Traditions & Wishes

I am going to be starting out todays post by saying that I am not going to be telling you all everything on this blog.  Not just because I signed a confidentiality agreement, but also because I don't want to destroy the magic.  I came down here to learn about Disney Magic and how it works to serve people and why it makes Disney one of the world's foremost vacation destinations, and I think that I would be doing the wrong thing if I was to spill all of the beans.  So in this blog I will be talking about what I am doing, and my impressions of my time on the program, but I will not be giving a "behind the scenes" tour of the day to day operation of the resort. 

Ok, so disclaimer out of the way, this morning I officially became a cast member!  After bussing over to Disney University with some of my housemates we got our cast IDs and nametags, woohoo!  We then had the Traditions class, which was a 4 hour introductory class on the past, present, and future of the Walt Disney Company and the Walt Disney World Resort.  I knew a lot of the stuff that they told us already, but I did learn some interesting new facts, like this way to remember the 7 dwarfs: 2 s's, 2 d's, and 3 emotions (Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashfull, Grumpy).  Important life lesson there...

We also talked a lot about how things work here.  There is a lot of lingo to learn.  I'm not an employee, I am a Cast Member (or CM for short).  We don't have customers, we have guests.  I don't have a job, I have a role in the show.  When I am at work I am onstage, and when I am on break I am back stage.  Since I am onstage while working, I always need to be in character.  One of the ways this is achieved is by my wearing of a costume (my uniform) and by my adherence to a set of grooming/presentation standards known as the Disney Look.  Also, CMs will never point with one finger because it can be seen as accusatory.  We will always point something out with the Disney point, which is two fingers, or the whole hand.  There are lots of other things like this that create overall what we call "the show."

After traditions, I went to the Magic Kingdom with some of my housemates and other friends.  There was barely anyone there, so we were able to get on almost all of the rides with little to no wait.  At the end of the day I saw Wishes, the nightly MK fireworks show, for the first time, and it really hit home for me as to why I am here doing this.  Not only am I fulfilling one of my lifelong dreams of working here, but I also get to make magic in the lives of our guests every day.