Now that my fingers have thawed out some, I can write mt first blog of the new decade. Wahoo !! The year 2010 came in like a lion with several days of low and mid twenties temperatures. I always have guests telling me, " This is Florida, you people don't know what cold it." WELL, when we are colder than Colorado the first week of January. . . Who's laughing now ?
We had a family with three kids who were dieing to go into the hot tub. They were gone maybe twenty-thirty minutes when i looked out the window and saw three little kids wrapped up head to toe leaving the hot tub. I guess it was a case of 'We came.We saw. We conquered. . . Now let's get back in side.
THe life guards are loving it. When the air is too cold to open the pool, they come inside and play games like Jenga (with giant Jenga blocks), chutes and ladders, ect with the kids. Not a bad gig . . . if you don't mind freezing your tail off when it's juuuust barely warm enough to have the pool open, but no one in their right minds would dare to go in the water.
Speaking of freezing your tail off. We had THE Disney Marathon on January 10th and 11th. And yes it snowed in Florida. Well, more like sleet and rain by the time it reached Disney. I was coming into on Saturday (during the half marathon) and saw the large mass of people running through Magic Kingdom parking lot. Actually, running isn't quite what was happening. It was more like walking briskly while huddled under panchos and silver heat wraps.
For the full marathon on Sunday, it was 27 degrees at the start. I had a guest from Detroit who said she had ran ten marathons in her day. She chose to do the Disney one because it was in Florida and she thought any where would be warmer than Michgan in January. Wrong. She told me that the 2010 Disney Marathon in Florida (of all places) was the coldest one she has ever ran. I was told that at the water stations, they had to squish the cups around to break up the ice in them.
Another event that always seems to have frigid cold weather is the Cheerleader competion. It could be the balmy-est tropical winter on record, but the day before Varsity Cheerleaders move in, the temperatures will drop like a rock.
"If it's cold out, it must be cheerleader season."
I always felt kind of sorry for the kids in the short cheerleader skirts huddled the space heaters waiting to go on stage, until I worked at All Star Resort and was having to field all of the complaints from other guests about the cheerleaders running amuck at the resort.
As far as the rest of the property, very little will ever actually close a park due to the cold. Pretty much just Hurricanes affect theme parks as a whole. The water parks are another story. So far as of January 12th 2010, the water parks have been closed about as much as they have been open for the year. People ask if they water's heated. . . Yes, but you do eventually have to get out. At which point you will freeze your hieny off.
I know that Indiana Jones Show will shut down if the the temperature gets below 42 ( I think). At extreme cold temps, the hydraulics in the set pieces will begin to freeze up. The characters love the cold. Your dog gets frisky in the cold weather, so do the Disney characters. . . except Jasmine and Ariel and a few other scantily clad folks. But sent Darth out with his black on black on black ensemble and he's ready to take over the Universe !!!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
A NEW MILLENIUM AND OLD DECADE
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. !!!!
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 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
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
MEANDERING THOUGHTS FROM A WANDERING MIND, PART DOS
Funny how, as i gather snippets of nothingness for this blog, i noticed that i did my first 'Meanderings' a year ago (almost to the day). Since i started writing, i found that i was coming up with tidbits of behind the scenes happenings that didn't really go with anything else. So. . . .
Back in the day, each of the cash handling locations had a version of a mini bank, complete with bullet proof glass and bank style vaults. Then in the early 2000's the cash control folks were slowly replaced with machines. . . cranky, tempermental, money eating machines. ANYWAY, the older resorts still have survelince cameras and other little known, but still working safety features. My manager, bless his soul, had no idea what the little white button in the money room was for, so he pushed it. . . several times. Nothing happened, so he left. In walks an unsuspecting cast member to count her bank and she is over run by security. Come to find out the little white button was and irreversable security alert. Lesson learned, if you don't know what it is, don't push it.
The quickest way to get someone's attention is to make them think there is some juicy gossip to be had. I was working on a story one day on my lunch break and didn't know how to spell 'conniving'. I called the main building thinking, that if anyone had a dictionary, they would. They didn't. So I hung up the phone. Two seconds later, the phone rings and someone answered my question. Her next comment was "Who ya writing about ???" I hated to dissappoint her, but it wasn't a co-worker.
Disney is all about story telling. One of our entertainment tech leads could make a story out of any thing. For JM (won't use real names to protect the innocent. . .) every thing included a story. There was no such thing as " Hey I have a quick question for you." In fact it was said, if you Asked JM about one plus one equals two. . . he'd start talking about the theroy of TWO.
I have yet to go check it out, but i have been told that in the Muppets 3D movie at the studios, the imagineers were playing around. If you look at the ceiling you will see 'a net full of jello' (work with me here, and say it all together) . . . Annette Funacello. If your still lost, your home work assignment is to go home and watch all of the original Mickey Mouse Club episodes.
During the run of the Aladdin parade, for one of the anniversaries the stage managers got us a cake shaped like Genie. Bright BLUE Genie cake and as we all know yellow and blue make green. No one wanted to admit it out loud, but the next day I kept hearing whisperings in the corners of the greenroom "What color was your poop?" I can answer that, it was green, neon green. Amusing ? . . . Now, but it was a bit disturbing at the time.
I had a guest come the the desk and wanted to let us know that there was no longer a service animal in thier room. Apparently her father stormed out of the resort and took his dog with him. "It was nothing we had done," she said. "He has anger management issues." What I found amusing was the 'service animal' was supposed to help with his anger issues. I'm thinking the dog didn't work very well.
Speaking of service animals, one of the techs told me he was cutting through the backstage area and there was a group of special needs kids with a variety of service animals. . . including a horse. We see a bit of everything working for the mouse, but a service horse kind of caught him off guard.
The actress Betty White came to the studios in the nineties on a book signing stop with a friend of hers. He was blind and the book 'Dina's Story' was about his first seeing eye dog. After their meet and greet with the guests, she offered to spend a little time back stage taking with us. Belle and Beast, who were doing a meet and greet with some guests, were coming back to the green room at this time as well. The gentleman's new seeing eye dog saw Beast. It's hair bristled up. We thought "Oh no." Beast slowly approached and sat on the steps, so he wouldn't freak out the dog. This dog totally forgot about it's master. It ran to Beast and curled up in his lap and just melted. We were all speachless, including Betty who said she had never seen the dog react like that. It was truly a priceless moment.
On a lighter note, we had guests check into a room with a baby monkey. We didn't know about it, but the house keepers sure found out about it. Disney resorts have a strict no animals policy (except of course service animals). They were asked to leave or take the monkey to the kennel. They left. On our dry erase board in the back office, someone drew a picture of a monkey holding a sign 'No Monkeys Allowed'. Over the course of the next several days it was changed to 'No Elephants Allowed' and a few other animals. Yes we amuse ourselves in the most childish ways at times.
Every year we are given Cast Christmas gifts. It's a gift. You take it and move on. In years past they have been decent little memorbilia items. Picture frames. Laser cut paper weights. Pin sets. Well in 2008. . .we got a little hanging thing with a plastic 'Celebrate' sign and a small tin bell. They said it was a wind chime. . .ooookay. Needless to say we all looked at it and said "What the-". Most of them in my area ended up being hung from the ceiling tiles in the back office. Nothing Says Your Important than plastic and tin.
Back in the day, each of the cash handling locations had a version of a mini bank, complete with bullet proof glass and bank style vaults. Then in the early 2000's the cash control folks were slowly replaced with machines. . . cranky, tempermental, money eating machines. ANYWAY, the older resorts still have survelince cameras and other little known, but still working safety features. My manager, bless his soul, had no idea what the little white button in the money room was for, so he pushed it. . . several times. Nothing happened, so he left. In walks an unsuspecting cast member to count her bank and she is over run by security. Come to find out the little white button was and irreversable security alert. Lesson learned, if you don't know what it is, don't push it.
The quickest way to get someone's attention is to make them think there is some juicy gossip to be had. I was working on a story one day on my lunch break and didn't know how to spell 'conniving'. I called the main building thinking, that if anyone had a dictionary, they would. They didn't. So I hung up the phone. Two seconds later, the phone rings and someone answered my question. Her next comment was "Who ya writing about ???" I hated to dissappoint her, but it wasn't a co-worker.
Disney is all about story telling. One of our entertainment tech leads could make a story out of any thing. For JM (won't use real names to protect the innocent. . .) every thing included a story. There was no such thing as " Hey I have a quick question for you." In fact it was said, if you Asked JM about one plus one equals two. . . he'd start talking about the theroy of TWO.
I have yet to go check it out, but i have been told that in the Muppets 3D movie at the studios, the imagineers were playing around. If you look at the ceiling you will see 'a net full of jello' (work with me here, and say it all together) . . . Annette Funacello. If your still lost, your home work assignment is to go home and watch all of the original Mickey Mouse Club episodes.
During the run of the Aladdin parade, for one of the anniversaries the stage managers got us a cake shaped like Genie. Bright BLUE Genie cake and as we all know yellow and blue make green. No one wanted to admit it out loud, but the next day I kept hearing whisperings in the corners of the greenroom "What color was your poop?" I can answer that, it was green, neon green. Amusing ? . . . Now, but it was a bit disturbing at the time.
I had a guest come the the desk and wanted to let us know that there was no longer a service animal in thier room. Apparently her father stormed out of the resort and took his dog with him. "It was nothing we had done," she said. "He has anger management issues." What I found amusing was the 'service animal' was supposed to help with his anger issues. I'm thinking the dog didn't work very well.
Speaking of service animals, one of the techs told me he was cutting through the backstage area and there was a group of special needs kids with a variety of service animals. . . including a horse. We see a bit of everything working for the mouse, but a service horse kind of caught him off guard.
The actress Betty White came to the studios in the nineties on a book signing stop with a friend of hers. He was blind and the book 'Dina's Story' was about his first seeing eye dog. After their meet and greet with the guests, she offered to spend a little time back stage taking with us. Belle and Beast, who were doing a meet and greet with some guests, were coming back to the green room at this time as well. The gentleman's new seeing eye dog saw Beast. It's hair bristled up. We thought "Oh no." Beast slowly approached and sat on the steps, so he wouldn't freak out the dog. This dog totally forgot about it's master. It ran to Beast and curled up in his lap and just melted. We were all speachless, including Betty who said she had never seen the dog react like that. It was truly a priceless moment.
On a lighter note, we had guests check into a room with a baby monkey. We didn't know about it, but the house keepers sure found out about it. Disney resorts have a strict no animals policy (except of course service animals). They were asked to leave or take the monkey to the kennel. They left. On our dry erase board in the back office, someone drew a picture of a monkey holding a sign 'No Monkeys Allowed'. Over the course of the next several days it was changed to 'No Elephants Allowed' and a few other animals. Yes we amuse ourselves in the most childish ways at times.
Every year we are given Cast Christmas gifts. It's a gift. You take it and move on. In years past they have been decent little memorbilia items. Picture frames. Laser cut paper weights. Pin sets. Well in 2008. . .we got a little hanging thing with a plastic 'Celebrate' sign and a small tin bell. They said it was a wind chime. . .ooookay. Needless to say we all looked at it and said "What the-". Most of them in my area ended up being hung from the ceiling tiles in the back office. Nothing Says Your Important than plastic and tin.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
DISNEY AND WASHINGTON D.C.
It's always been interesting to me how well connected the Disney Corporation is with the government. Way back in the 1940's, when Walt's animation career was cranking right along, the government asked him to make war propaganda films to help combat WWII. As the red-blooded American that he was, he made a series of anti-german and anti-japanese film like Der Fueher's Face - 1942 / Education for Death - 1943 / Comando Duck - 1944. . . you know, your typical light and fluffy Walt Disney fare. (I'm thinking none of those ever showed in Tokyo Disneyland) He also approached by the military to make instructional films for the troops. Though the Navy was the first, soon the Army, Air Force, Department of Agriculture and Department of Treasury all wanted to tap into Walt's creativity. For the Treasury, in 1942 and 1943, Walt made films that encouraged Americans to pay thier taxes to help the war effort and published a book to teach children about purchasing War Savings stamps.
Jump ahead a couple decades and in the nineteen sixties, when Walt was amassing huge chunks of FLorida swamp land and citrus groves for what would later become Walt Disney World, Orange county Florida pretty much gave the company free reign. Reedy Creek improvement district was created as a special government agency by the state legislature in order to lure Walt to the state. It regulates building codes and can even levy taxes. Guess who the largest tax payer is. . . .. A little side trivia note. The Swan and Dolphin hotels are the second largest tax payers. Don't get me wrong, now a days, the Reedy Creek fire marshalls patrol every inch of the property and I've heard of areas that get busted for breaking the rules. They also provide emergency services for the entire property.
After a relatively short run as The Disney Golf Resort which later turned into the Disney Inn in 1986, the facility was renamed again. Shades of Green (1994) was leased by the government as a military only resort. In 1996, Uncle Sam bought it outright and it became a retreat for US military personel only. Since then, on many occasions i've seen see military helicopters fly over. These weren't the run of the mill police or television crew size helicopters, I'm talking the Huge, Shake the Building, loud helicopters. The only thing that could top seeing them was in 2008, when we heard about a fighter aircraft fly over for some big wig at Shades of Green. The word was let out to the guests. We spent the whole day looking at the sky. Of course it happened after i had left for the day. (dang Murphy's luck)
Every so often Disney manages to do something that makes me say 'That is Sooo Cool." In 2007 and 2009 in July Magic Kingdom's Mainstreet was the site of a US Citizenship Naturalization Swearing in Ceremony for 1000 new Americans immigrants. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses . . . and we'll send them to Disney World !!!!"
Talk about going 'to infinity and beyond', in 2008 NASA sent Buzz Lightyeaar to the international spacestation for a several months. The actual doll / action figure flew into space as part of a kids educational program. There were pictures of him standing infront of the crawler as the shuttle was being rolled out to the launch pad. What I find hysterical is that when he was brought back, they had a ticker tape parade down mainstreet complete with Buzz Aldrin. . . the real astronaut.
One more thing about NASA, I was told that when Disney was testing Mission Space, that they had astronauts from the cape come test it. Their assessment was that it was the closest thing to a real shuttle launch a civilian to experience.
Since 2005 Disney World and Disneyland has been home to the Presidential pardoned Thanksgiving Turkeys. The US President pardons them, they are wisked away to the airport and flown, first class mind you, to Florida or Califronia where they are the grand marshals in the holiday parade, then they live out thier days at the park. Although for marshmallow and yam (2005) thiers days ended of natural causes eighteen months later. A little side note to this story: Disney sent them a CD with the song Happiest Place on Earth to them so the turkeys would get acclaimated to it.
When I worked at Epic (indiana jones stunt show)in the ninety's, we were told they were holding the show for a VIP. Fine, we thought, let's get them in here, get the show on the road so we could get to lunch. Well, we waited, and waited and waited. FINALLY, we saw Men in Black walking onto the stage as they escorted an older gentleman to his seat. It was Jimmy Carter and he was surrounded by Secret Service men. Can I just say, Secret Service men are scary. The final scene of the show, Indy fires a pistol. It will only shoot blanks, but the secret service men still watched Indy like a hawk untill the tech locked it up. Jimmy Carter was cool. He came out on atage and shook hands with the cast and crew while his body guards glared at us all.
For the Hall of Presidents efficanados, Yes We Can get the THE real Barack Obama to record the short speach for his animatron's voice. The attraction's creators packed up a small audio studio and went to Washington DC and set up shop in a small at the White House (I think) where Barack recorded his few lines.
Nothing but the best for Our World.
Jump ahead a couple decades and in the nineteen sixties, when Walt was amassing huge chunks of FLorida swamp land and citrus groves for what would later become Walt Disney World, Orange county Florida pretty much gave the company free reign. Reedy Creek improvement district was created as a special government agency by the state legislature in order to lure Walt to the state. It regulates building codes and can even levy taxes. Guess who the largest tax payer is. . . .. A little side trivia note. The Swan and Dolphin hotels are the second largest tax payers. Don't get me wrong, now a days, the Reedy Creek fire marshalls patrol every inch of the property and I've heard of areas that get busted for breaking the rules. They also provide emergency services for the entire property.
After a relatively short run as The Disney Golf Resort which later turned into the Disney Inn in 1986, the facility was renamed again. Shades of Green (1994) was leased by the government as a military only resort. In 1996, Uncle Sam bought it outright and it became a retreat for US military personel only. Since then, on many occasions i've seen see military helicopters fly over. These weren't the run of the mill police or television crew size helicopters, I'm talking the Huge, Shake the Building, loud helicopters. The only thing that could top seeing them was in 2008, when we heard about a fighter aircraft fly over for some big wig at Shades of Green. The word was let out to the guests. We spent the whole day looking at the sky. Of course it happened after i had left for the day. (dang Murphy's luck)
Every so often Disney manages to do something that makes me say 'That is Sooo Cool." In 2007 and 2009 in July Magic Kingdom's Mainstreet was the site of a US Citizenship Naturalization Swearing in Ceremony for 1000 new Americans immigrants. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses . . . and we'll send them to Disney World !!!!"
Talk about going 'to infinity and beyond', in 2008 NASA sent Buzz Lightyeaar to the international spacestation for a several months. The actual doll / action figure flew into space as part of a kids educational program. There were pictures of him standing infront of the crawler as the shuttle was being rolled out to the launch pad. What I find hysterical is that when he was brought back, they had a ticker tape parade down mainstreet complete with Buzz Aldrin. . . the real astronaut.
One more thing about NASA, I was told that when Disney was testing Mission Space, that they had astronauts from the cape come test it. Their assessment was that it was the closest thing to a real shuttle launch a civilian to experience.
Since 2005 Disney World and Disneyland has been home to the Presidential pardoned Thanksgiving Turkeys. The US President pardons them, they are wisked away to the airport and flown, first class mind you, to Florida or Califronia where they are the grand marshals in the holiday parade, then they live out thier days at the park. Although for marshmallow and yam (2005) thiers days ended of natural causes eighteen months later. A little side note to this story: Disney sent them a CD with the song Happiest Place on Earth to them so the turkeys would get acclaimated to it.
When I worked at Epic (indiana jones stunt show)in the ninety's, we were told they were holding the show for a VIP. Fine, we thought, let's get them in here, get the show on the road so we could get to lunch. Well, we waited, and waited and waited. FINALLY, we saw Men in Black walking onto the stage as they escorted an older gentleman to his seat. It was Jimmy Carter and he was surrounded by Secret Service men. Can I just say, Secret Service men are scary. The final scene of the show, Indy fires a pistol. It will only shoot blanks, but the secret service men still watched Indy like a hawk untill the tech locked it up. Jimmy Carter was cool. He came out on atage and shook hands with the cast and crew while his body guards glared at us all.
For the Hall of Presidents efficanados, Yes We Can get the THE real Barack Obama to record the short speach for his animatron's voice. The attraction's creators packed up a small audio studio and went to Washington DC and set up shop in a small at the White House (I think) where Barack recorded his few lines.
Nothing but the best for Our World.
Friday, October 30, 2009
GHOSTS, CHILLS AND THE 'WHAT WAS THAT?'
In the spirit of Halloween, I wanted take some time and delve into the Ghost Stories:Fact or Fiction that surround Walt Disney World. It may be the 'happiest place on Earth', but in a place that's filled with so much emotion, imagination and inspiration, who's to say that some of that 'energy' hasn't stuck around long after the people have left.
THe most popular Ghost on property is George at the(WDW)Pirates of the Carribbean in the 'burning city' scene. Between what I've found on the Disney blogs (Disboards) and some first and second hand accounts I have compiled as much information as I could. George, the person, was a welder working at a high altitude when he either fell or had something fell on him when the ride was being built. His spirit is still very active in the ride to this day. In fact people have claimed to be riding through his scene taunting or challenging him. . . and he had made things move. According to one Disboard blog, they were yelling "George is not Real" over and over. Half way through the third time, thier boat jerked. (DISCLAIMER- Please don't try it unless it's just your people in the boat. You don't want to wreck the ride for other guests.) Stories of seeing lanterns moving that aren't supposed to move(came from a co-worker first hand), the door in the jail scene behind the dog with the keys opens after they know for sure it's been closed(from the Disboards), and seeing shadows / silhouettes in the tower are all over the web. Rumor has it that if the cast members don't tell George Good Night over the PA system before they leave for the night, the ride will break down the next day. (some postings say it's Good Night and Good Morning). In one Disboard posting a person, identifying himself as being a POTC cast member, said that they have also had thier costumes tugged on and somethings George appears in the surveilance cameras. Up until his Widow's death it is said that every year she would ride through the attraction and leave flowers for her husband. Another Disboard writer claims that George stays in the tower (I'm not quite sure where that is) and that they call the door behind the dog 'George's door'. If this door is open, the ride will shut down.
One of the challenges of researching for this blog is not only weeding out the urban
legend from the true stories, but trying to figure out which incidents were at Disney World vs Disneyland. In one Disboard blog, it is believed that seven spirits live at Disneyland(1 lives in the haunted mansion). . . .Take that tidbit for what it's worth. In Disneyland there is a story of a mother wanting to dump her dead son's ashes at the POTC ride. Of course Disney said No; however,rumor has it that she rode the ride and did it anyway. Now, there are reports of seeing a young boy riding the boats in the surveilence cameras after the parks are closed. This story/urban legend has been said to have happened at both POTC and the Haunted Mansion at both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom. Knowing people, I wouldn't be surprised if has happened numerous times over the years.
The Haunted Mansions on both coasts have the next most written about haunts. . . true haunts, not the imagineering created ones. On a Disboard blog, (Disneyland)there have been reports of seeing a boy crying at the exit. Guests have said they asked him if he needed help, but that he would never respond to them. THe Guests would go get a cast member, but when they returned he'd be gone. One of my co-workers worked at the Magic Kingdom Mansion on a slow night. He was on the exit zone and didn't want to keep walking the moving side walk for nothing, so he stepped off the 'treadmill' and was standing in the curtians where he could still see the cars coming. After a while he heard a child laughing, thinking that guests were coming, he stepped back on the moving platform to greet them. . . no child ever came around the corner. I also read an identical story to this one on a disboard too, so apparently the laughing child is a regular occurance. In this version, the attendant called to his fellow cast member on the loading side of the ride, they said no one had entered for over 1/2 hour, so the ride was completely empty. Another report on the Disboards talk about guests seeing a young child running around the ballroom scene. Of course when Cast went to go check it out, no one was there.
Some of the other Mansion sightings are of a man entering the ride near closing, but the cast member at the exit area never see him. I also found reports of a guest who died of a heart attack in 1970 (so this had to be Disneyland). Is this the mysterious man ? Not sure. There's also several stories of a man with a cane who is seen late at night, especially after closing. Story has it that a small plane crash landed in a lake nearby before the park was built and they feel it's him. . . I'm not so sure on this one either. Urban legend ? Dearly departed ? Let me know what you think.
One of the other popular stories revolves around Grad Night. (a.k.a. Give teenagers free reign of a park at night and pray they don't kill each other night.)Apparently, a guy climbed out of the Haunted Mansion car in the seance room and fell to his death. Could he be one of these ghosts? or maybe he's the 'man in the tux' that's sometimes seen in the mirrors used by cast members so they can see people coming around the corner ? One story tells of a female seeing the man then feeling a hand on her shoulder. No one was there. She ran out of the mansion and quit her job (one account has said she vowed to never work at the mansion again. Another version of the story says that this was at the loading zone and she kept seeing shadows before being touched. Either way, she ran out of the building, never to return. There also seems to be something/someone hanging around the 'endless hallway' room behind the candelabra. There was a Disboard snippet that said there were reports of a shadowy figure running at the cast members on who were walking the track after hours, then it simply vanishes. Again, take it for what it's worth.
Splash Mountian, around drop three, a guest was having a heart attack on the ride and tried to get out of the log ride and was crushed to death, now when people do a ride through there are reports of seeing shadows moving around the Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah scene. At Tom Sawyer's Island it is said to be haunted by two people that drowned while trying to swim across the moat during, guess when? . . . Grad Night !! Another tale of stupid people on parade, I mean Grad Night, is on the Wed Way People mover. Mr High School Grad decided to change cars and slipped. Yep, you guessed it, he got smushed by the car. Story tells of people being touched and hair being pulled (at Disneyland, i believe)
On the Matterhorn, it's told that someone named Dolly was thrown from the car when she undid her seat belt and wanted to stand up. THe car hit a decline, she fell out and was ran over by the car. Joining Dolly there is said to be the spirit of a guy who unbuckled his safety gear, stood up during the ride and was knocked out of the car by a low beam on what night? (wait for it . . .) Grad Night !!! On the Disboards, at Space Mountian, they talk about a ghost they called Mr. One Way, who supposedly died in the 70's. Descibed as a large man with reddish hair, he's seen getting into a car with a lone rider then vanishing. The Christmas shop (Which happens to be the only merchandise shop i saw anything written about) reports have been documented that a face on a photo changes from a straight face to a frown.
At the Castle there have been reports of a little girl who died on the way to Disney, now her spirit roams the parks. This one sounds more like some graveyard stories of spirits hitch hiking only to vanish when the car stops at thier destination. But if you can document it actually happening, let me know. In another report there are sightings of a tan figure walking down main street. Again, if you've heard actual incidents let me know. In one Disboard posting said that a little girls haunts the Beauty and the Beast stage at the Studios. I've worked there and never saw or felt anything.
Staying at the Studios for a moment, there are reports of a man walking around the Tower of Terror after hours going the wrong way. When they call to him, he doesn't answer and fades away. One of my co-workers said a friend of his was loading the ride and got a call from the control center to tell the man who was standing up to sit down. She told him there was no one standing in the car. The person watching the survelience camera said there was some one standing. She looked again and saw no one standing, so she sent the ride. This next one i've added a link to youtube for it. Watch it and see what you think. . . real or photoshop ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTdnt9tA47o
I have my own first hand sighting story while i was working at Indiana Jones Stunt show. Earlier in the day i made a mad dash run to the commissary to get my lunch. I had hoped to beat a huge thunderstorm that was in the horizon. I didn't made it. In fact as I crossed stage, now turned into a wading pool, lighting struck right behind the berm (a couple hundred yards away). I felt something in the water. Whether it was electricity from the lighting or precussion from the thunder, I'm not sure. Later that day, I was standing in wardrobe. I was at the service window, next to me was a stack of t-shirts, next to that was the coordinator's desk. I turned to grab a shirt for one of my cast and saw someone sitting at the desk. I handed out the shirt, looked back and the figure was gone. This was broad day light, middle of the afternoon. I told a friend of mine and she said 'Oh you met Eddie.' That trailer has since been replaced, so i don't know if Eddie went a way with the building or if the techs(who now use that space) just ignore her. Did nearly getting killed by lighting have anything to do with my sighting? I don't know.
Moving on to Epcot, there have been several sightings of a little girl with long blonde hair riding in one of the cars at Spaceship Earth and a little boy who'll run in front of her then vanish. And one Disboard reporter said there had been a figure seen in the French Pavillion movie theater. Most peoplethink it's a straggling guest and would ask him to leave, when they turn around, he's vanished.
In the area formerly know as Pleasure Island Adventurer's Club, a disboard poster (I assume a cast member), said he'd catch glimpse of a figure dressed in white in the library looking over the balcony above the organ. A Disboard posting talked about a fire station's 2nd floor (empty space)being haunted. I could never figure out if it was Disneyland or WDW, but the report states that they can hear footsteps and knocking. . . settling building ? Maybe.
I want to end with a couple of theories to think about. Legend claims that ghosts, paranormal activity, poltergiests are drawn to and are more active around water. The entire space of Walt Disney World was build on a drained swamp. HMmmm. Makes you think. However, if you buy into the television shows that hunt for ghosts and such, they'll tell you that high Electromagnetic Frequencies can create hallucinations, visions, nausea, ect. What do you think makes alot of the rides and special effects happen ? Electricity and Magnetic devices. Another Disboard poster talked about Infrasound. the same technology is being used to try to detect earthquakes. It's out of human range of hearing, but some people can actually feel it. Do the dolls in It's A Small World emit Infrasound from thier mechanics, which creeps some people out. . . . or is it the song that gets stuck in our head that haunts us to our inner core. :)
Happy Halloween
THe most popular Ghost on property is George at the(WDW)Pirates of the Carribbean in the 'burning city' scene. Between what I've found on the Disney blogs (Disboards) and some first and second hand accounts I have compiled as much information as I could. George, the person, was a welder working at a high altitude when he either fell or had something fell on him when the ride was being built. His spirit is still very active in the ride to this day. In fact people have claimed to be riding through his scene taunting or challenging him. . . and he had made things move. According to one Disboard blog, they were yelling "George is not Real" over and over. Half way through the third time, thier boat jerked. (DISCLAIMER- Please don't try it unless it's just your people in the boat. You don't want to wreck the ride for other guests.) Stories of seeing lanterns moving that aren't supposed to move(came from a co-worker first hand), the door in the jail scene behind the dog with the keys opens after they know for sure it's been closed(from the Disboards), and seeing shadows / silhouettes in the tower are all over the web. Rumor has it that if the cast members don't tell George Good Night over the PA system before they leave for the night, the ride will break down the next day. (some postings say it's Good Night and Good Morning). In one Disboard posting a person, identifying himself as being a POTC cast member, said that they have also had thier costumes tugged on and somethings George appears in the surveilance cameras. Up until his Widow's death it is said that every year she would ride through the attraction and leave flowers for her husband. Another Disboard writer claims that George stays in the tower (I'm not quite sure where that is) and that they call the door behind the dog 'George's door'. If this door is open, the ride will shut down.
One of the challenges of researching for this blog is not only weeding out the urban
legend from the true stories, but trying to figure out which incidents were at Disney World vs Disneyland. In one Disboard blog, it is believed that seven spirits live at Disneyland(1 lives in the haunted mansion). . . .Take that tidbit for what it's worth. In Disneyland there is a story of a mother wanting to dump her dead son's ashes at the POTC ride. Of course Disney said No; however,rumor has it that she rode the ride and did it anyway. Now, there are reports of seeing a young boy riding the boats in the surveilence cameras after the parks are closed. This story/urban legend has been said to have happened at both POTC and the Haunted Mansion at both Disneyland and Magic Kingdom. Knowing people, I wouldn't be surprised if has happened numerous times over the years.
The Haunted Mansions on both coasts have the next most written about haunts. . . true haunts, not the imagineering created ones. On a Disboard blog, (Disneyland)there have been reports of seeing a boy crying at the exit. Guests have said they asked him if he needed help, but that he would never respond to them. THe Guests would go get a cast member, but when they returned he'd be gone. One of my co-workers worked at the Magic Kingdom Mansion on a slow night. He was on the exit zone and didn't want to keep walking the moving side walk for nothing, so he stepped off the 'treadmill' and was standing in the curtians where he could still see the cars coming. After a while he heard a child laughing, thinking that guests were coming, he stepped back on the moving platform to greet them. . . no child ever came around the corner. I also read an identical story to this one on a disboard too, so apparently the laughing child is a regular occurance. In this version, the attendant called to his fellow cast member on the loading side of the ride, they said no one had entered for over 1/2 hour, so the ride was completely empty. Another report on the Disboards talk about guests seeing a young child running around the ballroom scene. Of course when Cast went to go check it out, no one was there.
Some of the other Mansion sightings are of a man entering the ride near closing, but the cast member at the exit area never see him. I also found reports of a guest who died of a heart attack in 1970 (so this had to be Disneyland). Is this the mysterious man ? Not sure. There's also several stories of a man with a cane who is seen late at night, especially after closing. Story has it that a small plane crash landed in a lake nearby before the park was built and they feel it's him. . . I'm not so sure on this one either. Urban legend ? Dearly departed ? Let me know what you think.
One of the other popular stories revolves around Grad Night. (a.k.a. Give teenagers free reign of a park at night and pray they don't kill each other night.)Apparently, a guy climbed out of the Haunted Mansion car in the seance room and fell to his death. Could he be one of these ghosts? or maybe he's the 'man in the tux' that's sometimes seen in the mirrors used by cast members so they can see people coming around the corner ? One story tells of a female seeing the man then feeling a hand on her shoulder. No one was there. She ran out of the mansion and quit her job (one account has said she vowed to never work at the mansion again. Another version of the story says that this was at the loading zone and she kept seeing shadows before being touched. Either way, she ran out of the building, never to return. There also seems to be something/someone hanging around the 'endless hallway' room behind the candelabra. There was a Disboard snippet that said there were reports of a shadowy figure running at the cast members on who were walking the track after hours, then it simply vanishes. Again, take it for what it's worth.
Splash Mountian, around drop three, a guest was having a heart attack on the ride and tried to get out of the log ride and was crushed to death, now when people do a ride through there are reports of seeing shadows moving around the Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah scene. At Tom Sawyer's Island it is said to be haunted by two people that drowned while trying to swim across the moat during, guess when? . . . Grad Night !! Another tale of stupid people on parade, I mean Grad Night, is on the Wed Way People mover. Mr High School Grad decided to change cars and slipped. Yep, you guessed it, he got smushed by the car. Story tells of people being touched and hair being pulled (at Disneyland, i believe)
On the Matterhorn, it's told that someone named Dolly was thrown from the car when she undid her seat belt and wanted to stand up. THe car hit a decline, she fell out and was ran over by the car. Joining Dolly there is said to be the spirit of a guy who unbuckled his safety gear, stood up during the ride and was knocked out of the car by a low beam on what night? (wait for it . . .) Grad Night !!! On the Disboards, at Space Mountian, they talk about a ghost they called Mr. One Way, who supposedly died in the 70's. Descibed as a large man with reddish hair, he's seen getting into a car with a lone rider then vanishing. The Christmas shop (Which happens to be the only merchandise shop i saw anything written about) reports have been documented that a face on a photo changes from a straight face to a frown.
At the Castle there have been reports of a little girl who died on the way to Disney, now her spirit roams the parks. This one sounds more like some graveyard stories of spirits hitch hiking only to vanish when the car stops at thier destination. But if you can document it actually happening, let me know. In another report there are sightings of a tan figure walking down main street. Again, if you've heard actual incidents let me know. In one Disboard posting said that a little girls haunts the Beauty and the Beast stage at the Studios. I've worked there and never saw or felt anything.
Staying at the Studios for a moment, there are reports of a man walking around the Tower of Terror after hours going the wrong way. When they call to him, he doesn't answer and fades away. One of my co-workers said a friend of his was loading the ride and got a call from the control center to tell the man who was standing up to sit down. She told him there was no one standing in the car. The person watching the survelience camera said there was some one standing. She looked again and saw no one standing, so she sent the ride. This next one i've added a link to youtube for it. Watch it and see what you think. . . real or photoshop ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTdnt9tA47o
I have my own first hand sighting story while i was working at Indiana Jones Stunt show. Earlier in the day i made a mad dash run to the commissary to get my lunch. I had hoped to beat a huge thunderstorm that was in the horizon. I didn't made it. In fact as I crossed stage, now turned into a wading pool, lighting struck right behind the berm (a couple hundred yards away). I felt something in the water. Whether it was electricity from the lighting or precussion from the thunder, I'm not sure. Later that day, I was standing in wardrobe. I was at the service window, next to me was a stack of t-shirts, next to that was the coordinator's desk. I turned to grab a shirt for one of my cast and saw someone sitting at the desk. I handed out the shirt, looked back and the figure was gone. This was broad day light, middle of the afternoon. I told a friend of mine and she said 'Oh you met Eddie.' That trailer has since been replaced, so i don't know if Eddie went a way with the building or if the techs(who now use that space) just ignore her. Did nearly getting killed by lighting have anything to do with my sighting? I don't know.
Moving on to Epcot, there have been several sightings of a little girl with long blonde hair riding in one of the cars at Spaceship Earth and a little boy who'll run in front of her then vanish. And one Disboard reporter said there had been a figure seen in the French Pavillion movie theater. Most peoplethink it's a straggling guest and would ask him to leave, when they turn around, he's vanished.
In the area formerly know as Pleasure Island Adventurer's Club, a disboard poster (I assume a cast member), said he'd catch glimpse of a figure dressed in white in the library looking over the balcony above the organ. A Disboard posting talked about a fire station's 2nd floor (empty space)being haunted. I could never figure out if it was Disneyland or WDW, but the report states that they can hear footsteps and knocking. . . settling building ? Maybe.
I want to end with a couple of theories to think about. Legend claims that ghosts, paranormal activity, poltergiests are drawn to and are more active around water. The entire space of Walt Disney World was build on a drained swamp. HMmmm. Makes you think. However, if you buy into the television shows that hunt for ghosts and such, they'll tell you that high Electromagnetic Frequencies can create hallucinations, visions, nausea, ect. What do you think makes alot of the rides and special effects happen ? Electricity and Magnetic devices. Another Disboard poster talked about Infrasound. the same technology is being used to try to detect earthquakes. It's out of human range of hearing, but some people can actually feel it. Do the dolls in It's A Small World emit Infrasound from thier mechanics, which creeps some people out. . . . or is it the song that gets stuck in our head that haunts us to our inner core. :)
Happy Halloween
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND . . . FANTASMIC!
Several weeks ago,one of my readers 'wanted more stories about Fantasmic!". So here I go delving into the mental archives. Just so you know, my experience with the show was the opening rehearsals and eight to nine months during the run of the show. After that it was sporatic. . . very sporatic.
As I was trying to conjure up memories from 'umpteen' years ago, I remembered one that is more about the people who worked there and than the show itself. A vast majority of the techs and stage managers were, at one time, entertainers, ex-performers and garage band musicians, so one day. . . I mean night, after the show, they had a Rock Concert in the rehearsal room. And believe it or not, they were actually pretty good. Nothing was planned. Nothing was scripted. It was just a matter of "Hey, you know this one?" and they'd all start playing. I watched for a while, but around mid-night I left. I think I saw more vente Starbucks than usual the next morning.
Do you want to know the quickest way to turn a room full of adults in to children again ? . . . Hide Easter Eggs. Costuming sponsored a Easter Egg hunt and hid around 500 + - plastic eggs around the back stage area. Everyone impatiently waited through the usual pre-shift meeting with thier hunting paraphanelia near by. When the stage manager sounded like he was done, they make a break for the door. The manager yelled, "HEY, I'm not done yet." They all came back and sat down. He said a few more things, then they made a break for the door again. He tried to stop them a second time, but this time everyone knew he was just messing with them and they kept running. We had two shows that night and they even went out with the tech's flashlights between shows. . .talk about your dedication. HMmmm I wonder if anyone ever DID get that one out of the trailer hitch ?
When some one left the show, like "I'm leaving the company" or "I'm moving up to a new job never to return to this world again" gone, the cast always had a certian. . .endearing way of saying goodbye. It usally included a canister, or two, of baby powder and a trip to the locker room shower. nothin' says livin' like being tarred and feathered with babypowder in the shower. Originally, the 'leavee' would get thrown in the moat the night they left. However, concerns about what was exactly in the water stopped that practice early on.
The water in that moat is interesting. You can see to the bottom. . . usually, but then you start to think about all of the fuel that gets pumped through the gas lines for the 'lake on fire' scene, a large (i beleive four engine) steamboat chugging around the moat in an enclosed enviroment and just mother nature in general and Ewww. I never saw three headed ducks, but we always tried to keep them scared off the water. And yes, the seatmboat is on a track, but it does move on it's own power, thus is why we had a rescue boat that was able to also push a broken down steam boat back to the dock. I'll always remember when they drained the moat to work on it and found several missing costume pieces. Belle's crystal medallions from her dress. Mary Poppin's umbrella. The handle looked okay, but the fabric was rotted away leaving just the wire frame work. One day we set up the stage and left a large cloth bin preset off to the side. We didn't thing about it being as windy as it was. But when we came back fromour break, it was gone. And yeap, it was on the bottom of the moat. A tech armed with a grapling hook went fishing for it.
In the beginning, Mickey, as the Brave Little Tailor, was supposed to walk on water as he goes out to fight Chernabog. There's good trivia question for you. What is the name of the demon / dragon monster that appeared in Fantasia? Chernabog. . . Anyway, back to my blog. The 'powers that be' decided the walking on water image wouldn't set well with the conservative Christians of the world, so they added rocks and built a pathway out into the lake. I recently heard rumors of them wanting to reviving the water walk. We'll see.
In the beginning, the one thing we all loved about working at Fantasmic! was that we were able to park at the stage. No parking in the cast parking lot and traepsing across the park like they have to now. At certian times of the day there wasn't even a security guard at the gate. We'd clock out and be in on the road home in one minute flat. Then 9/11 happened and all of our parking became centralized and the techs got large parking lot to store stuff in.
One of my fondest memories of working there was New Year's Eve. We would usually have late shows that night and would still be at work at midnight. So we'd go out to our parking lot and watch both the Studio's and Epcot's fireworks go off. It was like fireworks in stereo. One year we even had fake champaign. . . you know, the non alcoholic sparkling grape juice :) to toast in the New Year.
So on that note, CHEERS !! and good night.
As I was trying to conjure up memories from 'umpteen' years ago, I remembered one that is more about the people who worked there and than the show itself. A vast majority of the techs and stage managers were, at one time, entertainers, ex-performers and garage band musicians, so one day. . . I mean night, after the show, they had a Rock Concert in the rehearsal room. And believe it or not, they were actually pretty good. Nothing was planned. Nothing was scripted. It was just a matter of "Hey, you know this one?" and they'd all start playing. I watched for a while, but around mid-night I left. I think I saw more vente Starbucks than usual the next morning.
Do you want to know the quickest way to turn a room full of adults in to children again ? . . . Hide Easter Eggs. Costuming sponsored a Easter Egg hunt and hid around 500 + - plastic eggs around the back stage area. Everyone impatiently waited through the usual pre-shift meeting with thier hunting paraphanelia near by. When the stage manager sounded like he was done, they make a break for the door. The manager yelled, "HEY, I'm not done yet." They all came back and sat down. He said a few more things, then they made a break for the door again. He tried to stop them a second time, but this time everyone knew he was just messing with them and they kept running. We had two shows that night and they even went out with the tech's flashlights between shows. . .talk about your dedication. HMmmm I wonder if anyone ever DID get that one out of the trailer hitch ?
When some one left the show, like "I'm leaving the company" or "I'm moving up to a new job never to return to this world again" gone, the cast always had a certian. . .endearing way of saying goodbye. It usally included a canister, or two, of baby powder and a trip to the locker room shower. nothin' says livin' like being tarred and feathered with babypowder in the shower. Originally, the 'leavee' would get thrown in the moat the night they left. However, concerns about what was exactly in the water stopped that practice early on.
The water in that moat is interesting. You can see to the bottom. . . usually, but then you start to think about all of the fuel that gets pumped through the gas lines for the 'lake on fire' scene, a large (i beleive four engine) steamboat chugging around the moat in an enclosed enviroment and just mother nature in general and Ewww. I never saw three headed ducks, but we always tried to keep them scared off the water. And yes, the seatmboat is on a track, but it does move on it's own power, thus is why we had a rescue boat that was able to also push a broken down steam boat back to the dock. I'll always remember when they drained the moat to work on it and found several missing costume pieces. Belle's crystal medallions from her dress. Mary Poppin's umbrella. The handle looked okay, but the fabric was rotted away leaving just the wire frame work. One day we set up the stage and left a large cloth bin preset off to the side. We didn't thing about it being as windy as it was. But when we came back fromour break, it was gone. And yeap, it was on the bottom of the moat. A tech armed with a grapling hook went fishing for it.
In the beginning, Mickey, as the Brave Little Tailor, was supposed to walk on water as he goes out to fight Chernabog. There's good trivia question for you. What is the name of the demon / dragon monster that appeared in Fantasia? Chernabog. . . Anyway, back to my blog. The 'powers that be' decided the walking on water image wouldn't set well with the conservative Christians of the world, so they added rocks and built a pathway out into the lake. I recently heard rumors of them wanting to reviving the water walk. We'll see.
In the beginning, the one thing we all loved about working at Fantasmic! was that we were able to park at the stage. No parking in the cast parking lot and traepsing across the park like they have to now. At certian times of the day there wasn't even a security guard at the gate. We'd clock out and be in on the road home in one minute flat. Then 9/11 happened and all of our parking became centralized and the techs got large parking lot to store stuff in.
One of my fondest memories of working there was New Year's Eve. We would usually have late shows that night and would still be at work at midnight. So we'd go out to our parking lot and watch both the Studio's and Epcot's fireworks go off. It was like fireworks in stereo. One year we even had fake champaign. . . you know, the non alcoholic sparkling grape juice :) to toast in the New Year.
So on that note, CHEERS !! and good night.
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