Between Books - Amber Earns Her Ears

Amber Earns Her Ears by Amber Sewell shares with readers the experience of working in the Disney College Program.  It is a memoir that follows the actions of an introverted young lady as she works for Disney not once but twice after high school.  It is friendly and interesting story without the questionable material that might keep you from letting a younger reader from enjoying the title.

Sewell recounts two stints as a Disney cast member at the Walt Disney World Resort, starting her story in 2010.  The first tour was under the CareerStart program, no longer active, which allowed the applicants to submit their materials while still in high school.  During her CareerStart program, Sewell worked at the Electric Umbrella in Epcot.  With her return to the park, Sewell was part of the Disney College Program and worked in merchandise at Epcot.  Sewell outlines how one applies and what they can expect in the interview process.  She then discusses the training program that cast members go through and how living arrangements are setup.  And she discusses in the depth the life of a cast member both at work and play.  She also goes into depth about the disillusionment of young cast members as the magic wears off during their programs.
Honestly, I could let the Between Tween read this book.  I cannot say that about all Walt Disney World memoirs, with many of them seeming to stress the party and alcohol atmosphere that exists everywhere young people gather.  This is closer to my own college experience, one where parties with alcohol and intoxicated people existed, but where most of the social gatherings were largely innocent and silly.  I think it helps underscore the point that every cast member is not a party girl/boy, an impression that other memoirs can give.  Instead those highlighted in the book are people that are more like my history than other memoirs show.  Of course, that could be because both Sewell and I are introverts.  And the fact that Sewell and I have both written for Celebrations makes it easy for me to relate to her.

I think the aspect of the book that many young people may be interested in is the “how to” aspect of the book.  Sewell walks readers through her application, interview, housing and training experiences.  This would be a great and easy to read primer for those interested in the Disney College Program.  Yes results may vary, but Amber Earns Her Ears provides a good baseline expectation of the process end to end while still allowing the unexpected to happen.  And it may help parents feel more comfortable in allowing their young college aged adults venture to Orlando.

It is interesting though that like more cynical memoirs Sewell  shares the disillusionment of working Disney experience.  It becomes clear that despite one’s level of fandom, working for the Mouse is a taste that not everyone acquires.  And when comparing Sewell’s two experiences it becomes clear that even working in the same park can lead to a very different experience.  Like all jobs, perhaps it is about the people you work with!

The book itself is very easy to read.  Sewell’s writing flows well and one can read it as a vacation book, like I did.  The chapters read like edited blog posts, which is the origin of many of them.  In fact the second half of the book reads like it is real time instead of a historical account.

Amber Earns Her Ears by Amber Sewell is a pleasant and easy to read memoir about working at the Walt Disney World Resort.  It adds to the Between Books library by outlining the Disney College Program experience.  And it is a memoir that a parent can feel good about letting a minor read as they dream about their own future.
 

Review Copy Provided by Theme Park Press

Dreaming Disney - Dole Whip in Betweenland

As I write this, I am eating Dole Whip….in Betweenland!

I am a happy boy!

When I wrote the history of Dole Whip for Celebrations, Precision Foods mentioned that the mix was becoming popular in self-serve yogurt stores.  I had never seen one of these at the time I completed my interview I had never visited a yogurt store.  Honestly, I had no idea what was being described.  Months later one opened in my area, and I have visited it a few times.  Every time I entered hoping that pineapple would be an option.  And every time I was disappointed.  Recently I traveled through Betweenland and visited an Orangeleaf.  My friends claimed that pineapple was often an option.  When I visited, no dice!  And I inspected the wall showing all their options and at least at this store pineapple was not a possibility.     

I had come home defeated!

Today I was passing by a store I had seen a few times.  As I looked in I could see the letters “Pi” on the front of one of the soft serve machines.  I had to look.  It said pineapple and as I enjoyed my sample one phrase came to mind, “Dole Whip!”

The Sign of Success

I asked the clerk if she knew if the mix was from Precision Foods in order to verify that it was authentic and not a knockoff mix.  She was unaware of the mixes' origins and a few seconds later I realized its origins were relevant, because the taste and texture is right! 

It may not look as pretty, but it had me at first bite!

The store located in downtown Minneapolis is called (yo)gurt[lab].  There appears to be four locations throughout the Twin Cities.  They had me at first taste!   This is only the second time I have found Dole Whip in the wild, and this source should hopefully be more consistent.  The first is truly temporary, the Minnesota State Fair.  And I do not like to go there, it's crazier than Walt Disney World on the 4th of July!   

Now, where can I get cold pineapple juice?  I feel the need for a Dole Whip float!

Dreaming Disney - Celebrating Roy O. Disney

I was very excited to have issue 24 of Celebrations hit my mailbox this week, with my profile of Roy O. Disney.  Roy O. Disney is one of my favorite figures in Disney history.  He was a man able to set aside his own ego to build the dreams of others.  I became interested in Roy O. Disney when reading Bob Thomas' Walt Disney: An American Original.  The portrait that Thomas paints leads the reader to know more about this man and his life.

The Roy O. Disney article is my first journey into writing for the Disney community.  And my experience with Celebrations has helped me connect to the Disney experience in the middle of Betweenland.  I'm just a guy who likes history with no Disney connections or special access but this experience has shown me you can chase Disney dreams wherever you are! 

Dreaming Disney - My "Celebration" Experience

Several years ago the Between family was planning for a Walt Disney World vacation, one in which we were planning for a toddler and trying to find some new experiences that we had not had in our trip a few years before.  I had heard of Celebrations magazine through Lou Mongello’s WDW Radio podcast.  My wife suggested I order a copy online since it would likely have information about future events, recent park changes and maybe some planning tips that we had not considered.   I love to read, so the suggestion sounded good and I ordered the latest copy of the magazine.  About a week later I got the copy and I was hooked.

What I found was all that we expected and more.  I have a history background and I found articles providing historical information about Walt Disney World. It also contained behind the scenes information about the attractions and hotels.  There was even information relevant for traveling with kids.  Before I finished reading the issue, I had ordered the other available back issues and ordered a subscription.  I’m happy to say that today I have a full collection of Celebrations due to some timely reprints and beginning my subscription in the first year.  Yeah, I was hooked and to be honest it really helped me past my future vacation because it delivered me regular Walt Disney World information straight to my mailbox. 

Around a year later I saw publishers Tim Foster and Lou Mongello ask listeners for ideas for future stories.  Now I had ideas, but they were ideas tied to another future vacation and I really would have loved to get one of the magazine’s contributors to chime in on my questions.  I got a response from Tim thanking me for my ideas, explaining kindly why my questions currently did not fit in their plans, and letting me know if I had any additional ideas of what I wanted to write on to send them to him.  Then it hit me.  Living out in Between Disney I was actually seen as someone who might not only provide a suggestion but maybe write an article on Walt Disney World. 

Several months later I had just finished a book.  A book that left me with a pretty fun question that I wanted more of an excuse to explore.  So, I sent the idea to Tim, and was quickly told that would be a fabulous idea for an article.  I have to be honest; I had so much fun as I researched my new little project.  I loved every minute of this project and was a little sad when I had given the final submission to Tim.  But, luckily that project led to another idea which Tim also liked so I pretty quickly was able to start again and again, it was so fun writing this new Disney project.  I admit it I was addicted, which is part of the reason I even started this blog.  I really helped to lower my stress level and make me a more fun person to be around.

Later I asked my wife for ideas, after all she was where this little adventure again.  She suggested Dole Whip, as this tasty treat is something that the Between family enjoys together.  As she says, a day in the Magic Kingdom or Disneyland Park without a Dole Whip is a wasted day.    I submitted this idea to Tim.  His reaction was it would be great if possible but was it doable?  Now when I was in high school I was told by an English teacher that a creative writing paper I was writing about a purple cow was a sponge in the ocean, which led me to make it work.  So with this determination again, I found all I could about Dole Whip trying to figure out how to get content on paper.  In the end, I pulled it off.  It is not the longest article, but it did present everything I could find about Dole Whip and its history.  And it was so so fun.  I was thrilled when it arrived in my mailbox as my first published Disney article.

So what did I learn about all this experience?

First, your geography does not matter.  If I am lucky I get to the parks once every 12 to 14 months, if I am lucky.  So it’s not like I can access the parks whenever I want.  That does have certain disadvantages.  For the Dole Whip article I was not able to provide any of the photos.  Instead the editors sent someone who had access to get pictures to support the text.  Sadly for me, they probably got to eat those Dole Whips too.  In fact it was kind of fun with my limitations.  At one point on New Year’s Eve I had friends searching the windows on Main Street U.S.A trying to uncover one small piece of information.  If you have a Disney dream, you can probably find a channel for it out here Between Disney.

Second, you can become the expert.  I’m pretty sure that I found pieces of information about Dole Whip that were not widely available.  In fact Precision Foods staff reviewed my article and said they did not realize the fuller background on Dole Foods Inc.  Even if you feel like you are not the expert, which you can feel living away from the parks, you can through research and hard work smarten yourself up.  So you should never feel like you cannot do something because you do not have the expertise, instead go get the expertise. 

Third, following a dream is fun.  Writing about Dole Whip was never ever a chore.  On another future project I spent my lunches in a local library with a book not available for circulation.  That was never a hardship; in fact it became the highlight of my workday. 

 In the end I have to thank Tim and Lou for giving the opportunity for me to contribute to the Disney community on a topic that I love, Dole Whip.  Lou often encourages listeners of his podcast to follow their dream as he has his own.  In the end my Celebration experience was highly satisfying because it is true, following a dream feels great.  Now the question is what’s next?