Traditions is the first step after a castmember gets hired. It is a two-day orientation to Disney. The purpose of it is to familiarize the new castmember with the look, the attitude, the lingo and the background that make up the magic that we will be expected to not only feel but project.

Before going to Traditions, you are issued a map of how to get to Disney University and a handout describing the attire you should wear to attend. Because you will spend some of your time out in the park area, and because you will be wearing your name tag for the first time, you are expected to wear professional attire and to conform to the Disney look, which we'll go into in more detail later.

We started in June, which is the beginning of the summer vacation onslaught at the Park, so our class was rather large, consisting of about 40 people. We were sent into a classroom consisting of several tables and a blackboard, and seated ourselves. One of our trainers, Darren Chiappatta, was from Magic Kingdom Guest Relations. Sorry, we can't remember the woman trainer's name; I believe she worked at Team Disney. At any rate, the point is that different people from various places in the parks would take turns doing the orientations; this gave a lot of spontaneity to the training.

After introductions all around were made, we played games which consisted of Disney trivia contests; each table was one team. The purpose was to test and expand our knowledge about all phases of Disney: the parks, the characters, the resorts, Walt Disney... One fellow (not from our table, fortunately) made everyone laugh by blurting out Bugs Bunny when he was asked to name a major Disney character (great toon, wrong company).

We had a break, reviewed some handouts, like the Elements of the Disney Show and Welcome to Walt Disney World (a cast member's handbook), then we took a little tour out into the park, to observe some of the things we had been talking about. For instance, the way Disney's attention to detail enhances the magic of being there; the way each section's architecture is meticulously researched and reconstructed from it's original theme, to the extent that even the trash cans are themed to their areas. Every aspect of Disney is there to draw you into a completely different world, distancing you from everyday concerns and into the realm of fantasy. This is the Disney "magic." Because the cast member is an integral part of that fantasy, it is important that no one person stands out or draws attention. We are a part of the basic fabric of the look of Disney, so we have to dress and groom to the Disney standard.

After breaking for lunch, the cast buses took us to the Tunnels (to view a schematic and more extended explanation of the tunnels, click here). The tunnels are the arteries of the Magic Kingdom. Underlying the entire Magic Kingdom is a series of tunnels leading to all the lands. Within these tunnels there are numerous locker rooms, a cafeteria, a bank, payroll, a hair salon, costuming for the MK, operations bases for each land, and custodial support. The Tunnels are color coded so that you can find your way to each land, but it is very easy to become turned around and keep going in a circle (a very big circle).

This was basically the first day.

On the second day, we discussed the Disney Look in more detail. There is a manual called "the Disney Look" that specifies the attire and grooming for both male and female, and why it is so important, given that we are part of an always ongoing "show," that we be consistent. Samples of acceptable hairstyles are shown, standards about make-up and jewelry are explained. Men cannot have facial hair, or wear earrings. Women's hairstyles cannot be obtrusive, or colored other than in a natural style (in other words, no orange or purple hair, and no streaking; hair must be all one color). No one can have tattoos that are visible. Nails cannot be unnaturally long or garishly colored. When not "onstage" you can basically wear what you want, except that you are asked not to wear clothing with objectionable content on it if you are in the park as a guest; you are still a cast member and you are still representing Disney.

After our break, we separated into groups to go into a section of the park to evaluate the show and the cast members that we observed "on stage." Our section was the three resorts connected by the monorail. We took a boat ride over to the Polynesian first. The pilots of the boats wore red and white striped shirts, captain's caps, and white pants and sneakers. They looked very nautical, and enhanced the "show." We went into the Polynesian first; it was like stepping into the tropics. The lobby is full of greenery; the center is a very large recreation of a tropical jungle, complete with birds and waterfall. Needless to say, everything throughout the resort, from costuming to decor to terminology (the names of the dining areas, for instance), continued the theme throughout. We found the same applied to the Grand Floridian, which is themed as a classic opulent grand hotel, and the Contemporary which was themed as the pinnacle of modernity 25 years ago and still typifies a multi-cultural and technologically modern resort. The most interesting aspect of the Contemporary is that the monorail drives right through it, and you can look down at Chef Mickey's and the shops that are on the 4th floor.

After we returned from our observation trip, we went to see a film, "The Disney Story." The film tied together a lot of the elements we had discussed and welcomed us to Disney. Then we waited in the theater for our respective supervisors to come pick us up and show us around our new domain, which was (initially) the monorails for John and the Contemporary for me, Liz.

Now what is it like to actually work in the park? To experience a virtual day working in FantasyLand, click on Dopey.