Mountain Climbing

I've literally had the first 2 sentences of a blog post on my computer screen for the last 2 weeks and have failed to write anymore than that.

I'm now approximately halfway through my ICP program and have been having an amazing time. I've been hanging out with people from Everest, met up with my sister for an action-packed 24 hours and have spent a fair bit of time climbing the same mountain over and over again.

Now, I could go into loads of detail about every day so far but quite frankly I think I'd bore myself. So instead I'm going to talk about some of the differences between this year and last year, starting with............

MY ROLE!!!!

Obviously I have no idea what's going to happen in the next 5/6 weeks but as life stands I have loved working in both Attractions and Merchandise but they are very different.

Last year I spent a lot of time talking to guests whereas this year I spend a lot of time using a raised voice and repeating the same things over and over again while learning very little about the people I'm coming into contact with. Phrases such as "How many in your group?" and "Please pull up on your lap bar" are now a permanent part of my daily routine.

Side note: If a cast member ever asks you to "pull up on your lap bar" please do just that. Thrusting your pelvis in their face achieves nothing and will only mean them continuing to tell you to pull up on your lap bar or forcing them to push further down on it themselves.

Other differences that I've noticed is that guests get far more upset when something is wrong with something that is included in the price of admission than if they have to pay extra for it, which surprises me a little. So attractions requires a lot more skill in the damage control department because we can't issue refunds in the same way that you can in a store but on the upside we don't have to handle money on a daily basis so you don't have to concentrate on whether you're giving someone the right change or not while trying to converse with them at the same time.

One potential bonus of attractions (depending on what attraction you get) is that you'll get to ride your attraction - a lot! So far I've ridden Expedition Everest over 28 times and get to do so most days that I work (all for health and safety reasons, of course!). If you don't like riding the attraction you're working on then I can imagine this getting a bit boring after a couple of ride-throughs but so far I've not got bored of my mountain.

Before I sign off again I would like to state a few facts about my ride that I'm questioned about on a daily basis.

1) Everest is 3.5 minutes long.
2) You do NOT go upside down.
3) It is both indoor and outdoors.
4) The yeti is real, she does exist and her name is Betty.
5) The yeti is still in the same place as she was when the ride first opened.
6) The yeti is DEFINITELY there.
7) You do NOT go upside down.
8) It's a bit like Big Thunder Mountain except better, smoother and with a backwards section.
9) You only go around the mountain once.
10) There's only one drop and that's the one you can see from next to the bazaar
11) Yes I have been on the ride.

BTW if you want to feel like you're going upside down then the best place to sit is the front of the train. If you want to go faster through the double spiral then sit in the back of the train.