Photo by The Joneses Ralph and Gisela Jones pose in their new costumes they're required to wear in their new job at Walt Disney World. The Jones' work in the food court of the Port or Orleans resort. SLIDE SHOW: Where we work at WDW — — — View Larger Map
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The first was one whole day of what is called “Tradition," which covers Disney history, Walt Disney’s life and dream and what Disney stands for today. We learned who the first "Mickey Mouse" was.

Walt Disney and his brothers had Disney Brother Studios and the first synchronized sound cartoon came out in 1928 – the character was "Steamboat Willie." Ralph was one of the very few who knew this; I didn’t.

The first park was opened in 1955 — Disneyland in Los Angeles. The Florida project began in 1965. WDW opened in 1971 with the first theme park, Magic Kingdom, and the second park Epcot (my favorite) opened in 1982. MGM Studios, now called Hollywood Studios, opened in 1989 and Animal Kingdom opened in 1998. These are the four theme parks with the rides and all types of entertainment.

WDW also has numerous resorts, entertainment areas, stores, cruise lines and just about anything you need for great and exciting vacations.

We then had three more days of training — basic food service (since we are working in Quick Food Service) — ethics, safety, company policy etc., etc., etc. Much of our training came on the computer. It was the most thorough training and information I have ever received starting with a new company. We are both very impressed of the magnitude of the Disney Company and the organization that is needed to make it running smoothly — truly an amazing corporation.

The most important part of our training was customer service!

Disney is all about making the guests feel very special. The guest is always right and our main purpose is to make the guests happy. Actually that is fun, we can, actually are urged to, interact with the guest, asks them where they are from, what park they like best, etc. Kids, especially, are fun to talk to, they are all so excited and just have a great time at WDW.

Another very important part of the training is the "Disney Look." All employees are expected to demonstrate professionalism in looks and actions. Disney is in the entertainment and show business, so the employees are cast members and our uniforms are costumes.

The Human Resources Department is called Cast Services. We are "on stage" all the time and have to act accordingly. Talk about a dress code and appearance!

For men, no facial hair is allowed except a nice trimmed mustache; Ralph had to shave his beard. For women, only close-toe shoes — no sandals; hose when wearing a skirts; fingernails only in light natural colors and a certain length (I had to have my nails shortened and use different nail polish).

No jewelry is allowed, except a watch, wedding band and small earring — one set only. I had to make changes there also and take my studs out of the second hole.

We were asked to adhere to this professional look even in the training sessions. In one of our classes a girl had to keep her coat on all day because her blouse was not considered professional. It sounds very harsh and invading on your individualism, but I have to admit it looks nice when everyone is neatly dressed and clean cut — guess I am old fashioned that way.

Our work place is a resort called Port of Orleans and we work at the food court in the French Quarters.

This resort is (as the name implies) in the style of New Orleans; the hotel buildings all have the black wrought-iron decorations and everything is a New Orleans flavor. The decorations in the food court are from actual New Orleans Mardi Gras floats.

Our uniforms are in the New Orleans style, too. They are not very the most flattering outfits, and orange is definitely not a favorite color for either Ralph or I. Please don’t laugh too hard at our picture! But, so what, we don’t get our clothes dirty and they are being laundered for us.

There are five stations and we were trained on all stations, which took up another five days of training. Needless to say, we were paid for all orientation sessions and training and already have an ID card that lets us free into any park.

More about our actual work later on.