The Disney Adventurer

Maria’s Backstage Adventure

Last Sunday evening I had a delightful call via Skype with Maria and Katie Chrzanowski. In writing this I am going to make some assumptions such as:

1. You probably were a part of our Adventures by Disney Hollywood Backstage Magic Tour last June.

2. As such, you already know who Maria and Katie are and know that they are two wonderful sisters devoted to each other and devoted to their love of all things Disney (kind of remind me of my daughters).

3. After the tour you read Maria’s blog (hint: if you haven’t there’s a link in the sidebar to the right) and know that she applied and was accepted to the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

4. That you followed Maria’s blog (for the two months she actually updated it).

5. You are her facebook friend and have seen most of the photos she posted while there.

If my assumptions are incorrect then you have some catching up to do.
The original plan for this phone/video call was to record it and just post the video or audio file to the blog. Well…perhaps a trial run should have been undertaken because if it recorded I can’t find where it is stored. As plan “B” I did take notes during the conversation in case there was a recording glitch. I think I can do a fair job of replicating Maria’s answers to my questions and Katie’s color commentary but it is a shame that you will miss the enthusiasm and pure joy for Disney that both Maria and Katie share.

During this conversation there were several things that Maria or her roommates experience that, quite frankly could make one jealous. I have marked those points “WARNING, POINT OF JEALOUSY” so you can skip over them if you don’t want to be jealous.

One of the first things that I needed to accomplish during this call was how to pronounce their last name, “Chrzanowski”. I never asked that last year during the trip, probably because I had no idea how strong the bond would become for many of us that took that tour and, at the time, had no notion that we would still be in touch one year later. I am happy to say that I am still in correspondence with not only Katie and Maria, but also the Vance and Para families as well as our terrific tour guides. Anyway, as I suspected, there is an errant vowel missing between the “r” and “z” and their last name is pronounced Chrizanowski. This is helpful as we have generally referred to them as Katie and Maria, Maria and Katie, the Disney sisters, the ‘nowski sisters, and occasionally, the Tchaikovsky sisters.

Going into the Disney College Program was a sacrifice for Maria as, unlike other schools, her university does not recognize the program for any college credit and If you had been following Maria’s blog or were her facebook friend you knew that she was having cold feet prior to making the trip down to Orlando. One of her facebook postings in October mentioned that she was thinking of aborting the program. On October 11th I emailed her, in my best take on Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, and said “If you don't get on that plane you'll regret it; maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. College will always be there, but the Disney College Program won't...as for your friends, you'll always have facebook.”

On December 20th Maria wrote in her blog: “A few weeks ago, I got really freaked out…. I was ready to call it all off, but I realized I'll regret it if I do…” Obviously my wisdom and experience meant nothing as I got no credit for talking sense to her. I thought only your own children ignored your advice.

I asked Maria to tell us what happened during this time she stated that she was extremely nervous about stepping out into the Disney College Program, had lost her appetite, and stopped eating. She explained that prior to the DCP she had only been away from home on two occasions; one was the ABD tour which she did with her sister Katie and the other was a visit later in the summer to see a friend who was studying in Japan. Both of those experiences were with people she had known most of her life and both were only one week in duration.
During the late fall she found out that one of her roommates would be Ashley, from Kentucky. They began corresponding and Maria soon felt that she and Ashley had a lot in common and became close friends before even meeting in person.

Maria went on to tell me that upon landing everyone, starting with her driver were very friendly. When the driver took her to her Disney College Program apartment other people who were walking by came over and helped her with her luggage. What a wonderful community spirit in which to live. From there she met not only Ashley but her other roommates: Janet from North Carolina, Caitlin from Michigan, and Stephanie and Alexa who were from Pittsburg. Maria immediately felt comfortable with them as they all shared a love for Disney. All of her roommates worked in the park in some sort of service capacity expect for Alexa.

WARNING, POINT OF JEALOUSY: Alexa loaded people onto their “Pirates of the Caribbean” boats where she got to assist several celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes-Cruise, and Suri Cruise.

The good folks at Disney continued to make the College Program participants feel welcome and special with Welcome Parties that continued for several weeks. During this time Maria won an “Air Guitar” contest and played “Bingo for Groceries”, participated in “Goofy’s Mystery Tour (sort of a scavenger hunt), and even took a Disney sponsored trip to Universal Studios Orlando (now that one surprised me).

WARNING, POINT OF JEALOUSY: Maria got to take a backstage tour or the Haunted Mansion.

While there were social activities, new friends, and fun this was also a working program and on the 3rd day it was time to report on duty and learn how to make the magic. Orientation started with a four hour class entitled “Traditions” which explained Walt’s dream and the history of Walt Disney World. After that Maria stated that they went over some “legal stuff”.

Maria was assigned to work in Downtown Disney at Mickey’s Pantry selling Kitchenware. She was given a tour of Downtown Disney and assigned specific trainers, Peggy and Rhonda, who became her “Orlando Aunts”.

Before she could actually begin hawking Mickey Silhouette waffle molds, Mickey handed spatulas and Minnie Mouse aprons Maria has to complete an 18 hour course in “Merchantainment” where, among other things she learned how to run the cash register and perfect her cast member role. And, of course, at every step of the way Disney awarded them cast member exclusive pins and Maria proudly showed me her pin commemorating the fact that she was now a certified “Merchanteer”.

Maria experienced several “Magic Moments” while working at the Pantry. Two of them occurred when it was time to select the “Recipe of the Day”. In both instances she selected young children to help with the process and had a great time interacting with them (one of these instances involved 2 girls who had just come from the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique”.

Another “Magic Moment” came when she was trading pins with a young guest. He selected a “Haunted Mansion Hidden Mickey” pin which was a part of a series.

Maria and Katie on their first day together at WDW:

At this point in our conversation we were joined by Katie who was kind enough to bring Desmond, their new puppy up to the webcam so I could say “hello”. In the spring Katie went to visit Maria and when Maria was working on in her finance class Katie

WARNING, POINT OF JEALOUSY: also took some backstage tours. She went behind the scenes at EPCOT’s World Showcase and the Hollywood Studios lot. She got to see their costume shop and learned that they use leftover fabric to make Teddy Bears for hospitalized children. She also got to go into the Utilidors which are the tunnels running beneath the Magic Kingdom.

According to www.thedibb.co.uk/magic-kingdom-utilidors.php :

“These utilidors also contain all the major utilities, garbage disposal, wardrobe, costuming, locker rooms, offices, break rooms, two employee cafeterias, and one of the most important rooms, the "DACS" control room. This computer room, the "Digital Animation Control System" controls everything in the park from making sure all the Audio-Animatronics figures are on cue in their respective attractions, to opening stage doors, curtains and park lighting. This invaluable system also monitors fire protection, equipment failure and watches for power losses anywhere in the park. The system is so sophisticated, that just keeping the Audio-Animatronics in sync, it monitors more than 72,000 functions every second!”

Katie and Maria on their last day together in WDW:

Maria went on to tell me that this experience has made her more confident and sharpened her people and teamwork skills.

Maria had hoped to be allowed to stay on over the summer and did audition for an entertainment role. She passed but there were not enough openings for general characters and other performers.

This experience has changed Maria’s post graduation plans and she now plans to move to Florida and get into the Disney Professional Internship program which is where many fledgling cast members begin their Disney careers. When I asked her what her dream Disney job would be she told me: