Work Location

Things have been a little crazy the past few days, so I haven't had an opportunity to post this yet. But I promised my brother I would, so here you go.

I work in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom, and unlike the Studios where my last program was, we bounce around in multiple shops per day, whereas when I worked Tower of Terror (for example) I was there for the entire shift.

I was able to get a map from Google Earth to give you an idea where everything is at. So here's the picture, and you'll probably want to click on it to make it bigger. Note: This is taken facing south, so the front of the park is towards the top of the picture (if it were to keep going).
And here's the list of shops:

1. Sir Mickey's (Red circle) - I think this one is kind of considered the "flagship" shop of the area. It's themed after Mickey and the beanstalk, and even has Willie the giant peeking through the roof of the shop. This is also one of only 3 shops in the Magic Kingdom where you can get your Mickey hats embroidered. Supposedly I'm going to be learning how to do that in a few weeks, which is exciting, and kind of scary at the same time.

2. Castle Couture (Orange circle) - Previously known as Tinker Bell's Treasures. Apparently this was a very recent changeover too, since most of the people who work in my area usually forget and call it by the old name. This is the princess shop, so of course it's my favorite. It's also the most busy and chaotic. One of the cool things about this location is that behind one of the registers is a replica of Aurora's dress from Sleeping Beauty. And every few minutes it even changes colors from pink to blue. How cool is that? This is also where the girls from the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique get their photo taken, so I'm going to be spending a lot of time with little princesses here too.

3. Fantasy Fair (or Faire, I'm not sure which, Yellow circle) - This is the shop adjacent to the exit of Mickey's Philharmagic, another attraction which I love. This is also the only place you can buy DVDs and CDs in Fantasyland. I love, love, love the music in this one. It's all instrumental Disney music, and I don't know everything that plays, but while I was there I heard Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, and Fantasia 2000. I don't think I'll ever get sick of the music here, unlike Rockin' Roller Coaster.

4. Stromboli's Cart (Dark Green circle) - One of the five outdoor locations. Here you can find hats as well as sunscreen and the glow cart at dusk (can't get away from my Fantasmic merchandise completely, can I?).

5. Pin Cart (Light Green circle) - This one has a name, but I forget it at the moment. You can't really see it from this angle because the trees are in the way, but this about where it would be. But guess what? PIN CART!!!! Do you know what that means? PINS!!!! Hopefully working a pin cart will be as fun as shopping at them.

6. Information (Light Blue circle) - That's right, I get to work at the information booth. This one really isn't merchandise at all (people will probably just want to know where the bathrooms are), but there's things like camera and autograph books too, which is why we get it instead of Guest Relations.

7. Enchanted Grove Cart (Darker Blue circle) - Magnets and key chains. When I was here two years ago this was a pin cart, and the pin cart location was a Disney Vacation Club kiosk, so I don't know when it changed. I expect lots of things have been changed around because of the construction going on for the Fantasyland expansion. Which isn't shown in this photo, by the way.

8. Pooh's Thotful Shop (Dark Purple circle) - Pretty self explanatory, this is the shop that the riders from Winnie the Pooh dump into. Much smaller than the Pooh store at Disneyland, but very busy. Probably because the ride dumps into it, now that I think about it. Anyway, this is great because you get funny looks from people when you say "I work at the Pooh store".

9. Seven Dwarfs Mine (Light Purple circle) - The last shop in the area. This one is more of a outdoor shop under an overhang. Most of the stuff here is snacks and drinks, which is rather silly since it's right next to a quick service food location. But whatever. Here's an interesting fact for you. Of all the princesses located in Castle Couture, Snow White doesn't have any of her own merchandise there. Why? Because it's over here at Seven Dwarfs. Being the first Disney princess Snow gets special treatment and all. :)

Anyway, that's an overview of all nine locations. The way the rotation works, you either are scheduled to work indoors or outdoors. So if you're scheduled for indoor one day you'll bounce from Sir Mickey's, Castle Couture, Pooh's, and Fantasy Fair. And then if you're outside you'll hit all three carts, the information booth, and Seven Dwarfs.

At least that's how I think it is. I'm not 100 % sure since my training isn't done yet...

Anyway, tomorrow's the last day of training, so possibly more then if anything particularly interesting happens tomorrow.

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