Disney Milieu

Disney Milieu
Today was Traditions, a day where I learned about the standards Disney traditions and heritage were given by Walt Disney's legacy. It's quite the bit to live up to but I think I'm up to the task. The main point of going to Traditions is to learn that being part of Disney is to make other people smile.
This morning I didn't bounce out of bed with a smile, more like a groan; I had a 6:50 am bus to catch. I got ready for the day but didn't really wake up until 6:10 when my roommate (who also had had to have her Traditions class reschedule at the same time as me) knocked on my door and said we were going to be late. I was wide awake that point! Miss Traditions and postpone everything again? Soo not happening on my watch! Before I bolted out the door, my rommie said that we had 5 minutes to get to the bus stop, I looked at my phone which said that it was 6:10 am. Turns outs that the ole 50-sounds-like-15-trick was the culprit in the misunderstanding and the bus really did leave at 6:50 not 6:15 for Traditions.
Traditions was located at the D.U. or Disney University, I don't remember what the building looked like because I was too busy trying not to freeze and fall asleep. But I do remember that the inside of the lobby was really warm :). Our classroom was 104 and I love the decor! They had different Disney characters sketched stenciled on the wall and then they'd put a strip of colour in the middle. So the picture of Mike and Sully had colour only across their heads. It was pretty cool. I wish I had a picture as an example but I'm a Cast Member not a Guest so I somehow dont think that would make a very good impression on my bosses........:D. Besides I'd feel silly acting like a tourist when dressed up trousers and a blouse.
Speaking of silly, I'm really happy that the two girls teaching Traditions didn't have us acting like EFY kids. You know, they come in and ask how everybody is going so everyone says "Fine", "Good" or whatever in a totally acceptable volume of voice for the inside and then the leader says something like, "Awww that was pathetic! Come on, HOW IS EVERYONE DOING?" and then once people get the hint and scream back "WE'RE DOING GREAT!" and they show their satisfaction by yelling, "MUCH BETTER!". It's fun and everything when you're dressed in cut off holey jeans and flip flops, but you feel very silly doing that when wearing nylons and trousers.
Traditions was so much fun! We covered how to have integrity whilst working and heard a message from Bob Iger (the top executive president) talking about how important it is to uphold the Disney image. Next we assigned a team leader for each table. My leader was named Rem, short for Rememington. I think his mother was a Rememington Steele fan. Next we covered a bunch of important historic dates from Disney history. Like what year Walt was born, who Oswald the luck rabbit was, the year that the first Disney Store opened and things like that. I'm proud to say I knew most of them. Yay me! The girl next to me was a huuuggeee Disney fan too :D so we had fun gushing over Disney. We next learned about the Disney goal: to make happiness by providing the finest in entertainment for all ages everywhere. We also learned about the 4 important cornerstones of how to accomplish this goal; Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficency. One of our teachers asked us to appoint a scribe, every one in my group pointed to me because I have semi nice handingwriting (I think).
We travelled to the Magic Kingdom via the special cast member route, I found out that as scribe I got to write down examples of those 4 things from what I saw exemplified in the park. I had soo many written down! The other girl in my group laughed at my reaction when we first appeared in Main Street, I was super excited because this was my first time in Disney World! Not be cliched but it was magical!! But as wonderful this was, something even better happened next! Once we finished at the Magic Kingdom, we went back to the classroom and restarted the lecture, someone knocked on the door! Our teachers looked puzzled, who could that be?
It was Mickey Mouse! He came up to the classroom with a gift (our Disney IDs!) and wanted to know how was our learning coming along. So the teachers said great and asked Mickey if he wanted to hear what we've learned . Yes was his answer. Our teachers asked who was the Company's founder, "Walt" was the answer. As a prize the boy was given a Donald Duck figurine. One teacher asked Mickey if he wanted to help give out the prizes, of course he wanted to. The next question was "What is the Company's goal?" I was picked and I answered and Mickey Mouse gave me a figurine of himself ! :D My day was made! Oh lol so before the teacher asked the next question, she told Mickey to plug his ears. He just cocked his ears , looked at her and stepped back in surprise. She insisted and he put his hands kinda over his ears. So she asked what was the name that preceded Mickey's name, and a girl answered "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit!". At the mention of Oswald, Mickey really did plug his ears! While that was correct, it wasnt what our teacher was looking for, it was really how Mickey was originally going to be named Mortimer.
After Mickey left, we learned about making sure we go the extra mile to make our Guests happy, and not spoil the magic that we all work so hard to create. Like doing something nice or being really friendly to the Guests because that's what they will remember the most. It's true, and besides who wants to ruin someone else's holiday? They really stressed to keep the magic alive for everyone, no matter what their age is. So that means no what your age is, if you're going to ask me how many Mickey Mouses there are, I'm going to tell you, "Just one, it's Mickey Mouse not Mickey Mice afterall". Well once I'm not a Cast Member I can, right now I'd probably just smile and say " There's only one Mickey"; part of keeping the magic is done by not being smart mouthed to the Guests........I may or may not have to work on that one........
Soo once we were done learning about well, everything! We got our our name tags!!!!!! WHEEE!!! I'm offically part of the Disney team now :D :D :D!!! This is a pretty deal :D Once my roommie and I got out of Traditions and I sorted out the rest of my schedule, we did the only sane, normal thing that a brand new member of the Disney team would do- we headed over to the parks! We actually went to the Magic Kingdom because my roommate wanted to see my face when I first spotted the Cinderella Castle. GORGEOUS!
We got on Space Mountain, and just like everything else, it weirded me out! For almost everything is really similar to Disneyland but it's different. Like Main Street's building's colours are similar and positioned closely to Main Street USA but they're huge! It's kinda like Disneyland on steroids at Disneyworld. Oh so confession: I like Disneyland's Space Mountain definitely better than Disney World's. DW's Space isn't dark so you can see the tracks and the music is quirky and the ride is slow! It's like you're slowly spiralling down whereas DL's Spce is fast, has matching music playing and is exciting. But I still liked DW's Space :D.
I did a bit of shopping, literally a bit cause I bought a purse and a ID holder. And so tonight I really did find out that one can cut up potatoes with a mere butter knife. I still dont recommend it. But I got home and realised that unless I tried, I would be eating baked beans for the 4th meal in a row. I shuddered and quickly went to work.
Well that's pretty much it for today's Grand Adventure. Tomorrow I get to wake up at 5 am. I haven't had to wake up before 7 for a class since I graduated from Seminary! Still, I think I'm going to love it here. TTFN!