The Ride Delegate: Memoir of a Walt Disney World VIP Tour Guide by Annie Salisbury Page B
Authors: Annie Salisbury
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are taking PhotoPass pictures, renting strollers, asking for directions.
I’ve been yelled at before in my life. Mostly by my own mom, and that usually happened in the comfort of my own home. It never happened to me in front of Spaceship Earth. It had never happened to me in front of so many people, and Cast Members, and so loudly, in Spanish.
Mom screamed at me. Her loud words echoed off the buildings and everyone, guest and Cast Member alike, stopped to see what was happening. They just assumed someone was being torn limb by limb at the entrance to the attraction sponsored by Seimens. It was also all in Spanish. Mom might have been yelling at the top of her lungs for me to take the brunt of the beating, but I hadn’t the slightest idea what she was screaming.
Cast Members from both sides of the entrance slowly shuffled out of their location to make sure nothing was going terribly wrong. They found me, a tiny little tour guide, getting destroyed by an irate guest. One boy from the camera shop held his hand up to his ear, making a phone gesture, clearly asking if he wanted me to call security. I shook my head so gently that Mom didn’t see others were trying to communicate SOS to me. I think most of the Cast Members who watched this situation unfold were doing so only for the story they could tell their roommates later. “Yo, dude, saw this crazy stuff happen at Spaceship today…”
Somewhere in between Mom coming up for breaths of air, I started to get words in edge wise. When that didn’t even work, I realized I didn’t even actually care about the situation unfurling in front of me. There was a long pause at one point where Mom reached into her purse for her phone, obviously to call her husband, who had been a brick through all of this, that I told Mom what had been brewing inside of me from the start.
“Unfortunately, due to these circumstances, I won’t be able to continue on with this tour. I hope you and your family have a magical day here at EPCOT.” And I just turned and I walked away from them.
Mom immediately shut up. I don’t think she expected me to turn on my heels and go. She stopped yelling. Returned back to English.
“Where are you going?” she yelled after me.
“The tour is over. Enjoy your day!” I waved to them as I continued to walk farther and farther away. I was walking quite fast; probably because I was worried Mom was going to sic one of the kids on me and drag me back to them.
The entire ordeal spanned two hours.
20
I was standing in line for Big Thunder Mountain, like I often did, when I felt at tap on my shoulder. I turned around, ready to answer a question for a nearby guest.
“Are you new?” the guest asked me.
“No,” I told her, not sure if I should be confident in my answer, or confused.
“Then you should know better than to wear your costume out in the park.” She said sternly, and pointed right at my nametag. “You could at least have the decency to remove that. Are you on your lunch break?”
“No?” I told her, now actually confused. The guest stood on the other side of the wooden partition in the line, close enough that we could talk, but not far enough away so other guests around us couldn’t hear our conversation.
“Then what are you doing?” she asked, disdain dripping out of her voice.
“Riding Thunder Mountain?” Seriously, what did it look like I was doing?
“Can I have your last name so I can report you to your manager?” she asked. The guests standing around watched us like a tennis match, their heads snapping back and forth with each comment we made to one another.
“Are you a Cast Member?” I stammered.
“Yes, and I’m not stupid enough to go into the park in full costume.”
“Are you new?” I asked her.
“I’ve been with the company for six months now,” she said, proudly, like she had just been told she was next in line for the VP of Magic Kingdom spot.
“Cool,” I said, deeming the conversation over, and turned
I’ve been yelled at before in my life. Mostly by my own mom, and that usually happened in the comfort of my own home. It never happened to me in front of Spaceship Earth. It had never happened to me in front of so many people, and Cast Members, and so loudly, in Spanish.
Mom screamed at me. Her loud words echoed off the buildings and everyone, guest and Cast Member alike, stopped to see what was happening. They just assumed someone was being torn limb by limb at the entrance to the attraction sponsored by Seimens. It was also all in Spanish. Mom might have been yelling at the top of her lungs for me to take the brunt of the beating, but I hadn’t the slightest idea what she was screaming.
Cast Members from both sides of the entrance slowly shuffled out of their location to make sure nothing was going terribly wrong. They found me, a tiny little tour guide, getting destroyed by an irate guest. One boy from the camera shop held his hand up to his ear, making a phone gesture, clearly asking if he wanted me to call security. I shook my head so gently that Mom didn’t see others were trying to communicate SOS to me. I think most of the Cast Members who watched this situation unfold were doing so only for the story they could tell their roommates later. “Yo, dude, saw this crazy stuff happen at Spaceship today…”
Somewhere in between Mom coming up for breaths of air, I started to get words in edge wise. When that didn’t even work, I realized I didn’t even actually care about the situation unfurling in front of me. There was a long pause at one point where Mom reached into her purse for her phone, obviously to call her husband, who had been a brick through all of this, that I told Mom what had been brewing inside of me from the start.
“Unfortunately, due to these circumstances, I won’t be able to continue on with this tour. I hope you and your family have a magical day here at EPCOT.” And I just turned and I walked away from them.
Mom immediately shut up. I don’t think she expected me to turn on my heels and go. She stopped yelling. Returned back to English.
“Where are you going?” she yelled after me.
“The tour is over. Enjoy your day!” I waved to them as I continued to walk farther and farther away. I was walking quite fast; probably because I was worried Mom was going to sic one of the kids on me and drag me back to them.
The entire ordeal spanned two hours.
20
I was standing in line for Big Thunder Mountain, like I often did, when I felt at tap on my shoulder. I turned around, ready to answer a question for a nearby guest.
“Are you new?” the guest asked me.
“No,” I told her, not sure if I should be confident in my answer, or confused.
“Then you should know better than to wear your costume out in the park.” She said sternly, and pointed right at my nametag. “You could at least have the decency to remove that. Are you on your lunch break?”
“No?” I told her, now actually confused. The guest stood on the other side of the wooden partition in the line, close enough that we could talk, but not far enough away so other guests around us couldn’t hear our conversation.
“Then what are you doing?” she asked, disdain dripping out of her voice.
“Riding Thunder Mountain?” Seriously, what did it look like I was doing?
“Can I have your last name so I can report you to your manager?” she asked. The guests standing around watched us like a tennis match, their heads snapping back and forth with each comment we made to one another.
“Are you a Cast Member?” I stammered.
“Yes, and I’m not stupid enough to go into the park in full costume.”
“Are you new?” I asked her.
“I’ve been with the company for six months now,” she said, proudly, like she had just been told she was next in line for the VP of Magic Kingdom spot.
“Cool,” I said, deeming the conversation over, and turned
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