On Sunday I had a 6pm to 12pm shift so spent the day with friends at the Florida Mall, mostly window shopping but it was fun to visit the biggest mall around here and people watch Americans outside of the Parks.
My roomie had to take her laptop in to the Apple Store, which is in the Mall, to see about getting it repaired, as she had spilt a drink on it and now several of the keys don't work, including the return key! It's going to cost a couple of hundred to fix, which here means a lot of hours at work to pay for it.
We went to a little Indian place for lunch that had an all you can eat buffet, with lots of curries, sides, rice and breads. You won't believe it but they even had goat curry (and for all you Catherine Tate fans out there "the dirty bastards"!) It was surprisingly good though, and I had a Mango Lassi too (really yummy yoghurty drink) all for only about $15.
Have a Magical Day!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Jungle fun
Most of the permanent employees who work at the Haunted Mansion are also trained to work in other attractions in the Ad/Lib zone (Adventureland/Liberty Square). One of my Mansion friends was working at the Jungle Cruise on Saturday and since I wasn't starting work until 2:30pm, I went in to the park early to ride his boat and listen to his jokes. It was quite fun. After this I went to meet American Mickey and then go on a number of other rides before getting changed into my costume and starting work. It's hard to take pictures of yourself on rides though!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
More Training
One thing that's really good about Disney is the regular training they provide, even for temporary employees like me. So far I have had 2 lots of further training classes, one on manual handling and the other to re-inforce the 'Disney Basics'. These basics are a bit like a cast mission statement -
1. I project a positive image and energy
2. I am courteous and respectful to all Guests, including children.
3. I stay in character and play the part.
4. I go above and beyond.
All a bit of a no-brainer really but I guess Disney feels strongly enough about their brand to ensure their staff keep the magic.
Tonight after the park closes we have an evacuation drill in the Haunted Mansion which should be interesting. I have more training scheduled for next week too, on communication.
Have a magical day, and go above & beyond!
1. I project a positive image and energy
2. I am courteous and respectful to all Guests, including children.
3. I stay in character and play the part.
4. I go above and beyond.
All a bit of a no-brainer really but I guess Disney feels strongly enough about their brand to ensure their staff keep the magic.
Tonight after the park closes we have an evacuation drill in the Haunted Mansion which should be interesting. I have more training scheduled for next week too, on communication.
Have a magical day, and go above & beyond!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sick days & Character Hunting Monday
A lot of the Aussies & New Zealanders who arrived with me have been sick with bad colds in the last few weeks. Unfortunately the evil germs caught up with me too (damn those buses), so I have been coughing really badly and had a runny nose for the past few days. I woke up on Saturday and could hardly talk and felt really bad so had to call in sick. I spent the day in bed and in between sleeps I got my homework completed.
I had Monday off but everyone else was working so I went off to the Animal Kingdom park to find some characters, see some pics below.
Have a Magical kinda Day!
I had Monday off but everyone else was working so I went off to the Animal Kingdom park to find some characters, see some pics below.
Have a Magical kinda Day!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Asian Market Wednesday
Housing provided a bus to take an excursion to the Asian Market today. I was kind of expecting to end up at a Paddy's Market type of place with Asian produce and $2 shop merchendise. In actual fact it was just a supermarket! Although it was full of Asian food stuffs from places like Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, China, Malaysia, etc., as well as local produce with an Asian flavour.
My New Zealand room-mate has a Hong Kong Chinese background so she was very happy gathering all her favourite foods not readily available here in America. Fortunately she was also able to interpret a lot of the labelling for me, otherwise I would not have had a clue what was in most of the cans and packages!
It's the first place I have been to that sells canned Coconut Milk so I bought a couple for future curries and laksas. But the best thing they had for sale was a piece of proper pumpkin!! Planning on roasting that tomorrow as I am going out tonight with friends to the local Indian restaurant. I have been really craving a good Vindaloo!
Have a Magical Day!
My New Zealand room-mate has a Hong Kong Chinese background so she was very happy gathering all her favourite foods not readily available here in America. Fortunately she was also able to interpret a lot of the labelling for me, otherwise I would not have had a clue what was in most of the cans and packages!
It's the first place I have been to that sells canned Coconut Milk so I bought a couple for future curries and laksas. But the best thing they had for sale was a piece of proper pumpkin!! Planning on roasting that tomorrow as I am going out tonight with friends to the local Indian restaurant. I have been really craving a good Vindaloo!
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| I love pumpkin!! |
Second Class
I had my second class on Tuesday, it was a lot of fun with really great discussion around our table and the room in general. The only problem is that I have homework to do! While it is not much really (a one page 'interview' with a creative person of my choosing, who could be already dead!) It needs to be true to the person's real life situation and creative environment AND it needs to be presented 'creatively'. Mmmm... tricky.
Anyway I have decided to 'interview' Banksy, an English graffiti artist who has appropriated Disney characters in the past to express his political and social views. Here is a pic he produced for Greenpeace in 2001.
I think it makes a valid point!
Anyway I have decided to 'interview' Banksy, an English graffiti artist who has appropriated Disney characters in the past to express his political and social views. Here is a pic he produced for Greenpeace in 2001.
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| Save or Delete Jungle Book |
Magic Kingdom after work!
On Saturday I finished work at 2:30pm so I changed out of my costume and met a friend to spend some time playing in the park. It was the most crowded I had seen any of the parks so far, but we still managed to see quite a few things that I had not been to before. This included the Country Bear Jamboree, a true classic of animatronic singing bears but a bit strange! We also caught the Liberty Belle river boat that meanders down the 'river' around Tom Sawyer Island.
We ate dinner at Pecos Bill's, a quick service food outlet that sells pseudo Mexican food. I had the Taco Salad which was pretty good, although the cheese here is a really strange orange colour!
That night we got to see the Electrical Parade which only runs 2 nights a week at the moment. It was really bright and colourful, but the music gets stuck in your head!
Here I am with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from the recent 'Princess and the Frog' film.
Have a Magic Kingdom kind of Day!
We ate dinner at Pecos Bill's, a quick service food outlet that sells pseudo Mexican food. I had the Taco Salad which was pretty good, although the cheese here is a really strange orange colour!
That night we got to see the Electrical Parade which only runs 2 nights a week at the moment. It was really bright and colourful, but the music gets stuck in your head!
Here I am with Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen from the recent 'Princess and the Frog' film.
Have a Magic Kingdom kind of Day!
Farewell Toontown 11/2/2011
There is a lot of construction work going on in the Magic Kingdom at the moment for the enlargement and re-modeling of Fantasyland. To make room for this work Disney closed Toontown last Friday. Toontown has been home to Mickey and Minnie's Houses, Donald's Boat and Goofy's Barnstormer, which is a really cute kid's rollercoaster. As I was not rostered to start work until 2:30pm, I went in early to visit and take lots of final photos of the area. Because it was the last day it was really crowded there, so everything took twice as long as usual to see, but here are a few pics I took.
Cheers!
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| Mickey's House |
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| Minnie's House |
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| Donald's Boat |
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| Goofy's Barnstormer |
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Full of Fear Hallway
Working in the Mansion is really good, you don't get time to be bored or stressed as you are 'bumped' to a different position approximately every 45 minutes, get regular breaks and also provide breaks for other cast.
Currently on the rotation schedule there is a position know as the Full of Fear Hallway. This simply requires being in the hallway with one of the doors open. Guest leaving the ride can see into the hall and are often frightened by the cast member standing there, for no other reason than because they are there!
I have had to turn around and walk down the hall a number of times because I couldn't help but laugh at the funny way people have reacted to seeing me just standing in a hallway!
Disney has been hosting the Cheerleader's Nationals this past week. On Friday the park stayed open late just for the cheerleaders and their chaparones/families. One thing I have learnt about cheerleaders is that they are very loud and their ears don't work (well they certainly don't listen!).
I have been collecting a few of the Disney World pins that depict the Haunted Mansion. They are really quite creative and I get a 40% discount at the moment! Here is an example of one of them:
The little Doom Buggy with Chip & Dale slides across the front of the Hitch-Hiking Ghosts - cute!
Have a Magical Day :)
Currently on the rotation schedule there is a position know as the Full of Fear Hallway. This simply requires being in the hallway with one of the doors open. Guest leaving the ride can see into the hall and are often frightened by the cast member standing there, for no other reason than because they are there!
I have had to turn around and walk down the hall a number of times because I couldn't help but laugh at the funny way people have reacted to seeing me just standing in a hallway!
Disney has been hosting the Cheerleader's Nationals this past week. On Friday the park stayed open late just for the cheerleaders and their chaparones/families. One thing I have learnt about cheerleaders is that they are very loud and their ears don't work (well they certainly don't listen!).
I have been collecting a few of the Disney World pins that depict the Haunted Mansion. They are really quite creative and I get a 40% discount at the moment! Here is an example of one of them:
The little Doom Buggy with Chip & Dale slides across the front of the Hitch-Hiking Ghosts - cute!
Have a Magical Day :)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Animal Kingdom in the Rain!
Thursday was another day off for me so I went to Animal Kingdom. It was fairly wet and a bit cold which basically meant the park was practically empty! To keep dry we bought some plastic ponchos which came in handy when we did the Kali River Rapids ride (similar to Grizzly River Run at Disney California Adventure). One girl however had decided to buy an umbrella rather than a poncho and she got totally drenched!
The Kilimanjaro Safari ride takes you through several areas where you can see animals from Africa. There were lions, cheetahs, rhino, elephants (including a baby), antelopes, giraffes and hippos (plus some others I can't remember, chimpanzees too I think).
I decided to be brave and go on the Expedition Everest ride as there was no wait at all. I'm glad I did as it's actually quite good and the drop isn't really that bad!
I got back to the housing complex just in time to go over to another welcome event, with more free pizza (truly sick of American pizza) and to see some more characters (I love the characters).
Have a Magical... well you know how it goes!
The Kilimanjaro Safari ride takes you through several areas where you can see animals from Africa. There were lions, cheetahs, rhino, elephants (including a baby), antelopes, giraffes and hippos (plus some others I can't remember, chimpanzees too I think).
I decided to be brave and go on the Expedition Everest ride as there was no wait at all. I'm glad I did as it's actually quite good and the drop isn't really that bad!
I got back to the housing complex just in time to go over to another welcome event, with more free pizza (truly sick of American pizza) and to see some more characters (I love the characters).
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Day Off, Night Fantasmic
Today I had a day off. I needed to be up really early to go to the Social Security office and apply for my card. This didn't take too long really and so I got to spend the rest of the day playing in the parks! We went to EPCOT and simply walked leisurely around the 'world showcase' section. Had some fish & chips in the United Kingdom for lunch and got to meet a number of the characters (see pics below).
We left EPCOT and went over to Hollywood Studios for dinner and to watch the Fantasmic night show from 9pm. This was really spectacular with music and fireworks etc. It was really worthwhile, see some pics below.
Have a Magical Day!
Class day Tuesday
Tuesday is my class day, I have one class in the afternoons from 1:30pm till 5:30pm that started this week and another from 11am to 1pm which doesn't start untill March 1st.
Today's class is called 'Creativity and Innovation'. Its purpose is to introduce, and then delve deeper into the concepts and methods of creative thought processes and innovative production. It seems quite interesting though I am not too sure I am 'creative' enough! I have homework to do each week (not too much really) and will hopefully learn some new things. The class has a lot of the American kids in it as they can take it to earn credits towards their college degrees. It will run for 13 weeks and there is a group presentation at the end (I hate group work) so hopefully I will pass ok. It doesn't really matter if I don't, but I won't get my Disney 'Mousters' if I fail!
My morning class is called 'Exploring Guest Services'. This class is shorter and has no homework as it is not a Collegiate class. Its purpose is to provide information on how Disney does guest relations and makes the 'Disney difference'.
I will leave you now with a couple of pics from the 'It's a Small World' ride here that features an Australia section.
Have a Magical Day!
Today's class is called 'Creativity and Innovation'. Its purpose is to introduce, and then delve deeper into the concepts and methods of creative thought processes and innovative production. It seems quite interesting though I am not too sure I am 'creative' enough! I have homework to do each week (not too much really) and will hopefully learn some new things. The class has a lot of the American kids in it as they can take it to earn credits towards their college degrees. It will run for 13 weeks and there is a group presentation at the end (I hate group work) so hopefully I will pass ok. It doesn't really matter if I don't, but I won't get my Disney 'Mousters' if I fail!
My morning class is called 'Exploring Guest Services'. This class is shorter and has no homework as it is not a Collegiate class. Its purpose is to provide information on how Disney does guest relations and makes the 'Disney difference'.
I will leave you now with a couple of pics from the 'It's a Small World' ride here that features an Australia section.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Losing my voice!!
The past 2 days of work have been fun, no real problems remembering anything I am supposed to do, but using my voice loudly all day saying things like:
"This way to the Haunted Mansion."
"The Master will see you now!"
"Please move all the way down, fill in all the dead spaces, others are dying to join you."
"Please exit to your left"
"Watch your step."
etc, etc, is really killing my voice! Also I am on my feet all day and spend half of it walking on a 3 mile-an-hour treadmill, (sometimes sideways) so I'm keeping fit!
Here's a pic of me in costume.
Here are a couple of pics of the flat I'm staying in, it's pretty good and my building is quite close to the buses which means I don't have to walk too far to catch them. My bed is the blue one and that's my Aussie flag on the window. Everyone else in my unit is a kiwi!
Have a Magical Day!
"This way to the Haunted Mansion."
"The Master will see you now!"
"Please move all the way down, fill in all the dead spaces, others are dying to join you."
"Please exit to your left"
"Watch your step."
etc, etc, is really killing my voice! Also I am on my feet all day and spend half of it walking on a 3 mile-an-hour treadmill, (sometimes sideways) so I'm keeping fit!
Here's a pic of me in costume.
Here are a couple of pics of the flat I'm staying in, it's pretty good and my building is quite close to the buses which means I don't have to walk too far to catch them. My bed is the blue one and that's my Aussie flag on the window. Everyone else in my unit is a kiwi!
Have a Magical Day!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Day Off - Hollywood Studios
On my second day off my roomate and I went to Hollywood Studios, so now I have officially been to each of the 4 theme parks at Disney World. I have still to visit the 2 water parks but might wait till the weather is a bit warmer (not that it is particularly cold here in Sunny Florida!).
We watched the Beauty & the Beast stage show, which is a cut down version with the characters singing and dancing through the storyline. It is very similar to one my family saw in the Disney park in Paris many years ago and it brought a tear to my eye remembering how my eldest daughter had cried and cried when it had finished (she was only 4 at the time), see some pics below.
At the Magic of Animation we got to draw Minnie Mouse, my roomate is an artist so hers turned out a lot better than mine but it was fun. The line for Toy Story Mania was pretty long so we skipped that till next time we come, must remember to get a fastpass for that one! The Indiana Jones show was very well done with great effects and a few laughs thrown in.
We got home just in time for me to join some other Aussies for dinner to celebrate one girl's 20th birthday. Had my first steak in Florida but thought it best not to have a beer with it as everyone else at the table was underage. They are all lamenting that the drinking age here is 21!
Have a Magical Day!
We watched the Beauty & the Beast stage show, which is a cut down version with the characters singing and dancing through the storyline. It is very similar to one my family saw in the Disney park in Paris many years ago and it brought a tear to my eye remembering how my eldest daughter had cried and cried when it had finished (she was only 4 at the time), see some pics below.
At the Magic of Animation we got to draw Minnie Mouse, my roomate is an artist so hers turned out a lot better than mine but it was fun. The line for Toy Story Mania was pretty long so we skipped that till next time we come, must remember to get a fastpass for that one! The Indiana Jones show was very well done with great effects and a few laughs thrown in.
We got home just in time for me to join some other Aussies for dinner to celebrate one girl's 20th birthday. Had my first steak in Florida but thought it best not to have a beer with it as everyone else at the table was underage. They are all lamenting that the drinking age here is 21!
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