This week's Disney Heritage class was a scavenger hunt around Hollywood Studios!!! We were set up in teams of 4-6 and were sent all around Hollywood Studios looking for clues having to heal with Walt and Roy and the architecture of the park. It was a lot of fun getting to run around the parks and have it be called "class". Seriously, where else on earth can you do that?! I also learned a lot about Walt mostly though looking at the One Man's Dream attraction which is where a lot of the scavenger hunt took place. He really was a brillant man with lots of amazing ideas and he was someone who never was afraid to push the envelope and do what was never done before. We'll find out this Thursday (3.25) who the winner is and apparently there are prizes so keep your fingers crossed for me. :) I think we did a pretty good job so it'll be close. Now for the answers to last weeks heritage trivia questiosn and some more new ones.
Answers:
1. Chicago
2. Marceline, Missouri
3. Disneyland in California. The train is the same train that runs through Marceline and the one that he saw his entire childhood.
4. Coca Cola. The last building on the main street of Marceline had burned down and then only thing that was left was a Coca Cola sign, hence where the logo came from.
NEW QUESTIONS:
1. What did Walt carve on his childhood school desk?
2. What are the 3 movies currently being worked on by Disney? (One should be very easy)
3. What is the newest ride to come to Hollywood Studios?
4. What was special about the Academy Award Walt won for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?
5. Where was Mickey Mouse first drawn?
6. What was Mickey Mouse's origional name?
7. Who's idea was it to change Walt's drawnings name to Mickey Mouse?
8. The Mickey on top of Crossroads of the World has a special purpose. What is it?
9. The Great Movie Ride is housed inside a replica of what famouse building?
10. I'll end with an easy one. What is the newest ride to be added to Hollywood Studios? (hint: It is based of a popular TV reality show).
GOOD LUCK!! Until Next week.
Love,
Jess
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Allie and Lee come to Disney!!
Hi Everyone!!
Thought I'd update you on my birthday weekend that was absolutely wonderful baring a couple of misfortunes. Allie and Lee came to visit me from Thursday night to Monday afternoon and we had lots of Disney fun. :)
I arrived at the hotel and got all settled in late on Thursday night and waited for Allie and Lee to land. When they did, I got a call from them with some unfortunate news. Apparently Southwest had sent Allie's luggage with Seth Stein to West Palm Beach and she was without her bags. So without her suitcase, they boarded the Magical Express and were soon at Pop Century!! So we hung out in the hotel room for the rest of the night just talking and watching TV. The next day we got up nice and early to...RAIN. =( But we decided to brave the rain at make our way to Hollywood Studios anyway. We had lots of fun riding the rides, taking pictures with Mike and Sulley and of course getting a little wet. Or a lot wet. lol. Liana even got Allie on her first roller coaster. She went on Rockin' Roller coaster twice and LOVED it!! I was very proud of her. :) When we had decided we were done seeing everything in the Studios we made our way back to Pop. Laura then came and picked us up so we could go to Walmart to get Allie some basic essentials since they still hadn't returned her luggage to her. When we got back to Pop, we all ready for dinner. We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe which was fantastic!! Being on the dining plan, we got to eat lots of wonderful meals for a very inexpensive price compared to what it would be without the dining plan. I had a steak which was delicious especially since I haven't had steak in forever. After dinner and some shop browsing in Downtown Disney we went back to the hotel. At midnight we celebrated my birthday and then went to sleep since we had to be up early for a full day in Magic Kingdom.
So we got up very early to get to Magic Kingdom for our 9:30 breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace. And, to everyones relief, it brought about Allies luggage!! So we got up, got dressed and I opened my presents (from Mom and Dad and Larry and Donna...Thank you!!) and we made our way to the bus. We got to Magic Kingdom and because we were there before the park opened at 9, we got to see the opening show and throw the Mickey confetti to celebrate the opening of the park for the day!! When we got into the park we made our way to Crystal Palace for a delicious breakfast with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. It was my first character breakfast since I've been here and it was so much fun to get to do it with Allie and Lee. We then spent the day in the park and even met up with Lisa, Conor and Alexa for most of the day. A few highlights were, Allie riding Space Mountain for the first time, seeing Jake the bachelor and his fiance Vienna taking pictures in front of the castle and seeing the 3 o'clock parade for the first time since I've been here. When we were tired of being in Magic Kingdom and needing a nap we went back to the hotel and hung out until it was time to leave for dinner. Tonights dinner was at Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge. So we took the bus to Magic Kingdom and then the boat to Wilderness Lodge. Dinner was again, delicious and thankfully they didn't make me stand on a chair or ride a hobby horse around the lobby or anything crazy like that because it was my birthday. lol. We got back to the hotel and promptly fell asleep, very tired from a long but wonderful birthday. :)
Sunday brought about a beautiful day just like Saturday and we decided some time at the pool was very much needed. So after sleeping late, we laid at the "Computer Pool" at Pop and worked on our tans. :) Around 1 we got dressed and made our way to EPCOT for the rest of the day. We rode lots of rides including Nemo, Soarin' (which we waited an hour and a half for), Spaceship Earth and Test Track (twice)! We weren't supposed to ride test track twice but the first time we went our TV and speakers didn't work so the guy who we told about it was really nice and let us go right back to the front of the line and ride again. Just a little Disney Magic for ya. :) We even got to see some of the EPCOT flower and garden festival which was really cool. Then, after running to make our reservation we had a fantastic final dinner at the Coral Reef restaurant at the Living Seas Pavilion. It was fantastic. And something really cool was when we were done, the park was closed so we got to feel like VIPs being in the park when it was closed to everyone else. We left EPCOT and made our way to Magic Kingdom via monorail for the extra magic hours. Lee was really tired so she didn't come with us but Allie and I left her once we got off the monorail and to my very excitement, I saw lots of people lining Main Street USA to watch Spectromagic!! I hadn't realized it was a double Spectro at 9 and 11 so Allie and I found a great spot on the start of the parade and watched it. I hadn't see it since I'd been here so I was super excited for it. :) We then rode Dumbo just for Allie (well ok, that's a lie, for me 2) and Buzz Lightyear where Allie promptly kicked my butt and decided it was time to call it a day. We took the bus back to Pop, climbed into bed and went to sleep.
Monday we woke up and since Allie and Lee were leaving at around 1 and I had work later that afternoon we spent the morning taking pictures of the hotel and laying at the pool. Sadly, I said good-bye to them and boarded the cast bus to come back to my apartment. About an hour or so later, they hopped on the magical express bus to go back to New York. It was a very, very fun vacation and a wonderful way to spend my first ever birthday in Disney World. :)
Thought I'd update you on my birthday weekend that was absolutely wonderful baring a couple of misfortunes. Allie and Lee came to visit me from Thursday night to Monday afternoon and we had lots of Disney fun. :)
I arrived at the hotel and got all settled in late on Thursday night and waited for Allie and Lee to land. When they did, I got a call from them with some unfortunate news. Apparently Southwest had sent Allie's luggage with Seth Stein to West Palm Beach and she was without her bags. So without her suitcase, they boarded the Magical Express and were soon at Pop Century!! So we hung out in the hotel room for the rest of the night just talking and watching TV. The next day we got up nice and early to...RAIN. =( But we decided to brave the rain at make our way to Hollywood Studios anyway. We had lots of fun riding the rides, taking pictures with Mike and Sulley and of course getting a little wet. Or a lot wet. lol. Liana even got Allie on her first roller coaster. She went on Rockin' Roller coaster twice and LOVED it!! I was very proud of her. :) When we had decided we were done seeing everything in the Studios we made our way back to Pop. Laura then came and picked us up so we could go to Walmart to get Allie some basic essentials since they still hadn't returned her luggage to her. When we got back to Pop, we all ready for dinner. We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe which was fantastic!! Being on the dining plan, we got to eat lots of wonderful meals for a very inexpensive price compared to what it would be without the dining plan. I had a steak which was delicious especially since I haven't had steak in forever. After dinner and some shop browsing in Downtown Disney we went back to the hotel. At midnight we celebrated my birthday and then went to sleep since we had to be up early for a full day in Magic Kingdom.
So we got up very early to get to Magic Kingdom for our 9:30 breakfast reservations at Crystal Palace. And, to everyones relief, it brought about Allies luggage!! So we got up, got dressed and I opened my presents (from Mom and Dad and Larry and Donna...Thank you!!) and we made our way to the bus. We got to Magic Kingdom and because we were there before the park opened at 9, we got to see the opening show and throw the Mickey confetti to celebrate the opening of the park for the day!! When we got into the park we made our way to Crystal Palace for a delicious breakfast with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. It was my first character breakfast since I've been here and it was so much fun to get to do it with Allie and Lee. We then spent the day in the park and even met up with Lisa, Conor and Alexa for most of the day. A few highlights were, Allie riding Space Mountain for the first time, seeing Jake the bachelor and his fiance Vienna taking pictures in front of the castle and seeing the 3 o'clock parade for the first time since I've been here. When we were tired of being in Magic Kingdom and needing a nap we went back to the hotel and hung out until it was time to leave for dinner. Tonights dinner was at Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge. So we took the bus to Magic Kingdom and then the boat to Wilderness Lodge. Dinner was again, delicious and thankfully they didn't make me stand on a chair or ride a hobby horse around the lobby or anything crazy like that because it was my birthday. lol. We got back to the hotel and promptly fell asleep, very tired from a long but wonderful birthday. :)
Sunday brought about a beautiful day just like Saturday and we decided some time at the pool was very much needed. So after sleeping late, we laid at the "Computer Pool" at Pop and worked on our tans. :) Around 1 we got dressed and made our way to EPCOT for the rest of the day. We rode lots of rides including Nemo, Soarin' (which we waited an hour and a half for), Spaceship Earth and Test Track (twice)! We weren't supposed to ride test track twice but the first time we went our TV and speakers didn't work so the guy who we told about it was really nice and let us go right back to the front of the line and ride again. Just a little Disney Magic for ya. :) We even got to see some of the EPCOT flower and garden festival which was really cool. Then, after running to make our reservation we had a fantastic final dinner at the Coral Reef restaurant at the Living Seas Pavilion. It was fantastic. And something really cool was when we were done, the park was closed so we got to feel like VIPs being in the park when it was closed to everyone else. We left EPCOT and made our way to Magic Kingdom via monorail for the extra magic hours. Lee was really tired so she didn't come with us but Allie and I left her once we got off the monorail and to my very excitement, I saw lots of people lining Main Street USA to watch Spectromagic!! I hadn't realized it was a double Spectro at 9 and 11 so Allie and I found a great spot on the start of the parade and watched it. I hadn't see it since I'd been here so I was super excited for it. :) We then rode Dumbo just for Allie (well ok, that's a lie, for me 2) and Buzz Lightyear where Allie promptly kicked my butt and decided it was time to call it a day. We took the bus back to Pop, climbed into bed and went to sleep.
Monday we woke up and since Allie and Lee were leaving at around 1 and I had work later that afternoon we spent the morning taking pictures of the hotel and laying at the pool. Sadly, I said good-bye to them and boarded the cast bus to come back to my apartment. About an hour or so later, they hopped on the magical express bus to go back to New York. It was a very, very fun vacation and a wonderful way to spend my first ever birthday in Disney World. :)
Monday, March 8, 2010
Disney Heritage
So this past Thursday, I finally started my Disney Heritage class and it's awesome!! For those of you that don't know, Disney Heritage is part of the Disney Exploration Series classes and it is all about the history of Walt Disney World from the parks to animation to Walt and Roy and everything in between. I absolutely love it. I was afraid that I was going to know to much of the information taught in the class because I'm a nerd and what not but I realized that that really isn't true. My teacher, David told me a ton of stuff that I didn't know at all and that was only in the introductory class. He's worked for the company for 15 years so he knows a ton of interesting things about it. My 2 favorite classes are definitely going to be the scavenger hunt around Hollywood Studios and the walking tour around Magic Kingdom pointing out all the fun facts about Walt and Mickey and what not. Seriously, where else do you have field trips to Disney theme parks?? How awesome is that??
Since I know that a lot of you are interested in the Disney fun facts, I decided to make it like a game for you. Every week, I'll post a handful of fun facts about what I learned in class in the form of questions. The next week, I'll post the answers to the previous weeks questions and a handful of new ones. If you want to know the answers before the week is up, e-mail me what you think the answers are and I'll tell you if you're right or not. Sound good? So here's the first batch of questions. =)
1. Where was Walt Disney born?
2. Where was Walt Disney's hometown which was also the inspiration for Main Street USA?
3. Where can you find the Santa Fe railroad and what was its significance to Walt?
4. What company sponsors the last restaurants on the left side of both Main Streets in Disney World and Disneyland and why?
Only a few this week because most of the class was about policies and things like that but see how you do. Good Luck!!
Love,
Jess
Since I know that a lot of you are interested in the Disney fun facts, I decided to make it like a game for you. Every week, I'll post a handful of fun facts about what I learned in class in the form of questions. The next week, I'll post the answers to the previous weeks questions and a handful of new ones. If you want to know the answers before the week is up, e-mail me what you think the answers are and I'll tell you if you're right or not. Sound good? So here's the first batch of questions. =)
1. Where was Walt Disney born?
2. Where was Walt Disney's hometown which was also the inspiration for Main Street USA?
3. Where can you find the Santa Fe railroad and what was its significance to Walt?
4. What company sponsors the last restaurants on the left side of both Main Streets in Disney World and Disneyland and why?
Only a few this week because most of the class was about policies and things like that but see how you do. Good Luck!!
Love,
Jess
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Thousands of Guests - Each with a Story
Some guests you love, some guests you hate and then there are some guests that are just a little special and that you'll remember for a long time. So here's some stories about guests that I'll remember.
I truly enjoy getting the guests that are celebrating truly special occasions. I get to give out lots of first visits buttons and birthday buttons and things like that but rarely do I get to give people buttons for truly special occasions. I have had the honor to write 3 "I'm Celebrating Beating Cancer Buttons", 2 of which went to children that really made me smile. They're very special little heroes in my book.
Today I got to give a button to an entirely different kind of hero. While one of my coworkers was checking in two adult parents I had the opportunity to talk to a 9 year old girl. As we started talking I soon found out that she was here celebrating the fact that she had saved her fathers life. She was an avid swimmer and took swimming and boating lessons from a young age. At one level, they learned what to do if someone is drowning and thankful for this little girls father, she paid attention. Emily's father was drowning and because she called for help, he's here today. So on her button I got to write "I'm celebrating being a hero". It was something I felt very honored to do and was incredible proud of this little girl I had only talked to for 5 minutes.
And then, there are some guests that maybe don't touch your heart so profoundly but truly do surprise you with what they do. One late night working at Jambo House, a guest approached me checking in. It was late and after having some trouble finding his reservation I discovered like many guests had done before, he was checking into the wrong building at was staying at Kidani Village. I tried to get a runner to drive him and all of his baggage and guests over but because it was so late, our runners were gone and I advised him he either had to walk over or take the bus because we couldn't unfortunately accommodate him. He was very upset about this and didn't want to but after I told him he could have bell services transfer his luggage
I bid him farewell and didn't really think anything of him after that. A few days later I was working at Kidani Village and the same man approached me. After a few words out of his mouth (he was from England so he had a distinct accent) I remembered who he was. To my shock and gratitude, he came up to apologize for being so angry at me the night he checked in. He told me that it had just been a very long and stressful trip and I happened to get the brunt end of it. I smiled and told him that it was not a problem and after finding out that he was enjoying his trip, he again went on his way. It made me smile to think that he really did care about the way he treated myself and the other cast members and was willing to admit his mistake and apologize for it. Again, some guests just surprise you sometimes.
And then...There's a ride that sits across from Peter Pan's Flight in Tomorrowland that sings a song about the world we live in. It's a small world after all couldn't have been truer than it was today.
At around 4PM today a guest approached me who looked very, very familiar. Looking At the guest with an "I know you look" I smiled and asked, "Can I ask what your last name is?" She said, "Sure, It's Andreoni. Why?" And I soon explained to her that she was my 4th grade teacher. Yes, Ms. Andreoni, my favorite grade school teacher happened to be staying at the lodge and approach me to check in. After I reminded her of my last name, took off my glasses (I didn't have them until 7th grade) and pulled down my hair, all the pieces clicked into place and I was soon catching her up on my life since TJL and reminiscing about other classmates that were in that class. She introduced me to her husband and 2 kids, John who is 5 and Abbie who I believe is not even 1 yet. John looked very confused to why his mom was so excited to talk to me and Abbie is such an adorable baby. And she's still best friends with Ms. Shannon. For those of you that were in the class and are now reading the blog, she says hello and hopes you all are doing well. It was such a small world moment seeing her but very, very exciting. I loved having her as a teacher and hadn't seen her in years. She says she's gong to come down to the desk later in the week so we can reminisce some more about that class. =)
So as you can see, guests come in all shapes and sizes. Some you love, some you hate, some touch your heart, some surprise you and some you're just surprised to see but all are special. They're what makes our job interesting and what makes the job worth while.
I truly enjoy getting the guests that are celebrating truly special occasions. I get to give out lots of first visits buttons and birthday buttons and things like that but rarely do I get to give people buttons for truly special occasions. I have had the honor to write 3 "I'm Celebrating Beating Cancer Buttons", 2 of which went to children that really made me smile. They're very special little heroes in my book.
Today I got to give a button to an entirely different kind of hero. While one of my coworkers was checking in two adult parents I had the opportunity to talk to a 9 year old girl. As we started talking I soon found out that she was here celebrating the fact that she had saved her fathers life. She was an avid swimmer and took swimming and boating lessons from a young age. At one level, they learned what to do if someone is drowning and thankful for this little girls father, she paid attention. Emily's father was drowning and because she called for help, he's here today. So on her button I got to write "I'm celebrating being a hero". It was something I felt very honored to do and was incredible proud of this little girl I had only talked to for 5 minutes.
And then, there are some guests that maybe don't touch your heart so profoundly but truly do surprise you with what they do. One late night working at Jambo House, a guest approached me checking in. It was late and after having some trouble finding his reservation I discovered like many guests had done before, he was checking into the wrong building at was staying at Kidani Village. I tried to get a runner to drive him and all of his baggage and guests over but because it was so late, our runners were gone and I advised him he either had to walk over or take the bus because we couldn't unfortunately accommodate him. He was very upset about this and didn't want to but after I told him he could have bell services transfer his luggage
I bid him farewell and didn't really think anything of him after that. A few days later I was working at Kidani Village and the same man approached me. After a few words out of his mouth (he was from England so he had a distinct accent) I remembered who he was. To my shock and gratitude, he came up to apologize for being so angry at me the night he checked in. He told me that it had just been a very long and stressful trip and I happened to get the brunt end of it. I smiled and told him that it was not a problem and after finding out that he was enjoying his trip, he again went on his way. It made me smile to think that he really did care about the way he treated myself and the other cast members and was willing to admit his mistake and apologize for it. Again, some guests just surprise you sometimes.
And then...There's a ride that sits across from Peter Pan's Flight in Tomorrowland that sings a song about the world we live in. It's a small world after all couldn't have been truer than it was today.
At around 4PM today a guest approached me who looked very, very familiar. Looking At the guest with an "I know you look" I smiled and asked, "Can I ask what your last name is?" She said, "Sure, It's Andreoni. Why?" And I soon explained to her that she was my 4th grade teacher. Yes, Ms. Andreoni, my favorite grade school teacher happened to be staying at the lodge and approach me to check in. After I reminded her of my last name, took off my glasses (I didn't have them until 7th grade) and pulled down my hair, all the pieces clicked into place and I was soon catching her up on my life since TJL and reminiscing about other classmates that were in that class. She introduced me to her husband and 2 kids, John who is 5 and Abbie who I believe is not even 1 yet. John looked very confused to why his mom was so excited to talk to me and Abbie is such an adorable baby. And she's still best friends with Ms. Shannon. For those of you that were in the class and are now reading the blog, she says hello and hopes you all are doing well. It was such a small world moment seeing her but very, very exciting. I loved having her as a teacher and hadn't seen her in years. She says she's gong to come down to the desk later in the week so we can reminisce some more about that class. =)
So as you can see, guests come in all shapes and sizes. Some you love, some you hate, some touch your heart, some surprise you and some you're just surprised to see but all are special. They're what makes our job interesting and what makes the job worth while.
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