Friday, May 30, 2014

Traditions

Sometimes you just know that your day is going to be one of the days you never, ever forget. Today was one of those days.

Today was my Traditions class at Disney University. Traditions is essentially my welcome and orientation to The Walt Disney Company. EVERY single Cast Member has gone through Traditions, no matter their role, level, or experience. It's a very special class, and it was my first official day as a Cast Member.

I can't say too much about what we actually talk about in the class, but I will write and share what I can!

Traditions classes for the CP arrivals each week are split alphabetically. Four of my roommates had the morning session, and Jordan and I had the afternoon session!
My roommate Jordan and I heading to Traditions!
Traditions is held at Disney University, a building that Disney uses for training and educating their Cast Members! For a huge Disney fan like myself, being inside of this building was pretty awesome!
The outside of Disney University!
I love this Walt quote that was on one of the walls in the Disney University main lobby!
Disney University has the coolest hallways EVER!
I love the silhouette of Walt and Mickey at the end! 
There are some really cool award cases in the main lobby!
While we were waiting for our Traditions class to begin, they did Disney trivia. I am glad all those years of studying random Disney facts/history is really starting to pay off with all of these trivia contests!
The Disney Traditions trading pin that I won for correctly answering
a question about the Gran Fiesta Tour in the Mexico Pavilion. 
This was our Traditions classroom, and it was filled with pictures of Walt Disney.
I wish every classroom looked like this!
First, we were given our blue company IDs, which was really exciting! This made everything seem much more official!
My very own ID for The Walt Disney Company!
(The black line is just marking out personal information.)
Throughout the class, we were able to earn little characters for answering questions and contributing to the discussions.
These are the Mickey and Daisy characters that I won!
When we returned from one of our breaks, we had a special surprise waiting for us...
MICKEY EARS!
My new friend Jordan and I rockin' our Mickey ears!
One of the coolest parts about Traditions is the field trip that we take through the Magic Kingdom! Can you say best field trip ever?! We got to walk both backstage and onstage, and learn about how the Magic Kingdom works behind the scenes. I had actually been in the Utilidors before, when we went on the Keys to the Kingdom tour last summer. The Utilidors are Magic Kingdom's tunnel system -- they are on the first floor, and the Magic Kingdom Park is actually on the second floor. I was really excited to go back because we weren't in them for too long on my tour! This time, we got to see more of how everything works, and we even walked through the part that was RIGHT UNDER Cinderella Castle. You can imagine my excitement!!

I couldn't take pictures backstage of course, but we could take pictures on stage!
I've been to Magic Kingdom a million times, but walking
through it for the first time as a Cast Member was incredible!!
That walk through Magic Kingdom was such a neat feeling. We were in a group of 45 people, all dressed in professional attire and wearing earpiece headsets. It was fun to see the guests trying to figure out who we were! At one point, when we were walking through Fantasyland past the Mad Tea Party, there was a group of about 10-15, who I'm guessing were CPs also.  They all started clapping and cheering for us really loudly, and it was so much fun!

When we got back, there was only one thing left....
A visit from our BOSS!
And he brought with him the thing I had been waiting for. The thing I've always admired, every single time I've ever talked to a Cast Member. The thing that truly indicated my dream had come true.
MY CAST MEMBER NAME TAG!
I can't even begin to describe this feeling. All I know is that I'm going to wear this with SO much pride and live up to the high standards that this name tag represents, and the high standards that Walt founded the company on.  
All of my Traditions items!
What a life-changing day. All day long I was constantly reminded why I've fallen in love with this company, why this is the place where magic lives, and how lucky I am to be following my dreams. My story with Disney is just beginning.

5 comments:

  1. Court - As your mother, I'm always proud of you.......but as I read every single blog as soon as you post it, I am even more and more proud of you! You are such a beautiful writer, and I am so very excited for this amazing opportunity you are just beginning. I love you and can't wait to visit you as a Disney cast member - later this month!! Keep living your dream and enjoying every single day!!

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  2. Hi Courtney,

    I absolutely LOVE your DCP blog (and other social media outlets)! It has always been my dream to work for The Walt Disney Company too (it's the best company in the world, who wouldn't want to spread pixie dust every day?), and have made it my goal to do DCP as soon as I heard it existed! Unfortunately, my university won't give me any type of credit for doing it so I'm graduating a semester early to (hopefully) make my dream a reality! I am obsessed with all things Disney and love seeing other people who love it with as much passion as I do! Your blog is so inspiring (seriously I almost cried b/c the way you describe your love for Disney is exactly how I feel!) and I cannot wait to see all your adventures!

    P.S. I'm from TX too! (Dallas)

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  3. I'm so jealous!! I can't wait to get down there in a few years and experience what you are experiencing! I'll be down there in November - I'll have to come by and meet you in person!

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  4. I am doing the program this upcoming semester and along with my excitement is a lot of nerves and you just made me less nervous and more excited!

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  5. I just got accepted into the program for this coming fall and reading this got me excited all over again!

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