Work and a Visitor

It seems like all I do is work these days. I am getting sort of burnt out. But I did have a little mini break the other day.

Texts between Alex Yebra and I-

Alex: Hey are you still at Disney?

Me: Yep.

Alex: Cool we are on our way there right now!

Me: I'm at Disneyland, are you in California?

Alex: Yeah! 

Me: SHUT UP! Come to Finding Nemo when you get here!

Then she shows up at Nemo! I was so excited to see someone from home! She was visiting family here so I let them cut the line and ride in my submarine.

Look how happy I was Alex was there!

When I got off I met her family at the park, we rode a few rides and then watched World of Color at California Adventure. 

Alex and I on Toy Story Midway Mania

I loved hearing all the updates on people from home. I seemed to have missed a lot this past semester. I hope more people come and visit to help bust up all this working I have to do.

Captain Nemo Reporting for Duty

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....

World of Color

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.