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Disney Dream Job Trip Report
by Ricky Brigante
Day Two: An Extraordinary Day at Disneyland - June 9th, 2007
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The second day of our trip began slowly, as we were still fairly tired from a long previous day of travel and being in the parks.
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| White Water Snacks Nachos |
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Michelle and I started with lunch at White Water Snacks at the Grand Californian, something we had been looking forward to since
our last trip to Anaheim. They have incredible chicken nachos there. No really, incredible nachos. It's something that has to
be tasted to be believed.
After lunch and a stroll through Downtown Disney, we were joined by my mom and aunt again inside Disneyland. We first met up with a
bunch of folks from DoomBuggies.com and took some photos. At that point, they all headed inside the Haunted Mansion for a ride,
but I had to run to meet with Paul Barrie from Window to the Magic.
Paul and I regularly appear on each other's podcasts (I host Inside the Magic), so we went off to
record a segment for his show. We were also joined by his son Calvin and Tony from Above the Firehouse.
We began our walking conversation about the Dream Job contest on Main Street and headed into
New Orleans Square where we appropriately rode The Haunted Mansion. Afterward, Paul took me and my family over to Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. Unfortunately,
the newest and coolest feature, Dead Man's Grotto, was out of commission, so we did a lap around the island and left.
We then parted ways with Paul and the gang and then headed over to ride Indiana Jones. After that ride, I had another one of my Disneyland favorites, clam chowder in a bread bowl.
By then it was around 4:30pm and I had my first Dream Job event scheduled for 6:15pm, so my mom and aunt stayed in the parks to play a bit more and Michelle and I headed back
to the hotel to freshen up and rest.
My first Dream Job stop was to head to the hotel lobby. This was my first chance to meet all of the other winners in person. We grouped into our respective jobs and were
introduced to our VIP hosts. Each group had their own host that would be guiding them around the Disneyland Resort all weekend. This treatment is generally reserved for celebrities
and in the case of this weekend, we were just that. The Haunted Mansion group's host was named Lindsay.
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| Me on the Plaza Inn rooftop |
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We were led by Lindsay through Downtown Disney and into Disneyland. From there, we were guided backstage and onto the roof of the Plaza Inn, where each of the winners would shoot
a short introduction video with Sleeping Beauty castle in the background. I was amazed by the size of the video crew that was up there just for us... it had to have been 7 or 8 people.
You can see my intro in the wrap-up video on the Videos page.
Walking around backstage was something I never grew tired of all weekend, despite the occasional long hauls. I don't think I blinked or stopped asking Lindsay questions the entire time we
were back there.
Following our shoot, we were led over to Aladdin's Oasis in Adventureland, where we met up with our guests and were welcomed to a dessert party. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to
eat the desserts, as introductions quickly began from various people from Disney and Career Builder. All of the winners were then unexpectedly called up indivdiually to shake hands with
Mickey Mouse and enter into the glowing red mouth of the Cave of Wonders, leaving our guests behind with Jasmine, Aladdin, and the Genie.
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| Entering the Cave of Wonders |
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This was definitely one of the most surreal experiences in the entire trip. The stairs leading down into the cave were steep and it was very hard to see due to the bright red lights and
blowing smoke. Upon reaching the other side of the cave, I found myself backstage next to parked Jungle Cruise boats. There was no time, however, to stop and look around as Lindsay
immediately kept us moving. We walked for quite a while, behind all of Adventureland, New Orleans Square, and Toontown, ultimately ending up in the costuming, make-up, and rehearsal building.
I tried to make mental notes of everything I saw every time I was backstage, but in this particular instance, it's all a blur.
After 5-10 minutes of walking, our final destination was a room set up with a podium and 5 themed tables, one for each job. The Haunted Mansion table was complete with a green tablecloth,
glowing crystal ball, raven, candelabra, and spider webs. There were also 5 seats marked with 5 monogrammed pairs of Mickey ears. Attached to the ears were our $250 gift cards.
We were given a short talk about how Disney Cast Members should behave around guests and that no cameras or recording devices of any sort were allowed anywhere backstage. We then were
introduced to our two Haunted Mansion trainers, Allison and Aubrey, who gave us the rundown on what we'd be doing all weekend. They also answered any questions that we had with ease. We
couldn't have asked for two better trainers as they knew anything and everything about the Haunted Mansion.
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| Remember... Dreams Come True Fireworks |
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We wrapped up orientation fairly quickly and hiked back to the Plaza Pavilion for a reserved viewing of Remember... Dreams Come True, a most excellent fireworks show. That was the last Dream Job
event for the night.
Michelle and I then left Disneyland, stopped at the Rainforest Cafe for a late dinner, finishing eating close to midnight. It was definitely time for bed at that point as Day Three was to start very
early in the morning. I had to be back in the Disneyland Hotel lobby at 5:30am the next day, so I needed to get in as much sleep as I could, despite how anxious I was to continue my adventure.
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As to Disney properties/artwork: ©Disney
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