So, as I explained in my last post about my last day at Nemo, I have just been deployed to Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios recently kicked off its "Frozen Summer Fun" event, which essentially is a summer-long celebration at Hollywood Studios to celebrate Frozen and have people visit the park and participate in all the new events. There is a parade with Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff, a sing-along, an ice-skating rink, and a dance party every day. My understanding of the situation is that Hollywood Studios decided that they would need more people to staff this event, and that Animal Kingdom theater ops decided they were too over-staffed, so they shipped all the CP's from theater ops over to Hollywood Studios (and a few to Magic Kingdom). I wasn't given too much information about my deployment from Animal Kingdom, so when I went to Hollywood Studios this morning, I was really looking forward to getting some answers. I went in with a really positive attitude, thinking that it would be nice to have the opportunity to perform two separate roles in two different parks and it would make me a more versatile Cast Member and person. However, my experience today at Hollywood Studios was certainly an interesting one and not entirely what I was expecting.
Let me start at the beginning. When I arrived at Hollywood Studios this morning, the first part of my On With the Show class began with a park tour. We did a 2.5 hour tour of the entire property, and our leaders informed us about each attraction, restaurant, and merchandise location. I did find this part a little bit boring, especially because I am pretty familiar with Hollywood Studios and I didn't feel like they were telling me anything that I didn't already know. However, I got paid to go on a park tour, and even to ride the Great Movie Ride, so I can't complain too much about that! After our park tour, we had a quick break and then went into the classroom for a brief session about working at Hollywood Studios and being a Disney Cast Member. Since I was deployed from one theme park to another, I felt like a lot of the information was stuff I already knew from working at Animal Kingdom, but still, I understood the need for them to share this information with us, and it was interesting to see how another park handles their orientation and park tour. However, throughout the whole tour, I couldn't help but feel as though I just didn't belong in that park. I love working in Animal Kingdom, and being a conservation biology major, I feel as though that's where I truly belong and feel the most comfortable.
After the park orientation and information session is when the day really took a turn for the worse. I learned that I essentially didn't have a "job" to perform at Hollywood Studios. As of right now, I am scheduled for Olaf distribution shifts at different areas in the park. Basically, another part of the Frozen celebration is that they are handing out Olaf on a stick to people throughout the park and encouraging them to selfie with Olaf and then put the seflies on social media and hopefully have a chance to be displayed during the nighttime fireworks. So, yes, as of right now, my job for the remainder of July will be to hand out Olaf on a stick. Nothing else. Now, that's not to say that tomorrow, when I report to my first real day on the job, that things won't change, but as of now that is what I am scheduled to do. The more disappointing part of it is that no one at Hollywood Studios seemed to have any answers about what we were doing. It actually seemed like someone just made up this job. They weren't sure what costumes to give us, what shoes to have us wear, where to have us meet in the mornings, and they weren't even aware that we were scheduled to be placed all around the park. I understand that my deployment was thrown together very quickly, but I was really disappointed in my whole deployment experience. However, I am extremely hopeful and I have faith in the Disney Cast Members that things will eventually work themselves out. I hope that as the Frozen celebration continues to grow and expand that I will find my place and be happy making magic for the thousands of guests visiting Hollywood Studios. So, for now, look for me handing out Olaf's throughout Hollywood Studios! I will update everyone more once I actually begin to work.
And hey, as for my experience today, some of my favorite Disney characters may fondly remind me to "Let it go..."
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