Jammin' in the jungle to the rhythm of one!

Yesterday afternoon I was assigned to Info Guide (the greeter out in front of the attraction) at around 3:45, which was really cool because I got to see Disney magic come alive for a bunch of different people.

Every day at 4:00 Animal Kingdom has Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade.  The afternoon parade is quintessential to the Disney experience, and MJJP in my mind is one of the best.  Not only does it have all of the characters and fun that all of the other parades do, but it also is themed to the park, and its daily procession fits in to the village of Harambe (and all of the other lands as well).  But it isn't the parade itself that I saw the "magic" it was in the actions of cast members working to make the magic for the guests.

For the parade, guests are required to stand behind a rope that way they and the performers are safe.  One of the managers however, saw that there was a little girl near the rope wearing a birthday button, and she brought her over onto the other side of the rope so she could get a closer view of the parade.  Each of the performers and characters as they passed by would come up to the girl and play with her or wish her a happy birthday.  The girl had a huge smile on her face when she went back over to her parents.  I would guess that she will remember this experience more than any thing else over her entire visit to Disney.  It is about making the magic come alive in each individual, and that manager succeeded in doing just that.

One of the other cool things about info guide is you wear the only pin trading lanyard for Safaris, and I was able to trade pins with a bunch of people.  Now honestly, I think pin trading is silly and a waste of money, but it was really cool to see these little kids get so excited for it, especially when I had something that they really wanted.

I love having a job that empowers me to directly make people happy.