Kids Say the Darndest Things Part 3

Kids say the darndest things and sometimes actions speak louder than words.

I saw a little boy wearing Mickey ears in a stroller being pushed by his mom.

“Whoa! Look at you! You have four ears!”

The little boy looks at me and grins.

“You know what that means right? Now you have no excuse not to listen to Mommy!”

The mom laughs and agrees with me.

The little boy looks at me, looks at his mom and then takes his ears off.

Kids Say the Darndest Things Part 2

One day I saw a little girl dressed as Cinderella. I stopped and said “Cinderella! What are you doing here?”

She just stood there and covered her face with her hands and giggled.

“Cinderella?”

“I’m not Cinderella!”

“What do you mean?”

“I have both of my shoes!”

I asked her if I could have her autograph anyway because I wasn’t convinced she wasn’t the real thing. She giggled and gave it to me!

Hooray for Technology!

We had a pin that we sold that was a special pin for the 40^th anniversary. It was $15.95. What did it ring up as? $1,595!

Kids Say the Darndest Things Part 1

I love stopping and talking to kids, especially the ones dressed as princesses. What I really love is how literal they can be!

One day I stopped and talked to a little blonde girl dressed up as Princess Tiana. I stopped and said “Princess Tiana! What are you doing here?”

“I’m not princess Tiana!”

“What do you mean? You’re wearing her pretty dress!”

“No I’m not her. She’s taller than I am.”

Pam’s Top 10 Guest Questions

….and what I wish I could really say to them. (Or some of the times I do actually say some of the things to the guest, just in a more guest friendly manner.)

It is a very good thing our guests don’t have to take an exam to get in, because there are days when it seems like the park would be empty if we did. The great thing about these off the wall questions guests tend to ask is that it does provide amusement for us.  

[Note: as a reminder I work at the Emporium on Main Street in Magic Kingdom at Disney World.]

10. How come I can’t ship my purchases to (my resort off property)?

Because it’s not a Disney Resort? We may go out of our way for guests, but that’s a little too out of the way!

9. How come you don’t have any Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck/Dora the Explorer/Sponge Bob merchandise?

            Because it’s not Disney?

8. Where can I get the Thing 1/Thing 2 shirts? I see people wearing them around.

           Not here! We can’t prevent our guests from 
           wearing other places’ merchandise. 

7. Will I still be able to get Disney merchandise at Universal (also referred to as “the other Disney park”)?
          You do realize that Disney and Universal are
          two WAY different parks right?

6. Where is Magic Kingdom? /Where is the Emporium? /Where is Main Street?

           Let me get you a map.  

5. Will this fit my child? (Often asked when the child is not present.)

            If you don’t know what size clothing your child wears,
           what makes you think I would?

4. How do I leave the park?

             How did you enter the park??

3. Where is the castle?

             How did you miss it on your way in??

2. Do you work here?

No. I just come to the parks dressed like this because I think its fun. I also stole this name tag from a cast member.

                             

1. What time is the 3:00 parade?

            15:00

The Trouble With Mannequins Part 2

One day I was stocking the 2011/Hat/Magic Kingdom/Pirates of the Caribbean room. I went back to the stockroom to retrieve more hats and come back and see a giant hole on the Pirates wall. So there I am freaking out about how I’m going to fix it when I look down.

There lying on the ground is a poor mannequin. Her arms had been ripped out were lying on top of her. Also missing was her shirt. Not only did they steal the poor mannequin’s shirt, they left her naked lying in a disassembled heap on the floor! 

The Trouble With Mannequins Part 1

The Trouble with mannequins is that our guest can’t keep their hands off of them.

One day I was stocking the women’s clothing section. We had a really cute jacket that at the time we only had a few sizes of. One of our mannequins was wearing the jacket and unfortunately still had the tag on and showed that it was a size we were currently out of.

A woman and her husband came up and this was the conversation that occurred:

Woman: Do you have this jacket in a medium?

Me: Unfortunately we do not ma’am.

Woman: You didn’t go in the back in check.

Me: Yes ma’am that’s because I’ve already checked before. I know we don’t have it in the back.

Woman: Well what about this one on the mannequin? It is a medium.

Me:  I know ma’am but we’re not allowed to sell the clothes on the mannequins.

Woman: Well why not?

Me: Because they’re damaged items that they wear.

Woman: How are you so sure?

Me: Well they’re either damaged before they’re put on the mannequin. And if they’re not already damaged, they are now because they’re stretched and pulled to fit properly.

Man: Well I just don’t understand why you won’t sell this to us! Doesn’t Disney want to make money!?!

Me: Well yes, but not by selling damaged goods to guests.

I finally convince them they can’t take the jacket and they leave. I go back into the stockroom to get more things. When I come back I look at the mannequin.  It was missing the jacket.

Pam’s Top 10 Characters You HAVE to Meet When You Go to Disney World

One of my favorite things to do on my days off is to go and meet characters. So far, I have managed to meet 43! So here it is:  Pam’s top 10 characters you HAVE to meet when you go to Disney World.

10. Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear (AKA Lotso)

He gives HUGS! He’s the hugging bear! He didn’t smell like strawberries though. But he gives hugs! Great big hugs! And he’s funny too. He tried to eat my pen after he signed my book!

9. Mickey Mouse

When you go to Disney World, of course you have to meet the mouse. It is his park after all. He is a lot of fun to meet too. The only drawback is that the lines can be kinda long.

8. Mary Poppens and the Penguins

Mary is cool on her own, but when you meet her with the penguins it becomes even more fun! They are so silly! I also almost ran off with one.

7. Tigger

In true Tigger fashion, he is super silly. My autograph book had beads in the front that make noise when you shake them. So we had a mini dance party right there. I also taught him a new dance.

6. Pirate Goofy

I’m sure regular Goofy is probably like this too, but when Goofy puts on his pirate costume, he turns into a major flirt!

5. Tiana

She is such a firecracker which makes her a lot of fun to talk to! She also has some of the best facial expressions.

4. Raunzel and Flynn

They are so much fun! She’s so sweet and he’s just funny. Bonus: you reenact a scene from the movie before you meet them.

3. Peter Pan

We talked about how cool red heads were. Then we got into an argument about Texas and how there isn’t a second star to the right because Texas is the Lone Star State. I’ve also heard he plays tag sometimes with people.

2. Aladdin and/or Jasmine

Do I really need an explanation for them? They’re just amazing.

1. Stitch (Bonus with Lilo)

He is just so much fun! I have met him in all four parks, and he has never let me down. One day he went through my bag to find my camera for me. One day he made me play a game near us. One day he and Lilo got into a fight over who would sign my book. He is just so much fun!

Honorable Mention:  The princesses. They are so much fun. And they give advice on how to find guys.

           

Making Magic

I’m making magic happen at the Magic Kingdom!

Yesterday, I had to stock plush, which can be a daunting task. There’s just so much to do and so many ways for it to get messed up. But it ended up being fun. I became the plush matchmaker and helped several children find plushes of their very own! I was also the silly hat photographer. We had a rack of silly hats and I would take pictures of families together posing with the hats! It was a very fun day.

But today was the best. I offered a sticker to a little girl but she didn’t want it. So her mom took it instead and put it on. The mom was about to hand the paper the sticker came off of to me when the little girl said she wanted to keep it.

“How come?” the mother asked.

“Because it is my ticket!”

So, I turned it into a ticket. I asked her for her name and wrote "R’s ticket to the Emporium." She got so excited and gave me a big hug! It was so cute! And then she asked me to put my name on it so I did and I also put the date on it for her. She got so excited again and gave me another hug! Her mother laughed and thought it was funny that she was so excited over a piece of paper.  It was so precious and just another reason why I have the best job ever!

The Cat's Out of the Bag

I have exciting news today! I got my first Great Service Fanatic card! WHOOP! GSFs can be filled out by leaders, other cast members, and even guests to recognize cast members for doing great things! So as you can see, this is kind of a big deal. I was really excited to receive one; especially since I had been having fun helping that guest.

In other news, I also had a meeting earlier with other CPs and a few of our managers to help us get to know one another and for the managers to let us know how they (the leaders) can help us (the CPs) during our college program. One of the things we had to do was go around and introduce ourselves, say where we’re from, and what we were studying/studied. So when it got to me I was like “Hi I’m Pam. I’m from Texas. I’m studying marketing.” And then there was a little pause and a few giggles so I followed it up with “And I create awkward moments.” To which the whole room burst out laughing. They actually didn’t stop for several minutes.  So needless to say, I let the cat out of the bag.  Now everyone knows the truth about me. But they can’t say I don’t keep work interesting.

I've Got a Little Story For Ya

Ok. I know. I’m probably the worst blogger ever. But blame it on a lack of time (and for awhile internet). Honestly, I wouldn’t even be blogging right now if it weren’t for the fact that this story is too good to pass up. It is an example of how even though I have moved 18 hours away to Florida I have not changed one bit.

So here’s the scene: My previous shift was over at 2:45 am. Yes, am. That means I didn’t get home until about 3:30. So pretty much not a lot of sleep before I had to go into work again; which meant Pam was tired and being fueled by coke. Also, we have these really nifty lockers that you can see into and are electronic so all you have to do is type in a password and you can use it. The problem is you sometimes get locked out of them. Which I have done before. Several times. But I can’t help the fact that technology hates me! No matter how careful I am it is possible to get locked out.

So picture it: It is finally my break! Yes! Now I can get another coke which I had been thinking about for at least an hour. That’s all I wanted. A coke. I go to my locker, see my bag and type in my password. Didn’t work. Try it again. Didn’t work. Great. I’ve been locked out of my locker. Again. So I go and get a manager who unlocks it for me. Along the way somebody comments about how I’ve locked myself out of my locker again. I then confess that this was probably my 5^th time. (In three weeks, yes I know how bad that sounds, but again NOT MY FAULT).  So he goes an unlocks it for me and I pull out my bad, excited to finally get my coke when I notice that it is not my stuff. And then I realize that I had not been able to use the same locker I normally do and the person who was using it had the exact same bag as me because there was my locker right next to it with my bag sitting in it. I had them open up somebody else’s locker thinking it was my own.

Sad News

So I don't have regular access to internet right now! It isn't working in my apartment and I'm usually busy during the times the computer lab is open. BUT once I get internet I will continue to blog! :)

Disney College Program: You’re Almost Here!

I received another exciting email! “The time has come and you’re almost here!” Yes, Disney, yes. I am almost there! In just 5 (FIVE) short days I will be there!!!

It was also very helpful. It told me how to dress, that I need to follow the Disney look, what I need to bring, where I should go, when I should arrive, etc.

So exciting. 5 days! 5. Almost there!

Disney College Program: See you real soon!

On the subject of emails, I received one that made me super excited! An email telling me that they’ll see me real soon!

It started out “With just a few weeks until you arrive, we hope you are getting very excited for an experience of a lifetime!” Um, hello, I am BEYOND excited. Disney doesn’t have to worry about that! Also, 12 days! 12 days! (That is LESS than a few weeks.)

Then it went on and gave me reminders of stuff. It was a very helpful and exciting email!! Way better than the last one they sent me!

Disney College Program: Date Change Opportunity

That was the subject of an email I received from Disney not too long ago that got me super excited. Was this an opportunity to arrive earlier???

Turns out it wasn’t. Yes, they were offering the opportunity to change my arrival date- to a month later! Silly Disney, I feel like my arrival date is already late enough, why would I want to change it to a later one? (Especially one that would be so late I couldn’t take classes from them.) Then they must have really needed some more people to change dates because they sent another email out with the same opportunity but this one offered a ticket incentive to switch. But that still didn’t change my mind. I cannot wait to get there! Why would I want to wait any longer?

12 days to go. Not that I’m counting or anything.

The Coveted Purple Folder

So the next day after my interview, I went and checked my PO Box. Yes, I realized it had only been a day and it was impossible to expect anything from Disney to be in it, but I checked it anyway. In fact, I checked every day after that. Sometimes even twice a day. It isn’t like the post office was that far away from where I lived. And it was on the way to church. It wasn’t like I was being that unreasonable. Besides, even if there wasn’t anything from Disney, maybe there was a very important piece of junk mail.  How would I know if I didn’t stop by and checked?

So anyway, after about a century of waiting, I finally had something in my box. I open the little door and look in and in it is a letter. A large letter. I scream and fall against the row of boxes, shaking. I peek in. It is still there. I turn away. I peek again. IT WAS STILL THERE! OMG! So with shaky hands I pull it out and there in the corner it says it is from Disney. I scream again…and drop it on the floor. I quickly scoop it up, dust it off, and hug it. Then I jump up and down and scream some more.

As I’m doing this, I am being watched by a post office employee who happened to be sweeping nearby.

“Good piece of mail?” he asks.

“Oh you don’t know how LONG I have been waiting for this!!!” I gush.

And then he laughs at me and continues on. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one he’s seen make a spectacle of themselves in the middle of the post office.

So I run out the door and to my dorm. I didn’t want to open it there and really make a scene of myself. Besides, even though I had something from them it didn’t mean I was accepted. But the fact that it felt thick gave me hope. But still. I couldn’t take any chances and risk crying in the middle of the post office.

So I ran all the way to my sister’s room because it was closer than mine. And I didn’t want to open it alone, because again, what if it was a rejection letter? So I pound on her door and she opens it and sees me. And I know I had to look crazy. My hair was all messed up because I was running in the wind. I had this wild look in my eye. And I also couldn’t stand still. But she lets me in. And I sit on her bed and rip it open. And there it was. The coveted purple folder. It was so shiny. And pretty. And purple. And exciting. And MINE!!!! And I knew it was mine because it said “Congratulations Pam!” IT WAS MINE! FOR ME!

And I was so happy. See look! Look how happy I am:

And if you think I screamed loud in the post office, just ask my sister how loud I screamed in her room. Don’t ask her what I said. I don’t think she could understand it. But it was something like “OMG! OMG! OMG! I’M IN! I’M IN! I’M IN!!!!!”

Application and Interview

Before you can apply to the Disney College Program, you have to either attend a presentation or view the e-presentation. Because A&M's presentations weren't scheduled until November and I already went to one last fall, I just decided to view the e-presentation. I was not going to wait!

So one night shortly after the e-presentations had become available, I finally had tome to sit down and start applying. So picture it: me practically bouncing up and down in my chair as I start the e-presentation, eager to FINALLY be applying to work for Disney. I'm maybe two minutes into the presentation when this annoying and loud sound goes off. Great. It was the fire alarm. Now I know that fire alarms are notorious for going off during the most inconvenient times but REALLY???? It had to go off THEN???? Oh I was so unhappy. So I did what I had to and went out side and waited. And waited. And waited some more. And some more. I don't really know how long I waited, but everyone agreed- it did seem longer than usual.

I finally go back inside and start the presentation. Afterwards, I begin the application process. I fill out my application and complete the roll checklist. After that, I can start the web-based interview. That part was probably the easiest part. Even the time limit on some didn't seem too bad. All I had to do was answer the questions honestly. You shouldn't try and answer them the way you think Disney would want them answered. That's not going to help them get to know you! Anyway, I passed the web interview! I was so excited! For some reason I had convinced myself that I was going to be that person who failed the web interview! Up next was the phone interview.

I had determined to be ready for this interview! I looked up questions so many times. I ran around my room with my phone trying to find the best possible service (my desk or the evil closest that hated me. I went for the desk. Who knew how my closest would try and sabotage me!) I remembered a story that was told during the presentation last year about a girl who had answered the phone for the interview in the bathroom of a concert! I was shocked that she could care that little! But I was determined to not be a "how to not conduct a phone interview!"

When I scheduled it, they reminded me that they would probably call 5-10 minutes early. Me being the paranoid person I am, was ready 30 minutes before. I literally ran out of class and sat by my desk staring at my phone. Finally it was 10 minutes before. Then 5. Then it was the time I had scheduled. By this point I was FREAKING out. Here it was, the time of the interview, and no call. Did I make sure I could receive unrestricted numbers? I did give them my correct number right? Was it really for this time? On this day? Could my phone be dying even though I JUST charged it? Did I really have the best service right here? All of these thoughts were racing through my head and I think I began to hyperventilate a little, all in the span of not even two minutes.

I finally got my call about four minutes after the scheduled time. I was so excited I couldn't breathe. I was a little afraid I freaked out the interviewer with my rushed and frantic "HELLO!" But the interview went just fine. We talked about how much I loved Disney, about my work experience, about the types of jobs I was willing to do, etc. She did ask if I was willing to do other jobs and even suggested a couple she thought I might like based on some of what we had talked about. I thought that was so super nice! She really wanted to help me get a job by offering more possibilities. But I pretty much told her I would do anything. I just wanted to work for Disney. But most importantly I just tried to be myself. Which is really all I could do. Besides, being myself meant I had to mention Disney at least once in a conversation!

Soon the interview was over and it was time to wait. Wait until I heard back whether or not my dream had come true...

The Beginning of my Dreams Coming True

For as long as I can remember I have been in LOVE with Disney. Maybe it was the magic. Maybe it was the music. Maybe it was the Princesses and falling in love. Maybe it was the adventures. Or maybe it was a combination of all of that and more but whatever it was, I was in love with Disney after my first movie.

For about as equally long a time, I have wanted to work for Disney. Disney has given me so much: laughter, joy, smiles, friendship, stories, and most importantly, MAGIC! And I have always wanted to share it with others. I've always wanted to be a part of the magic.

And now I get to! In exactly 18 days I start the Disney College Program. In exactly 18 days I will start the adventure of a lifetime. In exactly 18 days I will journey in A Whole New World of magic.