Summer jobs are no fun, but I needed to make money and also have a really fun summer. So the best way to combine these two things was to get a job at the happiest place on Earth, Walt Disney World!
On my resume, the only past experience was working as a waitress at this small business Mexican restaurant, so I would have not been surprised if I did not get the job. Luckily, in my interview all I was asked is “why do you want to work at Walt Disney World?” and “what is your favorite theme park?” and somehow I was offered a job!
I applied for a part time job at a quick service restaurant, although it was not what I had wanted, and tried asking for a different area, the only other offer I got was to be a slide attendant at one of the Disney Waterparks and I am not a strong swimmer so I had to turn that offer down. So I got offered to work at Flame Tree Barbecue at Animal Kingdom.
A few weeks after, every cast member has to go through Traditions an 8 hour class that teaches how to create that Disney magic. We watched videos about Walt Disney’s legacy, and even got to go to Magic Kingdom to see cast members work their magic. The best part of the day is at the end, where Mickey Mouse comes in and hands you your name tag and your cast member ID and it becomes official!
So a few classes after that, I finally got to start training at work and little did I know what I had gotten myself into.
When I picked up my costume I wasn’t sure whether to die of laughter or cry myself to sleep, it was the ugliest and funkiest costume in all of Walt Disney World (believe me, I have yet to find one that is uglier.) Every time I put it on my self-esteem went down by 80%. I think the worst part was how my hat did not even match my costume at all. I would need pages to describe the hideousness, so here is a picture.
I had guests tell me at least once a day that my costume was the ugliest thing they had ever seen.
Speaking of guests, my experience serving people from all over the world, was well, interesting.
Guests are unpredictable, and I have dealt with some of the meanest people but it’s typically, you know the mom who has the “I want to speak to your manager” haircut. People expected free stuff from us, had really crazy requests, got mad over our policies, and guests even made fun of other cast members from different countries.
I try to repress my bad memories, so the positive side to my guest experience was being able to create magical moments. With children we would dance together to the Viva Gaia Street Band, share some jokes, they would tell me how they conquered Mt.Everest and how cool Pandora was. Making magical moments for children, couples, families, friends would make me forget that I even had a bad guest experience, because these guests would make my entire week.
Working at Disney it means you have to be able to take the heat (literally and figuratively), it was just my luck that I had picked to work at the only restaurant in the park that had only outdoor seating. Luckily you got to rotate between being indoors and outdoors about every two hours, but that rule was not always perfectly followed if you were short on staff. After working at Disney my arms and face are about five shades darker and every night I felt like I needed to take a shower twice to get rid of the stench of sweat, barbecue, and trash.
Overall the experience was magical, of course. I am glad to have met some really amazing people where I worked who made the experience so much better. I am also someone who dealt with a lot of social anxiety, but working at Disney helped me conquer that fear and I am really thankful for the communication skills I now have. I am grateful for all the work that cast members do, because I never really appreciated them until I became one, and they all put so much hard work and magic into what they do.
Thank you to Mickey Mouse for being the best boss ever.