Behind The Scenes of Disneyland: Cast Member Events

One part of the Disney College Program I was always very excited about was the special events I'd get to participate in. At Disneyland, the Company is constantly putting on special events for Cast Members to attend, ranging from after-hours parties to keeping a ride open for us to ride after park close. On top of those company-wide events, the Disney College Program also keeps our calendars full of fun events, and many of them are things that even normal Cast Members haven’t had a chance to do! My biggest recommendation to anyone doing the College Program in the future is to take advantage of these events. Make sure you request your shifts around them, and always pay attention to when the registration opens for the events because it’s usually limited!

The unfortunate part about most of my back-stage experiences is that I don’t have many photos or videos because the park is considered back-stage after park hours even if we’re in an on-stage location. So, besides a few photos, I’ll only be able to explain most of the fun events I’ve attended so far. (P.S. "On-Stage" means anywhere that guests can go at The Disneyland Resort. "Back-Stage" means anywhere guests aren't suppose to go that's behind a gate/door/etc.)

Space Mountain with the Lights On

This event was set up through the College Program and it was so cool! After the park closed, we met backstage behind Space Mountain and entered the ride through the backstage entrance to the line queue. We rode the ride through twice – once with the lights off, and then once with the lights on for comparison. You’d think riding Space Mountain with the lights on would scare you a little bit because the tracks are so close together, but it really wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be! The tracks aren’t too close together, and you don’t have to be worried about putting your hands up, they aren’t that close. The tracks also aren’t in a very pretty design like the Incredicoaster because it’s suppose to be in the dark, so they’re kind of just all randomly intertwined. Overall, it was really cool to see a ride I’ve grown up loving from a different perspective.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Halloween Overlay Test Run

For those of you who don’t know, Guardians of the Galaxy has a Halloween Overlay that happens from 6 pm – park close during Halloween season at the Resort. Lucky for us, we got to be the first to ride the special overlay this year while they were testing it in early September! The ride was open to Cast Members after DCA closed and there were tons of people that attended, but we only had to wait in line for about 5 minutes! This event was especially fun because the Cast Members who were working the event were having tons of fun with it and were very in character which made the storyline, that the Guardians of the Galaxy "Monsters" were on the loose, even more fun.

Cast Member Farewell to A Bugs Land

As many of us know, A Bugs Land in DCA has sadly closed as of early September to make way for a new Super Hero themed land. I’m always on board for change when it comes to Disney theme parks because I know the Imagineers will create something incredible in it's place, but it’s always sad to see things go, especially a land as cute as A Bugs Land! I was lucky enough to attend a special Cast Member Farewell to A Bugs Land on its final days of operation at the Resort. We got to go into DCA before the park opened one day to ride all four A Bugs Land rides, get super cheap Churros, and take photos for the last time in A Bugs Land.

Soarin’ Around the World Backstage Tour

This was another event put on by the College Program that we had to sign up for in advance, and it was a blast to attend! Soarin’ is definitely a fan favorite attraction, and there is so much history behind the attraction that I had no idea about. We learned all about how the ride operates from a technical standpoint and even got to stand behind the gigantic screen and watch the entire show through from there. Little did I know, the screen is actually 25 feet deep, so it’s sort of like a half dome when you look at it from behind. The dimension is what allows you to feel like you’re actually going into the sky rather than just looking at a flat screen.

Another interesting thing we learned from the tour was that each of the locations we go to in the new Soarin’ Around the World were chosen based on their significance to a Disney story. To name a few, The Great Wall of China is related to Mulan, Sydney, Australia is related to Finding Nemo, and the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany is the castle Sleeping Beauty’s Castle in Disneyland is based on! There are also quite a few hidden Mickey’s throughout the show… Here’s one of the more obvious ones. 😊

The last cool thing we got to learn about is how the scents are disbursed during the show. The scents on Soarin’ started with the Oranges from Soarin’ Over California, but they added many more with Soarin’ Around the World and now there are four new scents. They also have a huge ventilation system in the theaters that completely recycles the air in 30 seconds so it’s fresh for the next scent. I thought this was pretty cool!

Mary Poppins Flashback Production

Flashback Productions is an annual Cast Member production of a Disney Broadway Show that is put on completely by Cast Members. Each year they do a new show, but the coolest part is that it’s an opportunity for Cast Members from all departments to showcase their talent in a Broadway-scale production. This year, the show was Mary Poppins The Musical, and it was put on at the Hyperion Theater in DCA. It was free of charge, and all we had to bring to get In was two canned food items each which were donated to the Orange County Food Pantry!

The show was absolutely incredible – over 100 Cast Members from attractions to merchandise to custodial and beyond were all part of the show. In fact, Mary Poppins herself wasn’t even from Entertainment, she was a Photopass Photographer which I thought was awesome because she was so talented! If there are any Flashback shows during your program, I’d highly recommend going – it was a very fun night!

I’m currently only a month and a half into my program, and I’ve already had this much fun! I’ll be posting another blog about the other backstage experiences I get to have in the coming months because I know of a few more amazing opportunities I will get to have while I am here. To give a little sneak peek, some of the coming events include Radiator Springs Racers Backstage Tour, a Mid-Program Pixar Pier Party, and a Tour of Walt Disney’s Apartment above the Main Street Fire Station. Stay tuned for more backstage experiences! 😊