“Ohana means Family”
Operating during Irma with the Fab 5
9/4-9/10
This might have been the most humbling week of my current Disney College Program. I first would like to make a note that Professor Goodlad made a phone call and left me a voicemail inquiring about the safety of myself and my peers. It may have been her duty as a teacher to do such a task but the simple humane gesture made me proud to have her in charge of this program.
As humbling as it is eventful, this was the first of many character brunches here at Disney. People fail to understand the hard work and dedication these “mascots” put into their job day in and day out. The skills required to express themselves through action and not words while making the guest entertained is honestly what I believe Walt envisioned Magic to be. I also saw a humane side to them during the hurricane ride out when Donald and Pluto came over to take a picture with us working cast members. This was a week about small gestures hitting home.
Speaking of Hurricane Ride out, it is the loving term for Disney Cast Members to work continuous hours without clocking out of the system. As someone once told me, running a hotel is like being the mayor of a small city. It’s autonomous as it is a part of the big picture. It began the day before the arrival of Irma and lasted until the day after Irma left and wind speeds dropped down to normal.
My days began at 8 am where the California Grill cast members gathered in our restaurant and our leader debriefed the group. We would break for breakfast that lasted for half an hour before heading to our first working restaurant location. Making sure guest are happy and keeping their minds from the natural disaster was easy because the Contemporary is built to last. Lunch came and went as we then began to prep California Grill for dinning service. Lastly the day ends once the last guest leaves the restaurant and we trek back to our rooms provided by the hotel to rest up for another fun magical 24 hours.
During this time however, I was able to work as a tipped food runner because of the lack of staffing and because the General Manager liked my smile, I was anointed to solicited business on the first floor lobby for the afternoons. I was able to utilize the skills I learned in dining room during this time and I received many praised for my hard work. Though some tension did arise from the lack of sleep between cast members, I’ll leave that to future discussion when I write about conflict resolution.
Overall, we made magic that weekend for many guests and possibly built some life long relationships as well. I’m glad I was able to experience how a four diamond hotel and restaurant handle natural disaster situations and I am definitely lucky to be part of the Contemporary family.
