Is there life after Disney?

Yes, there is life after Disney. Although the way you look at life gets altered a bit.

In high school, I was a Disney freak. I loved everything about Disney, Mickey Mouse, and the theme parks. I always envisioned myself working for Disney and absorbed all I could on it's history, collected anything with mouse ears on it, and was just nuts about the mouse.

In 1994, fresh out of high school, I moved to Orlando to attend University of Central Florida (go Knights.) (Notice how an exclamation point was not used there.) (Yes, it was on purpose.) (Sorry, Becca and Josh!) and the fact that UCF was about an hour away from Disney, my Mecca, was not coincidental. (Dad, if you're finding out about this now, I did pay back all my college loans, and some small part of you must have known..)

I applied to work there. Not just handing out ice cream and sweeping trash. I was going to be in Entertainment. And wouldn't you know, I got me a job.

For those not in the know, when you first begin as a "cast member", you are sent to "Disney University" to learn the proper ways to behave onstage and treat guests. Disney does not shirk their responsibilities here. It is drilled into you for days about making sure the guest is well taken care of.

After learning the "Disney point" (two finger point), I was then sent off to memorize lines and start entertaining the masses.

I worked in the Disney MGM Studios, no longer called that now. My job was a tourguide/bandit on the Great Movie Ride. For the first year, I loved my job. I looked forward to working, offered to stay late every day, all for the love of what I was doing, entertaining people. I thought I was special. When I told people where I worked, they would raise their eyebrows, impressed. (Or it could have been a stray eyelash, memories are a bit hazy now..) I lived for my job.

To tie in with my sleeptalking habits, one night I remember waking to find myself sitting up in bed in my apartment, using the Disney Point to guide my dream guests through the line que which for some reason came from my living room into my bedroom and on through to my closet. (In my defense, I had worked open to close that day and was TIRED!)

I even got my sister into the scene. She worked as a Character. She was Mickey, Minnie, and everything else her small body fit into. (So, I guess you could say I not only worked for the rat, I was related to him.)

Then the pixie dust wore off. (Cue ominous music..)

I started to tangle with management over a situation that I won't get into here and everything went south from there. The paint wasn't fresh anymore. I could now see the glossy sets and colorful costumes for what they really were. I went from being nuts about the mouse to thinking the rat was just nuts.

After 2 years, I had had enough and walked out of Disney World and I have not stepped foot through the turnstiles since.

Now, I have a toddler who is totally into Minnie Mouse. She said MeeMee before she said Elmo. (In my house, that says a lot.)

We're making plans to take her to the Magic Kingdom this winter to meet Minnie Mouse. And I'm more excited than she is. (Well, duh. She can't wrap her toddler mind around this kind of thing..)

I can't wait to experience Disney through Sprite's eyes. Yes, I remember what it was like working there, but the bad stuff has slowly been worn down by years of mental sandblasting (You know, sandblasting? Smoothes out the rough edges of the memories for a more polished look. That's the way I choose to remember it anyhow.) and I am choosing to see Disney through a mommy's eyes for now. (Always a happy ending to the story, all is fair in love and life, the beast always has a heart, etc.)

So, M-I-C See you real soon, MeeMee (and so will my money)

K-E-Y Why? Cuz my daughter likes you and I love my daughter so I guess a little love has to come your way too. (Dammit.)

M-O-U-S-E (read "rat")

(Hey, I can't let go of my grudges entirely, can I?)

(That was a rhetorical question.)

Comments

[Betsy]

Love this one two, by the way. The "two- fingered point" is a good visual.

[Betsy]

That's too, not two. Duh. Coffee anyone?

[Becky]

So is Disney really the evil corporation I think it is? Don't feel bad about working there, I wanted to work for Disney, too. In the animation Dept. to be exact. But try to find *real* animation these days.

[Sprite's Keeper]

Actually, looking back, it really wasn't so bad working for the company. I think the managers I had contact with were just bad apples. (They didn't like my snark. They said I had a Disney face and a Universal Studios attitude.) (Looking back, that's actually funny!) I also agree with you on the animation point. Why is everything computer generated these days? Yes, I know, wave of the future, blah blah blah, but I want the old days of animation cells and actual talent coming out of the artists, not the click of a mouse! (Wow, I didn't know I was so passionate about that. Huh. That actually lowered my blood sugar. Time for lunch.)

[Sprite's Keeper]

Oh and Becky, there's a really good book I got many years ago which lent a more realistic view to how it is to work for the mouse. http://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Tales-Behind-Ears-Disneyland/dp/0964060566
I saw it on Amazon.com/ called Mouse Tales: Behind the Ears. It's definitely similar to some of the things I experienced.