Traditions Time!
Traditions is the Disney coined term for their employee's orientations.
Needless to say, orientation at Disney is extensive. We have a few days of general training and then things get more specific based on our role.
Traditions was also our first paid day, and a long one at that. It takes place at Team Disney Anaheim, a huge building with a mass amounts of Disney offices, including Disney Academy.
After checking in and getting the Disney Look once-over; which is where they make sure your business casual and looking snazzy, we headed into an auditorium to kick off the information overload.
Among all this, someone managed to decode one of the papers they gave me to reveal I will be working in Tomorrowland Terrace (DLR TNT)! I'm really excited and grateful, along with Adventureland, it's one of my favorite parts of Disneyland.
They kicked it off with facilitator introductions and then some spiels on integrity and it's importance. Blah blah blah ;) Just kidding, it was all super important legal information and I was paying attention, I promise.
We were then split into smaller groups and led into classrooms for a more hands on learning. Our traditions leaders took us through a large Disney timeline, looking at the company's rich past, successful present, and bright future.
Another Disney term to familiarize yourself with is Cast Member, which refers to all employees, aka ME. Which still feels insanely weird to say. Anyways, Disney designs it's park business as a sort of Show, one of the four keys we learn about, and we also use terms like backstage/onstage. We also refer to all of the park's visitors as Guests, rather than customers. It's all to preserve the Disney magic and create happiness. This is connected to literally every detail of the parks, the thought and detail that goes into it all is mind blowing. It's one of the reason's I admire Walt Disney so much. After all of this information and history, I really see how much Disney values the people who visit. It's not about making money, at all, that sort of thing was never even mentioned. They are 100 percent about making everyone's visit to Disneyland magical. In a world motivated by power, money, and selfish gain, this sort of philosophy is absolutely refreshing, and positively motivates us all to work very hard.
The three other key's we spent a lot of the time learning about are Safety, Courtesy, and Efficiency. They all extensively build the Disney way of business. A way in which I seriously admire. Another Disney cast member mantra we were presented with was "We Create Happiness." We, the Disney team, literally create happiness for millions of people. Is there seriously a better job out there?
We then stopped the in classroom experience and took a tour of the Disneyland park itself! It was a brief tour but we got to see some cool backstage areas and observe all the four keys in action.
We returned to the auditorium and heard a closing speech. They also brought out a very magical guest to congratulate us and present us with our official Disney name tags!
And with that, we headed into the park for a quick visit as official Cast Members!
