My Disney 4th of July...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Please bear with me, this is my first post…

…I work for Disney. I am not ashamed, not often at least. The worst part is working holidays and missing all the fun family shtuff. The best part is missing the family shtuff.

0900 - Start of Shift -
Today was like any other mundane day at Disney, except for the Curse of Holiday Hooplas (tm pending). Actually, the morning was fine, lost parent here angry out-of-town folk there, couple of ducks fornicating in New Orleans Square with jazz music in the background and the sun shining throught the clouds right on them, the invisible pink unicorn et al were smiling on the happy couple right in front of the children and not a stroller lost (yet).

0945 - Sneak a smoke back stage.
Call Mrs. SeaWitch at home to discover the Kitchen will be sea-foam (sage or something) green when I get home. Huney moving fridge, call home later. Find out a plane has crashed in San Dimas area and LAX airport had a shoot-out.

1000 - Where is everyone? -
No one on the east side of the park answered the radio, so I had to shlep my phat-ash from The Hungry Bear restaraunt on the western-most tip of the park to Roger Rabbit’s (on the northern-most part) to answer a call for an irate guest threatening the cast-members. A mile or so later, the guest was on the ride and not a soul could tell me what was wrong.

1030 - Muster in the East Esplinade -
Mile 2. Everyone gather 'round for the daily circle jerk bitch fest; shake hands, say hi to the boss, get a pin for the Fourth of July. Yay.

1045 - Errand Boy -
Mile 3 is walking back to the Hungry Bear Restaraunt to hand out a couple of pins for the poor fools stuck on Tom Sawyers Island. Find out they took Jerry’s harmonica away because they thought he might miss safety issues while playing it in the middle of the half closed island. He can’t pull out his grey plastic revolver from his holster to take photos with, can’t wear his chevrons nor put a feather in his cap (out of costume).

1055 - Sneak a smoke back stage.
Kitchen primed, huney moved fridge back to proper resting place - no soda spills (thank the Gods.)

Walk around for a mile or so and point out the restrooms to guests.

1130 - Pirates Congestion -
Walk to the entrance of Pirates and spend some time hiding guest strollers for fun. Hey, they were parked in a “No Stroller Parking” area so I moved them down the road.

1200 - Curse of Holiday Hooplas (tm pending) -
Indy went down, Thunder, Space and Splash Mountain all shut down at the same time. Guests ate lunch and grumbled mightily waiting for something other than Peter Pan to open.

1230 - Found a wallet -
No cash, no I.D. Just a wallet. Mile 5 and I turned-it-in to lost and found - They stared at me as I walked away.

1245 - Sneak a smoke back stage.

1247 - Put out smoke, race to Jungle cruise for a guest that slipped and fell into water. “So other than this, how was you day?” I asked. Evil stare from drenched mother.

1255 - Run into a guest I have seen about every 15 minutes, ask “You again, huh… …are you following me?” Evil stare of contempt - Hey - not my fault everyone in your group wore NEON ORANGE AND GREEN hawaiian t-shirts.

13:00-ish - Code-7
Lunch time at the el sleazo cafe. $4.29 for a slice of (all) American cheese with a 1/16th pound burger, 1/2 a fry and a cup of flavored ice. Huney still painting, but stopped to dye hair (hopefully not sea-foam/sage green).

1330 - Curse of Holiday Hooplas (tm pending) -
Indy and Splash down again. Many guests complain of 3 hours wait for Spash Mountain only to be turned away with the temporary closure.

1355 - Sneak a smoke back-stage.
Afraid to call Huney.

Walk around for a mile or so and point out the restrooms to guests.

14:30 - Slip and Fall, Golden Horseshoe.
Find a guest sitting down and grumbling at the Golden Horseshoe. Request a nurse for a slip and fall. Another guest comes up and makes a big deal about seeing the whole thing and if it had been her I would then be working for her. Blows everything out of proportion. Now I know the second guest means well, but damn can she run fast after them ambulances. Wouldn’t be surprised if she did the same thing after I left work.

1455 - Sneak a smoke back-stage.
Still afraid to call Huney.

Late-afternoon-ish -
Walk around for a mile or so and point out the restrooms to guests.

1630 - Ill Guest, New Orleans Train Station -
Head over to the station, guest is blind. Identify myself and try to find out what is happening. Nurse shows up, evaluates and requests paramedics. One of the smoothest paramedic runs I’ve seen in a long time.

1645 - Ill Guest, Haunted Mansion -
Paramedics requested again for a guest with what appears to be heat exhaustion. Vomiting and moaning, we lie the lady down and await paramedic arrival. Re-route guests around the scene and try to keep them from gawking at her.

1705 head for the gate to go home.

1715 clock out and head for the shuttle (to the castmember lot).

1730 Start up my truck and fight traffic home.

1800 Kitchen is green, huney’s hair is red.

2

It’s rather surprising, it seems to me, how many people get hurt or ill at D-land. I mean, being reasonable and all, it makes sense that this would happen with the number of people that are in the park at any given moment. Generally, I’m pretty impressed at how well the employees seem to sweep up after guests.
(Sorry you had to work on the 4th. Blech.)

3

Mr. SeaWitch, I have a question. Up in Jersey, we’re having a 100 degree heat wave. When y’all have those, do the characters all still walk around? :slight_smile:

4

Assuming you are the husband of the illustrious poster Seawitch, I did just want to pop in and thank you for getting me and my partner Alex B Disneyland passes for our trip to LA last October. Thank you - we appreciated it very much.

5

  1. If you have ever been to a theme park, amusment park, carnival, et al, there are a lot of people. Odds are someone is going to get hurt. Usually it is a slip and fall or a little heat frustration from dehydration. Sometimes they have medical conditions or surprises like heart attacks or seizures that paramedics get called.

  2. We have a thing called “Code-90.” At 90 deg. they put a call on all the radios and pagers. Basically, you get t take your tie off. I think Characters go on stage for less time, but still have to be out there, something like 20 minutes on stage and 30 off (an extra 10 minutes I guess). Not much humidity in the CA desert.

  3. “…Me and my partner Alex B…” - You are welcome, hope you had a great time.

6

Mr. SeaWitch,

At least there was no “Code V” in your day! :wink:

7

Code “V”? Is that a "Code “W” on budget cutbacks?

8

THAT is funny :slight_smile:

I love hearing Disneyland stories and it never ceases to amaze me how bitchy guests can be when they are responsible for their misfortunes. The book “Mouse Tales” has some priceless stories in it.

By the way, it was a pleasure meeting you and seawitch at the holiday inn. Thanks for letting me join the “smoking section” :slight_smile:

9

Code 1 Routine
Code 2 Urgent
Code 7 Lunch
Code V is Vomit
Code U is Urine
Code H is funny; call home or horse manure. Depends on context.

A canoe boat operator on her seconday working fell in today. Soaked to the shoulder. Funny watching it happen.

10

I just came back from DisneyWorld in Florida.

Gotta say the folks who work there are the nicest, friendliest bunch of people I’ve ever seen working in 90 degree weather, with some of the crankiest customers in the world.

Thanks for making my vacation one to remember forever. I hope I didn’t add to your grief.

11

When I was at Universal City, a guest once jumped into Jurassic Park. Drunk, claimed she “hadn’t gotten wet enough” on the ride. I wasn’t there, but those who were say she got innumerable offers of help. Security not amused. “Those boats don’t stop for nothin’.”

Also, nephew once reamed by Six Flags Great America ride operator for trailing his hand in the water.

12

You folks want an unvarnished look at Disney parks, check out www.mouseplanet.com, which was co-founded by David Koenig, who wrote the two Mouse Tales books. He likes Disney parks, has an Annual Passport and takes his kids there often; the books and website are his way of letting Disney and the rest of us know when he thinks he’s not getting what he’s paid for.

And you ought to look at the pictures of Tokyo DisneySea, a stunning new theme park that cost billions and LOOKS it.

13

Oh, by the way: attendance at Disneyland was reportedly 56,000 on the 4th, while it was only 14,000 at Disney’s California Adventure. DCA attendance is not anywhere near what they expected.

14

Yeesh. Thanks for the reminder of why I avoid working directly with the general public. I would have been pushing people off rides myself by the end of the day. I visited the Orlando parks on July 4th one year with my family, and made every effort to stay the hell out of the staff’s way–I didn’t want to add to the misery.

I have to comment on this, though:

I think sage green is a very nice hair color, and I’m sure SeaWitch would have looked lovely. I wouldn’t advise trying to put it over the red now, though. I’m not sure that would work. The sea foam is out, regardless. :wink:

15

Poor DCA. :frowning:

Esprix, APH

16

Mr. SeaWatch I salute you as a brother in the line of duty. I work for Universal Studios Orlando and find humor in the everyday. Granted I am a peon and you’re high enough to have your own radio, we share a bond of service to our vacationing fellow man… or perhaps better said we share a bond of laughing at our fellow man.

17

Think about this, Esprix: On the 4th, the attendance at DCA and DL combined was little better than what DL used to get on the 4th by itself.

Imagine how Michael Eisner and Paul Pressler (president of the theme parks division) feel. They spent all that money on new land for parking, and on building DCA, and attendance barely increases. They may have had better luck simply adding a new attraction in that near-vacant area north of Thunder Mountain. (There’s nothing there now but an un-used outdoor arena.)

18

Mr. Seawitch.

Lets say a hypothetical couple on their honeymoon were in the caves at Tom Sawyer Isaland.

Just how visible are then in that little hid-a-way befor you get to the bridge?

There’s not a night vision camera there?

19

During our Disney cruise, on their special island, a blister popped on the foot of by 4-year-old girl. She hollared once, and we were surrounded by at least 3 cast members. One shot a super soaker at her foot to wash off the sand, another offered a band-aid, a third offered general help and good vibes.

I thought I saw Eisner there for a moment, but I may be mistaken.

My attitude in general about the Mouse has changed quite a bit over the years. I hated the show growing up, rarely saw the movies and pretty much agreed with the “cultural Chernobyl” line.

Now that I have a family, we go to the movies – loved “Lilo” – and went on a cruise aboard the Wonder. The company’s popular not because they found some way to hypotize the masses into accepting krep (although they’ve had their share of failures over the years), but because they work hard to offer some great entertainment, and the staff is amazingly helpful and courteous, sometimes beyond the call of duty.

So a tip of the hat to ya, Seawitch for your post.

20

Well, there’s still hope for DCA - Flik’s fairground is coming soon (according to the APH newsletter I just got), and then there’s Tower of Terror.

I just gotta wonder, though - how long will “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” last (now that they finally got it up) now that the show is history?

Esprix