I sat for hours and signed stacks of papers. On that day, I was overwhelmed with my new world. I was now an official Disney cast member. I remember first receiving my name tag in Traditions (orientation). There it was. Walt Disney World Resort. Curtis. Utah Valley State College. Words can't describe what a privilege it was to put that name tag on. The next 7 months would take me on a journey I could have never expected or dreamed of.
To say every moment was perfect would be a total lie. I worked at Tusker House Restaurant at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. I loved the friends I made there. They would become the best friends I had ever had in my life up to that point. Without those relationships, I don't know if I would have survived my first Disney College Program. It was hard at times. In May, a lot of friends left for home, while a few of us were scheduled to stay for 3 more months. It was hard to watch everyone get ready to go home. I wanted to go home. I was jealous. I didn't see the big picture. Because looking back, by May my journey was just beginning.
The summer was hot and I worked an average of 60 hours a week. I had proven myself to my managers and coworkers. I was made a trainer and essentially was put in charge of my own little cart. I was trusted. It was nice, but the work was tiring and could get monotonous. I remember a day in July when things were really rough. I felt like I was working extremely hard for little recognition. I was ready to quit. I didn't know why I was there anymore. I had made up my mind that I would finish my program and never return to work for this company again. On this particular day, I was working at the fruit market. I was technically the stocker, but would help out whenever I could or didn't have anything to stock. I was making frozen lemonades for guests. Now, when I make a frozen lemonade, I don't just make a frozen lemonade. A frozen lemonade from Curtis always came shaped with a hidden mickey (a trick that many have tried and all have failed).
I had overheard that it was someone in the long lines birthday. So I made her the best frozen lemonade mickey I could. By the time it was ready, she had left. So I gave the treat to her husband free of charge and told him to tell his wife I wished her a happy birthday. The man was shocked that I knew it was her birthday and thanked me. I thought nothing of it. A couple of hours later, a woman came up to me to thank me for her birthday present. I was a little confused at first because I had forgotten about earlier. She said I made her entire day with that surprise frozen lemonade. In that moment I realized why I was working at Disney.
These moments happened on a daily basis, but I had been ignoring them. I had become so used to the routine that I forgot what was actually happening at Disney World. As a cast member, I was making magic and adding that little extra touch. I could make a guests entire vacation worth it. Making other people happy was what this job was all about! My attitude completely changed after that day. I was back to the super cheesy and happy Curtis I had been when I started in February. I finished my College Program on August 19, 2005. I cried when I realized I was leaving this dream.
I knew adjusting to normal life would be hard. I underestimated HOW hard it would be. I came home and returned to school within just a couple of days. The adjustment was horrible. Everyday was a struggle. It was like taking an addict off of his drugs. I couldn't handle it. Within just a month or two, I was already planning a reunion trip back to Disney World.
I survived the year and went back for a three week reunion in May of 2006. Me and a couple of friends had remained cast members with a seasonal status. So we returned to Tusker House once more. This little dose of Disney was just what I needed in my life at that time. I was reminded of how much I loved working there and this is when I officially decided I would work for Disney forever, even if it was just as seasonal for two weeks a year.
I came back home again, transferred schools, moved out, and changed my major (a decision I had made during and because of my 2005 experience at Disney). In the spring of 2007, I learned that I would not be able to take the classes I needed in the fall. It's a long complicated explanation, but basically, classes were not going to be offered that I needed to move along in my major. So I was forced to take a semester off. I could have stayed in Utah with a job that would have payed me a lot. I chose to follow my emotions and return to Disney instead.
My second College Program began on August 22, 2007. I arrived a few days early to make one last visit to the place that started it all. Tusker House Restaurant was closing to be renovated into a sit down restaurant. I had made a ton of memories at that place. It was sad to me that it was closing. It was like splitting up a family. Because at Tuskers, we were a family. Everyone there was transferred to different areas throughout the Disney World Resort. Me and my friend went to eat one last Chicken Sandwich on the last day Tusker House was open. It was August 19, 2007. Exactly two years to the day my first College Program had ended.
The next week I was reporting to my new role in Custodial at Animal Kingdom. To be honest, I was not happy that I had been given the custodial position. I felt that as an alumni, I should have been given a more desired position. Who wanted to be custodial? Wasn't that even WORSE then food service? I spent my first two weeks trying desperately to get transferred. Eventually I had to realize it wasn't going to happen. It was fate that I was to have this role.
Once I accepted that, things improved. I had been miserable and quite frankly embarrassed in the custodial position those first two weeks. I was stuck though and didn't want the entire experience to be ruined. I had four more months of this and there was no point in not enjoying my job. I began looking for ways to make my day at work enjoyable. It was a lot easier then I thought it would be.
To this day, I still tell people that working as a custodial cast member at Disney is the best job I have EVER had. My job was essentially guest interaction. I had the freedom to roam my area and talk to guest from around the world.
I was a part of so many memorable magical experiences during these 4 months. I am not ashamed to admit that I was touched to the point of tears MULTIPLE times at that job. I learned to love people. All people. Everyone has a story. Everyone. And I LOVED hearing all of those stories.
Along with the work aspect of that fall, the social aspect also impacted my life in ways I still can't even fully describe. I went into my second college program thinking I had a pretty good idea of how everything would go. I had done this before. I knew what it was all about. I expected to enjoy it, but my first program had changed my life. There was no way that could happen again. Well it did. I met so many amazing friends in the fall of 2007. I made lifelong friendships. I was able to open up to people in a way I never had before in my life. The real Curtis came out 100%. It was invigorating. I was now the person I had always been too afraid to be before.
People often ask me if I liked one college program more then the other. My answer is no. I can't even compare them. Each of them impacted my life equally, but in different ways. They were two completely different experiences. And I wouldn't trade either of them for the world. The three day drive home in January of 2008 was full of emotion. I had never been that sad to leave friends in my life. The first day, I cried the entire drive nonstop. The only other day in my life I have cried that much was when my grandma died. It was deeply sad to leave my friends.
I had decided during those few months in Disney I would have a career there. Being seasonal forever was fine, but not good enough. I was given the amazing opportunity to meet with Disney Graphic Designers on multiple occasions during my college program. Each of them LOVED their job. I wanted to be them. I was more determined then ever to make it happen. So while it was hard to leave, I knew this was not the end of my Disney journey. In fact it was just a few months later that I returned to Disney.
I was to spend my summer of 2008 working seasonal in custodial at Animal Kingdom. However, just days before arriving in Orlando, I learned that there had been a computer error and I had been deleted from the Disney system. I was no longer in their system as a Disney cast member. I was not happy. I spent my 23rd birthday at the Disney Casting building getting my job back. It took 8 hours, but I was again a Disney cast member on May 9, 2008. I was a little disappointed to find that I wouldn't be able to get my custodial position back due to other various issues in the system. I was however able to chose my new role from dozens of choices available. The guy who "interviewed" me was AWESOME. I owe him.
I began my new role in Merchandise at Hollywood Hills in Disney's Hollywood Studios the next week. The summer of 2008 was full of lots of ups and downs (mostly downs), but I LOVED my job again. I was given the opportunity to work as a vendor at the firework/stage show, Fantasmic. I also worked at the gift shops in Rock'n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. But, by far, my favorite was working at Fantasmic. I was also able to pick up dozens of shifts at other areas around Disney that summer. Including a few shifts in custodial at Animal Kingdom.
I learned that summer, that happiness is all about my own attitude. Things weren't going well at all. It was halfway through the summer that I accepted my mistakes and the fact that I couldn't change them. I was in Florida and there was no getting out of it. I had made that choice and good or bad, I had to accept the consequences. Once again, I changed my outlook and just began enjoying the little moments. There is no point in focusing on the stresses and negative aspects of life. They are going to happen and having a bad attitude will just make them even worse to get through. I left that summer with even more lifelong friends and an even better understanding of the person I am.
When I came back to school that fall, I was finally made a campus rep at Utah State University. Along with school and my job, I was now also recruiting for the Disney College Program. Managing my time was difficult. Especially when the next semester I was made President of our Campus Rep Team. As crazy as life was, I enjoyed getting to tell other students about my experiences at Disney. Nothing makes me more happy then talking about all the great times I had there.
I returned to Disney to work seasonal again in the summer of 2009. I was there for about 3 weeks this time and then I had to leave for a internship I had in Michigan. While my time was short there, I got to see a lot of old friends and even managed to make a few new ones!
I returned to school and have continued my position as President of USU's Campus Rep Team. We have a ton of fun doing this. I never thought I would be a good leader. I have never been leader material. This job has surprised me beyond imagination. The things I have managed to do are unbelievable to me. How the heck am I leading one of the best and most successful Disney CP recruiting teams in the nation?! I didn't think I could do it and was overwhelmed at first. But I have a great team, and we have managed to do some amazing work. I can honestly say I am proud of myself and each of them for what we have accomplished in the last couple of years. I am going to be sad when it's all over.
Next week I apply for a few Professional Internships with Disney. If I get one, I will be doing Graphic Design at Disney. That is my ultimate dream right now and literally everything I have done in the last two years has been with this goal in mind. I am determined to spend many more years with this company.
The past 5 years have been fantastic, but they are only the prelude to my grand adventure with Disney. The concept of making magic is something I have learned to apply to every aspect of my life. Whether it's at Disney or school or home or my other jobs, I have learned that making magic is the easiest way to make myself happy. The chance to make someone else's day special is why I wake up each morning.
If you were too overwhelmed to read all of that, just watch these videos and you will get the general point. haha.
