OKAY I need everybody's help. If I miss listing something from a by gone era at Walt Disney World (Orlando), PLEASE, email me and let me know.
In a company that's been around since the 1970's there has been alot of things that have came and gone. Some, like Norman the cow, have been forgotten(or eaten). Some have been sorely missed like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. So follow me down memory lane as we rediscover Extinct Disney Places.
Magic Kingdom:
The building and structures for 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1971-1994) were left overgrown and rusted for years. When Anehiem revitalized thier 20k Leagues as a Nemo ride, we had hoped Magic Kingdom would be next. Then they built a Pooh play area over a large chunk of the space. At one time, Disney bragged that 'We had more submarines that the US Navy.' The only difference is thier's actually went under water. . .I guess that would make Disney's, uhmmm. . . glass bottom Boats.
I came across this link to old, old, old pics of the 20,000 leagues ride
http://www.20kride.com/photos_behind.html
The SKYWAY(1971-1999)was a great way to get from the back of the park to the front at the end of the day. For some kids, it was also (-I was told- because I would nnneever do this when I was a kid) a great way to annoy people by dropping popcorn, spit balls and other things on any one who walked underneath it. I'm not sure what brought it to it's final demise, but when a maintenance cast member fell to his death after being hit by a moving ride bucket, it was taken down shortly afterwards. The last time I was in the Kingdom (early 2009), the passanger loading structure in Fantasy land was still in place and pretty much untouched (at least from the outside). The one in Tomarrowland, I hear, wasn't so lucky. As recently as summer 2009, it was still there, but now it think it's being torn down. Now, there are large painted medallions on the concrete to hide the fact that there used to be a huge pole there.
August 2009 I learned that the GALAXY THEATER in tomarrow land was torn down. I have to admit that I never saw a show there. I was told that it was hard to get guests to make the sharp right hand turn around the Buzz Lightyear / Dreamflight / If You Had Wings ride to fill the theater. I was also told that time has not been kind to the stage and safety was a bit of an issue as well. I'm not sure what's going into that space other than a temporary cast parking lot while they work on some office rehab. After that. . .
EASTERN AIRLINES - IF YOU HAD WINGS(1972-1987)/ IF YOU COULD FLY (1987-1989) / DELTA AIRLINES DREAMFLIGHT (1989-1998) was a 'must see'. . . but mainly because it was always a free ride back in the E-ticket days. It's pretty much unchanged structurally, but in 1998 it was turned into a Buzz Lightyear target game. Personally, since there's a Toy Story target shooting ride at the Studios, they could bring the If You Had Wings. . .no wait, I guess they can't since Eastern Airlines is defunct. . . Darn.
Here's a link die hard fans will like: http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/iyhw.htm
FLIGHT TO THE MOON (1971- 1975) / MISSION TO MARS (1975-1993). . . Yeah, it was wwaaay past time to change that one out. ALIEN ENCOUNTER (1993 - 2003)was supposed to be a scare your pants off, 'too intense for little kids' attraction. Maybe they succeded a bit too well, because it turned into a toned down STITCH'S GREAT ESCAPE pretty fast.
According to Wikipedia, the days of the MIKE FINK KEEL BOATS ended 5:30 May 17, 1997. Apparently one of the boats in Disneyland started rocking and was capsized. THey were taken out of service and inspected for seaworthiness. They never returned to the Rivers of America. In fact it says one ended up on ebay and sold for $15,000. The other's (One in D-land, one in D-world) were moored to Tom Sawyer's island. THe D-land one eventually sunk due to a split hull and was removed from show completely in
April 2009. After looking at some old video on youtube, i agree with the verdict. They seemed a bit top heavy. I included a link to one of the videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIJMglGrsM8&feature=related
DAVY CROCKETT EXPLORER CANOES were 35ft long canoes in the Rivers of America. it opened oct. 1 1971 and ran to 1994. This was another ride i never took the time to try out. Another example of being a day late and a dollar short.
In researching the web, I came across an attraction that for some reason, i never knew existed. THE PLAZA SWAN BOATS. They left from a dock near Tomarrowland and tooled around the park's inner canals from May 1973 to August 1983. The website Widen Your World said it was based on the Boston Public Garden's boat ride from 1877. If you see a vaccume boat claening the canals that is one of the last remanents of the Swan boats. The rest of the fleet was removed from the park and later sold.
CIRCLE VISION -AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL (1971-1974 & 1979-1984) / MAGIC CARPET AROUND THE WORLD(1974-1975)/ CIRCLEVISION 360 - AMERICAN JOURNEY (1984-1994)/ TIME KEEPER (1994-2006) had 360 degree view of the world via movie screens encircling you. It went through several name changes and variations of films, but it was always the same concept: Stand in the middle of the room watching a panoramic movie and try not to get vertigo from all the moving. The TIMEKEEPER reincarnation of the attraction included an animatron with Robin William's voice.
DIAMOND HORSESHOE REVUE (1971- 1986)/DIAMOND HORSESHOE JAMBOREE (1986-1995)/DIAMOND HORSESHOE SALOON REVUE AND MEDICINE SHOW confuses me. I vaguely remember as a kid, that they served food and had a vaude ville style show, but then it closed. Then it was an ice cream parlor. Then it was a special events space. Now as a concierge I see they use it as a seasonal dining option again (around the holiday). It's a case of 'Is it open? Is it closed? Now it's open. No wait, now it's closed.' I give up.
Now, the 3D movie MAGICAL JOURNEY'S(1988- 1993) I could swear was the same 3D movie I had seen years before at a since defunct Circus World theme park near I-4 and US 27. I was a warm and fuzzy 3D Imax movie about a couple of kids fantasies, but the best thing in the middle of summer is. . . Air Conditioned theater.
The LEGEND OF THE LION KING (1994-2002)was considered by some to be the forefather of the Broadway show, much like the Beauty and the Beast seemed to be the grandmother of the Broadway show. It definately pushed the bounderies of puppeteering. With the opening of the Nemo show at DAK, some of Broadway's ideas found thier way back to the parks.
MICKEY'S STARLAND /MICKEY'S BIRTHDAYLAND (1988-1996)was expanded into TOONTOWN FAIR. I believe there was talk of creating a Toontown in the Studios to corrilate with Rodger Rabbit, but those plans fizzeled down to a gift shop and a Disney character Toontown popped up at the Kingdom.
KING STEPHEN'S FEAST is still technically there. It's just a Cinderella dinning now.
And finally, let us not forget MR TOAD'S WILD RIDE(1971-1998) (which I almost did). That was one ride that when they announced is was going away, people actually got upset and protested. I later realized that the Pooh ride was exactly the same thing, it was just with a stuffed bear instead of well dressed frogs.
EPCOT
COMMUNICORE (1982-1994)still exists, it's just renamed Innoventions.
All I have to say about SPACEHIP EARTH is 'I miss the tommarrow's child song' as you're leaving the golf ball.
My notes say that the MAGICAL JOURNEY(1982-1987) 3D movie was made by Disney for Epcot's opening, thenmoved to Magic Kingdom. I still say I had seen it before that at Circus World. I must dig deeper into my research.
CAPTIAN EO(1986-1994), Ah yes, the 3D movie hit the internet after Michael Jackson's death. I heard he was hanging around Disney quiet a bit for a while. . . pre legal trouble and pre fatherhood days. Maybe Captian EO will resurface some where else, some day.
Maybe some day, Disney can find a new sponsor for the WONDERS OF LIFE Pavillion(1989-2007). They use the building off and on for special events and it makes a great obstacle course for SEGWAY classes, but sadly, Body Wars and Cranium Command have sat idle for way too long. I had a guest bring thier child to Disney just so she could learn about the birds and the bees in the "Making of Me" movie. Needless to say she was upset when she found out that the whole pavillion was closed. Maybe they should just market the movie for parents :)
The Land Pavillion had a show called KITCHEN KABARET (1982-1994). It was an animatronic show about eating healthy. Honestly, I think I only saw it once.
HORIZON (1983-1999) was a bit redundant, I have to admit, but it was still one of my favorite rides. I think mainly because of the huge IMAX screen at the end. Sadly the Horizon building was torn down for Mission Space. I recently saw where you could buy a Horizon ride car online, if you were a die hard fan.
UNIVERSE of MOTION (1982-1996) is same building structure as Test Track, just different stuff
inside and from the rumors i'm hearing on the street, probably a new sponsor by the end of 2009. . . Toyota, maybe. But that's just a rumor.
ODYSSEY RESTAURANT is still there and still pretty much looks like a restaurant, but it been years since they've served food there. I know they've used it as a Flower and Garden lecture center a few years. Who knows, maybe it was just too far off the beaten track to draw people. I bet they throw a few princesses in there and a couple steak dinners on the menu and they'd be packed. It worked for Le Celliar (in Canada) and Princess Storybook (in Norway).
The DOUBLE DECKER BUS around the world showcase is now just a character thing. Everytime I saw it, it was packed with people. I never did get to ride it.
TAPESTRY OF NATIONS (1999 - 2001)/ TAPESTRY OF DREAMS (2001-2003) was as far as I know, the only parade Epcot ever had. The drummers were pretty cool. The giant walking puppet people always freaked me out. It was a very artsy parade. T OF NATIONS had a rather intimidating Sage of Time. . . In their defense we were coming up on the new Millenium at the time and it was all about TIME. Later they revamped it and turned the Sage into the Dreamseekers. I think logistics and a massive need for man power is what finally killed it.
I love seeing how Disney recycles show elements. The Mexico Pavillion opened with a boat ride called EL RIO DEL TIEMPO(1982-2007). In it there was video of street vendors trying to sell you stuff. They moved that from the If You Had Wings ride in Tomarrowland.
The building formally known as MILLENIUM VILLAGE (1999-2000) is located just outside the park. Now it's a convention and special events space, but from October 1999 to January 2001 it housed several mini pavillions from countries not presently included in the world showcase. Here's link to more indepth information as to what countries, ect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Village. I remember there was even a few minor international spats between neighboring exhibits. . . Really? at a theme park. . . You've got to be kidding.
It makes you just want to say 'OKAY EVERYBODY, COME ON, LET'S HOLD HANDS AND SING 'IT'S A SMALL WORLD'
on that note, I'm going to bed. . . to be continued-
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
TAKE A MOMENT TO LAUGH
Over the past several weeks I've been accumulating random thoughts and little snipets of stuff i've seen around property.
Here's my top ten:
YOU KNOW YOU'RE A TOURIST WHEN-
10. You put your kids on leashes, but not your dogs.
9. Buying the paintng of a neon Mickey on velvet
sounded like a good idea at the time.
8. Your back is as red as your lobster dinner.
7. You're willing to trade your 1st born child
for a cigarette lighter (or a lit cigarette)
at the airport arrival terminal.
6. You cry at Kermit singing Rainbow Connection
everytime you walk past the Muppets movie
theater at the Studios
5. When you get into an argument with a cast member
about why they 'Moved the Hulk Roller Coaster'
from the Magic Kingdom.
4. When you get into an argument with a crew member
about why they 'Moved Space Mountian Roller Coaster'
from Universal Studios Orlando.
3. When you circle Animal Kingdom several times wondering
where they 'Moved the Shamu the Killer Whale Show' to.
2. You put squeaky shoes on your toddler so you can find
them in a crowd.
1. You tell time by what dining reservation is next.
OKAY, So I Have two more:
You know you're a tourist when- your wardrobe is matching
neon pinstrip tie dye and you're following triangle shaped
flag with the words 'TOURISMO' on it.
You know you're a tourist when- you voluntarily allow your
body to be thrown into complete darknes at break-neck speeds
while being strapped to a tiny rocket shaped ride car that is
being controlled by an unknown indvidual who is wearing a
dorkey space costume.
POLITICS AND DISNEY:
It has been brought to my attention, that when comes to politics
we are all a bit like the seven dwarfs:
-We meet them and we're Bashful.
-You soon realize the cost for a political meeting is nothing to Sneeze at.
-When we hear their promises we're Happy.
-We hear thier political rhetoric and we're Grumpy.
-After hearing too much political rhetoric and we become Sleepy.
-We get all worked up over the issues and have to call our Doc.
-In the end, if we actually believe them were all a bit Dopey.
Sadly, i didn't come up with this next one, but I've seen it around for years.
Since I worked in shows, this became a relevant piece of my daily life.
THEATER LOGIC
In is down, down is front.
Out is up, up is back.
and of course -
Right is left and Left is right
A drop shouldn't
A block and fall does neither.
a prop doesn't, and a cove holds no water.
Tripping is OKAY
A running crew rarely gets anywhere;
A purchase line will buy you nothing;
A trap will not catch anything, and
A gridiron has nothing to do with football.
Strikes are work (and lots of it)
A green room, thank God, usually isn't.
And in closing, I'd like to say
BREAK A LEG . . . But not really.
Here's my top ten:
YOU KNOW YOU'RE A TOURIST WHEN-
10. You put your kids on leashes, but not your dogs.
9. Buying the paintng of a neon Mickey on velvet
sounded like a good idea at the time.
8. Your back is as red as your lobster dinner.
7. You're willing to trade your 1st born child
for a cigarette lighter (or a lit cigarette)
at the airport arrival terminal.
6. You cry at Kermit singing Rainbow Connection
everytime you walk past the Muppets movie
theater at the Studios
5. When you get into an argument with a cast member
about why they 'Moved the Hulk Roller Coaster'
from the Magic Kingdom.
4. When you get into an argument with a crew member
about why they 'Moved Space Mountian Roller Coaster'
from Universal Studios Orlando.
3. When you circle Animal Kingdom several times wondering
where they 'Moved the Shamu the Killer Whale Show' to.
2. You put squeaky shoes on your toddler so you can find
them in a crowd.
1. You tell time by what dining reservation is next.
OKAY, So I Have two more:
You know you're a tourist when- your wardrobe is matching
neon pinstrip tie dye and you're following triangle shaped
flag with the words 'TOURISMO' on it.
You know you're a tourist when- you voluntarily allow your
body to be thrown into complete darknes at break-neck speeds
while being strapped to a tiny rocket shaped ride car that is
being controlled by an unknown indvidual who is wearing a
dorkey space costume.
POLITICS AND DISNEY:
It has been brought to my attention, that when comes to politics
we are all a bit like the seven dwarfs:
-We meet them and we're Bashful.
-You soon realize the cost for a political meeting is nothing to Sneeze at.
-When we hear their promises we're Happy.
-We hear thier political rhetoric and we're Grumpy.
-After hearing too much political rhetoric and we become Sleepy.
-We get all worked up over the issues and have to call our Doc.
-In the end, if we actually believe them were all a bit Dopey.
Sadly, i didn't come up with this next one, but I've seen it around for years.
Since I worked in shows, this became a relevant piece of my daily life.
THEATER LOGIC
In is down, down is front.
Out is up, up is back.
and of course -
Right is left and Left is right
A drop shouldn't
A block and fall does neither.
a prop doesn't, and a cove holds no water.
Tripping is OKAY
A running crew rarely gets anywhere;
A purchase line will buy you nothing;
A trap will not catch anything, and
A gridiron has nothing to do with football.
Strikes are work (and lots of it)
A green room, thank God, usually isn't.
And in closing, I'd like to say
BREAK A LEG . . . But not really.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
YOU DID WHAT?
The fondest memories are those where you should have gotten into big trouble, but didn't. I was at Epic one day and my coordinator said, "Do you want some ice cream?" Normally that would sound innocent enough, but this was during a show. We walked over to the dinosaur ice cream stand outside Epic and ate ice cream, then strolled back to the stage in time to finish the show.
During the run of Hunchback of Notre Dame, one of my cast was a Michael Jackson impersonator. To look at him out of make up, you would never know it. I am a photographer on the side and had started making a name for my self as such at several of the stages that I worked at. He wanted pictures of him as MJ, so one day, he dressed up and did the hair and make up. Let me say he looked exactly like MJ. We went out on stage and shot some pretty good pictures. The techs saw what we were doing and turned on the fog machines and fans. It was pretty darn cool.
HOWEVER, it didn't stop there. Back in the day, before lights motors action stunt show, there was residential street and a backstage studio tour that ran right next to our stage. MJ impersonator walked off the Hunchback stage and into view of the tour tram. People started to talk. He walked next to the tour tram. The tour guide lost her train of thought and started stumbling over her lines. We, meaning MJ impersonator, myself and half dozen members of the hunckback cast walked into the park. Now, mind you, the cast was wearing shorts and t-shirts with 'Hunchback' written in sharpie on the front. They were playing the body guards. . . . God help us. Seeing how the crowds mobbed MJ, this as not a smart idea.
We heard a few guests say "Hey MJ!" "Is that. . .no it couldn't-" "Look who it is." You could feel the electricity start to build in a matter of moments. Seeing a stir start to build, we ducked out the back gate as soon as we could. End of story ? Not quiet. Later our stage manager came up to us and said,"Please tell me that you did not walk through the park like that." We said, "Of course not." WE knew, that he knew, that we knew.
Speaking of being in place you probably shouldn't, as a photographer for several of the Indy Stunt doubles, I have been in places on that stage that I KNOW I should have neve been in. Like the Mayan temple set in the ball(rolling boulder) track. In a prop rock during the show so I could get pictures of the Plane scene. At the top of the market place buildings, so I could get shots of high falls. At least I never went up in th rafters like the boys did one day. THey were bored and moved the high fall pad to under one of the beams in the rafters and decided to take flying leaps from the roof of the stage.
If you have ever seen the Indy stunt show, then you'll know that scene two is the cairo marketplace. In that set above the awing is a little niche. They use this niche for DJ's at times during convention shows. One day two of our Epic/Fantasmic! cast got bored between Fantasmic shows and decided to climb into the set and pretend they were eating dinner. . . during the Epic show. One was wearing one of Marion's shirts as a diguse. At the end of the scene, he knelt down to the other and pretended to propose. (By the way, both guys were married with kids.)
THe cast and crew about died laughing. The stage manager, thank goodness was awesome. She came up to them and said(paraphased) "That was the funniest thing i have ever seen. Don't you ever do it again."
Fantasmic! stunt perfomers meet at Epic, use Epic's pargo to ride over to the stage. Every so often they'll give ride to a character or two as well. One day the driver took a short cut through the creative costuming tunnel (part of the backstage tour) and turned a lliiitttle to soon. Because setting outside of the tunnel are prop planes from the movie Pearl Harbor. On this particular day, the Epic driver plowed into the wing of the plane an crumpled the top of the pargo. No one was hurt, from what I can remember, but they did have to use the jaws of life to get one of the character girls out of the front seat. And wouldn't you know, the driver still works at Disney.
I had my own personal "You did what ?" moment one day at Fantasmic!. I was not in a good mood that day. I had one precious darling cast mamber get all over my case one day because she said "This is not my costume. My costume does not have this piece in it" (it was a snap in, snap out removable piece)
I said,"you're the only one doing this role today. Not one else has worn it. It's identical to the other costumes in the trailer."
She still said, "This is not my costume, I don't use this piece."
Now, mind you, we are on the steamboat. The cross bridge is pulled back and the boat is about to start moving. I snatched the costume from her hands, ripped out the unwanted item and handed it back to her. "Here it's doesn't have that strap anymore."
She went out and did her part, but ran to the stage manager afterwards and said "costuming was being mean to me."
And 'bless his soul', he stood up for us and said,"Did you check your preset ?"
She started to cry.
I went to my manager and told her what happened. All she said was, "Yeah, you probably shouldn't have done that."
Ah, those were the days.
During the run of Hunchback of Notre Dame, one of my cast was a Michael Jackson impersonator. To look at him out of make up, you would never know it. I am a photographer on the side and had started making a name for my self as such at several of the stages that I worked at. He wanted pictures of him as MJ, so one day, he dressed up and did the hair and make up. Let me say he looked exactly like MJ. We went out on stage and shot some pretty good pictures. The techs saw what we were doing and turned on the fog machines and fans. It was pretty darn cool.
HOWEVER, it didn't stop there. Back in the day, before lights motors action stunt show, there was residential street and a backstage studio tour that ran right next to our stage. MJ impersonator walked off the Hunchback stage and into view of the tour tram. People started to talk. He walked next to the tour tram. The tour guide lost her train of thought and started stumbling over her lines. We, meaning MJ impersonator, myself and half dozen members of the hunckback cast walked into the park. Now, mind you, the cast was wearing shorts and t-shirts with 'Hunchback' written in sharpie on the front. They were playing the body guards. . . . God help us. Seeing how the crowds mobbed MJ, this as not a smart idea.
We heard a few guests say "Hey MJ!" "Is that. . .no it couldn't-" "Look who it is." You could feel the electricity start to build in a matter of moments. Seeing a stir start to build, we ducked out the back gate as soon as we could. End of story ? Not quiet. Later our stage manager came up to us and said,"Please tell me that you did not walk through the park like that." We said, "Of course not." WE knew, that he knew, that we knew.
Speaking of being in place you probably shouldn't, as a photographer for several of the Indy Stunt doubles, I have been in places on that stage that I KNOW I should have neve been in. Like the Mayan temple set in the ball(rolling boulder) track. In a prop rock during the show so I could get pictures of the Plane scene. At the top of the market place buildings, so I could get shots of high falls. At least I never went up in th rafters like the boys did one day. THey were bored and moved the high fall pad to under one of the beams in the rafters and decided to take flying leaps from the roof of the stage.
If you have ever seen the Indy stunt show, then you'll know that scene two is the cairo marketplace. In that set above the awing is a little niche. They use this niche for DJ's at times during convention shows. One day two of our Epic/Fantasmic! cast got bored between Fantasmic shows and decided to climb into the set and pretend they were eating dinner. . . during the Epic show. One was wearing one of Marion's shirts as a diguse. At the end of the scene, he knelt down to the other and pretended to propose. (By the way, both guys were married with kids.)
THe cast and crew about died laughing. The stage manager, thank goodness was awesome. She came up to them and said(paraphased) "That was the funniest thing i have ever seen. Don't you ever do it again."
Fantasmic! stunt perfomers meet at Epic, use Epic's pargo to ride over to the stage. Every so often they'll give ride to a character or two as well. One day the driver took a short cut through the creative costuming tunnel (part of the backstage tour) and turned a lliiitttle to soon. Because setting outside of the tunnel are prop planes from the movie Pearl Harbor. On this particular day, the Epic driver plowed into the wing of the plane an crumpled the top of the pargo. No one was hurt, from what I can remember, but they did have to use the jaws of life to get one of the character girls out of the front seat. And wouldn't you know, the driver still works at Disney.
I had my own personal "You did what ?" moment one day at Fantasmic!. I was not in a good mood that day. I had one precious darling cast mamber get all over my case one day because she said "This is not my costume. My costume does not have this piece in it" (it was a snap in, snap out removable piece)
I said,"you're the only one doing this role today. Not one else has worn it. It's identical to the other costumes in the trailer."
She still said, "This is not my costume, I don't use this piece."
Now, mind you, we are on the steamboat. The cross bridge is pulled back and the boat is about to start moving. I snatched the costume from her hands, ripped out the unwanted item and handed it back to her. "Here it's doesn't have that strap anymore."
She went out and did her part, but ran to the stage manager afterwards and said "costuming was being mean to me."
And 'bless his soul', he stood up for us and said,"Did you check your preset ?"
She started to cry.
I went to my manager and told her what happened. All she said was, "Yeah, you probably shouldn't have done that."
Ah, those were the days.
Monday, July 6, 2009
STARWARS CENTRAL
If you think Star Wars fans swarm the Disney MGM Studios (aka Disney Hollywood Studios) for four weekends in May and June, you would only be half true. In fact, some of the biggest fans are actually backstage. At least for the first few years, there was stiff competition to be in the cast. The first character coordinator took ownership of the event and continuted to live, eat and breathe Star Wars for the first four years of it's existence.
We had Imperial Guard uniforms that were hand me downs from the Star Wars on ice show. We never intended to use these costumes until Coordinator "T" saw them. He got permission to use them and for years they became the official coordinator costume. Sadly, we lost coordinator "T" to cancer during the fourth year of the event. The following year as we unloaded the road cases, we resealed the Imperial Guard costumes and no one used them that year in honor of our friend and colleague.
Coordinator "T" established the greenroom / breakroom as Star Wars Central. He made posterboard size placards to hang around the room, each with a character's picture, history and thier autograph. Every year we had a TV /DVD player set up to play the movies. . . all day . . . non stop. . . over and over and over. Don't get me wrong, I love the movies, but when you start receiting the movie word for word, it gets to be a bit much. The first few years espescially, we'd have the walls covered in character development information, the movies running in one corner and people reading the books in another. Needless to say it was total immersion in the World of Star Wars.
I consider myself a fan of the film, but not a fanatic. However, I was training a new costumer one year. While I was showing her who was who and who did what, I caught myself sounding like a fanatic. "Darth Maul was a Sith Lord who killed. . . . Bobo Fett is the son of Jango Fett who fought in the. . . . Before Anakin turned to the dark side he and Queen Amadalla . . . . " NOoo!!!. I refuse to be a fanatic !!! Okay, there I said. I'm better now. Let's move on. :)
Star Wars was always a bit of a step child when it came to setting up for the event, we were rarely had the same venue twice. One year Star Wars Central was the character's warm up room. Two years it was in the old Hunchback of Notre Dame stage (Until Spectitcal of Lights - the christmas lights people moved in). One year we were in the parade car barn, which got nice and toasty during the day, even with fans and AC blowing. My last year we were over in the lighting and grip building with an outside costume drying room that kept tripping breakers.
Besides the greenroom area and wardrobe, Starwars Central also had a sizeable Cosmotology department. Four o'clock in the morning call times, some of our cast would stumble into work, throw on a t-shirt, climb into the make up chair and fall asleep while the makeup artists worked. Sometime around 8 o'clock they would find caffine, thier costume and THEN thier day would begin.
Packing up such a large event was always an adventure. For the first few years, we used cardboard moving boxes. They work great if you're moving. They don't work very well when you have to pack and unpack over and over. Our poor beat up boxes were eventual replaced by five or six snazzy new roadcases. The only problem is you needed two people who were not afraid to drive 16 ft box trucks across town to the warehouses.
I am proud to say, I met that challenge and won. The first trip however. . . .Let's just say, bouncy box truck + speed bump = unhappy driver. . . and passangers. The first time I drove the truck, I went to the gas pumps near central shops to fill up . . . alone. I wanted to get used to the brakes, ect with out anyone kowing how badly i drove. That was my first lesson on speed bumps. On the road across town to the warehouses (no, I'm not telling you where), I had two people in the cab and the back end filled top to bottom with stuff. Altough it wasn't a speed bump, I learned quickly that MR Box Truck didn't like rough railroad tracks either. My passangers also learned where the 'oh shit grips' were. Sorry guys. I made it up to them a little when we decided to play hooky our way back and stopped at a buffet for lunch.
While Disney Hollywod Studios had a Disney Stars and Motorcars parade, they included a Star Wars car. Luke and Leia would ride in the car and a remoe controlled R2D2 would drive along ahead of it. The day R2 arrived at the studios for a test drive it was like a homing beacon went out to everyone who had ever worked Star Wars weekends. What started out as five or six people grew to nearly twenty in minutes. "There's a real R2 unit." "We have an R2D2." "Can we keep him?" We had a manager who was scared to death of it, so the robot operator made sure he (R2)chased her around backstage every chance he could.
One final thought on Star Wars but sadly, I can't take credit for coming up with this saying.
The Force is like Duct Tape - there's a light side and a dark side and it holds the world together.
We had Imperial Guard uniforms that were hand me downs from the Star Wars on ice show. We never intended to use these costumes until Coordinator "T" saw them. He got permission to use them and for years they became the official coordinator costume. Sadly, we lost coordinator "T" to cancer during the fourth year of the event. The following year as we unloaded the road cases, we resealed the Imperial Guard costumes and no one used them that year in honor of our friend and colleague.
Coordinator "T" established the greenroom / breakroom as Star Wars Central. He made posterboard size placards to hang around the room, each with a character's picture, history and thier autograph. Every year we had a TV /DVD player set up to play the movies. . . all day . . . non stop. . . over and over and over. Don't get me wrong, I love the movies, but when you start receiting the movie word for word, it gets to be a bit much. The first few years espescially, we'd have the walls covered in character development information, the movies running in one corner and people reading the books in another. Needless to say it was total immersion in the World of Star Wars.
I consider myself a fan of the film, but not a fanatic. However, I was training a new costumer one year. While I was showing her who was who and who did what, I caught myself sounding like a fanatic. "Darth Maul was a Sith Lord who killed. . . . Bobo Fett is the son of Jango Fett who fought in the. . . . Before Anakin turned to the dark side he and Queen Amadalla . . . . " NOoo!!!. I refuse to be a fanatic !!! Okay, there I said. I'm better now. Let's move on. :)
Star Wars was always a bit of a step child when it came to setting up for the event, we were rarely had the same venue twice. One year Star Wars Central was the character's warm up room. Two years it was in the old Hunchback of Notre Dame stage (Until Spectitcal of Lights - the christmas lights people moved in). One year we were in the parade car barn, which got nice and toasty during the day, even with fans and AC blowing. My last year we were over in the lighting and grip building with an outside costume drying room that kept tripping breakers.
Besides the greenroom area and wardrobe, Starwars Central also had a sizeable Cosmotology department. Four o'clock in the morning call times, some of our cast would stumble into work, throw on a t-shirt, climb into the make up chair and fall asleep while the makeup artists worked. Sometime around 8 o'clock they would find caffine, thier costume and THEN thier day would begin.
Packing up such a large event was always an adventure. For the first few years, we used cardboard moving boxes. They work great if you're moving. They don't work very well when you have to pack and unpack over and over. Our poor beat up boxes were eventual replaced by five or six snazzy new roadcases. The only problem is you needed two people who were not afraid to drive 16 ft box trucks across town to the warehouses.
I am proud to say, I met that challenge and won. The first trip however. . . .Let's just say, bouncy box truck + speed bump = unhappy driver. . . and passangers. The first time I drove the truck, I went to the gas pumps near central shops to fill up . . . alone. I wanted to get used to the brakes, ect with out anyone kowing how badly i drove. That was my first lesson on speed bumps. On the road across town to the warehouses (no, I'm not telling you where), I had two people in the cab and the back end filled top to bottom with stuff. Altough it wasn't a speed bump, I learned quickly that MR Box Truck didn't like rough railroad tracks either. My passangers also learned where the 'oh shit grips' were. Sorry guys. I made it up to them a little when we decided to play hooky our way back and stopped at a buffet for lunch.
While Disney Hollywod Studios had a Disney Stars and Motorcars parade, they included a Star Wars car. Luke and Leia would ride in the car and a remoe controlled R2D2 would drive along ahead of it. The day R2 arrived at the studios for a test drive it was like a homing beacon went out to everyone who had ever worked Star Wars weekends. What started out as five or six people grew to nearly twenty in minutes. "There's a real R2 unit." "We have an R2D2." "Can we keep him?" We had a manager who was scared to death of it, so the robot operator made sure he (R2)chased her around backstage every chance he could.
One final thought on Star Wars but sadly, I can't take credit for coming up with this saying.
The Force is like Duct Tape - there's a light side and a dark side and it holds the world together.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Star Wars Gay Days and the Eternal Fan
Star Wars Weekends just so happened to land right in the middle of Gay Days at Disney. Now, Gay Days isn't so much a sanctioned event at Disney, as it is the theme parks taking advantage of a golden opportunity. It all started when some people met on line and decided to meet at Walt Disney World. (Since then Sea World, Universal and Downtown Orlando has gotten involved as well.) The group of men then decided to wear red shirts at the parks so they could find each other.
Enter Star Wars Weekends. Among the characters at the event are three Royal Guards dressed head to toe in red. Red helmets. Red velvet capes. Red gloves. Red wellington boots. Lets just say, there were certian individuals scrambling to be Royal Gaurds on Gay days.
In the beginning years, adult fans were not allowed to dress up, but as time went on they started to lighten up on those rules. One year I saw Obi Wan Kenobe pushing a baby stroller. I often wondered why he didn't just use his Jedi telepathy to move it along. We had one fan that came every day of every weekend dressed like a Jedi. She even legally changed her name to one of the character's last name.
Let be known here and now, not every 'body' is meant for spandex. After seeing my fair share of chunky Storm Troopers, I am convinced that some friends need to warn thier Star Wars fan friend that 'maybe you should consider being. . . say, a Tuskin Raider.' When the one of the stars was an ewok, we had a fan try to bring a tiki torch into the park. Management put a stop to that at the gate.
The one fan that kind of gave me the creeps was dressed in a blue velvet cape with a silver hair barrette pulled down over his eyes. He kind of looked like Jordie from Star Trek. I'm not sure if he got his movies confused or what. We had a fan give Darth Maul the creeps one year when she sat next to his autgraph cue line and told everyone that they were married.
As usual, with every good thing, there has to be those dim wits that take things too far. We had a group of high schoolers at Disney on a school function that decided to corner Greedo and attack him. Needless to say the teens were sent home (up north somewhere, so it wasn't cheap airfare) and thier school was banded from Disney invited functions for three or five years (I believe). Lessoned learned: Don't Mess With the Mouse, or in this case The Bounty Hunter.
Most of the fans, however, were just in awe of seeing thier favorite stars. We had one star that played young Anakin. He kept his VIP tour guide hopping. One day before the motorcade, our cast had loaded into the pargos for a ride to the parade step off. Young anakin comes flying around the corner on a bike he had found back stage and was racing the pargos to the front gate. About three minutes back you see his VIP guide in her plaid vest and skirt pedaling her bike for all she's worth trying to catch up
to him. The kid was old enough to know were he had to be and when he had to be there, so in between those times he . . . was being a kid.
I have to say it was amussing to watch one of our stars deal with the throngs of adoring fans. . . when he was hung over. THe VIP host said it was a bout of food poisioning. . . rrright. No one believed it for a minute. As fast as he ran from the motorcade car to the bathroom, he should have been a track star.
Most of the Star Wars stars were great to work with back stage. Down to earth. Easy to talk to. One however, decided to smoke in the covertible before the motorcade and came pretty close to smoking out the ewok that sat nearby. We were more worried about an ash landing on him and setting his fur on fire. He survived. The motorcade went on. And there's one more story for the record books.
Enter Star Wars Weekends. Among the characters at the event are three Royal Guards dressed head to toe in red. Red helmets. Red velvet capes. Red gloves. Red wellington boots. Lets just say, there were certian individuals scrambling to be Royal Gaurds on Gay days.
In the beginning years, adult fans were not allowed to dress up, but as time went on they started to lighten up on those rules. One year I saw Obi Wan Kenobe pushing a baby stroller. I often wondered why he didn't just use his Jedi telepathy to move it along. We had one fan that came every day of every weekend dressed like a Jedi. She even legally changed her name to one of the character's last name.
Let be known here and now, not every 'body' is meant for spandex. After seeing my fair share of chunky Storm Troopers, I am convinced that some friends need to warn thier Star Wars fan friend that 'maybe you should consider being. . . say, a Tuskin Raider.' When the one of the stars was an ewok, we had a fan try to bring a tiki torch into the park. Management put a stop to that at the gate.
The one fan that kind of gave me the creeps was dressed in a blue velvet cape with a silver hair barrette pulled down over his eyes. He kind of looked like Jordie from Star Trek. I'm not sure if he got his movies confused or what. We had a fan give Darth Maul the creeps one year when she sat next to his autgraph cue line and told everyone that they were married.
As usual, with every good thing, there has to be those dim wits that take things too far. We had a group of high schoolers at Disney on a school function that decided to corner Greedo and attack him. Needless to say the teens were sent home (up north somewhere, so it wasn't cheap airfare) and thier school was banded from Disney invited functions for three or five years (I believe). Lessoned learned: Don't Mess With the Mouse, or in this case The Bounty Hunter.
Most of the fans, however, were just in awe of seeing thier favorite stars. We had one star that played young Anakin. He kept his VIP tour guide hopping. One day before the motorcade, our cast had loaded into the pargos for a ride to the parade step off. Young anakin comes flying around the corner on a bike he had found back stage and was racing the pargos to the front gate. About three minutes back you see his VIP guide in her plaid vest and skirt pedaling her bike for all she's worth trying to catch up
to him. The kid was old enough to know were he had to be and when he had to be there, so in between those times he . . . was being a kid.
I have to say it was amussing to watch one of our stars deal with the throngs of adoring fans. . . when he was hung over. THe VIP host said it was a bout of food poisioning. . . rrright. No one believed it for a minute. As fast as he ran from the motorcade car to the bathroom, he should have been a track star.
Most of the Star Wars stars were great to work with back stage. Down to earth. Easy to talk to. One however, decided to smoke in the covertible before the motorcade and came pretty close to smoking out the ewok that sat nearby. We were more worried about an ash landing on him and setting his fur on fire. He survived. The motorcade went on. And there's one more story for the record books.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Star Wars Weekends - "In a galaxy Far Far away..."
Here we are, nearing the end of another Disney's Star Wars Weekends and it's been three years since I've had any involvement with the event. Do I miss it ? . . .Not really. . . Okay, maybe a little.
For several years i was heavily involved with the Star Wars event. The first year we did it, I saw an audition notice go up in the greenroom and literally pestered the heck out of the manager until he officially assigned me to work on it with the Costumer and Costumer assistant.
Long hours. Late night and early morning rehearsals. Rooms filled with glue fumes filled my days for five years around April through June. The first week of the 2009 event and mother nature dumped buckets of rain. From my past experience, I know the cast and costumers were NOT having a fun day. Jawas, The Emperor and Tusken Raiders's costumes are all made out of a type of burlap-y, loose weave cotton, a.k.a. they soak up rain like a sponge. Jawas are little. A strong wind could blow some of them over. One year, when it rained, the poor Jawas could barely walk beacause their costume has become so heavy with rain water. And once they become soaked, they take DAYS to dry. I believe a Jawa robe was put in the dryer one year and it shrunk because we suddenly had a baby Jawa robe. It took trying to hand wash a Tusken Raider costume one time to realize they were meant to be drycleaned.
One of my first duties on the very first Star Wars event was a road trip. I saw paperwork on the manager's desk from a circus / traveling show producer in my home city. They weren't just from my home town, they were literally next door to my dad's office. I told my manager that I knew exactly where they were and "I'd love to go pick up the Star Wars on Ice costumes from them." That's right, I said Star Wars on Ice. . . Yeah, I never heard of it either.
Since they were still packing up the last of the costumes when I arrived, I had lunch with my brother and did d speedy "Hi, How are ya?" to everyone back home before heading back north to Orlando. Most of the pieces were used for years. . . until Disney invited THE Star Wars fan club, 501 Legion, to join our parade one week end. My manager and the costumer were checking out the 501 Legion's costumes and realized our Storm Troopers had to have an over haul.
The next year, we had all spiffy new Storm Troopers. Funny how we all of a sudden 'finally had the budget' to get new costumes. One last thing, before i leave the Star Wars on Ice costumes. The people that wore those were itty bitty people and we had to get inventive about how to make plastic bigger. Also, some one had glued a stip of wood inside one of the leg pieces, as if wearing plastic wasn't uncomfortable enough, they now had a chunk of wood banging them in the shin. . . We threw that piece away. If fact we threw alot of those pieces away, since PVC plastic costumes tend to crack easily.
Life hasn't been easy for the Storm Troopers. When you wear spandex and plastic armour in public, the PUBLIC tends to get a little frisky with the roaming hands. . . you get the picture. When it rained, some characters couldn't go out, like Queen Amadalla, a drop of rain would damage the velvet. The Storm
Troopers, however, had no such luck. Rain, shine, they never missed thier sets. . .EXCEPT for the frequent wardrobe malfunctions. The only thing that could keep the costume together was a glue that literally melted the plastic together. A squeeze of glue, squirt of activator and quicklyputthepiecestogether. The first year we had clone troopers and sand troopers, I should have bought stock in the glue company.
An Oh the 5 am Storm Trooper on the Turnstiles rehearsals. We had to be at work at 4:oo-4:30 in the morning, get the characters out the door with thier stuff, then follow them to the front of the park with the Pargo with many tubes of glue and activator. For those who have never seen Star Wars Weekends, 'The Powers That Be' decided to enhance the event by putting three Storm Troopers up on top of the gates entering the park. This is kind of an "A" cast event since they wanted to make sure who ever was up there wasn't going to fall off.
The troopers would heckle the guests coming into the park and try to look menacing. One year, when the state was trying to burn down with hundreds of forest fires, the poor Storm Troopers could barely see the edge of the roof, much less any of the guest down below. Everyone was wearing painter's masks to block some of the smoke. When we all starting to cough when by mid morning, the coordinator called it quits for safety reasons.
There are many more stories to come.
For several years i was heavily involved with the Star Wars event. The first year we did it, I saw an audition notice go up in the greenroom and literally pestered the heck out of the manager until he officially assigned me to work on it with the Costumer and Costumer assistant.
Long hours. Late night and early morning rehearsals. Rooms filled with glue fumes filled my days for five years around April through June. The first week of the 2009 event and mother nature dumped buckets of rain. From my past experience, I know the cast and costumers were NOT having a fun day. Jawas, The Emperor and Tusken Raiders's costumes are all made out of a type of burlap-y, loose weave cotton, a.k.a. they soak up rain like a sponge. Jawas are little. A strong wind could blow some of them over. One year, when it rained, the poor Jawas could barely walk beacause their costume has become so heavy with rain water. And once they become soaked, they take DAYS to dry. I believe a Jawa robe was put in the dryer one year and it shrunk because we suddenly had a baby Jawa robe. It took trying to hand wash a Tusken Raider costume one time to realize they were meant to be drycleaned.
One of my first duties on the very first Star Wars event was a road trip. I saw paperwork on the manager's desk from a circus / traveling show producer in my home city. They weren't just from my home town, they were literally next door to my dad's office. I told my manager that I knew exactly where they were and "I'd love to go pick up the Star Wars on Ice costumes from them." That's right, I said Star Wars on Ice. . . Yeah, I never heard of it either.
Since they were still packing up the last of the costumes when I arrived, I had lunch with my brother and did d speedy "Hi, How are ya?" to everyone back home before heading back north to Orlando. Most of the pieces were used for years. . . until Disney invited THE Star Wars fan club, 501 Legion, to join our parade one week end. My manager and the costumer were checking out the 501 Legion's costumes and realized our Storm Troopers had to have an over haul.
The next year, we had all spiffy new Storm Troopers. Funny how we all of a sudden 'finally had the budget' to get new costumes. One last thing, before i leave the Star Wars on Ice costumes. The people that wore those were itty bitty people and we had to get inventive about how to make plastic bigger. Also, some one had glued a stip of wood inside one of the leg pieces, as if wearing plastic wasn't uncomfortable enough, they now had a chunk of wood banging them in the shin. . . We threw that piece away. If fact we threw alot of those pieces away, since PVC plastic costumes tend to crack easily.
Life hasn't been easy for the Storm Troopers. When you wear spandex and plastic armour in public, the PUBLIC tends to get a little frisky with the roaming hands. . . you get the picture. When it rained, some characters couldn't go out, like Queen Amadalla, a drop of rain would damage the velvet. The Storm
Troopers, however, had no such luck. Rain, shine, they never missed thier sets. . .EXCEPT for the frequent wardrobe malfunctions. The only thing that could keep the costume together was a glue that literally melted the plastic together. A squeeze of glue, squirt of activator and quicklyputthepiecestogether. The first year we had clone troopers and sand troopers, I should have bought stock in the glue company.
An Oh the 5 am Storm Trooper on the Turnstiles rehearsals. We had to be at work at 4:oo-4:30 in the morning, get the characters out the door with thier stuff, then follow them to the front of the park with the Pargo with many tubes of glue and activator. For those who have never seen Star Wars Weekends, 'The Powers That Be' decided to enhance the event by putting three Storm Troopers up on top of the gates entering the park. This is kind of an "A" cast event since they wanted to make sure who ever was up there wasn't going to fall off.
The troopers would heckle the guests coming into the park and try to look menacing. One year, when the state was trying to burn down with hundreds of forest fires, the poor Storm Troopers could barely see the edge of the roof, much less any of the guest down below. Everyone was wearing painter's masks to block some of the smoke. When we all starting to cough when by mid morning, the coordinator called it quits for safety reasons.
There are many more stories to come.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
THIS IS HOW WE DO IT . . .
Backstage at Walt disney World has it's own lingo, that we often forget is not normal for the rest of the world. Sometimes it's as simple as calling a glorified golf cart a PARGO, or as disturbing as telling a guest that thier hotel package exploded incorrectly.
I can only assume that the term PARGO started many many moons ago when the company that supplied the modified golf carts called them Pargos. Most of them are Club Cars ot Tiger Trucks now, but the name PARGO has been drilled into our Disney Speak over the years. To call these vehicles golf carts is an understament, however. In costuming they were equiped with flat beds and side boards for carrying costumes. (A little side note: The side boards were removeable and some how they seemed to disappear over the years. Although they wouldn't have helped the day I had an Esmerelda dress fly out of the back in a gust of wind, get wrapped up in the wheels and was literally ripped in half. )
Some are gas, but with the electric ones, it always a game of "where's an outlet". AND if the closer had problems locating a vacant working outlet to plug it into, the morning person had the fun game of "Where's the Pargo?" At All-Star resort, Each of the three resorts have a front desk runner who is assigned a certian Pargo for the day. Since thier Pargo's are all gas powered, their game of "Where's the Pargo?" is because they kept breaking down.
A phrase we tend to use that disturbs many a road weary tourist is "your package didn't EXPLODE properly." Before 911 terrorist attacks, I don't this this term was such a big deal, but now people are more sensitive to words like EXPLODE and DAMAGED Reservation. Basically, when a guest's resevation downloads to the individual resort, all of the elements scatter to their proper place, like dinning plans, tickets, deposits, ect. In pre-911 days, the creators of this system would say a package Exploded correctly. Now, there is a shift in terminology and we're trying to say "The package was ACTIVATED properly". It's a softer, gentler front desk.
If you hear a group of cast members talking, don't be suprised if you hear them say it's 'my Monday' when it's Thursday. As with any 24 hour, 7 days a week operation, we have various days off. As that old country song always used to say, "It's 5:00 somewhere." Every day of the week is somebody's Monday, and every day of the week is is somebody's Friday. . . even if it's monday.
Here's a short list of Disney Speak: Cast member = employee / Guest = Customer / ER = Early Release of shift (a.k.a. I don't want to be here any more.) / Schedule Bid = time to pick your days off according to seniority (a.k.a. every six months management's attempt at stirring up people's life's)/ Costume = uniform (a.k.a. You Want Me to Wear What ?!!!)
Costuming has a special place in our lives. . .somewhere near the pit of your stomach. The designers sit in their office scouring novels of information to design a fabulous 'looking' costume based off the turn of the century National Parks from the Pacfic Northwest for Wilderness Lodge folks to wear. The result is smashing long skirt with Navajo print and a long sleeve shirt. . .Rrright. Let me point out that A) it is not the 'Turn of the Century' anymore, B)We are not in the chilly Northwest. We are in 90 to 100 degree Florida. I will not wear this to work for fear of having to stop somewhere on the way and looking like a 'Little House in the Prairie" refugee. When i worked at Boardwalk resort, I had a wool blend tight fitting skirt. I learned real soon that tight skirts and driving a Jeep to work, didn't blend. Again, I changed clothes at work. The All Star resort costumes made us look like a run-a-way from a clown circus.
You would think that costuming cast members would have nice clothes, because after all, we were COSTUMING. Wrong. We got everyone's hand me downs. Our shirts were the same ones used at Downtown Disney merchandise. Ours just had a different logo on the front. Our pants were Entertianment tech pants. And to top it all off, one year they made this announcement that we were getting a snazzy fleece jackets for winter wear. . .It was the spare fleece linning from the Security Jackets. They embroideried Costuming on the front, but we knew it was another hand me down.
In a final thought, for most people EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomarrow. . .for a cast member, it means Every Paycheck Comes on Thursday.
I can only assume that the term PARGO started many many moons ago when the company that supplied the modified golf carts called them Pargos. Most of them are Club Cars ot Tiger Trucks now, but the name PARGO has been drilled into our Disney Speak over the years. To call these vehicles golf carts is an understament, however. In costuming they were equiped with flat beds and side boards for carrying costumes. (A little side note: The side boards were removeable and some how they seemed to disappear over the years. Although they wouldn't have helped the day I had an Esmerelda dress fly out of the back in a gust of wind, get wrapped up in the wheels and was literally ripped in half. )
Some are gas, but with the electric ones, it always a game of "where's an outlet". AND if the closer had problems locating a vacant working outlet to plug it into, the morning person had the fun game of "Where's the Pargo?" At All-Star resort, Each of the three resorts have a front desk runner who is assigned a certian Pargo for the day. Since thier Pargo's are all gas powered, their game of "Where's the Pargo?" is because they kept breaking down.
A phrase we tend to use that disturbs many a road weary tourist is "your package didn't EXPLODE properly." Before 911 terrorist attacks, I don't this this term was such a big deal, but now people are more sensitive to words like EXPLODE and DAMAGED Reservation. Basically, when a guest's resevation downloads to the individual resort, all of the elements scatter to their proper place, like dinning plans, tickets, deposits, ect. In pre-911 days, the creators of this system would say a package Exploded correctly. Now, there is a shift in terminology and we're trying to say "The package was ACTIVATED properly". It's a softer, gentler front desk.
If you hear a group of cast members talking, don't be suprised if you hear them say it's 'my Monday' when it's Thursday. As with any 24 hour, 7 days a week operation, we have various days off. As that old country song always used to say, "It's 5:00 somewhere." Every day of the week is somebody's Monday, and every day of the week is is somebody's Friday. . . even if it's monday.
Here's a short list of Disney Speak: Cast member = employee / Guest = Customer / ER = Early Release of shift (a.k.a. I don't want to be here any more.) / Schedule Bid = time to pick your days off according to seniority (a.k.a. every six months management's attempt at stirring up people's life's)/ Costume = uniform (a.k.a. You Want Me to Wear What ?!!!)
Costuming has a special place in our lives. . .somewhere near the pit of your stomach. The designers sit in their office scouring novels of information to design a fabulous 'looking' costume based off the turn of the century National Parks from the Pacfic Northwest for Wilderness Lodge folks to wear. The result is smashing long skirt with Navajo print and a long sleeve shirt. . .Rrright. Let me point out that A) it is not the 'Turn of the Century' anymore, B)We are not in the chilly Northwest. We are in 90 to 100 degree Florida. I will not wear this to work for fear of having to stop somewhere on the way and looking like a 'Little House in the Prairie" refugee. When i worked at Boardwalk resort, I had a wool blend tight fitting skirt. I learned real soon that tight skirts and driving a Jeep to work, didn't blend. Again, I changed clothes at work. The All Star resort costumes made us look like a run-a-way from a clown circus.
You would think that costuming cast members would have nice clothes, because after all, we were COSTUMING. Wrong. We got everyone's hand me downs. Our shirts were the same ones used at Downtown Disney merchandise. Ours just had a different logo on the front. Our pants were Entertianment tech pants. And to top it all off, one year they made this announcement that we were getting a snazzy fleece jackets for winter wear. . .It was the spare fleece linning from the Security Jackets. They embroideried Costuming on the front, but we knew it was another hand me down.
In a final thought, for most people EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomarrow. . .for a cast member, it means Every Paycheck Comes on Thursday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
