New blogsite… March 31, 2009

Hey Everyone

I decided to switch blog sites since my old one would not upload pictures for me, and I really wanted to provide that visual element for you all.  For any newcomers, the first few posts are at: http://steamboatlyssie.blogspot.com.  Anyways, picking up where I left off!

Just a little note–Disney has its own terms for things, so I will explain them so you know what I am talking about.  Guests=customers.  Cast Members=employees.  On-stage=anywhere where guests can see you.  Backstage=anywhere where the guests cannot see you.  101=the attraction is down. 102=the attraction is running.  alpha unit=ambulance.  protein spill=vomit. signal 25=fire.  That’s all I can think of for now–I am pretty sure I can share that with you all, but for good measure, don’t publish that information anywhere, just in case.

I had my first on-site training on Sunday, at the Playhouse Disney Live! show.  My trainer’s name was Maria, she was very nice and had a heavy Spanish accent.  That kind of made things hard to understand, but we communicated pretty well.  Maria showed me the ropes on all of the positions at the attraction–there are six total positions, each with their own responsibilities.  By the end of the day, my brain felt like it was going to melt!  This is a brief overview of the jobs:

•  Turnstiles–this person is in charge outside.  They operate the turnstiles, a clicker for children who duck under the ropes or are carried, keep the area clean, and direct guests to different doors at showtimes.  This job is kind of hectic, since you have to watch for a bunch of things–you have to look out for wheelchairs, so that they can get in through the wheelchair entrance, you have to watch for food, beverages, and balloons, since those aren’t allowed into the theater, you have to monitor the queue ropes to make things easier for the guests, and you have to watch for word from the center (described later) on which doors are open.  It’s a lot to remember!  Then you also have the random guests asking questions over all of this.
• Stroller/Left Door–this person parks the strollers and keeps them in order while guests get into the queue.  When turnstiles opens the line, stroller comes to help with ropes during the queue and helps answer questions about the show.  They then stand outside the building for five minutes when the show starts and are responsible for bringing late guests around into an available entrance.  They then enter the theater and watch the left door and “bear” or stage right for any disturbances.  Then they open the left door at the end of the show.
• Stage Right or Bear–Bear helps people enter the theater and helps to load them into three seating areas, front, right and left.   When center directs them to do so, they open the left door and direct people there.  If it is a full show, center will tell bear to “pack the house”.  This means that bear tells everyone to scoot up–this is hard, since everyone is talking and loud music is on.  Then during the show, bear sits up by the stage and watches for children on shoulders, internal lights on cameras, and people in the aisles.  After the show, they make sure no one comes up on stage.  When the last person leaves, they sweep the floor for the next show.
• Stage Left or Treelo–Treelo stands in the front while everyone is loaded into the theater.  They make sure that no one comes onto the stage and that no one crosses the yellow line.  When bear comes up to sit down, treelo moves over to stage right and also sits up by the stage.  After this, they do the same thing as bear.
• Center–Center runs things inside.  They tell when to direct people, and where to direct them.  They open the main doors and make sure everyone is in place.  During the show, they stand in the back and watch for signals from treelo and bear for disturbances.  They open the doors at the end of the show and sweep once everyone has left.
• Exit–Exit finds a family outside before the show starts for our Magical Moment.  They pull a family to the side and ask them if they would like to be family of the show.  The family of the show gets to enter the theater first and picks wherever they want to sit.  So that is kind of fun and rewarding.  Exit then helps direct people and helps position wheelchairs into a special area.  Exit then watches stage right for any disturbances and exits the theater after the show.

So there you have it–those are all of the jobs that I got to learn in one day and be assessed on today.  It was a lot of information!

Today the assessment went well, my assessor was extremely nice, his name was Harvey.  One thing I have noticed, everyone is feeling the impacts of the economy here.  Disney cut a LOT of employees…everyone is nervous for their jobs right now, which is understandable.  That’s all anyone can talk about during breaks and lunches.  Since I am on the college program I don’t have anything to worry about.

Anyways, after I got home today I decided to take a nap.  That was around 4:30…I woke up at 9:45.  So I took a coma.  I really needed the sleep though, so I don’t feel too guilty?  I woke up thinking it was the next day though and almost had a heart attack.  Then the fact that it was dark hit me and I calmed down a little.

And now I am here, updating the old blog.  Hopefully the pictures upload on here–I will try to update again soon!  I miss you all, and hope everyone is doing fantastic

See ya Real Soon!

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