Page 2 of personal stories from WDWCP Alumni and other Cast Members of the Walt Disney World Resort.

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Edited by Mona

I work at Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and one of my favorite positions is Greeter. Most people can't stand it but I think it is so much fun to answer guest questions and pin trade. The only 'not fun' part is Stroller Duty. Ughh... But I digress... One day I was standing at Greeter and since there were only a handful of guests riding because the parade was going on, I had nothing to do. While I was just standing there, a father and his son walk up and the little boy points to me and acts like he wants to say omething.

He couldn't have been older than four or five. So I look down at him and smile and say "hi" when his dad tells him that I am Buzz's girlfriend! I must say it made me feel a little special to be given that title, so I played along. I looked at the boy, who upon hearing his father's statement was now looking at me in wide-eyed disbelief, and said "That's right. So please go in there and help defeat Zurg so Buzz can meet me and Woody later at the Pizza Planet!" The little boy just nodded excitedly. True, it was a short-lived moment, but it's one I will always remember. And of course my friends at work will not let me live it down.

I always try to find something special to brighten a child's day. I was working in the King's Gallery, wearing the special dress for that shop which always made me feel like a princess. When I worked in there or in Tinkerbell's Treasures, I always called the little girls "Princess". Anyway, I usually carried Mickey stickers in my pockets for children I either caught being good or who were having a bad day. However the sticker supply for Fantasyland merchantainers was always low and I didn't have any stickers on this particular day. Improvising, I dumped out a tin of glitter hairclips at my counter and collected all the loose glitter into a little pile. Instead of stickers, I offered little girls "pixie dust" left behind by Tinkerbell.

One very sweet princess was so delighted by the pixie dust and my "princess" dress, she asked to take my picture. I was really shocked that anyone would want a picture of a plain old sales hostess when princesses are running around everywhere. We really made each other's day.

Why do foreign tourists think its acceptable to defacate in public? At the Dumbo ride in Fantasyland, a grown woman decided she didn't want to get out of line to use Pinnochio House restaurant's restoom, less than 100 ft. away, and relieved herself in line for the ride! Luckily I didn't get to witness this but several other attractions and merchandise cast members did.

When I was on the college program in 99, I was working as a Safari Driver at Animal Kingdom. Though I loved Driving with the animals and doing my speil, my favorite times were when I was in the que chatting with guests.

One day the two cutest little boys imaginable came up to me and said "Mr. We're lost" The younger one was crying and it broke my heart. Though I knew that company policy was to bring them to the lost and found area, I put the little one on my shoulders and lead them through the long que in search of there father. I had them laughing the whole way by stopping by every man saying, are you our father? We found him about halfway through the line, the kids had gone to get some lemonade, and the line moved really fast that day. The dad said "God Bless you" as I handed the children over to him. Later on that day they came back to find me and actually rode on my tour of the animals. They were the greatest guests I had ever had on the ride.

Of all places to fall in love, the Magical Place of Walt Disney World takes the cake. While working in the Parades department of the Magic Kingdom I fell in love and have never recovered.

It was late at night and the Magic Kingdom was closing, I was just getting done with a late night rehersal at the PC as a stilt walker for the daily parade. The park was closing so I decided to go ahead and walk to the stair well in Fantasyland, via Frontierland. At that is when she caught me. She told me in a sweet voice that the park was closed and I would have to go back the way I came, I smiled and told her that I worked here in entertainment, showed her my ID and proceded to have a pleasant conversation with her. I found out her name was Becky, she was on the College Program Spring 2000, and that she worked in Fantasyland. Over the course of the next two weeks we spent the most wonderful time together. Unfortunately Becky had to leave the WDWCP unexpectedly and she headed back home.

I was able to keep in contact with her, but unfortunately have not heard from her in over two years. I miss her, and I wish I could find her.

In the fall of 1999 I went down on the college program and met up with a friend of mine from school we ended up in the same room it was a blast and i had the most fun with the group even though at times i was on the verge of meltdown at everything around me but that is not the story, we were in room 303 for the beginning part of the semester and well we had the room that had a roof that leaked on me and my friend in the #2 and #3 rooms. we complained to the people at vista way and within a week or two before the middle of our time there we were moved to a new room in building 28 I believe cant remember HAD WAY TOO MUCH FUN to remember.

The night we were to move I came home from work like i normally do at about 2 or 3 minutes to 11 the house was in shambles and my friend was in a uproar mind you I did not know we were moving only that we were going to have the roof fixed anyway he came up to me and said the entire room has to meet with the security and the people in the college program in the morning because they had found traces of pot in our room and that we might all get termed for it. me being the worry wort that I am went into what I consider the worst case senario short of breaking down.

he had the entire room angry at me and the rest of them causing me to get further into the worrying mode they had me so worked up that at one point he said "Photon look up please" I did that is when they snapped a picture of my face he said "Gotcha" and then explained the whole thing the whole thing was a joke from the beginning to the end. I thought this whole time that my roommates who were not from America had screwed it up for me and my record with disney so that I could not keep my job and stay at disney.

When I found out it was a hoax I was stunned much to say the least I was well almost ready to kill him but I couldn't he had an opportunity to mess with my head and he couldnt pass it up. From that day on I knew that I needed to watch out with him because he is the master!

hen it came to jokes of any kind which made living there fun and not fun at the same time.

I was working in the Golden Age Souveniours one day when this girl, about 7 or 8 came over with her mother. Neither of them spoke English, but I didn't know that! I saw the girl playing with the glitter pens (those are GRAND!) and told her to try it out. She just stared at me, so I took some of the register tape, took the pen, and drew her a picture. She grinned from ear to ear, and then drew me a picture. For 5 minutes, we communicated through our glitter pen pictures. It was such a magical moment for me and her. I'll never forget it!

My bestest friend from high school and I did the CP together and were even placed in the same area! We were thrilled. I had to leave the program early do to unfortunte health problems, so Audra (my friend) and I decided to spend one last day together. We both ditched work on a super nice day. We were laying out on the beach at Mickey's Retreat and loving the sun (this seems to be a good place to say that we are as white as white can be). ONLY after we were attacked by those NASTY love bugs, they really need to consider getting rid of every last one of those nasty bugs! After an hour, we went in and had lunch and called in sick. We decided it was only right to go back out to the beach and just enjoy the sun. So, we headed back out there, FAR from the nasty bugs.

We laid there, talked about Disney and how hard it would be to be apart after spending the last 3 months living our life long dream together. After about 3 or 4 hours we decided soon we would go in! Dressed up in our new sundresses (purchased at the Magic Kingdom!) and go see a movie in Downtown Disney. By the end of our exciting sun filled day, we had been outside for a good 4 or 5 hours. We got dressed in our pretty dresses and headed toward the buses.

When we got to Downtown Disney, we were feeling pretty darn cold! So, we went over to the Rainforest Cafe and bought two jackets. We shivered like we were back in Colorado, while everyone else walked around in tank tops. Finally, it was time for the movie to start, so we sat in the theater HOVERING together shivering. This was the first time we looked down and saw just how RED our legs were. We were not cute looking at all, we were DISGUSTING. People walked by staring at us with a look of horror in their eyes!

Half way through the movie, our jaws were knocking, our legs burned and we ached something feirce. We had to wait for a stickin' hour (as many of you experienced) for the bus to pick us up and bring us back to Chatham. We swore to jump in the pool to cool off our burning legs, but we were just way too cold to bear the pool's cold temperature. The next day, we were both SICK (we had sunpoisoning, but we didn't know that until weeks later). The following day, my ankles and legs were so swollen the looked broken! I left that day, we talked every weekend after that, and by our fourth call the sunburn was just about gone. And, months later, my legs are finally back to normal! BEWARE OF THE SUN!

I am not a CP, but have many fond memories of them, because I became alot of CP's mom way from home.I saw many people in my tenure with Disney. Many became friends that I will never forget. My list of celebs: John Denver, Kathy Ireland( thank goodness she was my last Jungle Cruise ride, because otherwise she would have been.) I knew she was a celeb,but couldn't remember her name and it hit me just as the time I was coming into the dock, saying the speil, If you had a good time my name is Lana, and if you didn't it's Kathy, and that's where I stopped realizing who she was. Not finishing the sentence, with Kathy Lee Gifford and and this was a Carnavail Cruise. If my friends could see me now!) Michael J. Fox, Kevin Bacon, I was a security guard for Michael Eisner, Roy Disney Jr., when they were opening AK, me all of 5 ft. That was a laugh!! Some WWF Wrestling Guy there's a memory. Had to persuade Leonard De'Caprio's antruage, not to harrass the gorilla's!

. Booked NYSNC' but of course didn't get to see them, Drew Carey, Darma & Greg's parent's on the show, The Lawrence Boys were my favorite, I had to try to explain what the male bats are doing??? You get the idea. They were really nice.

But my most memorable time was when I was a Super Greeter at MK, I was walking around the park in TomorrowLand, getting people to sign my Autograph Book. I came upon a family trying to stay cool, I then noticed that a member of their family was in a wheelchair. I asked her to sign my Autograph book and had asked a couple of question, Where were they from, (happened to be my home state), and how old was she, (happened to be the same age as my daughter), unforunately she had cancer of the brain stem and was not going to be here much longer (her second bout of it). I had talked to the family. They obviously could not afford the trip and was here with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Their trip did not get off on a good start. But I was there to change all that. I found out who her favorite character was, Good Thing it was Mickey, I told her that I would meet them as soon as they were finished. I had arranged a large stuffed Mickey Mouse to be given by Mickey himself at Toon Town. Where I then Comp the pictures of her and Mickey and her family. I knew that was something that they would always cherish. I wasn't finshed with my pixiedust just yet then, I had arranged special seating at the parade for her, which made her feel that more special and then told her I would take her for a ride on the Jungle Cruise, it started raining and she didn't feel that well, so they decided to go to the hotel, I said my goodbye and wished her well. Not expecting to ever see her again. She came back the very next day and waited for my boat to come around to hear my speil. I was so thrilled to see her again, to see her smile. A child with no hair and an obvious will to live, she made me proud to know I made a difference no matter how great or small. She was my magical moment, to this day I still think of her.

Here's to the good times at the great Vista Way,
where drinking and drama were a part of our everyday.
There was the pond which people swam across,
this was due to drinking and a bit of memory loss.

There were assholes,there were players,there were bitches and some sluts,
people who used their windows to show everyone their butts.
Disney, drinking, girls, and guys, were all we talked about,
what else could we possibly do, we were in a fucking cult.

Vista actually wasn't that bad because we made a lot of friends,
friends we know that will last forever and be there till the end.
Walgreens, Wendy's, Walmart were all the places to go,
you couldn't go to either of those w/out running into someone you know.

Fifteen drank Milwaukee's Best, their names: Boner, Pat, and Mike,
I think that beer tastes like shit, it's got to be Miller or Bud Light.
Power hour, beer bonging, jello shots were grand,
but after doing any one of these barely anyone can stand.

The place to go on a Thursday night would have to be P.I.,
people usually wouldn't go though unless they were drunk or high.
The music got old too fast and the people there were sick,
Motion was just plain boring, that's why you'd leave there quick.

You'd get home and not go to bed, cause bedtime isn't till 4,
you would bug your roommates and make them laugh, then go from door to door.
Everyone at Vista got with someone at one time,
you would keep getting with that person until someone new you'd find.

Std's were in the hottub, the one by the clubhouse and pool,
people never went in there though, unless they were a fool.
Lying next to the pool on all of your days off,
while thinking of all the people back home freezing their asses off.

Enough of all the fun times, there's something we have to do,
Say goodbye to all our friends,even if it makes us blue.
The friends we've shared, and the memories we've made,
will never ever leave our heart....noone can take that away.

So here's to our friends that we made at Vista Way, I hope I see each and everyone of you again someday.

I did get to see famous and pseudo-famous people. There would be something wrong if I didn't see at least one celebrity in the 5 years I was at Disney.

Rebecca Lobo and about 6 other members of the Olympic Womens' basketball team were on MY BOAT!!!! I remember her when she and UCONN played and beat the crap out of Auburn (twice) the year they won the title. I will never let it down to my friend Kim Johnson who was a fellow Jungle skipper and a UCONN grad and was envious that I got to speil for Rebecca. I also could swear that Sylvester Stallone was on my boat. Glasses, built like him and I even lost my concentration.

I got to see both the mens and womens Olympic basketball teams at a parade at Epcot. I saw everyone, including, Charles Barklay (a fellow Auburn Alumni), Shaq, Reggie Miller and others I don't know the name to.

We got tickets to see Fantasmic during the Press Event. Of course, we weren't invited to the party afterwards. But on the red carpet, Leanza Cornett, 1993 Miss America, was there interviewing other celebrities.

Also in 1998, I got to see free concerts and sat 2nd row in that small theater at Disney Institute. In one night, I saw Better Than Ezra (very good on stage), 10,000 Maniacs (without Natalie Merchant), and B-52s.... ROCK LOBSTER!!!!!!

One trip to DAK, Daisy Fuentes was shooting in front of the Tree of Life for one of her spanish tv shows.

One of my tv crushes in the 80s, Davy Jones performed at the American Pavilion. This was doing the Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival. Davy Jones was one of the Flower Power performers.

At Universal Studios Citywalk, my friend Aaron Benesh got us tickets to see a Emeril Lagasse. This particular show was about old comedy movies and scary movies. So he made duck soup w/shrimp and a fried turkey. Yummy!

Theral, that's what we'll call him, went to disney and decide to pursue his sexual preference beyond women, but didn't want everyone to know he was bisexual. You catch my drift. Anyway, he worked at the Jungle with me last summer and the following happened on my vacation around New Years.

Near the unload area, there is a water closet right behind the dock box. The dock box is a podium to the right when you step off the boat.

Well Theral was stepping out of the water closet. When this girl skipper in a boat full of guests, came around the bend after Chief Nomie to unload. Without thinking she saw Theral and said, "Look at Theral Coming Out of The Closet!" Needless to say, Theral was pissed and did not want everyone, especially strangers, that he came out of the closet.

** names have been changed to protect the made fun of

Well at that time RRBC was created after the "space theme"for the building was not doing so well ($$) so we cast members voted and elected to a beach club theme instead.Besides the old costumes sucked big time!!

Anyway, one of the band members got stuck in the old space pod in the air for about 30 mins. while they were playing. The poor old rocker didn't think he was going to see the ground before the year 1990!! What a sight!!

Well, that next morning, I got up to answer the phone and it was for one of them. I went to give them the portable phone and saw plaster everywhere. I knew I did not want to hear the explanation so I just left. Good thing because neither could offer one. I guess they both blacked out and the only reminder was their swollen knuckles. Anyway, the wall stayed like that for the majority of the summer, covered by BIG posters!

Well one day, a maintenance worker came to the door. He said he was there to fix the wall. I thought that maybe one of my roomates called it in for some ungodly reason and so I let him in. He saw the sixe of it and got a wierd look. He then looked at me strangely and said he did not have the tools to fix it. He left. Oh well, I go back to watching TV. He comes back with security and some office personnel. I thought I was on Real Stories of Vista Way Patrol or Cops. They came in videotaping and taking poloroids. They then rounded all of us up and forced us to each sign a deposition stating our knowledge of the incident and the interviewed each of us separately.

After the inquisition, the hammer came down on my two roomies. So what was our next step? A termination party, of course. Just 100 of their closest friends. Marty and Jason. I miss you guys. It was a great summer. Hope you are both well. Peace and I'm out.

Later that same afternoon....our same drunk friend led us all singing in a rousing rendition of Caine's all time favorite "its a small world"as we rode on Small World (unfortunately chris wasn't with us,but we thought of him and knew he'd be "quite disappointed") By the end of the ride , we had ALL the boats singing too. all the little kids and their parents. It was really funny. talk about disney spirit. well, hope this brought back some funny memories.

Oh! What's even more ironic is that the next week we had a guest come in the store and say that she really needed to use the bathroom, but they wouldn't let her cross the parade. So...before we could do anything about it...it happened...#3 my friends. Sorry to tell this nasty story, but it was quite humorous. The funniest thing about it is that the guest took my supervisors arm...getting fecal matter all over him and then when we tried to bring her away to get cleaned up...she did it again. Again...this happened in the same side of the store. Nasty stuff going on at the Emporium!

There is a moral to this story folks. If you are ever in the Emporium and feel the need to relieve yourself...don't do it! Also, if you feel the need to sit down on the floor at the Emporium make sure it's on the right side...as far as I know that side is free from any incidents of this nature. ok! That's if you are in the Emporium facing the street...the right side! Didn't want to confuse any of you.

Sorry for the nasty funny story, but it's one that you'll never forget!