It is strange how much things can change in just a few weeks’ time. When I started working at Backlot Express less than a month ago, I was so nervous that I was going to mess everything up – accidentally set the kitchen on fire or something – that I asked a question before I did or said anything. And, if I saw someone else doing something incorrectly, I let it slide because I figured it was not my place to correct him or her.
I was just the new girl, after all.
However, that is not the case anymore; I’ve grown confident in my job, and only ask questions on occasion (and they are usually about specific orders). In fact, just yesterday, without even thinking about it, I corrected a girl on the counter process when she started serving guests in the wrong order. That might sound a little rude, but our leaders are very serious about the counter process.
It is just strange to compare the difference that four weeks can make.
Overall, the Backlot Express is really an incredible place to work. The cast is incredible and friendly; even on days that are not perfectly magical, there is always something to smile about.
The lower dining area at BLX. Disney
For example, we always get incredibly busy after the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular lets out. One day in particular, the show let out about five minutes before it started raining very hard outside, so the restaurant was just flooded with people.
As in: no seating, and quickly getting difficult to find a spot to stand kind of flooded.
I was working the condiment bar in the upper-half of the restaurant, just trying to make sure that there was enough ketchup to go around, when I spotted this family walking in. It was a father and his two daughters, one blonde and the other a redhead.
Want to guess who they were dressed as?
Disney
If you guessed Frozen’s Anna and Elsa, you would be correct.
So, I watched this father and his two daughters find their way over to a table where the family was packing up to leave. They waited patiently for it to clear, and then the girls sat down and excitedly started playing with their new Frozen dolls.
Anna and Elsa playing with Anna and Elsa dolls? Cue the heart melting.
As this was happening, their dad got up to go get some food, and I knew it would be a while before he got back. So, after 10 or so minutes, when they started to look a little concerned that he was not back yet, I went over to their table to help keep them calm.
Anna, Elsa and I talked about the Frozen Royal Welcome parade, and their eyes lit up when I mentioned they could see the Frozen Fever short film at the park. We talked about how they had seen Olaf and Kristoff, and how they were sad that Sven was not out at the park.
This was a big problem, until I explained that Florida was just a little too hot for Sven to be outside all day, so he was spending it inside with a big bag of carrots and a huge pile of hay.
It was so incredible to see the magic that Disney provided for these girls, and the excitement they had for just being at Walt Disney World.
It made what would have otherwise been just a crazy hot (and busy) day into something extraordinary, because I got to share some of the Disney magic with those little girls.
Working at the Backlot Express is great, because I get to share magical moments like those with our guests every day; whether it is celebrating a birthday or anniversary, or just helping two little girls stay calm while their dad waits in line for food for half an hour, I get to experience the fun and the wonder that is Walt Disney World.
So far, this has been the experience of a lifetime, and I am looking to see how the rest of it plays out.
