and how everyone from the other housing units sneak into ours. So this is what I've learned so far about where I'm living:
Vista Way, apparently, never sleeps. There's a party every night until 1 AM (work potentially starts at 6... so little sleep for those who partake in the fun), and you can pretty much go to any apartment for a party. Vista Way also has strict guards outside the front of the complex, and it's hard to even bring in an approved guest. But, as I've learned, there are no guards on the back side of the complex, and all that separates it from the freeway is a fairly short chain-link fence. You know what that means. People from other complexes, and, as I've come to find out, random people looking for a party, hop over the fence and easily sneak into the complex. We're also the only complex with two pools and two hot tubs--the only complex with any hot tubs at all, apparently. So, of course, everyone wants to get in.
Sounds fun, eh? I'm not looking forward to the noise I know I'll hear outside every night till 1 AM, cause I'm sure I'll be exhausted after work each day. However, I HAVE been placed in BYU housing. My entire building is all BYU students. According to a girl I was checking in with, she said that normally they place the BYU students in Chatham housing, not Vista Way, purely because Vista Way IS the party complex, and Chatham tends to be a little more straight-laced. So it's surprising to find out that they've placed us in Vista Way, knowing what they do about BYU students.
The conversation with the so-called "party crew" was pretty funny, in all honesty. They gave us their shpeal, and then asked what schools we went to. We all replied as one "BYU." The look they gave us was priceless. You could tell they were surprised that BYU kids had been placed here, and then one of the guys says, "Oh, so you're BYUUU girls." You know. In that, "Oh, so you're a Moooormon," voice that people use. That also goes along with that look. You know which one I'm talking about. So of course, they start saying, "Oh, right, BYU girls, they're BYU girls," and prattling on and on, until one of the guys finally says, "Well, you guys are in the wrong place." Voicing what everyone else is thinking, of course. But they were nice enough, and said that if we came here to have fun rather than just work all the time, that we should feel free to join the block parties. Apparently there's a block party every week in Vista Way, and this one is actually RUN by Disney, so it's a bit more regulated. It's a big party for all of the college interns where everyone can get to meet each other and whatnot, so I think we're all planning to go to that tomorrow night.
As for today, I've done most of my check in work. I've unpacked what I can, and now I just need to go to the mall or the grocery store so that I can get myself some hangars, food, and tape. I'm about half-starved at this point because I woke up later than I planned to and didn't have time to get breakfast before checking out. And since then I've been running around moving in. Hopefully they have some food at this meeting we're having at 2. If not, I'm going to be a hungry girl for most of the day. At our meeting we're going to have our FBI clearance done (finger printing and all that jazz) and then we find out where specifically we're going to be working. I think we may meet our trainers today too, but I'm not sure. That might happen tomorrow. So today I will find out if I'm located in Cinderella's castle or in Downtown Disney. All the other girls I've talked to so far have less specific jobs, working merchandise or attractions, so they've got a lot more staked on this than I do. They could be working any of the rides or any of the stores in any of the parks. That's quite a lot of options. They're all, of course, hoping for the Haunted House or Tower of Terror. I've been hoping that I'll get Cinderella's Castle in Magic Kingdom, but upon talking to some of the workers helping us check in, that is exactly what I DON'T want. They said I should hope for Downtown Disney, because apparently transportation to the castle is a nightmare. They said that I'd have to take two separate buses, and compete with the mass of people at the end of the day who just want to get home. So... it's looking like now I should be praying for Downtown Disney, which has a far shorter and much easier commute. :)
As for my apartment itself, it's a lot nicer than I was expecting. It's a three bedroom apartment, so six girls total. And the bedrooms are a LOT bigger than I was expecting. We have a walk in closet, and since I was the first one in the apartment, I chose the only bedroom with it's own bathroom. Hoorah. We're also totally hidden. Our door is right next to the front door... so if you open the front door, you can't see us. You could also potentially hit us with the door, if we were to come out at the same time. I foresee this being quite amusing. The other two rooms have to share a bathroom, while we don't. I totally win for being the first one here, and I didn't even come that early. The living room is pretty large as well, but the kitchen is fairly small. Then again, I think the amount of use this kitchen will get is fairly small as well, so it balances out. :)
The only thing I definitely did NOT like about this apartment was the fact that there was a dead bee on the living room floor when I came in. Thankfully, my actual roommate isn't afraid/disgusted of bugs like I am, and so she quickly flushed it down the toilet first thing when she came in. I think she and I will get along great. :)
My roommates all seem pretty nice. One of them I already know, because she was in my CRV class this semester, in the same lab nonetheless. We don't really know each other well, but we at least knew each other's names and whatnot. There's another girl I recognize (I can't remember her name though) that I'm fairly certain was either in one of my classes (it would have been a large lecture, otherwise I'd remember her name) or she took the same route to classes that I did, so we passed each other frequently. I'm thinking it's probably the second one. There are quite a few people I recognize just from walking the same way every day.
My actual roommate is named Brooke, and she just graduated last week. She's 22, and she seems pretty nice. I think she's from Georgia... but I'm not entirely certain. She drove here, so she has a CAR! Hallelujah. That will make my life so much easier. We've discovered that we're both a happy medium between messy and neat freak. So that's great. We won't bother each other when we feel too lazy to hang up our clothes, but the floor will still be clean enough that there's walking space. :)
The one thing I wish our bedroom had is a bookshelf and a desk. That would have made organizing my stuff a lot easier. But we each just have a small sidetable and a large dresser that the both of us share. Our closet is really big though, so that's good. I could have brought WAY more than I did. Oh well. Five bags was hard enough to handle, just walking down the street to my apartment. I don't know what I'd have done if I had more. Thankfully, because this is a BYU building, I ran into two guys who live downstairs, and, because BYU guys tend to be chivalrous, they took all my bags for me. Hallelujah. I don't know how I'd have made it up the stairs on my own with all those bags. They just grabbed everything and hauled it all right up like it was a piece of cake. It probably was for them. I'm pretty weak. Anyways, one of them goes to BYU Hawaii. He had the tan to prove it. I'm not sure where the other one went, because by the time we'd finished establishing that I went to Provo, everything was already moved in. Oh well. I'm sure I'll see them around again, since I'm guessing that the BYU building tends to be quite friendly with one another.
Well, it's about time for our FBI clearance and assignments, so I'm off! I'll try to update this whenever I have the time, and I'll recount all my adventures here at DisneyWorld. :)
Today is Day 1, and I'm all moved in. My driver came to pick me up right on time (thank goodness) and took me over to Vista Way--one of the four Disney housing properties. I started my check in process, and started to learn a little bit about where I was going to be living for the next four months--party central. My driver apparently was quite experienced with the Disney interns and has dropped off many (he also had driven Tiger Woods around quite a few times. He said he was a jerk and never tipped. Just a fun fact :P), and so he was the first to give me the low-down on Vista Way. Just a little bit ago, we had the self-proclaimed "party crew" come and introduce themselves to us--four guys who have been here since January, and who run a shuttle service to a bunch of the nightclubs around here. They also told us all about the parties in Vista Way, and how everyone from the other housing units sneak into ours. So this is what I've learned so far about where I'm living:
Vista Way, apparently, never sleeps. There's a party every night until 1 AM (work potentially starts at 6... so little sleep for those who partake in the fun), and you can pretty much go to any apartment for a party. Vista Way also has strict guards outside the front of the complex, and it's hard to even bring in an approved guest. But, as I've learned, there are no guards on the back side of the complex, and all that separates it from the freeway is a fairly short chain-link fence. You know what that means. People from other complexes, and, as I've come to find out, random people looking for a party, hop over the fence and easily sneak into the complex. We're also the only complex with two pools and two hot tubs--the only complex with any hot tubs at all, apparently. So, of course, everyone wants to get in.
Sounds fun, eh? I'm not looking forward to the noise I know I'll hear outside every night till 1 AM, cause I'm sure I'll be exhausted after work each day. However, I HAVE been placed in BYU housing. My entire building is all BYU students. According to a girl I was checking in with, she said that normally they place the BYU students in Chatham housing, not Vista Way, purely because Vista Way IS the party complex, and Chatham tends to be a little more straight-laced. So it's surprising to find out that they've placed us in Vista Way, knowing what they do about BYU students.
The conversation with the so-called "party crew" was pretty funny, in all honesty. They gave us their shpeal, and then asked what schools we went to. We all replied as one "BYU." The look they gave us was priceless. You could tell they were surprised that BYU kids had been placed here, and then one of the guys says, "Oh, so you're BYUUU girls." You know. In that, "Oh, so you're a Moooormon," voice that people use. That also goes along with that look. You know which one I'm talking about. So of course, they start saying, "Oh, right, BYU girls, they're BYU girls," and prattling on and on, until one of the guys finally says, "Well, you guys are in the wrong place." Voicing what everyone else is thinking, of course. But they were nice enough, and said that if we came here to have fun rather than just work all the time, that we should feel free to join the block parties. Apparently there's a block party every week in Vista Way, and this one is actually RUN by Disney, so it's a bit more regulated. It's a big party for all of the college interns where everyone can get to meet each other and whatnot, so I think we're all planning to go to that tomorrow night.
As for today, I've done most of my check in work. I've unpacked what I can, and now I just need to go to the mall or the grocery store so that I can get myself some hangars, food, and tape. I'm about half-starved at this point because I woke up later than I planned to and didn't have time to get breakfast before checking out. And since then I've been running around moving in. Hopefully they have some food at this meeting we're having at 2. If not, I'm going to be a hungry girl for most of the day. At our meeting we're going to have our FBI clearance done (finger printing and all that jazz) and then we find out where specifically we're going to be working. I think we may meet our trainers today too, but I'm not sure. That might happen tomorrow. So today I will find out if I'm located in Cinderella's castle or in Downtown Disney. All the other girls I've talked to so far have less specific jobs, working merchandise or attractions, so they've got a lot more staked on this than I do. They could be working any of the rides or any of the stores in any of the parks. That's quite a lot of options. They're all, of course, hoping for the Haunted House or Tower of Terror. I've been hoping that I'll get Cinderella's Castle in Magic Kingdom, but upon talking to some of the workers helping us check in, that is exactly what I DON'T want. They said I should hope for Downtown Disney, because apparently transportation to the castle is a nightmare. They said that I'd have to take two separate buses, and compete with the mass of people at the end of the day who just want to get home. So... it's looking like now I should be praying for Downtown Disney, which has a far shorter and much easier commute. :)
As for my apartment itself, it's a lot nicer than I was expecting. It's a three bedroom apartment, so six girls total. And the bedrooms are a LOT bigger than I was expecting. We have a walk in closet, and since I was the first one in the apartment, I chose the only bedroom with it's own bathroom. Hoorah. We're also totally hidden. Our door is right next to the front door... so if you open the front door, you can't see us. You could also potentially hit us with the door, if we were to come out at the same time. I foresee this being quite amusing. The other two rooms have to share a bathroom, while we don't. I totally win for being the first one here, and I didn't even come that early. The living room is pretty large as well, but the kitchen is fairly small. Then again, I think the amount of use this kitchen will get is fairly small as well, so it balances out. :)
The only thing I definitely did NOT like about this apartment was the fact that there was a dead bee on the living room floor when I came in. Thankfully, my actual roommate isn't afraid/disgusted of bugs like I am, and so she quickly flushed it down the toilet first thing when she came in. I think she and I will get along great. :)
My roommates all seem pretty nice. One of them I already know, because she was in my CRV class this semester, in the same lab nonetheless. We don't really know each other well, but we at least knew each other's names and whatnot. There's another girl I recognize (I can't remember her name though) that I'm fairly certain was either in one of my classes (it would have been a large lecture, otherwise I'd remember her name) or she took the same route to classes that I did, so we passed each other frequently. I'm thinking it's probably the second one. There are quite a few people I recognize just from walking the same way every day.
My actual roommate is named Brooke, and she just graduated last week. She's 22, and she seems pretty nice. I think she's from Georgia... but I'm not entirely certain. She drove here, so she has a CAR! Hallelujah. That will make my life so much easier. We've discovered that we're both a happy medium between messy and neat freak. So that's great. We won't bother each other when we feel too lazy to hang up our clothes, but the floor will still be clean enough that there's walking space. :)
The one thing I wish our bedroom had is a bookshelf and a desk. That would have made organizing my stuff a lot easier. But we each just have a small sidetable and a large dresser that the both of us share. Our closet is really big though, so that's good. I could have brought WAY more than I did. Oh well. Five bags was hard enough to handle, just walking down the street to my apartment. I don't know what I'd have done if I had more. Thankfully, because this is a BYU building, I ran into two guys who live downstairs, and, because BYU guys tend to be chivalrous, they took all my bags for me. Hallelujah. I don't know how I'd have made it up the stairs on my own with all those bags. They just grabbed everything and hauled it all right up like it was a piece of cake. It probably was for them. I'm pretty weak. Anyways, one of them goes to BYU Hawaii. He had the tan to prove it. I'm not sure where the other one went, because by the time we'd finished establishing that I went to Provo, everything was already moved in. Oh well. I'm sure I'll see them around again, since I'm guessing that the BYU building tends to be quite friendly with one another.
Well, it's about time for our FBI clearance and assignments, so I'm off! I'll try to update this whenever I have the time, and I'll recount all my adventures here at DisneyWorld. :)
