Day 8: Traditions

Today was my first official day as a Disney Cast Member! In honor of Staci and my's first day as cast members, we broke out the Mickey Mouse waffle iron that Nick brought and we all had breakfast together with our Mickey Mouse waffles :)

What a perfect way to start the morning! It was then time to get ready for Traditions, as all cast members have to be in the "Disney Look." What is the Disney Look you ask? Here's the website that has it all outlined, but for those who hate to read long things (why are you on this blog?) then it is basically just dressing professionally. The one thing that is different about the Disney Look is that they are obsessed with the three inch rule: your skirt cannot be more than three inches of your knee, your shoulder strap must be at least three inches wide, etc. The Disney Look isn't hard to do, but it does take effort and most of the cast members who are "On Stage," or where the guests can see them, usually have set uniforms, so they don't have to worry too much about clothes. However, since I am working in an office environment, or "Backstage," I have to wear business professional attire everyday. Want an example? Here's what I wore today for Traditions:

Notice the cardigan - the dress had only one inch straps so I had to modify it slightly.

Alright, so moving on! Staci and I got to Disney University, where the Traditions class was being held, about thirty minutes early in fear of being late. In order to get to Disney University, you have to go through the park and I was in awe the whole time. Staci got a kick out of me being so nervous for seeing the park, but I honestly felt like I was five again! I could hardly wait. Here's a quick video of the trip to Disney University:

When we walked into Disney University, I couldn't help but fan girl all over the place. Here are just a couple pictures from the inside:

When Staci and I walked in we were one of the first few to get there and we had to sign in to get our Disney IDs, which get us into the parks for free and enable us to receive numerous discounts around Orlando. I was first in line and I signed in as the lady was trying to find my ID. It was nowhere to be found! She said that they might have moved me to a different room and didn't include my ID. I was crushed. Staci and I had planned on going to the parks after our Traditions class. I grudgingly walked into the classroom, found an empty table and sat until Staci joined me. She looked frustrated and it turns out that they didn't have her ID either! We ended up finding out that they needed a picture for the ID, so we have to return to Disney University some time this week to pick them up.

In the Traditions class we learn about Disney's past, present, and future, as well as the Four Keys: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. We learned a lot about Walt's vision for Disney and how it has come to fruition and more. Everything was about happiness and magic. To be honest, some of it was boring, but the most exciting part was upon us...

As we were learning about the Four Keys (Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency), our Traditions instructors were trying to think of ways to help us remember them and they came up with the idea of somehow writing lyrics to the Cup song beat. We were all really confused, but eventually, they "came up" with the great idea to take us to Magic Kingdom and show us the Four Keys in action.

Holy balls was I excited.

We had a ten minute break and had to get downstairs to start lining up for the bus to Magic Kingdom. I was starting to almost panic with a big smile on my face. As someone who has never been to Disney World, I was beyond excited and I couldn't even contain my excitement!

Our lovely leader 

We walked to the bus stop and we ended up getting behind another group, so we had to wait a while, but it was really cool to see current cast members in their costumes coming back from work. Granted, many of them looked exhausted and less than happy to be working, but it was fun to see all the different types of costumes and people that work at Disney!

The bus that we took to the Magic Kingdom!

We went on a really short bus ride, maybe 10 minutes, and we arrived at the back lot where we go into the "Utilidor," which basically means utility corridor, or the infamous underground tunnels of Disney World! Yes, it actually exists and it is where all the "On Stage Cast Members" go to change into their costumes and get read to be show ready. Unfortunately cameras were not permitted in the Utilidor, but I did take a picture right outside that was pretty cool :)

After we walked through the Utilidor and under Cinderella's Castle, we went outside to Main Street where we stopped and our leader asked if this was anyone's first time to Disney World and it turns out that there was one other girl who has never been to Disney World! Our leader had us walk to the front and we went arm and arm up to Cinderella's Castle. Let me tell you - me and this girl were fan-girlling all over the place and when we finally saw Cinderella's Castle we almost started crying.

Main Street!

First Sights of Cinderella's Castle!

A closer shot of Cinderella's Castle

The first-timers at Cinderella's Castle!

Side View of the Castle :)

We left the Magic Kingdom - which I now know why it is so magical - and we headed back to Disney University where we finished our Traditions class, but not without a special appearance from Mickey himself!

 With Mickey we played a quick trivia game for these little Disney figurines called "Critters" and guess who got one?! Me :) All I had to answer was "Who was the founder of Disney?" Easy: Walt Disney

Goofy says "what's up?"

Finally, it came for the moment that we had all been waiting for - getting our official Disney name tags! When you are in the College Program or in a Professional Internship, then your first (read: paid for) name tag has your college on it. You can get another name tag with your hometown on it for $5, so I might decide to do that in time. My reasoning is that while it is cool to meet people from Minnesota, I would be more excited to meet someone from Lincoln or even Nebraska.

Even after all of this, it still didn't feel real. Seeing Cinderella's Castle, walking in the underground tunnels, and even meeting Mickey all felt like a dream. I don't know when it will hit me that I am actually working for THE Walt Disney World, but who knows, maybe I'll just be living in this dream for the whole six months :)

Also, here's an example of the type of stuff that you'll see in the wonderful world of Florida:

Yes, that is a car-truck.