Before they were stars...they were cast members

Great list of some of the famous folks that were once cast members. Can you imagine Robin Williams as a Jungle Cruise skipper?

The Jack Sparrow floodgates are now opening

Attention all you folks with facial hair:

Disney employees now allowed to have facial hair
The Walt Disney Co. is making more changes in their strict dress code policy. Beginning February 3, the decades-old facial hair ban is being eliminated. In 2000, mustaches became acceptable; now, male employees will be allowed to sport beards and goatees up to 1/4 an inch in length. Since the opening of Disneyland in 1955, Disney cast members have been known for their clean-cut "Disney Look", which Walt thought made them look more approachable to guests. The other change happening next week is the introduction of Casual Fridays for cast members who aren't in front-line roles interacting with guests.

2012 Mom's Panel

It's that time of year again...that time where I try to be the bestest Disney "Mom" there is and get on the panel.  Good luck to all.  http://disneyworldforum.disney.go.com/recruiting

Disney Tackles Major Theme Park Problem: Lines

Nice story over on Mickey News dealing with some of Disney's fine industrial engineers.  I had an opportunity to benchmark some with them a couple of years ago and can assure you, Disney measures EVERYTHING!

Deep in the bowels of Walt Disney World, inside an underground bunker called the Disney Operational Command Center, technicians know that you are standing in line and that you are most likely annoyed about it. Their clandestine mission: to get you to the fun faster.

To handle over 30 million annual visitors — many of them during this busiest time of year for the megaresort — Disney World long ago turned the art of crowd control into a science. But the putative Happiest Place on Earth has decided it must figure out how to quicken the pace even more. A cultural shift toward impatience — fed by video games and smartphones — is demanding it, park managers say. To stay relevant to the entertain-me-right-this-second generation, Disney must evolve.

And so it has spent the last year outfitting an underground, nerve center to address that most low-tech of problems, the wait. Located under Cinderella Castle, the new center uses video cameras, computer programs, digital park maps and other whiz-bang tools to spot gridlock before it forms and deploy countermeasures in real time.

Continue reading... 

Play the accordion, ladies?

Looks like there's a new improv act being formed for Epcot's Italy pavilion (from Mouseplanet):

This five-piece Italian style group consists of one musician with four actors and performs on the street in a highly improvisational environment. This audition is to cast one full-time position as well as substitute positions.

Audition Calendar

Doh...just in case I come across some hidden talent I knew nothing about.  Here's a link of some open WDW Auditions: