LoriMistress
Well-Known Member
They stayed at the Grand Floridian.
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Calling all Cast Members that did the Spangler Family Shift!!!!
- Thread starter v_misses_epcot
- Start date
They stayed at the Grand Floridian.
joanna71985
Well-Known Member
I was there! I was in section 1. I hung out all morning with Lilo, and got to wear the HM costume. And the family got the park to themselves for an extra hour before official opening. And as they went from land to land it opened to the rest of the guests.
PaisleyMF
Active Member
I was there Section 5 20 feet from the Spanglers, near Marie. There is a full thread from CM that the 5 AM shift. It was the most amazing memory ever in the Park. There were 2 type of CM assign to work that day; Regular CM that after the event will run the park and then the CM that was just to help in the moment.
Now I got a funny question, Did the family get the "picture" in the "empty park" or is just the ones with the CM and characters?
Now I got a funny question, Did the family get the "picture" in the "empty park" or is just the ones with the CM and characters?
tecowdw
Well-Known Member
So did you get paid for this time? If so, they had to have quite a payroll for several hours that day!
KyleLauren
New Member
What a great story!! It brought a tear to my eye!
PaisleyMF
Active Member
Everybody was paid. At least in my schedule appear as first a reunion and then the regular shift.
DisneySaint
Well-Known Member
Here's my version of the story...
==========================================================
Being on the college program in attractions, I get assigned one role and stay in that costume in that location for the duration of the program. I had heard about a "MK Press Event" being posted on the extra magic hours hotline so I took a peek and noticed they had about 30 roles for every possible costume that existed in the MK. My excitement built as I considered the prospect of getting to wear my dream costume - the Haunted Mansion outfit. The problem? The Extra Hours Hotline only posts 50 shifts at a time and you can't see beyond the 50...and it was in alphabetical order meaning stuff like Alladin's Magic Carpets and Casey's Corner were first. I literally had to sit on that page refreshing it for about 2-3 hours a day 4 days straight until I FINALLY saw it. There it was - just one listing - of the Haunted Mansion. I clicked with lightning dexterity and saw the confirmation. Just then I noticed it was 5 IN THE MORNING. I am absolutely not at all a morning person. 10 AM is really freakin' early for me. Nonetheless, I wanted my picture in that costume so bad and knew it may be my only opportunity in life to get to wear it. So I swallowed it and went ahead.
I ended up being fantastically scheduled until 11 PM the night before so by the time I got home and in bed it was well after midnight. I ended up getting about 3 hours of sleep b/c I wanted to be up at 3:30 to make it on time. I had never worked in the MK so I didn't know my way around. Even leaving so early it took me the full hour and a half to arrive at the utilidors to clock in. I did so with thousands of other CMs and I just followed the crowd cause I figured they knew where they were going. We popped out of the utilidors right next to the castle. The sun was obviously still down and the castle was lit up only with spotlights. It really looked neat. I was shocked by how many CMs there were - thousands and thousands. And to think I was going to try and meet some co-workers here. I bugged a random CM to take my picture in the HM costume in front of the castle. It's on my disposable camera which still has film left on it, so I have yet to see how that picture came out. I then waited as long as possible to join the crew manning Main Street because I didn't want to get stuck in the back and wait forever.
Finally they started loading the Bakery area and that's when I decided it was time to go. I was so out of it but at the same time was pretty proud to sport my HM costume...I wanted to go to HM so bad and get my pic in front of it but I didn't want to get in trouble. A man on a megaphone ran us through some drills and practice runs and told us what was going to happen. Realize that up to this point I had no idea what this press event was even for - it wasn't told anywhere before then. So we practiced and practiced and I made friends with Rafiki since he was standing right next to me. Still never found out if it was a girl or boy cause he stayed in character and never spoke even when it was just CMs! There were tons of other characters many I haven't seen before.
So finally we go hide in the main street rooms and charge out on the words "Magic Kingdom" (I think). By now we had been out there about 2.5 hrs and I was totally pooped cause the 3 hrs of sleep was catching up on me. The joy on the family's face was worth it, though, and I did get to go back to sleep when I got home since I was off the rest of that day (thank goodness).
Overall it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I can't wait to develop the pictures. I wish I could have met the family over at my normal position at Soarin' (for all I know I did meet them) but it was still cool being there. Didn't see myself on TV but didn't expect to either being back so far.
Anywho - there's my side of the story and I'm sticking to it. If you have any questions I'll try to answer them.
==========================================================
Being on the college program in attractions, I get assigned one role and stay in that costume in that location for the duration of the program. I had heard about a "MK Press Event" being posted on the extra magic hours hotline so I took a peek and noticed they had about 30 roles for every possible costume that existed in the MK. My excitement built as I considered the prospect of getting to wear my dream costume - the Haunted Mansion outfit. The problem? The Extra Hours Hotline only posts 50 shifts at a time and you can't see beyond the 50...and it was in alphabetical order meaning stuff like Alladin's Magic Carpets and Casey's Corner were first. I literally had to sit on that page refreshing it for about 2-3 hours a day 4 days straight until I FINALLY saw it. There it was - just one listing - of the Haunted Mansion. I clicked with lightning dexterity and saw the confirmation. Just then I noticed it was 5 IN THE MORNING. I am absolutely not at all a morning person. 10 AM is really freakin' early for me. Nonetheless, I wanted my picture in that costume so bad and knew it may be my only opportunity in life to get to wear it. So I swallowed it and went ahead.
I ended up being fantastically scheduled until 11 PM the night before so by the time I got home and in bed it was well after midnight. I ended up getting about 3 hours of sleep b/c I wanted to be up at 3:30 to make it on time. I had never worked in the MK so I didn't know my way around. Even leaving so early it took me the full hour and a half to arrive at the utilidors to clock in. I did so with thousands of other CMs and I just followed the crowd cause I figured they knew where they were going. We popped out of the utilidors right next to the castle. The sun was obviously still down and the castle was lit up only with spotlights. It really looked neat. I was shocked by how many CMs there were - thousands and thousands. And to think I was going to try and meet some co-workers here. I bugged a random CM to take my picture in the HM costume in front of the castle. It's on my disposable camera which still has film left on it, so I have yet to see how that picture came out. I then waited as long as possible to join the crew manning Main Street because I didn't want to get stuck in the back and wait forever.
Finally they started loading the Bakery area and that's when I decided it was time to go. I was so out of it but at the same time was pretty proud to sport my HM costume...I wanted to go to HM so bad and get my pic in front of it but I didn't want to get in trouble. A man on a megaphone ran us through some drills and practice runs and told us what was going to happen. Realize that up to this point I had no idea what this press event was even for - it wasn't told anywhere before then. So we practiced and practiced and I made friends with Rafiki since he was standing right next to me. Still never found out if it was a girl or boy cause he stayed in character and never spoke even when it was just CMs! There were tons of other characters many I haven't seen before.
So finally we go hide in the main street rooms and charge out on the words "Magic Kingdom" (I think). By now we had been out there about 2.5 hrs and I was totally pooped cause the 3 hrs of sleep was catching up on me. The joy on the family's face was worth it, though, and I did get to go back to sleep when I got home since I was off the rest of that day (thank goodness).
Overall it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I can't wait to develop the pictures. I wish I could have met the family over at my normal position at Soarin' (for all I know I did meet them) but it was still cool being there. Didn't see myself on TV but didn't expect to either being back so far.
Anywho - there's my side of the story and I'm sticking to it. If you have any questions I'll try to answer them.
illuminations25
Member
Someone is one of the previous posts mentioned there was video. Is it available to view online?
SpaceRacer2003
New Member
The only thing that really bugged me about that morning waiting for them to arrive was that the CMs in the bakery wouldn't shut up!!!!!!!!!
sorry... were we too loud? :king:
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
OK I'll bite....what were the CM's in the bakery doing?
DisneySaint
Well-Known Member
I was in the bakery and didn't notice any problems...
Captain Hank
Well-Known Member
I was going to be a part of that, and had even signed up for a shift in the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway costume (the only one left when I signed up), but in the end, I couldn't get the time off, as the shift overlapped my regular shift by an hour. Glad to hear that you all had such a great time!