Character Training

Oops, Megan did a little too much shopping (not only the bags in my hand, but my Vera bag is full too!)

I had a quick ride on one of my favorite ride, the teacups!

Today was a wonderful day! Not only was the sun shining, but today was my character training day. All character training for photographers occurs at Magic Kingdom, regardless of where the photographer is currently assigned. In order to get to Magic Kingdom on time at 8am, I had to leave my apartment at 6:25am and take a series of buses to arrive at the underground tunnels for my training. My day consisted of learning how to operate in a character meet-and-greet and my role in that production. To start, I would meet my character for that set (a set lasts about 30 minutes), talk to him/her about her role, and follow the performer to their location to take pictures of them interacting with the guest. I am basically there to capture any magical moments that occur between guests and the characters. What a cool job! I absolutely love seeing little children drop their jaws in disbelief-they are finally seeing their beloved character! I can't believe I get paid to do this! After a fun day of meeting and shooting different characters like Ariel, Goofy, Launchpad McQuack, and Belle, my trainer took us on a tour of the various character locations. While we were on the tour, we stopped to watch the new Celebrations parade at 3pm. The weather was just perfect for a parade.

After work, I changed into regular clothes in the tunnels and came upstairs to walk around Magic Kingdom. I decided to do a little shopping since my extra holiday discount on merchandise is coming to an end soon. So after doing some major shopping, I left the Kingdom to run some errands before the end of the day. I am so excited to go back to Hollywood Studios and have my first day of taking picutres with characters!