Thankfully, this day didn't start quite as early as the day before. At 8:00
AM, we all met in the lobby once more and headed to Disney University. Yes, you
read that correctly. DISNEY UNIVERSITY. It exists, folks. Many classes are
taught there but one of the main courses is one called "Traditions."
All new hires of Walt Disney World or Disney Cruise Lines is required to take
this course. As you know, I am a former cast member. However, because it had
been so long since my last employment (2009) and since DCL is such a different lifestyle, I had to retake this course. And why wouldn't I want to? To be paid
to learn about Walt Disney, the history of the company, and Mickey Mouse is a
dream come true.
The class takes about eight hours. But since it's filled with activities,
games and a visit to Magic Kingdom, it goes by pretty fast. My
"Traditions" assistants were Sue and Rose. And BOY were they full of
energy and in total Disney spirit. Loved them. In some of the more boring
sections of the training, they enticed us by handing out Disney
"creatures" or small statuettes of characters and mini ships. I acquired Captain Goofy and a ship so I was pretty stoked. The highlight of the
day was definitely when we were paid a visit by the man himself. And yes, I do
mean Mr. Mickey Mouse. There was a knock at the door and in ran the big cheese
holding a Christmas box filled with a very special surprise: our new Disney
Cruise Line name tags!
Mickey went around the room and shook our hands. We were all jumping up and
down in our seats with excitement from the moment he walked in until the moment
he left. A personal visit from Mickey Mouse is not something that happens every
day. As you can imagine, there were many tear filled eyes as each new crew
member (DCL cast members are known as crew members) watched with pride as the
icon of the most successful entertainment company in the world welcomed them to
the company. What an experience.
Once traditions was over, we all headed back to the hotel and worked out
how we wanted to spend our last night in the parks. We ultimately decided to
head to Disney's Hollywood Studios Park to hop on a few attractions and catch a
showing of Fantasmic! (Fantasmic! is my favorite show on Disney property using
effects with water, fire, lights and fireworks to create a journey into
Mickey's imagination.) Then we headed back to the hotel to pack our bags and
get ready for the next day: EMBARKING THE SHIP!
The only problem with this day (Friday) was that I was very sick all day. I
woke up with a fever and other flu like symptoms that made me feel awful. Ibuprofen and DayQuil were my lifesavers. Other than that, this day was fairly
normal (Disney normal).
I was not prepared for what would happen next.
No comments:
Post a Comment