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.
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.
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.
First let me show you what I found at a store the other day:
Say it ain't so Kim! Why would you ever advertise for Shape-ups?! As I have always said, Shape-ups should not be worn in public! We can't have famous folks like Kim Kardashian promoting them or people will think they are ok to wear in public!!
Before work today I had a little time to take a silly animation class at Disney California Adventure. Today I learned how to draw Minnie Mouse. It's a little sloppy, because they didn't give us erasers. What do you think?
It was raining cats and dogs at work and was windy and cold. This did not help my cough. It supposed to be in the 40s with wind and rain again tomorrow. Yea.
Here is a nice picture of me in my rain gear. Note how happy I look in it.
Today I went to see Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular at California Adventure. It's official decription says "The genie is out of the lamp in this exciting, Broadway-style musical based on the classic animated Disney film, Aladdin. With its flying carpet, spunky princess and unstoppable street urchin, this stage show will make your wish come true!"
As always with Disney they rely on spectacle with special effects and 'magic.'
The best part of the show was Genie! He was hilarious with jokes about Christina Aguilera's Super Bowl lyrics and Snooki being Snooki.
On February 8, 2001 Disney California Adventure (DCA) opened it doors. To celebrate, today cast members had a get together in an unused sound stage at DCA. There was free cupcakes and exhibits that gwent through the history of the park. There was even a photo opportunity with Mr. Mickey Mouse himself, in his California clothes. However I did not look good enough to be taking pictures with the mouse. There was a cool display for the new "Carsland" and the new Little Mermaid attraction that opens in a few months! We got a 10th anniversary pin to wear on our costumes today.
I then went to drive some more subs. Then I came home. I'm off tomorrow and Thursday. Can you think of something fun I can do on my days off?
First, I had to miss Glee yesterday because I was at work, so I'm currently watching that episode now. The commercial for Chevy with the Glee kids was great!
On another note, Dot-Marie Jones who plays Coach Beiste on Glee was at Disneyland Park today! However I was in a submarine and no one bothered to tell me, so I didn't get to see her. Mad I missed that one.
Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of Disney California Adventure! So to celebrate they have been doing fun things for resort cast members all week. Tonight, after the park closed, cast members got to ride Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror. But instead of the normal terror amount they turned off all the sound on the attraction for extra terror; no music, no special sound effects, nothing. The best part was we got to ride it three times with no line!
I had to drive the submarine. It is much more difficult than I would like for it to be. Most of the time it made me want to yell because the joystick was so sensitive. According to my trainer, Frank, I am ahead of most people that learn the subs. I thought I should give you a little history of the attraction, since Disneyland is like a huge history lesson.
The original Submarine Voyage attraction was built as part of the "new" Tomorrowland in 1959. The Submarine Voyage featured fish and other sea creatures all underwater. A major portion of the ride simulated the voyage under the Arctic Ocean's polar ice cap. After 39 years of this the attraction closed in 1998. At one point I'm told that they were thinking of re-imagineering it as Atlantis: The Lost Empire. But when Atlantis failed at the box office the attraction remained closed.
Then after months of speculation in 2005 the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage was officially announced. With this the entire original ride was gutted so new effects and elements could be built and added. It opened in 2007 and then I started working there in four years later.
After work I went to hit up some attractions I've not rode before at Disney California Adventure. I rode Toy Story Mania. This is a 3D attraction (with some cool CD glasses) where you play fun fair style type games with Toy Story characters. We also rode Mickey's Fun Wheel as seen below, which for some reason was terrifying.
Then we got to ride front row on California Screamin', the park's big roller coaster. It was so much fun. Zero to 60 in 4 seconds. It's the second longest roller coaster in the US! My eyes were watering so bad on the front row I looked like I was crying. This one makes me scream for real.
Before we left we rode Grizzly River Run. It's a normal raft ride. Nothing too special, but the setting was nice.
I work tomorrow which will include more driving the sub. I have to pass a test, which should conclude on Sunday. Other than that, I don't have anything exciting to do.
Today I had what Disney calls "Welcome to..." It's more personalized training within our departments. Attractions (which is what Disney calls their rides) is part of Park Operations so my "Welcome to..." was called "Welcome to Park Operations." We leaned some basic things about people interaction, how to present ourselves. We also learned how to correctly lift things. You know, all that legal stuff. Just incase you were wondering this is the correct way to lift something:
We then went on another tour of Disneyland Park. This time we met with different managers that make up Park Ops. Park Ops include Tickets, Attractions, Custodial, Security, Guest Services, Parking; anything that has something to do with park ops...
After the tour we finally found out what attraction I'll be working on. Here is a hint (it's not the Monorail):
It's the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage! It is just like it sounds: a submarine that people get in and view the story of Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo. It's pretty exciting because it's not something at Walt Disney World (there was a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride but that closed in 1994). I start training on the actual attraction tomorrow with my fancy costume! Part of my job will be controlling the speed of the sub. Here are some more fun pictures of my new attraction:
Notice the seagulls on the red buoy. They are always yelling, "Mine, mine, mine."
Darla... she killed that fish...
Some random Asian family. That person in the blue pants is what I'll be doing, driving the sub!
Once I've learned this particular attraction, I will have the opportunity to cross train on other Tomorrowland attractions, but I'm pretty happy with this right now.
Tonight we went to see World of Color and rode Tower of Terror (which is different than Florida) and a few other things while there were not many people in the parks.
Jase and I just met out new roommates. We are not sure what to think of them yet. They are a lot different than us....
I didn't have to do anything today, so of course I used today to explore the parks in great detail. I started this morning with Disneyland Park. I went through all of the stores on Main Street. I can't believe some the the details that are in these stores. FUN FACT: Walt had an apartment about the Fire Station on Main Street. He would light his lamp in the window whenever he was in the park so Cast Members would know he was there. Since he died the lamp is always lit, because Walt will always be at Disneyland.
One of my highlights of the day was relaxing in the Enchanted Tiki Room with some fresh pineapple juice.
I get a 40% of merchandise. I better stop spending before I go broke! I did buy a book that is a scavenger hunt for Hidden Mickeys. For those of you that don't know, Hidden Mickeys are a partial or complete impression of Mickey Mouse placed by the Imagineers and artists to blend into the designs of Disney attractions, hotels, restaurants, and other areas. Here is an example:
After spending a few hours hunting for Hidden Mickeys at Disneyland Park, I headed over to California Adventure. While here I discovered things such as a margarita, beer, and wine stands. You can just walk around the park with a drink. That just sounds like my mother's paradise.
I stayed late tonight because I wanted to see California Adventure's nighttime spectacular, which is called "World of Color." It premiered a few months ago and I have heard a lot about it. Basically its a water fountain show on steroids. The show features nearly 1,200 powerful and programmable fountains. Each fountain has multiple points of control for lighting, color intensity, water angle, height and more. The fountains can send water to heights ranging from 30 feet to 200 feet! I recored some videos, but they just don't do it justice. I have to tell tell you, this is may favorite thing out of the 6 Disney parks I have visited in my lifetime.
Today was our Traditions training day. This is where new cast members learn history and go over the keys of the Walt Disney Company such as:
"What do we make?" "HAPPINESS!"
"Who does this?" "WE DO!"
I also found out that I will be work on attractions in Tomorrowland!
The most exciting thing during Traditions is we got a backstage tour of Disneyland Park. Unfortunately I have signed some legal papers so I can't tell you about that stuff, but it was very exciting. I can say I saw some stuff for attractions coming in the near future.
At the end of Traditions we were welcomed to the company by Bob Iger (via a video) and then our favorite mouse led us to pick up our official Disney name tags and Disneyland ID cards.
With my ID card I can get into the parks free plus great discounts at all kinds of Disney and non Disney stores. I can also get into the Disney Studios in Burbank! I sense an exploration day of that in the future!
Now that I have my ID card what's the first thing I do? I'm going to Disneyland! Of course I had to stop by Town Hall and get "My First Visit to Disneyland" pin. Then we started up Main Street toward Sleeping Beauty Castle. I had a decision to make: what was going to be my first attraction at Disneyland to ride? I picked the Matterhorn Bobsleds. We don't have this ride in Florida, so I was excited to try something new.
After riding Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones Adventure, we headed over to Disney California Adventure. All we rode there was California Screamin'. Most of California Adventure was under construction, so it was hard to get a full grasp if the park.
I didn't have enough time to explore the park sin great detail, but that is what I'll be doing the next few days while I'm off!
