One magical day!

Well, I got to do something new and exciting today: I opened the park! In fact there are a couple of days lately when I have had opportunity to escape the cinnamon-dusted and coffee-ground encrusted clutches of Critter Country and New Orleans and at last explore new areas. I discovered through this that other lands are incredibly FUN to work in! Saturday I was sent to Fantasyland, which after I dealt with the crazy madness of chasing all over the park and backstage figuring out my "costume" and assignments was extremely fun. Today I was on the central hub of Main Street, and it was absolutely fascinating to observe the differing dynamics in time and place between that and my usuals. It was awesome getting to watch Disneyland open. It was almost exactly like the "Disneyland Fun" sing-a-long video we used to watch, except that instead of Mickey and his friends setting things up it was the night maintenance crew. But they were hard at work making everything perfect, polishing and planting and perfecting to the utmost. It was magical to hear the tinny music of the Main Street style showtunes and to watch the crowds gathered in anticipation for the attractions to officially open. When the hour did arrive the guests burst inside, gushing from the entrance as though a dam had burst. They stormed around the hub eagerly hustling to be the first in line. Now this element of things made my job slightly less exciting. Instead of drained, sun-scorched parents desperate for sugar and caffeine after a long day, these people were still happy to be at Disneyland and full of energy. They skipped and ran and smiled their way around my cart hardly aware of the presence of my churros in their concentrated efforts to make a beeline for Space Mountain. But in spite of the slight boredom (which more or less continued for the duration of the eight hour shift), it was great to people watch and chill out right by Main Street. There was just such a lighthearted feel to everything. I met people from all over the place and even got to be in a picture that's going back to Australia! I get a kick out of listening to accents, from the sophisticated British requests for "who-ter" or the "toilet" to the Southern drawl of a nice cold "sprat" (sprite). I enjoy timid kids and hastled parents, even. I've discovered things that do bug me, though. There are the people who are extremely vague, grunting and pointing when they obviously have full capability of coherent speech. Then, the worst, are those who have absolutely no consideration for the fact that there are hordes of people around them. Some people just bustle on up as though you have nothing to do but serve them and them alone. Then they stand taking their precious time deciding what they want- I mean, it's not like I have a lot of options...but anyways, that shouldn't surprise me much really, after the experiences I've had working with people.
But anyways, after all of this I decided to at last satisfy the long-festering longing i have had to actually visit the park as a civilian, and take advantage of my free entry as a cast member. I must say if anything that it was even more magical than my naive days as just an average joe! And I'd had plenty of time to consider what I'd want to do in the park, so I had all kinds of adventures. I strolled through Main Street and bought a new pen in the gift shop, I went on the Teacups and It's a Small World (the new and improved version with obesity-proof boats). I went on The Haunted Mansion, too, and the drugged out Whinnie the Pooh ride (hey, it didn't have a line, what can I say?). And I hit my all time favorite, Splash Mountain. Then I mosied on over to DCA (that's cool person talk for California Adventure), where I took advantage of my single rider status to jump ahead in line on the Maliboomer and Mulholland Madness, along with the roller coaster- which is always more of a thrill and rush than I remember. Oh, I got to do the Toy Story ride, too, and peek at all this new junk that they are putting in. And I cruised through the tortilla factory to score a free tortilla.
But all that sort of tuckered me out a little, so I think I'm calling it a day. More adventures to come! :)