The Pirates of the Caribbean was originally supposed to be a walk through wax museum
The brown concrete that runs through Colonial America in the Magic Kingdom is to represent the human waste that ran through the streets during that time in history.
When you are riding the Haunted Mansion and the Doom Buggy moves backwards and drops into the graveyard it is supposed to be symbolic of the guest falling out of the attic like the wife from the ride and dying.
22,000 students applied for the College Program. Disney hired 3,500. That puts me in the 16%
Epcot- "Every Paycheck Comes On Thursday"
Spielburg asked Disney if they would want to produce E.T. They declined. M&M's was also approached about product placement. They declined as well, which is why E.T. eats Reese's Pieces
Code Mickey is used when there is a mouse or rat spotted by a Cast Member
Code V= Vomit
A Buzz Lightyear costume costs Disney $23,000 per costume.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
#PirateProblems
I've been very much enjoying all of the new things that I've been able to experience while not being crunched by a limited amount of time like when you're on vacation. I've found out things about Disney that I never would have known before and I'm learning more about the Central Florida area and what there is to do around here. And meeting all of the amazing people I work with from around the world.
When I moved down here I told myself that one of my goals was to be able to work at as many different locations as possible, to be able to see what each area has to offer and how they are managed. Recently I have picked up shifts at both Blizzard Beach and ESPN Wide World of Sports. I will NEVER pick up another shift for ESPN WWS ever again because it was such a mess and unorganized. It didn't feel like Disney ran it. No one really knew who was in charge or how to get things set up. It looked like the area I was working in hadn't been seen by any human in months it was so dusty. I couldn't wait for that shift to be over with. I also picked up a shift at Blizzard Beach, which I'm not sure how I feel about working there again. It wasn't a terrible experience and I think I could like it if I was able to know some of the people I was working with. When working for the largest single site employer in America with 70,000 employees strong, it's hard to be able to know people you are working with.
I'm also quickly enjoying all of the restaurant offerings there are in Florida that I've never heard of before. It helps being friends with someone that's from the area, as he knows where all the good places are and all the cool secrets. Since moving, I've learned to enjoy spicy food, as most of the food here has a kick to it. I went to Tijuana Flats, which is what I would describe as a combination between Chiptole and something else, but I'm not sure what. It's all tacos, burritos and food of that style. But they have a hot sauce bar with 15 sauces to taste and use. It was a wonderful late lunch after a long day of classes. All I could imagine while I was at the hot sauce bar was my Dad just taking a spoon full of each one and tasting them. It brought a nice smile to my face.
On a recent day when most of my roommates and I didn't have to work until later in the afternoon, we decided that we wanted to go to Epcot for the morning just to hang out in the park. That is when we found that Coke was doing their Share a Coke promotion there and allowing guests to make two personalized cans of Coke for free. We all really wanted to do it, so we got in line right when they opened the line. And since we all have brothers, we all made the other can for them. I thought the whole concept of the promotion was genius and since I'm interested in that aspect of business I really wanted to learn more about the promotion, but no one higher up in the marketing team was there to talk. After making our cans we walked over to the Boardwalk and the Yacht and Beach Club for lunch at The Captain's Grille since right now Cast Members receive 40% off the bill. It was a wonderful meal and I was craving a burger and I found an amazing one. It was an angus chuck burger with crab meat on top. Delicious. And the price wasn't bad either. We all left happy from that meal.
Today was my day off for the week and after my 4 hour class in the morning I was able to meet up with my friend from my work location, Alex, and we went over to the Boardwalk and ate lunch at the ESPN Club. I once again found a wonderful burger that I want to know how they made it and a nice glass of Sam Adams. We walked over to Epcot for a little bit because it was the middle of the day and we didn't want to be in the Magic Kingdom during peak hours when everyone is there and it's the hottest. We walked over to the Rose and Crown and I had a Carl's Combo and Alex had a Leaping Leprechaun and after talking to Carl for a little bit and explaining how I knew about Carl's Combo we continued on our walk of Epcot. Once we noticed that all of the lines for rides were too long for use to be willing to wait in we decided that we would devote our time to finding Cast Members to pin trade with. Once we got bored with Epcot we took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom and continued to pin trade there as well as get fast passes for Peter Pan and Space Mountain. We both still had not rode the Mine Train which just opened just over a month ago so we stood in line for 75 minutes to ride it. It was a cute ride and a cute concept, but I don't think that it lived up to the hype. I did enjoy the engineering aspect of it with how the train actually rocks back and forth as the ride moves. All I hear about, being a Cast Member, is how often it breaks down, which is expected for a new ride. And how long the queue line is.
Some fun Disney gossip that has been in the news recently that is always fun to hear about at work:
-A British man decided to stick his hand in the water while going down the first drop of Pirates and it cut off the tips of two fingers. There's a reason why they tell you to keep your hands, arms, feet and legs, inside the boat at all times.... They took him to the hospital, had to completely drain and sanitize the whole ride, and find his fingers. Gross.
-Monorail Red was struck by lightening early this week and lost power. Disney had to call in Reedy Creek Emergency to evacuate the monorail from the top hatch in each car. I think that would have been really cool to either be on that monorail (imagine what Disney did for those guests to make up for that) or watch from the sidelines and laugh.
Off to bed for me. I have a nice 10 hour shift tomorrow.
When I moved down here I told myself that one of my goals was to be able to work at as many different locations as possible, to be able to see what each area has to offer and how they are managed. Recently I have picked up shifts at both Blizzard Beach and ESPN Wide World of Sports. I will NEVER pick up another shift for ESPN WWS ever again because it was such a mess and unorganized. It didn't feel like Disney ran it. No one really knew who was in charge or how to get things set up. It looked like the area I was working in hadn't been seen by any human in months it was so dusty. I couldn't wait for that shift to be over with. I also picked up a shift at Blizzard Beach, which I'm not sure how I feel about working there again. It wasn't a terrible experience and I think I could like it if I was able to know some of the people I was working with. When working for the largest single site employer in America with 70,000 employees strong, it's hard to be able to know people you are working with.
I'm also quickly enjoying all of the restaurant offerings there are in Florida that I've never heard of before. It helps being friends with someone that's from the area, as he knows where all the good places are and all the cool secrets. Since moving, I've learned to enjoy spicy food, as most of the food here has a kick to it. I went to Tijuana Flats, which is what I would describe as a combination between Chiptole and something else, but I'm not sure what. It's all tacos, burritos and food of that style. But they have a hot sauce bar with 15 sauces to taste and use. It was a wonderful late lunch after a long day of classes. All I could imagine while I was at the hot sauce bar was my Dad just taking a spoon full of each one and tasting them. It brought a nice smile to my face.
On a recent day when most of my roommates and I didn't have to work until later in the afternoon, we decided that we wanted to go to Epcot for the morning just to hang out in the park. That is when we found that Coke was doing their Share a Coke promotion there and allowing guests to make two personalized cans of Coke for free. We all really wanted to do it, so we got in line right when they opened the line. And since we all have brothers, we all made the other can for them. I thought the whole concept of the promotion was genius and since I'm interested in that aspect of business I really wanted to learn more about the promotion, but no one higher up in the marketing team was there to talk. After making our cans we walked over to the Boardwalk and the Yacht and Beach Club for lunch at The Captain's Grille since right now Cast Members receive 40% off the bill. It was a wonderful meal and I was craving a burger and I found an amazing one. It was an angus chuck burger with crab meat on top. Delicious. And the price wasn't bad either. We all left happy from that meal.
Today was my day off for the week and after my 4 hour class in the morning I was able to meet up with my friend from my work location, Alex, and we went over to the Boardwalk and ate lunch at the ESPN Club. I once again found a wonderful burger that I want to know how they made it and a nice glass of Sam Adams. We walked over to Epcot for a little bit because it was the middle of the day and we didn't want to be in the Magic Kingdom during peak hours when everyone is there and it's the hottest. We walked over to the Rose and Crown and I had a Carl's Combo and Alex had a Leaping Leprechaun and after talking to Carl for a little bit and explaining how I knew about Carl's Combo we continued on our walk of Epcot. Once we noticed that all of the lines for rides were too long for use to be willing to wait in we decided that we would devote our time to finding Cast Members to pin trade with. Once we got bored with Epcot we took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom and continued to pin trade there as well as get fast passes for Peter Pan and Space Mountain. We both still had not rode the Mine Train which just opened just over a month ago so we stood in line for 75 minutes to ride it. It was a cute ride and a cute concept, but I don't think that it lived up to the hype. I did enjoy the engineering aspect of it with how the train actually rocks back and forth as the ride moves. All I hear about, being a Cast Member, is how often it breaks down, which is expected for a new ride. And how long the queue line is.
Some fun Disney gossip that has been in the news recently that is always fun to hear about at work:
-A British man decided to stick his hand in the water while going down the first drop of Pirates and it cut off the tips of two fingers. There's a reason why they tell you to keep your hands, arms, feet and legs, inside the boat at all times.... They took him to the hospital, had to completely drain and sanitize the whole ride, and find his fingers. Gross.
-Monorail Red was struck by lightening early this week and lost power. Disney had to call in Reedy Creek Emergency to evacuate the monorail from the top hatch in each car. I think that would have been really cool to either be on that monorail (imagine what Disney did for those guests to make up for that) or watch from the sidelines and laugh.
Off to bed for me. I have a nice 10 hour shift tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
A Mid-West Work Ethic
Today was..... long. That's a good way to put it. I think any place you were and you have an 11 hour shift, it's going to be a long day. But I think I made the most out of my day. I started my shift by working at the greeter board. My job there is to welcome people, answer ANY question that a guest may have, explain the menu and dishes served, smile, and hand out stickers to the little ones. Sounds pretty straight forward and simple. It was. For the first two hours that I was placed there. Once 1pm rolled around I thought it was a bit strange that I hadn't had any tour groups come through yet. I then saw a flood of close to 300 teenagers from Argentina come into the building, all wearing matching shirts, carrying their stupid little flags, and chanting something they all seemed to be enthusiastic about. People from South America have never little concept about personal space. They are ALWAYS crowded into a small area, even if there is an entire area for them to spread out in. It's something that's part of their culture that really stands out when they come into a place like Disney World. We got all of them their food and then we were able to slow back down until the dinner rush came through for the night.
The other part of my day that I thoroughly enjoyed was working the 4th of July area that we have set up for the holiday. It's a really simple area that's decorated with two cakes that look like they were made by the Cake Boss, and American flags, and banners. Kids can come in a color a picture for the 4th of July or whatever else they want and they have the choice of hanging the picture up on the wall or taking it with them. It was fun to be able to interact with the kids. They would come up to me and ask to look at my pins for pin trading and tell me ALL about their day. That was my first time really being able to interact with the kids on a personal level. I could get down on their level and talk to them about their days while they colored and see them light up when they talked about seeing their favorite character or getting to see a parade. It was really nice to be able to see who really believes in the Disney magic and just how much it means to them , and then standing up and see their parents truly enjoying the moment of seeing their child so happy.
My day ended by closing off all of the dining sections and closing busing (so sanitizing all of the tables, chairs, and benches). I was in a smaller section of the restaurant and another CP was helping me out before it was time for her to punch out. She has been at Seasons for awhile now, and was actually one of the people that trained me. She called me over for a little bit to talk to her. I thought it was somewhat odd that she would call me over, but I went and talked to her. She told me that she really likes working with me and really likes my work ethic. One of the managers and herself had been talking earlier in the day and they were discussing how the newest group of CPs don't have much of a work ethic, but my name stood out. That I guess the managers don't see me as one of that group. Alex, the girl that called me over, wanted me to know that the managers have noticed my work and how much effort I put into my job. She told me that I need to stand out and shine because there stepping stones to move up in the company that the managers are liking what they see out of me. That was a real confidence booster after an 11 hour day.
I have the next two days off. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with myself just yet... But on the 3rd I plan on seeing the fireworks display at Magic Kingdom since I work until 1am on the 4th.
The other part of my day that I thoroughly enjoyed was working the 4th of July area that we have set up for the holiday. It's a really simple area that's decorated with two cakes that look like they were made by the Cake Boss, and American flags, and banners. Kids can come in a color a picture for the 4th of July or whatever else they want and they have the choice of hanging the picture up on the wall or taking it with them. It was fun to be able to interact with the kids. They would come up to me and ask to look at my pins for pin trading and tell me ALL about their day. That was my first time really being able to interact with the kids on a personal level. I could get down on their level and talk to them about their days while they colored and see them light up when they talked about seeing their favorite character or getting to see a parade. It was really nice to be able to see who really believes in the Disney magic and just how much it means to them , and then standing up and see their parents truly enjoying the moment of seeing their child so happy.
My day ended by closing off all of the dining sections and closing busing (so sanitizing all of the tables, chairs, and benches). I was in a smaller section of the restaurant and another CP was helping me out before it was time for her to punch out. She has been at Seasons for awhile now, and was actually one of the people that trained me. She called me over for a little bit to talk to her. I thought it was somewhat odd that she would call me over, but I went and talked to her. She told me that she really likes working with me and really likes my work ethic. One of the managers and herself had been talking earlier in the day and they were discussing how the newest group of CPs don't have much of a work ethic, but my name stood out. That I guess the managers don't see me as one of that group. Alex, the girl that called me over, wanted me to know that the managers have noticed my work and how much effort I put into my job. She told me that I need to stand out and shine because there stepping stones to move up in the company that the managers are liking what they see out of me. That was a real confidence booster after an 11 hour day.
I have the next two days off. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with myself just yet... But on the 3rd I plan on seeing the fireworks display at Magic Kingdom since I work until 1am on the 4th.
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