When I arrived, I headed inside where all the other Disney College Program participants were already waiting. I'm glad I got there when I did because they started breaking us off into groups around 7:25 - over half an hour before Traditions was set to start!
There's some really cool stuff inside Disney University. I never heard anything about not taking pictures and I know people saw me taking them, so I'm hoping it's ok to post these!
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| These little guys are coming out of the ceiling in the lobby! |
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| Clay maquettes created for Snow White's Scary Adventures! |
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| Service awards you can earn for being with the company for a certain amount of years. (I want that Simba!) |
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| I *think* this is wear they sell cool cast member merchandise. |
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| My hero!!! |
We talked about how all Disney stories have things in common, such as Timelessness and Optimism. We also talked about immersing the guests into the show with the five senses.
Around 10:45, we came back from a break to a wonderful new activity! We were headed to the Magic Kingdom! We split off into two teams - ours was Team Jessica Rabbit - and were given little headpieces to wear so we could hear our facilitators while we were in the park.
We got on a bus in the Magic Kingdom cast member parking lot, which is right next to Disney University. It was really cool getting to see the back of facades throughout the backstage area. When we arrived, we headed right into the Utilidors, the Magic Kingdom's "underground" tunnel system. I say "underground" because they're actually above ground level. The Magic Kingdom was built on top of them and is actually on the second floor!
Things I noticed inside the Utilidors:
- They were playing Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"
- There was a guy walking around with a fake head covered in face prosthetics
- It didn't smell like garbage, like I've heard others say
- There were lots and lots of pipes
- There are signs next to all the staircases, indicating which land or area they will come out in
Once we emerged, we walked over to and entrance to Main Street U.S.A. Walking onstage from a backstage area was probably the coolest part of this experience for me. It was just so neat seeing all these things that happen backstage and comparing it to the overall result.
We walked down Main Street and headed to Storybook Circus, where we were supposed to identify examples of Disney's Four Keys: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. We were basically being chased by the Move it! Shake it! Celebrate it! parade the whole time, so it was very loud.
After that, we went backstage again and got on a bus to head back to Disney University.
When we got back, we went over a few more things and then we got ANOTHER surprise. Someone was at the door!
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| MICKEY!!! |
And guess what he brought us?! Our official Disney College Program name tags!
Traditions wasn't quite as magical as I thought it would be from all the things I've read about it, but maybe that was the problem - I already knew pretty much everything that was going to happen. I did earn two little figurines for answering questions during Traditions, though, as seen above! I can say this was the best company orientation I've ever experienced. They mixed in a lot of fun with a lot of information, so it made all the more boring stuff bearable.
After Traditions was over, I headed over to Cast Connection and Property Control, which I will be making an entirely separate post about!
I remember my first traditions when we went to the Magic Kingdom. I was excited about entering the Utilidors and seeing all of that (the trash smell is hit or miss, but tends to be worst under Frontierland and Tomorrowland). It was a bit surreal, because as a guest you are so used to taking the ferry or the monorail to get to the park, and going through this big production. Then suddenly you find yourself going through an entirely different type of production in which you can't even see the park which you are supposedly under. At one point the facilitator was like "and right now we are standing directly underneath Cinderella's castle" and I remember thinking "there is no way that is true!"
ReplyDeleteBut the magic, for me anyway, happened when we walked up the stairs and out onto Main St. The park was virtually empty, and in a day of new things where was finally something familiar, and I thought to myself "I'm here. I made it. I can't believe I get to work here!"
Glad to hear things are going well and I'm enjoying reading your blog. War Eagle!
And yes, Company D is where you can buy cast exclusive merchandise and discounted park tickets. There our several other locations around property, but I think that one and the one at Team Disney are the only two that you can bring non-cast members to.
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