What do you know?

First of all as the first themed week is coming to a close I am feeling good about how the blog flows and I will definetly continue this format and so starting tomorrow I am putting up a poll where you can vote on the theme that I will cover in two weeks as I already have a theme picked out for next week. Well on with the show.......

Who did what to whom when? Where was what built why? How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood? Alright so that last question is slightly irrelevant (unless of course you are an avid fan of woodchucks and or random knowledge in which case let me apologize for…..whatever). Anyways my point is we are always asking questions and gaining more information. But what has this knowledge gotten you or how have you been able to use this knowledge?

Let me say first however, when you get to the site I recommend you sign up and join the community if you haven’t already. WDW Radio is an amazing site started by one of the front runners of the online Disney “fan club” age, Lou Mongello. He has written two WDW Trivia books, hosts his own podcast (go onto Itunes right now and subscribe to WDW Radio……and while you’re there also check out Inside the Magic, another good podcast), started the WDW Radio forums (originally WDW Trivia forums), hosts different Disney meets, and started his own charity that supports Make-A-Wish and helps children go to Disney World.
Today I present you with four links to different areas of the site and I highly recommend you check them all out. And remember, Knowledge is Power.

General Disney Trivia
http://www.wdwradio.com/Walt-Disney-World-Trivia.html
Disney World/ General Disney Crossword Puzzles
http://wdwradio.com/Walt-Disney-World-Crossword-Challenges.html
Disney Trivia Quizzes
http://www.wdwradio.com/forums/downloads.php?do=cat&id=6
And the link to his charity
http://wdwradio.com/Dream-Team-Project.html

Have a Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah-Day!!!!!

Now I'm the king of the swingers oh, the jungle VIP

What do John Lassetter and Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson have in common? No this is not a joke and there’s no witty punch line (though boy howdy there’s some potential there). Anyways they both worked at a Disney Park before they became famous. In fact Disney Parks has really amassed an interesting list that reads as a real Who’s Who of the entertainment world. To see a small list of some of these past Cast Members turned media super stars check out this link http://bit.ly/VUYOg .

I say this because when you start your College Program, you are embarking on a journey with amazing possibilities on the horizon. The Disney Company has more branches to it than the Tree of Life. If you are interested in television, movies, art, ect. You can try to follow your Program with a Professional Internship at the Disney Studios or Imagineering. If hospitality or management is you thing then you can look at the many Internships at the many Disney Parks…….around the world. Honestly, whatever your major is there is a perfect internship or position out there for you with Disney. But in order to give yourself the chance to pursue a successful career it comes down to determination and “wanting it” more than anyone else. Take advantage of the different classes, seminars, and other miscellaneous networking opportunities that the College program can provide you. If you sell yourself as the best Cast Member, then maybe you could be the next John Lassetter or Steve Martin or something even better.

I leave you today with three quotes from Walt Disney that I hope will inspire you to dream big and do well.

“If you can dream it, you can do it"

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

"All our dreams can come true...if we have the courage to pursue them"


Have a Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah-Day!!!!!

Whatchu Talkin About.......Woody?

Seldom, if ever, an event comes along that forces me to drop everything that I am working on and throw all of my focus on “it.” Alright, so it’s really not all that rare for me (I’m very much a focus……oh wait there’s a shiny thing sort of person). Anyways this time it was an event so epic, so monumental that I was able to sacrifice three hours and ten dollars (that I don’t really have to spend) to attend. That’s right, I’m referring to a Toy Story 1 and 2 Double Feature…….in 3D.

Disney and Pixar did an amazing job polishing up these classic films and rendering them in 3D and it has me extremely excited for both the Princess and the Frog and Toy Story 3……….in 3D. But this article isn’t a review of the movie because how would that fit into the WHO ARE YOU WEEK, honestly. No, instead I want to introduce you to the "who would say that" moment of at least this week. So I went to the 7:30 screening of this movie with a couple of friends of mine and Toy Story had already finished and we were just getting to the end of Toy Story 2. Wait first let me say that there is a potential spoiler ahead and if you haven’t seen Toy Story 2 yet then ……well continue reading this anyways because if you haven’t seen it after ten years then chances are you weren’t planning on watching it anyways and I say shame on you and I ban you from my blog (On a serious note though if you really haven’t seen it yet please don’t stop reading my blog because I only have like nine followers so I can’t afford to lose any). ANYWAYS, we were at the part where Woody and the gang just sent Stinky Pete packing and they were on the tarmac chasing down the plane to save Jesse. And my friend blurts out without thinking, “there’s no way they would be able to just run around on the air strip without security stopping them.” HOLD UP. So the fact that they are living, breathing, talking toys doesn’t raise a red flag and the fact that said toys could keep up with a plane while riding on a fabric toy horse doesn’t raise one either. But the fact that Woody and Buzz weren’t stopped by security for being a potential terrorist does…….well. I guess all I can say is kudos to John Lassetter and company, you have one believer.

Any hoo. That’s all. Again if you haven’t yet seen the Double Feature in theaters I highly recommend you check it out in the next couple of days while it is in theaters. And as always…….

Have a Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah-Day!!!

Who Who, Who Who

HELLO: My Name is…..

As a continuation of WHO ARE YOU WEEK we look at two ways to meet many guests and cast members during your program or vacation. These are two separate ideas that unfortunately I wasn’t able to take advantage of or utilize when I was doing my program so I suggest yall consider looking into doing one or both of these.

For Cast Members
Purchase a medium sized notebook. Make sure it is something small enough that you can carry around with you everywhere you go. Now every time you meet a new CP, ICP, or Cast Member you hit it off with take down their name, where they are from, and their email address (mostly because you will find a lot of people either don’t have a phone or have a throw away phone). This is a good thing to keep track of for three reasons. The first is that it allows you to keep track of everybody that you meet because you will meet a lot of people. The second is that it allows you to keep in touch with your friends when your program is over. And third, it would be neat to be able to look back at it ten years from now and see all these people from all these countries and know that you were a part of something big.

For Guests
I heard this tip on one of the Disney podcasts a while back and after I heard it I started kicking myself for not thinking about it. First purchase one of the Disney autograph books which can be picked up at just about any gift shop (if you can’t find a gift shop within arm’s reach then chances are you are not at Disney World). Then when it’s your day off take it with you as you explore the park and whenever you are in line for a ride, shopping in the stores, or just meandering, ask random guests to sign your autograph books. It’s a neat way to meet new people and learn a little bit about where they are from. Plus at the end of your program you will have a cool souvenir with guest signatures from around the world (the real world….not the Disney World).


Oh and I'm in that picture above from back when I was......12?
Anyways,

Have a Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah-Day!!!!

Who Are You? Who Am I?

I said last week that this week I will be starting my themed weeks and I came up with and wrote down seventy themed week ideas. Why seventy you ask? The answer is quite simple……I dunno that’s just what I came up with. Then I came up with a really complicated and technical scientific method to pick from random what the first ever theme would. Alright, so I picked the theme out of a hat (that’s as scientific as it gets for a business major). So without further ado, the theme for the week is….

WHO ARE YOU WEEK

Today I want to talk about creating a niche for yourself. What I mean by this is, do you want to be the anonymous Cast Member that pointed the guest to Rock n Rollercoaster or the Cast Member that that was able to not only point to RnR but also told them the best time to ride it as well as suggestions for what to do after? Do you want to be the Cast Member that sold the guest a turkey leg and bottle of water or the Cast Member that made the sale but also made the guest laugh so hard that said water shoots from the guests nose (but hopefully not on you)? If you answered any of these questions……then you didn’t realize that they were rhetorical but I applaud the effort. But yes you want to stand out and make the extra effort because although the guests will always remember how much fun the rides were and how good the food was, they will also remember how helpful or how charming a particular Cast Member was and how they made their experience more Magical.


Here a few the type of Cast Members that guest appreciate. Is this you?

The “funny” one- You are the person who knows that you don’t have to be a Jungle Cruise Skipper to make guests laugh and have fun. You can make something as simple as selling french fries or loading guests onto Spaceship Earth a fun experience for both the guests and your fellow Cast Members. The first thought that comes to your mind is “Make ‘em laugh.”

The ”Disney Trivia” one- You are the person who knows when every attraction and restaurant was built, who designed it, who sponsored it, and how much it cost to build. Your brain knows nothing but Disney and you are ready with an interesting fact about anywhere whenever you can find a guest interested to listen. There is no question that you love to hear more than “What’s that?”

The ”nice” one- “Have a magical day” and “How may I help you” are the only things that seem to come from your mouth. You are concerned for the guest’s well being and by gosh by golly you’re going to help them. You are first person to offer to take a family’s picture and the last person to refuse to to fulfill a guest’s needs. Kudos for you if this is who you are

The “let me let you in on a little secret” one- You are the person who will tell the guest where the best place to see Illuminations from or how best to approach the parks based on crowd capacity. You thrive off of the pleasure the guests give when they feel as though you just let them in on the biggest secret in Disney World even if what you told them was which bathroom has the best toilet paper (it’s the Grand Floridian by the way).


As you finish reading think about this: What kind of Cast Member do I want to be? It doesn’t have to be one of the ones above but what kind of Cast Member do you want to be known as?



Have a Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah-Day!!!!

Pardon Our Pixie Dust

For those of you tuning in for the TOP FIVE list I am sorry to tell you that there is not one this week. Why? I am working hard to improve the quality of my articles which I feel could be better and I am working on getting everything set for the new format change (plus school is keeping me pretty busy). But I have already written the articles for next week and they are really top notch so stay tuned. Today however I thought I would give a couple of the quick bullet points about the changing format of my blog and a look at what’s in store for the coming weeks. Let’s do this:

-Each week will have a theme and so each article for that week will have to do, one way or another, with the week’s theme

-I am keeping the general format of the articles but I not going to follow it to the tee…….they’re more like “guidelines” anyways

-I hope to get my readers involved more so if you come up with a question that you want answered, an idea for an article or week theme you want me to cover, or just any thoughts in general post them in the comment section of any of my posts and I will see about following through with them

-I am hoping to start a recurring Q&A section where I interview some of my friends that did work or are still working at some of the cooler attractions, shows, restaurants, ect.

-And depending on how you and your vehicle hold up we may even choose to throw a few surprise tests! Ummmm surprise tests?

-Some of the upcoming themed weeks include Boo To You, Bon Apetite, There’s No Place Like Home, Live Together or Die Alone (It’s a LOST reference and not something morbid, trust me) and many more. In fact I have compiled a list of close to seventy themes that I could try and play with. And again, if you have any ideas for themes you would like to see just tell me and I will try to work it in.



Now here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz.

The Monorail (EASY)
1 M-I-C-K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E
2 Jiminy Cricket
3 Two

You Must Be This Tall to Ride (MEDIUM)
4 The Haunted Mansion and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
5 Mission Space and Dinosaur
6 The Commons

The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness (Hard)
7 Mickey’s Starland and Mickey’s Birthdayland
8 Walter Cronkite
9 28 sets of stairs


Have a Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah-Day!!!

I know what Disney is Celebrating!

First of all I want to wish a Happy 38th Birthday to the Magic Kingdom and a Happy 27th Birthday to EPCOT.

Secondly that there will be a new format to this blog starting next week and I am excited about the potential and the possibilities that this new format will allow me. I will release details about this change on either Saturday or Sunday.

Thirdly I found myself laughing hysterically about a D23 video I had not yet seen and to watch it click on the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaNMXeFWIWA&feature=related

Because of the birthdays of the two parks I have a quiz to test your Disney World and Cast Member knowledge. There are a total of 999 uhhh……I mean 9 questions of increasing difficulty. I will be posting the answers in tomorrow’s post. So without further ado let’s do this.

The Monorail (EASY)

1 Finish the song: Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me, ______ _____ !

2 And Now Presenting: Who is the host of the Magic Kingdom nighttime fireworks show, Wishes?

3 Cast Member question: The cast member point consists of at least how many fingers?

You Must Be This Tall to Ride (MEDIUM)

4 Gone but not forgotten: What two attractions have a tribute to Mr. James Thaddeus Toad (aka Mr. Toad)

5 I know you: What two attractions feature actors that are currently on a CSI show?

6 Cast Member question: What is the name of the Disney housing complex that only International College Program students that work at EPCOT can stay at?

The Wildest Ride in the Wilderness (Hard)

7 Back in the Day: Before it was Mickey’s Toontown Fair, what two temporary lands occupied that area?

8 Speak Clearly: Who was the narrator of Spaceship Earth after it reopened from it’s first renovation in 1986?

9 Cast Member question: How many sets of stairs are there from the Utilidors in the Magic Kingdom into the park?


Have a Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah-Day!!!