“Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it they will want to come back and see you do it again and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.” –Walt Disney
Disney Cast Members have touched my life countless times,
sometimes with an elaborate gesture or magical moment, but most often with a
simple smile or kind word. There is something different about Disney Cast
Members and the way that they interact with others. Thus said, the amount of
experiences that I have had already in my time here are enough to fill novels.
My first post-Core-Plus working day was on Friday, February
6 with none other than the famed queen and princess of Arandelle. Yes, folks,
Elsa and Anna from Disney’s Frozen. I
was thrilled! This was a perfect way for me to start my College Program because
Elsa has had such significance in my life over the past year and a half. She
holds a very special place in my heart.
Although intimidated at first, I really enjoyed myself once
I got the hang of my role. My favorite thing about my job is definitely
storytelling. This is a talent that I have especially developed through my
experience in theatre and improvisation and in my experience working with
children over the past three years.
It’s fascinating to me to be able to see how I’m getting to
use the talents and skills that I’ve been developing over the past few years in
my job here. Everything truly does happen for a reason. We often don’t
understand why the Lord leads us down a certain path, and sometimes it takes a
very long time to find out why, if ever in this life. I always thought I would
head down one path in my life. I had everything planned out, and everything up
to that point in my life had told me that that direction was where I needed to go. But all
because of a few trials in my senior year of high school, my personal Yellow
Brick Road has branched out in so many different directions, and I long to
explore all of them! My life is nothing like what I thought it would be at this
point, and in the best way imaginable! Our point of view is so very limited in
mortality. Only our Father in Heaven can see the full “paint by numbers”
design, and the masterpiece that it will become if we trust and follow Him and
his plan for us. What may begin as a trial may often turn out to be a blessing when you look back on it with a better understanding and an open mind.
I can also clearly see how this role is helping me to
strengthen several of my weaknesses. It is clear to me that the Lord knows me
personally. He knows my strengths and weaknesses, and the best ways for me to
personally grow and develop. I have prayed for so long for help to overcome
these weaknesses that I have, frustrated that I was not having much luck overcoming them on my
own. The Lord always answers prayers on His own timetable if we have faith in
Him. Sometimes it requires a lot of patience, but the answers will come
in time.
I have always been, for lack of a better word, a pushover. I
have a very hard time standing up for myself or voicing my opinions. It is
nearly impossible for me to say no to anyone because I am afraid of hurting him
or her. Hurting others’ feelings is one of my very worst fears. I am also very
indecisive and hate asking for help. I am extremely forgetful, easily
overwhelmed and distracted and do not multitask or balance various aspects of
my life very well at all. To make matters worse, although optimistic about
everything around me, I am extremely critical of myself. Being a Character
Attendant is probably the best thing that could ever happen to help me to
overcome these weaknesses and help me prepare to be a wife and mother.
I’ve found that the best remedy for my forgetfulness is
simply to FOCUS. I have realized that the prime reason for my forgetful mind is
that I get distracted very easily. I’ve found that planning ahead definitely
helps, as well as taking care of things the moment that I think about them (NOT
PROCRASTINATING) rather than giving myself a “better” option later (the reason
for my frequent 2 AM bedtime, which causes a lack of sleep, which heightens my
forgetfulness. The cycle repeats). The largest reason for my procrastination is
because I hate starting something when I can’t finish it. The antidote: time
management. If I plan time in advance to do something, I will neither forget to
do it nor postpone doing it for when I have more time. As for balance, I’ve
started to get the hang of finding balance between various tasks at work, so
now I need to work on balancing work with my personal life. The first step to
achieving this balance is, once again, through time management. I usually have
two days off per week, so I’ve decided to generally use one to play in the
parks and one to rest, run errands, and complete my personal tasks.
Being a Character Attendant is teaching me to be patient
with and forgiving of myself when I make mistakes (and I make many of them).
It’s very easy for me to forgive others, but forgiving myself is another story.
I have had to teach myself several times in my time here that it is okay to
make mistakes as long as I learn from them. Mistakes are inevitable, especially
since I am just starting out. My role is also helping me to find my voice and
to standing my ground. There have been several times that I have had to tell
unhappy Guests no. Fortunately if I give them another option such as
recommending another character or a time that my character will return, they usually
comply fairly easily. I’ve found that distracting a human being from the
problem creates more positive results and a greater likelihood of compliance. Another
example: when kids were hanging on the stanchion ropes during my shift with
Anna and Elsa, I tried to find creative ways to lure their attention elsewhere
and give them something better to do to avoid making them feel embarrassed
about being asked to stop. After asking them as politely as possible to stop,
I’d say “Hey! I know something way more fun than swinging on ropes.” We’d then
play games together, such as jumping, spinning, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and
Toes," etc. They loved it when I would tap the wrong part of my body at
different parts of the song, such as touching my ears while singing, “nose.”
Thus, I would turn the negative experience of being ‘chastised’ for doing what
they weren’t supposed to into a positive experience that allowed me to not only
find another way to entertain the children in line, but I earned their trust
and friendship by making them laugh as well as helped to create a fun memory
for the family.
While working with Tinker Bell in the Town Square Theater, I
played a game of peek-a-boo around a giant Mickey Mouse face card (it was actually
a regular-sized playing card, but y’know, we shrunk because of all the Pixie
Dust!), making a different funny face for a little girl each time I came up.
She absolutely loved it and laughed hysterically each time that I popped up! I noticed
that her mom began to take photos. Do you know what this means??
I am now an immortal part of this family’s Disney vacation memories.
I have my own little “Book of Immortal Disney Cast Members.”
It’s a collection of photos of various CMs that have created magical moments or
unforgettable memories in my life. To think that I could now be in the photo
collections of others—an immortal part of their Disney experience! Can you
believe it??
It is the most incredible and empowering feeling, knowing
that I am the one that is helping to make such positive and magical memories
for Guests now. Although at times I do encounter experiences that are not so
positive, the amount of good here in the parks completely outweighs the bad and
makes everything more than worth it. Especially when Guests allow or invite me
to be a part of their memory.
On February 10, I worked at Pete’s Silly Sideshow in
Storybook Circus at the Magic Kingdom, an extension of Walt Disney World’s
newest and biggest expansion in years: New Fantasyland. The day started out
pretty rough, as I had had quite a few negative experiences within my first
three hours of working. However, after a surprise performance review and a
couple of suggestions that I immediately fixed (thanks to my experience
receiving direction from theatre), my reviewer had nothing but good to say
about me! She showered me with praise and thanks (perhaps she hasn’t had many
people act upon her direction so quickly?), and said that she is so glad that I
am a part of the team. My positivity and energy was restored! This is where I
belong, and I was elated that my reviewer could recognize that.
With newfound hope, I continued to my next rotation. I was now at the front of the tent to direct Guests inside to visit with either Daisy and Minnie or Donald and Goofy. A short
time had passed when a woman wearing a Make-A-Wish button approached me. She
asked me about the location when I, obeying what I had learned in training,
took the woman and her family through the exit to meet with our friends: Goofy,
Donald, Daisy, and Minnie Mouse. On the way, I figured I would make this as
least awkward as possible and talk to them. I asked them their names (the wish
maker’s name is Christopher) and where they were from, and talked to them about
some of my favorite things in the park. Before we knew it, we were inside the
tent. I took them to see Donald and Goofy first. Donald was being extra
flirtatious and fun with me that day for some reason, and when I brought the
family from Goofy to Donald, Donald first grabbed me and started dancing with
me. I laughed my head off as I played along, telling the family that Donald had
agreed to be my Valentine earlier that morning. Donald spun me around, and I
said, “Donald, you forgot to dip me!” After we ended with an extravagant dip,
Donald met with the Make-a-Wish family. As we left, Donald pulled me in to give
me a huge kiss on the cheek, and I walked away, laughing and wiping my face,
telling the family that I had duck slobber on me. They found this very amusing.
Daisy and Minnie were adorable with the family as well, and Daisy took a photo
with Christopher as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
As I guided the family to the exit, Christopher’s father
asked to take a photo with me. Christopher wanted to be in the photo, too! I
was SO touched. What had I done that made them want to remember ME? I was just
doing my job and being me, I thought… Had I really made a difference to them?
After posing for the photo, I asked if I could give Christopher a kiss on the
cheek like Daisy did. After getting permission from Christopher and his
parents, I did so, and they took another photo. They thanked me unceasingly,
and I nearly cried. I asked for a group hug, and I sent them on their way. This
family didn’t understand what they had just done for me. They had allowed me to
be a part of this special family memory.
After two CMs came through as Guests and told me that Walt
would be proud, I was over the moon. What started out as not a very good day
turned out to be unbelievably wonderful.
My favorite location to work so far is with Tinker Bell in
Town Square Theater on Main Street. The venue is simply magical, Tink is so
much fun, and even when bad things happen or I make a ton of mistakes, I still
have a very pleasant experience overall! I have had many magical experiences
throughout my life because of her, and she means more than ever to me now that
I’ve gotten to work with her so much!
On February 15, after working at Chef Mickey’s at the
Contemporary Resort, I was given a special Cast Member recognition card for my
hard work from one of the servers. That night had been unusually crazy, which
was unfortunate, since it was my first dining shift ever (and the other
attendant’s first as well). It was extremely stressful. The captain, the other
attendant and I had to pull characters out of rotation constantly to meet with
families that had missed them and had been at the restaurant for an hour and a
half. We ended up leaving 15 minutes late due to several families that hadn’t
seen certain characters yet. The server that recognized my work was a woman
named Jessica, whom I had made very brief conversation with earlier in the
night. She recognized me for “going above and beyond.” I was absolutely
flattered! I wished that I had been able to express my sincere thanks to her,
because I didn’t know what the card was when she handed it to me. I couldn’t
find her at the end of the night to thank her, so I asked some of the kitchen
staff if they would thank her for me. This card is GREAT because once I give it
to management it will show up on my Disney record for when I apply for other
jobs or internships and things!!
This is just the start of my adventure. I can’t WAIT for the
experiences that lie ahead!
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