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The people at DW are definitely divided into two very distinct and separate categories, staff - "cast members" in the Disney parlance...and guests...and never the twain shall meet...
I have heard from someone who has taken the behind the scenes/underground tour of DW that at the exit from every tunnel where the cast members pop out of their warrens to mix and mingle with, serve and entertain the guests...a large sign reads..."Showtime!"
I can believe it...the staff at DW, from the check in girl at the desk ("Lesley") to the bus driver dropping us at MCO for the plane ride home ("Albarado") the staff was unfailingly polite, diplomatic, smiling, friendly and pleasant. I tipped very generously, as one who serves more often than being served, I appreciated them tremendously...
still, I could not help but have the sense they were almost like animatronic beings themselves...they never argued, never asked more than superficial questions, and never engaged too deeply into any conversation...in a few words, they strictly stuck to the script...
anyone who knows me at all knows I favor outrageous non-sequiters and off the wall comments intended to catch the listener off guard...aside from a few incidents where I could see the wheels turning behind the slightly glossy plastered on grin of the DW cast member...they never fell for it, never got caught off guard....professionals, and like everything else at DW, at service they were remarkably consistent and high quality....still, I felt this approach to customer service, while efficient, a little bit bland.
The guests....
undeniably a step or ten up the socioeconomic ladder as compared to the crowd at Holiday World, and seemingly an entirely different species than the crowd at the KY State Fair! Not even a FRACTION of the visible in clothes tattoos, face piercings, obesity, and airbrushed clothing...the crowd at DW was, not surprisingly perhaps, overwhelmingly polite, upper middle class, slim, good looking, well funded & well behaved.
In terms of racial lines, mostly white and Hispanic, I think blacks make up something like 20% of the US population...well, I would say only about 2% of the population at DW - the week we were there at any rate...lots of Spanish being spoken though...I am still glad every day I made the effort to learn some 15 years ago...
I found another radically under-represented minority was the one I belong to...single parents! I tend to talk to people at random, and strike up conversations easily with strangers, and did all week at DW - as you are in close proximity in restaurants, ride lines, on buses...etc...
I can honestly say I never once the whole week found or spoke to someone who admitted to being a single parent! Even the staff unknowingly revealed this...when on entering a restaurant with G - more than once they would slip up and look surprised and say "is it just the 2 of you?"
Don't get me wrong, I did not mind this much...I love to travel just me and G - we think alike, are low maintenance, and move quickly - it seemed like every time we headed for a line to a ride, we would pass larger groups of people moving more slowly...wiping noses, wrangling over agendas, and arguing over maps...everyone knows a group only moves as fast as the slowest member...and well, I can ALMOST keep up with G - so we move pretty fast...
in fact, if I were to draw a verbal portrait of the "typical" DW family - it would go something like this...
Father - tall, dark handsome - dressed in an Adidas polo shirt and cargo shorts or J. Crew khaki Bermudas...gold watch, New Balance or Asics tennis shoes, pushing a stroller, often double or triple wide, unfailingly attentive to the wife and kids - but still betraying his thoughts with a few sidelong and longing glances at rides and attractions he was walking past which the kids were too small to ride or the wife was not interested in....including Ariel's Grotto! LOL - wary look on his face, but slightly resigned air about him, as if he was on the watch for whatever he was going to get yelled at next, or by whom, even though he pretty much knew it would not be long...
Mother - very attractive to smoking hot milf, slim, pretty, third left finger adorned with a gigantic gleaming rock...dressed in open toed sandals, Talbot's blouse, and tasteful but pleasantly form fitting walking shorts...slight flaring of the nostrils as if fussing unconsciously about the distasteful aspects of being in such large crowds, even if most of them WERE also country club Jr. League types, slightly pursed mouth and an almost imperceptible wrinkle between the brows...eyes peeled - looking for whatever slightly imperfect aspect of an otherwise perfect day, (or perfect existence, take your pick) she would be bitching about and obsessing over and dwelling on next...
I am making this up, but I did hear things similar to this all week long...the hot mom would snarl and glare and roll her eyes at the tall dark and handsome dad...
"Steve! What the HELL were you THINKING?? Ugh...I TOLD you I wanted Aiden, Braden and Caden (all girls btw) to wear their matching Pluto socks for their pictures with Cinderalla...CRAP! now the whole DAY is RUINED!!"
I am perhaps being a bit uncharitable there, but truth be told, I did not really see a lot of spontaneous laughter, heartfelt smiles, or joy in the eyes of the young mothers in attendance...they looked more worried and harried and defensive...at least to this observer.
The kids - I am not going to pick on kids here, they were all at DW, and they were all having fun, at least in between naps and meltdowns...kids are kids are kids...your reason for being and mine as well.
I did want to mention one other person, her name was Natalie and she was about 5 or 6 years old, we ran into her on the bus back from Epcot late on Wednesday night...it was scary...
I said to George..."G - if you ever had a sister, you know what she would look like?- Turn around!"
She looked amazingly like G - same color and texture of hair, glasses, complexion, same color eyes, same round cheeks, same weary at the end of a long day expression...like a female carbon copy, no joke. I struck up a conversation with her very friendly and pleasant parents, and after asking thier permission, I snapped of picture of G and Natalie together.
Of course the best person there was my little partner....I do seriously count it as one of the greatest accomplishments of my life that I was fortunate enough to take my 7 year old boy to Disney World.. and he rewarded me ten times over with a week worth of laughs, smiles, excitement, interesting observations and funny comments...
he fell asleep in the car on the way home from the airport, truly exhausted from a week of running from one exciting thing to the next in the hot Florida sun...he was completely distraught and sobbing cause he did not take advantage of the fact you could play with the little switches and knobs and dials in the mock-up astronaut control stations on "Mission Space"
"How was I supposed to KNOW??" He wailed and sobbed..."I had never BEEN on that ride BEFORE!! Why didn't you TELL ME???.." lugubrious is not one of my favorite words for nothing...a minute later, I looked back and he was snoring in his booster seat, head lolling against the window...
We got home, and he stumbled in, petted the cat, and did something he had never done before...he marched upstairs, peed, and VOLUNTARILY got STRAIGHT into bed, glasses and clothes and shoes on, and fell right to sleep.
I took off his glasses, and shoes...covered him, turned on the nightlight and kissed him on the forehead..."Thanks for coming with me G, I'm glad we had fun together, I love you.."I whispered into his sleeping ear...
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sent Thu Nov 19 @ 10:15 PM
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flexible!