I am a big believer in the popular phrase, "You're never too old for Disney." Growing up, it was my dream to work at Disneyland. I was, and still am, a total Disney nerd. When I was a kid, I loved everything Disney, owned countless Disney CDs, movies, plush, games, and more. My family was even fortunate enough to take a few Disney vacations, which only fed my addiction, I'm sure. In high school, my best friend and I "Disneybounded" as Peter Pan and Wendy, and Minnie and Mickey, most likely to the utter confusion of our peers. I could quote nearly any Disney movie, sing the lyrics for most any song, and would throw Disney quotes into any situation I could. Like I said before: a total Disney dork. I like to think that I was destined to work for the mouse. The Disney College Program helped me achieve this life-long dream.

Working for Disney totally changed my life, so naturally I love bragging about my time there. Apart from the, "Tell me some secrets about Disneyland!" line, one of the first things people ask me when they hear that I worked at Disneyland is, "Didn't you get sick of smiling all the time??" The answer is no; however, this question always makes me want to explain why I didn't get sick of smiling. So I would like to take whoever is reading this on a short journey -- my journey, as a Disneyland merchandise hostess cast member. Every day was different, and every cast member has different stories to share, but this one is mine. Here is what a "typical" day looked like for me working in the Adventureland Bazaar.

Start shift: 6:45 pm

No matter what time my shift started, I always got to work early enough to get an iced coffee or tea from the Cast Member Starbucks, and get new pins for my work trading lanyard. For those who don't know, pin-trading is a huge deal in Disneyland, as well as Walt Disney World. Cast members have the option of wearing lanyards and trading with any guest who wants to! I loved trading with guests, and often, before clocking in, went to refresh my pin lanyard with new pins from an office backstage (AKA not where the guests are allowed). I highly recommend trying pin-trading next time you visit the parks; it adds a whole new layer onto the magical Disney experience, and a lot of CMs (cast members) get really into it.

Anyways, with my iced Starbucks drink in hand, I made the trek from Harbor Pointe (where the CM bus lets you off) all the way to Frontierland, where I would clock-in for a shift in either of my two lands. Clocking into work was always an ordeal, because in my complex we had "check-ins." A check-in was a time when the lead-on-duty would inform us of the park events for the day, and give us a little background for the events. For example, during the holidays I learned about Disney's Viva Navidad, which is a fiesta that takes place in California Adventure park. During check-in, we also had to do the stretch of the day. Disney is huge on safety, so stretching was always mandatory! You couldn't get by on faking it. Trust me, I tried. Sometimes during our check-ins we even got to do Disney trivia to keep us sharp on all Disney knowledge, which I often recycled into a pin-trading game I would play with guests.

First assignment: 7:00 pm

After our check in, each cast member has to get an assignment. About 98% of the time, the computer would print out an assignment with a register name on it, and you would know that was your designated register for the next couple of hours. All of the registers have names at Disney, and they are all Disney characters, of course! In Adventureland, some of the register names were Nemo, Dory, Captain Jack, Jane, and Indy. In Frontierland, we had Woody, Jesse, Pecos, and Pocahontas. It's the little details like this that made working for Disney so special!

Make some money (and magic): 7:10 pm-9:00pm

Once I had my assignment, the first two hours of my shift would be me at a register, ringing up guests and straightening things whenever possible. There were a couple of registers in Adventureland that attracted more guests, simply because of location. The Bazaar was the main store in Adventureland, yet it was connected via an open concept to South Seas and the Indiana Jones shop. The latter was always the least busy. If I was at an extremely busy register, odds are I would be ringing people up pretty consistently. But if I wasn't, one thing I really liked to do was just talk to people. I would go around and ask guests if they were having a magical day, I would sword-fight with little pirates and princesses, and play the drums (to the best of my ability) while I roamed my section of the store. Pointing guests in the direction of the restroom was also something I did, like, fifty times each day.

I loved to wear the store's merchandise as well, so there were many times when you would find me with a snake wrapped around my neck, or an authentic Indiana Jones hat on my head. I mean, come on, it's Disney! I had a role while in Adventureland -- a merchant in a store that had been set up by shipwrecked traders a long time ago. I heard a few different versions of what the backstory of the Bazaar was, but that one stuck with me. Plus, guests loooovee cool backstories. They're paying for a complete immersive Disney experience, and I would do my absolute best to give it to them! Using phrases like, "Hello, adventurers!" really helped to get me into character, and further immersed the guests into Adventureland culture.

If I was lucky, which I was most days, I would meet an amazing family, or pair of people, who I really wanted to do something nice for. Being right across the way from The Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones ride, I would often offer to walk people to the front of the line, or give them a pass to do so. One time, I was able to help a man locate his missing son, with the help of a super awesome security CM, and one of my managers. The family was reunited, and although they didn't speak great English, I offered to personally walk them onto the Indiana Jones ride. Seeing the joy and pure surprise on their faces as we got closer to the front of the line, and they realized what I was doing, brought me so much happiness. These magical moments are what I miss most about being a cast member

First break: 9:00 pm-9:15 pm

The cast member break-room for those working in Adventureland and Frontierland is actually between the Stage Door Cafe and River Belle Terrace (if you are entering from the Frontierland side). This area, obviously, is blocked off to guests, but there isn't really much to see back there. We have lockers for our belongings, and a break-room with a fridge to store lunches. On my break I would usually grab a quick snack and peruse Facebook. One thing I distinctly remember is that the internet connection in that break-room was not very good. But it did have a great view of the fireworks if my break landed at the proper time!

Back at it: 9:15 pm-11:00 pm

Although these times are rough estimates of when I would be working (onstage) and taking my breaks (backstage), most of my shifts were in the evening. This means that we would often get the rush from post-Fantasmic shows. Our store is an open concept, so guests would attempt to squeeze through the store after the show, as to try and avoid the crowd making their way through the Adventureland walkways. That was definitely an adventure!

I would always cross my fingers to be placed in the Indiana Jones shop, as this was a time when I would often do a lot of pin-trading with guests. They would stop me and ask to see my lanyard, and then decide if they saw anything they liked. If not, I would casually mention a super secret pin-trading game found only in Adventureland, and they would get so excited. Some guests would even come to me asking to see the super secret pin treasure chest. Another CM, who always kept the chest stocked with pins, created the pin-trading game. Guests loved it, and in my version, they had to answer a trivia question in order to pick a mystery pin, which was wrapped up. I can't tell you how many people wanted to play over and over again...it was awesome! I could write in detail about this for hours, but you get the gist of it!

"Lunch" break: 11:00 pm-11:30 pm

Obviously, I would eat dinner before work on shifts like this, but I couldn't help but get hungry after working for a few hours! CMs can either bring a lunch, or buy something to eat backstage. If I was feeling brave enough (and it wasn't the time of day that a parade was going on), I would cross lands, over to an area behind Main Street, where many of the Entertainment CM's would be eating lunch. What can I say...I loved to sit around the stars of the show! :) At this eatery, called the "Inn Between," there was a Subway, some cooks who would make burgers and hotdogs, and a salad bar. There were also packaged sandwiches, chips, and tons of other foods. They won't let you go hungry at Disney! The prices were not too bad, as well. I definitely could not afford to eat there everyday and support my Disney merch addiction, but once a week I would splurge on a fancy lunch!

Another, more convenient location that I often went to was Village Haus. This is the restaurant in Fantasyland, right next to the backside of Thunder Mountain and opening of Big Thunder Ranch. Surprise, surprise, there is actually a secret cast member only ordering station backstage! And we get served chicken nuggets, which are not offered to guests at this location. Perks, right? I LOVED the fries here, as well as the nuggets. I would always run into other CMs here, too, and meeting people who work different roles was cool!

Closing time: 11:30 pm-2:00 am

Disneyland typically closed its gates at midnight during peak season, when I worked there. This would mean that if I had a full closing shift, I would be done around 2 am. Yup, you read that right. In Adventureland and Frontierland, closing was scheduled for TWO HOURS after park close! Now, sometimes the lead-on-duty wanted to high-tail it out of there as well, and we would leave around 1:30 am. It just depended on the store and how messy it was. To be honest, I don't think it really takes a whole two hours to close up the store. I often found myself re-arranging and organizing the magnets to be Disney perfect. ;)

When all the guests had cleared our store in Adventureland, we would pull down tarps and lock it up so that no one could re-enter the store. Not even the cats that roamed Adventureland after all the guests were gone! Yes, they really do exist! We also had to close all the registers before cleaning. Let me tell you, I can close a register at JCPenneys (where I currently work) in about five minutes, give or take how much money I need to count. At Disney, the process for closing a register would take me at least twenty minutes when I was first getting the hang of it! As time went on, it became second nature and a much quicker process, but I'm sure I slowed down the closing team many nights at first with my lack of familiarity of Disney closing!

By the end of the night, I was usually exhausted and super tired. I always looked forward to clocking out, though. The screen that would pop up would be Mickey saying, "Thank you for helping make the magic!" Ah, memories. After I clocked out, I would get the rare opportunity to walk across the park when no one but the cleaning crew was in it. Seeing the castle lit up with no one around was a pretty neat thing, and one that I always wanted to show everyone back home...but it was against the rules to post any backstage photos on social media. Who knows, maybe my phone slipped once or twice...oh, they'll never know! ;) Main Street kept its lights on as well, which was just plain magical to look at! Sometimes they would even be doing parade practice at this time, or Fantasmic practices. Seeing everything that goes on after Disneyland "closed" was indescribable, and something I will always remember. The weirdest thing to witness were the huge trucks driving through the park, often up and down main street, probably unloading merchandise.

I'm very lucky that working for Disney did not ruin the magic for me. I was able to see crazy things backstage all the time, but that only made the experience that much more amazing. Regardless of who I met, or what I saw, going into the parks whenever I had the chance was constantly a magical experience, and I never got sick of it. There are thousands of people who work so hard to make guests enjoy their time in Disneyland, and I am very proud to say that I was one of them! :) I guess I have Walt himself to thank for that.