As my internship ends, I reflect on the events of my summer at Disney with accomplishment. As a student athlete, it has been my first full-time position (not dribbling a basketball). My desire was to work with creatives and understand the business of art.

Disney is an amazing company to have on my resume as I move from college to the working world. Learning that I am good at building professional relationships, even though the work was less than stimulating, is a good skill set to enhance. My coordinator has urged me to apply for a coordinator position because they loved my work ethic and people skills. It is a nice compliment but I want to finish college and focus on a more creative endeavor.

My focus on safety did provide and appreciation as an artist of many challenges that will arrive as I continue to pursue installation art. My mind constantly raced about creative elements in the park but had no exposure to the “creatives” I would hope to encounter at Disney.

I did meet a former Stetson University Women’s Basketball Player who was coming through the line at Buzz Lightyear. She played for the prior head coach but I invited her to come to a game this fall. From the one line on my nametag, I never expected that to happen.

I will continue to come to the Parks as an annual passholder with my family but have a very different perspective on the operations and the work behind the magic.

I am looking forward to my return to studio classes, basketball and a very hectic senior year. However, more importantly I learned I am really quite amazing. I am an intelligent, well-spoken leader among my peers. I can do anything that I set my mind to and I always bring the magic.

A focus of mine has been light during the past year in my artwork. Some of my work has studied how light can define and transform. I have been documenting it this summer through photos, as I will continue to study it this year in my studio work.

The nighttime displays at the Parks are spectacular. I have experienced them as a guest in my younger years and this summer as a cast member. As a cast member I worked mostly nights at Magic Kingdom, so the fireworks are a part of my daily routine. It is the biggest production for the Magic Kingdom Park daily. The music and light transforms Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom for thousands of guests nightly. EPCOT has a nighttime extravaganza on the pond in the center of the countries. As a guest, I have seen all of the nighttime displays. Pre-pandemic both Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom also had nighttime displays. The elements used to display the projections included on screens, sails, water mist and castles. The music and narration is an essential part of the production by capturing a mood, inspiring through tremendous storytelling and a final crescendo sharing visions of magic and goodness in the world. These shows are productions that do not disappoint. Spoiler alert – Just to share in insider look, Tinkerbell flies from Cinderella’s castle toward Tomorrowland every night. Tinkerbell lands back stage in Tomorrowland behind the Buzz Lightyear ride. Truly magical to witness.

As an artist, I will continue to explore light in my fall semester in my art studio and in my theater class with stage lighting and filters.

Context in installation art is important.

The rides themselves are interactive art installations. However, these installations are in context due to immersive lands. The Lands at Magic Kingdom are intentional. Every concept is well thought out and planned in detail. The music played in the land, the transitions between lands, and the smells in the lands including the themed food offerings including the restaurants.

The lands in Magic Kingdom include Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland and are all organized around the HUB and Mainstreet USA. As a detailed example, let us review the transition from Fantasyland (Cinderella’s castle, Belle’s castle, Aerial’s castle, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Winnie the Pooh, Tea Cups and more) to Tomorrowland (Motor Speedway, Space Mountain, Astro Orbiter, TTA and more). The elements include sound when passing the sound teacups as you approach the motor speedway. Lights change from low non-descript lighting by Winnie the Pooh to the towering Astro Orbiter along with the underside of the TTA illuminated red and Space Mountain in the distance.

In my opinion, the greatest transition is at Hollywood Studios. The park begins with Mainstreet Hollywood. Once passing the Sci-Fi Diner and the Muppet Theater there is what appears to be a subway entrance. Then the elements of another world begins. Symbols, trashcans, materials, sound and music change. A moment later, you have left earth and have travelled to a new galaxy. All cast member in this galaxy have in-depth training and if you speak with the cast, they each have an extensive back-story.

Fun fact – when I went to the Parks with my mom (who was wearing a Star Wars shirt) for her birthday, a cast member wrote her name in the alphabet used in Star Wars (which she LOVED)!

As Magical as Disney can appear, there is also an underbelly of ugliness. On the operational side of a large company of creatives, the challenges are immeasurable. It has been an eye opening experience for me and has given me a real world perspective of the business of art, customer service and making magic.

The housing for the College Program is provided at a reduced price at Flamingo Crossings. However, as a new cast member I did not get a choice about the type of housing arrangement. It has not been a great experience and I relocated to my parent’s house mid-summer. In summary, it is a complex with nearly 4,000 college students with no rules of engagement, minimal boundaries and no Resident Assistant. As I was moving out of Flamingo Crossings, it became apparent Disney knows the problem exists but has not solved the issues.

Many businesses say the customer is always right and that is the same at Disney. Disney says it is all about guest experience. However, I have experienced personally and witnessed repeatedly the ugliness in the world today. It is unbelievable the number of people who are inpatient with waiting in lines in the summer heat with their loved ones and lash out at the cast members. My family has been on numerous family vacations at the Disney Parks in the busiest of times and would never EVER behaved like what I have witnessed. I really do not think it is the wait times or the heat. Unfortunately, I think it is a microcosm of today’s society.

Just to finish my disappointment about the Disney culture, no one has your back. The guests will be screaming at those of us running an attraction and no supervisor will come to diffuse the situation. The guest will rarely be asked to leave the attraction and almost never asked to leave the Park. Managing people is never easy. Raising the bar to change the culture would be challenging but not impossible and I hope Disney will take the difficult path and change their operations to address these issues.

Safety is paramount in all business operations. With both of my parents working in construction, I have understood it in the sense of trades’ people building buildings and operating heavy machinery. At Disney, I am in a safety critical role. Prior to getting my job assignment, I was required to drug test. I spoke with several others entering the college program who did not have this requirement. Safety has been a key factor in my internship this summer.

In the attractions every day – safety is critical. At the Buzz Lightyear attraction, it requires seven positions and four of these are safety critical. The four safety positions include Load 1: loading guests on the ride; Load 2: fastening the guests into the car. This position is also responsible for everyone on the entire coaster with the main control panel. Unload 2: has the second control panel: Unload 1: is responsible for unloading guests. Together these positions along with the other 3 stations ensure the safety of all guests on the ride. Every attraction has safety critical positions at Disney.

This summer there was tragic death at Icon Park. A young man perished because safety standards were not followed. Two rides at Disney, Flight of Passage (Animal Kingdom) and Soarin’ (EPCOT) are rides that have the same amount of drop that the young man fell and died at Icon Park. Disney shut those rides down for a day and had a mandatory safety stand-down for all cast members that work those attractions.

Every week in every land, there are track talks. During these talks, we review the safety standards and discuss the importance of safety in daily operations. Also during normal work hours, the safety leaders will visit the attractions to observe the safety behaviors of the cast members.

Public art installations also need to consider safety as a key factor. In my weekend in NYC, I visited the Statue of Liberty. I viewed it from Liberty Park. The Statue is extraordinary. Lady Liberty originally constructed in France 1875-1884, moved to the United States in 1885 and reconstructed in 1886. I researched the reconstruction of the Statue and was completed without scaffolding in a very short time frame. Extensive safety standards have been established over many years for workers and the public. Today’s safety standards are an important constraint to consider in design of public installation art.

The finance of installation art has been a topic that has interested me recently. While working at Disney in a very successful brand with merchandise that is identifiable worldwide, it makes me think about the financing of art. Because Disney is interactive installation art, it draws crowds and money.

After a recent trip to NYC, I began thinking about the financing of art installation. At MOMA is saw a room size installation. It was impactful however; it was all words and in my opinion lacked any graphic or interactive depth. I began to wonder if at any time was the cost a constraint for the artist that affected the decision making for the installation art design.

From the early history of Disney parks, there have been many sponsors of the installations. Some of these sponsors included General Electric 1964-1985 at Carousel of Progress or Eastern Airlines 1972-1978 at If You had Wings (original site for what is now Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin).

Today as Disney has grown into a successful recognizable brand, they self-fund the installations based on their media success. Three of the newly constructed or renovated installations include Guardians of the Galaxy (EPCOT), Tron (Tomorrowland – MK) and rebranding of Splash Mountain to Princess and the Frog (Frontierland – Magic Kingdom).

From the operational side of Disney even on their most successfully branded rides, Disney cannot afford to keep it all running. The Stitch ride at Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom was too expensive to maintain and operate in Disney’s budget so the ride is closed. In the second most popular ride in Animal Kingdom, Everest (rollercoaster) the Yeti costs too much to repair. It originally would swoop toward the coaster but now it just hoovers over the track. The Yeti has been non-functional since before the pandemic.

From my observation, installation art requires a solid funding source and additional budget for on-going costs including maintenance and up keep.

This was it. This was my last week of work before I turned in and began my preparations for the coming fall semester. I wasn’t going to let anything distract me, or take me away from the work that had fueled me all summer. Whoops, my doctors appointment is on Friday in the middle of the day. Well then, I’m sure the good doctor won’t take too long, and I should be back before the work day is out. The doctor took 2 hours to see me. By the time I got back to the office after my appointment, everyone had gone home for the day. I had said goodbye before I left, but I still felt like there was work undone. I still feel as though work is undone. On the Monday before my departure, I was calmly working, and now I must entertain myself for the next two weeks before I can leave Naples and get back to Deland and continue my studies. I have of course, notified my supervisor and my old team of my situation and that they can call on me to do anything they need done, at least until I depart. The split was quiet, and although I did not have a going away party, everyone did give me a very kind good bye when I left for the doctors. I was able to meet our new accountant before I left, however, and she seems like a fine addition to the team. I don’t really have any regrets, [cut by NW]. My team will do just fine without me.

For my second to last week at work, I kicked it off by missing the first two days of the week. Even though I only meant to miss Monday, a flight cancellation knocked me back a day and subsequently increased my waiting workload. Regardless, I returned fresh on Wednesday with zero jet lag, because I only flew from Colorado. I know, my parents visited my brother and then I do the same with my mother the next week. My parents felt that it was important for me to visit my brother before I went back to school, and although I had some fun in Denver, the entire time I felt a nagging reminder of the ever present work pile awaiting me. I sincerely hope I will be able to slow down at some point, as this is getting somewhat tiring. I do find my work fulfilling, but being ever aware of work unfulfilled manages to overshadow this completely. I wish that at some point in the future, that I can forget and remember at will, if so only that my tired mind can rest. I don’t think or even want a life of endless luxury, I just think that I need something to fulfill me, and something to make me money, and if those two are one and the same, I’ll be all the happier. Regardless, I believe I will always need something to occupy my conscious mind, as I have seen what a lack of “food” can do to it. Whether this is through video games, or freelance work, or school work, this cycle of receive, complete, return is essential to maintaining a proper handle on my mind.