How Do They Do That?

[Tom]

Ok - since people were only bringing back stale, out-of-date threads, I thought I'd throw out a few questions here:

1. To a MK Rides/Attraction Cast Member: What is a typical day for you, say, for example, if you work from opening until mid day?

2. When/How do they re-stock the stores? I understand the MK ones are stocked from backstage, the tunnels, etc - but what about MGM, AK and EPCOT who have shoppes out in the middle of the parks? Do they just do it after hours and keep the back room pretty full each day?

3. How does park opening take place? Who is making the decisions? I see the Cast Members (managers) at the MK with radios, behind the turnstiles, and keep d__________g into those little side buildings - do they receive notice from someone, etc? What's the process?

4. When they have to do an announcement about some emergency, like a family member in distress, inclement weather, or other major incident -- who does the announcement? Where do they do it from? Is there a microphone somewhere that just over rides all the PA system?

 

[mkt]

1 - Since I did attractions for a bit... here was a day for me... (MK Tomorrowland attractions, frontierland attractions, and disneyquest attractions)... ready? GO..

at MK, i'd show up about 30 mins early, get my costume, and get changed. report to my work location, log into the cast deployment system (aka CDS, aka Satan, aka Cast Dehumanization System), and start work... take a few breaks, operate the attraction, spiel here and there, and get changed and go home.

at Disneyquest, we castzoomed... i'd show up, do the same CDS bit, do the same tasks, and go home...

literally, that was it... lol. In a MUCH condensed version


2-at the other parks, they are generally stocked in back areas out of guest view and pretty large amounts of merchandise are kept there for guests. If needed though, they can and have stocked onstage... that's rare though.


3- whats sad is.. I know the answer to this... i'm tired though... lol. It's quite a process to say the least... I'll have to think about this one and get back to you... it's actually rather cool what goes into it.


4- the announcement is usually done by a member of management.. for distress calls, usually the Park Duty Manager/Guest Relations Manager on Duty... and there is a mic that will kill all audio in the park.

 

[Tom]

I knew you'd come through for me Rob :lol: Thanks!

I anxiously await your more informative description of Park Opening Procedures!

-Tom

 

[marni1971]

Me too - interesting insights! Thanks.

 

[isnet396]

I had a Horizons SOP Study Guide which said what would be announced in the event of a bomb threat and inclement weather....I think that it ordered all guests to follow CM's into buildings (for the weather part) and for all guests to kindly proceed to the nearest exit of the park (for the threats). I don't think any of these announcements have ever been made...

If I can find the exact wording, I'll post it up.

Ian

 

[Tom]

I guess Rob forgot about me :veryconfu

MKT, if you come back by, can you fill us in on the Park Opening Procedures please?

Thanks!

 

[kandyapplebleu]

from a food & beverage point of view

i'm not sure if all the questions were directed to attractions cast members, but i would like to answer the other questions:
2. restocking-i worked at the stands in ak's africa. they basically restock the stands as needed (the guests don't usually mind having to make way for an ice cart). there is usually a designated person (known to us as the filler) who serves as a kind of errand boy. when something gets low, they run to a backstage location (now it's odf's base, i think, behind pizzafari) and grab whatever they can tote.
3. opening- normally, u get there before the park opens and start setting up. if there are any problems (say, the ice cream machines are down), u call the manager and they'll decide whether they want you to still open.
4. i've never been in any severe situations, but if something happens like a lost kid or a sick person, managers will either call locations or walk around and let cast members know that they should keep their eyes peeled. only in extreme cases (like terrorist attacks) will they use the pa system.

 

[Chape19714]

I am interested to know how the openings are done!

 

[Tom]

Follow up to my Question 2

I was reading OLD threads, because I'm REALLY bored tonight. I found my post from April 14, 2004, and realized that nobody ever came up with an answer for #2 :lol: Our good 'ol reliable MKT forgot all about us, hehe.

So, if anyone can explain how a park opening takes place, specifically MK, I'd love to hear about it. Who actually decided when to open the turnstiles? How do they know when all the janitors are done, when all the safety checks are done, when all CMs are in place? When do they start the park music? Who sets off the morning WELCOME recordings?

I know its one massive radio communication ordeal, I'm just interested in hearing more about it. Is there a "mission control" sort of thing that choreographs it all, or do several managers just report to each other?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bill Smugs]

:sohappy: someone plese tell us how they open the parks.

 

[unkadug]

I know that I've read a detailed explanation here @ WDWMagic somewhere on MK opening.

Right now - I'm to tired to search!:wave:

 

[PintoColvig]

Okay, here's the deal...I found this thread and got very interested in the topic and wanted to know the answer to all the questions. Now I'm not an obsessive-compulsive but I do like completeness. So will someone help me find some balance and please tell us about opening procedures?

 

[isnet396]

I'm personally a little confused as to why so many people are interested in park openings...if anything, it's a lot of coordinated action on the part of many departments, unlinking of chians, radio communication, and synchronized music.

Nobody finds technical details (like how UoE works, for instance) more interesting?

 

[PintoColvig]

I'm personally a little confused as to why so many people are interested in park openings...if anything, it's a lot of coordinated action on the part of many departments, unlinking of chians, radio communication, and synchronized music.

Nobody finds technical details (like how UoE works, for instance) more interesting?

The reason why people are interested in park openings is the same reason why people are interested in Backstage Tours. We've seen what the public sees, we're exceptionally interested in all things Disney, and so we'd also like to know what goes on behind the scenes. We're just a bunch of CM wannabes. :wave: