My First Shift in Magic Kingdom!

     So as a Photopass Cast Member, I have the really neat opportunity to work in every park. Once we're fully trained we're able to pick up shifts everywhere, which is pretty awesome! Last Thursday, I had my first shift in Magic Kingdom and I loved it! I was in Adventureland and Frontierland, mainly with characters. I started my day taking pictures at the exit of Haunted Mansion, which is a pretty fun spot to shoot in. I loved seeing what people did for a scared pose! Some were absolutely fantastic, which definitely made up for those who do nothing or just started walking away.

     After that, I got to hang out with Aladdin and Jasmine for a few hours. It was so much fun! I loved watching them talk to and interact with the guests, especially the little kids. They're always so excited to meet them, it's wonderful! The two of them are also really cute together, and Aladdin is a hoot! He's a huge jokester, and makes silly faces at the camera all the time. So, yup, they were pretty great!

     I also got to hang out with Peter Pan at the very end of my day, and that was probably the most fun! Wendy is currently back in London, so unlike with Aladdin and Jasmine who have each other for banter, Peter mostly bounces ideas off of the photographer and his attendant. Hanging out with him was such a perfect end to a great day!

     My first time picking up a shift in another park was a definite success, and I'm so excited for my next one! Which will actually be today, as I traded for a shift in, again, Magic Kingdom. This time I don't know where I'll be, as this is one of those shifts where I will be wherever in the park they need me. I'm so excited! MK is really exciting purely because it has so much variety, and it's fun being able to see and/or hear the different shows and things going on throughout the day. I love it!

    Thank you so much for reading, and have a magical day!

-Christie

Finally, A Fully Fledged Photopass Photographer!

     Hi everyone! I am so sorry for not posting for so long, but the good news is I'm back now! The first thing I wanted to tell you all about is how WONDERFUL it feels to finally be fully trained! On the 3rd, I had Night and Camera Center training. Both of these occur on the same 8 hour day, with the first half focusing on how to assist Guests in the Camera Center. It's a very exciting place, as not only do we help Guests choose which photos they'd like to print, we also have an array of borders, overlays, and signatures that can be added to (almost) every photo (signatures are only for meet and greet pictures, and must match the character). Besides all of the options available, it can also be challenging to work with Guests who speak a different language. Most of the time it's a fairly relaxed area (that includes air conditioning!!!0), but busy times and language barriers definitely keep me o my toes. I know the skills I adopt to work in those situations will be extremely helpful as a doctor, although the knowledge of how to turn on an iPhone flash in any language probably won't be as useful. Mandarin? Portuguese? Extremely rapid Spanish? No problem!

     The next half of that day is dedicated to learning how to take Night shots. I really enjoy these, mostly because Epcot is just such a beautiful park at night! Spaceship Earth is illuminated with purple and yellow lights, and it always looks amazing! The only thing I don't really enjoy about working in Epcot is that, unlike in Magic Kingdom, we never really get the chance to see any shows (I'm mostly referring to parades and fireworks) while at work. I know that can also be frustrating, because I'm sure there is a limit to the number of times you can watch Wishes and still enjoy it, but I really do wish I had that opportunity too! We do get to see the fountain shows while we're shooting behind Spaceship Earth, but I would love to be able to tell people to wait just one more second, so that way I can capture the fireworks I know are coming behind them.

     A little over a week later, I had Character training! It was so awesome! We started with a presentation about how to photograph Character interactions, and then pretty soon we were actually out in Epcot to practice! We started with Pluto, which was really fun and he is super cute to work with, and then we went to Mexico to take pictures with Donald. Both of them have very entertaining personalities, although while Pluto's leans towards adorkable, Donald is straight up sassy. Which is justified I suppose, since he is #1! Finally, we spent a little bit of time with Mulan and had a great time there. The added challenge with Mulan and other princesses is capturing shots while both the character and the guest have good facial expressions, which can be difficult! The silly faces are definitely fun, although possibly not what people would want to put on the mantle.

     And that was that! As I walked back to my car, I pulled off my Earning My Ears ribbon and now I'm a full, official PhotoPass Cast Member. Yippee!!!

     Thank you so much for reading, and have a magical day!

-Christie