Ema Earns Her Ears: My Secret Walt Disney World Cast Member Diary (Earning Your Ears Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

look inside, but nothing gave away what we were going to be doing.
    Disney knows that a lot of the essential information we had to know is a tad boring, and that’s why they hire to most energetic, fun, and lively cast members for the Traditions team. Since this was my first program, I was completely immersed in the Disney Magic, to the point that even the thought of safety training seemed exciting.
    The computer program started to teach us about how “SAFE D BEGINS WITH ME!” but at 8 o clock in the morning, this was harder than I had anticipated, even with Disney Magic spurring me on. I had to use all my will power to keep my eyelids from closing. I felt so guilty because I didn’t want to seem rude or ungrateful to the cast members leading the class. Even animated clips of the famous “Chris, from Orlando” talking about the four keys of working for Disney didn’t wake me up.
    We moved on to filling out sections of the workbook. Actually doing something woke me up, and it helped that each activity was different. The first activity was to practice our Disney point, and learning our Disney point was lesson number one of why Disney has such great customer service. They think of everything, down to the last detail. They tell you that the Disney point was created because in some cultures pointing with one finger is considered rude, but most importantly small children could associate pointing with one finger with being in trouble, as a parent may “wag” one finger at them when telling their child off. Therefore, Disney created their own point, which is unique to the Disney Company, so if a guest were to ask you about the closest place to purchase ice cream, instead of using your index finger to show them the way, you would direct them there by pointing with your index and middle finger together, or alternatively you can direct with your whole hand. To be able to practice, we needed something to point at, and as part of this exercise we were told each table had to pick a team leader. On the count of three, we were told to point at the person we thought would make the best team leader.
    One…I knew I didn’t know anyone that well…
    Two…I think Paige would make a good leader…
    Three…..I point at Paige.
    But four (technically eight, with the Disney Point rules) fingers are pointed at me. The best part of this was that it won me a ‘critter’, a little plastic toy of one of the Fab 5 (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto) that are given out as prizes during the class.
    We engaged in multiple mini-competitions throughout the morning, most of which involved us answering questions about Walt Disney, his characters, the parks, and the company as a whole. Each correct answer won you a critter. We spent the rest of our morning watching videos starring current and past cast members talking about their experiences. People shared their “magic moments” from their trips to the parks as guests. Finally, right before our scheduled break time, we watched a montage video made up of cartoon clips from various films, interspersed with past and present cast members talking about the company. Most of us had become a bit emotional at this point, and this probably had something to do with the heart-grabbing music playing behind the video clips. Everyone in the room clearly shared the same ambition of working for Disney, and therefore, in this moment, everyone realized their dream was coming true when a clip of Walt Disney himself welcomed us to the family. Obviously, he didn’t rise from the dead; he had filmed a welcome message for everyone who was to ever work for his company, and he had done so to personally welcome them to his family, even after he was gone, and to thank them for being a part of his dream and keeping his spirit alive.
    After I had composed myself and wiped away my tears, I went with Shauna during our break to Company D, a cast member-only store located inside the university that sold limited edition