Today was day two of just costuming training. We learned how to do simple functions on the computer system by E-learning and it was pretty interesting. There's a bunch of different people we'll have to check costumes out to and send costumes to and the computer system is set up to pretty much do all of it for you. We just click a few buttons and scan the items using this incredibly snazzy scanner and it zips through the system for the whole WDW resort. You can send things from one costuming place to the laundry, you can scan costumes out to other cast members, you can send a costume to alterations and so much more. It's very impressive.
The second part of today was focused on how to construct and clean character costumes and a more detailed description of what our jobs will be in our specific location. We got to practice on some older costumes they had and it was extremely interesting and so fun! I will never look at any of Disney's costumes the same way again. I learned a lot about how Disney designs their costumes for practical and creative reasons and what systems are put in place to protect the performers inside the costumes. A lot of the details we learned about I never would have thought of myself but makes so much sense now that I'm aware of it.
Most people, including myself, thought that my coming here and working for Disney would ruin the magic for me and in the beginning, it did a little bit. But after yesterday and today I can honestly say that it made Disney so much more magical than it was before! I had never really sat down and thought about just how many people work for Disney or how everything worked as smoothly and perfectly as it seems to. Have you? If not, think about it: in Orlando alone there are four different parks. Each one of those parks have dozens of dining experiences, rides, and shows each with their own individual theme. You won't see two of the same dining experiences anywhere in Disney, nor rides or shows. And have you ever thought about exacly how many people are needed for each of those dining experiences, rides and shows? Lets narrow down to a show (and keep in mind they won't all work every single day so there must be multiples in each category): you need enough performers to put in the show every day, you need specific costumers assigned to each show so their load is small enough to take extreme care of each costume piece (and Disney does take that extreme care), you need people to operate the lights and sound for the show, people to direct the audience where to be for the show, people for crowd control, people as character attendants in case performers need help, and on and on. And that's just for one show!!! Disney has dozens of shows in each park alone! That's not even looking at how many people played a part in designing each part of that specific show. Not to mention the show performes different times each day and some shows share performance spaces with other shows (especially the parades) so everything must be stored in different places. Nothing can get lost and if it gets damaged it must be fixed or a replacement must make its way back to the show before the next performance. So many things go into this production that the guests never even stop to think about. They just watch the pretty show and then go about their day to another show or ride. That right there is what is so magical about Disney. The guests are so intrigued and mystified by the performance (whether it be a show, ride or parade) that they don't ever stop to think about what goes into making it happen every day for them! Getting to see all these elements separately was amazing enough but when I got to see them all come together so seamlessly for a show made it just so much more magical. I can honestly say I'm more in love with Disney now than I have ever been before. The best part: I get to be a part of it. My trainer kept saying this over and over today and I loved it: people save up for years to get to vacation at WDW. They come here and spend thousands of dollars for a week with Mickey; to see the look on their childrens' faces when they meet Mickey for the first time. This is a job where you never have a bad day if you just think about that family. They are here today spending thousands of dollars to see what you see every day. Think about it like that and the magic will never die.
That's all the magic for today!
Time in: 8:00 a.m.
Time out: 4:00 p.m.
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