So last year, I had the time of my life on the Disney College Program. I worked Merchandise in Tomorrowland, a total dream come true! It was so much fun, and I loved the area, the shops, the people! But one of my favorite parts of my role was the fact that I could work anywhere on property that I wanted. All I had to do was sign up and get sized for my new area's costume.
My favorite area of the Magic Kingdom was always Fantasyland. Like a lot of little girls, I had felt a very strong attachment to the Disney princesses from a very young age, and they definitely shaped the person who I aspired to be. In the park, my favorite thing to do was to stroll through all of the Fantasyland shops with my mom while the rest of my family did the crazy rides, and I would stare longingly at the princess gowns. Now that I worked in the Magic Kingdom, my dream was to pick up just one shift in Fantasyland. I wanted nothing more than to stroll around those same shops and chat with all of the little girls with similar dreams—it would be a nice break from space rangers and Star Wars and all of those wonderful things. One fateful day off I found an opening, and signed up without a second thought.
Hundred Acre Goods, a gift shop located at the exit of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride, and right across from Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, so the store sold merchandise that related to both attractions. I was on register right outside the shop, so the Coordinator on duty encouraged me to pick up one of the bubble guns we sold and have some fun—he didn’t have to tell me twice! I decided to pick up a Dopey plush off of a nearby shelf, put the bubble blower into his little stuffed hand, and got him to blow bubbles at a bunch of kids. Oh it was such fun!
Anyway, I ran into a problem when a small rainstorm started, literally putting a damper on my fun. Wait! Easy fix—I walked inside the shop and continued parading around. Dopey and his bubbles cheered up every child I saw one little girl even stopped her wailing when I came by her stroller to play with her! It was great, at least, until it happened.
Apparently, you aren’t supposed to blow bubbles inside of shops in case the bubble solution leaked onto the floor. I didn't know this rule, but another cast member of a certain age took it upon herself to inform me of it, in a very loud voice, in front of all of the children I was playing with and their parents. “You get a towel and wipe that floor up! Somebody could get hurt!” She was not happy with me. To make matters worse, when I walked towards the back room to find a towel, I noticed the coordinator had watched the whole exchange with a stern expression. Well, I blew it, I thought. Without much delay I found a towel, fell onto my knees, and began scrubbing the floor, and in my own sort of ironic humor I started humming Cinderella’s “Sing Sweet Nightingale,” which she had sung while cleaning her evil stepmother’s floor. Some guests from before even approached me, saying how princess-like I looked cleaning up in the long purple dress I got from Costuming, and expressed sympathy for how that lady scolded me in front of everyone. I was embarrassed, but I thanked these guests for being so kind.
A little later I was back on a register again and pretty nervous to move. After a while, a young guest and her mom approached me about buying my prized Dopey plush, and that same coordinator on duty slipped something next to my register. After wishing my guests a magical day, I inspected it and discovered it was a Cast Member Recognition Card, a card saying you did something exemplary that gets put on your permanent record. This card thanked me for “putting safety first and cleaning up Hundred Acre Goods during the storm.” Well I’ll be! It looks like Cast Members can have Magical Moments too!
