Traditions Makes It Official

It’s now day 3, the day of Traditions. First, the day starts off early, which kinda stinks but it’s not the worst thing. The first thing you do is you obviously get ready, guys khaki dress pants and a button up shirt, no tie required, and DO NOT stress about the shoes guys, literally if they look like nice leather shoes then they work fine. Girls attire I am not too sure on since I am a guy, but I saw girls that just wore business casual.

Then once you have gotten dress you will go to your bus stop  (Chatham or Vista), to go to Disney University or if you prefer you can drive your own car. Disney University is super easy to get to if you have ever driven to Magic Kingdom. Once you go under the Magic Kingdom entrance (where you pay to park) you go to the right, not to the left, the left takes you to the Ticket and Transportation Center. Once you have stayed right you simply just follow the road all the way down till you get to a stop sign, then you will turn right and you will see the big monorail station where they service the monorail trains. Keep going down this street until you see Disney University on your right.

Once you arrive via bus or car you will then walk into the building and gather in the lobby. You will stay in the lobby until they separate you into groups based on the last 2 digits on the sticker you received in Casting.

Once separated you will follow a cast member who will take you to a table with a bunch of white cards on it. These are your Disney I.D.’s! These will get you into the parks for free and give you all your discounts, however this does not include your passes for your family and friends, that will come in the mail in a few weeks to your apartment.

After you have received your I.D. you will then go and clock in so that you will get paid!!! After clocking in you will see another cast member standing outside a classroom with a clip board. When you get to this person you will simply check to make sure all your information that would be on your name tag is correct (first name, and college/city). After all your information is correct you will continue to inside the classroom, this is the beginning of Traditions.

When Traditions begins you will be seated at a circular table, with about 5 other CP’s. Traditions goes on for about 3 hours and in that time you will learn about the history of the Walt Disney company and how it has grown to be one of the largest companies in the world. Along with company history you will watch some cool vintage films from the early days at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Also you will play some cool games that allow you to interact with the other CP’s at your table.

Now that you have learned a bit about the company, now is’s time for the tour. The tour? Yes, the tour. You as a Cast Member get to tour the tunnels of the Magic Kingdom, also know as the utilidoors. In your classroom you will get a cool ear piece that allows you to hear your tour guide along your tour. Now it’s off to the Magic Kingdom, you will exit the building and then go to West Clock across the street from Disney University. West Clock is the way Magic Kingdom Cast Members get into the Magic Kingdom. At West Clock you will get on a bus that will take you the entrance of the utilidoors.

Once you enter the utilidoors you will pass the Cast Member cafeteria or the Mouse Cateria, which has a Subway and some other vending machines. Then you will continue along with your tour and you will see Costuming for the characters, also I am for warning you, you may see some characters out of costume, this does kinda take away some of the magic, for example I saw Princess Aurora with her hair all done like she would have it on stage but, she was wearing a Hollister T-shirt.

Continuing with the tour, you will then learn some basic utilidoor “SafeD” tips such as, stop at all intersections and so on. Coming up is, to me, the most exciting part of the utilidoors. You will come to a long hallway. Okay your saying its just a hallway, but when you realize your walking under Cinderella’s Castle and under Main Street U.S.A. that hallway will never just be a hallway again!

Next, you go up some stairs that lead you to a hidden exit right on stage to Main Street. Then you will take a small walk around the Magic Kingdom. Afterwards you will return back down into the utilidoors and then back to the buses and then back to Disney University.

Once back inside the classroom there is only one thing left to receive. What else other than your very own Walt Disney World name tag. And who else would give you such an item other than the man himself, Mickey Mouse. After you receive your name tag you will start to come to a close on Traditions. Once Traditions is over you will go clock out and then head back to your car/bus to head home. As most do once you get home you will probably try to go to a park and use your new I.D.’s. VERY IMPORTANT your I.D.’s will not be activated yet, so when you get the the turnstiles just tell the Cast Member that your went to Traditions today and they will just let you in!

Well thats it, thats Traditions. I hope you learned a lot about Disney and I hope you enjoy being a Cast Member!!!