6/1/12: A very unusual day

I was expecting today to be a standard day with Beast. In at noon, five 20-minute sets, out at 6:30. Instead, I got a call last night from Disney Character Events, who handles special events, asking if I could come in and work with Beast in a photo shoot at 9:30. I jumped at the opportunity, though I really didn't know what exactly it was for. When I got there I learned it was simply just some pictures of Beast because he's a diva and likes portraits of himself all over the place. Yeah, we're sticking with that story.
Anyways, when I left there it was raining, and I was worried that I was gonna spend all day at the rain location for the meet-and-greet, which would be bad. It's very dark in there. Instead, though, all of the characters got sent to the hallway of Character Spot (this is at Epcot), but Beast is just too darn big to fit in there, so he got the rest of the day off. I did not. Instead, I got to, for the first time, hang out with Baloo! I was pretty excited, since he's the last of the characters I can be with that is regularly out.  He's a fun guy, and I really enjoyed it.  Not to mention, after working with Beast I usually come home just a little bruised and cut up (he's a beast, after all), but Baloo is much friendlier to his assistants.

5/11/12: Workshops!

I realized today that I've never done a post about workshops.  Workshops are free classes you can go to for things like stilt walking, puppetry, inline skating, and dance.  I've been to three so far, two for stilt walking and one for waltzing.  They get pretty intense and I wind up sweating like there's a sprinkler attached to my scalp.
Tonight I had my second stilt walking workshop, and it went well!  By "well" I mean "better than last time", but I figure improvement is a good thing.  I still sweated profusely, but the two big things I couldn't master last time, grapevine-ing and pivoting, are now much better, at least when I don't need to combine them with other choreography.
I've got THREE more coming up before the end of the month, one for puppetry, and two for dance, so hopefully they'll help be get better at this whole "job" thing I'm doing.

4/15/12: A new shift and an old friend.

Today was my first time working at the Hilton (they have a deal with Disney so Minnie, Pluto, Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear can do character breakfasts).  This meant my first shift with Br'er Bear since my very first day of on-set training!  That meant remembering how to get his fat butt over to the location, and he is easily the most difficult friend to relocate.  Once there, it was interesting seeing him try to maneuver that same fat butt through a dining location.  Despite the people insisting he was Baloo, Brother Bear, Beast, or any other name they could come up with (to be fair, he's kind of an obscure character that most people only know through Splash Mountain, since Song of the South is something Disney has swept under the rug), and the fact that some kids though they were so smart for (falsely) saying that he was just a guy in a bear costume while their parents watched on and said nothing to rectify their slanderous accusations, I had fun.  And got fed.  That's always a plus.

4/11/12: New friend!

A couple days ago I had my first shift with Beast at Epcot.  Working with the big guy takes a lot of prep each time before he goes out: literally 15 minutes, which, accounting for the 5 minutes it takes to wrap up each set once offstage, only leaves 10 minutes to sit and take a load off.  Fortunately, he's pretty fun to hang out with onset since he and Belle are so popular, though his tail does occasionally get stuck in the fence by his and Belle's location...

4/5/12: Major un-bummer

I'm off Modified Duty! I was seriously gonna go insane. My final day was spent in the MK tunnels under Adventureland taking Spinning Light Show toys out of their packaging, and consolidating three boxes into one. That's all I did. For eight hours.
But today the doc said I was good to return to work, so tomorrow I'll be hanging out with Goofy at Tusker House at DAK! My favorite shift? No. Will I appreciate it beyond belief? Yes.

4/1/12: Day 2 of Modified Work

So today I worked at the gift shop at Pirates, but, due to my limitations, I was only able to hang up shirts and put on security tags.  Honestly, it was alright, except for the fact that I could hear Goofy's meet-and-greet from the other side of one of the walls in the room I was working, which really made me miss my regular job.
On the plus side, assuming I'm healthy enough to work next week, I'll have a shift with the Green Army Men (which is probably by favorite position), three with Beast, which will be new and fun, and one at Give Kids the World, which I always look forward to.

3/31/12: Major bummer

So for a while now my knee has been getting more and more sore.  At first I just kinda' shrugged it off and kept doing what I was doing, but eventually I went out and bought a knee brace and some pain killers.  However, every time I knelt I could feel grinding and popping in my right knee.  Finally, on Tuesday, I went to Health Services.  The nurse verified that there was something wrong with my knee and set up and appointment for me on Wednesday.
On Wednesday I left my spare shift at DAK (Disney's Animal Kingdom) early (unfortunately they could've used me, but Disney is good about making sure their cast members get better instead of worse) and saw the doctor, who told me "something something something meniscus" (that may not be a direct quote).  He gave me some pills, a knee brace, and some work restrictions (specifically no kneeling and I couldn't stand for more than 45 minutes out of the hour).  The first restriction I thought I could work around and the second was a non-issue, but when I got to work the next day, the manager at DAK put me on Modified Work till at least next Thursday.
Modified Work means that I can't do what I've been doing, so I don't get to hang out with characters at all.  To make things worse, the whole "don't stand for more than 45 minutes out of every hour" bit pretty much prevents me from working onstage at all, so all of my Modified Work shifts are backstage.  For instance, today I organized Entertainment shoes at Magic Kingdom.  All day.  Aladdin and Jasmin need to get rid of some of their shoes, they have entirely too many.  For my other shifts I'll be working in the stockroom at Pirates, the Glow carts, and the Emporium.
It's very easy for me to complain about this upcoming week, and I promise you, I do.  A lot.  But I suppose I should just be appreciative of the fact that the company I work for is willing to make sure I still get hours even when I'm pretty much useless.

Star Wars auditions!

So I know it's been a good while since I updated this, but it's pretty much been work as usual.  Which is awesome.  I'm still really digging my job, and every day there's something different to remember.  Maybe someday I'll bother figuring out how to upload pictures and whatnot, but today is not that day.
The big thing today was auditions for Star Wars Weekends, which is a huge event in May and June.  I'm in the right height range to be friends with Darth Vader (or as friendly as you can be with a guy like that), and, out of hundreds of applicants of all shapes, sizes, and experience levels, I was one of four to be pulled for and fitted for the position.
This doesn't mean necessarily that I've got the gig, but it does mean that I'm in the pool for the job, which is pretty friggin' cool.

2/21/12: My first DAK shift, AND something something something NASCAR.

Well technically the 20th was my first DAK shift.  I was a spare, but immediately got pulled to hang out with Goofy at the Tusker House breakfast in Animal Kingdom.  Tusker, as well as some other restaurants, have Magical Moments where the characters generally lead the kids in a Conga line or something, so that expended a bit of energy mid-set.  Other than that it went well, and apparently NASCAR driver Jimmy Johnson was there, and had the pleasure of meeting Goofy (heck if I recognized the guy, though).  But after two sets of that I had a long break before taking Goof over to do a set at Camp Minnie-Mickey.  Overall I only did three sets, but was there 7-4.  Can't complain much.
The 21st I spent with Sulley at DHS.  Generally, being with Sulley is a busy job, but most of our crowd comes from the exit of the Backlot Tour... which is currently closed for refurbishment.  Therefore it was much slower, and prolly will be through March when the refurbishment is over, but, with some pandering by Mike and Sulley, the line forms, then is burned through, and then the process is repeated.  Now for two days off!

2/19/12: A Little Catch-up

It's been awhile since my last post, but for the most part, my job has been business as usual.  I had a shift with Woody the 14th and saw Fantasmic, which had just reopened the previous day, spent the 15th playing at Epcot for the first time since I got down here, went back to DHS on the 16th (and saw Fant again), and hung out with Goofy till midnight on the 17th.
The 18th was a slightly different day, as I spent two sets with a Green Army Man, then one with Woody, then two more at GAM again.  It was kinda' nice, because it gave me extra-long breaks when I was transitioning characters, but it also meant twice as much stuff to lug back to Costuming at the end of the night.
Today I was a spare at Epcot, but immediately got pulled to work with Goofy at the Beach Club's character breakfast.  I'd kind of been dreading working dining, just because it was an unknown factor and I'm a worrier, but it turns out it was unnecessary.  My sets went fine, despite what was apparently some less-than-perfect conditions, and I got nothing but positive feedback from my Captain/Character Attendant.
As an added bonus, I was done in time to go play at Blizzard Beach AND see the Boyz II Men concert at Universal, which was awesome.  They occasionally referred to "real music", which I really appreciated.  Oh, 90's music... where did you go?

2/13/12: First day with a Green Army Man!

After three consecutive days of hanging out with Sulley, I finally had my first day with what is called a GAM, or Green Army Man.  The GAMs are a unique kind of character, as they don't have one specific spot to be at with queue, photographer, and character attendants like most.  Instead, they get to roam freely around Pixar Place at Disney Hollywood Studios and interact casually with guests.  Frequently a line (or more of a mob) forms to meet them and get autographs and pictures, but when they're not being sought after, they're free to play as they please.  Technically they're supposed to be guarding the area, but more often they're having push-up competitions, playing with grenades, or sneaking up on people using branches as camo.  Overall, it's a really fun shift, and one that's pretty popular.

2/10/12: First shift with Sulley

Today was my first day with Sulley!  It's always interesting hanging out with someone for the first time.  I rush myself to make sure that everything will go smoothly and figure out where I have to play, but the captains and other CM's are generally very helpful.  Today, I'm glad to say, went without a hitch, though, so I'm feeling pretty good (though just a little sore in the arms) with my new friend.

2/9/12

Today was another day with Woody, but I spent some of my downtime watching the Green Army Men playing around outside with guests.  There was a surplus of 'em today, so they were able to do things on a larger scale than normal, like marching down the street and playing with grenades.  What I saw got me really excited to hang out with them, which I'm scheduled to do in the near future, so I'm looking forward to that!

2/6/12: Two new shifts

Yesterday I worked with Goofy at the Epcot Character Spot which I kinda' enjoyed.  Plus, I had the chance to parts of IllumiNations after work from backstage.  I realized during the show that I know WAY too much about the timing of the fireworks to the music, but it is my favorite show...

Tonight I worked with Goofy again at the Disney Jr. Dance Party, which was interesting.  Most characters' Personal Biographers really dig the shifts, since you pretty much just play with kids the whole time, but I was slightly out of my element.  Still, maybe they'll grow on me if I do those shifts again.

2/4/12: Fittings and JASON ROBERT BROWN!!!

To start from the beginning, I had two fittings today to see if I could hang out with Mr. Incredible and Frozone.  I got a denial on Mr. Incredible because my shoulders are too broad, and I'd make him look inferior to my own masculine self (honestly, though, my shoulders are just too broad to be friends with him... I know, it's weird).  Frozone I'm apparently too chubby for, which is no surprise to me.  Apparently Frozone's entourage has to be a bit more fit.  I was told I could try again after I lose some of the weight.  Now for the REALLY fun part of the day...

Before I came here I knew that Jason Robert Brown, my FAVORITE Broadway composer, was going to be in Winter Park for a concert tonight.  By the time I finally got access to The Hub (how Disney cast members request time off) it was too late and I was scheduled!  Luckily I managed to shrug the shift off on someone else, rent a car (which is KILLER expensive if you're under 25), and make it up to the concert.  It was awesome.  Honestly, probably the best musical experience I've ever had.  Yes, it wound up costing me... well, a ridiculous amount, but it was completely worth it.

2/2/12: Meeting Woody

Not much to report today.  I had my first shift with Woody at Pixar Place in Disney Hollywood Studios.  Just two 35-minute sets, but it's a fun job!  I do the same thing tomorrow, so I doubt I'll have much to report then. :)

2/1/12: Stilt Workshop

Today I went to a two-hour stilt workshop at the Animal Kingdom Rehearsal Facility.  I've never done stilts before, but by the end of the workshop I was able to do MOST of the steps to the portion of the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It! parade that we learned.  Grapevines are NOT something I can safely do on stilts... yet.
I will say, though, that I think I sweat more during this workshop than I do even when working with characters.  If I keep up with this, it's gonna be a heck of a workout.  My calves are still sore and I got done about 13 hours ago...

1/30/12: My first real day on set!

Yes, I've had a non-training work day before and yes, I've had time onset before, but today was the first day that both those aspects were combined!  Bwaha!
I followed Goofy around in Adventureland all day, and he insisted on wearing his pirate costume since he was right next to the Pirates of the Caribbean queue.  Naturally he dug meeting each family, but his final family of the day was a Make-A-Wish family, so that was particularly special.
Now I've got today off, so I'm off to Animal Kingdom!

1/29/12: My first OFFICIAL day

In Entertainment you generally clock in 15 minutes before your shift officially starts so you can check out your basics, change, and check in to the Entertainment Base.  Since my shift started at 6 AM, I wound up taking the 4:35 bus.  This got me there with enough time to do what I needed to do, grab breakfast, as well as take a solitary walk up Main Street with not another person in sight, which was thoroughly awesome.

My shift today was a "spare", so I would jump in if one of Goofy's (or any other tall character's) other Personal Biographers called in sick or something.  At 6 I went to stretch and warm up, then proceeded to the break room awaiting a call to action.  Which never came.

Yup, today I was paid to watch movies with girls that look suspiciously like Disney princesses (though are, obviously, just their Personal Biographers) for 9.5 hours.  A bit monotonous, but, all things considered, not a bad way to make a living!  Plus, getting off work at 3:30, I have plenty of time to grab a nap and make a much-needed trip to Walmart!

1/28/12: My final day of training!

After changing into basics (pretty much Disney-issued gym clothes) and stretching and warming up, my training group and I headed to The Land pavilion to discuss character dining.  The classroom we were in was right above a ride portion of Living With the Land, which is (oddly enough) one of my favorite Epcot rides, so it was rather fun and novel.  After Goofy got a practice run at it (though, let's face it: he's been doing this for YEARS) we went to where our set location was going to be, between the UK and Canada pavilions.  Goofy, Chip and Dale, the Genie, Gideon, and Rafiki met friends for a few sets before we headed back to the Entertainment Base for debriefing and cocktails.  But not really.  One way or the other, training is over!  Also... my first solo shift starts in two hours... at 6 AM... Yay!!!

1/27/12: Training Day 3 (and my first day on set!)

Yup! Today was my first day onstage! I was Br'er Bear's personal biographer for four or five sets at Epcot between the America and Italy pavilions. It was interesting, because after studying Goofy for two days, I suddenly had to adapt ALL of that and transfer it to a character who is very different in personality and physicality, but doing something fresh was definitely fun.
This was the day I've been most looking forward to for YEARS, and it was just as awesome as I had hoped!  I definitely feel that doing this program, especially in the Entertainment position.  Tomorrow is my last day of training!

1/26/12: Training Day 2

Today was FULL of hanging out with Goofy as he played with Pluto and Chip and Dale.  I also got to explore the Disney Main Gate building a bit more, discovering the original serpent's head from Fantasmic as well as other artifacts of geeky interest.  After my nine-hour shift I managed to get myself registered for an Intro to Stilts class, which is awfully exciting.

And... that's about it for the day.  Big day tomorrow, though...

1/25/12: Training Day 1

YES!  It finally arrived!  This was the day I'd been looking forward to for QUITE some time.

The day REALLY started at a pretty normal-looking building (from the exterior anyways) south of Disney's Animal Kingdom.  Once inside, though, it's really an awesome place.  It has decorations like the puppets from Epcot's Tapestry of Nations parade, green army men from Toy Story rappelling from yo-yos, and two walls in one of the rooms we were in were painted in the same art style as the game Epic Mickey.

Obviously, there are lots of trade secrets I can't really go into any detail regarding. I did get to know Goofy pretty darn well today, and hung out with him quite a bit, paying specific attention to how he moves and reacts to situations.  Believe it or not, 10 hours of that (plus probably an hour both too and from work) has left me quite exhausted, and I've got three more 9-hour days of training ahead of me, so I (who just woke from a nap), will now proceed to pass out.

1/22/12: General Entertainment training

Today was my first day of Entertainment training.  For the most part it's nothing too exciting, though I did get to see some work-related stuff I'd been waiting to see for a while.  Also, we got to go to the Magic Kingdom and watch Dream Along With Mickey while on the clock, so I certainly can't complain about that.

The day ended with us finally getting access to the Hub (the Disney employee website) and I got to see my schedule, as well as which characters I'll be "personal biographer" for for the first couple weeks!  Goofy, Tigger, Woody, Sulley, Mr. Incredible, and Frozone will all be friends of mine!

But I am tired, and more than ready to sleep.  However, I'm not sure if I'll be posting again for the next couple of days, since those are my days off so there won't be too much excitement.  'Kay see ya!

1/21/12: The day before training (including The Wizarding World of Harry Potter)

BUSY day today.  In a nutshell it involved Islands of Adventure (with Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Butterbeer), Universal Studios, Animal Kingdom, and all three castle shows at Magic Kingdom.  Better yet, at the end of the day I have five more people I'd consider my friends, which is always a good thing.  However, it's far too late for me to be up and I finally have my first day of training in seven and a half hours, so it's time for me to hit the hay.  Sorry for the short post.

1/20/12: Traditions

Today was Traditions which is the big training day every new Disney employee has to attend.  Traditions is, I'll admit, mostly dry information, but it was still a fairly entertaining day.  The day takes place in the Disney University building, which was a new experience.  Great Disney parks and animation pictures line the hallways, and ceiling tiles are pulled aside every several yards with a Disney character falling through each.  Also there is a gift shop just for employees where you can get some exceptionally cheap stuff.  After our initial info session, we loaded up the bus to the Magic Kingdom.

En route we passed behind the Fantasyland expansion which was a LOT of fun to see, and I finally got to experience the Utilidors (the employee tunnels beneath the Magic Kingdom).  We popped back up on Main Street and walked to Fantasyland before returning below and heading back for the second half of class.

At the end of the day I walked out with a wealth of information, a Donald Duck figurine, and (most importantly) my Disney ID and name tag, delivered by Mickey himself!  Now I need to sleep off a headache OR go get essentials at Walmart OR catch IllumiNations, my favorite nighttime show, at Epcot (which I can do for free now. :D).  Decisions, decisions...

1/19/12: The day before Traditions

Following yesterdays post I went out that night and meandered Downtown Disney with some folks I've met.  It's kinda' tough walking around, knowing that any money you spend could be lessened once you get your employee discount after Traditions.  Still, it was a good time followed by a mass Walmart run where I bought $60 worth of necessities, and still, naturally, need to make another trip to get things that I missed or were out of stock.

Today was a calm day.  I went to the Marriott I stayed at before to pick up some stuff I had left behind, and, on the way back, picked up the Epcot bus.  Epcot, I'm assuming you know, is partially made up of the World Showcase, which is employed by the international students that generally stay at The Commons.  The bus I was on stopped at said Commons to pick up a slew of World Showcase employees, and it honestly looked like "it's a small world" come to life with all the multi-cultural employees in their country-specific costumes.  I have to admit I was amused.

I made it back in time to walk to the one meeting I had today, which was pretty simple, just a lot of information about housing.  After that I got cleaned up and went to the Welcoming Party at Vista Way, where I won a polo, ate free food, and had my picture taken with Mickey and Minnie and Lilo and Stitch.  Honestly, I think that was the first time I've had my picture taken with characters in more than 15 years.

After that was wrapped up I got back to the apartment and had some folks over for dinner and Loaded Questions (naturally).  Like I said, it was a pretty chill day, though I am looking forward to Traditions tomorrow. :)

Also, an addendum to yesterday: I won a bumper sticker!  On the way to the Casting building one of the Internship Program coordinators was asking trivia questions.  I correctly responded that Goofy's original name was Dippy Dawg and won a free Disney souvenir, which is a rare thing indeed.

1/18/12: Check-in

So I woke up at 5:30 this morning, a full hour before my alarm.  I was tired, but I couldn't get back to sleep.  To my sister, I likened it to being a kid who woke up too early on Christmas morning and just couldn't get back to sleep.  I lay in bed for an hour before getting up and ready and grabbing the cheap cab ride to the entrance of the Vista Way apartment complex for check-in where I met with my roommates.  After some paperwork we grabbed the bus to the Chatham Square apartments and our new home.  We live towards the back corner of the complex on the top floor, resulting in a bit of a walk, but Lord knows I could use the exercise anyways.

After barely starting the unpacking process, we had to get back to the entrance and hop a bus to the Casting building.  Here most of the other folks learned exactly where they'll be working (Entertainment works in all four parks and the character breakfasts, so there was no big revelation for me here).  Naturally this was followed by more paperwork, as well as getting our schedules for the next few days, which I'll cover as they occur.

When all that was finished I hopped another bus back to the apartment (luckily the bus schedule is easier to figure out than I had anticipated).  Now I've got the wireless hooked up and will be heading out in a bit to do some essentials shopping and maybe swing by Downtown Disney, as it seems everyone is celebrating their new low-income job by giving it back to their employer in exchange for food.  Seems rational.

1/17/12: The day before check-in.

Well, I guess I’ll start with the facts.  Bear with me if you know all this, but I figured I’d put it all down.  Some number of months ago I applied to participate in the Disney College program.  This consisted of first an online questionnaire-type interview, followed by a phone interview.  Weeks later I was finally informed that I was accepted in a Custodial position for the Spring Advantage session (January 18th through August 3rd).

I’m pretty sure Custodial is the LEAST popular position, but it was actually the one I had been hoping for.  In most other positions, such as Merchandise, Attractions, or Food and Beverage, you’re just getting people through the line as quickly (and as friendly) as possible.  Custodial, on the other hand, actually gets to interact with guests, which was really the whole point of me working down here.

Shortly thereafter, I made the trip up to Minneapolis to audition for my REAL goal, which was a performing position in the Entertainment department.  Lo and behold, I was accepted!  One important thing about this position is that I will not be any of the characters in the parks, as they are themselves.  I will simply be that character’s “official biographer” for the day.  No, by the way, I don’t know who yet.

So, yesterday I finally found myself on the plane Florida, listening to, as I promised myself I would years ago, the opening from Jason Robert Brown’s “Songs For a New World”.  Upon landing, my uncle was good enough to drive very far out of his way to pick me up from the airport and drop my off at a hotel where, my ridiculously lucky circumstance, my sister is currently residing for work.  This hotel is less than a mile away from where I have to be at 7:30 tomorrow morning to finally check in.

True to character, I’ve obsessed over this whole thing for awhile now, so I know, in theory at least, what’s coming up in the next few days, but I’ll blog that bridge when I get to it.