DisneyQuest and a Quest of My Own

The night before my Disney career began, I remember lying awake in our Orlando hotel room wondering how I would ever get enough hours making slightly over $7.00 hourly to afford a home for my family. I thought about all of my friends and family that I had left behind in Missouri, and I knew that it was up to me to provide a roof over the heads of my children because then-spouse certainly was not going to do it. I literally had the weight of the WORLD on my shoulders.

The following morning, I fed the babies and our oldest and begged then-spouse to be attentive to their needs while I was gone. I was not entirely prepared for how difficult going to work was going to be, for the biggest part of me wanted to stay home with them and be "Mommy". That was a luxury that I couldn't afford, however, so I shook off the feelings of gutting guilt and made the drive down I-4 and made it to Downtown Disney a few minutes before 9 o'clock.

The wardrobe building for Downtown Disney was, at that time, centrally located in the parking lot up from the Marketplace, in between the Marketplace and West Side parking lots. I was told to walk in and find a friendly face, so that is exactly what I did. I walked into the enormous building and up some stairs which signs assured me to go. There, on a second floor platform, was a counter with some Cast Members behind it. I doubt if I will ever forget Yvonne, a kindly middle aged woman who had worked in Disney Costuming for 22 years as of that day. She greeted me and told me to come on in through the side door to the right of the counter. I walked through that door and my breath was taken away when I saw the sight before me.

Hundreds of Disney Cast costumes were hung on racks floor to ceiling, and the ceiling was high. I saw everything from the recognizable, such as Disney maintenance jumpsuits, to the unrecognizable, such as vinyl type dresses that to this day I have no idea what they were for. I wondered to myself what I would wind up wearing (and for a moment I was  little concerned when I saw the vinyl dresses), but when I mentioned that to Yvonne she just laughed and told me not to worry.

We walked across the large area to some dressing rooms and Yvonne told me to wait right here after she backed up and mentally sized me by looking me up and down. In a flash, she was gone and had reappeared with clothing in both arms. First we had the black pants. They fit despite the fact that I had just had a baby. I knew they would loosen in time. Next, we had a purple, turquoise, and pink swirled top (yes, really) that was made of a lighter material and had short sleeves. Next, there was a heavy jacket made of a woolen material with DisneyQuest patches and logos on it. Finally, we had a black jacket with purple lining and DisneyQuest patches. It was a wild combo, but it looked fun. I really liked the jacket with the purple lining. Pretty cool.

Yvonne told me that I needed to get over to DisneyQuest and meet with my new managers. She told me how to go in through the back gate and in the back door, but warned me that since I didn't have my Disney CM ID yet I would have to ask to be let inside that way.

I walked first to my car, which was across the street in the opposite direction (in Cast Member parking), and then hoofed it all the way over to the West Side where I saw the immense teal building up close and personal. It was HUGE. I had never been inside it, but I was very excited. I loved computer gaming and had grown up in the era of Pac Man and other Atari arcade favorites, so I figured this would be like an immense arcade.

 
A CM helped me inside and I was shown to the management offices in the very downstairs of the building. I could not tell a thing from this area, for it was like most offices with office furniture and doors that were not open. I waited for a short time outside of the main manager's office, and soon a friendly and tall man with black hair shook my hand as he greeted me. He told me he was in charge of DisneyQuest and that he was very happy to meet me. He invited me inside his office and talked to me about his family and how long he had worked there (12 years at WDW). He said he loved his job and would be happy to answer any questions I may have. Obviously I did not want to come right out and say "I am living in a hotel and may not even have a roof over my head tomorrow", so I kept silent as I took everything in.

Fifteen minutes later, he called someone and told me that Sheila would be right with me, that he had to oversee a technical problem and he would see me later that week after my Disney University training was complete. I had no idea who Sheila was, or why I was waiting for her, but I was beginning to feel comfortable and waited. Sheila was another smiling face, and she introduced herself to me- she was to be my trainer for the first month I was there. We hit it off immediately. It was hard not to get a kick out of her, for she was friendly and reassuring. She asked me if I had ever been in DisneyQuest before, and I told her no. She winked at me and said "Well, if you are going to work here, you had better know where everything is and what it does, don't you think? How about a tour?"

I thought nothing of touring an arcade. Would you? Even to this day I have to laugh at myself for thinking an ordinary arcade would ever be in Disney World.

We walked outside the way I came in, for Sheila said she wanted me to get the full effect of the experience the way the Guests would see things. I was happy to comply, although I still didn't understand completely what she meant.

She introduced me to those who were working at the ticket window and at the entrance in the front of the building, then they escorted Sheila and I into the elevator that would take us inside the massive structure. The ride was adorable with Genie from Aladdin as the guide, and then the doors opened to reveal an incredible wonderland. Sheila laughed at me, but it was something to marvel at and I didn't care.

She took me to the Virtual Jungle Cruise and I went white water rafting inside the first level of the building. Next, we went on the Hercules 3-D attraction where I got to drive a chariot (this is now the POTC 3D attraction, which is wonderful!). She placed a virtual reality helmet on my head as I rode the Comix and again as I attempted to fly a magic carpet through Agrabah. I was having a ball- and this was my TRAINING?

We rode Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters (think bumper cars with CANNONS!) and laughed as we spun around wildly. The best part of the day came when we designed and built our own roller coaster on CyberSpace Mountain. We rode it together, and they are actually renovated and modified flight simulators that Disney purchased from the USAF. That was a thrill that I would learn in the coming months would never get old.

Sheila took me "offstage" to show me the lockers and the CM break room where we each had a cup of coffee and talked. It had been a great day with her, and the first time I had been able to smile in months. I thanked her as I became a bit teary eyed, and she asked me what was wrong. I suppose it was her trusting nature that enabled me to allow myself to actually tell her. She listened intently as I informed her of my current plight with then-spouse and the children. How I was terrified that we would be living in the car again (as we had been forced to do several times when a church could not help us gain lodging) the next night, and how I wanted nothing more than a roof over our heads but could not afford the rental deposit or rent on a home. Sheila placed her hand on mine and told me to come with her to the management. I did as she asked.

Back to the head manager we went, using stairs that seemed to be never ending in the wings of the building. Upon our arrival, Sheila wasted no time telling him what I was going through. I felt embarrassed, but I knew my pride did not matter anymore. I was on a Quest of my own to protect and care for my little ones, and that did matter. He listened intently and asked me where I was staying and if I had any idea of a place to rent. He asked me a lot of questions and called another manager in, then they asked me to wait outside with Sheila. I was beginning to doubt myself just a bit when the two managers finally came out from behind the closed doors. He smiled at me and gave me an envelope. "This is a loan from us, and you can pay us back  a little out of every paycheck. We think it will help you and your family and we always stick together here," he told me. In the envelope was enough to pay the full deposit and rent for the house I had found the week before. I was speechless. Sheila gave me a hug and told me she would see me in a week, after I finished my Disney University training course. The managers shook my hand and told me to settle in, that they were looking forward to working with me. I thanked each one of them profusely and repeatedly, and to this day I have never forgotten what they did for me.

After six and a half months, we were going to have a home. We would no longer be homeless. Disney was indeed a place where dreams came true.

Now to move in and begin Disney University. What will that be like, I wondered. Would Disney be this magical for me always?

Until next time,
Mztressofallevil