Would You Like Magic with That?: Working at Walt Disney World Guest Relations by Annie Salisbury Read Free Book Online
Authors: Annie Salisbury
job that requires very little work and lots of downtime, you want to apply at Disney World for the position of Great Movie Ride gangster.
The worst was when you, the tram driver, messed up one of your lines during their hijack scene. Because then you had messed up the gangster’s grand entrance, and they were known to never forgive you for that. During one of my first shifts, I accidentally flubbed a line, and when I tried to correct myself, I talked over one of the gangster’s line. She was a short and stout gangster, and was probably in her mid fifties, and Great Movie Ride was her life . I had ruined her show. She never forgave me for it. For the rest of my time at Great Movie Ride, she was nothing but mean and rude to me. She forgot to give me my breaks, she spread rumors about me, and once she hid my grey GMR tour guide jacket. Here was this middle-aged woman, ragging on some 20-something barely a week into the job.
7
According to Erik, I passed my GMR assessment with flying colors. I nailed the entire spiel (save a few times I left out a word or two) and knew how to run all the other posts. He passed me, and the next day I worked my first official shift as a Great Movie Ride cast member.
I enjoyed that shift. I enjoyed all of my shifts. Maybe I would have enjoyed them more if I had spent more than ten days working at GMR.
I transferred to GMR in the beginning of March. Just before I transferred, I applied to work in Guest Relations. My managers at DisneyQuest thought I would be a good fit for the role, and I didn’t really think anything of it either way. I filled out a few questions online, attached my resume, hit submit, and forgot about it.
On my second day working at Great Movie Ride — which was actually four days later, since I was part time and struggling with a weird shift and irregular hours — I got a call telling me that I had been selected to interview for Guest Relations.
On my third day at Great Movie Ride, I asked if I could have my fourth day of work off, so I could go and interview for GR. My manager said yes.
A week later, I worked my real fourth day, and the day after that I worked my fifth day. On the sixth day, I got a call saying that I was being offered a position at Magic Kingdom Guest Relations, and my transfer would happen in two weeks.
On my seventh day — which, once again, was a few days later — I had to go in and tell everyone I had just met at GMR that I was transferring.
On my eighth day, which was a Sunday, I got a brand new schedule, and it showed my Guest Relations training on it.
I worked my ninth day at GMR, saying goodbye to everyone as I went.
My tenth day was my last day, and I had to open the attraction. It was not the best way to end my short tenure at GMR, seeing as how it was an Extra Magic Morning and I needed to be at Studios for 6:30am. I was not a happy camper that morning, but at least I was done at 12:30pm.
I clocked out of GMR in the breakroom and I walked back to my car in the parking lot. Along the way, I stopped to buy a celebratory chocolate chip cookie in the Writer’s Stop. I ate the cookie as I walked and called my mom to tell her I had just completed my last shift at GMR. It was onto another adventure.
8
Once upon a time, Walt Disney opened up Disneyland. It was incredibly popular, though it got off to a rocky start. But Walt loved the park, regardless, and it showed. He spent much of his time at the park, and sometimes he’d sleep there, too. Cast members would come to work in the morning and find Walt already in Disneyland, walking around, making sure everything was in perfect condition for guests that day.
Now, Walt loved questions. Really. For all those guests out there who think that certain things “ruin” the magic, Walt would disagree with you on that. He loved explaining how things worked, and would talk for hours about the details in his park. But soon, there were so many questions for Walt to answer, and he was only one
The worst was when you, the tram driver, messed up one of your lines during their hijack scene. Because then you had messed up the gangster’s grand entrance, and they were known to never forgive you for that. During one of my first shifts, I accidentally flubbed a line, and when I tried to correct myself, I talked over one of the gangster’s line. She was a short and stout gangster, and was probably in her mid fifties, and Great Movie Ride was her life . I had ruined her show. She never forgave me for it. For the rest of my time at Great Movie Ride, she was nothing but mean and rude to me. She forgot to give me my breaks, she spread rumors about me, and once she hid my grey GMR tour guide jacket. Here was this middle-aged woman, ragging on some 20-something barely a week into the job.
7
According to Erik, I passed my GMR assessment with flying colors. I nailed the entire spiel (save a few times I left out a word or two) and knew how to run all the other posts. He passed me, and the next day I worked my first official shift as a Great Movie Ride cast member.
I enjoyed that shift. I enjoyed all of my shifts. Maybe I would have enjoyed them more if I had spent more than ten days working at GMR.
I transferred to GMR in the beginning of March. Just before I transferred, I applied to work in Guest Relations. My managers at DisneyQuest thought I would be a good fit for the role, and I didn’t really think anything of it either way. I filled out a few questions online, attached my resume, hit submit, and forgot about it.
On my second day working at Great Movie Ride — which was actually four days later, since I was part time and struggling with a weird shift and irregular hours — I got a call telling me that I had been selected to interview for Guest Relations.
On my third day at Great Movie Ride, I asked if I could have my fourth day of work off, so I could go and interview for GR. My manager said yes.
A week later, I worked my real fourth day, and the day after that I worked my fifth day. On the sixth day, I got a call saying that I was being offered a position at Magic Kingdom Guest Relations, and my transfer would happen in two weeks.
On my seventh day — which, once again, was a few days later — I had to go in and tell everyone I had just met at GMR that I was transferring.
On my eighth day, which was a Sunday, I got a brand new schedule, and it showed my Guest Relations training on it.
I worked my ninth day at GMR, saying goodbye to everyone as I went.
My tenth day was my last day, and I had to open the attraction. It was not the best way to end my short tenure at GMR, seeing as how it was an Extra Magic Morning and I needed to be at Studios for 6:30am. I was not a happy camper that morning, but at least I was done at 12:30pm.
I clocked out of GMR in the breakroom and I walked back to my car in the parking lot. Along the way, I stopped to buy a celebratory chocolate chip cookie in the Writer’s Stop. I ate the cookie as I walked and called my mom to tell her I had just completed my last shift at GMR. It was onto another adventure.
8
Once upon a time, Walt Disney opened up Disneyland. It was incredibly popular, though it got off to a rocky start. But Walt loved the park, regardless, and it showed. He spent much of his time at the park, and sometimes he’d sleep there, too. Cast members would come to work in the morning and find Walt already in Disneyland, walking around, making sure everything was in perfect condition for guests that day.
Now, Walt loved questions. Really. For all those guests out there who think that certain things “ruin” the magic, Walt would disagree with you on that. He loved explaining how things worked, and would talk for hours about the details in his park. But soon, there were so many questions for Walt to answer, and he was only one
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