Creative Costuming Conundrums?

Due to the secrecy around Mickey and all of his friends who work so hard to keep the magic of Disney alive, it is very hard to answer that question specifically (even harder for my mother when she wants to brag about me.)

"I help Mickey Mouse and all of his friends at Hollywood Studios get dressed, do their laundry and prepare for shows/meet 'n greet's."

Because there are different 'themes' and atmosphere to each park, Mickey and his friends need a lot of different outfits to wear. Our job is to help put together, clean and organize those outfits so that when they come to visit they can pick out their outfit and go meet the public. After all there's only one Mickey Mouse so he has a very busy schedule going from park to park everyday.

We get a lot of visitors asking us to help them get dressed; Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Lilo, Stitch, Mr (Bob) Incredible, Frozone, Captain Hook, Smee, Genie, Jafar, Pooh, Jasmine, Aladdin, Tigger, Ozo, Phineas, Ferb, Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Sully, Mike, Pinocchio, Queen of Hearts, Pocahontas, Meeko, Chip & Dale & the little Einsteins. Of course, I can't name all of Mickey's friends that come to visit; they're all very busy and have a lot of destinations get to.

We have to make sure all of their gloves and shoes are clean, there are no snags in any coats or dresses and wash out any pen stains from signing so many autographs. We have to separate the basic undergarments from the dry cleaning and the clothing that we can wash on-site. Not to mention some clothing cannot be put into industrial sized washing machines or  dryers - that's why we have drying rooms. We wouldn't want to damage Mary Poppins' dress or put holes in Captain Hook's coat... Sometimes accidents happen and we will have to drive pargos (yes golf carts) with extra outfits, clothing or accessories to Mickey and his friends in time for their appearance - it's a very fun and continuously busy job for sure.

We recently took a tour of Disney World's full costuming department, where all of the outfits, clothing and dresses were created. From researching  patterns, cutting out the material to sewing it all together... everything is made in-house (on-site) and everyone works hard to meet Disney's impeccable show quality standards.

Having great co-cast makes the days go by faster as well (since Disney is an entertainment business all employees are called cast members, your uniform is called your costume and all customers/patrons are called guests.) I have already become friends with cast members from Haiti, Turkey, France, Louisiana, Bronx, New Jersey and am determined to learn some Spanish from my lovely Hispanic friends as well.

Although I cant go into grave detail about my position, I can tell you that working backstage/behind the scenes is one of the most exciting jobs I have ever had. To see how the shows are done and scheduled is inspiring. To be proud that you are part of the magic that gets seen on the other side of the curtain is a feeling I wish I could share with every creative person out there (it also helps that we get the AC and fans in the warehouse.) Even though we've only been at Disney for almost 2 weeks now.. I would DEFINITELY recommend this to any student apprehensive or not.

'Get in the Habit' with Dr Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of highly effective people; “achieving personal and interpersonal effectiveness from the inside out” explains how you need to improve your own personal characteristics in order to improve your personality. These posts will explain Covey’s theory and our experiences with the lessons we had at Florida State while studying them.

First we start out as dependent; as child to parent, friend to clique…etc. thinking more about ‘You’ but if we work to improve…
(1) Our proactivity
(2) Beginning with the end in mind
and (3) Putting first things first

Then we can achieve our own private victory and gain independence; thinking more about ‘I’. From there if we work to improve…
(4) Thinking win-win
(5) Seeking to understand then to be understood
and (6) Synergy

Then we can achieve a public victory and gain interdependence; thinking more about ‘We’. Finally after improving all 6 habits you must practice (7) Sharpening the saw, because if we don’t keep up with our progress we will become stale and revert back to our old ways.

Character vs. Personal Ethic

Our personality is what people first see about us. It's the techniques we've practised for personal gain, such as influence, persuasion and deceit. But underneath all those techniques is our character. It's made of principles we value, such as courage, justice, responsibility and integrity.

Covey explains how we should use the 'Inside-Out approach' which means to focuss on improving your character and core values before your techniques and effectiveness.

"That we should listen with the intent to teach, so that we learn on a deeper level - therefore when you teach you gain new insights and expand your learning."

Can you see he difference between your character and personality? Or your coworkers, family or friends?

See - Do - Get

Every one of Covey's habits has a principle and paradigm (meaning the expected way that we see, understand and interpret the world.) We 'see' the paradigm, 'do' the behaviour & 'get' the result in turn.

"The results we get in life depend on what we do. What we do in life depends on how we see the world around us."

When you have realized a deeper truth that is strong enough to change your behaviour you have experienced a paradigm shift. Such as being angry at a stranger for not controlling their children, only to find out they just came from the hospital where their mother passed away... Suddenly feeling empathy  for the stranger and realizing none of them know how to properly deal with the situation would be a  paradigm shift... Can you think of a time you ever had a paradigm shift?

Up Next: 'Get in the Habit' of Being Proactive

First 10 days in America (Disney FSU Program)

F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E! ^{What? What?} FLORIDA STATE_{! FLORIDA STATE!} FLORIDA STATE – _WOOO!

After a very bumpy and tiring first airplane ride we landed in Tallahassee and began our orientation at FSU. The campus is huge (LOOKS LIKE HOGWARTS!) and the weather is BEAUTIFUL! Lizards run free everywhere you go, their squirrels are tiny and there’s SO many welcoming people. We have a group of peer mentors and course coordinators that hangout with us and show us around the campus. They’re all funny and crazy and we’ve never had a dull moment at FSU.

 

An example of a typical FSU day in our 10-Day stay would be…

7:45am  -  8:25am    Breakfast

8:30am  -  11:30am  Class

11:30am - 1:00pm    Lunch

1:00pm  -  3:30pm    Class

5:45pm  -  7:15pm    Dinner

7:30pm  -  ???           Optional Activities

*All your meals are provided for usually in the Hogwarts Great Hall (it looks just like it even though it’s called the Suwanee Hall.

 

 

The apartment style rooms are spacious – one kitchen area with stove/oven, kettle, fridge & living room; typically 4 bedrooms per apartment room with one bathroom on each side.

Florida State University provides:

- Your meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner)

- Bedding (pillowcase, comforter, sheets and towels that you can take to Disney with you)

- Fruit, water and Snacks in your room upon arrival day

- Kettle for your stove with mugs for all roommates

- Dish soap for the kitchen, soap for the bathroom

- Binder full of paper, pens, keychain, tourist brochures and two postcard

 

So far we have played the name game, learned about different stereotypes and showing respect in different cultures. We're studying the 7 Habits of Highly Effective people (a concept created by the late Stephen Covey.) Together we have been learning more about ourselves and how to get along more effectively with others around us. More specific blogs about Stephen Covey to come..

 

We’ve taken city tours and had karaoke dance parties! We’ve had a fieldtrip to the Golden Eagle Country Club and learned how to putt –I’ve decided to stick to Martial Arts… forever. We also took a fieldtrip to the Sandestin Country Club and Resort.

 

 

Slowly but surely we are showing our new Asian family from Macau how to party hard!

 

In 10 intense days we have become the closest international/intercultural family anyone has ever seen - and I wouldnt have it any other way.

 

I've already adopt 3 new brothers, a godfather for my children and an unimaginable amount of new sisters <3