Tales From the Turntable: Character Auditions

When people hear I worked in Walt Disney World their automatic first question is "What did you do? Were you a character?" So here is the story of how I nearly ventured into the world of Entertainment!

On November 28, 2001 it all began. I had befriended a short-term Kali guide named Kristy, also a College Program intern about to wrap up her program. Disney was holding special character auditions for CPs interested in coming back to join Entertainment. Who wouldn't want to get paid to dance in a parade? Or pose for photos with adorable children? So we decided that heck, yes, we were going to check this out! First up was a trip to Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island. I really can't remember any of this other than that by the time we left we had these pink pieces of paper saying we were qualified to audition, with information on when and where to report for our official auditions. Sweet! Sadly I can't show you that paper because I'm pretty sure we had to turn that in at the audition.

We figured we wouldn't just go blindly in, and so we dedicated a day we both had off to doing our homework! And we chose a pretty cool day. You're getting two things in one with this post!

On December 6, 2001 we went to the Magic Kingdom for the filming of the infamous WDW Christmas Parade special. That's back when they actually did show a parade!! We watched it THREE times that day, and none of those had the corny Disney Channel pop stars lip syncing to awful music. Hallelujah!!

For the first viewing we had awesome spots right by some of the television cameras, seen in this first photo. We paid a lot of attention to the characters themselves, seeing how they moved and facial expressions made by the face characters. It was the most fun type of homework ever!

When that parade came to an end we went back to Mickey's ToonTown Fair for some one on one character interactions. Looking at the photos you can clearly see what I would be cast as and what I am way too tall or too short to be! Let's insert some of those now. And notice the loud shirt I wore - that was on purpose, and we will get to that after this commercial break.

Too tall?? Sadly, I think so. Bummer.

WAY too tall! I mean even bending over I am too dang tall!

Way too short!

Chipmunk Height? Just right!

 

Trust me, I edited out a lot of photos. We were there a long time "studying"!!

So then we went back to Main Street for our second viewing of the parade. This time we were across from the cameras again, but I was pretty darn crafty. I deliberately wore a loud shirt that might help me stand out on a TV screen. And for this one I stood behind a garbage can. My legs were blocked, but the top of me was perfectly visible, and I had nobody blocking me. Who ended up being seeing on network TV that Christmas morning? ME!! Brilliant.

Once this was done we returned to ToonTown yet again for some different character interactions. For being afraid of characters when I began my first internship, I came a long way!! I still get nervous when meeting them even now, but I guess when you're doing homework and considering getting paid to do it, well, you can overcome a fear for a little bit!

I won't force photos on you again, but we did watch the parade a THIRD time that day!! (The last was the official 3 o'clock parade, not Mickey's Very Merry Christmas parade.)

Soon after we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom to watch the parade (not that I didn't already work it every day) and it was then that I had an awesome celebrity encounter I will cover later!

So finally the time was upon us. Audition day. This is before iPhones and such, so you get zero photos from this actual process. Heck, they probably didn't even allow cameras in there anyway. Kristy and I arrived together since this was our thing we had both been talking about and prepping for. I was already nervous, but then going IN was even more of a surreal experience.

We were all given numbers to wear and would be assigned into groups of about a dozen people, maybe more. There was a lot of milling about waiting. I just sat back and watched. For some it was like total peacocking. Dramatic stretches and moves trying to intimidate other people. Fortunately this amused me and didn't scare me off.

It was finally our turn to go into the big room for our first step. Like you might imagine, it was large, empty minus tables at the front, and a wall of solid mirror where we all stood there staring at ourselves. We were there to learn choreography... namely we were playing Santa's elves in the Christmas parade. There was dancing, and even some speaking in our routine. It wasn't all that long that we were in there learning before we were ushered back out into the main holding area. 

Now people were doing the routine and really focusing on what to do and when. Oh man, to be a fly on the wall seeing this! I just kept doing it over and over in my head, not talking to anyone. It isn't in my nature to try to be a show off and dance around on my own. I did it all in my head and I felt pretty confident!

Finally it was our turn to go in. This was smaller groups of maybe 12 people? We were staggered in two rows so the people watching could have clear shots of us all. I was in the front row, I think 3 people in from the left. So nearly dead center since I think we had 6 in front 6 in back. And showtime! We skipped forward, shouted "Hi! We're here!" and began dancing to the right, and left, and all around. I can still do most of it for you, if you'd like. Rum would have to be involved.

Then it was the anxiety part of waiting. You didn't go home and wait for a call back. We found out everything right then. Kristy was called back first. Was that good? Bad? We didn't know. Turns out, as you may tell from the photos, she's a lot taller than I am, and just bigger. She had to try on the Goofy costume... and it didn't fit. Her time was over. She did go on to be one of those character handlers though I saw, so she was still involved, just not performing.

One girl in our group was called back and put in Cinderella's wig. She totally looked like a Cinderella. More and more people kept getting called, and finally it was me. I wanted to puke. I had no clue what to expect or how I'd react to the news either way. 

Well....I GOT IN!! I was officially in the character pool! When spots opened, they'd go to the pool and that's when I could be selected.... but the catch was this was for the College Program interns. We discussed that and my plans to switch to full time status the following month when my internship ended. Simple enough to fix, I was just told to call Casting and have them switch me into the full time Cast Member pool and I was good to go. Sweet!

And then I really started thinking about it. 1. I have a major phone phobia, so calling was terrifying to me. And 2..... I've heard stories of people throwing up in the fur costumes because of the extreme heat. You always hear about guests grabbing characters inappropriately. Guests are NOT all nice and happy and cute kids like you fantasize about. So 3. I had a college degree and was at Disney with the intent to move up the ladder. Was dancing around going to help me do that? Was that putting my education to its best use? No.

So as much FUN as it could have been, I chose probably the smarter decision and decided to just not call and get my status switched. I'm happy with that decision. I ended up setting some goals for myself to move out of Attractions, and I did do that. I accomplished goals I wouldn't have had I spent every 3 o'clock dancing down Main Street. Would have been an experience though!

ºoº See ya real soon!

Things We Did In College: O Christmas Tree

THE window, and my desk.

Being freshman girls living in a dorm and experiencing our first time away from home we felt it appropriate to have a Christmas tree in our room. Looking back this is funny to me. I mean we don't even live in the dorms during Christmas break, so really when would we enjoy that tree?

Nonetheless, we had a Christmas tree.

We had a large window that opened up, probably in an unsafe way for a college campus, but whatever, we liked it.

And so when it was time to remove the tree from our room what did we do?

We chucked the tree out the window. Oh man, that was fun. Probably would have been even better if we lived higher up than just the second floor.

*And we did this BEFORE a message was put out to NOT throw your trees out your window.

Tales From the Turntable: Pata Pata

How about another easy to read photo blog? Those help tell a story. I mean who reads a book without pictures in it?? Today we will take a visit to something not everyone had the pleasure of doing as often as I did... parade duty!

Mickey's Jammin' Jungle parade has come and gone, and I was actually there for the start of it on October 1, 2001! I'd say more days than not I was working the parade. The days that I worked at Flights of Wonder I would always do the parade, as it was part of our daily routine. It was a fun break to watch the parade, but it was also a lot of work, whether it looked like it or not.

So I will share the photo day in the life of parade duty. This particular day was December 5, 2001. This day might make you perk a little if you're a Disney geek like I am ... it's Walt Disney's 100th birthday! 

After essentially working a full day at Kali River Rapids I was bumped out of rotation and sent out to prep for the parade. In the early days of the parade we didn't have stanchions. This made for the big challenge. First we had to go around looking at the ground for little black dots from a Sharpie marker. then we literally connected the dots with tape to mark out where guests to watch. As one person said, "Disney encourages us to think outside the box, but we make our guests stand in them!" And making them stand in them when the boxes are just made of tape is very difficult - especially when you get stubborn guests, and trust me there are many of them out there!! In later days we did have stanchions and ropes containing the wild animals guests.

After the route is lined out we then spent time interacting with guests. You'll see many photos of that because believe it or not I get shy and have a very hard time approaching people and just being their entertainment. So to have photographic evidence that I did it is something I want to force upon the world!

See?? I talked to people!! This particular day I was in the Minnie Mouse section. Bet you didn't know there were character sections on that parade route! When Minnie came through she would be singing Pata Pata, and clapping along. Of course we want guests to participate and feel like part of the show, but how will they know what to sing and do? That's where I come in handy! I got to walk around and tell everyone what to do when Minnie comes through. And I had to pin trade. I hated that bleeping pin lanyard so much.

For frame of reference, in this photo below I am facing the river and the Tree of Life is just across from me. Apparently I was quite entertaining, or sadly pathetic, judging by the look on the face of orange shirt mom!

Then my adorable little girl came back to me from across the "street". I remember her and her little brother. They were the cutest kids I had ever seen while working at Disney, and frankly nobody ever topped them! She wanted me to come back to her area. Wow!

As the parade gets closer you can see the spots filling up more and more. In these photos I am right in front of Caravan Stage, my other home at DAK. I guess my shirt needed tucked in better? Seriously? This is what I get photos taken of me doing???

This photo still stuns me. I was playing peekaboo with a baby! ME!! If you know me you know that prior to having my own baby I pretty much had no idea how to interact with small, young humans. But that little boy and I had a good vibe going!

Are you ready for my official parade body position?? Here it is! This is the "please keep moving in the direction my arm is pointing. Do not stop on Go. Do not collect $100. Keep going. And stay in the tape. And keep moving." pose. At this current time I was getting stray guests out of the parade's pathway because it was just around the corner and coming our way!

Wanna watch the parade? Okay, let's do it!

Can we take a moment to look at my hair in this photo below? It's incredible. I mean how is it so tidy? It wasn't freshly brushed.  How did I do that??

Pata Pata!! Pata Pata!!

Mas que nada

Iko Iko

And for your big finale, the big cheese himself ... Mickey Mouse!

*Side story... during the week of Christmas/New Year's I lost my voice working the parade route. I was always up by the bridge leading to Discovery Island, which was a very narrow walkway and a popular spot for guests to try to stop. That means it was very hard to keep the traffic flow and stay happy and get guests to listen.... and what happened to me?? A guest pushed me out of the way into the bushes! Yeah. People are awesome.

ºoº See ya real soon!

Things We Did In College: Moving Day

September 26, 1996 was the big day... the day I moved out of my house and into my first dorm room at Oregon State University!

My mom and I loaded up Veronica (my Honda), while Grandma and Grandpa had his pickup truck full of things. After loading up with fuel we began our mini caravan to Corvallis.

How cool is it that I actually have a photo of me on the freeway heading to school? Don't I look like I'm speeding along?

Because I probably was.

As we got to Cottage Grove I found myself next to two large semis, my mom next to me, my grandparents following behind. I got nervous. So I worked that gas pedal to get me out of that situation and a little more breathing room. Mom noticed. Grandpa noticed. And so did that State Trooper with his radar gun pointed at me. 

BUT! I saw him, too! And I panicked and immediately got myself wedged between cars in the right lane and got myself off the freeway at the rest stop. Meanwhile he was trying to pull out, but there was so much traffic he couldn't do it. Hallelujah!! Thank you busy traffic for saving me!!

At the rest area I hopped out, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I saw what you did there, Ronnie Rae!" Grandpa said to me, laughing.

How embarrassing would that have been to get a speeding ticket with my whole family in attendance as I'm off to try to be a responsible young adult on my own? But alas I won and still don't have a speeding ticket to my name!

Things We Did In College: The Freezer

Freshman Year. Oregon State University. Finley Hall 2nd floor.

We had a refrigerator/microwave combo in all of the rooms. Downstairs a few steps away was the Country Store where we could use our ID cards to buy things. So we'd always go there to buy our staples - bread, cheese, butter, peanut butter, etc... Because we were poor college kids, my roommate and I would get tons of ketchup packets anytime we had the opportunity at fast food restaurants, and we'd load up on napkins. If we could get free plastic knives, forks and spoons we would also take that opportunity.

And what else did we do thinking it was logical and somehow conserving things?

When we would use our knife to fix sandwiches we would wipe it off with a napkins and store it in the freezer. We figured that was somehow keeping it sterile and thus not requiring us to buy dish soap to wash off our one solid utensil.

Nobody died, so I guess that was a success.

Tales From the Turntable: A Google Earth Tour

I realize I can babble on and on about my life in the Orlando area, and I know that some of you completely understand what I'm talking about and where things are. But I also to some of you it is maybe all a foreign language. You might recall that in 1997 when I went to Pleasure Island for the first time and saw the big Walt Disney World sign as we neared Downtown Disney, well, I thought I would be able to see the Magic Kingdom and that huge ball at Epcot. I was so wrong. So today I am going to give you the lay of the land. We will go on a little trip across the country to the Walt Disney World resort, and I'll show you points of interest once we get there!

First we start in Oregon. Follow that blue line to get my path to Florida. I went down into California, over through Reno, Nevada and then east. In Kansas City (represented by hearts) I stayed in a hotel next to a porn shop. It wasn't my favorite. Moving on to Nashville, Tennessee (the cupcakes and clouds - whoa ignore than random North Carolina cloud!)... I stayed the night in a motel next to Hooters. My cat escaped and ran around that entire motel. And then we had Waffle House.... Which brings us to angry face in Atlanta, Georgia.... this is where I realized I got food poisoning from Waffle House. #NeverAgain. And finally, I arrived in the Orlando/Kissimmee/Walt Disney World area!

Next up we have a map of the overall Walt Disney World resort area. You can see Magic Kingdom up there at the time and Epcot in the center. Look for the hearts showing you where Disney's Animal Kingdom is in relation to the rest of the property. If you look over to the right and the lollipops, those are showing you the location of Vista Way and Little Lake Bryan - which we visited in the post about losing at Tug of War. Now look in the center at the very bottom. See the bubbles? That's Celebration, Florida. This is where I spent a lot of time during my final year when I made my regular trips to Celebration Hospital for my Meniere's Disease diagnosis. I was also at Florida Hospital and other places, but we don't really need that on a map.

And now we are narrowing in on my every day life. See those tiny crowns in the lower left? That is where I lived. That red line shows the path I drove every day to get to work at Disney's Animal Kingdom (and had to walk home alone at night once.) Once I worked backstage I actually parked backstage, but the majority of my time I was in that large parking lot.

Shall we walk to Asia together now? If you start in the lower left corner we will pull into the Cast Member parking lot. It is just on the other side of the area where guests can get buses to the other theme parks and resorts. Follow the bubbles! We walk in the main entrance area with all of the other guests, until just before the actual turnstiles. At this point it is a slight right backstage, before re-entering the Oasis. From here we get to walk right be to Asia like any guest would. Pretty standard. DAK isn't set up like Magic Kingdom where we have to keep our costumes secluded to our specific lands, and therefore do all of our moving around under the park. The bonus of this is we get to see different animals at the beginning and end of our shifts instead of only our beautiful animals in Asia. This also allows you to see things going on in the park -- like musicians performing for television specials or spoiled, entitled actresses causing scenes in front of everyone. So embarrassing. You'll hear all about that!

Let's get to the good stuff.. Anandapur!

There is a lot to see here!! The rainbow circle is showing you THE turntable. This is the fun spot where all the best stories happen! The bubbles begin there and head up clockwise making a full "circle". This is the entire ride path. The strawberry is where you would enter the queue except I see it saved weird. Move it over to the left about an inch and a bit. Or queue actually goes through all of that greenery and into the temple that you can see in the center of the photo. The lower right angry face is home of the Yeti .. aka Expedition Everest, not the Kali Yeti aka Stache. Alright, over to the lower left you can see some little blue clouds. That is Caravan Stage where I worked at Flights of Wonder. Just above that are some Thumbs Up with a G - this is the trailer we would have meetings in occasionally. It had air conditioning! Next to that, to the right, see some small cupcakes? That's our break room. Above that you'll see some animal faces, that's the Maharajah Jungle Trek. And lastly see the bearded dudes? Those are representing the maintenance area. The left is where the boats are housed each night and the right is showing you the large pumps coming out of the reservoir and up to the flume.

The downside of being in Asia is we only have that tiny break area. If you are working over 6 hours you will have a 30 minute lunch break. Well, if you are on the other side of the park you can easily get to Pride Rock for lunch and have actual food. In Asia? I've shown you the path in orange of how we would have to walk to get to Pride Rock. Walking that distance, ordering, getting food, eating and walking back? Not happening. This was a perk when training people. I always pampered them and we dined at Pride Rock every day!

And to conclude this little tour, I take you to where I finished my career as a Disney Cast Member. .... moment of silence please.....

The Disney Labor Office. See those happy animal faces at the top center? That's where the Kilimanjaro Safaris vehicles spent their off-time. Look over to the left and find the strawberries. Those represent where I used to park my little Hyundai and the approximate location of my desk inside the building. On Sunday's when the building was virtually empty - except for those of us making sure everyone would get a paycheck - I would wander through the building and see the frogs outside of Beth Stevens' office. She was top dog at Disney. I wouldn't randomly wander to her area during the week!! That'd be like just popping in to chat with Michael Eisner or something. Not happening.. but she was super nice!! This photo shows Pride Rock again, represented by cupcakes. Clearly I was able to get lunch with my HOUR long lunch breaks when I was an office and technical cast member! Pride Rock is not only the big cafeteria, but also home to a Disney Learning center, which is where we spent a lot of time during training. There are computers to use, as well as movies and books you could check out for free with your Disney ID. I enjoyed their spaghetti. And the fact that I could get a bagel for breakfast for 80 cents. Meanwhile resort guests pay for one bagel the amount you could pay for a full bag or two at a store.

ºoº See ya real soon!

Tales From the Turntable: Un-Happy Mother's Day

Since Mother's Day is upon us we are going to venture away from the turntable and visit real life. When you are away from home for over 3 years the odds are real things are going to happen. It can't always be parades, theme parks, game nights and water rides.

I could probably find exact dates because, it shouldn't be a surprise, I have ever photo labeled with locations and dates - sometimes even the time - but I'm not going to. I remember being at Crossing Guard and our overall area manager, Scot, and an attractions manger passing through. There was a pause in the flow of guests so I had to find courage to talk to them about some time off I needed. Yes, I was going to go through the proper channels, but this was so last minute that I wanted to have a chat to help make sure I could get the time off. My grandma had been given 1 to 3 months to live. I had to get back to Oregon to see her. This wasn't even an option in my mind. I would get to Oregon no matter what.

In no time at all I was alone on a plane across the country to go see my family. The trip is a blur, but I have some memories that stick out so much and still make me smile. Growing up everyone in our town liked to eat at Pete's Drive-In... crispy fries and goop, y'all!... so that's just what we had together one last time. Grandma didn't seem to eat much by this point, but she had no trouble eating those fries!

A hospice woman came while I was there. That is something I wish I could forget. I'm not even going to write about it. I do remember her telling the woman that she didn't care what happened, but she wanted to still be around for my wedding. Sadly that didn't happen... but she actually was there - the photos seem to show it!

If my memory isn't failing me, my mom, aunt, grandma and I were all hanging out together in her living room watching ice skating on TV like we always used to. We didn't even think Grandma was awake, but leave it to her to crack us up when she started making comments about how big the skater's boobs were. That's Grandma!

Leaving sucked. I can still see all of that perfectly as well. Knowing it is the last time you will see someone is just not a great feeling.

It wasn't long after that trip that I was on the phone with my mom, who was with Grandma. It was right before Mother's Day. She gave the phone to Grandma and we had our final conversation, which was mostly me talking to her and she was making little noises to respond. I knew it was the last call. "Happy Mother's Day Grandma, I love you." Those were the last words I got to say to her. Dammit and now I'm crying again.

The next day our Kali group had plans to go play laser tag down at I-Drive in Orlando. I was driving and sitting at a red light when my phone rang. It was my mom. I knew exactly why she was calling. My friends were all there, ready for a fun night. I think I would be a terrible actress. I'm an awful liar. So maybe I deserved an Oscar for my performance that night. I didn't want to be a downer. If they knew my grandma had just passed away they would have surely been great friends and tried to take care of me. But I just didn't want to have to react to it all in public or ruin the evening plans. Somehow I got through that laser tag - okay being alone in the dark with a fake gun makes it easy to not have to fake smile for people. Afterward we went out for drinks at TGIFridays. Alcohol helped! I think it was at the end of all of that that I finally told them.

Fast forward to the funeral. I was told not to come home for it. Flights were outrageous - like $800 round trip outrageous. So while my family was together I was working at Caravan Stage for the Flights of Wonder bird show. I tried to hang out under the bleachers a lot so I could pause from smiling and dealing with guests. I came out from under them and one of our younger cast members was goofing off and completely slacking on stuff that had to be done. Being a trainer, I knew I had to say something to him so we could keep things flowing. And what was his response? "Who died and put you in charge?" Worst. Timed. Comment. Ever.

And then the tears happened -- away from the guests, of course.

I have no idea how to end this, so here's a photo of Grandma and I in Hawaii - Grandpa, too!

BUT to have a positive ending, Mother's Day has taken on a new, happy tone, finally, thanks to a little girl you may have seen a time or two in this blog!

ºoº See ya real soon!

Tales From the Turntable: Asia Initiation

Partying at Mickey's Retreat

August 22, 2001 was my first day in Anandapur. Where? Anandapur. That is the village we all spent our days in back in the Asia section of Disney's Animal Kingdom. When I started my time there most of the cast members were "internationals". We have a lot of lingo at Disney. I was technically a CP (College Program) at the time. The Internationals weren't allowed to work just anywhere in Walt Disney World. The Germans worked at Epcot in Germany, the French in France, etc... So all of the cast members from India, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand had only one place to work... Asia. As that certain internship program was starting to change, nearly phasing out all of those cast members, some of us boring old Americans were going to be phased in. I was the first one to arrive and it was ... I don't even know how to describe it!

I was obviously nervous since it was my first day of work, but then to top it off I was clearly the odd ball. That didn't even phase me. I was quite excited! The hard part was going to be learning and remembering names. Let me give you an example of some of them:

Eet             Vikram      Cherry     Gede

Pim            Susil          Mimi       Danis

Oh             Dipesh       Anju       Putu

Chui          Wirda         Eka         Roy (that was the easy one!)

Girl            Dikki         Danita     Anjali

Moniq        Beam         Puneet    Mengkha

Yeah, so I'm learning how to open and close a ride, how to perform evacuations, each position at Kali, the history of the park, the story lines of each area, facts about our Gibbons (NOT Monkeys!!)... and then I'm trying to find my way in this land with names that are NOT at all normal to me yet. By the end, and today, these are just normal and flow off my tongue. But at first it was quite overwhelming.

After training was over I was on my own. This lone pale blond girl in a sea of strangers. My breaks in the break room were really lonely at first. I didn't hear any English. We had so many languages going on, but I didn't understand any of them. So then you sit there and think, "Are they talking about me? Do they all hate me?" I never said anything to anyone about how uncomfortable it was to always just sit alone and not able to socialize, but I heard that a manager did have a polite chat with the cast and ask them to start speaking English in the break room.

After that things really started to change and I actually started to make friends! It took longer with some, but I feel like by the end of everyone's time I had a great relationship with each person I worked with. One night in particular really seemed like the turning point, and it was then that I became part of the Asia family.

On September 7, 2001 we had an Area 3 party at Mickey's Retreat at Little Lake Bryan. This is a place near Vista Way for Cast Members. I only ever went to two functions there, this being the first. I can't remember exactly what makes up Area 3, but I feel like maybe it was just Asia and Africa. And in the scheme of the park, this was a rivalry. Africa always thought they were so much better because they had the Safari, but later in Asia we knew we were soon going to be the hot spot once Expedition Everest was open. In the ultimate form of rivalry and who is better than whom competition we had ... oh my goodness... Tug of War.

Ani, Bob, Wirda and Ria at Bennigans

Just picture this. Cast Members from Africa versus Cast Members from Asia --  and one wimpy Oregonian that was not exactly made of muscles, okay?!? There we were, barefoot in the sand by the lake. The sun was down, hence the poor quality of the photos seen here. We lined up holding the rope and it was on. We tried so dang hard... and we instantly had our asses handed to us. No contest. Do we had a rematch. Did it last any longer? Maybe only seconds. But dang it we tried!

After the cast member party a large group went to Bennigans just across the way right by Vista Way. I was scared to go to the Little Lake Bryan thing, but I survived, so I figured I had to go to this. And I'm so glad I did. Shenanigans galore! Drinking contests. Arm wrestling. It was so unexpected and such a blast! I think this was the night I was officially welcomed to the club! And really, when you are drinking at the bar with one of your managers, well if that isn't a way to feel initiated then I don't know what is!

From there everything felt different. I was part of a team of really awesome people. I started learning the Indonesian language down on the turntable when it was cold and guests were avoiding us. I have beautiful fabric from Thailand just waiting for the right thing to be used for. I made lasting friendships and learned about places that I never expected to even meet someone from. Heck, I was even proposed to by one, but we can save that for another day.

Eet and I at Halloween Horror Nights

However, before we go I have to address the two girls that made my transition to Florida life easier. Eet, from Thailand, is a total spitfire. We hit it off instantly. She is this tiny little thing, but she has no problem speaking up! I learned a lot from her, and spent a lot of my free time hanging out with her. I was so sad when I had to take her to the airport at the end of her program so she could return to Thailand. And she made me a Build-A-Bear that I still have to this day and sometimes let my little girl play with!

And then there's the one that ended up being my roommate after her program... Moniq from Indonesia! Oh man, what didn't we do together? At the end of the night she and I were often the two Cast Members closing the park, so that's how we started our friendship. This girl knows how to live life! It feels like we were constantly together. Shopping, bars, dance lessons... you name it, we probably did it!

Gosh, just writing this has brought back so many memories of those early days. I was sure some of the cast hated me, but here we are, still Facebook friends to this day. Some scared me, and then I ended up so sad when their final days came. I would even come in on my day off just to say goodbye before my friends would have to head back to their real Asia. It was quite a unique experience and one I hope I will never forget!

Moniq and I closing the park!

º0º See ya real soon!

Tales From the Turntable: Seat belts. Why'd It Have to be Seat Belts?

Seat belts. We all know how to use them. You are legally required to use one when you're in your vehicle. My toddler knows how to do her seat belts in her car seat and swing. Many guests FLY to Orlando for their Walt Disney World vacation. And what is a requirement before an airplane takes off? Seat belts buckled.

So why is it that seat belts are this new, unexplainable, hard to comprehend idea when boarding a raft in Disney's Animal Kingdom?

Upon boarding your raft please sit down and buckle your seat belts First!

Part of a spiel the Expedition Base cast member would read periodically shares this reminder of how you WILL get wet and possibly soaked, and to please buckle your seat belt first. Uh yeah, nobody listened to that spiel, or if they did, they forgot as soon as they took their first step on the moving turntable.

Here's how it works, ideally .... guests would come down the ramp, say how many are in their party, head to the raft they are directed to and step down into the raft. At this point, in our fantasy world, they would slide around to the back, sitting down in groups of two with people in their own party. Odd number groups would be awesome if those two odd folks could then sit together in a seat. Each seat is a pair and the two people would share one seat belt. If we had our way they would sit down, buckle up, and then worry about their belongings they wish to keep dry and be on their way.

FANTASY!! This isn't the Magic Kingdom, but we still had a fantasy!

This is how it really went...

At Guide:

Hi! How many in your party?

     What?

How many in your group today?

     We are group.                                                      mmmm, okay....   OR

     4 

Great, head on over to that raft right there!

At Load:

Welcome Rafters, come on in and please slide allllll the way around to the back. To the back please. Hi, could you keep moving all the way around to the back? Thank you. Two people per seat please, two people per seat. Are you two in the same party? Cool, can you please seat together? Watch your step, please keep moving all the way around, two people per seat. Thank you!

And now at Checker:

Hello Rafters! I need everyone to please sit down and buckle your seat belts first. Please sit down. We need everyone to sit down first please. Seat belts go over both people. One seat belt for two people (this comes with arm movements to explain everything!). No, sir, the seat belt goes over both of you. One seat belt for two people. Ma'am it isn't broken, this side pulls over to meet that side. It is just one long seat belt for both of you. No, there isn't anything in the middle. You each have the end in your hand. Those two buckle together. One seat belt. We need all seat belts buckled first, please. (At this point we have already slowed the turntable speed down and are about to stop the entire turntable because the raft cannot leave without seat belts buckled.) Just click them together. This side goes in right here. Just like an airplane seat belt! Okay, is everyone buckled? Great, have a wonderful time!

And you do all of this with a happy attitude and smile on your face. All. Day. Long.

Sometimes it gets even more complicated. Bobby was kind enough to remind me of a total Hank move.

How many in your party?

        2.

No, you're 4.

I'll let you think on that for a bit.

Four? Well, you cannot ride if you can't get buckled in.

So ... sometimes guests are a bit larger than the seats may allow for two people to sit together and you need to count a person as two. Do you need to SAY that, Hank? No. But we all mentally SHOULD do it. That's when it gets awkward. When you are loading or checking and you see you have a situation where people are not going to get that seat belt over them no matter how hard they try.

I actually had to move a raft over to our private wheelchair dock so a guest could continue trying to get buckled in. He couldn't and he had to get out of the raft, missing out on the opportunity to enjoy the Chakranadi River. Seriously awkward. And it really annoyed me anytime the Guide - or even the Loader who was telling the Guide how many seats were left - didn't take size into consideration. No guest should be embarrassed like that, so if we can think ahead and prevent this situation that is always preferred!

Fun fact: I actually had to show Dana Carvey how to buckle his seat belt.

Fun fact: Years later I ran a Disney 5K dressed as Dana Carvey/Garth Algar!

All of that was for English speaking guests. Just imagine how it goes when they don't speak English! Heck I made some guests happy when I actually used my Indonesian words with them, and then I made some other guests happy when I did not speak their language. I was given a very angry "Don't you speak Swedish?"  Um, no. I don't.

And you wonder why the lines get so long and slow some days.

Sampai Jumpa!

º0º See ya real soon!