Greetings From Pleasure Island

It's been a few days, but we've all been crazy busy and I think we're all about ready to settle into some sort of routine. I'm going to go backwards, because Wednesday was definitely the most blog-worthy day I've had so far. The past couple days have mainly just been training, doing computer classes, etc. Boring but necessary things like that. Last night, all four of us roommates were home, but instead of doing something fun in Orlando we just sat, had dinner, then read/watched movies. We felt so old.

Friday night we did do a little, though. Alex couldn't make it, she had to get up super early on Saturday for work/training, but Corri, Allie, me, and another girl, Megan, went to Downtown Disney and had dinner at Paradisio 37 then shopped for a little bit. Cast Members get 40% merchandise until February so we're all trying to take advantage of it now! Even though Downtown Disney was pretty crowded, we were seated with no wait whatsoever (Disney magic, I tell you), and we even had a window table so we could see the Wishes fireworks! We couldn't hear the music, but I was able to narrate what part of the script it was at depending on what fireworks were going off. Maybe I've seen it too many times...who, me, obsessed? Never.

Anyway, back to Wednesday. Corri and I had to be ready to catch a bus at 6:45 AM to our Traditions class. Once we got there, we were separated into several different class-sized groups. Anyone who works for Walt Disney World has to go through Traditions class, regardless of their role. We watched a bunch of videos, many of which had clips of my favorite guy, Walt Disney himself, and we played games, such as naming as many Disney animated characters as possible (my team won, I was pretty excited). Then we started talking about the "4 Keys" of Disney World: safety, courtesy, show and efficiency. However, instead of just learning about them in a classroom setting, our facilitators surprised us and we were off to tour the Magic Kingdom itself! Touring MK as a cast member is different than seeing it as a guest. Remember, we were backstage. So we hopped a bus from Disney University to...(something I've been wanting to see for years)...

THE UTILIDORS!! If you aren't a Disneyphile, let me explain. When Disney World was first being built, Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake were both created. The land excavated to build these man-made water areas was used to "build up" the area that was to be the Magic Kingdom. So technically, MK is on the second floor. What's on the first floor, you ask? The utilidors. It's what makes the magic happen. It's a massive series of tunnels, offices, and other rooms (including Costuming and the Mouseketeeria), under nearly every square foot of the Magic Kingdom. It's why you'll never see anyone in a Tomorrowland costume walking down Main Street, and it's how characters just seem to magically appear in their specific autograph areas. It's how trash disappears and it's where ambulances wait for a call, if need be. On the way there, we actually drove by major construction areas and were allowed to see inside the much-anticipated Fantasyland Expansion area. Our facilitator was amazing and told us a lot about the expansion, but I don't think we're really supposed to talk about it, so I'm not sharing the secrets! He also just told us a ton of Disney trivia; a lot of things I didn't even know, and I would consider myself a Disney trivia expert. So, once we were there we got to come out from backstage and wander around the parks a bit, looking for examples of Disney's 4 Keys. Then we headed back to Disney University where we did a few more activities and watched more videos about Walt and the creation of WDW.

While that might not sound too exciting, Traditions was really amazing. I'm going to do an entry sometime about why I love Disney so much, so I'm trying to keep the adoration for Walt at a minimum right now so I won't sound repetitive later, but honestly, going backstage at MK and watching Walt made me want to cry. People have warned me that working here and seeing everything happening backstage will take away the magic, but I think the opposite is true. Knowing how much work goes into creating magic for the people visiting, and seeing how much the employees here care about keeping Walt's dream alive, makes it even more amazing. I apologize because I feel like I'm rambling here, but it's hard to put exactly how I feel into words. So, in the words of Walt himself, "To all who come to this happy place, welcome! Disneyland is your land." Those sentiments are still an integral part of the Disney experience, and that's the most magical thing of all.

Have a magical day!