Kenversations™
Page 5 of 7

Back to the Hive to Check in with Management
Operating management meets for "Mickey's Roll Call" a half-hour after the park opens, and in Custodial, the foremen meet with our management an hour after the parks opens for "Minnie's Roll Call". At Minnie's Roll Call, we go over what was discussed at their roll call and whatever is going on at the Resort, in the Park, and in our department - gripes, concerns, questions, suggestions, praises, policies, whatever. We discuss our dealings with other departments, what do and say in certain situations with guests or cast members, specific cast members who are not up to standards, and so forth. Anything and everything happens during the sessions, from announcements of awards, to a shocking, terse statement that Jon Doe Assistant Manager "no longer works here".

Roll call may last ten minutes or over half an hour. Typically, we'll go over the roll call sheet that has official information on it, and then we'll go around the room and give everyone a chance to bring up their comments and questions. Sometimes there will be a demonstration or small lecture educating us about techniques, policies, or programs.

The length and tone often varies widely depending on who is there. Weekends are often different than weekdays, where you will find the most seasoned veterans. Susan Cowan has been known to stop by on occasion. Ray Sidejas stops in for pep talks and explanations, etc.

Ray is there, as he has been for recent Saturdays, bringing in donuts as a thank-you gesture to the foremen. His attendance guaranties a much longer session, as he loves to explain his expectations thoroughly and discuss "how it is" with his front-line warriors. Ray is old school; he's a guy who cares about the Disneyland ideals, and well aware of the legacy that is in his hands while trying to please his bosses, who are relative newcomers. He frequently walks the park, inspects our onstage and backstage locations, and occasionally still gets into "whites". He has the respect and admiration of his veteran foremen. When the other departments dropped their foremen, he fought to keep his foremen in place. As a result, Custodial was ahead of the game when the rest of Operations decided to bring back leads.

When coming in for Roll Call, we turn in copies of our schedules if we haven't done so already, try to remember anything we needed to get or do at the office, pick up radios (batteries may be low), and the like. We try to give messages to the clerks, such as "give John Doe the trash equipment keys".

After Roll Call, I grab anything I need to take back to the area, sign any large or small (greeting) cards, talk one-on-one with managers if I need to, and escort any new cast member assigned to my area.

Operational Mode
Now it is a matter of sticking to the plan - patrolling area, meeting cast members as they arrive, answering calls, meeting managers as they pass through, covering areas, etc. Some days you are runnin' around and need to be in several places at once, other days things are very slow and you need something to do.

This is the time you make sure your crew is performing well, that the area stays safe, beautiful, and clean. We monitor walkways, shops, landscaped areas, lines, ride vehicles, even backstage areas.

If you have a good crew, you've planned well, and nothing out of the ordinary is going on, this is where the day can get monotonous and long, as a lot of your work is done. Of course, there is always something to do; you just have to look for it. Different leads have different pet projects, and this is often where the outstanding leads are separated from the rest. A lousy lead will try to get away with doing as little as possible, spending as little time on-stage, hiding, supervising as little as possible, and talking to their friends on their crew and in other departments all day.

Instead, they could be checking backstage areas, doing "utility" work, coaching a cast member, checking in with other departments working in the area, and initiating guest contact.

I've made friends with annual passholders who I knew were annual passholders only because I'd see them quietly passing through every week. They don't look or behave in an unusual manner, or call attention to themselves. Having them give a quickly hello as they pass through is nice.

There are also some neat things to do while battling tedium that tend to vary by area, such as sweeping through the Indy line and using "performance theming". "Pirate TV" can be quite interesting. Yeah, in case you didn't know: just because you are "alone" with your honey on a ride, it doesn't mean that you aren't being watched ;-)

Laughing Stock & Other Entertainment
The guys from Laughing Stock crack me up. I make a point of "giving extra attention" to the area they happen to be performing in. I love it when they come up with good ad-libs.

Woody and Jessie are very popular and can draw quite a crowd for autograph signings. I like it when it is earlier in the morning and they have more one-on-one time with the kids who happen upon them.

The Disneyland Marching Band likes to ride the front of the Mark Twain and interact with the steam whistles. We can hear the bands in New Orleans Square, and of, course, there's always the steel drum band in Adventureland above Tropical Imports.

The Fry Cart
Bussers handle the eating areas (any area with tables), sweepers don't. Years ago, Bussing was part of Custodial, now it is part of Foods. It is cheaper for Foods not to put tables by the McDonald's fry wagon, thereby giving all of the extra work generated by its presence to Custodial. Clever, huh?

The fry cart is one of the most challenging elements of that area. Close that and the popcorn wagon, and things look pretty nice with a lot less effort.

Aladdin's Oasis
Once a restaurant with entertainment, the Oasis is now used for special functions and for storytelling with the characters from Aladdin. I loved using this place as a break area when I worked closing shifts. Strictly speaking, we supposed to use designated break areas only, but sometimes, some people just need to be in a quiet place where they can be left alone to read or write.

The Oasis has tile for flooring, and the covering of the patio is such that, if it has been raining, it can be near impossible to dry out. But the show is popular, so it is a given that we'll be called to dry it up, unless rain keeps coming down. We want to make it safe for the performers and comfortable for our guests.

Indy Oil Spill
It is actually hydraulic fluid from the mechanisms that give the vehicles their added movement, but "oil" is much easier to say, and fits in with the theme anyway. Occasionally, (used to be a lot more common), a vehicle will spring a leak, causing slipping and therefore a shutdown. If we're lucky, it will just be a small spot on a level surface. Sometimes, though, the vehicle traverses more of the track and leaves a long trail.

For the clean-up, the name of the game after safety is speed. The idea is to get the clean-up taken care of as fast as safely possible so that the attraction can be returned to operation for the enjoyment of our guests.

Especially if it is a busy day, the good thing for me to do is to head in to the attraction when the all-call goes out that the attraction is down. From our standpoint, it is good to have it go down for a long time for something else, and for the guests to be cleared out. That way, our people have an easier time of spiffying up the place. Attraction downtimes are the best time to go in and clean up any place. Although they are frustrating to the guests, nothing is better from a Custodial standpoint than to have an attraction break down a few times throughout the day.

My Indy person is supposed to meet me at the unload area so that, if we're needed, we can get tags and get the necessarily equipment. It is essential to get a tag. The attraction will not be started back up unless all of the tags are returned. This is a safety precaution. The tags are rectangular, numbered, metal plates that hang on a board to the left, just out of the station. You pick a tag off of the board, and write your name and department in chalk where the tag was.

I meet my person and we either wait for word, or tag out and go to the spot in question. Walking instead of riding in a huge vehicle, the attraction's immense size is emphasized. Some accessways cut down on the time it takes to get around, but some equipment won't fit, so if it is needed, we have to take it there by following the track.

There's a dust we put down on the fluid, requiring face masks. We pushbroom it into piles and vacuum it up with back-mounted vacuums. If it is a particularly large spill, we'll need to call for help and we may have two groups start at other ends and work in assembly-line fashion towards each other. Pools of the fluid are partially abated with pads and pillows. Several people will be there; people from Facilities, Attractions, and a Custodial assistant manager. The cleaned-up fluid and the dust can't be just thrown into the trash, but rather is taken to a special location backstage for processing and disposal.

After the clean-up, we put the tags back (this is very important!), and I wait with my Indy person to make sure that we aren't needed again for the attraction to be reopened. If it will be down for a while longer, we make sure everything is fine as far as Custodial's responsibilities and I can pull the Indy person to help out somewhere else.

Either one of us might have been called off of lunch or break to respond, or may have delayed our lunch or break until everything was taken care of. It sure is nice to have a breaker covering breaks out in the area when I'm stuck down in Indy.