Day 3 - Your Parents

So day three has come and gone. Today's letter was one to my parents and it was... torn?
Don't get me wrong, I love my parents. My parents gave me life and raised me well and gave me everything that I could ever ask for. They have provided food and shelter and a VERY good education and I will always love them and always be grateful.
Feel the "but" coming on? Because here it is.
I'll always love them and be grateful but there are always things about parents that children aren't happy with. I wish we had more money or more liberties. I wish a lot of things, and I wish that I could be open about these things but it's not always that easy. There are things I wish I had told them when I was in high school or going into college, but as much as I like to be open I'll never be THAT open.
My letter today was an up and down roller coaster, but it was nice to get some of my thoughts out on paper. So far this is proving to be a great exercise. Tomorrow's letter is to my sibling, and I'm still deciding between writing to my brother or my sister. So we'll just have to wait and see! Until then...

Day 2 - Your Crush

So I was completely wrong. Tomorrow I will be writing to my parents. Today I wrote to my crush. Unfortunately for me, I don't get to meet many people while sitting at home and doing nothing with my life, so I chose a celebrity crush. I wrote my letter to Ryan Reynolds. Not only is he intensely hot, but he plays so many emotional roles that I can't help but think that some of that emotion exists within himself. Also he's so immensely funny. So I wrote to him and told him what I thought. Today's exercise was fun and helped release my mind from the stresses of job hunting. I got to forget about my problems for a few minutes and express some positive feelings toward a very fantastic (looking) man!

Tomorrow is about my parents. I swear I got it right this time lol.
See you then!


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Day 1 - Your Best Friend

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In case you have forgotten, I am writing thirty letters in thirty days. Each letter will be to a different person or group and is mapped out in advance.
Today I wrote a letter to my very best friend. This was a hard decision to make because I have two best friends - Emily and Ellen. Today I wrote to Emily (No worries, we will see Ellen as well!). The letters are supposed to be about reflection and with Emily I had a lot and a little to reflect on at the same time. Emily is my little in our Sorority and I have known her since my freshman year in college. She means a lot to me and basically the letter was about how glad I am to have her in my life and how much I love her. However, since we talk so often I really did not have much to say. Around time for graduation I told her how much she has meant to me so it was pretty difficult to reiterate those previously shared feelings without sounding redundant. In my letter I just reminded Emily of who she was to me and thanked her for being a part of my life.

It is always nice to think positively on friends. It's a great way to get in touch with your emotional side without getting scared. Baby steps. Choosing best friend as the first person to write to (whoever made the list) was a great idea. This was an easy way to start, but I'm sure the others won't be so great.

Today's reflection was a happy one and I'm glad to say so. Tomorrow's reflection/letter is to my parents. That one will probably not be as pleasant but I'm not sure yet. We'll just have to wait and see.

30 Letters in 30 Days

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To receive you first must give; and lately I haven’t been giving anything at all. In the past three months I have been so selfishly absorbed in my own mourning that I have forgotten to give anything of myself. For this I am truly sorry. So in an attempt to not only make up for this lack of interaction with my loved ones and friends, but to get in better touch with my feelings and my place in life so as to turn it around into what I would like it to be, I am going to write. For the next thirty days I will be writing one letter per day to specific people or groups. Some days I will share these letters, others I will write them to keep for myself but to get the emotions on paper anyway. Every day will revolve around reflection, and I am hoping to become closer with my emotions and provide my friends and family (and quite possibly myself) with some level of solace.

It is unfortunate to announce that I am nowhere near clever enough to come up with an idea like this on my own. A friend of mine and myself are both participating in this exercise, and she found it first. The idea comes from a random site that she literally stumbled upon. I have mapped out the next thirty days and will do my best to share my thoughts and feelings and reflections with you. If you are reading this, whoever and wherever you are, please know that this is a large leap for me. I do not talk about my feelings, I do not let people in, and that has ruined my life so far. Let’s see if there’s anything we can do about that. Below is the list of whom I will be writing to (in some sense). Maybe you would want to do the same.

http://stories.mibba.com/read/399036/30-Letters-in-30-Days/

Day 01 - Your best friend

Day 02 - Your crush

Day 03 - Your parents

Day 04 - Your sibling

Day 05 - Your dreams

Day 06 - A stranger

Day 07 - Your ex boyfriend/girlfriend/love/crush

Day 08 - Your favorite internet friend

Day 09 - Someone you wish you could meet

Day 10 - Someone you don’t talk to as often as you’d like

Day 11 - A deceased person you wish you could talk to

Day 12 - The person you hate the most/caused you a lot of pain

Day 13 - Someone you wish could forgive you

Day 14 - Someone you’ve drifted away from

Day 15 - The person you miss the most

Day 16 - Someone that’s not in your state/country

Day 17 - Someone from your childhood

Day 18 - The person you wish you could be

Day 19 - Someone that pesters your mind - good or bad

Day 20 - Someone that broke your heart the hardest

Day 21 - Someone you judged by their first impression

Day 22 - Someone you want to give a second chance

Day 23 - The last person you kissed

Day 24 - The person who gave you your favorite memory

Day 25 - The person you know is going through the worst of times

Day 26 - The last person you made a pinky promise to

Day 27 - The friendliest person you knew for only a day

Day 28 - Someone that changed your life

Day 29 - The person that you want to tell everything to, but are too afraid

Day 30 - Your reflection in the mirror

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Hub 4/25/10

Can we talk about online communities a little bit? In order for anyone to survive these days it feels like they've got to be affiliated with some sort of social networking website. Facebook, Twitter, to those late in the development - Myspace. All of those sites are for catching up with old pals, looking for new loves, shopping at online stores, and playing games. Someone could have their entire lives on these sites. But none of them, in my opinion, can compare to The Hub. By definition a "hub" is "a center around which other things revolve or from which they radiate; a focus of activity, authority, commerce,transportation, etc.: Chicago is a railroad hub." - (www.dictionary.com). For all intensive purposes, this is the most relevant definition I found. For Disney cast members The Hub is our source of communication for everything related to our jobs and the Disney Company in general. I go to The Hub to get everything I need - my work schedule, pay check information, etc. I can pick up shifts and give shifts away on The Hub. I can also check out my discount rates for resorts, book reservations with my discount, and find out really neat up-to-date Disney news on The Hub. It is our central point as Cast Members. I can not go one day at work without hearing about The Hub, nor can I go a day off of work without checking The Hub. Making sure my schedule is correct and that my pay check is coming on time and has all of the right hours. Everything I need is there. The Hub is our central point and we do anything and everything from there. But I wonder sometimes - what if I were an elderly cast member without computer skills? How do they do it? How do they get on The Hub and check everything out? Do their higher-ups help them out during their working hours? I've always wondered what it's like to be someone with limited knowledge - how are they helped? I guess I'm just thinking out loud. I'd really like to know what kind of help we have for cast members like that.

Disabilities 5/2/10

So this week we got a new KP cast member. We've gotten a few new people in the past few months but this one really stands out to me. His name is Richie and he is disabled. Richie has had no legs since he was about two years old. He is also missing a few fingers and has a lot of burn marks and scars all over his face. Richie is also from Manhattan, New York. So at first glance he is quite scary. He has been in a wheel chair his entire life and is used to it - that's just how he was raised so he knows no different. But I've noticed a lot of the things our managers do for Richie so that he can be a cast member at KP comfortably. For instance - they make it so that he doesn't have proficiencies to drive the pargo (a large version of a golf cart that we use to drive back stage to pick up used Kimmunicators during the day). So when he signs in on CDS during the day Mission Support doesn't even come up for him so that he will never have to go to the coordinator and say "I have no legs, how do you expect me to drive the pargo?". I really admire this. The fact that Disney says "Hey, you can work here. Whoever you are, and whatever you have going on.". And I'm not just talking about cast members. I love how accessible our parks are as a whole. We have wheel chair ramps at every attraction, and into all buildings. I've been told by many guests that Disney is the most accessible place they've been to. At night I do what is called PAC (Parade Audience Control) where I stand behind a rope and admit guests to a disabled section to watch the Illuminations show at night. The section gives guests with disabilities the opportunity to watch the show from the fence. The crowd outside of my ropes stands during the show, and if you are unable to stand then there is no way that you would be able to see the show from behind the crowd. Our PAC positions (there are four in Epcot) allow guests with disabilities to enjoy the show from the comfort of their chairs. I can't count how many nights I've had this position, but every time I do I'm thanked at least once by a guest who is unable to stand. And then they usually launch into a spiel filled with gratitude about how accessible Disney is. And I agree. I think it's amazing that we have so much hospitality for every type of person, and that Disney believed that anyone and everyone should be able to enjoy the facilities. Not just those who could stand it. Literally. 

There are no Stupid Questions - Or Are There?  5/9/10

I can not count how many times I have been standing at a Kim Possible cart, in my costume (grey cargo shorts, a black green and purple polyester top with the "Team Possible" logo, white socks, black sneakers and my Disney name tag reading "Courtney: Lynchburg College") and someone walks up to me and says exactly this: "Excuse me (looks at my name tag) Courtney, do you work here?". I really would like to say "No." at some point in time. I am sick and tired of all the stupid questions I get asked. I understand that Disney is a large place, but how can some people be so dense? I get asked often "Where is Disney?" and by now I know that what they are really meaning to ask is "Where is the Magic Kingdom?". See a lot of people reference our Disney here to be similar to the one in California. But they are actually very different. Just because there is a castle in The Magic Kingdom does not mean that it is the only Disney park in Florida. We have about fifty square miles here, with four parks, and countless resorts, golf courses, and other amenities. Walt Disney World is roughly the size of the city of San Francisco. But since Magic Kingdom has a castle just like Disney Land, people think that this is the only park we've got. I am so sick of the stupid questions. "Ma'am, what time is the three o'clock parade in Magic Kingdom?". You think I'm kidding but I'm dead serious. I've gotten that question at least five times since I got here. I don't know how people survive being so small minded and ill informed. I've also been asked about my own park. There are two parts to Epcot: Future World and the World Showcase. Future world holds the majority of the rides and attractions, while the Showcase has eleven pavilions representing different countries and is more culture oriented. When I set someone up in Future World for a mission in the German pavilion I got asked the weirdest question, and I will never forget it. The woman asked "Where is that?" which is a common question, so I explained to her how to get to the showcase and around to Germany. She still looked puzzled so I pulled out my map and showed her where we were and drew a route with my finger to where she was going. She then asked "Do I need a hopper pass to get to that park?". She thought that we had put two separate parks on the map. As if the maps aren't jumbled and confusing already, let's just go ahead and jam two into one map to save time and money and create confusion. Right. That's exactly what we did.   I am so confused as to how people think this way. With very little common sense. And I guess I would have been the same way to be honest. It's quite overwhelming, Disney, but I just wish people would think a little bit more before they open their mouths.  
 

Home Sweet Home 5/16/10

This week I was lucky enough to be back in Virginia for the week. I got to see graduation and pick up my car and be with my friends and family for the week. I flew into Virginia on the eleventh and was there until today, the sixteenth. I got to see graduation yesterday which was amazing. Unfortunately, I was supposed to spend the majority of my trip in Lynchburg and not just a day or so. I got there on Friday night, instead of on Tuesday. My brother's girlfriend had her baby this week and my car was having issues that we needed to get fixed before being able to drive all the way to Florida. So I made it finally to Lynchburg in time to see graduation and drive back to Florida. I'm not really looking forward to working this week because I've been off of work for so long. I really liked being at school. And I definitely realized how home sick I've been lately. I'm loving my time in Florida but I'm ready to be done and get back to my day-to-day at school. I didn't really notice much else about my internship experience this week. Except for how life might be after college. I've learned to cherish my vacations, because I'll be home sick once I'm living somewhere other than with my parents, and working for myself. I felt very grown this week because my parents didn't pay for my trip - I did. And I scheduled the time off, I didn't call out from work or anything to go. I did all of the planning myself, and for that I'm proud. And I feel like I'm growing up a lot from this experience and am very grateful to have the opportunity to be here. 

Oh, There's the Heat. 5/23/10

Thinking back now on the time when I was complaining about the cold... could I have that back? It is SO HOT here. We had that terrible winter, about a week of spring, and then BAM summer. It just smacked us all right in the face. The heat is high nineties all the time and it is so incredibly humid all the time. Our heat index is also incredibly high. All of the humidity leads to rain and thunder and lightning. None of this would be an issue with me if I didn't work outside all day every day. I guess I'm going to have to get used to it. I just can't believe that people actually do this - and some people work out here in PANTS. I can't believe that part either. After being home last week, this week has been terrible. It was cloudy and over cast and cold and rainy in Virginia for the entire week. And I would much rather that than this. I don't really know how to describe it other than miserable. However, I have learned how to hydrate. There are both good and bad sides to everything. This is also true about the new weather situation in Florida. Well... I guess it's just new to me and other "non-floridians". The good news is: if it storms too badly the Kim Possible workers get to go inside. The bad news? We have to stand in the rain all the time because the storms have to get REALLY bad for us to go inside. All of the outdoor merchandise and attractions go inside for just a little rain - but not Kim Possible. We have to have a flash-bang of under fifteen seconds (the time it takes between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder) to be able to close down. And then by the time they (managers and such) decide to close us, the storm is already over, we are soaked head to toe (we have rain gear but in that rain it really doesn't matter. You're getting wet whether you like it or not), and it's time to go back out and start greeting guests again. I'm so incredibly frustrated with the way that we run these things at Kim Possible. You would think we'd be the first attraction to close down considering we deal with electronics outside, but no. We're stuck. And the heat too. We have small fans at our carts, but that really doesn't help much when the heat index is a hundred and five and we have to greet guests from twelve feet away from the cart in our suffocating polyester costumes. I wish these things were set up a bit differently. With all the details that imagineers go into for attractions and decorations for guests, you'd think whoever designs our costumes and carts and such would take the cast members and the weather into consideration. I hope some of this changes, but I'm sure it won't. It takes a lot to change something at Disney.

Everything Else - May through July

When I started this journal I was focusing on one thing a week that I noticed about Disney and Disney cast members or rules, etc. The past couple months I have just not been able to keep up. the summertime is here and everything about the parks is going crazy. I haven't been able to keep up with work and my personal life, and definitely not school. The point of focusing on one thing a week was so that I did not ramble and babble about the same things over and over again each week and so my journal actually served a purpose. These past couple months have been nothing but mundane. I get up, go to work, come home, go to bed, and get up and do it all over again. Luckily I've been driving to work since I have my car now, so things have been easier because I'm not always waiting on a bus. The only big thing that has happened in the past couple months is a new roommate. One of our girls in the apartment got terminated for eating something from the kitchen she worked at. That action is an automatic termination. She left for work around 2 in the afternoon and was fired by 4. It's insane how quickly these things happen. Since we had an open bed in the house we got a new housemate. She is not at all what I expected and she causes a lot of problems. I went to Price Management (the company that runs our apartment complex) and they were absolutely no help. I got shit from their manager and from fellow Disney Cast Members. I was required to sign a confidentiality agreement before meeting with them, so I'm not allowed to talk about specifics, but it was the worst experience I've ever had with a housing manager. He was just down right rude and it made me think: what is Disney doing here? I've realized that I have no options. I have the options that Price Management gives me, but nothing more. My mom said that Disney is running a Communist community, and I wholly agree. I have to live in the housing they provide, and in order to live here I have to follow their rules and do what they say, or I'm gone. And I don't find that quite fair at all. I don't like that I can't have my family over for a visit, or live with people that I'm comfortable with. I have to follow all of Disney's rules exactly how they are written, or I can quit and go home. And I have definitely considered that option. I have considered giving up the internship entirely and just going home and trying something else because of my living conditions. That's how terrible it's been. But I have to learn to get over it and just learn to deal with other people. I just don't think it's fair that I have to live with someone that I've never heard of or met, and I'm not even allowed to have a lock on my bedroom door. There is no privacy, there are no options, and it's just plain unfair. Other than that, everything is good. I have three weeks left and will write on final journal entry at the conclusion of my program. But it has been one crazy ride so far!!!

A Spoonful of Sugar - Mary Poppins

CDS 4/18/10

The most frustrating thing in the world is not knowing what to expect when you come to work. We have what is called CDS. To me, CDS is evil. CDS stands for Cast Deployment System. And it is the most gruesome thing I've ever encountered in my entire life. When I get to work I clock in on CDS, and if I'm late by even 5 seconds, then I'm late for the day. I get a half a point toward our attendance system and eventually will get in trouble if I get too many points. Which so far - I have too many. We're not going to count because it isn't enough to get me terminated but it is enough to make me look like a slack cast member. I sort of feel bad for the days that I've called in, but I see it the same way I see our school attendance policy. If I miss a certain amount of days then I fail/get fired (terminated) and I haven't missed enough to get in trouble yet so I'm guessing that I'm doing okay so far. But anyway - CDS is what we're focusing on this week. At Kim Possible there are at LEAST eight assignments that CDS can give out to you. You can either go to one of our Future World spots (East or West Innoventions or the Odyssey Bridge), any of our carts (Norway, Italy, or International Gateway), Mission Support (backstage help - gathering Kimmunicators and prepping them for more missions), or a task or break. Some of the cast members refer to the deployment system as a type of "Russian Roulette". Every time I step up to the computer to sign in I think to myself "Alright, let's spin the wheel and discover where our impending doom lies.". The CDS system is designed to help - not hurt. But sometimes it is so irrational, because computers can't think (obviously). The system is mostly scheduled - the coordinators schedule breaks and assignments for the day and then let CDS take care of their day for them. Although nothing ever works as it should. People walk too slow to their positions and breaks get backed up, or CDS lets out an assignment too early or too late. It's all one big mess. This week CDS has really pushed me to my limit. I'm sick of walking from Italy to Innoventions (at least a mile walk) in ten minutes or less to get a break out to someone, when someone from Innoventions gets sent to Italy to cover where my position just was. It's frustrating and makes no sense and just plain makes me angry. 

The Hub 4/25/10

Can we talk about online communities a little bit? In order for anyone to survive these days it feels like they've got to be affiliated with some sort of social networking website. Facebook, Twitter, to those late in the development - Myspace. All of those sites are for catching up with old pals, looking for new loves, shopping at online stores, and playing games. Someone could have their entire lives on these sites. But none of them, in my opinion, can compare to The Hub. By definition a "hub" is "a center around which other things revolve or from which they radiate; a focus of activity, authority, commerce,transportation, etc.: Chicago is a railroad hub." - (www.dictionary.com). For all intensive purposes, this is the most relevant definition I found. For Disney cast members The Hub is our source of communication for everything related to our jobs and the Disney Company in general. I go to The Hub to get everything I need - my work schedule, pay check information, etc. I can pick up shifts and give shifts away on The Hub. I can also check out my discount rates for resorts, book reservations with my discount, and find out really neat up-to-date Disney news on The Hub. It is our central point as Cast Members. I can not go one day at work without hearing about The Hub, nor can I go a day off of work without checking The Hub. Making sure my schedule is correct and that my pay check is coming on time and has all of the right hours. Everything I need is there. The Hub is our central point and we do anything and everything from there. But I wonder sometimes - what if I were an elderly cast member without computer skills? How do they do it? How do they get on The Hub and check everything out? Do their higher-ups help them out during their working hours? I've always wondered what it's like to be someone with limited knowledge - how are they helped? I guess I'm just thinking out loud. I'd really like to know what kind of help we have for cast members like that.

Disabilities 5/2/10

So this week we got a new KP cast member. We've gotten a few new people in the past few months but this one really stands out to me. His name is Richie and he is disabled. Richie has had no legs since he was about two years old. He is also missing a few fingers and has a lot of burn marks and scars all over his face. Richie is also from Manhattan, New York. So at first glance he is quite scary. He has been in a wheel chair his entire life and is used to it - that's just how he was raised so he knows no different. But I've noticed a lot of the things our managers do for Richie so that he can be a cast member at KP comfortably. For instance - they make it so that he doesn't have proficiencies to drive the pargo (a large version of a golf cart that we use to drive back stage to pick up used Kimmunicators during the day). So when he signs in on CDS during the day Mission Support doesn't even come up for him so that he will never have to go to the coordinator and say "I have no legs, how do you expect me to drive the pargo?". I really admire this. The fact that Disney says "Hey, you can work here. Whoever you are, and whatever you have going on.". And I'm not just talking about cast members. I love how accessible our parks are as a whole. We have wheel chair ramps at every attraction, and into all buildings. I've been told by many guests that Disney is the most accessible place they've been to. At night I do what is called PAC (Parade Audience Control) where I stand behind a rope and admit guests to a disabled section to watch the Illuminations show at night. The section gives guests with disabilities the opportunity to watch the show from the fence. The crowd outside of my ropes stands during the show, and if you are unable to stand then there is no way that you would be able to see the show from behind the crowd. Our PAC positions (there are four in Epcot) allow guests with disabilities to enjoy the show from the comfort of their chairs. I can't count how many nights I've had this position, but every time I do I'm thanked at least once by a guest who is unable to stand. And then they usually launch into a spiel filled with gratitude about how accessible Disney is. And I agree. I think it's amazing that we have so much hospitality for every type of person, and that Disney believed that anyone and everyone should be able to enjoy the facilities. Not just those who could stand it. Literally. 

There are no Stupid Questions - Or Are There?  5/9/10

I can not count how many times I have been standing at a Kim Possible cart, in my costume (grey cargo shorts, a black green and purple polyester top with the "Team Possible" logo, white socks, black sneakers and my Disney name tag reading "Courtney: Lynchburg College") and someone walks up to me and says exactly this: "Excuse me (looks at my name tag) Courtney, do you work here?". I really would like to say "No." at some point in time. I am sick and tired of all the stupid questions I get asked. I understand that Disney is a large place, but how can some people be so dense? I get asked often "Where is Disney?" and by now I know that what they are really meaning to ask is "Where is the Magic Kingdom?". See a lot of people reference our Disney here to be similar to the one in California. But they are actually very different. Just because there is a castle in The Magic Kingdom does not mean that it is the only Disney park in Florida. We have about fifty square miles here, with four parks, and countless resorts, golf courses, and other amenities. Walt Disney World is roughly the size of the city of San Francisco. But since Magic Kingdom has a castle just like Disney Land, people think that this is the only park we've got. I am so sick of the stupid questions. "Ma'am, what time is the three o'clock parade in Magic Kingdom?". You think I'm kidding but I'm dead serious. I've gotten that question at least five times since I got here. I don't know how people survive being so small minded and ill informed. I've also been asked about my own park. There are two parts to Epcot: Future World and the World Showcase. Future world holds the majority of the rides and attractions, while the Showcase has eleven pavilions representing different countries and is more culture oriented. When I set someone up in Future World for a mission in the German pavilion I got asked the weirdest question, and I will never forget it. The woman asked "Where is that?" which is a common question, so I explained to her how to get to the showcase and around to Germany. She still looked puzzled so I pulled out my map and showed her where we were and drew a route with my finger to where she was going. She then asked "Do I need a hopper pass to get to that park?". She thought that we had put two separate parks on the map. As if the maps aren't jumbled and confusing already, let's just go ahead and jam two into one map to save time and money and create confusion. Right. That's exactly what we did.   I am so confused as to how people think this way. With very little common sense. And I guess I would have been the same way to be honest. It's quite overwhelming, Disney, but I just wish people would think a little bit more before they open their mouths.  

Call me, beep me, if you wanna reach me... - Kim Possible Theme Song

The Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure  3/28/10

I can not believe I got a job that is so awesome! I'm working at the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. But to those who work there, it's just called KP. It's much easier to refer to the attraction as KP. I love it! I used to watch the show Kim Possible when I was a little younger while it was still on the Disney Channel. If you were to tell me that I would end up being a secret agent some day, I probably would have laughed. And now I can't imagine doing anything else. Out of everything there is to do at Disney when it comes to cast member positions, I think I was chosen for the perfect position. I don't know who interviewed me, but she chose the position that best suited my qualities and she was very right. The thing I like most about Kim Possible is how much it has to do with my major. I'm a marketing major and even though I'm not selling anything at KP, it still can be incorporated into marketing. Kim Possible is a high tech scavenger hun in the World Showcase countries in Epcot. An agent signs up for what we call a "mission pass" and that pass lets the agent know where and when to report for their mission. They will head into the showcase and find the field station listed on their pass and give the pass to one of the Kim Possible cast members. We then set the agent up with a "Kimmunicator". The Kimmunicator is a hand held device (cell phone) that gives the agent all of their hints and clues for their mission. It lets them know what country they are going to, shows them where to go in that country, makes special effects happen during the game, and then lets them know where to drop off their "Kimmunicator" when they are finished with their mission. Everything they need to know about their mission is in a little program on that phone. I have to sell this experience to guests in about thirty seconds or less at least seventy times in a day. The game is completely free, but if they find it boring the guests won't sign up. If no one signs up and we lose numbers, we lose the game and the cast members associated with it. I have been trained to sell this experience to guests every day and I really feel this has a lot to do with the sales portion of marketing. This makes me very happy because I can actually end up relating my paper and experience to marketing and not just business in general.

Stroller Parking 4/4/10

Lately I've started to notice the little things that we do to make guests happy, or their stay easier. One of these things is stroller parking. You would think it's very simple - park your strollers before going on rides or into buildings. But just in case guests don't quite understand that, we actually have people that do only that - stroller park. Stroller parking is a big deal around there. But I guess it isn't really the guest that matters in these things. Of course we care about them and these small things make their stay easier - but they are mostly for us. We park strollers so that they don't crowd the stores and rides and become a safety or fire hazard. At Kim Possible we do a few things that seem like they are for the convenience of the guests but really they are for the cast members. When I set someone up for a mission, I let them know that their mission is "Top secret" and they should find a hiding place away from the field station to get started. This makes the guest seem like a secret agent and they feel cool and get really into the attraction. But really... it simply gets them out of the way so that the next guest in line can be helped quickly. It's little things like this that help us move swiftly through our daily routines. There's not really much else going on this week except that I got my first GSF card. GSF stands for "Great Service Fanatic" and you get these cards when you do something exceptional at your work location. We had a lot of rowdy guests in our PAC (Parade Audience Control) positions today and the managers felt that all of the cast members working PAC should get a GSF. The GSF will go on my record card and will show that I've got some initiative and that I was recognized. It's actually pretty exciting. 

Details

Have you ever noticed how detailed Disney is? How much they take into account when coming up with a new project? In Epcot alone I can name many many things. First off, if you look at the Moroccan pavilion from the World Showcase Plaza area, you can see a very tall tower in the back. The building is blended to look Moroccan so that it won't disturb the presence of the Moroccan pavilion. In actuality, this tall building is the attraction "Tower of Terror" (which is my FAVORITE ride). The attraction is blended so that it can be in both Hollywood Studios and Epcot at the same time. Another example is "Soarin'". Soarin' is an attraction (ride) in Epcot where you go on a journey across the country in a hang glider. This involves a very high set theatre. The theatre can be seen behind the Canadian pavilion but is blended to look like mounds or mountains so that it doesn't stand out so much. It can be in both Future World and the World Showcase at the same time. Little things like this amaze me about Disney. If you go on a ride there is nothing out of place. There are props that people probably never turn to look at. But they are there - for those rare one or two people who actually care and actually want to see the props. I don't know how they do it, but Disney is full of geniuses who think of just about everything. I can't count how many times I've been surprised by the detail in a ride or attraction or show or just a prop. How they are all so authentic and quality made. I hope that if I come to design anything for myself - a business or commercial or anything productive - that I can put my mind to making it as perfect and authentic as possible. 

Just like Walt. Dream it. Do it. Live it. Disney.