One of the many things the Disney College Program did for us was put on monthly Bingo games. The winners would receive a DCP reusable bag that is filled with groceries! I don’t think most people in the CP have lived on their own before, so groceries are necessary and very much needed. Forget Disney Swag, we need to eat!
The first time I went to the Bingo, it was actually an accident. I was arriving home from work and I always walked outside to get to my room. It was a shortcut. Well, I walked outside and everyone looked up from their bingo cards. Guess I was joining them! That was also the day when helicopters began flying overhead and using their loudspeaker to announce all residents should remain inside because there was an armed criminal on the loose. We were perfectly safe up on the second story of our secured building, but it was still really freaky.
One of the many things the Disney College Program does for us is put on Movie Nights once a month. They put together snacks, decorations, and encourage everyone to dress up to the theme. This Movie Night was October 2015 for Back to the Future Day and was themed as such. We partied to the movie’s dance theme: Enchantment Under the Sea. So fun! Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling well, so I became the photographer and took photos instead of participating in them. Enjoy!
I was paired with Josh for training, however we were the only New Hires paired up with one Trainer. Tasha, Miranda, and Ari all had their own one-on-one training. Josh and I got along well, so we were excited to share the training experience together. Our Trainer’s name was Adam and we had heard from other Cast Members that “he is pretty cool.” Turns out, they were right.
I drove Josh and myself early to the park and waited backstage at the main gate called Harbor Pointe. We were too excited to sit at home and wait. When we arrived, we were told to meet our Indiana Jones trainer, Adam, at “the flag pole” backstage. After that day, the flag pole area was known as “Starbucks” since Starbucks is more iconic than a flag pole. #Amurica
Tasha wearing the Indiana Jones female costume
Adam arrived, introduced himself, and we took off right away to Costuming. This was it! This was what Josh and I were most excited for: our Indiana Jones fedora and costume! Costuming allows all Cast Members to (for the most part), check out 3 shirts and 3 bottoms, 1 belt, and our gender specific jacket. In addition, I had to also get a pair of spats and tie. It’s part of every Cast Member’s job to make sure they look exactly as they should with clean and non-wrinkled costumes. It helps to keep the Show (of the Four Keys) in tact and magical. We would find many coworkers who struggle with that requirement, however. For example, we knew one person who would always wear sagging pants. Not only is it tacky, but it doesn’t match Indiana Jones’ 1937 ear style clothing. I was told that even forgetting my tie would result in either being sent to Costuming and being forced to check out a second tie, which would be a penalty on my account, or go home and lose a day of pay and be docked points. Same goes for wearing too much makeup (even if it IS era accurate, i.e. red lipstick for women).
My friend Jon modeling the male costume
Adam took us out of costuming, back to Harbor Pointe, past the Soundsational Parade floats, and on stage to Town Square. We marveled at ourselves for a moment, standing in full costume in front of the Main Street Train Station as crowds passed us not knowing what a monumental moment it was. Josh and I exchanged smiles and hurried after Adam who had taken off across the street and toward the Firehouse to the backstage entrance.We walked backstage behind The Jungle Cruise and to the Indiana Jones’ backstage entrance.
After putting our things down in the break room, we were given a tour of the attraction, which tells the story of Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Every attraction at Disneyland has a story to it. Adam took Josh and I on what’s called a Temple Tour and told us the entire story of Indy and the Temple. (I’ll make a post on that another time because it’s a very intricate and brilliant story.) When we arrived in The Station where guests board the ride vehicles, Adam waved at another Cast Member, held up three fingers, and boarded the next vehicle. He walked on, sat down, took off his fedora, and looked up at us. You didn’t have to tell us twice! Josh and I hurried onboard and took a seat and fastened our seatbelts. We were going on a Show Check of Indy!
We had lunch at the Cast Member backstage cafe, which is moderately priced and has nearly the same foods guests get in the parks. It’s notorious for being painfully slow, so never count on eating there if you have less than 30 minutes for lunch (or, in my case, more than 30 minutes because they forgot my order TWICE despite me being the only person standing and waiting in line). They make a really great milkshake, though.
After lunch, we left Indy and went back to a building nearby the Starbucks backstage and read the beginning of Indiana Jones’ Operating Guide until the end of our shift.
By the time I got home, I had enough energy to hang my hat up, heat up a microwave dinner, then go to bed.
First on-the-job training is in the Guest Control costume and is called Guest Interaction (GI) training. The official description of the training is, “Observe and demonstrate how to properly interact with Guests using the Service Model, Four Keys, and Guest service.” What it actually means is learning the parade routes, how to set up poles and ropes for the parades and fireworks, as well as parade and firework viewing areas for guests. We’re taught how to interact with guests who don’t speak English as a native language, how to assist guests in wheelchairs or other accommodations, what to do (and not do) when you find a lost child and where to bring him or her, and what steps to take in the case of a natural disaster such as an earthquake. In addition, we were to learn a quick overview of Guest and Cast Member facilities including restrooms, pay phones, and ATMs. One rule we were told was that no Cast Member should ever use a guest bathroom while in costume. I mean, could you imagine seeing Cinderella enter the bathroom stall next to you? Talk about killing the magic!
Jessie (Me), Josh, and our awesome GI Trainer, Nick
Josh and I were paired together at Traditions to train at Indy with the same trainer, so we were also paired to learn Guest Interaction at the same time. You can see us (photo to the right) being super studious as Nick, despite having a 101 degree fever, spoke about the way the parade works. Wow. Looking at that photo, I’m so glad that wasn’t my usual costume. Boy is that costume unflattering! The men and women’s costumes were interchangeable so long as you did all men’s or all female’s. Most of the time, they didn’t have my sizes in stock so I had to move into the men’s section and grab a vest. This training happened when the weather was in the high 90’s. When it gets this hot, the costumes can be reduced. You can see in this photo that Josh wasn’t wearing his black tie and the top button has been opened. This was acceptable when the weather his a certain point. When it hits the 100’s, the vest become optional.
We learned the parade route and how it will start at It’s a Small World and head to Main Street and then the second parade will reverse directions and start at Main Street and head to It’s a Small World. You can see the route in the red/pink dots that line the street in the photo below. During my college program, they had three total parades that I was trained to work: Mickey’s Soundsational Parade, A Christmas Fantasy Parade, and Paint the Night Parade.
Shout out to our GI trainer, Nick. Not only was it his 1 year anniversary with his girlfriend, but he was also running a crazy high fever. A few times Josh and I thought he might fall over, but he was adamant that he not miss our training. Once or twice Nick would zone out and we could see beads of sweat building up on his forehead. He was a trooper and determined to make it through all of training.
Here are some photos I took from Mickey’s Soundsational Parade. It’s a very fun and lively show, however I found a lot of the costumes a little too odd and whimsical for my taste.
Meanwhile, the Christmas Fantasy Parade was a fun mix of Disney and Christmas. They lots of really great performers in this group, particularly the energetic Elves that played tricks on each other and danced with 100% energy from start to finish. I’ll admit, some of the photos I’m posting below are from 2014, but hey. The parade hasn’t changed very much.
It was 6:45 in the morning and anyone who was awake and/or not working were invited to take a photo in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Some people had only returned from work a few hours earlier and stayed home to sleep, but the majority of us bit the bullet and made our way to the park. My two Indy friends, Ari and Miranda, unfortunately didn’t make it. I was super bummed to not have them in this photo and memory.
Disneyland’s College Program is special because they have the opportunity to take this photo in the first place. No, not because it’s before park opening, but because the College Program at Walt Disney World has too many participants to safely and efficiently take the photo!
One of our two CP coordinators, Katy, was there to take the photo with us (you’ll see her below in a photo). After the group shot, we were allowed to get into groups and take photos by department or other small groups. Unfortunately, not all of The Indy Crew showed up, but I’m really glad that I did! I’ll admit, however, that despite it being freezing that morning, I really wish I had taken off the Duster so the photo captured the darling costume underneath. Oh well. Live and learn!
About 100 out of 400 showed up for our 6:45am College Program photoKaty is the coolest! She is kneeling there in the foreground Silly photo!Adventureland CP’s “Looking for Adventure!”Josh, Tasha, Jessie (Me), Andrea, Katie
Magically Disney: Jessie's DCP 
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