Week 4

For this week's journal entry I thought I would go over a typical day at Blizzard Beach. Every morning there is a pre-opening and pre-closing checklist of tasks that the cast must complete. You are assigned the tasks by the coordinators and they tend to rotate you throughout the week so you do something different each day. We get about 45 minutes to complete our morning tasks, an hour for some of the longer ones.

Each morning we needed to open umbrellas, clean the turnstiles, rake the sand by the photo sled, wipe down the benches and trash cans, pick up litter at the bus stops, pick up litter in the parking lot, restock the park maps and pens, and clean and sweep the backstage cast area. Yes, even the trash cans get cleaned every morning at Disney World.

Cleanliness, or show as we call it, is one of our service basics. The idea is simple enough, if you provide a clean play for people to play they are going to feel welcome and are likely to return. I can't even tell you how many comments I get from guests saying how clean everything is. 

I have also learned guest service, how can you not at Disney? That is what we are known for, not good guest service, not great guest service, but exceptional guest service. I feel a responsibility to the company, and those who have worked before me and those who will work after me, to keep up these high standards. We have a saying at Disney, "Our guests may not always be right, but they will always be our guests." No matter how angry or upset a guest may be it is our responsibility to make it right for the guest. Why do we feel this way? Why don't we just meet our breaking point and yell back? I really do feel it is because of the connection/ownership we all feel for the company. Why do we feel this connection? I think it is a combination of fond memories we have of visiting Disney World in the past and of the history we learned in our Tradition class and park orientation. We really do feel a part of this gigantic company.

The closing tasks are closing the umbrellas, saying goodbye to all guests, zeroing out the turnstiles, putting the covers on the turnstiles, and shutting them all down after the last guest has left.

We have two coordinators and one manager always on duty. Our two coordinators tend to stay in the ticket booth while our manager, Heather, is always very visible. Every other job I have had when I saw the manager I got nervous and it was a sign of bad things. Heather is always there and I like having the manager right there if the need arises.