Fantasy - July 14, 2012

[linkandclover]

Oh- one last thing!
Who else has a magical porthole?! I can't wait to see this! I've never looked forward to staying in an interior room so much!

I am so jealous. I wanted one but had to settle for oceanview. Can't wait to hear what it like.

By the way welcome aboard

 

[noahsmom]

woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow. It's very pretty but I'd prefer to get this in December. Makes me dream of this cruise even more!! Under 140 days before we leave

Would any of the teens in this group like to get to know each other before the cruise. Noah is excited that there are so many in this group, it's not happened before. He's not much of an emailer, he's rather slow to reply.

Ashly, I'd love to hear some of your adventures as a CM! Where did you work? Noah would like to be an Imagineer in the future.

 

[linkandclover]

Would any of the teens in this group like to get to know each other before the cruise. Noah is excited that there are so many in this group, it's not happened before. He's not much of an emailer, he's rather slow to reply.

e.

Both of my boys (12 and soon 15) would love to get to know some of the other teens. My younger one tends to need a little bit of a push and the older one tends to be off and running. Both of mine are on facebook which is the best way to catch them. I will PM the information if you want.

 

[SA53]

My Edger and Viber are into meeting other kids on board early. Neither of mine have Facebook accounts but I do so they could always use mine. I saw somewhere on another board that the cruise kids had started up a private Facebook page that they could all hang out on. I will try to figure our how to do that, or if linkandclover's kids are more Facebook savvy than me (and trust me, that is not hard), if they know how to do that I think that would be nice for all the kids. We definitely have a bunch of tweens and teens this trip which is great for my two!!!

K in SA

 

[SA53]

Okay, I think I figured out how to create a Facebook group, but I need someone's Facebook name to create it. It won't let lonely ol' me be a group by myself If you want to PM me with one of your kids Facebook names that would be great.

K in Sa

 

[ashly2499]

It's sunny and freezing here in Music City. Are you guys as ready for this cruise as I am?!
Did you watch the video update on Enchanted Art from the Disney site on the fantasy? I love the video journals! I just read online that the art uses facial recognition technology to (attempt) to show you a different animation every time you view it. Creepy cool!


Also, I think the Mickey's Midship Detective Agency is going to be a-mazing!

Last, I definitely want to be in with the Fish Extenders. It's just me and DH, but I'm a first grade teacher and I think it would be a blast putting craft stuff together to deliver.

 

[SA53]

Welcome Ashly2499,

Chilly here in San Antonio today as well (after 85 degrees on Thursday ). I love watching all the Fantasy videos. I was listening to a WDW Podcast while doing dishes yesterday and my husband now is sure I have lost it!! I am going to have to check out the video on the Enchanted Art as I haven't seen that yet. Last video I saw the guys were just heading out into the Atlantic.

Right now I think we have a small FE group which I think is better for making stuff. If you haven't already, check out this thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1980639 . It is both intimidating and inspirational!!!

K in SA

 

[linkandclover]

Okay, I think I figured out how to create a Facebook group, but I need someone's Facebook name to create it. It won't let lonely ol' me be a group by myself If you want to PM me with one of your kids Facebook names that would be great.

K in Sa

Sent you the information through PM. Thanks for setting this up. I will encourage my kids to take a look

 

[linkandclover]

Well our FE group is now at 4 families. If it stays this small it might be a good idea to give everyone a day to hand out goodies so that it gets spread out during the cruise as opposed to all at once. Hopefully more people will joy in for the fun.

 

[linkandclover]

It's sunny and freezing here in Music City. Are you guys as ready for this cruise as I am?!
Did you watch the video update on Enchanted Art from the Disney site on the fantasy? I love the video journals! I just read online that the art uses facial recognition technology to (attempt) to show you a different animation every time you view it. Creepy cool!


Also, I think the Mickey's Midship Detective Agency is going to be a-mazing!

Last, I definitely want to be in with the Fish Extenders. It's just me and DH, but I'm a first grade teacher and I think it would be a blast putting craft stuff together to deliver.

Welcome aboard. I put you down for the FE's but need your state room number.

Can't wait for July and being on the new boat. I think I am the most excited one in my family.

 

[SA53]

Okay link, I sent you a PM right back. Hopefully after we are guinea pigs for this thing, it will be easy to add all the kids!!!!

Kereen

 

[ashly2499]

I don't know my room number yet- we booked through cruises(dotcom) and we didn't get to pick out our room. Hopefully we will find it out during check in. I have a question about that as well. We are silver level Castway Club members, so do we get to check in online before April 30?
I'm crossing my fingers that we find out our room number during the online check in. I was thinking worst case scenario, I will make tags with the FE gifts I send out and handwrite in my room number so you guys can find us! Which by the way, you are totally going to want to do! Why, you ask? Because we are going all out for our door decoration! We went to lunch at Lenny's today, and my husband had the neatest idea! It's interactive, it's fun, and you are going to love it! We drew out all the details on our little napkin.
Anybody else planning on doing door decs?

 

[linkandclover]

I don't know my room number yet- we booked through cruises(dotcom) and we didn't get to pick out our room. Hopefully we will find it out during check in. I have a question about that as well. We are silver level Castway Club members, so do we get to check in online before April 30?
I'm crossing my fingers that we find out our room number during the online check in. I was thinking worst case scenario, I will make tags with the FE gifts I send out and handwrite in my room number so you guys can find us! Which by the way, you are totally going to want to do! Why, you ask? Because we are going all out for our door decoration! We went to lunch at Lenny's today, and my husband had the neatest idea! It's interactive, it's fun, and you are going to love it! We drew out all the details on our little napkin.
Anybody else planning on doing door decs?

I have never booked a cruise without going through Disney but I would guess that you should be able to access everything through you castaway club account. If not you may try calling Disney cruise line and see if they can link this cruise to your past one. I do know that there is a separate check in line but funny enough on our last cruise it was actually slower than the one for first time cruisers.

You now have me very curious about your door. I can't wait to see it.

 

[linkandclover]

Okay link, I sent you a PM right back. Hopefully after we are guinea pigs for this thing, it will be easy to add all the kids!!!!

Kereen

He has now accepted your friend request. Any idea what comes next?

 

[Cptjackandcrew]

I don't know my room number yet- we booked through cruises(dotcom) and we didn't get to pick out our room. Hopefully we will find it out during check in. I have a question about that as well. We are silver level Castway Club members, so do we get to check in online before April 30?
I'm crossing my fingers that we find out our room number during the online check in. I was thinking worst case scenario, I will make tags with the FE gifts I send out and handwrite in my room number so you guys can find us! Which by the way, you are totally going to want to do! Why, you ask? Because we are going all out for our door decoration! We went to lunch at Lenny's today, and my husband had the neatest idea! It's interactive, it's fun, and you are going to love it! We drew out all the details on our little napkin.
Anybody else planning on doing door decs?

Someone recommended this on our last cruise: They weren't sure if they would have their room assignment and then some people upgrade once they reach the port. Their idea was that they would leave a voicemail at each participating room. (We left notes with our gifts one time noting the room change, but not everyone peeks in their bags while onboard so that idea didn't work out too well.)

 

[ashly2499]

*Picture intense post, I apologize in advance!

Ashly, I'd love to hear some of your adventures as a CM! Where did you work? Noah would like to be an Imagineer in the future.

Hey noahsmom! I worked primary at DisneyQuest. I ran attractions there, and then I also got trained to do the Animation Academy. It was pretty much the best job at Disney! You sit inside in the air condition and teach people to draw Mickey Mouse all day!

Plus, check out that Brittany Spears style microphone. Yea-ah!

I also picked up shifts all around property. I worked at all 4 parks + DisneyQuest.

Studios:

I was a "Jedi" at Star Tours. As an optional part of our costume, we could wear a light saber (Um, yes please! *Nerd alert!) This little kid walked by and yanked on his mom's pants leg screaming "Mommy mommy! She's a JEDI! Did you see her light saber?" haha... Amazing. They pay you for this! Sidenote: Have you guys riden Star Tours since the upgrade?! It's AMAZING! We went on it like 5 times back to back when I was last down.


Magic Kingdom (my fav!):

This is one of my favorite pics. It's under the Magic Kingdom down in the Utilidors. I used to pick shifts working crowd control for the night parades on Main Street. That was really fun! We would play games with the kids in the street waiting on the parade, talk to guests, play with the airplane-control-looking light wands, and watch fireworks. Not a bad gig.

Epcot:

I worked at the Flower & Garden Festival

College Program Graduation

I picked up shifts at Expedition Everest when it first opened. We got to ride it before it opened up to the public. I'm the crazy girl that likes to take pictures of EVERYTHING, so as we were making our way back after riding Everest, I saw a great photo opp with Everest in the background. There was a Disney Imagineer nearby, and he was like "hey that's a great idea!" Now there is an official "Kodak moment" there with props. Totally my idea for the photo pop spot.

Note: I am wear clothes under there. 19-year-old me thought tube tops were mandatory in FL.

Random fun things:

We had French roommates that made homemade crepes! Yum!

Disney has great random surprises for Cast Members. We had an after hours party @ Disney Quest. Buzz showed up.

We watched the shuttle launch from the roof of Disney Quest one day. I'm not sure who was actually running the place at this point, because that's pretty much everybody on the roof!

I auditioned for a face character position. I made the cut, but when they asked me if I was willing to extend my college program (and put off finishing my degree for a few months) I said no. I regret that! They never told us which characters we were auditioning for...

We had special events like a masquerade ball (so fun!!!!)

Me and my future husband! He was a boat captain- too cute!

I love the Disney "environment". I applied when I finished college, but it was right when the economy was at the lowest point and Disney had a hiring freeze and had just laid off like 500 managers.

I teach first grade in Nashville, so I love where we have ended up. I would encourage your son to work really hard, and definitely do the Disney College Program! It's truly life changing.

 

[linkandclover]

Ok. Now I want to quit my job and go work for Disney. Sounds like an amazing experience.

 

[ashly2499]

Ashly, I'd love to hear some of your adventures as a CM! Where did you work? Noah would like to be an Imagineer in the future.

Ok, three quick CM stories and I'll stop hogging the forum.

1. Princess Pat
When I worked at the Animation Academy, we could see what the guests were drawing on the screens. (Had to make sure they were keeping it G rated! You'd be amazed what people do to poor Mickey...)
This dad and his daughter were in my class. She was probably 7 and had beautiful flowing brown hair that went all the way down her back. She was a pretty little girl with long flowy eyelashes!
So, the dad writes me a note saying "it's Pat's birthday" and makes motions signifying the kid. At the end of the class, I gathered everyone's attention and announced that we had a special birthday.... PRINCESS PAT!
The little girl looked at me and said...
"Um, I'm a boy."

Sorry kid. Oops. They got lots of free stuff to take home and make them feel better!

The Thing
2. At Coasters, you build your own virtual reality roller coaster and then actually ride it in a motion simulator. For this reason, you have to empty everything out of your pockets. (Sidestory: you would not BELIEVE what people carry around with them! Seriously! Pink fluffy handcuffs, a gun! <I locked an off duty police officer inside the ride and got a manager after he pulled out a pistol! He didn't mention he was a police man until after the fact>)
So while the ride is in motion, we have a video screen where we monitor the guests. All of a sudden, there is a furry THING in there attacking this man! It was flying all over the place like a rabid squirrel! The ride ended and I ran inside to open the capsule and check on the poor soul. I opened it and his toupee was sitting very crooked on his face.
We also had some genius bring in a glass bottle of Jack Daniels which shattered and shut down one of the modules for months. Really does turning flips in an enclosed space with shards of glass flying around sound like a good idea to you?!

3. Spring Break
During peak time, I picked up a greeter position at Space Mountain. The ride was running at full capacity, and there were people EVERYWHERE! In the break room for the CMs, they literally had free pizza boxes stacked to the ceiling. They one room with the lights off where they were giving messages and ocean music was playing softly. And Mickey Ice Cream bars for all. It was pretty amazing.

 

[linkandclover]

Please more stories. They are great!!!

 

[SA53]

Ashley,

I love these CM stories. Animation Academy is our favorite thing to do at HS. I will buy you a drink of day for more lessons!!! Your Princess Pat story had me laughing out loud. Soooo funny.

The thing I am most curious about right now is how Lenny's gave your husband door inspiration. I have never heard of this restaurant, but now I need to go investigate. I am doing some magnets for our door, but interactive sounds exciting!!!

Link,

I am okay if it ends up being only 4 families. I can do 2 things for everyone then . I just got home from dd's dance class so I am off to investigate facebook

K in SA