Today was one of those days that started good and progressively got better and better.
Well Day 3 means a little less talking and a lot more doing!! We were at Epcot all day, and I managed to get there without getting lost! (success!) After clocking in we waited in a hallway for our trainers and met some very nice character performers and character attendants. If you ever hear a rumor about Disney Cast members being the nicest people on earth, its usually true. Especially in entertainment.
Basically we spent some time talking about safety, closing lines, and handling situations. Then we took a field trip. Disney field trips rarely disappoint. Our field trip was to the Character Spot, where we had visited yesterday. But today, we saw the backstage area for it and then BAM they threw us into it!
Our trainers said "this will be your first set." We picked a character, sent the current attendant on break and then practiced. I was paired with the one and only, Minnie Mouse. It was a bit overwhelming, there are a lot of factors a character attendant deals with. My watch is my new best friend, and so are the photopass photographers. Here is a little tidbit:
I had to pay attention to:
-first and foremost my character
-whether a not a guest had photo pass
-if my guest had a magic band
-how many people in the party
-how many autograph books
-What time it was
-is my line curved or straight?
-is my line neat?
-do I have to use a guest camera or phone
-Are the guest treating Minnie appropriately
There's even more than that, but that's just an idea of it. Like I said, overwhelming at first, but I'm glad we got to try it. After we finished we went back to our little room to discuss our experience. Then we had lunch.
Now hold on to your hats folks, because lunch is where my dream is becoming reality. Our trainers told us that we would have 3 more sets with...wait for it....ALICE and RAPUNZEL. Dear lord, Rapunzel is my favorite princess and i could not believe this was happening. We were told how special it was to even get the opportunity to train with face characters.
Well time for the first set arrived and I was nervous, but excited. Basically the first set was okay. We definitely got first hand experience with difficult guests. We went back afterwards and discussed what we could do to improve the next one. Second one came around and it went better. It was my turn to close the line, and it wasn't as hard as I thought. Of course it sucks to be the bad guy and tell the children and their parents we were going away. But, Rapunzel was my priority and I kept that in mind. The second set was a lot smoother and I felt a lot better about it.
Third set came and I had the position of greeter, so basically I attracted guests to the lines because we were in a strange spot. That was super fun for me. I love talking to guests! And I had a lot of freedom to do that. I even made a special moment for little princess. She was first to meet Alice and then one of the first to meet Rapunzel. She was just so happy after that surprise visit and i even was able to tell them where to find other princesses and characters.
After our third set we all went backstage and reflected on the entire day and chose our word of the day!!!!!
Today's word was: Enthusiastic.
Tomorrow I get to go to my home park, Animal Kingdom! We are supposed to be doing sets tomorrow, but who knows who we will be with?!?
Anyway, I still can't believe how lucky we were today for this experience.
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