As I sit here on the edge of a new decade, it seems like it only yesterday that we were freaking out about Y2K. Ten years have passed and we're still here. The sky hasn't fallen and Florida hasn't fell into the sea. . . not yet anyway.
In the months leading up to Y2K, Disney took all of the computer crashing, power outages and general mayhem predictions to heart. This time 12/30/99, there were crews moving gas generators to every traffic intersection. THe contingency to the contingency plans were being distributed . . . practically in book form. (You think I kidding, I am not). In contrast, I also worked at Universal Studios as an Entertainment Tech, I got to work on December 31 and was handed one sheet of paper. That was it. In a nutshell, Universal's plan was 1) shut down all the rides ten minutes till midnight. 2) If all hell doesn't break loose, restart the rides ten minutes after midnight.
In the first years of the new millenium brought a new CEO to the Walt Disney Company as Micheal Eisner stepped down, it was more like being pushed off the mountian. After years of lack luster job performance and multi-million dollar bonuses, the share holders, spearheaded by Roy E Disney, finally had enough and gave Eisner a vote of no confidence. . . basically, he was fired. Bob Iger steps in and take over the reins.
In 2001, 911 brought huge changes to the world of mouse. There had been a trend of scaling back security guards to save money. Some posts were eliminated. For a while, they tested a non-human security gate for cast entrances we refered to as the cheese shredder. Slide your ID through a code reader and the metal gates turn to let you in. It was a fifty chance that it'd work right. Fortunately there was living breathing person in a security 'cube' who could override the the gate. I'll admit, i actually forgot my ID one day and my Universal ID looked enough like the Disney one that he let me in.
After 911, all of that changed. Guest's bags started being checked. They replaced the security kiosks entering the back gates of the parks with what I call the 'Fort Knox style Security" gates. It consists of two lift gates and a massive pop up, stop you in your tracks if you try anything suspicious, solid steel gate/ barrier thing. I've also seen canine units added to the Disney patrol force. After 911 they actually had bomb dogs checking out each and every car entering the park's back gate. I remember doing my morning runs and driving past our version of 'Check point Charlie'. On various mornings I'd stop to watch for a while. At one point they even had a dog house out there for the bomb dog which I thought was kind of cute. It was at that moment I decided that if all hell was to break out in my country, i needed to be apart of the solution and not sit on the sidelines, so I joined the American Red Cross. And I've been doing that ever since.
The morning of 911, I was a coordinator for Epic (Indiana Jones) and I was supposed to have costume fittings all day. But As I sat in the greenroom with my cast and watched as the second plane hit the towers, costumes weren't important anymore. The cast went out and did one show that day, then they pretty much mutinied after that. Several of the guys said, " I refuse to go out and do a show where we shoot at people and blow things up when i just watched several thousand people die in a plane crash. Early after noon the decision was made to close all parks immediately. Everyone had gone home, except for one pocket of wardrobe people at Streetmosphere or Fantasmic! (I forget which one it was). My costuming managers forgot about them and never told them to go home. Security was pissed and so was the costumers. Gotta love a management team that forgets about thier cast. . . but more on that in another blog. :)
In 2002, Disney bought the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from Saban Entertainment and soon there after they appeared at the Disney MGM Studios.
On Febuary 1, 2003 came another stop you in your footsteps disaster. Again I was doing my morning runs and kept waiting for the sonic booms from the Space Shuttle Columbia landing. It never came. It never came. I finally found a TV and heard the classic line 'Houston we have a problem." As i tried to do my work that day, I found every break room on property just so I could get snippets of news.
In 2004, after much on and off negotiations with the Henson Company, the stable of Muppet characters was bought by Disney. THe 3D Muppet movie at the studios has been in the park for years, but now Kermit, Miss Piggy and others have a perminate home with the Mouse.
The ecomonic recession has given Disney something to groan about. The last couple years in this first decade, Disney has had to resort to basically 'giving away the farm' to keep the cash strapped population coming back for more. Buy four nights at a resort get three nights free, free on your birthday and gift cards ranging from $200 to $750 (which just started for 2010), it'll be interesting to see what the reservations people can dream up next.
Hong Kong Disney opens in 2005 and from that point on, a large number of our college program kids (temporary employees Disney hires to work in the parks while they get a meager paycheck and college intership credits). We've had college program people for years, but the International College Program, or ICP's, add interesting cultural and language barriers. In 2009 we had a couple ICP's from asia that chased down and killed a duck out side of their Disney owned apartment complex. They had planned to eat it, but where immediately sent home instead.
I have found that we spend a lot of trying to de-confuse people about what things and places are called, but who can blame them in just this last year alone we've changed names of parks, closed islands, openned timeshares and other such mayhem. MGM Studios is now Disney Hollywood Studios. EPCOT is simply Epcot. Pleasure Island is no more, but the marquee and street signs for it still exist. THe Disney Institute ceased to exist as a 'place' in 2000, but the concept of professional buisness training continues as a branch of Disney University. Although the Institute as a resort has been plowed under, the core buildings and Spa live on as a timeshare. . . I mean Disney Vacation Club's Saratoga Springs.
As far as the cast members are concerned, 2009 nine should be called 'the Year of OSHA'. The monorail accident that took the life of the driver was not the first monorail wreck, but it was the first fatal one. In fact I had a costuming manager who had an 11x14 picture of the monorail car that he wrecked years before. They where shooting a promotional video, a piece of equipment was too close to the track and he hit it. The accident of 2009, i don't know all of the details other than there was a track switching problem and that Disney was fined $44,000 (according to the evening news).
Soon after that an actor who I have had the pleasure of working with was leaving the Pirates Tutorial show at Magic kingdom and either fell, slipped or tripped. He hit a backstage wall and broke his neck. He was in the hospital and doing okay on that Thursday. On Monday he went in for surgery and never survuved. Indiana Jones Show had it's first death in 2009 as well. It's amost hard to believe that a tumbler could break his neck from doing a dive over. I guess that goes to show you, that when your number is up. . . you can't just take a rain check.
On a much lighter note, 2009 was filled with anticipation as we all waited for the Harry Potter Wizardy World to open. Yes I know, that's at Universal, but thier expansion made Disney kick it into gear and in the last quarter of the year they announced the largest expansion of Magic Kingdom's history with the revamping of Fantasyland.
As I sit at home and anticipate my neighbor's fireworks that will soon keep me up all night :), I am reminded of an older gentleman who I used to work with. He decided he would be nice and bring in a bottle of champagne to toast in the new year. We stood in the backstage area of Fanstasmic! to watch Epcot's and the Studio's fireworks. . . basically fireworks in stereo.
We tried to explain to him that we were not able to drink champagne on the clock. He kept saying, "but it's New Year's" and we kept saying, " you can be fired for that." We never could get him to understand.
On December 16, 2009, we lost one of our staunchest advocates and leaders. Roy E. Disney, Walt's Nephew, passed away to cancer. He was the driving force behind getting Micheal Eisner into the CEO's seat and an even bigger force in getting him out of it over a decade later. Once Micheal became more concerned with bonuses and stock deals, he seemed to loose the MAGIC or Pixie Dust, if you will. Just knowing that there was still a 'Disney' some where in the Executive offices was comforting. . . now, we just have to hope for the best and pray for better.
As we bid a not so fond farewell to 2009, let us tip our champagne (unless you are on the clock, then it's sparkling grape juice) glasses to the fireworks blasting over the Magic Kingdom and say PLEASE LET 2010 BE BETTER THAN 2009. !!!!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
MEMORABLE GUESTS I HAVE KNOWN
At Disney, you will see anything from a Pixie dusted princesses and their equally glitter covered fathers to kids on leashes and squeaky shoed toddlers. Some of the most memorable moments have came out of the innocence of a child. I was working on the concierge floor and a little boy and his father came to the desk. The young one's father said, " go ahead and ask them." He spoke so softly that we could barely hear him. He asked for some 'colored cheerios'. . . froot loops. So we got him a cup of 'colored cheerios' and a carton of milk.
Back in the mid nineties, I was at Epic (Indiana Jones) on a slow day. On my side of the stage, a family sat about half way down in the theater. The rest of that side was empty. The two young kids were all the way down front and watched the show in amazement. . . until the fire went off and they ran back to their parents. As scene two progressed they slowly crept back down to the front row. At the end of the scene, a truck blew up, they retreated again, but quickly returned to the front row after the fire was out. During scene three, where Indy fights the mechanic, these kids were like a yo-yo running back and forth to their parents. . . . until the plane blew up. They booked it back to their parents and jumped into their laps. The parents and I were busting out laughing.
During the Christmas holidays, they shoot fake snow off of the building in the studios and on main street in magic kingdom. I worked an extra hours a shift at the Spectacle of Lights and had to keep warning the kids to 'Not Eat the Florida Snow'. . . Fake snow in Florida equals soap foam. Yyuk !!
The lobby of the Wilderness Lodge has two totem poles, except one young child called them 'potem toles' . . . gotta love kids.
At the Wilderness Lodge, we had a guest who wanted directions to the health club then decided it was too far to walk. True story.
I can't not tell you how many times the hockey puck from the arcade air hockey game has disappeared. CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHY? What's so fascinating about a hockey puck?
A guest was checking in and asked if the bathtub had 'don't fall down bars'. I wonder if the American Disabilities Act people ever thought of calling the handicap accessible hardware a fun name like that :)
During 2009, guests got into the park for free on their Birthday. A guest asked about the offer, I told him that he could go the guest relation window at any of the parks to get the free admission. He said, "That's okay, I'll just buy a ticket." I wanted to say- Seriously? and do you routinely throw away nearly $80- but instead, I convinced him to not waste his money buying a free ticket.
When I was still in college (had to have been 1992ish) Orlando had a Navy Base. Several of the Navy guys went to my church. I took a couple of the guys to Magic Kingdom one day. Thinking back on it, with a breakfast of Oatmeal Creme pies, I'm not surprised at what happened next. We got to the park and made as far as the Tea Cups. Both guys laid down a challenge and decided to sit this ride out. The one guy said, 'I'm in the Navy. I have a cast iron stomach. No TEA CUP carnival ride is going to affect me.' The famous last words. They got the tea cup spinning even before the ride started and they managed to get that thing going so fast, they were just a blur for most of the ride. I have never seen someone literally green, but one of these 'Navy, I have a cast iron stomach' guys crawled off of the ride, made it as far the nearest bench and laid down until we found him some real food.
While I was working an extra hours shift at the studios during a jump rope competition. . .yes, I said jump rope competition. At the end the of the day, I was walking across the park and a small group of the competitors was behind me talking.
One said," Some asked if I was chearleader, I said, do I look like a chearleader?"
I wanted so back to turn around and say, "Why yes, yes you do." But I behaved and kept on walking.
While at Boardwalk, one of my fellow front desk cashiers accidentally dropped a guest's driver's license behind the computer. We tried to get it, but couldn't reach it. The guest eagerly offered to crawl under the counter to get it. Come to find out, the guest was actually a cast member in some corporate office in the lost prevention department. Along with his id, he also found numerous ink pens, note pads and tons of other office supplies. He told us that he had always wanted to do that. . . What ever floats your boat, I guess.
In the lobby at the Wilderness Lodge for Christmas, there's a scene set up with Christmas decoration bears and a little bench so guests can get a nice Christmas photo in front of the indoor fountain. In 2008 there was a little bit of a water leak from the floor above. . . Okay, it was a water fall that splashed everywhere. We dried everything off to keep the decorations from getting damaged while engineering worked on the problem, put up wet floor signs, and laid towels out on the bench and on the floor. You would think everyone would understand: it is wet, stay back. Oh no, not so fast. Time after time, we'd see people getting hit by the accidental waterfall. Some were even getting mad. You just can't make somethings idiot proof, because idiots are too ingenious.
When I play the parks, I seek get revenge on the idiots. Let me explain. When you go to a theater and the cast member said "Please move down filling in each and every available seat," they mean MOVE and keep moving. SO, if I have to pass by those individuals who refuse to move, I make sure and step on each and every foot. I was on the Disney cruise and a fellow guest was giving the breakfast omelet chef grief. As the #$%^ moved on, I told the chef that I'd trip her out on the island if he'd like. He just smiled and I never saw her again. . . darn.
My cousin and I went to Animal Kingdom in 2008. Because of a medical issue, I needed to rent a scooter to get around. I loved the scooter, it was the other guests that were getting on my nerves. My cousin's grandson was trying to see some animals in an exhibit and this couple pretty much pushed him out of the way, so I kept edging the scooter up to right behind them. I never touched them, but eventually they got the idea and moved on. While we were waiting for the parade, we were getting crowded out by another obnoxious guest. He was literally leaning over top of me. Finally, I reached around the back of the scooter and rested my arm on this guy's belly bag just to get him to back up. Even with that, he hovered over top of me.
Stupid Human actions are not limited to Disney. Off the coast of Florida, a cruise ship guest got into an argument with his wife. At one point he said, "I'll just jump overboard then."
She said," Fine, do it."
So he did.
The Disney ship was close behind and was able to find the missing guest and drug him to safety.
The newscasters that night said," he was okay, but was taken to the hospital to be checked out. . . and maybe a little anger management classes."
But then when you come to think about it, we have a lot of guests who could use anger management classes. . . But more on that later
Back in the mid nineties, I was at Epic (Indiana Jones) on a slow day. On my side of the stage, a family sat about half way down in the theater. The rest of that side was empty. The two young kids were all the way down front and watched the show in amazement. . . until the fire went off and they ran back to their parents. As scene two progressed they slowly crept back down to the front row. At the end of the scene, a truck blew up, they retreated again, but quickly returned to the front row after the fire was out. During scene three, where Indy fights the mechanic, these kids were like a yo-yo running back and forth to their parents. . . . until the plane blew up. They booked it back to their parents and jumped into their laps. The parents and I were busting out laughing.
During the Christmas holidays, they shoot fake snow off of the building in the studios and on main street in magic kingdom. I worked an extra hours a shift at the Spectacle of Lights and had to keep warning the kids to 'Not Eat the Florida Snow'. . . Fake snow in Florida equals soap foam. Yyuk !!
The lobby of the Wilderness Lodge has two totem poles, except one young child called them 'potem toles' . . . gotta love kids.
At the Wilderness Lodge, we had a guest who wanted directions to the health club then decided it was too far to walk. True story.
I can't not tell you how many times the hockey puck from the arcade air hockey game has disappeared. CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHY? What's so fascinating about a hockey puck?
A guest was checking in and asked if the bathtub had 'don't fall down bars'. I wonder if the American Disabilities Act people ever thought of calling the handicap accessible hardware a fun name like that :)
During 2009, guests got into the park for free on their Birthday. A guest asked about the offer, I told him that he could go the guest relation window at any of the parks to get the free admission. He said, "That's okay, I'll just buy a ticket." I wanted to say- Seriously? and do you routinely throw away nearly $80- but instead, I convinced him to not waste his money buying a free ticket.
When I was still in college (had to have been 1992ish) Orlando had a Navy Base. Several of the Navy guys went to my church. I took a couple of the guys to Magic Kingdom one day. Thinking back on it, with a breakfast of Oatmeal Creme pies, I'm not surprised at what happened next. We got to the park and made as far as the Tea Cups. Both guys laid down a challenge and decided to sit this ride out. The one guy said, 'I'm in the Navy. I have a cast iron stomach. No TEA CUP carnival ride is going to affect me.' The famous last words. They got the tea cup spinning even before the ride started and they managed to get that thing going so fast, they were just a blur for most of the ride. I have never seen someone literally green, but one of these 'Navy, I have a cast iron stomach' guys crawled off of the ride, made it as far the nearest bench and laid down until we found him some real food.
While I was working an extra hours shift at the studios during a jump rope competition. . .yes, I said jump rope competition. At the end the of the day, I was walking across the park and a small group of the competitors was behind me talking.
One said," Some asked if I was chearleader, I said, do I look like a chearleader?"
I wanted so back to turn around and say, "Why yes, yes you do." But I behaved and kept on walking.
While at Boardwalk, one of my fellow front desk cashiers accidentally dropped a guest's driver's license behind the computer. We tried to get it, but couldn't reach it. The guest eagerly offered to crawl under the counter to get it. Come to find out, the guest was actually a cast member in some corporate office in the lost prevention department. Along with his id, he also found numerous ink pens, note pads and tons of other office supplies. He told us that he had always wanted to do that. . . What ever floats your boat, I guess.
In the lobby at the Wilderness Lodge for Christmas, there's a scene set up with Christmas decoration bears and a little bench so guests can get a nice Christmas photo in front of the indoor fountain. In 2008 there was a little bit of a water leak from the floor above. . . Okay, it was a water fall that splashed everywhere. We dried everything off to keep the decorations from getting damaged while engineering worked on the problem, put up wet floor signs, and laid towels out on the bench and on the floor. You would think everyone would understand: it is wet, stay back. Oh no, not so fast. Time after time, we'd see people getting hit by the accidental waterfall. Some were even getting mad. You just can't make somethings idiot proof, because idiots are too ingenious.
When I play the parks, I seek get revenge on the idiots. Let me explain. When you go to a theater and the cast member said "Please move down filling in each and every available seat," they mean MOVE and keep moving. SO, if I have to pass by those individuals who refuse to move, I make sure and step on each and every foot. I was on the Disney cruise and a fellow guest was giving the breakfast omelet chef grief. As the #$%^ moved on, I told the chef that I'd trip her out on the island if he'd like. He just smiled and I never saw her again. . . darn.
My cousin and I went to Animal Kingdom in 2008. Because of a medical issue, I needed to rent a scooter to get around. I loved the scooter, it was the other guests that were getting on my nerves. My cousin's grandson was trying to see some animals in an exhibit and this couple pretty much pushed him out of the way, so I kept edging the scooter up to right behind them. I never touched them, but eventually they got the idea and moved on. While we were waiting for the parade, we were getting crowded out by another obnoxious guest. He was literally leaning over top of me. Finally, I reached around the back of the scooter and rested my arm on this guy's belly bag just to get him to back up. Even with that, he hovered over top of me.
Stupid Human actions are not limited to Disney. Off the coast of Florida, a cruise ship guest got into an argument with his wife. At one point he said, "I'll just jump overboard then."
She said," Fine, do it."
So he did.
The Disney ship was close behind and was able to find the missing guest and drug him to safety.
The newscasters that night said," he was okay, but was taken to the hospital to be checked out. . . and maybe a little anger management classes."
But then when you come to think about it, we have a lot of guests who could use anger management classes. . . But more on that later
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