Dispatches from Camp Ketchikan: Disney Appreciation Party 14 August 2011

Here I am with Mickey (see my mouse ears?)

     This is Disney's first season here in Alaska. They come into Ketchikan twice a week - Sundays and Thursdays. I can tell you that they are well organized as far as the tours go. They gather the tour groups in the theater, and some of us tour reps are lucky enough to be able to go on board to manifest passenger names for various flight tours. Manifesting the tourists involves collecting their tickets, writing their names on a form, getting their body weights (for weight and balance for the plane) and then submitting (texting) that information to Taquan Air for the flight part of my crab tour. Then they all come down off the ship and we get them into their assigned busses and off to their tours.

     The whole process is quite involved just to get on board the ship. Your name, D.O.B. and DL number with expiration has to be submitted to their security department via computer. But it is well worth it as it makes my whole process so much easier, especially when it is raining outside. So for about 4 weeks I tried to get on board. Candi assured me that she had set me up via computer, but they never had my name of their "list". However, eventually I did make it on the list.

     I wish that I could have brought my camera with me whenever I went on board. The ship is very pretty and the theater is great. And it made my job so much easier to get on board.

     With the season winding down, Disney threw the tour reps an "Appreciation Party." They invited a lot of us onto the ship for drinks, appetizers and a surprise visit from a few of Disney "characters". Wanda and I got a little tour of the ship from the ship's finance officer, Walter. It was a very nice little party and was nice to know that Disney appreciated all our hard work to keep things running smoothly and help make them look good.

     So, below are just some of the pictures that we took at the party.