“To all who come to this happy place: Welcome.” -Walter E. Disney
*BEEP *BEEP* *BEE-*
The incredibly annoying alarm clock’s beeping was then suddenly silenced by the audible slam of a person’s hand. Attached to the appendage that ceased the sound of the infuriating beeping, is the bestowed upon protagonist-to-be of our story, Nathan Richards. Due to having been awakened from his peaceful slumber by the bothersome pile of wires and plastic, Nathan decides that he has no choice but to start his day. He then throws the covers of his bed off of him, and swings his lower limbs out the side of the bed before stretching his sleepy arms and legs. Once he was properly stretched and somewhat awakened, he pushes himself off of the bed to begin his morning ritual of getting ready for work. You see, most people would decide to be a doctor, a teacher, or even a lawyer when it comes to the topic of employment or occupation, but not Nathan. You see he has a very special job at a very special place. Where you might ask? Well, if have read the title of the story, maybe you would have figured it out by now!
“Man, I hate Mondays.”
Ah yes, back to our hero. Well, “hero in the making” is more like it. Nathan wasn’t much to look at, despite being skinny and a bit of a lazy bum. However, he does have some admirable traits such as being loyal to his friends and family, friendly and fun to others, and generous to those in need. After having dragged his drowsy body from the bed to the bathroom, Nathan quickly gets showered, shaved, and groomed before heading to his closet to get his work uniform for the day.
“Let’s see today’s Monday so that means…yup. Special Activities.”
Nathan reaches out and puts on his white dress shirt, blue and red plaid vest, blue dress pants, and a red tie. Lastly to complete the look, he attaches to his vest his name tag and his golden “D” pin. After having inspected his appearance, he then grabs his Cast Member satchel filled with his basic necessities and then heads out the door of his apartment. Once he reaches his car, he starts the engine, and then begins his route to work. As he signals to get on the 22 freeway, Nathan quickly searches through the playlists on his phone for the one labeled “Morning Drive”. He soon finds it and selects it, letting it play it’s first song on his car’s speakers.
“Heigh ho heigh ho it’s off to work w- CLICK”
Nope, too relevant. It was too early for songs that already sing about what you’re currently doing. He then pushes the skip button, hoping for something better.
“When you wish upon a sta- CLICK”
Not in the mood to be crying happy tears.
“Ariel listen to me, the human world it’s a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they got up there!”
Ah. Under the Sea. A classic and a perfect song to get the morning started.
As you all can probably guess, Nathan is a Disney-fanatic. However, he’s not only that but a Cast Member as well! To those who do not know what a Cast Member is, they are the employees who work at the most magical place on Earth, the Disneyland Resort. They maintain and operate the Disneyland Resort through several departments such as guest services, custodial, security, entertainment, transportation, merchandise, attractions, food and beverage, and more! They are the ones who make Disneyland the Happiest Place on Earth, and keep it that way for people of all ages.
He soon reaches the Pumba parking lot, reserved for Cast Members, and hops onto the Cast Member shuttle to the park. On the way, there he mentally prepares himself for the long day ahead and also checks his bag for everything that he needs.
"Let's see, got my water bottle, wallet, Cast Member ID, some snacks, decks of cards, my earbuds, and journal. Looks like I've got everything."
You see today Nathan is working as a Tour Guide, guiding guests, celebrities and VIPs all around the park. As he shows them around the park, he is also giving historical and fun-filled facts furthering the Guests' magical visit. Plus as a bonus, he gets to escort them to the front of the rides and sometimes gets to joins them! Despite it’s fun nature, it is a very demanding job, one in which he must be ready to answer ANY questions about the park or Disney itself. He also has to be full of energy and be prepared for his Guests’ every need, as he shows them the wonders that the park has to offer.
Soon the shuttle stops at Harbor Pointe, and all of the morning shift enter the park to start the day. However before Nathan enters into the park itself, he first makes a quick stop at the Starbucks located just inside of the employees' entrance to the park, getting a well-needed cup of joe to get his motor running. With his nearly finished Caramel Frappachino in one hand, and his Cast Member informational packet containing showtimes and character meet and greets' information in the other, he was ready to start the day.
After navigating around the costumed characters, parade floats, and custodians, Nathan finally reaches Main Street U.S.A. As he walks across the Town Square, he watches the American flag get raised up on the flagpole and the shops of Main Street open there doors. Everything was being getting ready for another day of Disney magic for the incoming Guests. As he makes his way up the steps to City Hall, Nathan stops and turn around to look longingly at the place of prestidigitation across the street from him.
When he’s not a Tour Guide at City Hall, Nathan is a magician at the Main Street Magic Shop performing shows of magic for visiting Guests and demonstrating skills of sleight-of-hand for excited kids. The Main Street Magic Shop holds a special place in his heart for it was the first place he worked at in the park, and was where he found his inner calling to be a Cast Member. Nathan then shakes his head to clear those distracting thoughts, and continues walking up the steps of City Hall to get his assignment.
"What am I doing? I should be focused on getting ready. Okay, I haven't been given any information about who today's group is, but from what I can gather it's most likely going to be a VIP."
When a Tour Guide isn't told who they're given a tour to, it is usually an important person like a celebrity, an executive, or politician. Today however, after Nathan talked to his superiors at City Hall, he will be giving a tour to a very special group of Guests who have never visited the park before. Who these Guests were, Nathan had no clue. All that he knows is that the group has booked the VIP Tour for seven days, and will be meeting him in front of the Mickey flowerbed. After his meeting with his supervisors, Nathan leaves City Hall and walks under the Disneyland Railroad as he looks at the informational packet containing the little details regarding his group.
"Wow. Seven days? For someone to afford that many days definitely has to be a celebrity or a VIP. Let's see here, it say's that the leader and planner of the group is named...Soleil? Hmmm sounds French."
Nathan soon arrives in the Main Entrance area, where he readjusts his tie and puts away the informational packet into his satchel for safekeeping as he waits patiently for any sign of the group he is supposed to meet. He then raises his right arm and glances down at his Mickey Mouse watch, to see that see the smiling mascot pointing it’s arms at 7:55 AM. Only 5 minutes till the park opens, Nathan notices as he turns to look at the bed of flowers arranged to look like the beloved mouse, and sighs in contentment. Nathan loved this place, and he loved this job. For it is where he could be himself, and share his love of magic and Disney to those around him.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for a Nathan Richards? He's supposed to be our tour guide for the day."
Nathan smiles and turns around to greet his soon-to-be introduced group.
"Why yes! It's a pleasure to meet you Miss-...."
Before Nathan could finish his greeting, he becomes completely awestruck and dumbstruck by what he sees before him. Nine creatures stand in two rows in front of him, two being particularly taller than the rest and four being the smallest ones. Before he could say anything, one of the tallest beings steps forward. However this wasn't just a being, it was a horse! At least Nathan thought it was a horse, it was white and had a crown atop a flowing rainbow-colored mane. It then bowed it's horned head slightly and then began to open it’s mouth as though it were about to say something to him. Yeah right, like horses can-
“Good morning, my name is Princess Celestia. Mr. Richards I assume?”