In March 2012, I received a phone call that changed my life. My friend, Wes, wanted to fly me to California to accompany him to a Military Ball. I somehow convinced him to fly me out there two days early so I could go to Disneyland. We never actually made it to the ball, which wasn’t my fault, and I had an adventure that would put me on my path to becoming a Cast Member.
The plan was to fly out Thursday night to land in California Friday morning so I’d have a full day and night at the parks to see World of Color and Fantasmic. If I waited to fly out Friday morning, I wouldn’t get there in time. All I wanted in life was to see World of Color. To make a long story short, everything that could have went wrong with the flights went wrong and I spent a long sleepless night in the Phoenix airport trying to fix it. By the time I made it to Disneyland, I was exhausted but determined to have fun.
Most of that day was a blur, but almost the very first thing I did was meet Duffy for the first time. He had no line, was super fun, and helped me with a photography project for school. (The assignment was to take nature photos and we were told not to photograph bears so we didn’t get eaten. Naturally I asked Duffy to attack the camera.) I remember taking a nap in the floor of their Art of Animation building. I had booked the World of Color picnic package that came with a box lunch and assigned seating since I was worried I wouldn’t get there in time to get a Fastpass. I actually got the kids option because it was the only food I liked the sound of.
My assigned section was Yellow, which at least back then was to the side. I was disappointed since I’d literally flown overnight specifically to get there in time to see this show. I noticed a section down at the front that read, “Splash Zone” and didn’t seem to have a color, so I asked a Cast Member if I could go down there. She said yes and I wandered down to the front row to try to find a good spot. I ran into another Cast Member down there who was about my age and I asked him what the best spot to stand in for the show was.
“Well, it’s so big you kind of want to be further back and in the center.”
“So to make a long story short, I got no sleep because my flights got screwed up and I literally flew over night specifically so I could see this show, this is my only night to see it.”
“Are you by yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Follow me.”
He moved me to the Blue section, which was right behind the fancy dining package section. He literally spent a good two minutes walking back and forth while staring at the… well… it’s not a stage, but you know what I mean, trying to determine the perfect spot. Then he put me on a stair rail so no one could get in front of me.
“I’ll come back to check on you before the show!” He then went back to his section and I sat down to wait. It was over an hour until show time, and my phone was dying. I chatted some with the Cast Member working the dining section and mostly just sat there half asleep. I was joined by a family of six who asked if I was saving seats, and then seemed to feel sorry for me being by myself. I didn’t mind.
He reappeared right before the show started, the music was queuing up and the intro was playing. “You good?” “I’m great!”
He disappeared, and I never saw him again. I couldn’t find him after the show to thank him, and I asked the girl from the dining section to thank him for me with tears in my eyes. I never got his name, I honestly don’t even remember the show that much, but I will never forget what he did. He made magic for me that night, and he made me want to make magic for other people. It’s still the only time I’ve ever seen World of Color, but that show will always hold a special place in my heart because I saw how amazing a Cast Member could be.
I interviewed for the Disney College program six months later.
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