Everest!

I work at Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. Here is a lovely picture of me in my Everest costume.
At Everest we rotate through about 17 different positions about every 45 minutes.

Greeter - In the front of the attraction where the Stand-By Entrance begins, Greeter checks that all riders are at least 44 inches tall, keeps the line organized, and interacts with guests.

Single Rider Greeter - Basically same as Greeter, SRG stands in front of the Single Rider Entrance, checking height, making sure riders are of appropriate age to ride by themselves, explaining what Single Rider is, and answering questions (mainly directing guests to the closest restroom).

Fast Pass Distribution - At Distro, the cast member would explain to our guests how a Fast Pass works, assist guests with the Fast Pass Machines, know how to fix basic problems that may happen with the machines.

Fast Pass Return - Next to Greeter at the front of the attraction, FPR checks the guest's FP tickets to make sure the guest is returning at the appropriate time, along with the basic responsibilities of Greeter.

End of Line - Assists Greeter with keeping the queue organized, responsible to setting up ropes for the queue, and direct guests to the appropriate entrances.

Merge Point - Inside the attraction where the guests enter the loading dock, Merge Point keeps a flow of guests where the two lanes (Fast Pass and Stand-By) come together.

Grouper - Grouper is at the end of the line directing guests to either: towards the front to Loader; to rows 13 - 17; or to wait in another queue for the front row. Grouper has to keep the flow the guests in control, keeps larger groups together, and placing single riders in empty seats.

Station Assist - Stands behind Grouper and helps them with the safe flow of guests. Also, Station Assist brings wheel chairs, ECVs and other objects to the unloading dock for guests when they exit the attraction.

Load - Walks up and down rows 1 - 12 making sure guests are in groups of two per row.

Front Dispatch - These four positions are basically the same. They are four stations around the loading
Front Enable - dock that are in charge of sending the loaded trains out to the track. The gates will
Rear Dispatch - automatically open, guests sit in the train, Rear Dispatch closes the gates, and all four go
Rear Enable - through their section of the train and checks the lap bars. When the lights signal that its safe to send the train, all four have to push a button at their consoles to send the train.

Front Unload - These two are at the unloading dock, they assist guests off the train. They also check for
Rear Unload - any items that may have been left on the train. Once the train is clear the two positions, like the four above, have to push a button on their consoles to send the train to the loading dock.

Unload Assist - Helps on the unloading dock to keep up the safe and timely flow of guests.

Tower - Tower is a position where we sit in a room and watch the monitors to make sure that guests are behaving while on the ride.

Re cap of the Begging!

Just the Very Beginning




Day 1: January 26th

Today was a day of travel. My flight left home at 6:05 am. We arrived in Baltimore for a lay over and had to wait an hour before we could take off again because the plane was too cold. I didn't realize how long we were in Baltimore because I fell asleep on the airplane. When we finally left Baltimore and arrived in Orlando it was about 12:45. I found my luggage (thank god none of it was lost on the plane) and moseyed my way out to the Mears Transportation Shuttle. From there, they dropped me off at the lovely Vista Way apartment complex and I checked in. I was assigned to Vista Way, apartment 1006. I also received a lovely Vista Way ID card. They took my picture and being I hadn’t slept since the night before I look like a crack addict. By this time it was 2 o'clock. I ran up to my apartment, picked out my bed, left my luggage, and caught the last bus to Casting.

Yay Casting. The Casting building is the place where Disney keeps track of all their employees. I arrived and they gave me balloons because I was the last College Program kid to check in. I signed the paperwork, gave them my fingerprints, and did all the other fun stuff that goes with working for a company. Oh, and that’s the place where I found out I’d be working in Animal Kingdom Asia.

Once done there I took the bus back to Vista Way. When I walked into my apartment, three girls were there: Tiffany, Brittany, and Tynet. Tiffany and Brittany are in bedroom #1 and both are from Florida. Tynet and I share bedroom #3, She is from North Carolina and I’m from New York. (Yeah, had to add that J )

The first night we all hung out and got to know each other.

Day 2: January 27^th

Today we had the Housing Welcome Session at The Commons. The meeting was about an hour long and covered all the dos and don’ts about the apartments and who to talk to about problems that may arise. After that more unpacking and hanging out with the roommates.

Day 3: January 28^th

Disney Traditions class. Today I had to get up at 4:30 a.m. to get ready, dress in business and be within Disney Look guidelines. Not so hard to do. I took the 6:45 bus over to Disney University for the class. It ran from 8 in the morning until about 1 in the afternoon. We learned about the Disney Heritage, what makes Disney unique, and took a tour of the Magic Kingdom. I wore heels. Walking all over Magic Kingdom in heels, big mistake! Before the class was over Mickey surprised us and brought everyone their nametags.

Day 4: January 29^th

DAKlimation! The program is called DAKlimation (the DAK stands for Disney’s Animal Kingdom) and it is an introduction to the park. We learned about all the different areas, a little bit of their stories, along with a short video from Joe Rohde who is Animal Kingdom’s leading Imagineer. Then we took a tour around Animal Kingdom. Oh, and same rules apply as Traditions: Disney look, business dress. Another day walking around another park in heels. After our tour, we were taken on the Kilimanjaro's Safari which takes a jeep full of tourist on a two week safari trip. When we had our fun and returned back stage, every learned where in DAK they would be working. I was chosen to work at Expedition Everest: Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. 

Short first blog

To begin, I am contracted in the Disney College Program until June 3rd, which is not enough time here in Sunny Florida. There are four housing complexes for the College Program kids: Vista Way, Chatham Square, The Commons, and Patterson Court. I live in the lovely Vista Way, which is the oldest of the complexes and also has the lowest rent. :) Each building in Vista Way has 12 apartments, four on each level. I live on the second floor in a three-bedroom apartment. Bedroom 1 has its own bathroom. Bedrooms two and three have to share one bathroom. I am in bedroom three and every room has 2 people to it. My roommate's name is Tynet and she works in merchandise in Downtown Disney. The girls in bedroom two are from France, Sophie and Agathe. Bedroom one is home to Tiffany and Brittany. Our apartment came with basic furnishings. The family room has a sofa, an armchair, coffee table, two end chairs and a desk with a desk chair. The Kitchen has a table with four chairs, dishes, cups, pots and pans, and silver wear. In the bedrooms there are two beds, two nightstands, and a dresser. The good news is that we get a walk in closet and a locker.

I’ll post pictures later.