Disneyworld - Jan./Apr. 2008

WALT DISNEY WORLD
January 15, 2008

Hi Everybody,

After a 5 month pause in the travel updates of Mike & Donna, we have decided, by popular demand, to resume the updates. The months of August through November were spent in Arizona and California mostly visiting family and friends with side trips to Las Vegas and Death Valley. In late November, after Thanksgiving with family, we decided to take advantage of an opportunity to work part time at Walt Disney World (WDW). We called them to confirm everything and then headed to Florida.

Friends had recommended Rainbow Chase RV Resort which is about 10 miles SW of Orlando, a convenient location for commuting to WDW. This is a small resort (about 100 RVs) but very nice and friendly. We attended a Christmas dinner provided by the owner and also participated in a golf cart Christmas parade around the park. We think we will enjoy being here for the 2 or 3 months we’ll be in Florida.

We had 3 days of Disney training before Christmas when our training had to be suspended. There were no trainers available during the very busy time from Christmas to New Year’s Day. We were asked to work during that week in low skilled jobs like greeters and crowd control. We worked 4 days that week including the night shift on New Year’s Eve. That enabled us to see and participate in the midnight show of spectacular fireworks. We were assigned a location that was in the very center of this fireworks show that completely encircled the park. Never have we seen such a lengthy display of such magnitude, with so many multi-colored unusual formations! It would have been a lot more fun if we were not so sick. We both came down with a bad cold right after Christmas which we are still fighting.

After New Year’s we resumed our training which is to operate three attractions in TomorrowLand: Astro Orbitor (rockets going around in a circle), Transit Authority (people-mover) and Stitch’s Great Escape! (animated special effects show). We have finished this training and are now working regular duty. Our training included not only the technical and safety steps in operating these attractions, but also stressed how to give guests excellent service by encouraging us to create surprises and Magical Moments. We also are trained to turn bad experience into a positive like giving a guest who has lost a balloon a complementary replacement. We are to acknowledge guests celebrating birthdays, weddings, or little girls who have been turned into Princesses. We originally committed to work 2 days per week but they have scheduled us for 3 days per week. We will try this for awhile before we complain that it is too much.

This is an interesting place to work. There are no “employees” at WDW. We are all “Cast Members” who work “On-Stage” where we play a role using lingo and wearing costumes that fit the assigned location. Our costumes are black, grey and silver costumes that resemble police uniforms. Our boss is a computer which gives us all of our schedules and assignments. There are managers but they only communicate with the computer so we have no human contact with a superior. There are also trainers and coordinators but they get all of their assignments from the computer also. Interesting but very strange!

The variety of people we meet, both cast and guests, are also very interesting . We encounter thousands of people per shift from all over the world. It’s rare to have a conversation because of time constraints, but we do have enough interaction with the guests to get a feel for their attitudes, behavior and other cultural aspects. When we are “Off-Stage“, we talk with college students from South America and China who work here and get college credits. We see Cinderella, Goofy and other characters in different stages of undress in the tunnels connecting the different sections of the park and in the Mouseketeeria.

Our cast member status allows us free access to all WDW parks and attractions. We have not taken advantage of this yet because of our illness. Now that we are feeling better we will get out and do the things we came to Florida to do. We are also looking forward to seeing another shuttle launch in early February.

WE WISH YOU AN INFINITY OF ADVENTURE, GOOD FORTUNE, AND HAPPINESS IN 2008!
Mike & Donna

GOODBYE TO MICKEY & MINNIE
April 6, 2008

Yesterday was our last day on the job at Disney World. Due to our part time, seasonal status; it was not necessary for us to quit. We applied for and received ongoing, unavailable status which allows us to continue to be employees for the remainder of 2008. That means that we will continue to have the benefits such as free access to any Disney park worldwide for ourselves and friends. It also means that we can return to work at any time during the year if we so desire.

When we originally applied to Disney they required us to verbally commit to working two days a week for two months (due to the training required). We found that 8 hour days were a bit strenuous for us (mostly on our feet) so we applied for and got three 6 hour days a week. This was much easier.

Our shift hours were exactly the same but we didn’t see much of each other during the day. We were trained to operate three attractions in Tomorrowland which resulted in 15 different working positions. Every 20 or 30 minutes we would rotate from one position to another which kept us proficient in all positions and made it more interesting. We stayed on the job for almost 4 months which was probably a little too long. Although we enjoyed the experience, there was a lot of physical work and responsibility which was a bit wearing at the end (after all we are retired).

On the plus side, the experience was extraordinary. We have been in large crowds before but we never interacted with large numbers of strangers. We have lived our whole lives interacting with a close circle of friends, family and business acquaintances. A workday at Disney involved interaction with hundreds of people from all over the world. Every day on the job resulted in different experiences. After every shift we would sit and tell each other stories about our different experiences. Some of those stories would make us laugh and some would make us angry. We could write a book about the insight we have gained into the human species.

Our Disney training helped us to handle angry or distraught guests. It’s called immediate guest recovery. We were allowed at our discretion to give away free passes and vouchers for items up to a value of $25. This worked most of the time but not always. Guests take their anger out on the nearest cast member and it is up to us to handle it the best we can. Donna always did a good job of this but Mike lost his cool a couple of times and yelled back (Disney would not approve). Donna was also very talkative with the guests and especially with the children. Give her a microphone in front of a crowd and she turns into a showman, adlibbing along with the spiel. Her weakness was in handling the switches and buttons for the attractions where she made a few boo boos. Mike on the other hand was good with the switches and buttons, but not very innovative with friendliness and spiels.



Another interesting part of the Disney experience is how it operates as a business. Under the Magic Kingdom is an unseen underground city which supports the whole operation. Cast members are not allowed to use park services such as rest rooms, restaurants or stores. In fact they’re not even allowed to leave their work area. A Tomorrowland uniform in Fantasyland would destroy the magic. Cast member services are all underground or “back stage” as they call it. There are numerous stairwells and tunnels to get “on stage” so as to minimize cast members from mingling with the guests. Most of the support for the park such as food service, maintenance, staging areas for parades and etc. takes place underground. Employees arrive for work by bus from the parking lot to the underground tunnel entrance, all unseen by the public. It is an amazing display of logistics and extensive computer use.

Now that we have ended this memorable experience we will be slowly making our way north to visit family and friends in Virginia, Pennsylvania and New England. Best wishes to all.

Mike and Donna