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BACKSTAGE

Disney *is* entertainment.

When you work there, you're not an employee. Naw, you're a *cast member*. It doesn't matter if you're a maid in a hotel, a greensmanstrolling around in a Mickey costume, or buzzing the heads of guests (never 'tourists') -- you're a cast member. The park is your stage. And therefore, everything the guests can't see becomes backstage.

Epcot comprises two sections, Future World (where all the cool techy stuff is) and the World Showcase, which has pavilions, displays, restaurants, and rides, for a number of countries. The World Showcase's center is a lagoon, with four islands in it. Around the lagoon is a promenade, and the various countries are along the exterior of this promenade. Starting at the entrance (6 o'clock) to the Showcase, we have Innoventions and the Showcase Plaza. The plaza features the Dancing Fountain, which has numerous water jets. Every 15 minutes, one of 6 pieces of rather bombastic music is played and a choreographed display takes place. Pretty cool.

Working clockwise around the lagoon from the entrance, one gets to the Odyssey restaurant, the back of which houses the employee cafeteria, then Mexico, Norway, China, Africa, Germany, Italy, USA, Japan, Morocco, France, Canada, and the UK. I *think* I've got them all, and I'm pretty sure they're in order, though I only walked past Japan once. The quonset hut that formed HQ for the kite event was backstage behind Africa.

If you think of the lagoon at the center, the promenade forms a concentric ring around it; the countries surround that, and beyond the countries is basically a wall of various styles. Everything beyond that is Backstage.

Cast members have all sorts of rules they have to follow when they're on stage and in costume. They can't eat or drink anything besides water (no matter how frustrating it is watching folks go by on 90 degree days suckin' down a frozen lemonade). They can't curse (big shock). They can't point with one finger -- you have to point with at _least_ two fingers (on the same hand... <grin>). One must always stay out of the way of guests and any pictures they may be framing, offer to help take pictures, blah blah blah. Of course, if the cast member is in street clothes, they can basically do whatever they want.

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