Doctor Doctor, Give Me the News

UPDATE: I re uploaded this vlog. Hope it works now.

Feelin Good

For Tuesday, March 29, 2011


Tuesday was the start of some feelin good weather. Since Tuesday it has been about 75 degrees outside, which is perfect for me. I'm dreading those hot summer days when I have to work in the park. Other than that there is nothing to tell you about Tuesday.

Ahhhhh! A Roach!

For Monday, March 28, 2011

Two days in a row I worked the fireworks! This time I was stationed in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Here I guard the the front to make sure no one passes the ropes because there are pyrotechnics on the Castle itself. While I was standing there and there were 43,258,097 people watching the fireworks on the other side of the rope. Well on the front row I heard a bunch of people screaming and people pushing each other. Front the reactions on people's faces I thought there was a mouse (or what we like to call them, friend of Mickey). I walk over and see it's a roach. There are not a lot of roaches at Disneyland, but just like everywhere else in the world, they are there. So I step on the rope and crush the roach and kick it away from the guests. They thanked me like I saved their lives. It was pretty great.

About half way through this video is my favorite park of the fireworks: when Tinkerbell comes flying over the castle.

Fireworks

For Sunday, March 28, 2011

I had a fireworks shift again on Sunday. I love those shifts. I've been learning as much as I can and helping with what ever I can. My leads even noticed and gave me a compliment. 

I was stationed right at the entrance of Tomorrowland for this night's show. There is a small path that leads to a viewing area. And sure enough some kid had to throw up all over that tiny path. Luckily my friend call was working at Astro Orbiters close by, so I had her call Custodial to come clean it up. However we had to guard it until they came. It was gross. Thank God I'm not in Custodial. 

Workin

For Saturday, March 27, 2011


I've been working a lot. I'm ready for a break. That is all.

Jack's Crew

For Friday, March 26, 2011

Here is the set up for the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides preview at Disneyland Park. We will host the premiere of the full  film in May. I did not film this, but you are not supposed to have "soul capturin' devices" according to the pirates, so that is why the quality is so bad.

Gotta Get Down on Friday

For Friday, March 25, 2011

I honestly can't think of anything that happened on Friday to tell you about. Yeah, I got nothing. So I'll leave you with some great inspiration from YouTube sensation Rebecca Black.

"Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin')
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today"

I Missed One

For Thursday, March 24, 2011


Nothing new on Thursday. I missed Sandra Oh from ABC's Grey's Anatomy came to the ol' Submarine Voyage. I'm sure the Grey's fans out there would have loved to see her.

I'm started to get sick again on Thursday. I have a new nasty cough and my head hurts all the time. I hope this goes away soon. Someone told me that all the sicknesses of the world come to Disneyland, so I will be sick a lot. Can't wait.

Costco vs Sam's

For Wednesday, March 23, 2011


I was off again on Wednesday. My roommate Mike took me and Matt shopping so we can get some food and things.
First we went to the "99 Cent Only Store." This was a dollar store on crack. They had everything you could ever need; fresh produce, food, candy, cleaning supplies. Between us all we spent $150 at the frickng dollar store!
Mike is a member at Costco. I had never been to a Costco before, but really it's the same thing as a Sam's Club. It even had the same floor plan as Sam's. We got a year supply of laundry detergent, dish shop, and food. It was a good day for shopping.

It was raining again today so we had to run with all our grocery bags from the car. It was gross.

Rules of Engagement Taping

For Tuesday, March 22, 2011

So I haven't told a lot of you guys, but I went to an audition for the Aladdin musical that's at California Adventure. The audition was in Hollywood, so I took the bus/train. They were looking for someone who was older and my audition was terrible so I didn't get a call back. However it was good audition experience and now I know how Disney runs their auditions.

After the audition, the College Program got some of us tickets to see a taping of the tv show Rules of Engagement over at the Sony Entertainment Studios . The show stars David Spade and Patrick Warburton. It was cool to see who they actually film the show. We were told to laugh even if we thought it was just a little funny. It's amazing how much they can cram into one of those soundstages.

The episode was shot in order, from beginning to end, and the cast and crew moved across the soundstage as the scenes of the episode moved back and forth along with all of equipment that needed to follow them was astounding.

There was a comedian who was in charge of warming up the audience and keeping them engaged. He was great. He worked the entire crowd, but once he found out we worked at Disneyland he played around with us. When ever there was break in scenes he they would play songs from "Main Street Electrical Parade", Pirates of the Caribbean, Mickey Mouse Club and ask us trivia questions about Disney. He himself was even in a few Disney Channel Original Movies. It was a great day. I want to see more tapings of shows!

This is the comedian entertaining us in front of the Rules of Engagement set.

Another Manic Monday

For Monday, March 20, 2011

Monday was nothing special. Just another day at work.

I forgot to tell you about something that happened a few weeks ago. It was about 8:15am and I was working greeter in front of Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage with another cast member named Emily. While we were standing there we saw a group of  people walk to the entrance and the guy asked the rest of the members of the group to take a picture of him and his girlfriend in front the the Nemo sign. Once they started to pose the guy got down on one knee and proposed to her right there. Emily and I had to step out of their proposal pictures. The girl said yes and everyone in line started cheering for them. While there are normally countless proposals at Disneyland, most of them happen in front of the Sleeping Beauty's Castle, not at the Submarine Voyage! It was pretty exciting if I do say so myself.

While it was pretty cool, it was not near as cool as this Disneyland proposal:

No Fireworks Tonight

Today I had what is called a slit shift. I was supposed to work for 4 hours at Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, then do 4 hours of fireworks crowd control. However today was gross outside. It was windy, cold, and worst of all, rainy. So the first 4 hours I worked on Nemo in the rain.

Due to the nasty weather Disneyland canceled the fireworks by 3:00pm so I got off early. It's nice to have half the day off, but I really need to be working because I'm soooooo poor.

Chris Colfer who plays Kurt on Glee was rumored to be in the park today. As much as I hate Kurt I would have liked to seen him.

Chris at Disneyland last year. He looks like a baby.

Lost and Found

For Saturday, March, 19, 2011
Once a year Disney takes all the unclaimed lost and found stuff left around the resort and puts it up for sale for cast members to buy. All the profit goes to charity. Think of the stuff people leave at Disneyland; cell phones, cameras, iPods, clothes, sunglasses, strollers. If you can name it I bet someone has left it at Disneyland.

When I got off Friday I went to sleep for 2 hours before I woke up to go to with Matt, Kristen, and some other folks from work. We arrived at the Goodwill of Orange County (who was hosting the sale) at 3:55 am and there was already a line down the street. People came in tents and all and had been there since 12pm the day before. It looked like when people camp out in from of Best Buy for Black Friday.

Well, after waiting in line until 7:00 we finally got in. You would be amazed at all the stuff people left!

Bins upon bins of lost sunglasses.

There were some cast members who were buying clothes for their families and trying to buy some electronics. I wasn't looking for anything and am poor, but I just picked up some things I thought were good. I spent $8 and got a brand new Mac charger, 2 pairs of sunglasses and some books. Matt got a $300 camera for $19!

Need some new clothes?

After we got back I had just enough time for a hour nap before going to work. Exhausting, but worth it.

Hungry Bear

For Friday, March, 18, 2011

It's finally open!

Sweet Potato Fries and Blueberry Pie 

Fried Green Tomato Sandwich

Day of Green

For Thursday, March, 18, 2011
I was off on St. Patrick's day. I didn't go to class this week, mostly because we are allowed to miss some and I didn't want to go. I had plans to go shopping, but I was feeling lazy so I laid around and watched tv.

Kristen, from work, has a brother who lives in Studio City. He was having a small gathering at his house. She asked me and a few other friends to go with her. It was pretty fun and got me out of this area for a while.

Day Off? I'm going to DCA!

For Thursday, March, 16, 2011
For one of my days off I went to California Adventure with some friends. It was crowded but a lot of fun. While we were in Downtown Disney Distract we ran into Kevin Nealon. You might recognize him from Saturday Night Live, a bunch of Adam Sandler movies, and most recently on Weeds.

Other than that, it was just a normal day.

Way to Early

For Tuesday, March, 15, 2011

I had to be at work at 6:45am and we opened at 7:00. I much as I hate waking up early, I love working in the mornings because I have the rest of the day free. After I got off I watched Fantasmic with some people from work. That show never gets old.

For dinner we went to a restaurant at Disneyland called Big Thunder Ranch. It was like a barbecue that has country singers performing in a out door wooded setting. It was a lot of fun and the non-meat versions of the food was delicious. 

Remember... Fireworks!

Last night I did another Fireworks crowd control shift. It was soooo much fun because we were super busy, so I got to be really bossy to make sure guests stayed to the right. It sounds easy, but it's definitely not.

The fireworks show is called Remember... Dreams Come True. I picked my faviorte part last night. It's the Star Tours portion. There are some really cool laser effects and a few times where the fireworks shoot up from all the way a round you. Here is a video that doesn't really do it justice. Star Wars part is at :26.

Waking Sleeping Beauty

WARNING: THIS IS FOR TRUE DISNEY FANS ONLY. SORRY TO BORE THE REST OF YOU.

The other day why waiting for class to begin, they were playing a documentary over the projector. It was called Waking Sleeping Beauty. 

Waking Sleeping Beauty is a film which documents the history of Walt Disney Feature Animation from the making of The Fox and the Hound in 1980 to the release of The Lion King in 1994. The film covers the rise and fall of Disney's animation division and the newfound success the studio had with the releases of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King (basically the movies I grew up with) during the midst of the so-called Disney Renaissance. The time has young people who were just starting their careers, such as John Lassetter (currently the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios and Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering), Tim Burton, and Michael Eisner (former CEO of Disney). If you love Disney movies I suggest you watch this documentary. Which you can borrow from me because I bought it on Amazon.

I had to post this because I didn't do anything fun today. I heard Topher Grace and the members of Blink 182 were in the park, but I did not see them.

School of Rock

So, when I got to work yesterday I was told there was a celebrity that was in a sub and about to leave . Who was it?

Mr. Jack Black! Sporting a nice Hawaiian shirt. Jack Black donated $10,000 to the Tonasket High School Band from Tonasket, Washington to help cover their travel expenses to the Happiest Place on Earth and he showed up to cheer them on! Why to go Jack, supporting the arts in schools!

Flashback

Couch Potato

Grim Grinning Ghosts Come Out to Socialize

No fricking way. Today I was able to have a walking tour of the original Haunted Mansion at Disneyland! I got to walk through everything and see how they do all the Disney magic. It's amazing how most of the effects are old school theatre tricks. The best part was the way they did the ballroom scene. If you have never rode the attractions watch the video around the 6:25 mark:

The effect was done with something called Pepper's Ghost. I was not able to take pictures of the tour, but here is a website that kind of explains it: Click Here!

Another random fun fact is at about 5:19 there is an end table between the doors (you can't really see it on this video.) Well on that table there are some dead flowers and an open book. Of course I was interested to see what book it was, but the cover was glued down. So I remembered some of the names on the page so I could Google them later. 'Brother Wingo' and 'Ben Thigpen' where characters in The Gauntlet by James Howell Street, copyright 1945. Why did WDI (Walt Disney Imagineering) include  The Gauntlet in the Haunted Mansion? No idea. According to Amazon.com it's about a peaceful period in the American past. It's a story about a young Baptist minister in the south, his family life and struggles with church politics. So I guess it fits with the southern theme of the house. It's a fun detail no one would ever have the chance to notice unless they were able to have full lights on and lean over the tiny end table that most people miss. 

Better Things Tomorrow

Mad Woman

I know I've been a day late! I'm working on it!

I posting this to catch up!

Ok, I know I missed a day, so I'm catching up right now. :o(

Yesterday I went to the parks before work. I wanted to see Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular again (There is a reason I've been seeing it so much, which you will find out soon enough).

I also was about to catch a show of Disney Channel Rocks. It was a show that uses a lot of songs from Disney Channel shows and movies performed by some random people. I personally was not a fan of the show, mostly because there was no story and there were only a few people that could actually sing in the cast. It's not something I would stop to watch again.

Over at Disneyland Park we have been celebrating Mardi Gras. There were so many people in the New Orleans part of Disneyland I was almost not able to walk around! I was, however, able to score this great picture with Chip and Dale.

"Ok guys, we need to have a cool pose."

"And go."

Blah Blah Blah

I didn't do a blog last night because I didn't have anything to talk about...

Got to work later. Weekends are sooooo busy at Disneyland. I don't know why people would want to come on busy days.

Yesterday there was a kid that was about three that stopped me before he got on the submarine because he was scared of crabs and wanted to know if there were any mean crabs on Finding Nemo. He was so cute. I told him we had 2 nice crabs and 3 sharks. He said he liked sharks. After he rode it he came back and found me and said he likes crabs now. Precious.

Merchandising Mecca

In class today we heard from the Merchandise and Store Operations of Disneyland Resort.  We learned how they come up with new products in conjunction with Walt Disney World. It was very interesting and they had a lot of important people present to the class, which made it not seem soooooo long.

After class Jase, Matt, and our friend Holly went to Universal Studios Hollywood. This time we actually made it in time to do the studio tour! While most of it was pretty lame and staged, the best part was Wisteria Lane. It's weird because there were super fake flowers on everything and they look so much smaller in person than when we see them on Desperate Housewives. 

Matt and I were racing. I won.

Me (looking super geeky) and Holly

Stopped by for a nice photo op.

On the way back we stopped by a lookout point on Mulholland Drive. From this point you could see the Hollywood Bowl,

The Hollywood sign,

and downtown LA. It was an impressive view.

Tomorrow I'm back in Tomorrowland. I love my mid-week weekends.

Sorry It's Late

Sorry it's late guys! I was to tired to post it last night, and I tried to do it this morning but my computer was being dumb. So here it is now. I'll post today's later tonight.

Right on Target

I finally went to the store today to buy things I've needed for a while tonight. I rode the bus to a Target that is not too far from Disneyland. Here's what I got:

• Lunch box. I pack my lunch everyday and am tired of using old shopping bags. I didn't get a cool one because most of the selection at Target were for girls. I also got some freezer packs to keep my stuff cold.
• A padlock so I can lock my things up at work.
• A remote for that TV I bought a few weeks ago. It didn't come with one. (However I forgot the batteries. Dang it.)
• Some random food items. That's about all.

I'm off tomorrow. More exploring and adventure? I sure hope so!