Disney University Graduate

Disney University Graduate

3^rd February 2012

Getting out of bed this morning was a nightmare, my alarm didn’t go off - again. Luckily Aideen rang and got me out of bed shortly after 7am.

Today we were due to spend eight hours learning about Disney Traditions at Disney University. How the hell could we spend eight hours learning about Disney? Well, it happened!

During the training there were some overly “Disneyfied” people, mainly girls. The Disney trainers came across as almost fake, they were overly happy and excited for no reason. Everyone seemed too excited while the 97% of the trainees looked completely lost! At the end of each video or presentation we had to clap and cheer, it seemed completely bazar! “Oh my Gosh! I’m so happy for you guys. You are now starting on this new Disney experience. You are all now a part of the Disney team. Congratulations! I’m so happy and excited for you all”. I guess a simple "welcome" isn’t part of the Disney style?

So what did we learn about? Well, first, after picking up our Disney Tradition handbook, we had to introduce ourselves to other people at the table and write their names down. Their names were, of course, written down in the "New Found Friends" section of our Disney Traditions handbook.

Next, we were given a team activity, writing (in our handbooks) as many Disney animated characters as possible in 90 seconds. Thanks to Aideen and Clarita I was nominated as team leader. Unfortunately, we lost the task by 1 Disney character. We were beaten by the overly hyped Disney fanatics so I guess we did a pretty good job, considering.

Our common goal while working at Disney is “We create happiness by providing the finest in entertainment for people of all ages, everywhere”. This is a quote we have to live by.

Something interesting that I found out, my ship, Disney Magic, was built in 1998, making it's first journey on 30th June 1998. Disney Magic is the first Disney Cruise Line ship. Disney Fantasy is preparing its first voyage/test cruise from Germany in March. On the Disney Dream, Hernan’s ship, in one of the dining room is an animated talking turtle that kids can actually have a conversation with. This, I was dazzled by! Who needs friends when you've got a talking turtle?

I’m not 100% sure if I’m allowed to say this, or if it’s classified as “Top Secret” but there’s a huge tunnel that runs beneath Magic Kingdom, a bit like an I-95 on a ship. Disney, of course, have their own word for this, the Utilidoor. It’s a 9 acre tunnel with passages leading off to allow Disney characters to get to where ever they need to be fast. Also, as Magic Kingdom is zoned, Disney doesn’t really want Captain Jack Sparrow walking around the Space Land to get to Adventure Land.

The most amusing part for me were the words Disney use. Consider it “Disney Speak”:

Children don’t get lost, their parents do! “Children with lost parents”

You cannot say kids, they are not baby goats. Children must be referred to as children.

On Stage – when you are in a guest area. You are basically on show and have to act as if you are up on stage performing.

Back Stage – Crew areas where guests will not see you therefore you can drop the act.

The Disney Look – looking the part for when you’re on stage.

Disney Scoop – picking up someone’s rubbish while working. You could be talking to a guest, see some litter on the floor, bend down and pick it up and later, when you get a moment, dispose of it.

Red Party – Formally known as “Bravo” on all ships, is a fire emergency.

Blue Party – Serious incident that is not related to a fire emergency.

Bright Star – also known as “Alpha”, is the medical emergency

Mr. MOB – quite possibly the most ridiculous of them all, is what we all know to be “Oscar” or Man Over Board. See what they’ve done there?

Disney apparently don't have a "Charlie" or emergency code word for security threat.

The best though, one that had me, Clarita and Aideen rolling up was “There’s a turtle in the pool”. Yes, you’ve got it! It’s code word for: a kid’s taken a dump in the pool! Another term is “AFR” unfortunately, I have no idea what that stands for. Turtles good enough though!

A child’s just thrown up? No, on Disney, they like to say a child’s just had a “protein spill”. I’m not joking! Some had me absolutely shocked!

One of the best quotes from Walt Disney himself was about the Magic Kingdom saying (the objective of something as magical as the Magic Kingdom) was “Escape is the Destination”. For some reason it stuck out like a sore thumb for me. I loved it and in many ways, it’s an extremely truthful quote. There are numerous ways of looking at it, but at the end of the day, escaping is what a lot of us are looking for, even if it’s for a one week holiday.

Another highlight for the day, was watching Clarita walk into a waist high pole… how she didn’t see it, we don’t know. It had Aideen and I in stitches!!

During the day, we even had Mickey Mouse come in and say hello. Plus, we were given little presents for answering questions correctly, I got a little Goofy. Aideen was lucky enough to get a Mickey Mouse from Mickey himself – even though she answered the question wrong and was misheard. Classic Irish moment from Aideen there!

My mind's in a bit of a muddle at the moment. I can’t really remember what else happened today. It seems so surreal!

At the end of the day we got our name bages. Clarita, Aideen and I are concessionaries (Clarita and I work for The Image Group while Aideen is Steiner) and we were more than disappointed with our name badges. As Clarita put it “we’re given second rated name badges.” As we aren’t Disney we aren’t entitled to have the “Disney Cruise Liner” or stars on our badges, we’ve just got plain white things. Also, we don’t have our job on our badges like you would working on a Royal Caribbean ship. For example, my name badge said “Louise Tickle. England (Home country). Photographer (job role) and Spanish flag (in my case – the languages that I speak)”. My name badge just states my nickname, "Lou". Apparently, I can get a Spanish flag added to my badge when I board the ship. I hope so.

After a long day, Clarita’s gone to bed (it’s only 18.50 here) so I’m going to shove a few things in my case and head out with Aideen for something to eat. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, for sure. We are getting picked up from the hotel at 05.00!! That’s something I’m really not looking forward to. I cannot wait to see the Disney Magic cruise ship though.

Hernan sent me a message today saying he’s enjoying himself on Disney Dream, the money is good but you work very hard for it. Hopefully we’ll cross in one port. Fingers crossed.

On a final note,  I am pleased to announce that I am now a University graduate after graduating Disney University! Now that is something to tell the grandchildren…

Aideen and myself boarding the Disney Cruise Line Bus to Disney University

We were part of Team Pooh believe or not!

Another Team Pooh Member

Mickey Mouse even Popped in to say Hello

Disney University

Disney University Graduates

My name badge - As non-Disney as can be!


Goofy - I got a question right

To The Magic Kingdom

To The Magic Kingdom

2^nd February 2012

Today didn’t start off as planned. At 23.30 last night, Luis from Image, contacted me to confirm that I was to wait outside the hotel at 08.10 for the shuttle to take me to Disney training. I was there five minutes early, just in case. After ten minutes, I walked into reception and asked to be put through to Clarita’s room. Clarita is another Image photographer attending Disney training. Her alarm hadn’t gone off but she’d been told we were due to be picked up at 06.45. At 08.30 it was obvious no one was coming.

Luis contacted Clarita to find out what was going on. We explained. Disney then called us and said they were arranging a taxi. Unfortunately we had to pay for the taxi – a whopping $28 for a 15 minute ride.

Once at Disney Casting, we were sent from place to place, no one really seemed to know what we were doing there. This all added to our confusion. Finally, we found someone who could help us. She took us into a small room where we had to fill out three pieces of paper consisting of numerous questions from eye colour to weight to passport number. Anymore and they’d be asking our bra size!

We were told a taxi was coming to collect us and take Clarita and I to Celebrations. We were then left outside the casting building, still confused and unaware of what was going on. In many senses we were passed around, place to place and then just left without any clue as to what we were supposed to be doing.

To top it off we were asked about three or four times why we were late. This caused the Disney workers some dismay at the fact we were all told different times. To be honest, the entire thing was completely shambolic!

Finally a taxi pulled up. It wasn’t long until we realized we were heading back in the direction of the hotel. When the cab pulled up at the hotel, we didn’t know quite what to make of the situation. The cab driver couldn’t believe that we didn’t know Celebrations address or that we’d just been piled into a cab, with no idea as to where we should have been going in the first place. In the end it made more sense to get the driver’s name, go to our rooms and call Disney Casting.

The lady that I spoke to at Disney Casting was most put out that we’d been sent back to the hotel, even though someone from that department had ordered the cab. After explaining the situation, the reply I got was “and you let the driver leave! Why?” What else were we supposed to do? We were put on hold for a few minutes listening to “A Whole New World” from Disney’s Aladdin. “Ok. You didn’t need to go to Celebrations because you are photographers. You have the (Disney) passes, so make the most of them”. Turns out we weren’t in the wrong after all.

The best part about going to Disney Casting today was the fact that we were given two day complimentary park hopper (passes) for Disney World. It was still early so we gathered our stuff and Clarita and I headed off to Disney’s Magic Kingdom to do some exploring.

The moment we arrived at Magic Kingdom, Clarita and I both reverted into a childlike state. “oooh” and “aaaarrr” were the most over used words coming from our lips! The cameras were out within seconds. Just the Ferry Boat to the Magic Kingdom had us with our mouths dropping open. You could see the famous Disney Castle getting closer and closer, hyping us up more and more.

Magic Kingdom was a completely different world, it looked absolutely amazing! Stunning! The Main Street made you feel like you’d walked into another era, stepped back in time. Kids were running around like headless chickens, unable to contain their excitement and we weren’t far behind them.

The Disney Castle was probably the highlight, it is simply breath taking. The entire Magic Kingdom is, but the Disney Castle had that little bit extra. It was the cherry on the cake!

The only let down of Disney were the queues. Some rides had 50 minute waiting lines. The first ride we went on had the shortest queue and once on the ride, we found out why. “The Happiest Cruise You’ll Ever Go On” said the banner… this should be interesting.

Hopping into little boats we bobbed along the water and soon the most irritating music started playing “it’s a small world after all… it’s a small world after all… it’s a small world after all”. Looking around there were hundreds of childlike moving puppets, singing, dancing and playing instruments. Even their eyes blinked! Being surrounded by moving dolls is only one below to being surrounded by a room full of spiders. In short, I was terrified! Clarita was enjoying my obvious discomfort but after a while, she too, began to feel a bit freaked out.

We headed back to the Castle for a show. “Dreams Come True” featured a large number of well-known Disney characters; Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Peter Pan, Snow White (and Prince Charming), Sleeping Beauty (with her Prince Charming) and Cinderella (yes, she was with her Prince Charming, too), the evil witch from Sleeping Beauty and Captain Hook. It was great fun for us but the kids were over the moon. They were bobbing away with their little Mickey Mouse ear caps on their heads.

Walking around, taking it all in we came across a Pirates of the Caribbean ride which didn’t seem to have much of a queue. Getting into another boat we started floating down barely lit tunnels. This was payback time as Clarita was now starting to get scared. Suddenly we were in pitch black and the boat took a dip down a sharp slide. “This is going to be a laugh” I thought, but my expectations were short lived as we came to a near halt.

Slowly drifting along, we came to a huge open space where a battle was taking place between the Black Pearl and another pirate ship.  Flashes and smoke were coming out of the ship’s canons and “exploding” close to our little boat, splashing us all. The kids loved it and so did we, even if it did look like I’d wet myself, thanks to a canon ball!

Moving on, we slowed down again, drifting into a dungeon type area with grotty looking mannequins – again Clarita and I started to feel uneasy about the things looking so life-like and blinking. It was the blinking that really gets you nervous.

Towards the end, Jack was sitting in a throne, surrounded by gold and treasure, as drunk as a skunk and singing while waving a goblet of booze about. Ride over.

Unfortunately time was ticking so we had a nose around some of the shops as Clarita was determined to find a set of Mickey Mouse ears and I had to buy a magnet. While pratting around in one of the shops I tried on a pair of Mickey Mouse ears headband with a wizard’s hat (think Fantasia). In a way I was reluctant to hand over $15 for something so silly as Mickey Mouse ears, but I simply had to join in the with the crowds and act the clown.

For sure, in six months I won’t want anything to do with Disney after being driven mad by it all. Until then, I thought I might as well goof around while being in a place where it’s seen as legally sane to walk around with great big mouse ears sticking out from your hair!

Before going in search for the shuttle bus back to the hotel, we decided to cross the little river and have a look on the small island. Clarita has my Park Guide and I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of the island. Either way, we waited 20 minutes to get there to find out here was nothing – and I mean nothing there. A couple of mine tunnels which lead you around in a circle and a windmill. That was it. We actually felt quite defeated by going through all the effort to get there, to find nothing.

Going back we got stuck in a huge queue, waiting to cross the "river". People asking the same question as us, “what was the point in that?” What felt like a life time, turned out to be 45 minutes, we were back on the raft and back on “main land”.

Quickly popping into another two shops – I got my “Walt Disney World” magnet – we decided to head back on the free shuttle bus rather than forking out for $20-$25 for a taxi.

While chatting at the bus stop, a girl called over and asked if we were going to work on Disney Cruise Line. Turns out Aideen, from Ireland, is also joining Disney Magic (same as Clarita and I) and works for Steiner. She’s a spa girl. It was her first contract and she seemed quite unsure of what to expect and what she was experiencing. The whole way back to the hotel we were answering her questions and reminiscing about our first contracts. Turns out Clarita was on the Mariner of the Seas too (way before me) and was later transferred to Adventure of the Seas.

Back at the hotel, I received a call from Luis asking how things had gone. I gave him the whole story and to be honest, he wasn’t impressed with what I’d told him. Apparently, this wasn't the first time it's happened. He agreed it was completely shambolic and said it was unacceptable. Now he was trying to get to the bottom of it all to avoid these sort of cock ups, miscommunications and so on in future.

Meeting up with Clarita and Aideen again, we headed out to a Chinese buffet just down the road for something quick, easy and cheap to eat. Me, being a royal bozo, I forgot my wallet in my room so Aideen was good enough to pay for me. I’ll pay her back tomorrow when I see her at training.

Aideen told us the shuttle bus was coming to pick us all up at 07.45 but we should probably get there 15 minutes early to avoid anything like what happened this morning. It was a great laugh with the two girls tonight.

The funniest moment came when we opened our fortune cookies. Clarita was basically told not to flash her treasures to avoid people wanting them. This had us rolling up laughing, thanks to our dirty minds. Mine was something about keeping a certain distant “HE” close. It left some head scratching but later a penny dropped. What the hell, it’s a coincidence – nothing more!! 

Let the Memories Begin!

Main Street to the Castle

 Stepping Back in Time

Clarita and I at the Magic Kingdom's Castle

Clarita and Minnie Mouse

Dumbos

The Fairy Tale Castle

Another Photo-Op with the Castle

Dreams Come True

Dreams Come True with Donald Duck, Minnie and Mickey Mouse and Goofy

Princesses - Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Snow White (and 3 Prince Charmings)

AUCTION: Take a Wench for a Bride!

Dungeons

We HAD to!

Copying Walt Disney & Mickey Mouse - Fail!

Walk Disney, Mickey Mouse and Disney's Famous Fairytale Castle

...And It's Goodnight From Me...

Something Tells Me I'm in the States...

Something tells me I’m in the States…

1st February 2012

...Could it be that nothing in this country is done on a small scale? Everything is massive and every over the top. A complete contrast to what I’ve experienced recently in Uruguay, a tiny country with an even smaller population. The enormity of it all hit me while in transit from Orlando International Airport to the Best Western hotel on Maingate Lake Side Resort. It’s an alien world!

Going back to the airport quickly; there was a bit of an episode at customs. Mainly because I didn’t have a return ticket out of the United States. Of course, I’m a crew member so it shouldn’t have mattered, I had everything I needed. After answering a series of questions fired off by Customs I was taken to one side and left in a small waiting room. The officer told me that he had to get my occupation, visa and letter of employment verified. So I waited, waited and waited some more. Forty five minutes later I was handed back my paperwork and told I was free to go, but not before having to tell another officer what my next ship was and that I was a photographer for Image. 

The directions Image provided for the shuttle bus to the hotel were brilliant and I found the place with no troubles whatsoever. Handing the hotel address over to the lady at the counter she sneered at the information provided by Image, commenting “well, I don’t know who gave you this, but the shuttle bus hasn’t been $17 for a very long time”.

“That’s okay, how much is it nowadays?” I asked. Hernan has told me it was $21 last week so I was hoping it hadn’t gone up again.

“$21 one way, $32 return”. I’ve found somewhere that charges more for transportation than London does at peak times!!!

I ordered a single. Again the lady seemed peeved. She asked why I didn’t want a return, I’d have to leave the country at some point. The words “mind your own business” sprang to mind. Instead, I simply told her I was a crew member and therefore only needed a single. That single ticket was then printed and thrown in my direction. The $21 was launched in her direction, a smile plastered on my face.

Outside I handed my ticket over to another lady, who was telling people which shuttle bus they needed to get on. I was handed a round electronic device and told “when it lights up, come find me”. Even a brunette would have been confused by this! Thirty minutes later, I was packed onto a shuttle bus and on my way to the hotel.

To be fair, the whole of Orlando seems to be revolved around Disney World. While waiting for the shuttle two Disney Cruise Line buses drove past.

Some of the hotels are absolutely immense! A couple of kids on the shutter bus were put out about not staying in "one of those hotels". There was even a Nickelodeon hotel! I was flabbergasted!

The Best Western Hotel is a dump, putting it nicely but hey, I guess it’s better than the cabin beds I shall soon be sleeping in. Dumping my cases on the floor, I brushed my teeth and headed out with my camera. There’s very little around the hotel, mainly Disney gift shops and fast food joints.

In the end I found a supermarket (and no Dad, it wasn’t a Walmart) and got some bits and bobs for the ship. Finally, after months of unsuccessful searching in Uruguay, I found black and white trainer socks. My uniform is now complete!

Back at the hotel, I managed to contact a few people to let them know I'm alive. The parents are out. Later on I found out they were at the hospital getting my mom prepared for her chemotherapy, which starts very soon. Today she had something inserted into her chest to allow the doctors to pump medication into her without her veins collapsing. It’s located near the tumour which I’m guessing is a bit of a bonus.

With nothing else to do I headed out in search of food. Travelling really does give you a case of the royal munchies! You don’t have to look far. The smell of fast food is rich in the air. Walking along the pavement there were towering signs for McDonalds, Denny’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendy’s and so on.

A few people have commented on how awful Wendy’s was… so I thought I’d go for it. It wasn’t actually as bad as I thought it was going to be. I think I was gearing myself up for the worst. Having said that, whatever was in lodged in between the two bed buns vaguely resembled and tasted chicken!

Thinking of the hotel, I remember Hernan calling me from there last week. He’d commented on how dingy the place was and that it was a ghost town. He was right, there was no one around. I felt sorry for him and guilty that I couldn’t speak to him longer at the time. To be honest, I’m a bit down in the dumps since arriving here in Florida. I never thought I’d use the words “Florida” and “feeling down in the dumps” in the same sentence, yet here I am, putting it into writing. I guess it’s the whole new country, new surrounding and you are completely on your own, not knowing what to do or where to go. The thought of hiring a car popped into my head but had to be dismissed within seconds.

After getting in the shower I’m starting to feel a bit more relaxed about things. It’s now 9pm here in Florida (2am GMT) and I’ve not heard a thing from Image or Disney about training tomorrow. Slightly worrying as it does feel like no one knows that I’m here. Speaking to the voice of reason, aka my Dad, he told me to wait until the morning (as it was by then 8pm here) and give Image a call, see if they can shed some light on things. If I get a call at a random time in the morning saying I’m late for training, it can’t be helped, I knew nothing on the subject.

Maybe I’m just being a ratty tart because I’m shattered from travelling and my body clock is completely out of sync?

Looking on the bright side of things, I’m in the States again, preparing for another contract, going to see more of the world and things can only get better… right?

Something tells me I'm in America...

Choices for Dinner: BK, Denny's or McDs

Amazing Sunset from my Hotel Room - the photo doesn't do it any justice!

Panama City Airport

Panama City Airport

1^st February 2012

Panama City - 07.00 (12.00 GMT)

The plane has touched down at Panama City and the gate to my next flight was straight in front of the one I've exited. Handy.

The flight to Orlando is going to be jam packed with children, traveling to Disney World and there’s already a little one laying of the floor, kicking her shoes off and having a screaming tantrum. Oh and there’s more,  she’s just karate kicked her sister in the head – twice!

Also in the queue to board the plane are Team Toselli made up of about 5 men and 30 teenager girls. All have matching backpacks stating “The Magic Experience” and “Team Toselli” shirts. It’s all Disney but are they going to Disney World or Disney Magic cruise ship?

There are even a pair of Mickey Mouse ears going past. It’s safe to say, I’m definitely getting close to Disney World…

**Update**

08:00 – 13.00 – Panama City Airport

When most of the people had boarded the plane, I decided to stop blogging and get in line. Closer to the front I realized everyone was having their bags searched as well as being tapped down. As always I thought of all the equipment in my camera bag (2 DSLRs, 2 lenses, batteries, external hard drive etc.) and felt sorry for those who were standing behind me. Searching me, thanks to my equipment, can take a very, very long time.

Opening up the top pocket zip, the security guards pulled out my cigarettes and proceeded to take them out the box. What was she doing? A scary thought that she might throw them away, popped into my head. A couple of seconds later and the penny dropped – she was looking for drugs inside my cigarette packet. As I had cigarettes, I of course, had a lighter. Upon  finding this the female security guard went into a frenzy pulling everything out of the pocket until she found a second lighter. “You aren’t taking these” she told me before chucking two lighters in the bin.

Zipping up the pocket, she tapped down the sides of my camera bag, going back up again, she pulled a face as if it say “what have I found here?” before giving my camera backpack two slaps and a shake. I winced in pain at the sight of my cameras getting knocked about or the thought of them getting broken somehow.

Pushing my bag roughly towards me and pointed towards the plane “Go now”. I didn’t need to be told twice…

**Update**

10.07 – 15.07 (GMT)

How the hell I’m going to put up with little children while on Disney Magic, I don’t know. So far everything has gone really well. Luckily enough I’ve managed to sleep most of the way, until about fifteen minutes ago.

Unfortunately for me, I’m sitting next to one of the girl’s from “Team Toselli”. At first that wasn’t a problem until her two friends came down to wake her up and keep her company. Shouting, laughing, pulling the back of my chair – why can’t they go away?! The constant “I want to get there already” is driving me insane, that, and the popping of their bubble gum!

Another hour and a half to go...

Chapter 2 Begins

Chapter 2 Begins!

1^st February

Montevideo, Uruguay – 01.45 (03.45 GMT)

I guess I spoke too soon!

Approximately 30 minutes after posting my last blog, I received an email from Image. The first was to ask if I’d still be leaving from Montevideo, Uruguay. The second was to inform me that they were working on getting my flight details to me today (it was 9pm in Uruguay). Literally 10 minutes later, a third email popped into my inbox. My flight details for 1^st February, leaving Montevideo at 02.30. That kind of buggered up my plans to go out with the parents to celebrate my 25^th birthday on the 31^ST January. As my Dad keeps reminding me “the sooner you get started, the sooner you finish.”

My birthday was great though. Splendour of the Seas was in Punta del Este port and as usual it’s always brilliant to see Leandro, Gabi, Luci and Caio. Unfortunately Caio got lost on the way to or from the ship (tendering) but at least I got to see him once more. The photos are going to bring back some fun memories that’s for sure. I'll try and upload some when I've got some spare time in Orlando (my memory cards and external hard drive are safely packed).

Birthday aside, it’s now time to start the second chapter of my journey as an Image Cruise Ship Photographer. Rather than going back to a Royal Caribbean ship, Image are dispatching me to Disney Magic. Before signing on to Disney Magic I’m due in Orlando, Florida for Disney training, or “Disney Traditions” as they like to call it.

There have been so many horror stories about what to expect from Disney ships. Thousands of children – obviously, it isn’t something I’m glowing with optimism about as I am simply not a fan of kids! Especially not screaming children who have a limited vocabulary of “I want, I want, I want!” Apparently there is ZERO alcohol on board for us crew and no Back Deck or Crew Bar. On top of all that, Disney are about as strict as they come with an endless list of rules. The money though, is good so I’ll be happily quids in. Trying to keep an open mind about it all is proving to be difficult but we’ll see what happens.

Right now, I’m in Carrasco Airport in Montevideo. It’s 01.50 (03.50 GMT) here and it’s just a case of waiting for my first flight to Panama City before jumping on a second towards Orlando.

The popper button of my jeans keeps popping off causing not only a huge amount of embarrassment and amusement for me, but others surrounding me too! It’s safe to say, I am getting some strange looks hiding behind my netbook fiddling with my buttons!

The first flight is 7.5 hours. My fingers are crossed that sleep envelopes me as soon as I board.

Quick note: Becks: HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU, TART!!!!

Mom and Dad: I’ll see you soon! Love you loads.

Gabi, me and Leandro

Gabi and Leandro

Piggy Back Rides