To make up for not posting in over 2 weeks (the family was here!) I've decided to give you all a glimpse into what a day of work is like for me here. Yes, you get a vague, slightly dull look into what I do five days a week here, and I'm NOT going to get fired for it. (Basically, I'm not going to spoil ANY Disney magic here, sorry.)
Every morning, when I get to work, I head into the Character costuming room & I put on a pair of Basics, a grey t-shirt & black drawstring shorts, clock in using my Disney ID, then I check in to Base. We are allowed to clock in up to 15 minutes early, so I always get to the park at least 45 minutes before work. After Base knows I've showed up to work, I head right back to Character costuming to pull my costume. That takes me about 10 minutes, now that I've been here a while, but when I first started, it took me almost 20 minutes. All my costume pieces go in a large black bag, which sits in the hallway while I go to warm-ups.
Yup, you read that right, warm-ups. Every morning, we work with an 'athletic trainer' who leads us in some exercises. Then we do some character specific warm-ups on our own, which involves sit ups, bridges & weight lifting for me. Warm-ups last 20 minutes, then we pick up our black bags & head to our set locations.
Okay, let's fast forward a few minutes. It takes me about 10 minutes to get dressed, okay, really about 5 or 6, but I start getting dressed 10 minutes before set time to be sure. Then it's off with a wave of Fairy Godmother's wand, & my character has come alive in 4D!
So I spend my set time giving hugs, autographs and high fives, & of course posing for lots and lots of pictures. I stand up most of the time, but also spend a lot of time on my knees. I have nice big bruises on my knees because of that. My shoes hurt, I have lost my awesome posture, & for a reason I'm not going to explain, the underside of my chin permanently hurts. When I'm indoors, I get uncomfortably warm, sometimes even lightly damp. When I'm outside, I sweat like a 300 pound sumo wrestler. In this case, I completely change my Basics after each set (costuming washes everything for us).
So on to the question lots of people like to ask: how much time do I spend working, compared to sitting?
Well folks, here's the run down. If I spend 45 minutes on set, I spend 45 minutes off set. If I'm on set for 30 minutes, I'm off for 30. If I'm on for 52 minutes, dang it, I spend 52 minutes off. When I'm off set, I sit & watch TV. Or when I have my hands on a book, I read that, while sitting.
At the end of my day, I return every single costume piece, clock out, change back into my street clothes & head home.
So ladies & gentlemen, that's really it!
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Well then! On with the show!
~Courtney
