Amber Earns Her Ears: My Secret Walt Disney World Cast Member Diary (18 page)

Perhaps it’s because I don’t particularly get along with the aforementioned roommate that I scoff at her condescending speech, but the aggravation caused by a simple switch of beds was blown out of proportion by someone considered mature enough to live on her own. Others may disagree; Lindsey thinks she is perfectly justified in her anger.

Whatever the justification, it only adds to the small voice that would rather enjoy it if my program were coming to a close and I was returning to school. Not that I would leave if I were given the chance; I have gotten to really like a lot of my co-workers, and I’m too stubborn (I think) to quit less than halfway through my second internship with Disney, but walking through Target’s back to school display had me wishing I was ready to buy pencils and college-ruled notebooks in preparation for another grueling semester. Nerd that I am, I always wished summers were shorter, and around this time of year I am ready to return to school, no matter how eager I was at the end of the previous academic year to finish it.

The combination of a boring job that is way too easy, roommates that try my nerves and tolerance, humidity, and the allergies that have lately caused my ears to ache and my throat to swell — it’s all creating stress, and the only thing that makes it tolerable is my annual pass to Wizarding World (where I can grab a butterbeer) and the knowledge that the money I’m earning at Disney will help to pay for my studies abroad.

I am trying, however, to remember that I still have a ways to go, and though that seems like a negative right now, it means there’s time for things to improve. A new batch of people comes in next month when some of the current CPs begin to leave, their time here done.

Although I feel that I haven’t slowed down in a few weeks, remarkably little has happened. I’ve worked, I’ve taken pictures, I’ve straightened far too many plush toys, and I’ve checked people out. I went to New York, where I finally met fellow dorks who know who Archie is and own magic wands.

Then I came back to work, mood buoyed by my travels, yet still more discontented with what I’m doing. I like new challenges, I like to keep learning. Maybe it’s because I’ve done the program before that mars this experience; maybe I had a more challenging role last year (okay, that’s a definite, not a maybe) and that’s why I enjoyed it better.

The restlessness that set in about four or five months into my program last year has already kicked in, and I feel like I should be doing something more. Perhaps I’ll make that my next project: finding how I can move about while I’m here.

Nothing truly exciting is on the horizon, either.

I’m starting research into the Worldwide Conservation Program for an article for
Celebrations
magazine, and am trying to focus on keeping my room clean for more than a day. I’m seeing
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two
for a third time Tuesday before work with Lindsey and possibly a few others (though I have no idea who). And I suppose I shall continue to attempt to figure out what in the world I’m going to do when college is over, though I have a feeling any plans I make will be dashed before I even start my Masters program.

Oh, the life of the young, where roommate drama is the highlight of the week, and laundry sits in the basket for four days before it’s folded and hung up.

I guess I’ll just keep swimming. (Lame! But I’ve been at the Seas all day, and it just sticks with you, you know?)

“EDMUND, BAD THINGS ARE going to happen if you send me out there. I didn’t eat breakfast or dinner, I already feel ill, and my roommate woke me up at three in the morning to tell me a guy thought she was cute. It’s not gonna be pretty.”

It has been an eventful week, to say the least. I started it off by getting sick on Monday — yet again. I came in and felt a little woozy as I worked register 3 (which is on the rotation to go out to the EO Cart), but what can you do? I was hoping it would go away by the time my bump came and I had to go outside.

It didn’t.

I was out there scarcely thirty minutes, and was frantically trying to figure out how to work the radio to page Edmund, the coordinator. At first I didn’t get a response, and leant up against the counter for a bit, watching the lovely little stars float around. Luckily, the EO Cart doesn’t get much business, so I didn’t have to worry about a guest coming up to purchase something. By the time Edmund paged back, saying he’d been on the telephone, I was crouching behind the cart.

“What?” he croaked in his grouchy old man voice (he is frequently compared to Carl from
Up
, and I’d say it’s an accurate description, for the most part).

“Um, yeah, I’m going to either pass out or throw up. Can you send someone out?” I could hear his annoyance in the silent radio. My friend from Attractions wandered over to see if I was alright.

“Yeah, yeah, just a little sick. I swear, Edmund is going to give me so much crap for this!” He stood there until Edmund came out with another Cast Member, pointed me to the bathroom, and told me to take five. I hurried to the bathroom and sat for a bit, but the feeling wasn’t going away so I just gave up and went inside.

Where I was sent back to the cart.

My Attractions friend gave me an encouraging pat on the back as I made my way to the cart, and I was drinking water like no one’s business while I waited for the rotation to kick in. I wasn’t out there for more than ten minutes before I was sent inside to Theatre Sales (the person who stands beside the wall of photos with the clipboard).

Usually, when I go inside, I’m better after a bit, but this time I was still feeling ghastly. A few people commented, especially when I had to sit down for a few seconds when there were no guests around. Someone had brought a big bag of pretzels, and they sent me back to the closet to eat a handful. I consented, but not three minutes after eating them, the same person who had had to take over the EO cart while I nearly passed out was watching Theatre Sales as I walked hurriedly to the restroom to throw up.

I felt better afterwards.

Though I considered ER’ing (getting an early release), the stubborn side of me decided to stay for the rest of my shift. It was a good decision; nothing about going home would have made me feel any better than moving around and doing work. But I swear, before this program ends, I’m going to be the girl who always gets sick at work. It makes no sense; I don’t get sick playing in the parks, and I’ve survived band camp without any incidents. Heat shouldn’t be the problem. The only thing I can think of is that I’m just allergic to my job.

Work progressed normally, and then Thursday came around. Probably the best day I’ve spent here in Disney on my program thus far. I was telling a co-worker why I liked being busy, and how when I got bored on my program last year, I even went so far as to single-handedly construct a fort in the living room. Which got him all excited, of course.

And when minutes later I turned to talk to one of my other friends, Lauren, we started talking about food and carrot cake. Somehow, both of these conversations culminated in Fort Day, an all-day event that would take place at Lauren’s apartment, where she, Chris, and I would bake, build a fort, and watch movies. Another girl, Grace, got in on the project, and we all assembled recipes and gathered blankets for the big day.

Around one-thirty in the afternoon I pulled into Vista, my car Dinosaur loaded with blankets, chips, and a bean dip that is absolutely wonderful, and my collection of movies (of which we watched none). Somehow I managed to get everything up to her third floor apartment in one trip, and while Lauren began baking cookies and preparing Oreo truffles, I tackled the fort. Lauren had already started it, but neither of us could figure out how to anchor the sheet to the window ledge. After much deliberation, I went out and checked the trunk of my car, returning with a quart of motor oil, another of power steering fluid, and a mostly used gallon of window spray. While not the sturdiest of anchors, they served their purpose as I sat inside the tent, linking all the blankets together with safety pins.

Eventually, Chris, Grace, and another girl from Future World North, Kristen, came in, following the sounds of the
Hercules
soundtrack we were blasting. It was a good thing I built the fort before they came, because clearly no work was going to be accomplished now that the whole group was there. Lauren kept having to chase Chris out of the kitchen as he tried to steal some chocolate, Grace was dancing everywhere, and Kristen and I were busy introducing ourselves, as I haven’t been deployed to Future World North, yet.

The day was fantastic. We cooked (no carrot cake), ate junk food, and Grace made shrimp with rice and garlic sauce. We toyed with the idea of going to Beaches and Cream and attempting to eat our way through the huge, legendary Kitchen Sink dessert, but that idea was rapidly abandoned as we consumed even more junk food. The fort, which had been the central idea of the day, was quickly torn down after we all made it inside; it was large enough, definitely, but the couch that we were using as a backrest kept scooting backward as Chris leaned against it, and the motor oil anchor kept falling. And it was just way too hot for five bodies to be inside the little mini-oven the fort had become.

Movies were watched, balloons were bopped around the room and popped, and much fun was had in general. Around three in the morning, though, our energy was starting to peter out, and as Grace and I started to fall asleep where we were — she on the floor with a body pillow, and I on the couch in a nest of blankets — Lauren went into her room, gave each of us a stuffed animal, and we all situated ourselves. I was the only one who ended up not sleeping on the floor, choosing the arm chair to curl up in instead, and every blanket, sheet, and towel that had gone into the construction of the fort was used.

The next day, we awoke to Lauren making “muffins”, which were really spice cake cupcakes. Kristen and I ran to Walgreens and got some orange juice, and we sat around on the floor goofing off, eating cupcakes — er, muffins — and dozing off.

Most people had work that afternoon; since Lauren and I were off, we decided to go to the World Showcase. After the group dispersed, Lauren and I spent the evening meandering about the Showcase, dropping into Restaurant Marrakesh for an early dinner and ending with pastries from Boulangerie Patisserie.

The week ended with another Harry Potter nerd-out session, during which I stayed in front of my computer from about ten o’clock until six the next morning, waiting for the Pottermore website to open. The group of us who’d met in New York all have a Facebook group, and we chatted nonstop until we had each received our validation e-mail.

As I type this, I should probably be up and getting ready for my wonderful six-hour shift, so I shall bring this entry to a close, get up, and have a bagel.

ALTHOUGH I HAVE DETAILED the weekly personal events of my current stint in Disney’s College Program, I just realized that I haven’t yet explained what really happens at the workplace.

My role is merchandise in EPCOT’s Future World West. This includes three primary locations (not counting nearby carts): Green Thumb Emporium, the Soarin' gift shop; Sea Base Alpha, the Nemo shop at the Seas; and Image, the gift shop for Journey into Imagination with Figment.

You’ve probably never heard of the Green Thumb Emporium, a one-register shop in the Land where the top seller is cotton candy that must constantly be changed as children squash it into a solid, unappealing mound. It’s hard to accurately describe a shift at the Green Thumb. I have only worked there as a relief worker for whomever is taking a break. But I’ve heard that it’s a tricky place. Most of the time, it will be boring to the point of insanity, more a post from which to people-watch than to bring in any real money, and then BAM! — you’re swamped with guests.

Apparently, when the Brazilian tour groups were in last month, Green Thumb got very hectic. It’s a tiny store the size of the Sea’s storage room, and it was flooded with people who didn’t speak English very well and who wanted to know the price of everything.

The thirty-minute stints that I’ve put in at the Green Thumb have gone by fairly quickly; you are mostly asked where the restrooms are (just around the corner), and for change to use in the coin press. Donations for Disney’s Worldwide Conservation Fund are taken here as well, and while the daily target is only forty dollars, the Green Thumb receives so little business that it’s hardly ever reached.

Sea Base Alpha (or Seas, for short) is my favorite place to work. Even though I’m usually freezing in there, it’s the most laid-back of the three gift shops, and the one most likely to be busy. There’s always a mountain of plush to be straightened, pucker powder to be cleaned, and jewelry to be sorted back into its original places. We keep a bubble gun in the closet to “Merchentain” with occasionally, and the music is much, much better than the rubbish they play at Image.

There are only three positions in this shop: two people on register, and one tasking (which means they are either stocking, entertaining the Guests, or straightening the shelves). I’ve rarely met an unhappy guest at the Seas; sometimes people are disappointed by our lack of Crush t-shirts or Marlin plush, but typically that is the extent of their irritation.

Each day the scuba leaders bring by a DVD for those who went diving that day to purchase. And at least one person comes in seeking the brochure about saving the sea turtles that Crush told them about next door. We have to explain again and again how to get to the Coral Reef restaurant (“out the doors, to the left, all the way around past the sea gulls and the ride entrance”), and the Worldwide Conservation Fund makes much more when you can implore guests to help save the sea turtles who’ve just been talking with them.

At Image, a shift can range from dreadfully dull, with absolutely no guests, to chaotically hectic as guests complain about pictures and threaten to fight over their spots in line. It has the most positions and the most people.