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Disney Dream Job Trip Report
by Ricky Brigante
Day Four: Dreams Come True - June 11th, 2007
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This was the day that all of the Dream Job winners were looking forward to the most. This is the day we would all actually be working our Dream Jobs. While the Haunted Mansion winners
basically had a chance to already do it on Sunday, everyone else had only been rehearsing and training. They would be having their first and only performances in front of park guests on this day. I was
really just looking forward to getting back into costume and having some more fun in the expanding rooms.
The day started with another early morning meeting in the Disneyland Hotel lobby at 6:30 am. Our first stop, like the day before, was to head to costuming and make-up. This time, however, all of the
winners went there together. The princesses, naturally, entered makeup first, as they required the most of it. Ironically, the pirates were the ones that required the next most attention. The Haunted
Mansion group ended up getting makeup last, after getting into costume, and right before we had to leave for our next destination.
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| Lined up waiting for the ceremony |
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We all headed, in costume, into an empty Disneyland at around 7:30 am to line up in Tomorrowland in preparation to take part in the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage official grand opening ceremony that would be
sent out live via satellite to news organizations around the world. We initially lined up in a pre-determined order in the Submarine Voyage queue and were told that our role in the ceremony was simply to walk
by the stage waving to the cameras after Disneyland Resort President Ed Grier introduced us. While standing in the queue waiting, a parade of Disney executives walked by including CEO Bob Iger and John Lasseter,
who stopped as he passed, remembered me from the night before, and said hello to me again.
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| Disneyland President, Ed Grier |
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The ceremony began at 10:00 am and our part in it was right at the beginning. The winners' guests were asked to watch the ceremony from the Honey, I Shrunk the Audience theater as there wasn't much seating in front
of the stage, and what little seating was there was reserved for folks from Pixar, Disney executives, and Imagineers. Little did I know at the time that as I walked by the stage during the ceremony, my wife had managed to work her way
into getting into one of those reserved seats, only a few feet away from me and the stage. She sat only a few chairs from Tony Baxter, Marty Sklar, John Lasseter, and Andrew Stanton and even had a chance to meet all of them after the ceremony ended.
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Me and other winners at Nemo opening ceremony
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When we walked past the stage, we didn't stop moving and were led immediately around the hub, back into Tomorrowland's entrance, and backstage to the Inn Between, a Cast Member eatery that's in between Tomorrowland and
Main Street, hence the name. We had box lunches again and were told that we should be lucky to have them as the standard food for the Cast Members isn't so good. Some of the winners had to leave lunch early to prepare for their jobs.
The Haunted Mansion group stuck around until around noon, at which point Lindsay led us back toward the Haunted Mansion.
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| Stairs to a second Club 33 entrance |
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Every time Lindsay took us somewhere, she made sure to take us on a different route when possible, so we could see as much of the Disneyland backstage area as possible. This time, we crossed over Main Street and walked behind the left side, where we had gone
after we passed through the Cave of Wonders the first night. This time, however, we could actually see where we were going. Along the way, we spotted an extra giant snake as a backup for the Indiana Jones attraction, many ride
vehicles in the shop for maintenance, including rows of Doom Buggies.
Lindsay led us underneath the Blue Bayou and Pirates of the Caribbean, through a series of tunnels, staircases, and hallways, past another Cast Member cafeteria (the Westside Diner), and up stairs that led us onto a New Orleans Square balcony marked Cast Members Only.
This balcony has an upper entrance to Club 33, which we unfortunately did not get to go inside as we had more important things to do.
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| The Haunted Mansion, our new workplace |
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The beginning of our roles at the Haunted Mansion was to begin at 12:45 pm. We each were to spend 45 minutes in the expanding rooms with predetermined performance times, to allow for our friends and family to come see us. The order of our performances was
Michael, Gordon, myself, Karen, and Tim. However, the camera crew had some technical difficulties with a blown light, something they definitely needed in order to shoot inside the expanding rooms, so everything was delayed. This gave us another great opportunity to do
more than we had originally been scheduled for. Each of us was to walk the Master's ghost dogs, Fifi and Buddy, once again, so Michael and Karen volunteered to go first. That left me, Gordon, and Tim a chance to do something really special.
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| Me in the portrait hallway |
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Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Cast Members occasionally have a chance to perform what are called magical moments. These are moments in which the guest experience is enhanced by Cast Members performing in ways that are not regularly seen.
The ghost dog walking is one such magical moment. Inside the Mansion, there are two others, both taking place in the changing portrait hallway.
The first was a pair of feather dusters that Mansion Cast Members use up and down the portrait hallway, dusting the walls, portraits,
and most importantly, the chains and bat stanchions along the sides of the room.
This proved to be one of the most fun moments of the entire weekend. Guests regularly rest their hands on the stanchions or run their hands along the metal chains. Allison told me that her
favorite bit is to walk up to the guests and give them a sinister look, making it clear that you want them to stop touching the chains and stanchions. I took her recommendation and once they got the message, I would quickly dust whatever areas they had touched.
I got a lot of laughs with this routine.
The other magical moment in the portrait hallway was a brand new one, which we had the opportunity of premiering. They had recently received a realistic candelabra, which one of us would carry under our chins, eeriy illuminating our faces as we wandered up and down the hallway.
It created a wonderfully creepy aura around us and enabled us to startle guests with lines like, "There you are! We've been expecting you."
Eventually, Michael and Karen joined us in the hallway and Gordon, Tim, and I all had our chance to walk Fifi and/or Buddy one more time outside.
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| Me in the expanding room, about to deliver the spiel |
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At around 3:00 pm, I had my last series of runs through the expanding room. The first was for the camera crew along with friends from DoomBuggies.com and my family. You can see my performance here. it was a bit awkward delivering the spiel and then standing
around while the Ghost Host spoke, with a big bright camera light in my face. After a few parting words like, "Please fill in all the dead space", the cameras left and I got to spiel through another 3 expanding room runs. My favorite of the entire weekend was the very last one.
The large entrance doors to the expanding room open from the middle toward the sides. Before they opened, I positioned myself right in the middle, facing what would soon be a foyer full of people. As the door opened, I spotted three large, well built African American men, all facing away
from me into the foyer, standing not more than 2 feet away from me. They noticed that everyone in front of them in the foyer was looking behind them, so they turned around to enter the gallery... but they didn't expect me to be standing there, in full costume and makeup, giving them my
best grim grin. Upon seeing me, the guy in the middle actually let out a startled shriek, to which his buddies burst out laughing. He immediately dragged them past me and all the way across the expanding room, as far away from me as possible. I knew I had played my role well.
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| Final interview for the camera |
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Between all of the positions we rotated through, we worked at the Haunted Mansion for around 5 hours on this Dream Job day. I could have stayed there another 5 hours.
Our last task in costume was our farewell interviews on the Mansion lawn. You can see mine in both wrap-up videos here. Unfortunately, our next stop was back to costuming where we had to turn in our costumes for the last time. I loved wearing it and felt like by turning it in forever, I was losing a character that I had created within me.
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| Adonis Reeves, me, and Mickey at the farewell ceremony |
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A short while later, we had our final Dream Job event, a farewell ceremony in the Pavilion Room. There, we were greeted by Disney characters as well as many of the contest's organizers. We also each received amazing parting gifts which were framed and matted copies of our group photo in front of the castle, an individual photo with Mickey as we received
our Honorary Cast Member name tags, and a duplicate name tag inside the frame. It was a touching ceremony and no one wanted it all to be over... not even a little bit.
Following the ceremony, Michelle and I headed back into Disneyland to hit a few more rides that we hadn't had a chance to get on yet. We went on Alice in Wonderland (her favorite), Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (one of my favorites), Pinocchio, Big Thunder Mountain, and capped off the night at the Haunted Mansion. We ran into Tim, Kenny the pirate, and a bunch of DoomBuggies.com folks there for
the final ride of the night. Kenny suggested to the Cast Member there that I give one last expanding room spiel as an Honorary Cast Member and I did. It was great to do it one last time. Tim and I rode together in the last Doom Buggy of the night and then went our separate ways.
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| Parting gift from Allison and Aubrey |
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Fortunately, there was one last surprise waiting for all of the Haunted Mansion winners at the hotel. Allison and Aubrey had put together parting gifts of their own. They were shadow boxes with a Haunted Mansion postcard and pin, a Disney Parks pin, a more official looking Cast Member name tag, and, coolest of all, a piece of the Haunted Mansion costume vest with a Disneyland USA button.
There was also a note to all of us on the back of the shadow box signed by Allison and Aubrey. It is a cherished gift that I will hang onto forever.
And that was it... the trip was over. The next morning I spent my $250 gift card at the World of Disney on a frame that had small matted versions of the old Submarine Voyage poster and the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage poster. After that purchase and a quick bite for breakfast at the hotel, it was off to the airport to fly home.
The Disney Dream Job weekend was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I'm not exaggerating when I say that being a Haunted Mansion butler has been a dream of mine ever since I was little and to finally fulfill that dream, and to do it at Disneyland, was an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime adventure that will live on in my memories forever.
I want to thank everyone at Disney, especially Lindsay, Allison, and Aubrey, for making my weekend perfect. I know that everyone who worked on making the contest a reality worked really hard and it showed. Everything was absolutely perfect. I also want to thank everyone who voted for me to give me this unbelievable experience, including Inside the Magic listeners, everyone at DoomBuggies.com,
the folks at RealDisney.com, my friends, and especially my wife, Michelle. I wouldn't have been there without you. I want to mention that the weekend would also not have been as great without all of the other winners being such wonderful, nice, and caring people. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to spend time with.
And one final note: the Dream Job winners are already planning many reunions to come, so... see you real soon!
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As to Disney properties/artwork: ©Disney
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