YOU'RE KIDDING . . . Right ?

Lately, I've been scribbling down notes from various people's stories, waiting until I had enough to blog about. So with out further adieu. . .

Did you know the Buzz Lightyear is on the International Space Station ? In 2008, the astronauts brought a Buzz doll with them to leave on the station. Apparently there is an on going kid's educational program and Buzz is the spokes-doll (is that a real word?)

I heard today, on the news that Barack Obama's girls was going to be wearing Disney made, princess inspired dresses for the inaugauration. I can see it now, we'll have a Princess line of dresses AND a Presidential line of dresses in our stores.

If it looks like pot and smells like pot, it must be . . . pot, right? Well, according to Disney Horticulture folks, maybe not. I was working crowd control for the Pirates and Princess party in 2008. Stationed in front of the train station, I began smelling something rather strange. Several other people I was working with thought the same thing I did. The plants around the flag pole looked like marijauna, smelled like marijuana, BUT apparently, was not marijuana. Believe what you will, I think the Horticulture people were messing with us.

Guests are what keep this blog going. THe things we see and we hear never cease to amaze me. Disney Vacation Club. (a.k.a. Disney time share) has a representative in the resort lobbies. One of the DVC reps mentioned that they have turned into the non-official information booth. I asked him what his most absurd question was. His answer: "If my dad buys a vacation club, does he get a monkey ?"

A tree had fallen across the boradwalk leading to the ferryboats to Magic Kingdom at Wilderness Lodge. A front desk cashier was working part of her shift at the bus stop helping people find thier way on the right bus. She had a very irrate guest confront her and demand that SHE move the tree, right then. After being yelled by the guest, the cashier left her post, walked in side and informed managers that she was never going back to the busses again. Thanks the the 2008 economy issues, that post was perminately eliminated.

A story about Port Orleans comes from many years ago. The person who told me this believed it happened back when it was still two separate resorts (Port Orleans and Dixie Landings). Apparently they have a place called Alligator Bayou and a brainiac was feeding an alligator. Let me remind you, a) this is Florida, gators are everywhere, b) it is a criminal offense to feed alligators, c) Gators are not the sharpest tool in the shed. When this guest ran out of food, the gator was still hungry and followed him to the building. The building had automatic doors. When the gator reached the door, it opened and yes, it went inside the building. Needless to say, they removed the automatic door opener soon there after.

At All Star Resort, I had a lady who had just got off of a very long and trying plane flight. They took her cigarette lighter from her a the airport. The fight was delayed. She was aggitated one moment and crying the next. When she asked if I had a lighter or cigarettes( of which I had neither), i knew her problems had little to do with us and more to do with nicotine withdrawls. It made me really glad that I did not smoke.

In closing I want to leave you with a recent story to start out 2009 right. One of the concierge Cast members was helping a guest, when someone came to the counter and said, "there's a naked child running up and down the hall way." THe cast member looked at her guest, who told her to "go do what you need to do, we'll wait." By the time Disney staff got there, another guest had corraled the child, wrapped him in a towel and had him sitting down. The managers used the master key to open the door to the child's room. There was nobody in the room. One of the managers noticed shoes by the balcony door. He pulled back the curtian and quickly closed it again, but he had seen WAY MORE than he had ever cared to. Let's just say, junior was about to be a big brother. Junior's mom and dad were, of course, a bit miffed at being caught with thier pants down. . . literally and figuretively, but the manager explained to him that his son was running up and down the hallway buck naked. Apparently, they laid Junior down for a nap and decided to expand thier family out on the balcony. When Junior woke up, mom and dad were gone, so he walked out of the room and the door locked behind him.

Tuned in next time for more tales of the absurd.