Miracle Babies

Today was an incredibly busy day at work with some pretty crazy Guests. It made the day very interesting as we tried to get them to pose for photos and to not shove things in Mickey's mouth and to just generally behave. I worked with some awesome cast members and some not so awesome ones as well. But I made it through the day okay.

It was pretty emotional several times today. While I was at Pixar Place with Buzz and Woody, we had a Make-a-Wish family come up to visit. Now Buzz and Woody had just gone off set and we were waiting for them to come back. However, there was a bit of a problem in that they weren't readily available. But, this is Disney, and we can make magic happen! So within about 5 minutes they came back just to visit this family! And then they were gone again. But they made this special family very happy by coming back for a special appearance. The rest of the Guests had a little bit longer wait as the snafu was figured out but that family was satisfied very quickly which was most important!

The other really emotional moment today happened at Phineas and Ferb. I love my job but sometimes I encounter situations that make it very difficult to keep it together. This is one of those moments. Another Make-a-Wish family came up to visit. And the special child had an oxygen tank and an oxygen tube and monitor attached to him. It took me back to the hospital when Lily was born and she had her CPAP attached and all those monitors attached and we could watch everything going on with her but not really do anything about it. It made me think, this could have been Lily. Thankfully all of her issues resolved themselves and she is a healthy little girl. It brought me to tears as I took photos of this family and this little boy. And I was so worried that the photos wouldn't be good enough. I always want to take good photos but in cases like this I want them to be exceptional. 

So thank you to all the cast that support me as I go through those times and to the characters that give me the opportunity for those awesome photos!

The Force Is Strong With This Mom

Working in the Parks I see a lot of parents dealing with their children. It can be a pretty tough balance of disciplining and letting children enjoy themselves but not get too far out of control. They put in long days without much rest. So many distractions and desires out there assaulting them from every direction. And when you have two or more kids wanting to do the same thing at the same time it can be a tough thing to balance who goes first and when it's time to share.

I was taking photos at the Speeder Bike by Star Tours one day last week when a family came up with two children, a girl about 4 and a boy about 6. They both wanted on the Bike and Mom was going to take their photo together. Their names were Carson and Kylie. (At first I wasn't sure which was which). But the girl started whining that she wanted her own photo as the boy started getting on. The Mom was willing to do this so told them to take turns. I wasn't paying much attention until I started hearing "Carson if you can't cooperate then you can't get your picture." In my mind I thought good for Mom. But was thinking Carson was the boy because it looked like he was trying to get on. The girl was still fussing. Then I saw Dad come over and pick up the girl off the Bike and walk off with her, starting to cry, and the boy hopped on the Bike. He got his photo taken and off they went.

I was pretty impressed at how the Mom put the rules out there, even though I got lost in who was causing the trouble, and Dad followed allowing and they carried through together on the discipline. Both children will learn from that experience.

It was a much better than the one I witnessed last night at Downtown Disney. A little girl came up next to me by some ornaments, she too was about 4 years old. Mom came up by her and told her not to touch them. The little girl touched them and Mom said "what did I just tell you?" The little girl said nothing but proceeded to pick it up. Mom repeated what she said. Then she looked at the ornament with the little girl and said how pretty it was and walked away with the ornament in the little girls hand. The lesson that little girl learned was that it doesn't matter what Mom says, she can do what she wants.

I know both are on vacation and it may not be typical of the second Mom to do this but consistency is a much better teacher in the long run and for the duration of that vacation.

Ah well, I'm done with all that. I get to spoil grandkids now!!!

Hold Your Loved Ones Close!

So it's been a little while. It's not that there's nothing to post, it's just taking the time to do it. Friday reminded me just how precious life is as I worked in "the Happiest Place on Earth", others were experience a nightmare in the north. While I was busy shooting happy families with my camera visiting their favorite characters and talking with them about what their days would be like, others were huddling in cupboards and bathrooms hoping and praying a madman wouldn't shoot them with a gun. As I walked into the break room and heard the news it brought reality to our fantasy world which usually isn't invaded. 

And it made me refocus on the children seeing their heroes and favorite characters and standing in awe at how much love these families were able to share away from the real world out there. And reminded me how much we protect that magic while our Guests are there. We want them to feel like Buzz Lightyear and Woody have come to life. Like Wreck-it-Ralph and Vanelope really did come out of the video game world just to visit them. 

So hug your loved ones a little tighter and tell them how much you love them because you never know when you won't have that chance again. 

A Character with Character

I spend my days with a variety of cast members when I'm working. Some are photographers. Some are attendants. And some are performers. This group is such a mix of personalities and attitudes that it makes the days very interesting and pretty exciting at times. And when we work together it's definitely magic. Some of our performers go above and beyond and really have such a tender heart for our young Guests and that's who I want to talk about tonight. 

I was talking with one today and we were sharing stories of Guest encounters and I know his heart really goes out to the little ones that come to the Parks that have difficulties with life. One family we were talking about was a Grandma with her grandchildren and one of them was autistic. Now when we are told about this we work together to get the best possible photos without putting any stress on the child. We know they may not look at the camera and we know they may not stand still but may be agitated and very active. So knowing this helps so much. The character will work to keep the child facing out towards the camera, very gently. And will look at us as often as possible in case we manage to catch the child looking at us so that we can snap that perfect photo for the parents that they never think they'll get. Well, this Grandma comes in and is worried that the boy will take too much time because he wants to talk so much and he'll hold up the line or not cooperate. I could see we had things flowing well and he was enjoying himself so I took Grandma aside while the guys were visiting with the little boy and told her to relax and let him enjoy his visit and to enjoy her visit as well. The other Guests will be okay waiting. They will get their turn to take what time they want and she doesn't need that pressure. I told her to tell us whenever she got to a character location so that we knew the little boys needs. And then she would be able to enjoy her trip and relax as we helped take care of him. She started to cry because she was so relieved that we understood her situation and she could see he was enjoying himself. 

The story I was told was from our Monsters, Inc. location. Sulley had a father come up and tell him that the little girl was having a rough day today but wanted to come see him before she left. Sulley gave her extra hugs and then dad shared what had happened. Apparently the little girl had already had 3 seizures that day and she was really wearing down. Sulley was crying as he got down and held this little girl for quite some time just to give her some comfort for that day after having such a rough morning. 

Some days are so emotional and yet so rewarding. It's fun and exciting to visit with so many Guests. And then you get those special ones that just touch your heart, like grandma and her little boy or dad and his little girl. And the struggles you know they go through EVERY DAY. And if we can bring a smile to these families and even a little relief from some of this stress then it makes the day and the job even more incredible!

So thanks to all my special friends out there that make the children smile and give them those extra hugs and give me those moments I am blessed to capture and let the families share and memories to keep for years to come. 

May The Force Be With You!

Today was one of those rare days when I was scheduled to shoot Jedi Training Academy! It is one of my favorite things to shoot and today was no exception. The kids are so entertaining to watch as they fight Darth Vader and Darth Maul. There was one little boy that made everyone laugh, even the other kids. I knew it was going to be an interesting show because the kids were so rowdy before it even got started. One child stood out among the rest because he was jumping around while he was waiting in line. He must have barely made the age limit of 4 years old. He was like a jumping bean and just hilarious to watch. When the kids got up on stage they were told to stand on their circle. Well, this little guy had a bit too much energy for that! He went bouncing and jumping all over the stage. You couldn't help but laugh. He was just so excited and so cute. I thought there was no way they'd get him calm enough to pay attention to the training but they finally got him standing on his circle so they could move forward with the show. I was shooting the other group so I'm not sure how the training part went but when it came to the time to fight Vader my group was done so I was able to watch. He was just up there chopping away at Vader's lightsaber. The Jedi Master finally told him to give the final blow to the "head" which he did and that was the end. It was soooo cute! Every one enjoyed this little kid. I talked with his Mom and she said he had four brothers up on the stage with him and two sisters watching. He was the youngest of the bunch and a bit of a handful. 

I was doubly blessed today because I got to see this little guy AND "Woody" stopped by and gave me a hug and asked when I was coming back to Pixar Place to hang out with him and Buzz. That made me feel special to know that they like when I come and take photos with them and we get to play together while visiting with Guests. 

One last thing I'd like to share was about a new cast member we have that was training today. It was amazing talking with her. Most people know the story of little Lily and her struggles when she was born. Well, this lady's granddaughter, Destiny, was born with her brain on the outside of her skull!  Wow! What a thing to have to deal with, huh? The doctors said that this little angel would be lucky to live 6 months. This miracle baby was a Make-A-Wish child a while back and Mary shared how much every one at Disney made the family feel so special. This little girl has the mental capacity of a 1 year old, is blind and has just taken her first steps holding onto a bar in the past few weeks. She shared how the cast members took such care with Destiny and the photographer at the Bippitty Boppitty Boutique even got a photo of Destiny with her eyes open. Mary said Destiny rarely opens her eyes because she is blind but Mary loves this photo and the care the photographer took to get that special moment. So whenever you are feeling down about your job or feel it's not appreciated think about a grandma and her miracle grandbaby Destiny and how much these photos meant to this family!

What's wonderful day filled with blessings! Happy Thanksgiving a little late!

Oh What A Feeling!

Last night I shared some posts of some friends about their encounters with two little boys. Well, today was my day with these two boys and what an encounter it was! It was already a fun day hanging out with Buzz Lightyear and Woody. Then just as their last family left we found they had some special Guests waiting outside. One of my managers came in with this family to hang out with Buzz and Woody again. It was incredible! Buzz is their all time favorite and they both went right over to him. They were feeling every part of him, his face, his arms, his back, his buttons, his feet! The things they were saying were incredible too! "Wow, a large ball joint at his elbow!" "So that's what his face is like!" "Oh here's his buttons! How cool!" "Too infinity and beyond!" One of them kept making the laser sounds and rocking on his feet. They were so funny. Then Mom said "hey no one is giving Woody any love!" So both boys went over to him. They were checking out his belt and his holster and his boots. "He has spurs!" "Where's his string?" "Oh there's his badge." "Here's his holster. What's on it? Ah, another star." Woody even got down so they could check out his face and hat. "Ah, they glued on his hat so it wouldn't fall off. Smart idea." Then Mike, my manager, gave each of them a surprise and asked if they could figure out what it was. They figured out they were Michey ears right away. It took them longer to figure out they were Buzz Lightyear ears! They were thrilled with this. We took tons of photos and they went on their way leaving us overwhelmed by the experience. We went back and talked about it and Buzz and Woody were so thrilled to have net them too because they had heard about these two boys as I had. They were sharing everything they had heard as well. So yet again an incredible day and this time left me with tears of joy at sharing such a wonderful experience with this encredible family.

Making Magic Happen One Family at a Time! With a little help from some friends

I just had to share 2 posts from some girls I work with. 

Cami Wrote:

I'm pretty sure today I lived my Christmas story of the year. I met two very special boys that were visually impaired while I was working with Frozone and Mr. Incredible. My favorite superheroes were amazing in letting the boys feel their faces and they opened the biggest smiles I have ever seen, then we heard: "Oh so that's how they look like in the movies". 

We often meet kids with special conditions or terminal illness but this family caught my attention. They were selfless. They wanted no poses, no pictures, they carried no cameras - It was all about letting them enjoy the moment. 

That touched my heart in a way I can't explain. 

I'm so thankful for the place I work and the people I work with that listened to our story and in the middle of super crowded hectic type of day allowed Kimberly Scott to take them to meet many other characters. My leadership team is also working hard right now to create more magic for them tomorrow and they have no idea. 

♥ Happy Holiday Season everyone

AND  Kimberly Scott wrote 

Let me tell you how today was for me and Cami, we started out at the incredibles and met the fabulous family that has two eleven year old boys who are blind. They are very energetic and so full of life. I know we see many families all day long but this one really took mine and Camis heart. I was able to walk around with this family and take them to meet other friends of ours and I heard so many stories from them on what they collect. Just one of their collections was the many buzz lightyears tg hat they have. All I have to say is, I am very glad to work for disney and the people we come across everyday, because you never know how you will affect a famies memories. They have forever chanfed my outlook on the stuff we take for granted! — at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

A Star Is Born!

Friday was one of those days you dream of having at work. Beautiful weather, great fellow cast to work with, great Guests to take photos of! I started out at the Entrance with the Christmas Tree. It was getting Guests in the Holiday spirit as they came in with their holiday t-shirts and sweatshirts and hats. After my first break I moved on up close to the Hat. Lots of Guests coming up there wanted some fun, creative shots and even helped me come up with some. And I had a lot of requests for Magic Shots. The weather was great too!  I ended my day on Sunset Blvd. with the Towet of Terror. This is where I got the best acting of the day. People were giving me great posed scared faces. And great Magic shot poses. And I was ready to hire almost every one of them!
 It was going very well. And while I was there I was keeping my eye on this little girl that was about 4 or 5 that was hanging out with her mom. She caught my eye because they were sitting there for quite a long time. First the little girl was just sitting with her mom. Then after a while she was up dancing around. Then playing around with the stroller. Then back to dancing to the music to Beauty and the Beast. They must have been sitting their at least an hour. I was so impressed with this little girl that I went over to talk with her mom. I asked if I could give the little girl a present for being so good while she was waiting. It doesn't happen very often that I have a spare pin in my pocket but this day I had brought one from home. It was a Rapunzel pin. When he mom said I could I explained to the little girl that I was very proud of her for waiting so patiently and wanted to reward her with this pin. I told her she could keep it or trade with someone for one she liked even more. Her face lit up with excitement and she was very happy that even though she couldn't go on the rides with dad and big brother, she did get something special while she waited. 

This was a day I was able to make a little magic for one little girl that had been so good for her mom and had helped to make my day end on such an amazing note!

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day!

WOW! What a day! I gotta say I love my job! When I started at Disney I thought I'd be a photographer but never really thought I'd do much more than that. But then I got the opportunity to become a Trainer and I have to tell you that has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I wasn't sure I'd be good at it. I wasn't sure I'd even enjoy it. But I have to tell you I have met some of the most awesome people in the world doing it and gotten to be one of the first ones to introduce them to Photopass. I enjoyed it so much that I applied for Facilitator. Training Day 1 and Day 2 so I am definitely one of the first ones they'll see. When I was preparing for,the interview I was extremely nervous. I was trying to read my notes and make my presentation and making a mess of it. Then my husband took my notes away and said "just tell them what to do. You have the materials in front of you so just explain it." As soon as I didn't have a sheet to look at and I had to figure it out with my props it went much more smoothly. The interview went really well and I was really hoping I'd get it. Rachel called and said she'd like to offer me the position ... and I was waiting for the BUT but there wasn't one! I got it! So now I am finally training to be a Facilitator. And today was my second day learning to train Day 2. 

So today I got to work with a great trainer and 2 great trainees. It was so much fun and as rewarding as I hoped it would be! The guys did well and were very excited with their new roles. And I got to share my goofy, fun and emotional stories about why I love Photopass. And they actually seemed to appreciate them. I'm hoping they have as great a time as I do with their fellow cast members and with the Guests as they move forward!

Early Days

So this week I have some early start times and since I don't drink coffee I don't do so good on days like this. Add to that the fact that I was up late the night before and it makes for one drowsy Vicki. But I did my best to make it a good training day for others. I was training on the new Baracoda scanning device that we will soon be using in the Parks. However, I was not the only one training today. Ray was training someone on a Day 4 and Mikey was training 2 people on Night Shot and View training. So we all got to share the training space! Woohoo! Fortunately we work well together and managed to take turns in our training area so that everyone had time alone with their groups to train in peace. I am truly blessed to work with a great group of trainers. We seem to meld together well and form a pretty cohesive group. 

On top of training on this I had to train someone on the View and Photopass + that had been gone for a while. And another cast member was having a very stressful day so I took time to talk with her as well. Some one had almost hit her car on the way in, a bunch of ants had fallen out of a tree on her while shooting and a women had been yelling at her while she was heading in to talk to me. Poor girl was totally stressed. I listened to her and gave some words of encouragement. Then gave her a hug and told her to try and find a nice family to visit with and take some nice photos with. 

On top of all this I got messages all afternoon about my nephew was at the emergency room needing tests dealing with his viral meningitis. However, after waiting 2 1/2 hours he just walked out of the emergency room and said he was feeling ok and didn't want to wait anymore. So hopefully he is ok in the end. 

Some days just go like that. Nothing remarkable happening, even a little stressful, and you have to make your way through them. That's kind of where I think the Swords come in. We need strength to get through them when we just can't find that Pixie Dust moment or have a good experience sometimes. 

May I Have Your Autograph?

Seems like there's just one thing after another with our family the past several years. We start recovering from the shock of one bit of news when another one hits us. Just in the past couple of months two aunts have passed away, my mother-in-law had open heart surgery, I had surgery and my husband's cousin had a major heart attack. Then this morning we wake up to find that my nephew went to the hospital last night with a fever of 103.8! They diagnosed him with viral meningitis. Good grief! No wonder I still have high blood pressure! Thankfully he should be okay in about 10 days. 

That news got me to thinking about having to go to work on days when we are not feeling so good, either because we are sick, or tired or just worn out from life. One lady I work with found out that her father passed away last week and she decided to stay at work that morning. She said it was a good distraction to visit with Guests and to be around "family" that she works with every day. I know quite a few of us go to work just to get that "family" hug. We're a pretty close knit group and have plenty to go around. 

It's amazing how Guests can make our day turn around just by the simple things that they do too. One girl shared her story with me last week of coming to work and feeling pretty down. Then a family came up to greet her and the children got out their autograph books and asked for her autograph and took their photo with her. She said it made her day!

I had a shift on Hollywood Blvd. last week, which is pretty rare for me, and I decided to challenge myself to do different creative poses with each group as they came up. I was having a lot of fun getting them to do some crazy, silly things and I turned around and had a line behind me! One lady said they had photos taken further back but saw that everyone was having fun with me so they decided to wait in a line for a photo! How crazy is that! As if there aren't enough lines to stand in!  That's my new goal for my Icon shifts. Fun, unique poses for everyone. I'll let you know how that goes. One of my last families that day came back twice. A father and son came up first while mom and daughter were busy somewhere else. They were so cute and so happy. The little boy must have been about five. We did a bunch of poses with them together then separately. And then they left. Just before I went on break the dad and son came back with mom and daughter. The little girl was about three. So we did some more photos and when I was done the little boy wanted to take a photo with his dad's camera. He was sooooooo cute. He said "Now Daddy, you stand at the end of the white line." Which is what I had told the little boy to do. Then he said " Mommy you stand on that side of Daddy." And then to me he says "Now you stand on the other side of Daddy." I was amazed and amused that he wanted me in the photo too. So I asked Dad and Mom if they were sure they wanted me in a photo. Dad said the little guy was in charge and if he wanted me in the photo then I could be in the photo. It made my day! I was smiling like a fool for the rest of the day thinking about that little boy and his parents who were being so encouraging!

So that's a little bit of pixie dust for the day. Hope you enjoyed it. 

Double Wand Action!

I figured I may as well start out with a story tonight since I actually started the blog tonight. Over the past four and a half years of working with Disney I've encountered quite a few Make A Wish families and they all have a special place my heart. Some a more touching than others. It's so amazing to see these families come and to watch the parents and grandparents as they watch their young ones enjoy a visit that they never thought could have and may be the last trip they ever take. Some of them are so shy and try not to take too much time or be too imposing on the characters or other guests time. I just love it when the characters take extra time and pay so much special time and care to these families that we know are going through so much.

The other day I had just such an encounter. A family came up with these two beautiful little girls, about 5 or 6 years old. They dressed just alike except for the color of their dresses. One little girl stood off to the side clinging to her Daddy's leg while the other one ran up and hugged Ferb then Phineas and began to dance with them. The rest of the family watched as this little girl smiled and giggled and laughed. The she ran over to her sister and grabbed her hand with Ferb and persuaded her to join in the fun. It was such a pleasure and honor to take photos of these girls as they danced and laughed with these two "big boys" and see them so care free when you know they've had some very trying days in the past and may in the future. Mom and Dad watched with big smiles and tried to get the girls to go but they kept running back for hugs and Phineas and Ferb kept grabbing them to dance. The whole group went away with big grins after this little dance party and hopefully got some great photos as well.

I call this Double Wand Action because  these two beautiful little girls got me so emotional that it was double trouble for me. I was happy to have a camera because I was tearing up as I was shooting away at this little party. I do love my job for all the great opportunities I get but times like this make
it even better!

It All Began With A Party

It all began with a party. Last month I went to a Halloween party with a group of people from work. We had a lot of fun and made some great memories. One of the ladies was dressed as a fortune teller and brought some cards to read. I'm pretty sure she didn't know how to read them but we had a lot of fun with it. The cards had people holding varying amounts of swords on them which she said represented strength. And some that had wands that represented emotions. Others that had cups that meant people were very fluid! We figured that meant they were drinking a lot! I had a lot of cards with a lot of swords and wands so apparently I'm pretty strong and very emotional! I know the second part is true! This got me to thinking about this group of people and the job that we share. 

Working at Disney World is such a great adventure and a lot of fun and a lot of it has to do with these people. We work at a place where people go for their vacation and they have great expectations on these trips. That makes our jobs challenging and exciting. It also means that we have days that require us to have a great deal of strength when dealing with these people and also play on our emotions as we great people having great days and bad days. 

This got me to thinking about my first days here and one of the things I was told to help me through the day. You have to find that person or group of people that gives you that pinch of Pixie Dust to make your day special. We meet people that are excited to be here, exhausted at the end of the day, that this is eir first visit or may be their last as in the case of a Make A Wish Family. This means we have to have strength to get through these days and may tug at our emotions and sometimes make me happy that I have a camera to hold in front as I encounter these groups. Ad maybe even add a little of my own "magic" to these families lives. 

So I thought I'd start a blog to share some of my experiences where I've needed those Swords of strength or felt those Wands of emotions or received or shared a little Pixie Dust on a day at work. Hope you enjoy the stories. I may share some from my fellow cars members as well!

So, SEE YA REAL SOON!