The Strangest Secret Part II
How I went from Washing Trays at Disney World, to Reading Movie Scripts at Disney Studios
In 2010, a summer prior to my internship at the Minority Business Development Agency, I was a college freshman going into my sophomore year. I was searching for a summer job and landed an interview at The Walt Disney World Theme Parks in Orlando, Florida. As I waited for my interview near Lake Buena Vista, I noticed a scale model of the Magic Castle in the lobby. I marveled at the craftsmanship and the feeling that Disney World evoked in me. As I concluded my interview, I shared with the recruiter that at Morehouse College I had been groomed to be a leader with a global perspective. I remember the impressed look on the interviewer’s face and the feeling that I had aced the interview.
I began working in Food & Beverage at the famous Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe in Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland. As I began working, I was exposed to the secrets of the Disney magic trick, that combined visionary engineering, efficient city logistics, and show-business craftsmanship. I wasn’t a just an employee, but a Disney World cast member. I wasn’t just a server in the largest quick-service restaurant in the world, second to the McDonalds in Moscow, I was a performer in perhaps the largest on-going live-show ever. I didn’t just wear a uniform, I enrobed a theatrical costume that was sent each week to a massive theater-styled wardrobe department for dry cleaning. I received my Disney name tag and I became a part of the grand circus.
Disney’s theme park was filled with hidden secrets, easter eggs, and illusions. So much effort went into protecting the guest’s experience of wonder. The journey of the guest began as they arrived in parking lots and boarded a mystic ferry, as the shrubs along the waters pulled back to unveil the illuminated Magic Castle in the distance. Many people are unaware that when they stand in Magic Kingdom’s park they are actually on the second floor. Beneath the park lies an entire city of interwoven tunnels that serve as the employee entrance to the park. (You’ll notice you’ve never seen a cast member running through the park late for work, but rather that they secretly pop up into their locations.) The Magic Castle uses an old Hollywood technique called ‘forced perspective,’ meaning each floor level of is built on a smaller scale than the base. If you were to walk to the top of the castle you would see that the rooms are miniature scale at the peak. When the castle is viewed from the Main Street entrance, this forced perspective gives the larger-than-life illusion that the castle is ascending to the clouds. The castle also serves as a Global Positioning System, always visible from every angle in the park to support guest’s sense of orientation. Each night on closing shift in the restaurant, I would come out from washing trays (my hands soaked and sore from hot water and sharp metal surfaces) to witness a majestic display of fireworks as guests exited the park. Disney World was a masterclass in customer experience and world building.
A summer later in 2011, I sat in the office of the Minority Business Development Agency in Washington DC for my following internship. I had confessed to my manager, Alejandra Castillo that I really wanted to work in entertainment, a moment of authenticity I didn’t think was permissible in the work environment. She advised me that I needed to get an internship in the field of my pursuit, and I experienced a nudge in my spirit that told me that I would be in California the next summer.
It was the fall of 2011, and I was back on Morehouse’s campus for my junior year. Innovator and CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs had just passed away, which was heavily acknowledged in my school’s business department. The iPad was the latest innovative device Apple had released, and I knew a classmate who had worked on the original design team. Morehouse’s business program was more oriented towards traditional career outlets, such as marketing, consulting, investment banking, real estate and accounting.
It was a shock to me when I heard that The Walt Disney Company was holding a recruitment event in Giles Hall at Spelman College. The recruitment would span all sectors of the company, from ESPN sports to Disney theme-parks, ABC networks and the Walt Disney Studios. I put on my blue blazer, printed my resume and pinned one final detail on my lapel, my old Disney name tag. As I got off the school shuttle at Spelman College I walked into Giles Hall to see a room capable of seating 300 filled to capacity with students. At the end of the presentation I hung back to meet the recruiters. Their eyes lit up with surprise as they saw my Disney name tag. I singlehandedly caught the attention of the recruiters all at once. I began to share with them my work experience with the company, no longer as an applicant but as a fellow colleague. The recruiter circled my name on my resume.
I interviewed with Disney ABC Television Group over the phone and before the summer had arrived I had landed a coveted Programming & Development internship at The Walt Disney Company.
I was going to Hollywood.
I discovered later that I was not only the sole recruited intern from that room of 300 students, I was the only intern at Disney that summer from the entire Southeastern United States. All the other interns were enrolled at these local California schools I had never heard of, the majority from USC. It was my first time hearing about west coast schools like USC, UCLA, and UC Berkeley. Where I was from NYU was my dream film school.
In the matter of a two years, I went from washing trays at Disney World to reading script coverage at the Walt Disney Studios. I can only attribute this radical transformation to the supportive guidance of caring mentors around me who helped to steer my focus, and the discovery of The Strangest Secret that had emboldened me to realize my potential was limitless.
If you’ve reached this far stay tuned for part III of this story and always remember,
Cinema is a Delicacy
-@orteganism.