On-boarding

Disney.

I'm sitting in my new apartment, lights off, watching Man Versus Wild and listening to my roommate talk to her boyfriend and my other roommates chat in the kitchen.

It's like living at college all over again.

I don't have much time to write, as usual, but since today was a rather big day, I feel you're owed at least something of an entry. So let's begin...

This morning, I was the second one up, which is amazing because it usually takes a sonic boom to get me out of bed. Wait, scratch that, I've slept through a sonic boom. Of course, it took a half hour of rolling around and listening to jabbering morning television, but eventually I got up. While I dressed, my Mom, who seems to always be the first one up, managed to rouse the rest of my family. Sleepily, we headed downstairs to the Holiday Inn Express' continentental breakfast. Nothing too amazing, but I had delicious sausage and had a yogurt spit at me when I opened it.

I found myself amused watching the people around me. Behind me was a tv with the Disney Channel playing (of course). Special Agent Oso was on and I couldn't help but watch as people randomly became entranced with the show. Even my family was swept in, my Dad wondering why Oso was teaching three year olds how to make pancakes and my Mom wondering why Oso is yellow and green. My Dad said it was jaundice from all the drinking.

We headed back upstairs and I tried to grab all my items scattered around the room. I left the food, and Mom and I headed out toward the car, Dad and my sister following soon after. Although I was tired and would've rather gone back to bed, it was beginning to dawn on me what was going to happen today: I was going to become a Disney Cast Member. I was starting to feel a little nervous.

My roommate Alex had called me earlier in the morning to tell me she was going to arrive by 8:30am. I had aimed to live a little early too, so as to make the nine o'clock starting time. Needless to say, the drive to Vista Way had taken just a little longer than usual (traffic). We arrived, my Mom and I in one car, my Dad and sister behind us, and found ourselves having to navigate around the unfamiliar complex. There were signs, of course, and Cast Members directing traffic. I was a little worried about one Cast Member: with my window open, I could hear her directing the car in front of us, and when we pulled up, she repeated the directions in the exact same voice. And then did it again to my Dad and sister. It was like being in the queue for a ride and hearing the same sound track repeated over and over again. Creepy.

I wonder if they train you to do that.

Winding our way on the roads through the close beige complexes, we finally found parking spaces, mine opening up when a nice guy removed a yellow cone blocking a space. From there, my family retraced our path, walking together in the humidity, already building in the early morning. I called Alex trying to figure out where she was waiting for me. We had spotted a white tent full of people that I had presumed was the check-in area, but it turned out to be a tent for family and friends. Proceeding onward, we went around a gentle curve in the road and found a building swarming with teens. I kept walking, past a slow moving family, and turned just in time to hear a Cast Member tell my family they couldn't go any further and would have to go back to the tent. "Bye Kate!" my Mom called, and I was off.

Walking up to the building, which was one story and had "Welcome!" posters featuring classic-style Disney characters, I encountered three or four Cast Members, two standing, the others sitting at a table. I waited behind a person who had walked up before me, and heard her being asked her name. We were getting name tags, but not the officially official Disney ones. Just white oval stickers upon which our first names were written in black sharpie. We were told to put them on our left side, turn to the left, and follow the red carpet. I didn't quite notice the carpet until I was almost off of it. I was busy being distracted by the large group of people I saw before me. It was an outdoor area in the shape of half a hexagon. There was a low metal divider guiding newcomers to the left side, past what looked like a giant postcard featuring the classic characters and welcoming us to Disney (near Donald was the phrase "I'm here and you're not". To my right, beneath a celing of fans, were tables where small groups of people stood, grabbing pens laying in the center and filling out paperwork. Beyond them, in typical Disney fashion, lay a huge line of people winding its way into a building. Over the din of chatter, a dj pumped loud beats.

At the end of the divider, a Cast Member stood, greeting people, answering questions, and handing out thick paper books. She spotted me, said hello and smiled (in Disney fashion), and handed me one of the books. I was instructed to fill it out and the paperwork within. On-boarding had begun.


And that's where I've got to leave it for tonight. More tomorrow, hopefully, but for now, sleep once again is definitely a good idea.