Jim's Guts

Disneyland after dark...

The L&T and I were discussing the Park recently, and I mentioned how much I loved "walking" (the Disney term for leaving your work area and traveling to your locker offstage) after Disneyland had closed for the day and the guests had departed. I worked on the Splash Mountain attraction and by the time the last guest had finished their adventure (the line closes when the Park does, but if you're in the queue at that point you get to ride the attraction) and we had shut down for the night, it was usually only Cast Members left. Getting to walk from Critter Country to my locker on the other side of the Park in the early hours of the morning, with only the soundtrack and very few others around is one of my favorite Disney memories.

But it's not all quiet as this video from the Disney Parks Blog shows...

Fess Parker get's a window at Disneyland...

Having worked on the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes while at Disneyland I've always had an affinity for the old Davy Crockett TV show and Fess Parker who played the title role. I was thrilled to see that he finally got a window at Disneyland (it's actually quite an honor).

Image courtesy of the Walt Disney Company

Christmas Lights Hero...

Here's a little Holiday fun from former Disney Cast Member Ric Turner (he worked in special effects which I'm sure you'll have no trouble believing when you see the video). Mr. Turner hooked up his Guitar Hero game to his light display the results of which you can see below (be sure to watch the very end).

You can actually play the game, say's Mr. Turner; "Even though the game is in "easy" mode, the lights don't provide the same timing detail as the game does, so it is much harder. Even expert Guitar Hero players have a hard time with the lights, and nobody has made it through without errors (yet)."

h/t Daily Mirror.

Disney Custodial...

Even before I "married into" Disney Custodial, I've always had a great deal of respect for that part of the Disney team. The folks in Custodial work very hard, mostly unseen or worse unnoticed, to keep the Parks neat and clean. They do everything from sweeping, to cleaning the restrooms, to the really dirty work of cleaning up the occasional "Code V" (use your imagination). All the while, they're happy to stop and take a guest's picture or answer questions, so it's nice to see them starting to get some recognition.

Here is a really cool video about what their doing at the Magic Kingdom Park in Walt Disney World, hopefully it'll make its way west soon...

How we met...

As of this afternoon the Lovely &Talented Mrs. Smith and I will have been married for 18 years, so I thought I'd share the "Origin story" with those who might not be familiar - The "where" part is easy, we met while working at Walt Disney's Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. As for the "how", well the L&T has a slightly different version of this story, but because this is my blog this is how I saw it (she has her own if she wants to tell her side of it), but first here's a look back about 20 years ago...

The L&T walking her beat in New Orleans' Square

 
Yep, that's me at the bow of the Davey Crockett Explorer Canoe on the Rivers of America

Continuing...Here's how it really happened - I was working Guest Control on the Splash Mountain attraction (basically trying to keep guests in line and happy along with answering the random "where is the nearest bathroom" or "what time are the fireworks" questions [and yes, I still know the answers]) when I saw this cute girl from Custodial walk by. Now one of the great things about working at The Park is that everyone wears name tags, so it was easy for me to say "Hi KRIsten" which promptly got the l&t (she was lovely and talented, but she wasn't The Lovely & Talented) attention. She whirled around and said "What does the name tag say?" (hint - It wasn't Kristen). I stammered and sputtered a bit (more than normal) and apologized which made her smile. We chatted for a moment and got back to our respective duties.

Either that day, or shortly there after, we both happened to be in the break area near the Haunted Mansion attraction, and I was probably trying to stretch out my shoulders when the L&T offered to massage them. I gladly accepted, and while she was working on my back I said "I'll make you dinner, take you out to dinner, heck I'll give you money so you can take someone else out to dinner" to which she replied that she'd let me make her dinner. We had our first date a couple days later (a whole different story) and the rest is history.

Happy anniversary Mrs. Smith, it's been a wonderful ride...