Magic Kingdom Special Event Lanyards - Cast Member Exclusive

One of the best parts about working at the Magic Kingdom was being able to attend all of the different special events that were being held at the park after hours. I personally worked: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, Night of Joy, Grad Night, and Disney's Pirate and Princess Party.

Each special event hosted it's own theme and included events, music, shows and even special character appearances. From a Cast Member perspective, I always enjoyed working these events because the parks were much less crowded AND we got to enjoy all the special event activites as well!

Cast Members working the events were given special event lanyards that not only identified them as special event Cast Members, but there was also information provided on the back side of the lanyards that included parade times, activity locations and other answers to frequently asked guest questions. the Disney's Pirate and Princess Party is no longer being offered, so I am especially happy to have held on to this particular lanyard.

Highly Exclusive Disney Cast Member Pins

A few weeks ago I took a trip back home to Chicago, Illinois to visit with my family. While at home, I was quite excited to dig around my old childhood bedroom because I had left several items from my working days at Walt Disney World in there. I came back with several items that I’m going to share with you over the next few weeks, but I thought I’d start off with some special pins that relate back to a previous post I had about how Cast Members are recognized.

Whenever a guest takes the time to write a complimentary letter about a Cast Member, those letters go to the Vice President of the according location. For me, while working at WDW in 2006-2008, any letters that were written about me would be sent to Erin Wallace, former Vice President of the Magic Kingdom, current Senior Vice President of Operations. Each VP would make a copy of the guest letter and send it back to the Cast Member to share with them. Each VP also sends a special recognition pin exclusive to Cast Members at that location to recognize them for spreading the magic. Each VP has their own unique pin and each year they get to update their recognition pins as well! I would imagine the pins are highly collectible, but I’ve never personally looked it up before. They’re priceless to me, anyway! I was lucky enough to receive two pins from Erin Wallace for a complimentary guest letter in 2006 and 2007.

One the back of the pin, you can see Erin’s signature and below it some words saying “Thank you for creating Magic.”

Another special pin I have was given to me by one of my best friends that still currently works at Walt Disney World: James “Tiny” McAuliffe, Disney VIP-Tour Guide extraordinaire! If you’re lucky enough to have James as your tour guide, you are in for a truly Magical treat. He is extremely passionate about his job and extremely knowledgeable about Disney. He also has a killer sense of humor to boot! I am very thankful to have met James while working at WDW because I truly consider him one of the best friends I've ever had. Miss you, James! J Anywho, James gave me a special VIP tour guide pin that used to be given out to guests from their VIP tour guide. To my knowledge, these pins are no longer in use. The pin was special to me because James and I both worked at Magic Kingdom Guest Relations and wore a very well respected costume, the blue plaid. I was pretty excited to get a pin with Mickey in our honored costume. The back of the pin says “Walt Disney World VIP tour.”

A Trip to the Michigan Ave. Disney Store in Chicago

My apologies for not adding a new post in over week, but I am happy to say in the meantime I have been on vacation visiting family in Chicago, Illinois and just returned from a fantastic time! While there, I of course made sure that I stopped at the famous Michigan Ave. Disney Store. I typically visit the Disney Store at the Tyson’s Corner mall every other week and while it is a fantastic store, it was so great to see another location, especially one as large as the store on Michigan Ave.

Since the location on Michigan Ave. is a stand-alone store, they were really able to enhance the “magic” oftr65 their entrance. There’s a beautiful mosaic tiled entry floor featuring Mickey and Minnie. The entrance also features several not-so-hidden Mickeys such as the door handles and the chandeliers. On the walls of the entry way are two great (and perhaps not so well-known) quotes from Walt Disney: “Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive” and “The things that we have in common far outnumber and outweigh those that divide us.”

The interior of the store is really well done too. If you look at the ceiling you’ll see classic Disney characters acting as if they’re playing around in a Hollywood soundstage. My favorite was Peter Pan and Captain Hook battling it out on a catwalk.

Another reason I wanted to make sure I stopped by this particular store is because it is one of the only Disney Stores that offers Disney merchandise specific to that city! I was really amazed at the variety of items they had to offer: from t-shirts, notebooks, thermoses, bags, plushes and more.

Besides the city-specific merchandise, the sheer size of the store really allowed it to offer a lot more merchandise than your typical mall Disney Store. I have to say I was QUITE excited when I spotted some plushes of some of my favorite Disney characters…ALL Three Caballeros in their sombreros! Just too cute!

How Disney Recognizes their Cast Members: Guest Service Fanatic, Certificates and More!

Walt Disney World is known for its amazing Cast Members that bring magic to life each and every day. It takes a lot of talent and encouragement to create of team of dedicated passionate individuals like the Cast Members at Walt Disney World. There’s weeks to months of vigorous training, the responsibility of recruiting those perfect personalities and of course, recognizing and appreciating those individuals for keeping Walt Disney’s alive and thriving.

I was always very impressed with how good the Disney Company was at recognizing its staff for doing a great job. Each area was a little different, so I can only speak for my own past role as a Guest Relations hostess at the Magic Kingdom. One consistent form of recognition was the Great Service Fanatic cards. These little purple cards were located in all areas of the parks. They could be filled out by guests or fellow Cast Members to recognize someone for going above and beyond. The cards had a carbon paper sheet so the top portion could be kept my the Cast Member and the bottom portion was handed in to have a notation kept on the Cast Member’s file but also to be used in drawings for prizes. I personally had won movie tickets, passes to Cirque de Soleil and Cast Member exclusive pins.

There were also personalized note cards within your area. For instance, if a Magic Kingdom Guest Relations Cast Member wanted to recognize another Cast Member on their team, they could fill out a thank you note. This note was then posted on a recognition wall for all the Cast to see and then eventually used in a drawing at the end of each month. You could also receive special recognition from your Area Director on personalized stationary for that individual.

In my particular area, Guest Relations hosts and hostesses would receive their gold “D” pin after they had successfully completed several weeks of training. This pin would be presented in a special ceremony backstage and included a special certificate signed by that Cast Member’s favorite Disney Characters. (Seen at the top of this post)

Disney for Adults: La Cava del Tequila and Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar

Going to Walt Disney World as a young girl was always a special treat. Perhaps my youth only allowed me to have a narrow view of what the World had to offer for as a child visiting the parks between the ages of 8 to 15, it seemed like Walt Disney World was created to cater specifically to young kids like me.

Now was woman nearing the age of 30, I still love visiting Walt Disney World, maybe even more than I did as a kid. Disney has this amazing way of always changing and always updating itself while staying faithful to its nostalgic details. Over my recent trips to WDW, I asked myself, what keeps me coming back as an adult? Well, I noticed that while I still enjoy doing some of the things I did as a little girl (the rides, the shows), when I visit Disney now as an adult, it’s a completely different experience.

It seems to me that people my age kind of grew up in what I’d like to call the Walt Disney World hey-day. Of course, WDW is still amazingly popular today, but I think the generation of children born in the 80s included some of the first families that made going to WDW on vacation each year, a family tradition. In the 1970s, WDW was just getting established. People associated WDW with Disneyland in California and still had no idea of how huge WDW truly was or what it had to offer. Families in the 1970s and 1980s typically would take family vacations elsewhere and if they did go to WDW, it was only as a one time trip.

Talking with other Disney lovers in my age range, it seems like we all frequented WDW quite a lot as children on family vacations. Now that this generation has grown up, these individuals have found their love for Disney is still there whether it’s for nostalgia, because they want their children to enjoy Disney like they did, or perhaps they’re like me and just simply will always love Disney just because it’s great. Now that these individuals are adults, Disney has been smart to cater to this huge demographic by adding new and exciting Disney attractions that well, cater to adults! Now while I have no factual proof that this was the Disney Company’s actual strategy, the addition of certain recent “attractions” would seem to help prove this theory correct.

First there is La Cava del Tequila at EPCOT’s Mexico Pavilion. Located inside the great Pyramid, La Cava del Tequila is a quaint 30-seat venue that offers more than 70 different varieties of tequila. I can personally recommend their fantastic margaritas, a tip I got from one of my Cast Member pals. J Whether you can find a seat at one of the charming tables in this cave inspired tavern or standing at the bar enjoying chatting away with the native Mexican bartenders, you’ll be sure to enjoy yourself! This fantastic adult attraction was added in late 2009 making it the first food & beverage location to cater specifically to adults.

Recent Disney news has released information regarding ANOTHER adult food & beverage venue similar to Mexico’s La Cava del Tequila. This time Disney focused on a recent gastronomical fad: wine tasting! Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar opened on May 1^st of this year in the Italy Pavilion at EPCOT. I am very much looking forward to experiencing the wine cellar this Fall and especially after reading details about it from the Disney Parks blog. Tutto Gusto is a 96-seat venue with an intimate décor that took its inspiration from none other than an authentic Italian wine cellar. With over 200 Italian wines to choose from, there’s plenty to enjoy. A small plates menu is also offered for those wishing to have some light bites while enjoying their wine.

As you can see, Disney has been doing a fantastic job of creating new venues that cater to adult Disney lovers. I can’t wait to see what they think up next!

Celebrating 4th of July All Year Round at the Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney’s Patriotism

Spending any holiday at Walt Disney World can be a very special and of course, magical experience. For the holidays, Disney goes all out with festive decorations, holiday appropriate back ground music, new holiday costumes for the characters, special parades and the all-important holiday fireworks display. Most guests are familiar with these kinds of details when it comes to Disney’s celebration of Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas…but what about the birthday of our nation? Well, would you believe me if I said that the Magic Kingdom celebrates America every day? On the 4^th of July, the Magic Kingdom does have several great festivities such as a special flag retreat ceremony, veteran salutes during the parades and an incredible fireworks display with a 360 fireworks finale that rings the park…but what about all the other days of the year?...

Walt Disney was a very patriotic man. In 1917, while Walt’s family was living in Chicago, Walt dropped out of high school to join the United States Army to join the troops fighting in World War I. Walt never did get to join the military though as he was rejected for being underage. This didn’t stop him from wanting to support the troops and to show his patriotism, so he found another way to get involved with the war by joining the Red Cross as an ambulance driver. Walt spent the final year of the war in France assisting injured and fallen soldiers.

Besides his military involvement, Walt’s love of all-things Americana was really started when he was just a young boy growing up in the small town of Marceline, Missouri. Walt was often quoted about his fond memories growing up in this small mid-western town and how it embodied, to him, everything that was great about our country. In fact, Walt Disney used Marceline as his foundation when creating Main St. USA, an all-American street where every day is the 4^th of July. Main St. USA is also specially decorated during the 4^th of July with flags, buntings and other red, white and blue decorations.

Walt didn’t stop showing his patriotism at Main St. USA, in fact he carried it through the whole Magic Kingdom park. Cinderella Castle rests at the end of Main St. USA, an incredible, beautiful, almost unbelievable sight at the end of the road. The Castle represents the American Dream, where hard work and dedication (represented in the realistic Main St. USA) would eventually lead you to fulfilling all of your dreams, no matter how fantastic they are.

Looking to left of the Castle, you have Adventureland, celebrating the pioneers and the risk-takers that set-out to make discoveries such as the great journey Christopher Columbus took where he discovered America. Frontierland continues on celebrating pioneers, the Oregon trail, the settlers making their journey out west where they struck gold and built railroads to connect our great country. Liberty Square…well, need I say more? Celebrating colonial times and paying respect to our country’s Presidents. And Tomorrowland, a glimpse at the future, at the amazing potential our country has to develop and foster new and innovative ideas.

So on your next trip to Walt Disney World, take a moment to look around while you’re at the Magic Kingdom and you’ll get to see how Walt Disney tilted his hat to our great country. Happy 4^th of July!

The Year of a Million Dreams: Making a Dream Come True for a Fellow Cast Member

On October 1^st, 2006 the Disney company started, what many would say, its most spectacular promotion ever; The Year of a Million Dreams. I began working as a full-time Disney Cast Member with the Guest Relations team at Magic Kingdom earlier that year in mid-July and I couldn’t have been more excited to be working at the Disney parks during such an exciting promotion. Not only would the group of lucky Cast Members known as the Dream Team be giving out prizes to guests but they were also doing an internal giveaway for Cast Members as well! Even with such a prestigious role as a Guest Relations Hostess, I found myself getting jealous of these Cast Members where their single purpose was to surprise unexpecting guests and Cast Members with gifts and prizes beyond their wildest imagination each and every day they worked. Don’t get me wrong, I made a lot of magic happen on a daily basis as well, but I really wished I could be part of the gift giving those Cast Members did.

Some of the Dream Giveaways I saw happen included Dream Fast Pass giveaways at Magic Kingdom (this one I saw at the exit of It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean), Year of a Million Dreams lanyard and pin sets (all over the Kingdom), the Cinderella Castle Suite giveaway and Dream Mouse Ears. I had heard of many of the other prizes being given away at the other parks as well. Each day one of the Guest Service Managers would update us on the where-and-when of the giveaways so we could be informed of which prizes were left. After every giveaway, my desire to give away a Dream Come True grew more and more.

Little did I know that I would eventually get my chance to fulfill someone’s Dream as well… but in a way that I hadn’t anticipated. One evening I was working in City Hall when my Guest Services Manager asked me to step outside with him. We walked out into the garden next to City Hall and the GSM asked me if I would be up for helping him with a little magic. Of course my answer to that was always yes and I excitedly asked him how I could help. A friend of his who was a GSM in Tomorrowland wanted to propose to his girlfriend who worked in an O&T (office and technical) role backstage. The Tomorrowland GSM wanted to do something special for the proposal so my manager had offered to help. We stood in the garden whispering back and forth as we concocted a simply magical plan.

 

After finalizing the details, my GSM gave me a firm handshake and said “Good luck! I’m counting you!” and returned to his duties backstage. Since he wasn’t able to leave City Hall as the Manager on Duty, he had passed the baton to me to take care of this magical surprise. I grabbed a few velvet ropes from City Hall and headed down Main Street USA towards the castle. As I was walking past the confectionary, I saw one of the Dream Team Cast Members that was often staged around City Hall. “Hi Kristen! Whatcha up to today?” she shouted over the crowds busy guests searching out their spots for that evening’s show of Wishes (the nightly fireworks show). I was just about to hurry past the Cast Member when an idea struck me. I squeezed through the crowds and whispered in the CM’s ear about my plan. “Oh really? That’s a great idea! I’ll definitely help out!” she had said and quickly joined me on my journey to the Castle. Along the way we recruited several other Cast Members to help out; a PhotoPass CM on Main Street USA, a Tomorrowland CM that was assisting with putting up parade rope and stations, and an Ice Cream Parlor CM that had just gone on break. We all stopped in front of the entrance to the Castle’s rose garden on the bridge heading into Tomorrowland. There was a little space where PhotoPass CMs would take pictures of families in front of the castle. The PhotoPass CM we recruited had helped us clear out the space and put up the velvet ropes from City Hall to reserve the viewing area. The GSM from Tomorrowland found us and saw all the other CM’s and looked at me and the Dream Team CM and asked what was going on. We explained that we were going to surprise his girlfriend by saying she had won a Dream Come True for the Cast Members as part of the Year of a Million Dreams. It was a special viewing of the fireworks right here at the rose garden! The GSM couldn’t believe how much thought we had put into the situation to help him make the proposal special. We quickly placed the CM’s in the viewing area with the Tomorrowland GSM at the back. The Dream Team CM headed backstage to get the girlfriend and returned with her quickly just before the fireworks began. She was so excited to have won a Dream Come True that she didn’t even notice her boyfriend until the fireworks were halfway through! I think it was when she finally saw him that she realized what was actually happening. The CMs and I cleared out of the viewing space and stood at the velvet rope and watched as he proposed to her during the grand finale of Wishes.

Creating a Magical Moment for a Guest with Disabilities: Keys to the Kingdom Tour

After my amazing experience as a Disney Cast Member, I decided that if I no longer worked for the most magical place on Earth, I could at least continue on in the hospitality business and therefore entered the world of hotels and resorts. Today, I am a Human Resources Manager with a world renowned hotel company. One of my roles as an HR manager is training our employees and last week I was able to conduct one of my favorite training classes: Customer Service Training. The amazing techniques and tips I learned as a Disney Cast Member, and as a certified Disney trainer, have stuck with me and I absolutely love sharing many of those Disney philosophies with my employees during these training sessions.

I was talking with the employees about how it’s the little things that really make the biggest impact on our guests. Just taking the time to go out of your way to do something to make a guest smile can really make someone’s experience. Many of them chirped up at this idea and said that most people just want to be compensated monetarily with free breakfasts, free internet and money off their room rates. While I agreed that some people may want that kind of compensation, depending on the issue, making a big impact doesn’t need to be expensive. It fact, it doesn’t need to cost anything at all.

I told the employees a story about my time at Disney. I was hosting the early morning Keys to the Kingdom tour and was prepping my audio devices backstage. (On the Keys to the Kingdom tour, tour guides, like myself, would use microphones and the guests would have headsets so they could hear the guide easily as they walked through the park. This also helped the tour guide tremendously because it allowed the guide to not lose their voice on a daily basis from needing to scream over the sometimes very noisy crowds.) Just as I was walking onstage to pass out my devices and introduce myself to the guests, the Tour Coordinator Matt stopped me, “Kristen, we need to talk with you quickly.” Matt pulled me into an empty City Hall where one of the Guest Service Managers was waiting for us. “Is everything okay?” I asked timidly. “We have a bit of a concern with your tour today,” started the manager nervously twirling one of her brown curls. Matt jumped in with urgency in his voice, “There’s a guest who is hearing impaired and she said she had informed central reservations that she needed an American Sign Language translator for the tour.” Having worked at Disney for over a year, I had picked up a little ASL from some fellow Cast Members, but being able to sign “welcome,” “thank you,” and “hello” wasn’t going to get me very far. The GSM stepped to my side and placed her hand on my right shoulder. Staring into my face, she sighed and spoke to me in a soft serious tone, “Kristen, the audio devices won’t work for this guest, but she can read lips. Do you think you’d be able to make the tour work?” I exhaled with relief. That was all it was? I let out a goofy giggle and informed the team that everything would be just fine.

The guest, Beverley, was visiting with her husband. The couple was in their late 60s and explained they had always loved Walt Disney World but were nervous to do any of the special tours due to her disability. I asked Beverely a few questions about how I could ensure she had a great experience on the tour and figured out some easy adjustments I could make. I still used the audio devices, but made sure Beverely was next to me when I was talking so I could look straight at her face so she could read my lips. Before we went into any attractions, I made sure we talked about the history and fun facts before we went inside. And Beverley also let me know that I could tap her on her shoulder whenever I started talking so she knew to look at me. To me, it was no inconvenience whatsoever to make these tiny adjustments. The rest of the group didn’t seem to even notice. At the end of the tour, Beverley thanked me profusely for the magical experience. I signed Beverly “thank you” and wished the couple a very enjoyable vacation. A few weeks later, my Area Director pulled me into his office and presented me with one of the most amazing mementos from my time at Walt Disney World.

Disney Cast Member Perks: Company D and SALSA Sales

After seeing how many people were excited to read about Cast Member perks in one of my prior posts, I thought I’d share some more about the amazing benefits I enjoyed while working at Walt Disney World.

Being a Cast Member, you may think we would be turned off from spending tons of money on Disney souvenirs and knick-knacks after being surrounded by Disney-everything each day. Well, the truth is indeed quite opposite of that for it appears Cast Members are even MORE inclined to give back their whole paycheck to the company on gifts and other Disney goodies. What can I say, there’s just so many cool and interesting things to buy and Disney does a great job of constantly updating their merchandise and coming out with new things. Thankfully, the Disney Company knows how much their Cast Members love to buy Disney merchandise so they have provided several avenues for Cast Members to buy great Disney items on a budget.

Company D is a discounted merchandise store just for Disney Cast Members located in several behind the scenes areas at Walt Disney World. The last time I checked, there were 6 different Company D locations:

-          Disney University (located behind the Magic Kingdom, Disney University is the learning facility for new and existing Cast Members)

-          Disney Reservation Center (off-property, close to Universal Studios/I-Drive)

-          Maingate Office Complex (located near Disney’s Animal Kingdom)

-          Disney’s Hollywood Studios (located behind the Villains Shop)

-          Epcot (Located behind Test Track and the Mexico Pavilion)

-          Team Disney (across the road from Downtown Disney)

Company D primarily sells Cast Member exclusive merchandise such as cast exclusive pins, lanyards, Vinylmations, figurines and more! I remember, while working as a College Program student, every time a new Disney movie was released you had to go to Company D to get the Cast Exclusive release pin. Now for you non-Disney Cast Members out there wishing you could go to Company D you should know there is a way! Cast Members are allowed to bring guests to all the non-restricted area Company D stores (Disney University, Team Disney, and the Disney Reservation Center)

Besides Company D, there were also seasonal SALSA Sales. SALSA stood for “Spend a little, Save A lot!” These sales would be held twice a year, one in the beginning of summer and one just before the holiday season. The SALSA Sales would take place in big tents in the cast parking lots behind the theme parks, usually behind EPCOT. The sale was basically a liquidation sale of all the excess merchandise in the warehouses. The first day of the sale was just for Cast Members and then then next few days Cast Members were allowed to bring guests with them. The first day was always the best to go to the SALSA sales because you’d get a chance to find some vintage Disney items. At one particular sale I purchased a signed gold plate edition Carl Barks (the famous artist of Uncle Scrooge McDuck) lithograph for the insane price of $200. Today, it is priced well over $1,400!

Creating a Magical Moment for a Family's First Disney Visit: One of My Proudest Moments as a Disney Cast Member

A lot of people talk about their favorite Disney memories or their most magical moments. When I was thinking about mine, I realized my favorite magical moment was really another family's magical moment. Allow me to explain…

It was a hot summery evening at the Magic Kingdom when I was working as a full-time Cast Member at Guest Relations in City Hall. It was one of those rare days when the Magic Kingdom had reached its capacity so the amounts of people that were coming in to City Hall with concerns was plentiful. A very sweaty and very angry looking man came over to me with his wife and two young daughters behind him. The guest explained to me that this was their first trip to Walt Disney World and they couldn't believe that people thought the place was so great! He said he only had encountered rude and unhelpful Cast Members. He informed me that he had made an advanced dining reservation several months in advance to have a dining experience with Cinderella to which they had been told by the Cast Member that booked the reservation was indeed at Cinderella's Royal Table. The guest explained when he went to Cinderella’s Castle, he was told that his reservation was not there and instead at a completely different park. I looked at his confirmation information and sure enough, he had been booked at Akershus Restaurant in the Norway Pavilion at EPCOT for Princess Storybook Dining. I tried my best to see if the Cinderella’s Royal Table could open up any extra spots, but as you may know, they were booked solid for the last 6 months! I explained to the guests how the other dining experience actually had all the Princesses and eventually convinced them it would be just as wonderful to dine there instead.

The guest then pointed out that there was no way they would make it to EPCOT in time for their dining reservations with all the crowds and the back-ups on the monorail and ferry boats. Luckily, Guest Relations had a few vans for emergency situations located back stage and I was able to make a special request to use one to personally transport them over to EPCOT! I loaded the family into the van and it looked like this story was going to have a happy ending.....when all of a sudden a shuttle bus rounded the corner next to our parked van and sideswiped us!!! Everyone was just fine, first of all. No injuries were incurred by either party. When the shuttle hit the van, it did move us quite a bit though.

After I checked on the family, I was about to make a call to security on my Nextel, but the park Security office was right next to us and they had witnessed the whole event and were already talking with the shuttle driver. The security team informed me and the family that we would have to write statements about the incident right then and there. At this point the father was just “done”, if you will. He followed me with his family and filled out the reports. Several hours later the paperwork was complete and the dining reservation time slot was long gone. I eventually got another vehicle and since the family was staying on site at Caribbean Beach, I at least was able to drive them back to the resort.

Talking with the family, the mother and father were so exhausted, the children were passed out in the backseat and the parents informed me that they were seriously considering leaving early and just going back home. Although they were not angry with me and were very complimentary for my assistance, at this point they really didn't want anything to do with Disney. I asked them to give it another chance and said there were just so many wonderful things about Disney that they needed to see and do. I asked what their plans were for the next day and the mother told me that they had planned to go to Animal Kingdom. As I dropped them off I told them to have a wonderful time at Animal Kingdom tomorrow and that I was certain things would turn around for them.

 The next day at work, I spoke with one of my managers about an idea I had for this family. I couldn’t let them go home with that as their lasting impression of Walt Disney World. After a quick approval from my manager, I was off to the Emporium on Main St. USA picking up t-shirts, Princess dolls, pens, plushes and more. Then it was off to the Chapeau to get embroidered hats and then to the bakery for some tasty sweets. I also was able to catch my pal Mickey for a few autographs on a special letter for the family. After a quick shopping trip, I stopped into Guest Relations for a few last items, hopped into a van and headed back to Caribbean Beach.

After speaking with my friends at the front desk at the Caribbean Beach resort about the situation, I was able to call the family’s room to see if they were there. Fortunately they had left for the day, but had not decided to check out! There was still hope!! My friends from the front desk helped me to stop in the family’s room and we set-up decorations, balloons and filled their beds with the gifts from the Magic Kingdom. I left Mickey’s letter and a special letter from myself and the Magic Kingdom Guest Relations team on their bed. The letter I had left them was apologizing for the whole situation again, but also inviting the family back to Magic Kingdom, complimentary (tickets included) to join us on the Disney’s Family Magic tour as special guests where they would get to spend some personal time with Peter Pan, Wendy and other Disney Characters. I left the note, crossed my fingers, closed the door and left with my Caribbean Beach friend and hoped for the best.

One day past, then another, then another…and finally it was the day the family had been invited back for the tour. I hadn’t heard anything from them or the Cast Members at Caribbean Beach. I was just finishing up assisting a guest when out of the corner of my eye I saw the family walking into City Hall after just finishing up their tour. There they were decked out in the t-shirts and embroidered hats we had purchased for them and their daughters were all smiles clutching onto their Princess dolls. The mom and dad both gave a huge bear hug and just kept saying how amazing everything had been. It was my proudest moment as a Disney Cast Member seeing how happy I made this family and being able to show them how magical and special a place Walt Disney World truly is.

 The family and I exchanged email information and from then on, the family has been going to the parks every year. I still get occasional emails from them and in the last one I received I was informed their oldest daughter was now in high school and couldn’t wait to go to college to participate in the Disney College Program.

Un plat à fromage, s'il vous plaît! - EPCOT France Pavilion

Taking a trip to Paris has been on my must-do list since I was a little girl. I haven't managed to make that trip yet, but while I save up my money and vacation days I'm still able to enjoy a little taste of France in the France Pavilion at EPCOT.

I have to say that EPCOT wasn't always my favorite Disney park. In fact, it wasn't until my College Program experience that I even went to the World Showcase section of the theme park! It was about halfway through my College Program when my mother came to visit me and we decided to spend the afternoon walking around EPCOT. At this point I had been around the World Showcase many times, but it wasn't until my mom's visit that I actually took the time to walk around the shops in the France pavilion. My mom had noticed nestled back in the corner of the pavilion a cute little shop with wooden signs that said "Boulangerie" and "Patisserie." We happened to be a bit peckish, so we thought we'd stop by and check it out. We popped inside the little shop and were squeezed into a tight line with several other park guests. The shop itself was tiny and for a moment I caught myself thinking why on Earth would the Imagineers make sure a popular place so cramped, but I caught myself realizing this was just Disney magic at its best. The little shop was modeled after an old French cottage so even waiting in line to buy our sweets made us feel like we had been transported to France. We purchased one cheese plate and a baguette to share and headed out to the cul du sac to sit at one of the vacant cafe tables along the street. Sitting there with my mom, eating cheese, listening to street music of accordions playing familiar French tunes, I truly felt like I had been swept away to Europe.

One of my most favorite things about Disney is how the place can completely transport you to a different time, a different place and a different state of mind. This experience really stuck with me and now it has become a tradition. I can't make a trip to EPCOT without stopping into the Boulangerie Patisserie for at least a croissant, cafe au lait or of course my favorite French cheese plate. :)

The Waiting in Line Experience – Taking a “Queue” from Walt Disney’s Vision

When I go to see a movie, I make sure to be at the theater with plenty of time before the show because I absolutely love seeing the previews! When I visit Walt Disney World I also spend a lot of time enjoying the previews. But wait, previews at Walt Disney World? Walt Disney World isn’t a show…or is it?

As a Cast Member at Magic Kingdom Guest Relations, one of my roles was hosting the historical and behind the scenes tour, Keys to the Kingdom. The tour starts at the main entrance to the park about 30 minutes before rope drop. If you’ve ever been to a Magic Kingdom rope drop, you know there is a show featuring several Disney characters riding to the main entrance to welcome the guests on the Walt Disney World Railroad. If you think of the Magic Kingdom as a show, the railroad acts as a curtain to the show, encircling the perimeter of the park. The daily morning rope drop show with the train coming in acts like an opening curtain and as the train passes by, the curtain has dropped and all the guests come piling in! Immediately after the curtain opens, before any show there are always the previews, right? Well as you cross under the railroad station at the entrance, there are vintage movie size posters of several of the attractions in the park. So these are the previews to the “main show” which is the park itself! Pretty genius huh? (All Walt’s idea, of course) On a side note, I know that you must have noticed all the names on the windows along Main Street USA. What comes after the previews in a movie? The opening credits! Indeed, those are the names of the “producers” and the “crew” and of course, the Director, Walter Elias Disney (last window, located above the ice cream parlor facing into the park), who helped make the Magic Kingdom “show” a reality.

The “show” and “previews” concept goes beyond just the entrance to the park. Walt knew that waiting in a long line for a ride is not fun, so why not make the wait fun AND part of the show? Have you ever noticed the amount of detail that goes into the waiting lines for the attractions? Well, that’s because the waiting line is the preview to the attraction! Also, the line serves another important purpose, it is the bridge between the world of reality to the world of fantasy and the Imagineers spend a large amount of time puting in the fine details to make you feel like you’re becoming a part of the show as you transition through those lines.

I think one of the finest examples of this can be seen in the queue for The Seas with Nemo & Friends at the Living Seas pavilion at EPCOT. When you first enter the line, you’re in a beach scene with sand dunes and beach signs indicating the possibility of strong currents. As you progress through each room of the queue you realize that you’re transitioning under water! If you look up in one of the final rooms, you’ll notice there are boats above your head and you can see the top of the water glistening. Now you’re ready to board your clam mobile and continue on your underwater journey with Nemo.

So the next time you’re waiting in line, I recommend to look around and take in the details, you get to experience another one of Walt’s incredible before-his-time ideas that is still utilized today.