Traditions

All together now...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBHZFYpQ6nc

TRADITION!
TRADITION!
TRADITION!

I know, I know, I need to finish writing about everything that went on for my first day. But I've got to interject my writing with more writing because today I had Traditions.

Traditions, just so you know, is essentially a "welcome to Disney" class. It's an overview of the Company, as well as a business presentation on practices and standards, and since we get paid for it, it's our official start date too.

Today's fun began early for me. Very early. I had to catch a 6:45am bus for a class that started at 8am and lasted through noon. I'm not really a morning person. I like mornings, don't get me wrong, I just happen to like sleep a heck of a lot more. And since last night was the last my family and I would spend together for a couple of months, I got a bit of a late start on trying to go to bed.

Morning seemed to come all too quick, and before I knew it, my cell alarm was going off. I turned it off, and proceeded to stumble around the apartment in the most awkward of manners, trying to recall why I was up so early and what it was I needed to do. By myself, getting up early isn't too bad, but this morning I had a roommate to contend with and respect. I tried to be as quiet as I could, although I discovered we have a door that squeaks right before it's fully shut. Breakfast was a piece of bread with some peanut butter smeared on it. I would've had more, but I figured I should give myself fifteen minutes' worth of time to get out the door and to the bus stop, and time was just ticking by. Back through the squeaky door and into the room as quietly as I could. Brushing my teeth never sounded so loud. A quick change in the closet (why? I have no idea), and I grabbed my stuff and was on my way, only a minute or so behind.

As I rounded the corner, I noticed the Chatham fountain had soap bubbles in it.
Ah, the little things that remind you of home...

Three buses were waiting to take all of us smartly-dressed interns to wherever it was we were going. I boarded the second and soon we were on our way. Along the route, I switched from gym shoes to fancy shoes, figuring I wouldn't have made the walk to the bus stop otherwise.

I'm still new to the area, or at least new to paying attention to the area around Disney, but eventually I figured out where we were. Okay, so the giant sign welcoming us to Walt Disney World helped. I won't say exactly which park we were headed to, just in case Disney throws a fit, but I will say that while we were heading towards it, we ended up going around the side of it and into the back areas. There's space back there, no surprise, but it does seem a bit more normal as opposed to the rides and theme lands we'd just previously passed. There was a parking lot that was either under construction or is home to construction machines. To the left of the bus, tall barbed wire stands tall, keeping people out of the park unlike the first day Disneyland opened. To the right, the monorail lines disappear into a service bay. I saw a one or two-story building titled "Holiday Services" and figured that that was probably Halloween and Christmas central, to say the least.

Eventually we wound our way into the Cast Member lot, where I spotted another building (this called "Textile Services") before noticing we had arrived at a building with the words "Disney University" affixed to the front. The buses parked at a ninty degree angle to the building (so they could turn around) and we were told this was were we'd be picked up at the end.

At 7:09am, I stepped into Disney University and my first day of work.

The first thing I really noticed was that there was a quote from Walt on one of the walls to the left. It's the one that's at the end of Meet The Robinsons (go watch the movie, it's cute). The lot of us, a rather large group, were then immediately directed to the left and into the commissary. Vending machines and low seats were the norm, but I seem to remember some Disney artwork on the walls. Those of us who could get seats, did (I did), and everyone else was told to stand. After a few minutes, a Cast Member stood up and began separating the group. First, those going on a walk-through of the Magic Kingdom were sent out, then we were put into groups depending on the numbers on the back of our program booklets. I followed a guy named Ty out into the rest of the building. It's designed as a typical office building, with many little rooms behind doors, overhead spot lights shining on the walls and floor, which are neutral business colors of course.

But all along the walls were pictures: movie stills from animated and live action alike, blown-up copies of Walt's diagram for Disneyland, one entire wall was even dedicated to Beauty and The Beast, showing the synergy of the animated movie, tv shows, characters in parks, finally showing the Broadway show. Rounding the corner to the left, we stopped and were told to wait in line, while before us was a small table with two Cast Members. One was standing and taking your driver's license or other photo id. He'd find you on his list, and presuming you met the Disney Look standards (for this is what this was), he'd pass the license to the girl next to him, who would find you an ID. A few people weren't on the list and had to go back to the front desk to see if they were in the right place. One of them was told that while he was on his way, if he could please stop in the bathroom and wet his hair down a little. It was a little fluffed up.

Nervously I traveled down the line, but when I got up there, the guy took my driver's license, found me on the list, and proceeded to hand things over to his fellow Cast Member. But she'd spotted someone she knew and was in the middle of a hug-fest. Thus he handed me the items, and I headed inside Studio (classroom) 104. There, a guy was waiting next to a table, and I was instructed to find my name and then take a seat wherever I wanted. I looked down, and there before me were four or five rows of neatly-printed name tags. It took me a moment, but I found mine.

I was a little worried, since my tag listed my school instead of my town, and even then, it listed the school I had graduated from, not the school I had applied for the internship with. The guy had asked me if I had any problems, and when I mentioned this, he opened a little book, preparing to make corrections. But I asked if it really mattered, and when he said it didn't, I kept the tag and sat down.

The room was full of a handful of tables with chairs around them scattered through out the rooms. I took a seat, put on my pin, and lookd at the walls. One side was covered with line drawings of Disney animated characters, but in random places, a box covered a section of them, and within these boxes there was color. I saw characters such as Flik and the Circus Bugs, Chip, Dale, Turk, Tarzan, the cows from Home On The Range (never saw), Buzz and Woody, Jim and B.E.N. from Treasure Planet, and, I'm pretty sure, at least Goofy and Donald, although the presentatios we watched had characters featured too, so it's kind of a blend.

Eventually our group was all seated, and Traditions began. We were welcomed profusely by our Cast Member instructors: Jami and Kellee. I was a little amused when they introduced themselves, because Kellee's from Kansas City, MO, and Jami's from Orlando. Disney runs in locations too apparently. We began by discovering that participation in today's class would earn us little prizes, little plastic Disney figurines to be exactly. People were awarded Donalds and Goofys and Plutos which, my Mom informs me, is a management thing to do, but it did catch people's interest. The icebreaker was first, of course, and the workbooks we were provided had a page to write down the names, hometowns, and roles of each of the people sitting at our tables. I met Tiffany - working Quick Service in Adventureland, David - Custodial in Epcot, and Heidi - Lifeguarding at the All Star Resorts. Then it was learning time.

Traditions covered three areas of the Disney Company: past, present, and future. We worked our way along a power point, watching videos in-between. Cast Members were invited to share Disney memories with each other at one point, and Tiffany told her story of being four and waiting in line for over an hour to meet Beast. When she finally met him, he was so huge, his hug engulfed her. She came back to her parents absolutely amazed.

I enjoyed the video on the history of the Company, especially when they glossed over Eisner and how he eventually got voted out. No mention of his leaving, just "In xxxx year, Bob Iger became the new C.E.O...."

It was pretty neat to hear that this was now part of our history too. I mean, all this stuff is already a part of my history, but it's nice to hear the Company officially acknowledge it.

I also had a proud Hermione moment or two. One of the instructors asked us where Walt was born. My hand shot up and I said Chicago. "Good! VERY good! Most people think it's Marceline, MO" was the reply. And later, "Animal Kingdom opened on April 28, 1999. What else is special about this day?" I waited a moment, then my hand went up, "It's Earth Day."

I know, I know, I'm such a dork :P

Breaks were scheduled between the segments, which was good because I was starving. I went back to the commissary and got myself some vending machine Sun Chips for $.95. Guess Disney pricing follows you everywhere too. I also found the Company D store, which is a place for Cast Members to shop for discounts. I wanted to take a look, but we had more to do. Plus, I spotted Yankee Candles, so I figured maybe I could wait a bit. I can find those in my mall, and arranged them at Hallmark...plus we can't have them at the apartments anyway. But I still want to check out the store.

The "present" portion was all business stuff. Disney's equal opportunity, they have guidelines, they don't want you to be harrassed... actually, the harrassement video was pretty funny. I know it's a serious subject, even the Cast Members acknowledged it, but the video's just so poorly done. Delivery men hitting on secretaries to pose nude for magazines, one guy insulting another's sexuality, a guy doing WAY too much of an over-share, talking about his wife wearing ratty t-shirts, nothing fun any more.

Future was about Disney standards and practices, since we're the future of the Company. They also went into a little more detail about what an opportunity this internship is. We can network with people, we have stuff to put on our resumes, plus we get into the parks...wait for it...for free!

All in all, a very awesome class.

There's more to tell, but it's definitely time for bed. Now I've got the first day AND the after-Traditions updates. And the day in-between! But first...sleep.



Why did the song "Bet On It" pop into my head?
Maybe it's all that Disney promotional material we watched.
It's sinking in...