Disney Character Event - St Patty's Day Parade

Well I was finally in a parade!! (although it's not a true disney parade...) I was cast in a DCE - disney character event which could consist of special events such as weddings, celebrity visits or companies that request specific disney accommodations. I got a call from casting for this DCE for st patty's day as a parade performer in Hollywood Studios after hours. It's great to have the opportunity to do something a bit different too.

The thing about the Disney company is they tell you abbbsolutely nothing in advance (if you already hadn't noticed from the lack of parade knowledge I know). I arrived there clueless and surprisingly found my way  to the green room. We wore the most adorable green sparkly costumes in addition to a red wig, eyelashes, airbrush shamrock on my cheek, shamrock earrings, light up ring, knee high tights, green booty shorts and character heels. Not to mention my parents, Jamie and Josh didn't recognize who the girl picture below was!

They told us to line up for the parade route after hearing instructions to just walk and wave. It was so much fun to just smile and occasionally throw in the princess wave as US bank conference attendees snap pictures of the parade along the way. I'm still anxiously waiting real Disney Parades, I had my orientation but still no training on my schedule! :-(

In other news from the Selikoff house, Lexi had three more puppies!!! Two boys and a girl: Little J, Tigger and Minnie :-)

NFL player asked for MY autograph

Jeff came to visit this weekend! After a long and successful conference at fun and adventurous Universal, he needed to experience the magic of Disney. He came to eat at Garden Grille so he could dine with his good friends Chip, Dale, Mickey and Pluto. He was starstruck to say the least ;-)

During that night's shift, I happened to bump into Jason Whittens and his family dining at Garden Grille. Playing for the Dallas Cowboys and being a hugeeee attractive athlete I was most definitely starstuck. It's not everyday that you get to give Jason whittens a hug, take a photo and have him ask me for MY autograph!

I happen to loveee dining shifts. It's much more controlled and you really get to play around with the guests. The families get a kick out of me feeding little kids and sitting down to join them for their meal.

I had parade orientation yesterday and learned a whole presentation about everything to do with the parades. We walked the parade routes and got a tour of each parade float up close and personal. Although I don't have any training on my schedule yet, the instructor said to be excited because somewhere my name is written down to be trained for something! One day!

and a month has passed

Unfortunately, we lost our beloved Pop this past week so I had to put my disney fantasy life on hold to go home to CT. Among all the sadness I was so grateful to be able to escape back to the happiest place on earth.

Well picking up where we left off, dance party kicked my butt. It was such a fun shift but the most exhausted I've been since i've been here. 30 minutes of dancing felt like a workout at the gym and after 5 sets that night it was safe to say I was beat. oyeee! Here's good friend chip rocking out at the dance party.

On a happier note, Josh came to visit this weekend :-) Spending the day in magic kingdom was genuinely up there in one of the happiest days of my life. We rode 18 rides 22 times banking in at the most productive day i've spent at disney in my life. No big deal that I maxed out the score of Buzz Lightyear's space ranger spin, at 999,999 scoring in as a Galactic Hero. Gotta brush up on your video game skills josh. We watched both day and night parades, and ended our day at magic kingdom with Wishes. Josh wouldn't believe Disney's fireworks were actually choreographed to the music,  but of course they are and was blown away by the pyrotechnics. Perhaps a change in his career path...? haha

We also got stuck on Splash mountain for 10 minutes. Some guy decided it was a good idea to get out of our log right before the last drop. The emergency lights when on and the ride held us at the base of the drop while a cast member had to come and retrieve this nervous guest. Pretty cool to see the briar patch all lit up!

Extra magic hours brought us to epcot where we rode test track and mission space freaking out at the continuous motion sickness warnings, we safely landed on mars no worries crew

Saturday was devoted to HARRY POTTER! Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey still blows me away and is the most technologically advanced ride I've ever experienced. After the 4th time riding it, I finally got the science behind the mechanics down. ABBBBsolutely fabulous ride so worth the wait.

"I'm still alive, but really badly burned"

Well on the first day off with 80 degree weather and not a cloud in the sky, I got my first bright red sunburn of the season. I'm super blotchy and look like a Mosaic. oopsieee

Thursday and Friday of this week I had off and a couple friends and I spent the day at animal Kingdom and hollywood studios as guests. We rode expedition everest for the first time which was fabulous to say the least, and tower of terror and rockin roller coaster twice. We haven't waited in line for more than 10 minutes for anything which has been verrrry surprising.

Tonight there was a special after hours party for all cast members that work in Animal Kingdom, and since entertainment gets to work all the parks we were allowed to go. We rode dinosaur twice with the lights on which was verrrrry awesome and way less scary (mind you we all lost our voices from uncontrollable screaming the entire ride without the lights on).

Below are some photos from Magic Kingdom, a sunset on the castle and a choreographed fireworks show, wishes.

This week I got the opportunity to work with my trainers and roommate out with the guests which was a ton of fun. My roommate Jackie and I got to be partners in crime teasing each other on set. Tomorrow I'll be hanging out at the tomorrowland dance party in Magic Kingdom with her as well. My character performing roommates and I are still anxiously awaiting rehearsals for parades and shows to show up on our schedules which come out tomorrow! As unbelievably rewarding and fulfilling it's been so far, I can't wait to be able to dance for disney. That's all for now, I'll check back after the dance party :-)

and so it begins...

Hey guys!

Sorry it's been a couple days, it's been hectic around here with the first couple of days of real work! Unfortunately I can't give away any of the secrets that are all part of the magic, but if I've spoken to you personally you might have a better idea of what I'm actually doing.

Anyway, actual guest interaction is so incredibly fulfilling. It's such an surreal, fantastic feeling making people smile and giggle with memories that they'll always remember of Disney World.

After four days of training we graduated to be real Cast Members in Entertainment character performing. After countless Disney videos about making and becoming the magic for the guests, our training ended with some touching stories that I cannot wait to experience for myself.

I got my first day off and got to spend it going to the park for a full day. It was actually freezing (sorry wisconsin I now get cold at 50 degrees) A couple of my friends and I went to epcot to visit one of our friends from training. Pictured below is my roommate Jess and I, and some very close friends of mine...

I also got to meet my idol: Snow White. Although I'm 20 years old, being next in line to meet her made me so giddy like I was actually meeting a celebrity hahah I told her I wrote my admissions essay on her and she said it must have worked considering im in the College Program! Spitting Image if I do say so myself

My first day arrived to work at the Magic Kingdom and I was very nervous to say the least. I didn't want to get lost, and definitely wanted to be on top of my game as I worked side by side with my trainer (which was a blessing and a curse). It was a fabulous first day and I couldn't have ended my day feeling any happier. Bringing smiles to peoples faces reinforces why people never leave this place. This job is truly a living dream.

Welcome to the family

Hello All!

Unfortunately my posts will become less detailed because I'm getting more and more familiar with the disney secrets that of course cannot be revealed :-) But here's a quick update!

We had a class called Traditions on Wednesday at Disney University (yes this actually exists) which familiarized us with the company and its success. After learning all about the disney heritage and the disney way, and a surprise quick visit to the magic kingdom to explore we received our pins and are official disney cast members!

Thursday we finally got a chance to meet the others in entertainment in our "Welcome to Entertainment" class. Here we learned about all the aspects of Disney entertainment and what makes this company's performances stand out beyond the rest. After meeting all 14 people in the class it occurred to me that there are only 4 girls, (me being one of them) that are character performers in shows/parades out of the 250 that checked in on our arrival date! Of course at this point I'm so excited from all the entertainment lessons learned, and I just want to get out there and perform. We took another surprise trip to the magic kingdom to watch the "Dreams come true with Mickey" show right on Cinderella's castle stage! Of course this gave me the chills realizing I have the opportunity to be one of those dancers in the blue dress on stage once our training is over. The anticipation is killlllling me ahh. I STILL DONT KNOWWW

Today we had our first official training for 8 people in my field of work (can't really give the details... sry everyoneee) We have 3 more days of intense, very long and tiring days of training before we go out on our own into the parks! I have my first real day of work starting next Wednesday.

We haven't had a moment to go to the parks for fun yet, so we took advantage that we were out of our business clothes and had the opportunity to go to Epcot tonight. What's better than to go to the parks at 7pm on an empty night in 65 degree weather for freeeee?!

Day 1: Check In and Casting

Here I am!

After the LONG anticipation day one finally arrived. Being back on Disney Property was the most incredible feeling. While driving under the walt disney world sign - where dreams come true with a welcome from Mickey and Minnie, I could hardly stay put in the car as I was actually bouncing off the walls (sorry family).

We had dinner in Downtown Disney at a cuban restaurant called Bongos. Gloria Estefan owns the chain so of course it was equipped with get on your feet-type music. After dinner we explored Downtown Disney, shopped a bit and ran into a cast member in the college program selling merchandise on the street who just extended her trip until May from August because she loved it so much. Eeeeee at this point I cannot wait for the night to end so the first day of my dream can begin.

I woke up at 6:55am monday morning to wait in line to check into our apartment complexes. Knowing Disney, the process was very impressively systematic, with lines and stations. We got our apartment in Vista Way which is the most centrally located with 2500 people. Our apartment has 3 bedrooms, and 6 girls.

At this point I'm DYING of anticipation to learn what role we'll be playing because everything's been left a surprise until day 1. So we take a bus to Casting which again was perfectly organized and systematic. As soon as we walk in, we're standing in a rotunda and the cast members come up to us individually and give us a sticker with our work location and official role. Every role besides entertainment gets their work location and specific duties. Mine said ENTERTAINMENT MK Characters Show/Parades -M. No one could tell me what M stood for, as some of my friends had F. (minor freak out that they thought I was a male at first) Anyway, thrilled that I'm now working in Magic Kingdom in the shows and parades (exactly what I'd loveee to do), we carry on through the rest of the casting process. We take care of all of the employment forms, take photo IDs and find out our schedule for the next couple days.

Today, tuesday we have completely off. More target runs and apartment organizing! Wednesday is Traditions which is an orientation of the Disney company, and after experiencing Traditions we are official cast members (with all benefits boo yeaaaa)

Thursday hopefully I'll have more info on what I am actually going to be doing as we have our 8-5:30pm entertainment training in fur. That's all I know for now in addition to the fact that this is going to be the best 7 months of my lifee!