Your favorite memories

SpaceRanger · Post by **SpaceRanger** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 2:37 am

What are your favorite memories? Either of stupid guests/cms, nice guests/cms, or just random moments? For me it's so hard to choose just one, so I'll list a couple. Feel free to put as many as you like.

Just when you're getting burnt out from too many hours, too much magic, and not enough sleep, and you're starting to think you don't make that much of a difference at work, some little kid is really polite and asks for your autograph, please.

Whenever you get free food. Or free anything. Anything that's free rocks. (Tho I rarely eat my free food from there, I usually just give it to someone or bring it home for my little bro... but that creates an even better memory by letting you see how happy it can make them).

I actually loves stupid guests... keeps me entertained. Especially the ones that complain to my managers about me, but then my managers back me up. :twisted:

This past year's Christmas party, where we did a bunch of skits and made fun of a bunch of the managers... Ya, me and a few others were "talked to" afterwards... but man was it worth it.

The feeling you get when you just made some kid's day a whole lot better, by doing something simple and meaningless to you.

Teasing the managers, getting in a food fight onstage, and flying paper airplanes around onstage when it gets slow (can you believe one of the CMs I work with had NEVER made a paper airplane til I showed her how? :shock: )

Talking at Denny's til odd hours of the morning

Having a party after the last grad night of the year for all those that endured all those sleepless nights.

Alki parties... need I say more? :twisted:

Hanging out with Clyde (my favorite of our draft horses... yes, I sadly know all of them by name) backstage.

The times when even the most evil manager that could ever exist surprises you by telling you you did a damn good job and she's incredibly impressed.

The first time it hit me that I was working at Disneyland... which was prolly a good 6 months after I started there before it finally sunk in. When I was a little kid, I'd go there and see people sweeping up trash and go "wow... they're the luckiest person in the world". Now all I have to do when I get fed up at work is remember that, and think "wow... now I'M the luckiest person in the world"...

Bleh... I'll stop there before I make myself sound like a rookie... I'm in a really good mood tonight, despite getting into an argument with the lead.

tabacco · Post by **tabacco** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 11:26 am

Hmm... working the Twain dock during Fantasmic! (second show) and having a guy ask me if he could propose to his girlfriend out there before the show started. My lead said sure, and she said yes :)

(also, the sight of 30 guests outside the dock area trying to casually eavesdrop on the proceedings without looking like they were trying to :) )

VonSeegs · Post by **VonSeegs** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 12:09 pm

The first time I saw it snow in Small World mall. I had a really bad day and needed to relax before I took it out on anyone. I watched the fireworks. They were nice. And then it began to snow. I watched as all the dads put their kids on their shoulders and all the moms get so excited for their kids and all the kids believing it was real snow and laughing and screaming and playing. It was quite the heartwarming moment. It's one I'll never forget.

Zazu · Post by **Zazu** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 1:37 pm

Ooo, fun topic! And *so* out of theme, too. :P

Stepping on stage in costume for the first time. (Don't worry, Space Ranger, those "rookie feelings" hit all of us from time to time.)

Giving my first autograph to a little kid.

Spending New Years Eve 1999/2000 on Main Street Station platform with no trains operating, my official 99-cent emergency flashlight, and a gaggle of highly nervous suits and maintenance staff. We fretted about the power going out at midnight and watched 38 minutes of fireworks going up from MK, AK parking lot, Studios, Crescent Lake, Epcot, and even Pleasure Island! Wonderful view from up there, even better than California Grill.

Getting into a very loud arguement with one of the Streetscape characters in the middle of Town Square. (You had to be there.) Unrehearsed, but funny enough to draw a crowd.

My first (100%) performance reveiw on the train. Naturally, the automatic speil broke as soon as she stepped aboard, so I was narrating manually. Then watching her almost fall off the train laughing by the time we reached Toontown.

My most recent (100%) performance review on the train. (A different) manager just handed it to me as I walked through the break room. "But you've never ridden my train?" "That's okay, I know you're good."

Taking a big family up to the railroad station platform to watch the fireworks and getting two hugs, three kisses, and a $20 stuffed in my pocket.

And at the dedication ceremony for the 75 Mickeys, where I had been assigned to take photos of how the equipment and crowd control was arranged for future reference, and still being stopped by an armed bodyguard and warned that I was getting too close to Mr. Eisner. Wow, I'm officially considered a threat!

Thanks, I needed a thread like this thread this week.

Weeble · Post by **Weeble** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 2:18 pm

I always got a tingle walking onstage through the gate next to the Inn Between when the guests are all lined up before they drop the rope. Seeing all those excited faces was a great way to start the day.

Getting the shift you wanted for summer.

2 words Laser Tag. Played that on the Tom Sawyer Island between fantasmic shows.

"Hooking up" with guests and with cast members. (Don't be a playa hater, I was young and single!)

HOUSE PARTY! (the sherriff showed up one time and I told him all 200 of us crammed into my house were Disney employees. He pokes his head in and says, "wow, no facial hair in sight. Have fun, try to keep it down" and left never to bother us again that night, or ANY OTHER NIGHT. Did I mention we had a DJ spinning and 3 kegs that night? LOL!)

Cruising around to different attractions and seeing them from the Cast Member's perspective. (We found some strange rooms in the old Mission to Mars complex)

IndyBob · Post by **IndyBob** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 4:53 pm

Zazu wrote:Taking a big family up to the railroad station platform to watch the fireworks and getting two hugs, three kisses, and a $20 stuffed in my pocket.

I had a guest beg me for a backdoor pass one day at Indy because all the tickets had been distibuted for the day. He ended up giving me a $20 for it. I was jazzed and so was he!

Or the other time I took the 2 hotties I had met up to the roof of the Indy building to watch the fireworks, awesome place to see them.

IndyBob · Post by **IndyBob** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 4:54 pm

Weeble wrote:"Hooking up" with guests and with cast members. (Don't be a playa hater, I was young and single!)

Those really were the days weren't they!!!

Al Marcano · Post by **Al Marcano** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 7:35 pm

The best was hot summer days on the canoe dock and having hot looking girls come down to check us buff boys out.Great times.

BirdMom · Post by **BirdMom** » Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:24 pm

I think my rookie moment was walking thru the drawbridge at Sleeping Beauty's Castle all spiffied up in my Fantasyland mdse costume for the very first time while Cricket was singing in the background - I had goosebumps, still early 20's - it was allowable back then... Working guide one on Main Street and seeing the little kids running up to Snow White, arms outstretched for hugs totally believing she was the one and only Snow...coming in really early for opening attractions shifts to cycle boats or logs or whatever and seeing the mist on Main Street and the river...no guests inside yet, you can smell the dampness of the flower beds and the scents of all the different flowers mingle in a kind of sweet perfume. Having fun with the crew, playing practical jokes on each other both onstage and backstage...throwing c.m.'s into the river on their last day of work in front of astonished guests among other stunts...

my favorite would need a brief set up...my husband used to be a parade dancer (yeah, one of maybe 10 straight guys in the department). Anyway, when I'd do parade GC in Fantasyland, I was usually one of the crossover people by Book. A few years after spotting each other there, he surprised me by proposing to me right there in front of the Book queue (with a full line of guests who started applauding) on bended knee with the ringbox in hand. That was pretty cool...

SpaceRanger · Post by **SpaceRanger** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 1:32 am

BirdMom wrote:my favorite would need a brief set up...my husband used to be a parade dancer (yeah, one of maybe 10 straight guys in the department). Anyway, when I'd do parade GC in Fantasyland, I was usually one of the crossover people by Book. A few years after spotting each other there, he surprised me by proposing to me right there in front of the Book queue (with a full line of guests who started applauding) on bended knee with the ringbox in hand. That was pretty cool...

aww... VERY cool.