Celebrate a Dream Come True

Four months ago I thought four months would go by so slowly. I’ve changed my mind. Four months is a very short amount of time. Four months. One huge adventure.

When I first heard about the Disney College Program I day dreamed about getting to go to Disney World and make people smile. As long as I didn’t have to do the same kind of job I did at KFC I would have done just about anything. After thinking about it though I just didn’t think me going to Florida all by myself was a good idea for two reasons. 1. I was worried that I’d lose my testimony of the religion I love because I wouldn’t be able to attend church every Sunday. 2. I didn’t think I could do it. ‘It’s too big. This kind of thing only happens in movies’ I thought.

In the biggest semester of my life I put in my application and got chosen to be part of the College Program. Even after being accepted I had fears and doubts about going. In the end I decided that if for nothing else I needed it to keep me busy during an 8 month engagement and anyway it’d be fun.

I am so glad I was given the opportunity to work for Disney. I’ve learned so much. Here’s some of what I’ve learned.

-          My testimony of the church is strong. It’s something I can rely on. How I learned it: I’ve never really been in a situation where it was entirely up to me to attend church. There have always been roommates or parents or friends helping me to make the decision to go. Out here I worked on Saturday and Sunday nights. Usually I didn’t get off Saturday night until 1am or 2am. For church I had to be up at 8am. There were a lot of days I just couldn’t do it, and I saw the difference in my life. It’s been a long time, and by a long time I mean probably since high school which only ended three years ago for me, since I’ve been around people who are not of the same faith as me, and I’ve never been around college kids who aren’t members – the joys of attending an LDS college. I’ve never been around drinking or drugs or anything like that. On my program people were so nice to me and so respectful of my beliefs. It was wonderful to see.

-          Magic doesn’t have to be big. How I learned it: Most days the tiniest of things could make or break my day. It’s something I want to apply in other aspects of my life. Before coming on this program I felt like I didn’t really know what it meant to serve others. On this program, even though I was being paid, I was able to learn about service. Not huge things like building houses for people or giving them money, but the little things that are hardly noticed sometimes. A Guest with a crying child is grateful to the Cast Member who shows they care. The Guest asked to move down the queue line would hardly think twice, but the one at the very end of a very long line gets to move twenty feet closer to the attraction. It’s the little things. There’s a scripture that says that the Lord creates miracles by small and simple means. I feel like I understand that much better now. Disney is made up of thousands of little moments that turn into memories that people remember for the rest of their lives.

-          I can do big things. How I learned it: I got to live in a fairytale for four months. It didn’t always feel like a fairytale. There were hard moments, but how often will I ever get to go into Disney World whenever I want? When will I ever have a job where I talk to thousands of people every day again? When will I be given a job where I’m paid to go out of my way to make children smile? It was a fairytale even when it was difficult.

-          It’s hard to be happy with anything if you only look for the things that are hard. How I learned it: Even on a fairytale job when your job is to make people smile it is possible to find the bad things. I have to stand for a couple hours at a time. I have to work with people who don’t understand I’m trying to help. I have to tell people no. All I’m doing is pressing a little flashing green light. The job is a lot better when you look at all the good things. Anything in life has some bad things, but it’s the good things that make it worthwhile.

- -          I learned to appreciate the people who do the behind the scenes work. How I learned it: I did it. I’ve been behind the scenes before. I’ve been behind the scenes many times in the theater, but never like this. There are a lot of things that are done at Disney that Guests will never see. It’s all part of the magic. Every place is like that. There are things we’ll just never see.

I’m just amazed at how my perspectives have changed. I hope I can take the magic making skills I’ve learned and apply them to 

more areas of my life. I would recommend the program for 

anyone. It’s not a cake walk, but it’s incredible.

Sounds of the Mountain

A few nights ago I listened as the Mountain stopped working and started working. When we are trained we're told to listen for unusual sounds as the ride runs. At first every thunderously approaching rocket, every creak of the track, every rattle of the chains is an unusual sound. The soundtrack of Space sounds and music adds to the general din and it's hard to tell what is unusual and what is usual. After a week or two the sounds jumble together and you learn what the Mountain sounds like.

The other night I listened as first the vibrating rumbles from the other side of the walls stopped signifying a stop of the lower and main lifts. I listened as the hiss of brakes stopped and the sound of moving lap bars disintegrated. The soundtrack was muted and a different voice came over the intercom handing out information about the issue at hand. Twenty minutes later I listened as the Mountain got back to her feet. The normal thunder began again to the cheering applause of the Guests still in the building.

I love Space Mountain. I first rode the attraction in California. The one here in Florida is different but I fell in love with this one too. I complain about the Guests and I get tired of everything but the magic of Space Mountain is still there. The magic of going into space is what Space Mountain is all about and I love it. I will miss Space Mountain.

Sorry about the long wait on the next chapter! It's been very busy!

Last week my sisters came for a visit! It was great. I'll get those pictures uploaded tomorrow and on here as soon as I can. Their visit was a blast. Unfortunately spring in Florida means a lot of sunshine and warmth that I'm not used to and then every few weeks two, three, or even four days of absolute pouring rain. We happened to choose the rainy days for their trip. Monday night as they flew in there were thunder storms. It didn't effect their flight but it was very wet. I worked that night. Tuesday it was clear the entire day. Sunny and warm. Wednesday it was beautiful until about 4:30pm. At 4:15 we ran over to the castle to see Dream Along with Mickey. We watched the entire show which is only about 15 minutes. After that we walked over to the little ice cream parlor on Main Street. We got in line and turned around and the sky was literally black. The thunder started and the sky opened up, the wind was so strong and I was a little scared we'd see some funnel clouds. I haven't worried about funnel clouds in eight or nine years since the move from Texas, but that's really how it looked. We got to the ice cream parlor at about 4:30 by 4:50 the sun was about to come out again. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. After that the temperature dropped and we left as soon as the fireworks were over. Thursday we went to Hollywood Studios and it poured rain the entire day. It didn't stop once. Friday it was sunny and warm and beautiful and they left around 2pm. It was depressing. Oh well. We still had a ton of fun.

The Mountain has been running particularly well lately. We haven't had as many down times the past week and a half or so in comparison to the way it's been since I got here in January. It's been kind of nice. I wonder what changed.

There are so many interesting little tid bits of information and stories that I have that I hardly know where to begin. I don't think I can even write them all. I don't think I remember them all.

A very exciting thing happened the other day! I was at Unload 2. That's the person who tells you which direction to scramble out of the rocket and where the pictures are. As preliminary for this story there are a things that must be known about Space Mountain. The first thing. There are two different sets of lights that the Guests think of as "work lights". The first is our actual work lights. They light up absolutely everything and they're what we use when we are broken down. Then there are the lights from the People Mover. The People Mover is a Tomorrowland version of a train. It only goes through Tomorrowland and it goes through just about every attraction in our land. This means that it also goes through Space. Occasionally the People Mover will stop. I was on it once when it stopped while we were in the Mountain. It is actually extraordinarily dark and frightening even for someone who knows Space like the back of her hand. When it goes down it turns some lights on so we don't give little ones and grown ones nightmares. The second thing to be known is that the inside of Space Mountain reflects every speck of light a hundred times. It's Space. Its magical. It just works that way.

On this particular night the People Mover just happened to be stopped and the lights had been turned on. Guests usually say something to us and I'd been asked a few times already why the lights were on. A very tall man got out of seat 6 and came to talk to me about the lights. I already had my speech ready. I explained to him about the People Mover. I elaborated a little and told him that it happened quite often and that there was nothing we could do about it. I told him it was a problem. All of a sudden he says "hmm... well it's only happening because we have the wrong kind of glass up. I'll talk to some of my guys about it and see if we can't get something done about that." I was speechless. The only reason to say something like that is if you're an Imagineer and you're a higher up who could actually change something. I had to recover quickly and respond. I think I said something about one way glass so the Guests on the People Mover could see Space Mountain but Space Mountain couldn't see the People Mover. He said goodnight and left and I about died. Here's this possibly important person and here I am making suggestions. I don't know if anything will actually get done but still...

Space Mountain being a dark roller coaster we get a lot of young children who are a little bit nervous about going on. I have a whole speech for those crying youngsters and 5 out of 10 times I can convince them to ride. Recently I've found a way to get almost 7 out of 10 to ride. Pretend you're scared of the ride and you're not sure you want to go. This girl in an official, kinda odd looking outfit, comes over and kneels down in front of you. "Hi honey. Are you nervous to go into Space?" You nod. "Aww I'm sorry you're scared sweety. Have you done any of the other roller coasters today? Have you been on Thunder Mountain? Yes? Well guess what! This ride goes half the speed of Thunder Mountain. Have you been on Splash Mountain? Yes? Wow! You're really brave! That drop is SO big! The one single drop on this ride is half the size of that one and instead of going almost straight down it goes more out." That's what I would usually say. Usually they decide to ride. Now here's the additional piece I've added. So far it only works really really well on the little boys. "Have you seen Star Wars?" Their little eyes light up and they usually nod. "Do you like Star Wars?" They smile a little and those eyes are shining and they nod. "Well guess what! Space Mountain looks exactly like you're a Jedi and you're going out into space in one of their space ships!!" So far it has only not worked once and the little boy was so sweet about it. The parents are usually really excited that I took the time to kneel down on the ground and talk to their little kid. It's so cute. It makes everything else worth while. I absolutely love it. The first time I tried it I asked the little boy to tell the girl when he got off if he liked the ride and I'd call down and find out. I almost burst into tears when about three minutes later the girl at unload called me back to tell me that the little boy not only liked it but he wanted to go again. He'd been crying when I put him in his rocket. It made me feel good.

That's all I can think of tonight. Thanks for still being interested! :D Have a magical day!

Strangest Question

Yesterday I got Grouper a lot. It's not my favorite, but it does make time go fast. Right now is "Band Kid Season" I've decided. Having once been a band kid I love having them with us. Teenagers are always interesting and it's an ego boost to be told countless times a day that you're loved by teenage boys...

Those tidbits are both important for this story. :)

I was grouping my third or fourth group of band kids. This particular group was very excited about Disney and very talkative. They asked a lot of questions about the roller coaster and my job. I tried to answer in a short amount of time so that I could timely get them on the ride. Right before I seated our young Guests one boy in the line asked me if I would give him my  name tag... what? LOL I told him no and he asked again this time offering me all the trading pins on his lanyard for my name tag. I still told him no. I'm pretty positive I'd get in trouble for that. It was the strangest question I've ever been asked.

Do you want to know what the most common question is? "How long is the wait time?" I don't understand that question in the slightest because the only time I've ever been asked it is when I'm standing directly beneath a sign that says: "Standby Line wait time is ____ minutes". It's right there... okay.

:) Night night!!

The Little Things

Yesterday I was asked to attend a training class about the Basics. The Basics are the things we do to make Disney Service the best there ever was. I really like the classes. Some Cast Members think it's too much, but I think it's a wonderful thing to be reminded again and again of what's expected of us.

The class yesterday lasted about two hours and we just discussed ways we could more fully use the basics. The four basics are:

- I project a positive image and energy.
- I am courteous and respectful to all Guests, including children.
- I stay in character and play the part.
- I go above and beyond.

Sometimes doing those things is hard. Working becomes exactly that... work. The lady suggested that we notice what the little things are that remind us of why we do our job. Mine is Space Mountain itself. I love it. I love that ride. I was able to go on it last night before I left work and every time I go I'm reminded again why I love it so much. It's beautiful. There is so much to imagine in there. It's like a science fiction book in one experience. That's my reminder.

What are the little things that remind you that you love what you do?

Have a good day everyone!

Overview

It's been such a long time since I wrote! I don't know what to write about...

I got yelled at on Monday. I felt really silly because I let it get to me. I know I shouldn't have and I won't again. It was the first time I'd really been yelled at since I started at Space Mountain and it'd been a long night. There were 66 thousand Guests in the park. At Christmas time, the very busiest time of year for Disney, we average about 70 thousand. We'd broken down about an hour before and wait times were at about 2 hours and 15 minutes for standby and about 30 for Fastpass. We try to get Fastpass in and out in about 10 minutes. That's how crazy it was. I was on assignment as Mountain 3. That's the position that helps Guests in wheelchairs into and off of the ride. Each time one of those parties comes through it can take us between 5 and 10 minutes for just one of those parties. This is because we wait for that Guest to get completely on the ride, we note the number of the rocket and where in the rocket they're sitting and then we personally wheel the wheelchair downstairs and wait for that Guest to get off the ride. It's usually one of my very favorite positions. We create magic in that position. But Monday night the Mountain was understaffed and there were about 30 parties with wheelchairs. That takes a lot of time. Most of the time when we're that busy Mountain 3 would have an assistant. That night, being understaffed, I had no assistant. I did the best I could as fast as I could but they wait times for that line kept climbing. One woman was angry because she'd been in my line for about 20 minutes. Her daughter had fallen asleep and they no longer wanted to ride and she wanted to see a manager.

So more explaining. We generally have two coordinators. They're like managers but there are lots more of them so that the managers can manage more than one attraction at a time. The coordinators make sure breaks and bump outs(clock outs) happen at the right time. They make sure every one in the attraction is where they're supposed to be. They handle most Guest situations. They take care of situations where ambulances need to be called (aka Alpha Units) They're trained on every position. They have a direct connection with the managers who are on duty. They take care of the smaller manager-type jobs that the managers don't have the time to handle.

Monday night we had two great coordinators. With the mountain so busy there were lots of issues to handle. While the Guest at Load was yelling at me and wanting to see a manager, one coordinator had taken over a Cast Member position within the Mountain so they could have a break and the other was helping an Alpha Unit into the back of the Mountain to help with an emergency. I called the one dealing with the Alpha and then realized he was busy. After a complicated switch I ended up with both Coordinators saving me from several angry Guests along with the one particular angry woman.

Thankfully I was moved soon after the Coordinators got there and thought I'd get a break from angry Guests. I went to Merge Point instead. Merge Point is also one of my favorite positions surprisingly because at first I really didn't like it. Merge Point is where we merge Fastpass Guests and Standby Guests together. There were lots more angry people.

Needless to say, by the time I got my break a half hour after I was switched to Merge I was struggling to stay together. I hate making people wait. I'd love nothing more than to let everyone walk right onto the ride, but there's just no way. The evening did get a little better after that. By the end I was able to smile and wave and wish Guests a good night. I was able to create magic and still make people happy.

Tuesday was my longest shift yet. 13.5 hours. It was fun. Cameron Diaz and Arod (or whatever his name is) came through. That was interesting. I didn't see her. I was on the opposite side of the Mountain, but it's still cool to know that names like that come through.

I had a great day off today. Work tomorrow and then Elder Bednar is coming on Friday and I officially get to go! :D I'm so happy about that.

Goodnight readers. :) Enjoy the "Magic Moments" in your life!

Space Mountain Guidebook

History


http://www.wdwhistory.com/index.php?title=Space_Mountain

It was built in 1975 and ... that article pretty much covers it. :)

Numbers


The ride has thirty rockets inside. Fifteen for each track. The rockets are numbered 1 - 31. Disney was afraid that no one would ever want to ride in rocket thirteen so they skipped the number. Each rocket has six seats and is split in have by a joint making turning easier. The rocket would look something like this. - - - / - - - the slash being about a foot of space. Each rocket seats exactly six Guests at a time. One Guest to each seat.

Guests are required to be at least 44 inches tall to ride Space Mountain. This is a little taller than the other two Mountains in the Magic Kingdom because it's the only ride to require Guests to seat single passengers. It's heart breaking to tell little ones that they can't ride, but we do it because it's a  hazard for them to ride.

Loading and Unloading


Most of the time we have about a minute to get six Guests into line and onto the rockets. Occasionally if there are fewer Guests we have 30-45 seconds. Surprising, I know. The reason there is less time when we have fewer Guests is because there is only one person doing the job and the rockets are going out every thirty seconds.

Guests line up side by side with their parties, the gates open, they step into the rocket, lower themselves all the way to a seated position, and then pull the lap bars all the way down. The lap bars do not move on their own. The rocket is advanced by a Cast Member and another Cast Member asks the Guests to pull up on the lap bar. This is to make sure that the lap bars are locked. It's not to scare Guests.

The hardest part of the ride is unloading. Hardest part. For some reason the rockets are not built to be easy to get out of. I can't tell you how to get out of them because it's an individual thing. I've figured out but if you're a first time rider it's super complicated.

That's all I can think of tonight. :) I hope you'll all visit Space Mountain someday!

"We Are in the Guest Experience Business"

"We aren't really in the attraction business, the hotel business, or the cruise ship business; we are in the guest experience business. The heart of everything we do is creating amazing, memorable experiences for Guests to share with their family and friends."

Tonight I was going to write about how utterly empty Magic Kingdom was today. I was going to write about realizing that the lap bars on Space Mountain are in a really awkward spot and that the way we check them is kinda awkward. I was going to talk about different puzzle pieces to the intricacies that are Space Mountain.

But then as I was leaving tonight I read this on the fridge in our break room. I'm sure it seems like all my blog entries are exactly the same: "wow... I was reminded what work really is" kind of entries. Maybe it seems hard to imagine that in such a short period of time I can forget what it means to work for a company like Disney.

I know that there a lot of you reading this blog who love, or perhaps loved what you're doing. Why do you love it? Why are you doing? Why did you start doing it? No matter how much you love it at first it ends up becoming a job after a bit, doesn't it? The newness, the magic, of it all fades into something normal for you and you start to forget why you started doing it at all.

This is a slight tangent but it connects... or at least... I'm going to connect my two thoughts.

A few years ago when I started dating and then started breaking off those relationships I realized that a lot of times my moods would fluctuate according to that of whatever boy I happened to be attached to at the time. I hated that. How could life ever work that way? Why was I giving anyone else permission to be in complete control of my happiness? That seemed dumb. I thought about that every time I went into a relationship. As time went by I made a lot of little realizations. My final decision on the matter (and it's held true while being engaged and in my relationship with Chris) was that before you ever get close to getting married you should be completely satisfied with who you are and then the person you marry doesn't necessarily control your moods; you do. You always do.

Now... the connection. I had this same disturbing kind of realization a few years ago about work. Why would anyone go to work by choice if the only rewards were monetary? How much do you have to love what you do to want to keep going no matter how many bad days you have? And then, like in a relationship, how do you stay in love with what you do? I've thought and thought and thought about those questions. I've changed my major in hopes of finding something I could love for years and years without giving up. Since I've been out here, though, I've learned something that seems like as big a realization as who controls whose happiness in relationships. Loving your job isn't about how much you love what you do. It's about how much you believe in why you're doing it and being so committed to that even if it's just an idea to keep pursuing. Loving your same ol' same ol' job is completely possible if every once in awhile you go back and refresh the dream.

So this is what I realized today. Have a good night everyone!

Miracles Happen

I have never taken someone to the Emergency Room before, but on Friday afternoon when I got home from a workout my roommate told me she needed to go. I called in for work and told them I wouldn't be able to make it in. By 2:30 p.m. we were in the ER. We did a lot of waiting. I didn't go home until 2:30 a.m. and poor Lacey had to stay the night. After five hours of sleep I went back to the ER to pick her up. The doctors still didn't know what was wrong with her but it wasn't life threatening and she didn't need surgery so they were sending her home. That day (Saturday) the Relief Society President called and took half the stress off my shoulders and I almost started crying. I hadn't really felt stressed at all until she called and offered to help and then I realized how much I'd done and how truly exhausted I was after being at that hospital for so long. That was miracle number 1.

The second miracle happened to today. I had gone to work without realizing my pump was out of insulin. I did alright for my first two and a half hours and then it really did run out and I started to feel sick. Four hours into my shift I felt really awful. I asked to go home early but management hadn't approved it. I had to go back to work but I said a little prayer that my blood sugar would come down and I would  be able to make it through work without feeling worse. I went back to work. Six hours into my shift I felt completely okay and went and tested my blood sugar. It had somehow come down from the 500s to 341. It couldn't have done that without insulin and I didn't have any. I am so grateful for the power of prayer. When I got home I fixed up my pump with another 3 days of insulin and gave myself a shot for what I'd missed.

All's well that ends well. :D

Night night!

Swimming in February!

You'll never guess what I did today! I went swimming in February! LOL I laid in the sun for a half hour and then decided it was hot and I wanted to get in the water. I did. A native Floridian thought I was hilarious because I thought it was so warm and excited to be in the water in February. I have the beginnings of a very nice tan going on.

After swimming around for a bit I went and got groceries. And after that I went to Hollywood Studios for a bit. It was a very leisurely day.

I've been thinking about all the random little things that go with working for a roller coaster. So have you ever ridden a roller coaster and then realized you may have lost that 25 cents that was in your pocket? Well it happens pretty frequently. What happens to that 25 cents? Well... it's hard for us to put it in lost and found. How many people will come looking for a lost quarter or two? We will try to get your attention and return it to you, but occasionally... it goes in our pockets. Which sounds kind of dishonest. But it happens. Today I counted it up and found out that I have $16 of change in my purse. Not ALL of it from the ride, but a lot of it. I can't believe it.

Hmm... I don't know what other little tidbits about roller coaster workers I have. Its fun. :)

Today's been a great day off!

Bad Day Gone Good

I was unknowingly late to work today. :P It was sad. I ran to get my job and it ended up being a speaking job. It was a good thing my coworkers don't know me well enough yet, and the Guests don't know me at all because I could hardly speak trying to hold back the tears. I was so upset. I couldn't believe I was late.

That was the start of my work day and it was bad for the first hour or so while I accepted that I'd been late. I didn't pull it together and get back into the job until much later, I'm sorry to say.

I did have some amazing Guests today though. It is amazing how when you're doing a job like this the tiniest most simple of things can make you so so happy. Today a Guest said my name as he went past me. Rather than just saying "thank you", he said "thank you Kristina". I smiled for almost two minutes. Right when I got to work and I was still holding back tears a Guest came to let me know that he'd lost his hat on the ride and when I told him that unless something happened to the ride we wouldn't be able to get his hat until closing time. I expected it to be World War III because we couldn't stop the ride to go get his hat. Usually that's how it is. Guests get so angry when we can't stop just for them. This man thanked me like I'd done something and told me he'd get the hat tomorrow. I wanted to hug him. It's just a little extra time that the Guest takes to think things through and it makes the lives of the Cast Members who are also trying to do that same thing a million times easier.

I like my co-Cast Members. They're fun. The day did get much much better after I let everything go. It's been a good day and now it's my weekend! Yah!!

ENERGY!

Today I worked for a short time on Unload with a newer girl who also goes to BYU-I. She is adorable. I was so impressed with the way she did her job. First you need a context. :)

Lelsy and I were working on Unload. I was checking for Lost and Found and she was directing traffic. She had so much energy. It was like being onstage with a great actor. Her energy was infectious and pretty soon she had the Guests, her "audience", cheering as they got off the ride. I want to do that! How fantastic! I've been recognized for my in character spiels but I think she deserves the greater reward. If you don't have a Guest's attention what good is a great spiel? So I think I'm going to try that from now on. :)

Tomorrow will be my first very late work day. I work until 3:30 in the morning. It's going to be insane.

Goodnight world! :D

Sleeping Beauty

Today was a great day off.

I spent the day at the Magic Kingdom starting on my autograph collection.

First I met Mickey and Minnie. I decided they had to be first because they're the classics. Then I went and met the Princesses.

That's when my inspirational day all began.

I went through the first two princesses, Belle and Cinderella. Both were very sweet. Then I started talking to Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) and we started talking about me being a Cast Member and she asked me where I worked and then we joked about the three fairies from her movie and how they turn the Mountain colors. She was cute. So then we posed for our pictures and I went to get my camera from the person taking pictures and Princess Aurora grabbed my hand and told me very seriously and sincerely "You know Princess, I see hundreds of Princes and Princesses every day who are very excited because of what you do. Keep it up." I walked out just a little choked up. I hadn't let on that I was losing the magic for my Space Mountain that badly, had I? No... I'd been excited about it. Because I do love Space Mountain. I was so touched that she would take the time to say something so sweet to me. Maybe she doesn't even know how much I needed to hear that.

I went on to meet Ariel and Prince Eric. It was fun. Then I met up with my fantastic roommates to see Fantastmic. As we were waiting in line I was thinking about the same show in California and remembered the time I'd seen it. It was one of a couple strong bricks that helped me to realize my love for theater and that I never wanted to completely give it up. It was a beautiful show! I loved it.

So tomorrow I will go back to work with my attitude nicely readjusted and we'll see what this new day and attitude brings.

It is, after all, a job.

The past few days of work have been "normal" for me. I talked to my mom last night and she said something about how all jobs become normal after a while. Which is true, but kind of sad. I don't want my job to be "normal" because... well... it isn't.

Yesterday was a crazy day for Walt Disney World. There was a fire in a power plant that supplies our power and most of Tomorrowland and a lot of Fantasyland was down for about four and a half hours yesterday while they fixed the problems at the power plant. I started work after we were back up and running.

Every day I've worked for the past four or five days Space Mountain has gone down for a short amount of time at least once. Even after the hullabaloo with the power plant yesterday morning Space Mountain went down for about twenty minutes again in the early evening.

Did you know that if there are enough people in the park to increase wait times on most attractions significantly they extend park hours by an hour? It's true. The past two days the hours have been extended an extra hour. Monday, Valentines Day, was the first day I've seen it happen and then it happened again yesterday evening as well. It will be interesting to see if it continues to extend it's hours.

Today is my day off and I'm going to Animal Kingdom for the first time! Pictures will be on my Facebook tonight. :) Have a good day everyone! Make a magical moment for someone you meet today.

Walt Disney

Today I learned something interesting at church (actually... I learned a lot of interesting somethings at church today it was a great day). This particular interesting something that I learned was that Walt Disney's funeral was in a Stake Center (or an LDS church building) in LA. Walt Disney loved the members of the church although he was not a member himself.

I've been thinking a lot about Walt Disney and a particular quote that is posted everywhere backstage. It says "You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality." The Cast Members here at Disney are those "people" for Disney.


We're going to do one of those fun "close your eyes and imagine" things, except without closing our eyes. Imagine that you are twenty-seven and you've been working on a project for years. The first try didn't go so well, but you've recovered and you're ready to start completely on your own. You're a little nervous. So much could go wrong, but so much could go right. Maybe you're starting to doubt yourself a little. That special person in your life, whomever it may be, walks in and gives you a hug and tells you not to give up, that you're doing great and everything will be great. Your confidence returns and a few months later you introduce this new project to those who decide who stays and who goes and they love your idea and turn it into a huge label. That one project pales in comparison to the huge projects you end up undertaking in the years to come. After a while you look back at the success of your first idea and wonder to yourself "what would have happened if I gave up? Where would I be instead?" You realize that there were always supports for you to lean on when you just couldn't see the dream anymore and there is a lump in your throat when you think of those who've reminded you all along the way of what is most important, who have guided you when you didn't know where to go next, who have listened to every detail of every idea you've had and helped you trim off the unnecessary branches. There was always someone who believed in you.


I'm sure Disney had a moment or two or a thousand like that. I don't know who his support was, but I know I wouldn't be where I am with the supports I've had. My amazing mother, my sisters and brothers, my fiance, my friends. Who are those supports in your life? And maybe more importantly.... Who are you that support for and how could you be a stronger support? Amazingly enough, huge dreams can be supported by a small, single, seemingly meaningless kind word.


I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. DREAM BIG!

Magical Moments

Here at Disney World they used to have "Story Time with Belle". That area is now used as a Meet 'n' Greet place for Rapunzel and Flynn. Well tonight it's going to be "Story Time with Kristina". 

So much happened today that I hardly know where to begin. This morning I got up a little late and decided to go return movies and eat lunch and just get out of the house and go someplace not Disney. It's amazing, but too much and you start to lose it. That was great. The weather here is absolutely gorgeous. Er... at least... today it was. :) It still rains quite often. That was a great start to a great work day.

I got to work and was a little grumbly, but around the clock in area there are posted little emails and comments from Guests from  recent days and their times in Tomorrowland. I read some of them today and remembered why I'm here, and what exactly I'm doing. So I clocked in and started work. Now for the stories. I don't exactly remember what order these all happened in so I figure a general story time is the best way to tell about all of them.

I was working as Grouper (in case you've forgotten, that's the person who tells you where to sit) and because of how busy we were I had a few minutes to stand and talk to this little girl and her grandmother. She was seven (I think) and this would be her third time on the ride. Her grandma had been on the previous two times and was done for the day so she was going to let her ride on her own. We had a nice chat about who knows what and I let her sit in the front. A few minutes later I went up really quickly and told her to have a good time on the ride and then directed the grandma on how to get down. When the grandma thanked me it felt like she was thanking me for more than just telling her how to get down to meet her granddaughter. It felt really good.

The next one I was working as Load (the person who presses the button and stands there and waves as you go into the ride). A couple got on in the brake in front of me and the guy turned around and asked "how long have you been here?" I had no clue what he meant so I told him I'd been working here for about a month. He said "No. I mean how long have you been here today?" I'd been there for a few hours at that point and told him and he said "Well I'm just so impressed with how happy you are. I thought you must have just gotten to work because no one is that happy especially in a rush like this." Ah! So cool.

Right after that I got switched back to Grouper and there were two teenage boys. The sign outside had said that they'd be waiting for 50 minutes and they'd been in line for an hour and a half. They were still okay about it, but the energy and excitement had just seeped out of them. I asked them where they were from and trying to be as energetic as I could to get them excited. They seemed so impressed and as they went to get on the ride the first one turned around and told me that I was the epitome of the what Disney says they work for. Their energy was back. :)

After that a guy came up with his family and energetically asked me how I was. I love when Guests ask me so specifically and sincerely how I'm doing or where I'm from so I stopped and talked with them. He asked me if I really did like it when it was this busy. I told him that sometimes it was frustrating, but it was still Space Mountain and it was still fun and I had no reason to complain. The next family in line had heard me talking to them and the guy asked me if I'd been faking when the first family asked. I honestly had not been faking so that's what I told him. Both families got on a little more extra excited then they had been.

The last story I want to especially share. This boy got on the ride tonight and I'm sure he couldn't have been over 14. He got on with his older brother, and as he got on he started motioning to me and asked if I wanted to ride with him. LOL it was SO cute because he was so young and trying to be very smooth. It was darling. I told him that I'd love to go but that I had to press the buttons and that if I went down with him he wouldn't be able to leave. It made me laugh the rest of the night.

The End.

Not really. There was so much that happened today. The prince of Saudi Arabia came through, and so did Vanessa Hudgens from High School Musical. I saw the prince, but not Vanessa Hudgens. I was on break.

So that's all from Space today. It was just an utterly fantastic day. Thanks for reading!!

Hmm... "Killer Seagulls"

I can't think of a good title for today... LOL

I spent a few hours back in Epcot today. OH! I have the perfect title.

"Killer Seagulls"

Yes, that's right. Seagulls. Here at Disney World they are the scariest things ever. Those birds are huge to begin with and when they're fearless they get right in your face. Today I was walking towards the bus with my baguette munching along when from the left out of my peripheral vision there's this huge grey thing. Right as I go to put my little bite of bread into my mouth this giant bird snatched it right out of my hand. My hand was not even an inch from my mouth. I shrieked. It was scary.

I spent some time at a CP party where we had dinner and I failed at winning a hula hoop contest.

After I failed at the contest. It was fun.

Then we went to Downtown Disney and I got the most amazing shirt ever! It has Belle, my absolutely favorite Disney Princess, on it and "tale as old as time" written at the bottom. I love it! I can't wait to wear it. I also finally got around to getting pictures on the motorcycles in the windows at the Harley Davidson store. It was fun.

I've been wanting pics on this bike since I saw it.

It's been a great two days off. I think tomorrow I can happily go back to work. :)

"You're Mormon? You'll live up."

It has been a long couple of days. We're going to run through them in fast forward with all the good parts.

I got to do a Magic Moment with a family. They were SO excited. The line was like two hours long and they had really wanted to do it again, but with a two hour wait it just wasn't an option. I didn't even know the line was that long until after I took them back up to ride. It was great.

We've had a lot of dance teams here competing. It's been fun to see all of them and find out where they're from and how they did.

Today was a long day. But it was good. I got to talk to Guests when the ride went down for a few minutes. I like doing that as long as I'm not outside. Outside people have a lot of questions that I don't know the answers to which makes me feel bad.

I'm still loving being here! I love my job!!!!! :D

I hope you're all doing great!

And those three things weren't the only good things, but they were the ones I could remember off the top of my head tonight. :)

The Magic Kingdom

Hi everyone!

Yesterday was my easy day off. I went to Downtown Disney and spent the day watching movies and taking it easy. Now I'm feeling a hundred times better. This morning I slept in and ran a few errands and then went and met up with my fabulous roommate Elizabeth and one of our great new friends Cherika at Magic Kingdom. We went on Pirates of the Caribbean ride, on Aladin, and the Big Thunder Mountain. It was fun. I finally got my autograph book so I'm going to start collecting character names. I'm realizing that there are a lot! It'll be fun.

So that was all for the last two days so far. I'm watching TV with my roommates on my roommate's laptop. I'm not such a fan of the show we're watching... it's Grey's Anatomy. I really don't like it, but it's fun to sit with my roommates. We have hilarious conversations.

I think I'm going to try to put a Guestbook on my blog. Would everyone who's reading that isn't a technical follower, would you sign it? We'll see if I can figure it out. :)

My Friday

Hello everyone,

Today was an interesting day to say the least. I lazed around this morning and then went to work. The first hour or so I got continuous “Buckets” which are odd jobs around the Mountain. It was a very slow day and I was outside for a little while. I ended up on Grouper for about an hour. I’m still losing my voice. There were two guys standing by in case we got busy they could open a second route for Guests to get on the ride. After forty-five minutes of doing my Grouper job I could hardly talk. The last family I talked to got a little flustered because I couldn’t speak loudly enough to get over the noise of the line and the deafening music and audio on Space Mountain. After that one of the standby guys came and saved me and I just directed traffic. It was such a small thing but I am so grateful to that Cast Member who was paying enough attention to notice I was having difficulties.

I had a tough time after that today. I think was just really dehydrated, and possibly hungry because I didn’t eat a lot today. I ended up with a terrible headache and I was dizzy. My blood sugars weren’t terrible. Diabetes-wise I was okay. The rest of my body was just feeling a little neglected.

I’m so happy to have two days off now. I’m going to take it a little easy. It would be good for me to rest.

Good Morning!

Good morning world! I was too tired to write last night. So here's what happened last night! :)

It was really busy, but the night seemed to drag on. That's the first shift where every two hours seemed like one six hour shift. I don't know why. Nothing overwhelming was happening. My first position was Merge, that's where we combine the Fastpass and Standby lines. Sometimes people are not so happy about that. A little girl fell and hurt her knee on something so we had to call a Coordinator to come help out. I felt bad.

After Merge I worked on Mountain 3, which I think I've defined before, but it's the one that helps Guests with wheelchairs. It was fun.

Then I just rotated through positions. Nothing too special.

At 8 p.m. the park officially closed, but if Guests happen to be staying at Disney Resorts we do "Extra Magic Hours" so we were staying open until 11 p.m. The way we do Extra Magic Hours is we have to ask for hotel key cards before we let anyone on the rides. At 8 p.m. we also have the big fireworks show that happens every night unless there's a weather problem. After the fireworks Space Mountain was rushed by our Extra Magic Hour Guests. I felt kind of scandalous asking to see people's room keys... LOL. Halfway into the rush two older men came through the line and started asking me if I wanted to go to a jacuzzi party that night. They were totally serious but I didn't realize that until they'd almost passed me and when I did I blushed to the my ears. LOL ugh. My co-Cast Member helping me check room keys during the rush laughed at me and thought it was funny that I blushed so bad.

So now I'm off to work in a few hours. Should be a fun day. Have a good day everyone!

Crazy, crazy day....

Tonight I spent the morning hanging out on my own running errands. It was so great. It was a beautiful day here today. Sunny, and lovely.

At four work started. I clocked in and went down to work on Unload and the first Guest I talked to had lost his shoe on the ride. I have no idea how you could lose a shoe on Space Mountain unless you were fooling around or purposely threw it out of the car... but it's not my place to question a Guest's honesty, at least not in that case. So I took care of that.

A little while later I got rotated to one of my very favorite positions, Restraint. I sent through a few rockets and then the buzzer went off telling me I had a call on the little black phone next to me. "We're cycling down, stop loading Guests." What? Why? Okay... so I talked for a few minutes to the people in the rocket in front of me. There were some Italian people who I'm pretty sure didn't understand a word I said, and an older couple from somewhere in Florida. We had a great chat about what I was doing at Disney and how I got involved with Disney.

Then one of my fellow Cast Members reminded me that in a stop situation Restraint is responsible for the Guests stuck in the Dispatch area... oops. I forgot. So I ran over there. They were fine. It was a little family from New Jersey. So I stayed down there for a bit and talked with them. Eventually I got the call saying we were starting the ride again. I pulled my button so the rockets could be moved from Dispatch and walked back to Restraint. The coolest thing happened then. When you exit out of Dispatch on A side, where I was, you come into view of any Guests in line, and since we were completely full at the time there were hundreds of people who saw me come out of Dispatch. Right as I came out they turned off the lights in the Mountain which generally means that the ride is starting again. There was lots of cheering and it felt like they were all applauding for me. :) It was awesome! I know they weren't, but it was still cool.

So after that I went to Tower and almost fell asleep which probably wasn't the best. And then I had my first break. I can't remember much between the hours of 6:15 and 8:15. I think I worked Grouper, and Unload. I don't think anything exciting happened. Then I had my second break.

I was then sent to Greeter and the lines were so long. I think there was a 50 minute wait time. The park closed at 9 and at 8:30 we had an hour+ wait time. Okay... so I called Tower and asked if they wanted me to close the line early... no. Okay... 8:45 are you SURE you want me to keep letting people in?? Well... alright. So finally at 9 we closed the line and there was still a 50 minute wait time. Right at 9 the ride stopped! Fifteen minutes later the ride started again. We didn't get the last Guest through until 9:45. I was off at 10 and wasn't signed up for anything so I left.

When I got to the bus stop there were at least 50 people waiting to get on the one single bus that would arrive at 10:10. The 10:10 bus showed up and was packed. Luckily one of my fellow Cast Members took pity on my training buddy and me and took us home. My roommate (who I didn't know was in the wolf pack of bus riders) didn't get home until 11:20 and she got off at 9:45. The busses here are crazy, and slightly not as effective as one would hope. I'm SO grateful for the co-Cast Member who took me home.

That was my day. I hope yours was wonderful and I hope your Sunday is even better. :)

Three Days

I have found that there is SO much to write about that when you miss a day it's extremely overwhelming to try and write about everything when you miss some days. :)

So...

The yummy baguette I had.

Where I had lunch, and got my yummy bread.

Wednesday was my day off. I slept in which was great and then went to Epcot where I spent and hour or two in France and then walked around the rest. I liked France. I ate really yummy bread and saw this amazing video. They had this cool imax type of theater and showed an overview of places in France. Beautiful! I'm jealous that Chris got to spend two years there. I bet it's much better in person.

Epcot!

I also visited Italy, Morocco, and Germany as well. After that I went to the Magic Kingdom and spent some time on Main Street. Just looking at shops. I wanted it to be a quieter day.

A cool mask I saw in Italy.

Thursday I had my extra shift. It was fun. I jumped between just about every position and had a lot of fun. I'm making friends with my co-cast members which is nice. There was one interesting thing on Thursday. I was working on Mountain 3 (we're kind of like an extra Grouper but if there were ever an emergency we're the ones with the power, which is kinda scary) when one of my managers came over. I can't think of her name now. I've met her one time before this. She came over looking for something in lost and found and stopped to talk to me. She was very nice and asked me about my major and where I was from. We had a nice little chat. She also told me that she had been impressed with me when she'd seen me get down "on the kids' level" while I was working at a different position. I was pleased because first of all I didn't even know she'd been there. I still can't remember ever having seen her yesterday before she came and talked to me. Second I don't remember talking to kids. I mean, I did, but I don't remember. LOL The managers here are so nice. Today I noticed one standing with a coordinator while I was working Restraint. I hope I'm making a good impression, and more importantly I hope I'm standing out and I'm not just one of a crowd.

Today was fun. I got to work in Tower some more which made me feel a little more confident, made some more new friends, talked about my wedding, and had great experiences with the guests. There was a group of boys who were blowing me kisses as they went through. They came through twice because they were happy that I talked to them. It was a good day.

So that's the short version of my three days. :)

“Mom! That’s the girl…”

Going off the same idea as last night’s post, today my first assignment was to give Space Pilot Magical Moments! I found out that that means that I go to Unload and pick families and take them back up and let them ride again with no wait. :) I took the first family after only five minutes. I didn’t have to redeploy again for another fifteen minutes so I decided to find another family. I grabbed a dad and his two boys. Later I was working on Merge Point (which basically means I direct traffic) and the boys and their dad were back again with their mother. The dad and the younger boy went through and the older boy turned around to his mom. As they walked through I heard him say “Mom! That’s the girl who let us go on the ride again!” Hehe! I loved it.

Today was very slow, but still a good day. :) I picked up an extra eight hours which is nice. Tomorrow is my day off. I’m excited.

Have a great day everyone!

Best Job Ever...

I had more neat experiences today! I love my job!!

I jumped between Grouper (the person who asks “how many in your party” and then tells you where to sit) and Load (the person who stands there and waves at you as they send you into the dangers of the roller coaster with nothing but a little lap bar to keep you in) tonight. I was pressing my buttons as usual and smiling and waving more than anyone in the place, and this lovely southern lady came through with a huge group of people. One of her friends got in before her and she was pointing at me and telling her to notice how happy I was. “If everyone were as happy as she is I’d never worry about getting on another roller coaster in my life.” Ah! It made me even happier than I already was! Every time I started feeling tired tonight I thought of that lady and kept smiling and waving. By the time the night was over my wrist was sore I’d waved so much.

Another time I was also at Load and this family of four through. I got the group in front of them onto the ride and the mom leaned over to her son and I heard her tell him that he had nothing to worry about and that the kids in front of him were way younger than he was. I was confused at first but then I started loading the little boy and his family. The little boy was white as a ghost and absolutely scared to go on the ride. I had a few extra seconds before I had to send off their rocket so I went over and helped him push down his lap bar and got down on my knee next to him and he was looking at me. I told him that this ride didn’t go any faster than his car at home. In fact his car at home goes twice as fast as this little ride. I promised him that he would be okay and went back to my station. The little boy wasn’t as excited as I’ve seen little boys be about this ride, but he absolutely lit up. He didn’t look scared anymore! I completely forgot to look at his parents, and I have no idea if that little boy actually enjoyed the ride, but I felt good about being able to make him feel a little better.

There was another little boy named Ryan who came through with his dad while I was Grouper and it was his birthday. He turned seven, and I let him sit right in front. :) Tonight I had kisses blown at me, one guy called me sexy, and I had little kids practically jumping out of their seats to wave back at me. This job is so much more wonderful when you just put in a little extra effort to make people smile. It’s exhausting, but it should be. Brother Bates told me once that at the end of a rehearsal you should be dead on your feet because acting is physically and emotionally draining. If I’m being paid to be an actor here, then it’s the same kind of thing. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in the outside world, when you’re onstage that’s your life, those are you feelings, and you do whatever your director tells you to do. My director, Walt Disney, said I should make dreams come true. Being one of at least 40 working Space Mountain there’s not a lot I can do, but I’ll do the very best I can to make his show what he wanted it to be.

Have I told everyone yet that I love my job? I do. I love it. It’s perfect for me.

Assessment Day!

Yesterday I passed my assessment with flying colors! :)

The very first thing we did was take a written test with 122 questions on it about different things that happen in Space Mountain. It took Stephen (my training buddy) and I about an hour to finish. I think we both missed only about ten questions. There isn't a set number you have to get right or wrong. The person who is the proctor for the assessment goes over the test with you and if he feels like you know the information it doesn't matter too much.

Besides the written test we also go through each position and take over from whoever is there and show our assessor that we know the position well enough to be left alone to do it. When we finished our written test we were ahead of schedule and were able to get a head start on the outside positions. We took turns and it wasn't too difficult. I was surprised that we were both okay considering how much had happened between the first couple of days when we were trained on those, and the day of our assessment.

After lunch we met with one of our managers. His name was Brian. He asked us about the four basics that we are supposed to uphold and talked about why the managers would need to take disciplinary action. I really like my managers so far. They're nice, and enjoy their jobs and I really appreciate that.

We then finished the rest of the positions. We practiced storing rockets, and took over load, and restraint, and grouper. It was fun being able to do some of the jobs. Others I'm still a little nervous about, but confidence will come with practice.

We passed and were able to take the "earning my ears" badges off our name tags.

Today we tried to get to church, but missed the bus and weren't able to make it in time to get to the bus stop in time to be picked up. So instead we came home and now we're listening to the CES fireside from a few weeks ago. Two of us missed it. It's very good.

The other day I was reading my scriptures and I realized something very similar to the topic of this fireside. I was feeling a little homesick. I know, it seems crazy! How could anyone feel down at Disney World?? I love Disney World and I won't ever stop, but being across the country from my family and finace can be a little overwhelming. Anyway, I realized that Heavenly Father wants us to have great desires, but he doesn't want us to focus on them so much that we forget to enjoy right now. It seems like Heavenly Father wants us to strive for more, but to be content with the good things we have right now. It seems contradictory, but I have found that being content and striving for more can be applied at the same time. We can love the good things in our lives and still want to fix the bad things. It's all about our attitude.

I am grateful for the blessings in my life. I am grateful for the wonderful things that I am able to do.

Have a WONDERFUL Sunday everyone, and thanks again for reading.

Assessment Tomorrow!

It's going to be short tonight.

Tomorrow is my assessment. There will be a 122 question multiple choice test, a 2 or 3 hour thing where you're tested on actually doing the jobs, and then an hour you spend with the manager. It will be a long day.

I can't wait until I pass the assessment. I feel confident in my job, and I think I'll do very well tomorrow.

Goodnight all and thanks for reading. :)

“This is Not a Normal Break Down”

Closing Space Mountain is not difficult and generally takes about fifteen minutes to close both the Alpha and Omega tracks. Tonight, however, we were being trained on how to handle emergency stops, and evacuations. This included causing the ride to break down so we could fix it.

After we E-stopped the track we practiced going out and jogging rockets from place to place on the track like we would in a normal evacuation. When we got to Zone 10 (actually one of the first zones on the track) we found the rocket right where we knew it would be. We called the people on the computers to help us get that section of track going. We tried the first time…. nothing. We tried the second time…… nothing. We powered down the ride and restarted it…… nothing. In the end we had to call maintenance.

When maintenance got there one of our managers came with him. We managed to get the train off the track and finish evacuation training in time to clock out without going over our shift. It was quite impressive. N o pictures. Pictures backstage are a big no-no.

Besides that, today has been pretty leisurely. I got up at 9 a.m. and went and worked out which was kind of fun. Then I went to work a little early and saw different parts of the backstage area. I had a low blood sugar today while we were training. After 11 years on a pump one would think that it wouldn’t be such a big deal when I can handle emergency situations like an unexpected and untimely low. We had a scheduled break about a half hour after I started feeling icky and didn’t feel like the low was bad enough to call for an early break. SO! I started a temporary basal rate that would only last for that half hour and would cut all insulin from my pump. For those of you who don’t know I get a steady amount of insulin every hour. By increasing or decreasing that amount I can increase or decrease my blood sugar. Tonight I stopped it completely for just a half hour. I tested at dinner and I was only 73. I was so excited. Such a little thing, but it made me happy. :)

After all that I did ask my trainer what I would do in a normal work situation if that happened. Sometimes when I’m low I don’t think very clearly and would rather not put someone in danger because of that. He said I’d call control and they’d send an immediate replacement so I could have a quick break.

So that’s all for tonight.

Hollywood Studios

My first day off! I slept till 10 a.m.! It was amazing.

Hollywood Studios!

We saw this great show on the Backlot Tour. We got to use the special effects that they used in Pearl Harbor. This was just one of many, but it was so funny I had to post it.

Take a seat. You don't even know what's coming.

Pretend you're on the phone with the Captain.

Oh the water? Don't worry about that.

Hehe you're gonna get wet.

Yep. Soaked. :)

After spending a leisurely morning getting ready for the day my roommate, Becca, and I went to Hollywood Studios. On the way we met up with John, a guy who lives downstairs. Hollywood Studios is smaller and less crowded than The Magic Kingdom which seemed perfect for today.

We rode on the movie ride that I can't remember the name of. It had Singing in the Rain in it, Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, and a few other movies I've never seen before. It was very cool. I can't quite remember what all we did exactly but Becca and I rode Tower of Terror, and we rode The Rockin' Roller Coaster, and we went on the Toy Story ride, and the Muppet's Show. It was fun.

My very favorite part of the day was (can you guess?) The Beauty and the Beast show that they have. It was a shortened version of the movie and the costumes were incredible. I loved the dancing. I took a ton of pictures and got a lot of ideas for the day I ever direct that show. It was very cool. I want to play Belle so badly! Maybe someday.

The grand finale of the show.

I'm tired tonight. I'm so glad I have tomorrow off as well. Then it will be back to work.

Thanks for reading! 

"I think I killed my trainee..."

Four a.m. workdays are really difficult. I've decided I'd much rather be up late than get up SO early. Today we took a fifteen minute break and I put my head down and promptly fell sound asleep. My trainer, Peter, came over and said to my training buddy Stephen "Oh dear. I think I killed my trainee." Which, of course, I didn't even  notice or know about until lunch time when Stephen told me. :P

Today was almost like a review of everything we've done. We walked the track again this morning pointing out the different important stations and rehearsing what you do on them. After that we went to "the tower" where the ride controls are and opened that. It was really exciting at first because you're juggling four phones and a thousand buttons and twelve surveillance screens. It's a two person job. :) After all the buttons have been pressed in the right order, and guests have been allowed in all I do is sit and watch surveillance monitors and make sure nothing bad happens. It gets a little boring.

After we finished up with the tower we took a break and that's when I fell asleep. After that we ran as fast as we could through the absolutely pouring rain and sat in a room and read through different operational policies. After my nice nap I didn't fall asleep. :) After that it was lunch time.

After lunch we went back to the room and read some more. Then we reviewed how to store rockets, and went over how to work at merge points and groupers. Then it was time to go home. It was exciting. Now it's my weekend and I'm very happy. :) I get to stay up late and sleep in and go to the parks and play tomorrow! Yah!!

Thanks for reading everyone!!

Two Days

Sorry about no post for yesterday. I posted one for the day before and then didn't write the new one.

It has been a hectic two days. Yesterday we had pretty easy (dull) basic training where we went over safety procedures again. I guess we can never go over those too many times. After lunch though we got to try out different positions. My favorites were Greeter (the person who directs traffic in the lines) and Fastpass Distribution (the person who helps with the tricky Fastpass machines). After that we tried out the Unloading positions 1 and 2. Space Mountain stopped running twice yesterday. I got to help hand out fastpasses to compensate guests. The second time was right before I left. It was a very interesting day.

Today started at a grand 4 a.m. It was such an early wake up call! I can't believe I managed to stay alive today. When I got to work we hiked the ride tracks. It's so similar to theater catwalks. It amazed me how similar it all is to theater. After walking the first track we opened the second. It was a lot of information to take in and I can only remember pieces now. We'll do it again tomorrow.

After that we read another chapter going over what opening Cast Members do. Then we got to go and be loaders. We pressed buttons and made the rides work. We got to do the Restraint position which I think is added to my list of favorites. We got to see the Tower and will be more extensively trained on it tomorrow. It'll be great.

I'm tired today, but looking forward to my two days off on Tuesday and Wednesday! It will be wonderful to sleep in.

Today we got to help a child find his lost parents. I almost cried. The little boy was sobbing and we stopped and talked with him and then found his parents. When he saw his dad he yelled "Daddy!" and ran into his teary parents arms. Ah! It was so sweet. I had to choke back the tears. And then felt silly because I was with two guys. LOL oh well.

Today's been another great day. I'll sleep well tonight!

Thanks for reading. :)

The Best Place to Work Ever :)

I’m in love. Head over heels in love. With Chris, of course. :) But also with this place. Tonight I’m feeling so inspired by Disney. I’ll get into that in a minute.

Today started at 6 a.m. I started work at 8 a.m. and got to be a part of the opening events for Tomorrowland. Every day Tomorrowland chooses a family and they get to ride whatever they want first. One of our trainers chose the family. While he took the family to their ride of choice the rest of us stood and talked to the guests waiting outside our land. It was exciting to finally interact with guests. There were two little boys right in front who were very excited to get in. One was eleven and the other was five. We had a nice Space Traveler to Space Traveler talk about Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain. It was great! I can’t wait for more things like that.

After Tomorrowland opened we spent the day learning about Fastpasses and reloading machines, we learned the role of Greeters, and we saw the individual break rooms for those working in different parts of Tomorrowland. After a while we ate lunch and then spent three hours going over regulations for our park. It sounds boring, and it was a little, but it was wonderful at the same time. After three or four exhausting days it was great to have a day with a little less craziness. So much has been packed into the last few days that it feels like I’ve been here for weeks already. My fellow Cast Members and I are having trouble remembering what day of the week it is.

Why am I in love with this place? Tonight Chris asked me why I was at Disney. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since I got here. Not in a bad, or homesick way. I wanted to come to Disney since I heard about the program, but I didn’t think I’d ever really do it. I didn’t think I was “big” enough for that, “big” meaning I didn’t think I had the personality to work in the happiest place on earth. I know all of you are thinking “yeah right, I’d have placed you with Disney in a heartbeat.” “You are your own worst critic” as the saying goes.

In the first few days of our training the goal of the classes we take are to teach us the basics of working with Disney, obviously, but also to inspire us into the kinds of “actors” they want for the part they’ve cast us in. We watch videos of fellow Cast Members talking about the program, we listen to people tell about little moments that could reach into the coldest of hearts and spark warmth, we watch old videos of Walt Disney himself, we watch Guests in the park; all in the hopes that we will realize the magnitude of what we’re a part of.

There are a few things that have really touched me as I’ve gone through this inspiring process. These are out of order. I realized that this isn’t as big a leap from a normal, everyday job as I had originally thought it would be. All of what I will learn to do here is going to be applicable to every job I have for the rest of forever.

One of the first insights I had was probably something I should have thought of, but didn’t realize. The people I will see every day might have saved their money for years to make this trip. They are expecting the time of their lives. That’s a big deal. I will see them for two or three minutes at the most and I can either help with that dream, or I can take it down a few notches. When you’re dealing with people’s dreams you’re working with the most fragile stuff in the world.

Another insight that I had is that this is the first time that I will ever be paid to act. Disney World is a monster of a theatrical show. The Cast Members are the actors and the Guests are the audience. Theater is my career. It’s my passion. I can do this because this is something I love very very much.

All of these insights, particularly the second two, have really made me think. After I realized that I would never be an astronaut, or a movie star, I decided that if I could do one thing in this life that I would want to change someone’s life in some small way. I always thought that that wouldn’t begin for many years when I started teaching. Through this program it will start a lot sooner.

I’m glad to be at Disney World. It’s not just a theme park, or a job. It’s not just a place for Guests. It’s not just a place for Disney Princesses and Mickey Mouse. It’s for anyone who just wants to imagine that the world isn’t as big and scary as it is and that is a really big deal.

Sorry to write and run to bed

"You work for the Mouse, don't you."

The past few days I've wanted to start every post with "what a day", and then I realize that if I start that way it'll be the opening line to every entry! Every day will be different with different ups and downs. I also thought that perhaps I should put my journalism class to work and write like a journalist... but that's a lot of work so we'll see. There is a lot to tell about tonight.

My day started at a very early 5 a.m. this morning. I caught the bus to my first day of training at 6 a.m. and promptly fell asleep on the bus. I wonder what people think when they see their fellow Cast Members nodding off like that. We got to Disney University and were directed into a cafeteria with others who would be working in the Magic Kingdom. After making some new friends we were split into two groups. The first group left for the park right away, while the rest of us sat at our tables and listened to two of the sweetest ladies you've ever met teach us about the principles we keep at Disney. Following a short, interesting lecture we boarded a bus and got to the park.

We switched buses a few times in a very confusing fashion. After just five or ten minutes we were delivered directly to the front entrance to the Magic Kingdom! We got to see the park open and the dancers and welcome our Guests receive. It was impressive, and surprisingly freezing. We were all shivering in our business casual. We entered the park and were given a tour to top all tours. In the years leading up to the building of Disney, Walter Disney was buying land in central Florida. It was all swamp land. Using different names, Disney kept the purchasing of this land under wraps. The state was in an uproar over who was buying the land. After about half the acres needed a reporter was determined to find the answer. She scheduled an interview with Walter Disney. Her first question was if Disney was purchasing the land in central Florida. He said "no, it would take thousands of dollars to cultivate the land" and continued with the interview. The reporter asked again and got several of the same answers. The reporter went away and was disappointed with his answers. A little ways away from Disney's place the reporter thought "for someone who isn't buying the land, he sure knows a lot about it". The headlines in the newspaper the next day read "Disney's the one". Land prices in central Florida went from $180 per acre to (I think the number was) $80 thousand in a week. Somehow they were still able purchase the land and over time were able to create the Disney World we know and love today.

Long story short, we hiked around Magic Kingdom and then met the people who would begin training us on our individual jobs. We got our first schedules and I'm proud to announce that I AM WORKING ON SPACE MOUNTAIN. I was hoping to work for this attraction.

The title of this post came from a man at the Subway in Walmart today. I was trying something new (a steak and cheese sandwich) because I didn't want to cook tonight. I was asking the man behind the counter what he would suggest to put on this sandwich. What on earth do you put with a steak sandwich? Cucumbers? Tomatoes? This was all very new for me. He laughed and helped me order this sandwich and at the end I told him I'd love trying the spicy sauce. His reply was that I must be from out of town. I confirmed and he said "You must work for the Mouse, don't you." I laughed. It made my night. :)

At the end of our day we received our costumes and we were able to go home. I am VERY excited to start work and get to work with the Guests. This job becomes more and more a dream come true for me every day. Tomorrow I start at 8 a.m. with more training. I wish I could write down everything I'm feeling about now. I am so honored to be working here. This is already the experience of a lifetime. I'm so excited.

Thanks for reading everyone!

DISNEY WORLD!!

Today was GREAT! Today I went to Disney World for the first time ever. I got to meet Belle!!!!!! She was pretty! I liked her dress. I also met Cinderella, Aurora, Tiana and Prince Naveen. It was fun.

I rode Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, the Brainstormer, and a lot of other rides I can't remember now.

I am amazed that I get to work for this amazing company. "We create happiness," is the first part of the work goal. What they're teaching us as employees is so similar to things we learn at BYU-I all the time. This three month job will be one of the greatest experiences of my life I think. I get to make a difference, and grow all at the same time.

I have lots of pictures! :D

I felt like a little kid. Notice the cheesy, HUGE smile on my face. LOL

I also met Sleeping Beauty.

And Cinderella. I think she was the cutest Princess there.

It has been a wonderfully exhausting day. :) I'm very excited to have finally been to Disney World.