VountEARing, Golden Daysticks Award Show, and a Halloween Party Too!

On Monday, September 29th, I participated in a VountEARs event with the Disney College Program called KaBOOM! About 50 CPs and some of the Disneyland Resort executives traveled to La Habra to help build a playground for children. It was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever done. We split up into groups to work on different parts of the playground. There were people putting together the various structures, mixing cement (this was my group and I'm now practically a professional cement mixer), shoveling and moving mulch, painting hopscotch on the sidewalk, making benches, and building garden beds.

The beginning of playground construction

6 hours and 200 volunteers later!

Halfway through the event, the kids came outside (the park was in-between two schools) during their break and yelled "Thank You" to all of us. This was probably the highlight of my day. The little kids were so excited that their park was being transformed into a fun, safe place for them to play. At the end of the day (6 hours later), the kids sat and watched as we rushed to put the final touches on the playground. It almost felt like an episode of Extreme Home Makeover and they were just waiting for us to move the bus. With the help of 200 volunteers, we completed an entire playground and park in just 6 hours!

In addition to the rewarding experience, I also made a few new friends in the program! And who doesn't like new friends?!

That same night, the leads and trainers of guest control for Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Frontierland hosted an awards show for the cast members who work the parades and fireworks (aka the people in the red vests). It was such a fun event with dinner, dessert, awards, and some entertaining music videos. As for the name of the show, "Golden Daysticks," it comes from the bright orange "directing" sticks that we use when guest controlling and the trophies they gave out were golden versions of these. Honestly, they kind of looked like churros, which made them even better! I had a great time getting to know some of the other cast members and it didn't hurt that the event was held inside Disneyland after park closing.

Adventureland & Frontierland Cast Members at Golden Daysticks.

And last but not least, on Tuesday night, I worked my very first Mickey's Halloween Party. It was a blast! I got to meet Cast Members from different lands and departments, pass out candy to adorable dressed up children (and adults, because everyone is a kid at heart), and watch the fireworks from my work location. Working for 8 hours doesn't really feel like work when you get to experience all of that! Oh, and I also got to wear a super cute costume (and no that's not sarcasm) with bats on it and it was topped off (literally) with a bat headband!

"In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun." - Mary Poppins