More of the Disney journal - because I really have nothing else on my mind lately. Just Disney. And getting work done for school - which this journal is definitely a large portion of my school work.
The Disney Look
Working for Disney has got to say something great on my resume. This week I learned a bit more about the Disney Look. I figured I knew what it was since I didn't ever get told that I looked wrong. But there is so much to the Disney Look it isn't even funny. My hair can't be two-toned, it has to be all one color. My shoes have to be polish-able, black, they can't be broken or ripped, or falling apart. My socks must be white with shorts and black with pants. I can't keep hair ties on my wrists. My name tag has to be in a very specific place (there's actually a spot on my shirt designated for my name tag. It's so crazy - but it makes perfect sense. Everyone needs to be uniform. Our costumes must make Disney look good. I can respect that, and I'm sure any other employer would, too. I have to come to work, look a certain way, speak a certain way (service basics), act a certain way, and be a certain person. I can't lean on anything, if I want water the bottle has to look a specific way and go in a specific place on my costume. Everything is pre planned and must happen a certain way. I can't believe how well Disney has done. Well actually, I can believe it. I'm just still quite overwhelmed with this entire place. The Disney Company is going to look great on my resume. I feel like it says that I have some sort of self control, respect, guest service experience, and a lot of other things that I've learned from Disney that I can't find anywhere else. An employer looking at that has got to know how reputable Disney is and hopefully that will get my foot in the door at somewhere nice. I've been thinking a lot lately and I'm not sure if I want to come back to Disney or not when I'm finished with school, but it's definitely an option. I'm hoping to go seasonal when I'm finished here on the program. That will at least give me some of my perks like getting into the parks free and my discounts, and then I will still be with the company if I choose to come back full time as a front-line cast member and try to work my way up the latter. However, I don't think I want to do this forever. A lot of front-line cast members get stuck in front-line and don't really move up. Plus I'm not sure I want to be on my feet for long hours every day and work outside. I know what I want in my life and it is not a job where I stand outside and pretend to like my job every day. So we'll see.
The Disney Point (And other guest service techniques)
Guest service has easily become the biggest deal to me lately. Other than making sure I'm on time for work, having the right costume on, remembering my name tag, and everything else that I can think of, guest service is the top notch on my list. I'm polite to people even when I'm not in costume because it is so drilled into my head. This week I tried to take notice of guest service techniques. I looked really closely to not only how I was acting toward guests but how other cast members interacted with guests. I don't know if it's because I'm still new or what, but it really seems like the majority of cast members here are happy with their jobs. I like mine so far, and that helps me be a positive person during the day. I love using nick names for the kids. I don't know how many little girls I call "Princess" in a day or how many little boys I call "dude" or "buddy". It's so much fun because they know we're talking to them. It's a service technique that makes the kids happy, which makes the parents happy. Another thing that I love that keeps the kids happy is kneeling. When we speak to children we always kneel so that we are at their eye level. That way, they know we are talking to them directly and we know that they are big enough to understand what we're saying. And even if they aren't it makes them feel special to be acknowledged. I get the pleasure of working with kids the majority of the day. At Kim Possible we get a lot of kids that want to be secret agents and it gives me the chance to make their day that much more special by turning them into agents and sending them on missions. Moving on to the adults is the easy part once you have the kids involved. Most of the time when a family is on vacation, if the kids are happy the parents are happy. And that's really all that matters. We just want everyone to have a positive experience. At Disney we have what's called the "No Strings Attached" policy. No strings means basically just that. If a guest spills their drink right after they get it, we can give them a new one free. If a child happens to throw up on their clothing, we can get them something free to cover up their kids so the child doesn't have to be in soiled clothing the rest of the day. I really like this policy considering how much things cost at Disney. And because I know that the company can most likely afford it, so I don't feel bad using no strings when necessary, but not over using it or taking advantage of it. There are so many different guest service techniques but these are the ones that have stuck out the most to me lately because they are the ones I have had to deal with so far.
Preserving The Magic
There is nothing better in Disney than Magic. The princesses, the characters in general, all of the movies and music and shows and rides and lights and everything are all part of the magic. My favorite question of all time is "How many Mickeys are there in the parks?". Our answer? One. There is only one Mickey Mouse and one Minnie and one Donald and one Goofy and so on. Because that's part of the magic. You will never find two of the same characters in the same space. You will also find that the back stories to a lot of the rides and shows are so elaborate that they are completely believable. Especially if you are a nine year old girl with a wild imagination. I am not nine, but boy do I let my imagination run wild when it comes to Disney. In Disney's Animal Kingdom there is a Safari ride. If you ask any cast member, the Safari is about two weeks long. The ride itself is about twenty or thirty minutes because the Safari has to be cut short due to "poachers". But I think it is amazing that they automatically tell you that the Safari is two weeks long. The looks on some people's faces are hilarious. It's so completely believable because the cast members stay in character and play their parts well. As a Kim Possible agent I have to be able to think quickly on my feet because kids come up with the craziest questions. I've been asked so many random questions so far. They ask where certain characters from the show are and why they can't show up in person. A lot of kids as why all the villains came to Epcot at once. I've been asked before if the villains knew they were taking over a fake country. There are so many different things that I've had to make up to answer these questions. And if our carts are down I have to tell guests that "Dr. Drakken took over our field stations so the Kimmunicators aren't working" all the time. It's so wild how many themes things people come up with. We've been fed so many Kim Possible lines that I feel like I could answer almost anything. This week we've had a lot of issues so I've been dealing with having to come up with the most random excuses on my feet. I love how the princesses act, too. I took a few pictures with princesses this week on my days off and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) asked me why my prince wasn't escorting me, and Jasmine asked me if I could grant a wish what would it be? My answer was being able to travel anywhere and she thought very quickly and said "Well all you need is a magic carpet and then you'll still have your wish left.". It was so incredible. Even though I know they aren't real and they're being fed these lines and being paid to be there - in the moment it feels so real. I feel like I'm really talking to a princess. I also like how they introduce themselves - like we don't already know who they are. Mulan introduced herself to me "What's your name? Oh hello, my name is Mulan." I felt so special, and then she asked to take a picture with me so that it was her getting to meet the special person, not the other way around. They have a great way of making guests feel really great and I love it.
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