First off, I have to thank Nicole for once again letting me do a guest post! And not only that, it is about a subject that is so near and dear to my heart... Disney! I am quite jealous of your vacation. Make sure when you and Danny are in EPCOT you stop by my old stomping ground, Innoventions, and see the Storm Struck! show.
Yup, I am a former Disney
And I applied. And I got accepted. Initially I was to leave in June but Ryan was deploying in July. Panic! I call my recruiter, yes she was called my recruiter and explained the situation, suddenly I can go at the end of August. My heart broke in July when Ryan left for Iraq, but I was going to weather out the deployment at the Happiest Place on Earth! I would be there until January with my program and Ryan was due home in February, perfect!
Jump ahead again to August. I am working in Attractions (aka rides basically) but I got a better deal. Instead of telling people to fasten their safety belts I am placed in Innoventions at EPCOT. As my recruiter told me, "We thought with your theatre background you would like a speaking role. Since this does involve extra work with memorizing and performing you will be paid more and you are indoors." I heard performing, extra money and indoors and said yes not quite knowing what I agreed to! Indoors in Orlando in August = Air Conditioning. I am not a fool!
(My costume was pretty lame. Not gonna lie.)
I basically presented three shows throughout my time at Innoventions. All were on the educational/scientific side. I did StormStruck, Don't Waste It, and Where's the Fire? Since Innoventions closed at 7pm and the park was generally open later, if you had a closing shift you worked Fireworks Crowd Control for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth... which is the show my now husband proposed to me during! Ryan came back from Iraq early and came to visit me.
Now I am sure this is not the stuff you're all interested in. You want the behind the scenes stuff! The perks! Well, I can tell you a lot... and some I can't. I do want to preserve the magic (: But I will tell you some things!
(Patrick, Karli and I enjoying a day in Magic Kingdom)
One, Disney treats their employees (including poorly paid interns) very well. Interns don't earn a lot, but we do get housing included in our pay as well as a bus system that will take you anywhere from the apartments to any parks, Downtown, or even Walmart! I had my car, but the bus made it easy when I didn't want to deal with driving. At Christmas, it rocks to work at Disney. We get this massive coupon book with everything from free popcorn and sodas to one 30%, 40%, and 50% coupon to the restaurants of our choice. We also get five days of four free passes for friends and family to visit. We get a normal 20% or so discount year round on almost everything, but during the holidays it is 50%!! Plus the coupons. Kind of rocks. Plus on my days off I could go to any park I wanted, for free. I spent many a day off running around with my fellow cast mates at all of the parks.
(I went through it daily!)
Two, yes there are tunnels in the parks. I was expecting more of a murky torchlight castle type thing, but sadly they are cement and white walled with fluorescent lights and piped in music. The EPCOT tunnels were my best friend when I was training and learning my scripts. They only go under the Futureworld section of the park, or the front, as the World Showcase has a road that goes behind the entire thing (with a bus) so there was no need for tunnels there. I would pace end to end reciting my scripts and avoiding forklifts and characters walking around half dressed. The Magic Kingdom tunnels I went into once and never again. They are HUGE. Like... every corner had a map saying *You Are Here* on it. I saw Aladdin and Jasmine bickering while Aladdin packed his backpack, Pooh and Tigger 1 shifting with Pooh and Tigger 2 while the Haunted Mansion Cast members were in make up.... it was crazy!
(Chip and I at the Garden Grill)
Three, even though I was 22 years old I could not help but gasp the first time I saw a character without their head on. It was day three of training in the tunnels and I saw Chip and Dale walking, but carrying their heads. And one was a girl! Oh the genders of the characters... the illusion! The seven year old inside me cried. Especially once when I went up the stairs after that and saw the next set of Chip and Dale fully dressed and ready to go outside. Once a character has their head on, backstage or onstage, they are silent. It is pretty strict. By the way, behind the scenes Disney is called Backstage, i the park is called Onstage. We're not employees, we're cast members. The instant we are onstage, whether we are a member of custodial staff, food and beverage, attractions, or Mickey himself, we are in character. They were very serious about this. Rightly so.
(Intern Graduation Day)
Four, Mickey nine times out of ten is a girl. Mickey and Minnie are always 5'1'' and shorter, so more often than not they are female. Donalds are about there too but you can usually tell by their calves if they are or not... Queen of Hearts is always male as they have to be at least six feet tall to wear the costume. There is a whole breakdown. To learn more about being a character see my horrifying experience at my one Disney Character Audition. Mind you I did a face audition only (like for Princesses vs a Fur audition which are masked) but still... Talk about humiliating!
(Thanksgiving in the Cast Member Cafeteria... only .99!)
Five, yes sometimes it did suck to work there. Like on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, or New Years Eve. As an intern they owned me. Period. But we made it fun for one another. We had the days it was wicked hot and humid, or even freezing cold as it got towards the end of my time there. We had guests that would have "protein spills" (aka vomit) or would complain or just make your day tough, but you know what? Seeing a little girl walk by dressed like Cinderella or a little boy glowing because he got to sword fight with Captain Hook made my day better. Always.
(Some of the best people ever! I do miss my fellow Cast Mates.)
Six, never go on New Years Eve. Ever.
(Backstage at work! Love the view.)
Seven, sometimes if you are lucky you see celebrities. Tyra Banks came to EPCOT as did one of the players from the Giants when I was there. Johnny Depp randomly comes to Disney and plays Jack Sparrow in the parks, especially for the parades. He did it for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party the year I was there! Sadly I missed him.
(Backstage at Fantasmic with my Entertainment Class, on Steamboat Willie's boat!)
Eight, The best times to go to Disney are as follows. After Labor Day weekend to before Thanksgiving... the big chunk I worked there. After the summer rush when kids go back to school and before the holidays the parks are empty. I never waited longer than ten minutes for any ride. Also January through Spring Break is pretty good too (so I have heard) if you avoid long weekend holidays like Presidents Day. But even those are not like in the summer or the holiday rush.
(Team BroWo at Disney Quest night, for free! Don and Patrick were a bromance, Karli and I were a womance. I miss these three the most.)
Nine. Crazy things can happen to you when you work there. My friend was a hostess at a restaurant in the Contemporary Resort. One night Mickey got tackled by an overly large ten year old who knew better... her head hit the tile and she blacked out. In costume. On stage. Some how Pluto and Goofy got her up and into another room away from the kids. Problem, Mickey went into the closet, Mickey had to come out. So another Mickey was rushed over as was an ambulance, got dressed in the closet, and re-emerged. Seriously.
(Kayla, Karli and I in our tiaras!)
and Ten. You cannot help but be a kid again. I will admit, I got myself a tiara to wear in Magic Kingdom. I hugged characters, took pictures with them, and got them to sign a canvas bag I carried around. You wear the celebration button pins on your days off. You collect the pins and trade in the parks. In infects you. You hum the theme songs as you walk through different sections, you can recite the monorail greetings, you wear a Mickey watch... it happens.
I have to say, I loved working there. The only reason I ever would have left was the reason I did.
My husband. I knew I had to make a choice, and Ryan was worth giving up a dream job. I have never once regretted it. I still talk to my old cast mates, two were even at my wedding. Disney will always have a special place in my heart, and who knows? Maybe if Ryan gets stationed in Southern California I can always give Disneyland a try....
Thanks for reading! It got much longer than I planned, but Disney does that to you!! If you want to read more, head over to my blog and feel free to read any entries from August 2009 - January 2010... I got plenty more! (:
