May 2007 archive

Firefighter Tom

Well folks, it has been a long day. Between helping Frontierland Attractions with moving Big Thunder Trains to fighting fires in the Indian Village. I have had a non-stop day! Bigest excitement for the day was putting out a fire on the train tracks. Now for those of you that don’t know, the fireworks bunker/launch site is just next to the tracks so fires are a normal thing in the evenings and at no time was anyone in danger. Issue is, this one was at 11 am. Looked like it was smoldering all night. I got a call from one of the trains and was hiking out to go check it out. Once on the scene I had to remember which tee-pea the fire extinguisher was located and then attempted to put out the fire.

This is where the humor comes in. My first attempt saw the hardly ever used extinguishers hose being shot off (this is due to where it is stored. The heat and the elements had rotted the base of the hose) and me getting the water all over me. My managers Craig and Chrissi are now laughing at this point and Craig takes over once the hose is reattached while I try and try off and get all the chemicals off me and gets nice and close to get the thing out while trying to keep the hose still on the fire extinguisher. We got the fire out just as Reedy Creek Fire Dept shows up and they proceed to pull out the more manly hose to finish the job I started.

Between the fire and other issues in the day, I didn’t get a break till close to 4 (I came in at 7). So no break time for Firefighter Tom despite being successful in putting out the fire the first try! Despite all the business stuff though, today was a fun day. Not too often I get to say I am a firefighter in my role.

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Cinco de Mayo – Epcot Style

Well, as most people know, yesterday was Cinco de Mayo so what else to do other than head to Epcot and celebrate. Seriously though, that’s what everyone does right? Yesterday my friend Brandon from the college program and I went to go enjoy Epcot and the International Flower and Garden Festival as well as enjoy the Cinco de Mayo festivities in Mexico. First on our visit, a really cool Peter Pan topiary. Wait, is that the Travelocity Roaming Gnome? Wicked!

Travelocity Roaming Gnome visits Epcot
Photo from the Travelocity ➡ Roaming Gnome Blog

After enjoying the cool Peter Pan Topiary (Everyone knows I love Peter Pan right?) I thought it was time to go meet the Roaming Gnome in person. So here you go folks, Tom meets the ➡ Travelocity Roaming Gnome!

Tom meets the Travelocity Roaming Gnome

Finally, after meeting the Gnome, it was off to Mexico to begin the Cinco de Mayo celebration and Brandon’s first time being able to drink around the world. Here is one more picture from our visit in Mexico of me with the Three Caballeros, José Carioca, Donald Duck and Panchito Pistoles.

Tom with Three Cabelleros

After leaving our friends in Mexico, it was just a nice stroll around the World Showcase with random run ins with several of my friends. It really does amaze me with a Cast Member base of 58,000 how many people I really do know. It is actually kind of scary. So that was my fun Cinco de Mayo? How was yours? Till next time. See ya!

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