Introduction

Welcome to "It's a Small Blog!"

Yep, we're talking about Disneyland. After applying 11 previous times, I finally got hired by the Happiest Place on Earth!

So what am I getting myself into? A good question...

I did some Googling for other blogs by Disney employees, both past and present, and I found quite a few. And I noticed that, in general, there are two distinct style of Disney blogs out there:

First is are those written by disgruntled former employees, or by people who are just plain anti-Disney. And they're not shy about expressing their opinions! To hear them talk, you'd think Disneyland is a sort of miniature North Korea nestled within the suburban former citrus groves of Southern California; a ghastly totalitarian theme park police state presided over by an all-seeing, all-knowing, infinitely evil Kim Jong Mickey who performs horrifying mind control experiments upon his helpless, captive minions.

On the other extreme are the blogs written by hardcore Disney fans; many of whom are so dedicated to all things Disney that not only can they tell you what Walt's second cousin's childhood nickname for her second cat was, but they even know, right down to the very microsecond, when the last drop fell after Mary Poppins' last menstrual cycle ended. Really, some of these people could make even the most diehard, Tribble-hoarding, latex-ear-wearing, Klingon-speaking, Mom's-basement-living Trekkie sit back and say, "Damn! Get a life!" (All of which the bloggers of the former category would cite as evidence of Kim Jong Mickey's diabolical powers.)

My opinion? Hey, I love the park and I like the movies, but I am by no means a zealot. Nor am a hater. I'm pretty straight down the line -- and I think that puts my views of the job in a rather unique light.

So where will this job take me? Will I end up never wanting to see the park again? Will it encourage me to take my discount and see all the other Disney parks of the world too? Or will nothing change at all? Maybe it will just be a job like any other. I don't know yet. I couldn't even guess.

This blog is not written in real time. To keep some sense of anonymity -- and, most likely, my job -- I am telling tell you up front that the entries you'll be reading actually occurred at least a year prior to being published. Names will have been changed, and exact details that may reveal my identity within the company will also be changed; and perhaps eliminated entirely. At this point, you're probably saying to yourself -- "but Gigi, you already have one blog that is reasonably well known" -- yes, I do. But I never talk about it at any of my jobs. You might even work with me and never know it.

Well, enough of the preliminaries...let's get to the good stuff...