So, What Adventures Have You Been On?

While talking to guests in the store, I like asking people about the adventures they've been on.

Maybe it's because I enjoy living vicariously through the guest who got to go play in the park while I've been standing at a register all day. Or maybe it's because Disney sounds about 10,000 times more fun when seen through the eyes of a child. I love my sisters dearly and I love how even though we're all in high school (or older :D) we can geek out over meeting princesses. But it doesn't remotely compare to talking to a child about meeting Mickey or riding a roller coaster for the first time. That's the real magic of a Disney park: the strength of the park is that someone can still tap into their 'inner child' to enjoy the fun and it will keep them coming back year after year, but the real magic is when you go with a child. I have no children of my own and thus far have been unable to inherit any nieces or nephews so I live vicariously through the children that come through the store.

"So what'd you do today?" is so BORING but "So what adventures did you go on today?" is much more fun. It's been a while since I've blogged but I've gotten off work before midnight for the first time in forever (purposeful 'Frozen' reference), so I shall record some of my adventures!

Goofy's nametag 'Earning My Ear's ribbon'

Earning My Ears! :)

When you start off as a Disney cast member, you're given a red ribbon to attach to your nametag that reads 'I'm Earning My Ears'. Basically it signals to both co-workers and guests that you're a rookie and that they should cut you some slack. I started my training on a Monday and trained all that week. On that Saturday I had my last day of training and took my assessment: a 67 multiple-choice questionnaire that tests if you've learned all that you need to learn in training. I passed it (woot woot) and got to rip that 'Earning my Ears' ribbon right off my nametag to join the big leagues. I'm official! :)

 

Pin Trading

As a Merchandise cast member, we trade pins with guests. I was given a lanyard and told to choose at least 12 pins from a big huge bucket of Disney pins. The pin trading experience from my end is pretty simple: a guest asks to see your pins, they choose the pin that they want, and trade you one of theirs.  Some of my co-workers are avid pin collectors in their personal lives so they get really into it. I admit it: I'm a pin trader when I'm on the clock and otherwise I really don't see the appeal... I get excited like "Ooh a princess! I know who this one is!" and that's about it. I got a really cool Darth Vader pin once...it was gone within like 20 minutes. That's the thing about pin trading as a job: if you get anything cool from a guest, it's almost guaranteed that the next guest to look at your pins will snatch it up.

Awkwardly humorous pin trading story:
I was walking by one of my male co-workers the other day and all I heard was "Oh look you're a virgin". I'm forever grateful that there was no surface for me to see my reflection but I'm pretty sure I was red enough to put tomatoes forever to shame.

"Um excuse me?"

"You've got a virgin pin---a virgin is the symbol for Virgo!" he pointed to my lanyard where I had a purple Minnie Mouse with the word 'Virgo' on it. It's one of the astrological sign collections. I laughed it off and never confessed why I got so awkward about it.

 

Marie and 'The Aristocats' Throwback

I really should know this---but is 'The Aristocats' slated to be released from the Disney vault anytime soon? I have to guess that it is because we have several items with Marie from 'The Aristocats' on it---several stuffed animals and a few art sets---and the trivia board in the store has been 'The Aristocats' themed for the last few days. In Magic Kingdom, I've seen Marie available for meet n greets several times when I've never seen her in years before.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about: 'The Aristocats' is a movie from I thinkkkk the 1950's (again, I should probably know that) about rich French cats. We had it on VHS as a kid so I've seen it a couple of times. For the next story to make sense, I'll insert a picture of Marie for you.
I was walking through the children's section of the store and re-stocking some art supplies when an African American woman pulled me aside and in her hand was a Marie art kit. She asked where the other personalized art kits were. I asked her to clarify.

The art kit she was holding had a picture of Marie with the name 'Marie' in cursive across the front. This woman wanted to know if we had any other names available for the cat art kits. I had to explain that Marie was the name of the cat rather than just a personalization and that Marie was a character from 'The Aristocats'. The woman laughed, explaining that she was named Marie and that she was hoping to find one with the name Sarah on it because that was her daughter's name and her daughter loved cats. I apologized to her and said that Marie was going to be the only name on all of the cases but directed her towards the personalized keychains that we have.

"...well of course it's a white cat..." she grumbled and I laughed awkwardly and then quickly escaped altogether.

 

Meeting Princesses

Several of my roommates work in 'Magic Kingdom' so they frequently come home with stories of which princesses they've spotted at work. But my roommate Kenzie is a Fairy Godmother-in-Training at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Bootique--where little princesses can get their hair done by these Fairy Godmothers and get princess make-overs. Kenzie showed us a brochure of the different hairstyle options, so I know what they look like.

Little girls frequently come through the store dressed in princess costumes with fancy hair and just sparkling head-to-toe in pixie dust.

"Oh my goodness it's a princess! Oh princess you look absolutely beautiful! You must have had a Fairy Godmother do your hair!"

Their eyes get super big and they nod, very excited. We talk for a little bit about the Fairy Godmother who did her hair and the adventures she's been on.

One little girl in particular, Princess Emma, was my favorite. She was probably only 4 or 5 and was dressed exactly like Cinderella. I asked her if Cinderella was her favorite. Princess Emma had gotten to eat dinner at 'Cinderella's Royal Table' (a restaurant inside of Cinderella's Castle) where she met Cinderella and even got her autograph---this was big news, people! Then Prince Charming came through the restaurant with a glass slipper. He saw Princess Emma and mistook her for Cinderella and even asked her to dance---but Emma was too shy to dance with him so they just took pictures. Then the step-sisters came through the store and they were just super funny. Emma and I chatted for a good 5 minutes or so. I grabbed the autograph book we keep at the register---the super secret special autograph book that we cast members keep only for special instances like Princess Emma--and asked if Princess Emma would be willing to give me her autograph. She wrote out her name very deliberately like any good 5 year old would and drew a big smiley face next to it. I got a super big hug out of it. I think I grinned the rest of the night.

'Magic Kingdom' vs Harry Potter

I was helping a guest just earlier tonight actually. I asked how her day had been while I was ringing up this woman's items and this woman just exploded on me: the weather was miserable, the construction in the park kept her from seeing everything she wanted to see, it looked nothing like the commercials said it would, and the train was all wrong.

English wasn't this woman's first language and I did my best to empathize with her. She kept going on and on about how much of a disappointment the Magic Kingdom was. The train really bothered her--she envisioned the train much differently.

"And I couldn't find butterbeer anywhere!"

Let it never be said that I do not possess self-control because I didn't laugh out loud at this poor woman. She and I then had a long conversation explaining that while it is called the Magic Kingdom, the 'Wizarding World of Harry Potter' is actually over at Universal. She wasn't very happy about any of it but it definitely added humor to my day!

The Adventures Shall Continue!

I feel like I've had more adventures than that...but currently that's all that is coming to mind.

I still have a good 3 1/2 months left here so I have no doubt that the adventures shall continue. I have a good four day weekend coming up so I have big plans to go out exploring. I really need to make it over to Epcot and Animal Kingdom--the two parks that I haven't been to yet--and then spend some real time over at Hollywood Studios.

I'll finish up with some trivia questions that I've used to stump my dear mother lately:

--Which 4 Disney princesses finish their movies with both parents alive?

--In the movie 'The Aristocats', who falls off of the train tracks?

--What is the Tree of Life in Disney's Animal Kingdom Park originally made out of?

--How can you tell Huey, Duey, and Louie apart?

--What are 3 characteristics that Dopey has but the other 6 dwarves do not?