The Ride Delegate: Memoir of a Walt Disney World VIP Tour Guide by Annie Salisbury
Authors: Annie Salisbury
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guide, but this notion was ludicrous.
I needed to say something to Mom, so I said, “I’m not a babysitter. I’m a tour guide.”
That statement offended all three of the mothers a lot . They began talking to each other in Spanish so fast I could barely make out any of the few Spanish words I knew. They started walking farther into EPCOT, but I just stood there, planted to my spot on the ground. I wasn’t about to follow this madcap family any farther.
“Are you coming with us?” Mom turned and barked at me with her Spanish accent dripping off of her English words.
“I can only take ten guests on a tour, unless you want me to call my Office and get a second guide. If you don’t want a second guide, then three people need to leave,” I told Mom, not budging from my spot.
This was not the answer that Mom wanted. She looked to Aunt, and New Aunt, said some hurried things in Spanish. “We’ll keep the tour at ten. The first ride is Test Track?”
New Aunt wandered off into EPCOT away from us, but I still had her kids with me. So we had dwindled from thirteen… to twelve. I informed Mom of this as soon as we reached Test Track.
“We’re not going to ride,” Mom said as we stood outside the attraction. She pointed to all of the children, “Ten.”
I had twelve guests with me, and only ten of them were going to ride. But that’s not how a VIP tour functions. This isn’t a rotational free-for-all. This isn’t like a buffet where you can pick and chose what you want and then go back for more afterwards. No, I needed ten guests and ten guests alone. I didn’t care that Mom and Aunt were going to sit and wait for us outside. All I needed was for one tour guide to come wandering by and count my guests and see that I had two more than I should have and I was going to be in so much trouble.
“For this one attraction that’s fine. I’ll take the ten guests on, but when I come out we are going to decide who is coming with me for the rest of the day, and the others will have to leave.”
“I’ll call my husband and see what he wants to do.”
I took the kids inside of the ride, all ten of them, while Mom and Aunt waited outside. I put the kids on the attraction and then darted out an unmarked Cast Member door to e-mail the Office.
Hey. It’s Annie. Heads up, I’ve got the Blue Family with me, and they’ve got 13 people. Don’t want to get rid of any. I’m going to try and sort this out, but I might need a second guide.
The Office emailed me back before they got off the attraction. They had a guide on deck if I needed one.
I collected the children off of Test Track and took them back outside to Mom and Aunt who were waiting in the midst of stroller parking.
“I talked to the Office. They have a second guide available if you want to add others to the tour. Did you talk to your husband?”
“Do I get the second guide at half price?” Mom asked.
Do I get my own float in the parade? “No. If you don’t want a second guide I need to know who’s coming with me for the rest of the day.”
Mom looked to Aunt. Spanish Spanish Spanish. Mom told me in English that Aunt was going to leave. So we started walking and as soon as we passed Mouse Gears, Aunt disappeared inside. So twelve guests, to eleven. Still one too many.
“There are still eleven guests with me. I can only have ten.”
“Our last guide let us take more than ten guests.”
There it is. That’s the kicker. Their last guide had let them take more than ten guests and they just expected me to do the same. Mom then began yelling at me, in half Spanish, and in half English, about how this was never a problem for their last guide, so why was it a problem for me? I asked Mom point-blankly if she had talked to Dad about adding a second guide on the tour, and Mom told me she hadn’t. Mom pointed to one random child and said that they would no longer be coming with us, and shooed the poor child away from our group. I can only hope that he
I needed to say something to Mom, so I said, “I’m not a babysitter. I’m a tour guide.”
That statement offended all three of the mothers a lot . They began talking to each other in Spanish so fast I could barely make out any of the few Spanish words I knew. They started walking farther into EPCOT, but I just stood there, planted to my spot on the ground. I wasn’t about to follow this madcap family any farther.
“Are you coming with us?” Mom turned and barked at me with her Spanish accent dripping off of her English words.
“I can only take ten guests on a tour, unless you want me to call my Office and get a second guide. If you don’t want a second guide, then three people need to leave,” I told Mom, not budging from my spot.
This was not the answer that Mom wanted. She looked to Aunt, and New Aunt, said some hurried things in Spanish. “We’ll keep the tour at ten. The first ride is Test Track?”
New Aunt wandered off into EPCOT away from us, but I still had her kids with me. So we had dwindled from thirteen… to twelve. I informed Mom of this as soon as we reached Test Track.
“We’re not going to ride,” Mom said as we stood outside the attraction. She pointed to all of the children, “Ten.”
I had twelve guests with me, and only ten of them were going to ride. But that’s not how a VIP tour functions. This isn’t a rotational free-for-all. This isn’t like a buffet where you can pick and chose what you want and then go back for more afterwards. No, I needed ten guests and ten guests alone. I didn’t care that Mom and Aunt were going to sit and wait for us outside. All I needed was for one tour guide to come wandering by and count my guests and see that I had two more than I should have and I was going to be in so much trouble.
“For this one attraction that’s fine. I’ll take the ten guests on, but when I come out we are going to decide who is coming with me for the rest of the day, and the others will have to leave.”
“I’ll call my husband and see what he wants to do.”
I took the kids inside of the ride, all ten of them, while Mom and Aunt waited outside. I put the kids on the attraction and then darted out an unmarked Cast Member door to e-mail the Office.
Hey. It’s Annie. Heads up, I’ve got the Blue Family with me, and they’ve got 13 people. Don’t want to get rid of any. I’m going to try and sort this out, but I might need a second guide.
The Office emailed me back before they got off the attraction. They had a guide on deck if I needed one.
I collected the children off of Test Track and took them back outside to Mom and Aunt who were waiting in the midst of stroller parking.
“I talked to the Office. They have a second guide available if you want to add others to the tour. Did you talk to your husband?”
“Do I get the second guide at half price?” Mom asked.
Do I get my own float in the parade? “No. If you don’t want a second guide I need to know who’s coming with me for the rest of the day.”
Mom looked to Aunt. Spanish Spanish Spanish. Mom told me in English that Aunt was going to leave. So we started walking and as soon as we passed Mouse Gears, Aunt disappeared inside. So twelve guests, to eleven. Still one too many.
“There are still eleven guests with me. I can only have ten.”
“Our last guide let us take more than ten guests.”
There it is. That’s the kicker. Their last guide had let them take more than ten guests and they just expected me to do the same. Mom then began yelling at me, in half Spanish, and in half English, about how this was never a problem for their last guide, so why was it a problem for me? I asked Mom point-blankly if she had talked to Dad about adding a second guide on the tour, and Mom told me she hadn’t. Mom pointed to one random child and said that they would no longer be coming with us, and shooed the poor child away from our group. I can only hope that he
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