Friday, March 29, 2013

What Exactly Does WDW Attraction Hostess Do???




Me working podium/Panel at Pooh 


If you are familiar with my blog you know that I have had two internships at Walt Disney World. I was an Attractions Hostess in 2000 in FantasyLand right before the new costumes were introduced. Most people aren't aware of what extensive training Attraction cast members receive. I worked at: Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo, Ariel's Grotto, & Snow White's Scary Adventure. I had to memorize all the characters, scenes within each attraction, stories behind the attraction in detail, fire exits & fire extinguisher locations as well as emergency procedures for each attraction. On top of all of that we had to learn how to load/unload special Wheelchair cars & how to reboot an attraction if it suddenly stalls. You only have 30 seconds to load a wheelchair car on Winnie the pooh until the attraction will automatically shut down. That is a lot of pressure to do that in 30 seconds!!! I think I only had to load a wheelchair car ever twice but I did it within the time allotted. :)

 We also had to do ride throughs after the park closed every night which was fun. :) We also had to do walk throughs & pick up all the trash in the attractions. I miss walking through the scenes after close. I will probably never get to do that again unless I work at WDW again....

We also had to memorize all the spiels for Dumbo or what to say if a ride breaks down/evacuation procedures/lightning spiels. One time I was loading guests on  SWSA & the ride suddenly stopped for no reason. The girl working the podium/panel freaked out. I had to take charge  & made an announcement to have everyone stay seated & they would be moving momentarily. After a few buttons being pressed I had the ride up & running within 20 seconds! :) I took my training very seriously & took an extra day. You have to pass a lengthy written/oral test before you can go to work without a trainer. You are studying with a trainer for those first few days. I was a VERYYYYY shy person before my internship. I admit I cried right before I said my very first Dumbo spiel. It was terrifying to talk in front of all of those people if you are as shy as I was! I still have the spiel memorized to this day because I said it so many times. HAHA ...Now all the spiels are automated by a computer?! I am glad in hindsight that I had to do it because it helped my shyness by 10000000%! I will always be grateful to Disney for that. I don't know if I'd be the same person today without those experiences. :) When I got home my family was amazed at how much I changed for the better. 

Next time you are at WDW I hope you appreciate all the cast members keeping you safe at all times. :) 

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Old control panel for pooh. It has since been updated


Me & Pooh napping in scene on ride ;) 
SWSA Evil Queen Chair 

Me in Tigger Scene

Me in scene of SWSA


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Did You Pre-Order Disney Infinity Game?!




Is anyone else excited for the new Disney video game coming out in August 2013? I pre-ordered mine last week from Gamestop. It is offered on Wii,WiiU,Xbox360,Playstation, & Nintendo3DS. I ordered mine last week the first day that you could order. :)

FLASHBACK: Does anyone else remember the online game Virtual Magic Kingdom? I used to play that for HOURS!!! I miss it so much. I was SOOOOOO sad when they disabled it.Hopefully the new Disney game can fill that void for me. Ha-ha Did anyone else ever play VMK?!

PS- I found this website where you can go in the old VMK game & look at the scenes & what not but what fun is it if you cannot play? http://vmkrevisited.com/






Old scene from VMK.com

















Sunday, March 17, 2013

Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast Review...



This was my first time dining here. We were an adult party of four & we had reservations for 8:20am before the park opened.We had no issues getting into the Magic Kingdom.

We got some great pictures that day! Here is a link to our story & pictures from before the park opening:

http://yohoyohobloggerslifeforme.blogspot.com/2013/01/getting-in-parks-before-opening.html



We checked into a desk and had to wait a few minutes before they would let us i. I bought a PhotoPass Plus so we got all of the digital copies that our group took with Cinderella. Before you walk upstairs you take some photos with Cinderella & it is included in your package.

Cute window as you first walk inside.





View from upstairs of Cinderella meeting guests



We were seated & I loved the ambiance of the room. From where we were sitting I could see the Golden Carousel!



Menu from October 2012 
Menu Cover



Our waiter took our drink order & returned with a pastry platter & drinks. We got to choose from six different options. The ladies chose the French Toast & the guys chose the Steak & eggs. The breakfast was by far my favorite our entire stay.I would go back for the french toast in a heartbeat but it was a bit pricey at $50.
Steak & Eggs ( the potatoes were SO good I stole a few from hubby)

French Toast w/ raspberry sauce! Mmmmmmm

The princesses that stood out to us were Belle & Sleeping Beauty. My hubby has a beard & Belle asked if I like Beasts too? My hubby found it hilarious. Sleeping beauty is my favorite princess & she didn't let me down. Snow White was kind of blah but Belle made up for it. :)



We were there an hour & half or so. In all honesty we didn't see our waiter very much but our glasses never got empty either.I would go back for the breakfast for sure. It was on my Disney Bucket List & I'm glad I tried it. If you don't have a daughter or think a breakfast is worth $50 then this isn't the place for you.... It is a once in a lifetime treat though for anyone who has it on their Disney Bucket List! ;)

Please remember to Enter my $50 Disney Gift Card Giveaway!

http://yohoyohobloggerslifeforme.blogspot.com/2013/03/blog-giveaway-announcement.html

Saturday, March 9, 2013

What Discontinued Disney Food Do You Miss Most???


We all know things change from time to time at Disney like the food. Restaurants come & go (RIP Alfredo's!) I was disappointed to find out the Manicotti at Tutto Italia was no longer on the menu. I had it in November 2011. I went back in October 2012 & cancelled my reservation just because of that. My husband wanted to try Biergarten anyway so it  was ok. It was the most mouth watering Manicotti I've ever had. I finished the whole plate! I even let my friend taste mine & she agreed it was great.

The Confectionary & Candy Cauldron also used to make Mickey Turtles in Small,Medium,&Large sizes. They were my FAVORITE candy while I lived in FL. Sadly they do not make them anymore. I always check to see if they brought them back but alas that hasn't happened yet. :( I do not have a picture of them sadly. I just remember they were AMAZING! At least I can get a great salted caramel while in Germany to replace it.

What food and/or restaurants do you miss?
The Famous Salted Caramel from Germany 

Tutto Italia dc'ed Manicotti




Enjoying a bellini in Italy 






Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Has Working For the Mouse Killed the Disney Magic For Me???



I get this question quite a lot from friends & co-workers. The answer is absolutely not! I enjoyed creating magical moments for families on their vacations. I would always go out of my way to ask if they wanted me to take their picture. If I saw a kid drop an ice cream or popcorn I would simply just ask a Cast Member to get a new one & hand to guest without them even having to ask. That is the kind of service Disney is known for. I would also randomly select families to go through the exit on Tea Cups,Dumbo,Or Pooh Ride with no line wait! You should see the children's faces when I did that. It always makes you feel good to know your efforts are appreciated & you can make a memory for their trip they will remember forever. When I go back now with my husband I never expect any cast member to go over & beyond for us but when it happens it is always nice. :)

Does anyone have a special memory of a cast member at Disney???


Me working at Pooh ride in Spring 2000
Me inside one of the scenes at Pooh Ride 

Monday, March 4, 2013

Wilderness Lodge Mickey Waffle Recipe

Sorry I've been MIA! I had food poisoning & it was awful. :(

I was bored a few weekends ago so decided to make these from scratch. I didn't care for the first Mickey waffles I made in December so wanted to try a new recipe. This only took 10 minutes to whip up from scratch. These tasted better than the other recipe I tried. It made about 8 waffles for us. We ate them again for dinner Monday night & still superb! Give this recipe a go!



2 Cups All-purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Malt
2 Tablespoons Corn Meal
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 1/4 Tablespoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
2 Each Eggs, beaten
1/4 Cup Butter, melted
2 Cups Milk
1 Tbsp Vanilla

Method:

• Preheat a waffle iron, grease lightly.

• Sift together the Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, and Salt into a large bowl. Set aside.

• Combine the Eggs, melted Butter, and Milk in a medium bowl.

• Slowly stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until moistened.

• For each waffle, pour about 3/4 cup of batter into a waffle iron, close the lid and bake until the
steaming stops.




I prefer putting powdered sugar on mine but do them anyway you like!


By the way I finally got a prize for my giveaway. You must "LIKE" my Facebook Blog page to be selected. Details coming soon! 

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