FantasyLand East is broken up into two complexes, Pan and Toad. The Toad complex consists of Snow White, Dumbo, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and the Teacups. The Pan complex consists of the Carousel, Peter Pan's Flight, Small World and the Skyway. In the Toad complex, if you weren't in the Snow Rotation, you were in Teacups. I'm in Teacups today, which is Teacups, Toad Side A, and Dumbo.
Starting out I go down and look in all the Teacups to make sure no one left anything. Next I walk into the hut  to test everything to make sure it's working ok; then I walk the perimeters to make sure there are no cigarette butts, straws or any little stuff lying around that custodial might have missed. This is the favorite rotation in Winter, because there's a heater in the hut (as well as an air-conditioner for summer).
The Teacups are not an attraction that everyone rushes to right away, especially just after breakfast! We get a few of the hardier souls, but most of the time things don't pick up until 10 am (maybe 9 or 9:30 if there was early open that day).
When I first start the ride, I usually keep the gate open. The first few rounds only about 5 to 6 teacups will go around, and people aren't spinning much yet. I let people in, let them pick their own Teacups, and get adjusted. I walk around all the teacups, make sure all the doors are closed and all children are sitting. Then I go to the control hut and give my spiel:
Good Morning (afternoon or evening), Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. And welcome to the Mad Tea Party. Please remain seated all through your ride with your arms inside the cup at all times. To make your cup spin, turn the wheel in the middle. If we're all ready, let's have a party!
Then I turn on the attraction.  Whenever I work the teacups, I always notice that men and children always like this ride, most women don't. The cups seem to bring out the macho in the guys, especially the college kids. The ones you dread are the 2 or 3 athletic looking guys who jump into a cup. I think "uh oh, there go the bearings." One Sunday afternoon 3 guys climbed on with this look on their faces -- they soon had that car spinning! You could hear the bearings squealing in it. Next day, that cup was covered. Yup, they killed the bearings.
Of course you get kids who get on with Mom; she's always yelling at them "don't go that fast." The couples are cute too; the girl usually looks half-dizzy already and the guy is bound and determined to show how much he can spin the cup. Do accidents happen? You bet. Noone who has worked the attraction for any length of time escapes the dreaded Hurl-O-Rama.
Past cast members right now are shaking their heads; future cast members are going Oh No! It happens on Dumbo, it happens on Snow and it happens on the Cups -- a lot. Who cleans it up? Well, it depends on how busy you are, whether custodial is available right away, and how big the splatter area is. Sometimes you have no choice. There's usually rubber gloves, a roll of paper towels, and a spray bottle of disinfectant in the hut. We don't let the guests clean up, and never make them feel embarassed.
We've made it through this spin without any unusual occurrences; now it's time for my exiting spiel:
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls. Please remain seated until your cup comes to a full and complete stop. Please check around for all personal items. Take small children by the hand and walk in a straight line to one of our 3 exit gates. Thank you for riding The Mad Tea Party and have a wonderful day at Walt Disney World.
Then you stand there and watch as people try to walk in a straight line to the exit gates ;-)
Here comes the bump, now it's time to go over to Toad A.
 The A side of toad is (was -- Toad is no longer with us) where our Special Needs Guests are loaded. You work side A by yourself, and sometimes it can be very stressful. You're trying to load the regular queue and the Special Needs queue at the same time. Plus, you're loading the special needs guests where the people leaving the cars exit the attraction (slight design flaw there). So here you are trying to get 2 queues loaded while also trying to dispatch your cars within a certain time interval; if you get behind, the whole ride stops and you have to call maintenance; maintenance has to drop whatever they're doing and come right over and restart Toad. Sometimes they're not real happy about it. Fortunately it doesn't happen all that often, and if future cast members are reading this, you don't have to worry about this particular problem since this attraction will be The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Of course, I'm sure there will be a snafu or two with Winnie the Pooh!
Since you have so much to do, it's awkward when someone stops and asks, "Can you take our picture? Not that you don't want to take the picture, but when you get into the high volume attractions, cast members are there to keep the attraction running. You're making sure the guests are getting on the attraction safely, you're checking to be sure hands and feet are safely inside the cars, you have to put the lap bars down, you're making sure everyone gets off the ride safely.
You're watching to make sure Junior isn't running away from Mommy -- a frequent problem (parents let their kids get off the ride and don't stop to think, this is machinery, it's dangerous) Kids run, they walk without looking or thinking. Kids are excited. Watch the kids, because a lot of parents don't. Everyone is the castmembers' concern, but kids are the biggest concern. Castmembers take this very seriously. If you have 200 people standing in a queue on a Sunday afternoon, it's really busy. Take a look around at what's happening. Cast members are glad to help, but try to find one who isn't already juggling 10 things at once, because everyone's safety is the first responsibility of the cast member. Ok, now I'll get down off my soapbox.
Since Toad is now in retirement at Toad Hall, I won't get into any more detail on him for now since it's actually irrelevant. I haven't run The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (yet) so I can't comment on it.
 One more bump, and it's back to Dumbo.
I'll be working the gates today. I go get my Dumbo passes; they should be stacked up waiting for me. I ask each person in the queue how many in his/her party, hand them that many passes, and direct them to the empty holding area. When the passes are all gone, I go out and do the short walk, making sure that the guests are seated and have their seat belts on. Then I go to the panel, and do the boarding spiel:
Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls. Welcome to Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Please select an elephant. After being seated, make sure that your seatbelts are fastened. Please keep your arms inside of your Dumbo at all times, and be sure that children are always seated. To make your Dumbo fly high in the sky, press up on the magic lever in front of you. To make Dumbo come down, press down. Dumbo is about ready to take off, so enjoy your flight, here we go.
When the long walk person gives me the thumbs up, I start the ride. Then I go pick up the next set  of Dumbo passes to hand out. There are two holding areas; we alternate letting each group in. The passes are color-coded to make it easier to coordinate with the holding areas.
Dumbo can be a little difficult to get used to at first; there's a lot going on with a queue, two holding areas, two (occasionally 3) castmembers doing different walks, different spiels, (exiting spiel is on the Snow Rotation page), etc. It's a very fast-paced attraction; it was my favorite one to run.
This is the basic logistics of the attraction, of course every day brings new situations, and the time of day and time of year makes a big difference in how it runs also. Sometimes you have a lot of time to interact with the guests, for instance, sometimes it's a constant race. If you're a future castmember, don't be intimidated by it, you'll get the hang of it and probably enjoy it.
Well, here comes the bump, time for break.
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This page was created on April 11, 1999. It was last maintained on November 12, 2000.
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