But Wait There's More
Jan. 12th, 2025 07:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39Up on Thursday with the knowledge that things are moving ahead with the Universal job opportunity.
All it means at time of this writing is that I've got orientation on Friday, it's 9 hours long and no idea what it will entail. So I'll dress nice-casual and pack a lunch and have my trombone in the trunk? Idk. Maybe by the end of that day we'll have actual job offers.
Meanwhile I've got transcription to do. Ate breakfast and worked on it, chatted with Jameson, planned to make enchiladas for dinner. Finished this messed-up transcription project and sent it in hoping I'd done everything right (it's a new scenario for me, getting broken audio.) Went to the dentist, got ingredients for dinner, made the enchiladas.
Nice, normal night.
-------------------------------------------------------
Up early to enjoy "me time" before Universal orientation. Did I mention that this orientation is optional? Yeah, so weird. I suppose because it was so last-minute, and because they haven't actually given anyone an offer yet? I hadn't made plans for today anyway.
It was a long day.
(IMPORTANT: I've signed an NDA with Universal. I will not be sharing any unreleased or confidential details about the new park, sorry :/ But there are still exciting details here if you're a theme park fan!)
Drove to the HR building, and there was a huge queue out the door. There were about twelve musicians for our show there: clarinet, trumpet, and trombone. Our third party representatives (Villa Creative) rounded us up and took us to a building where we received Universal ID badges! I was not expecting this to happen today as the orientation had been optional.
It is so wild to have ID badges for both Disney and Universal at the same time. Wow.
(it feels like working simultaneously for Coke and Pepsi lol)
After that we walked to a big sound stage, signed our NDAs, and found seats in the huge room as the orientation got underway. It started off with a lot of general info, stuff that you might hear at any employment orientation: safety, types of employees/employment, pay rates, etc. Snacks and water were provided, and we got a 90-minute lunch break.
During the break I walked around a bit in the sun to warm up. I saw the Hogwarts Express pass by on overhead rails about five times! I ended up at an employee cafe where I bought an apple, then found the rest of my group and sat and chatted about music nerd stuff for a while. We took a short walk into the park, just because now we can freely walk between the public park and the backstage. Fun, and a feeling of power muahahahaaaa!
(Myself, Andrea, Rick (clarinet, taking the photo), Joe (clarinet, holding the cuppa), and Brayden (trombone))
The orientation resumed with several hours covering details about each of the five "worlds."
The world that you see when you enter the park is Celestial Park, which is a sort of Narnia-like "wood between the worlds" with portals leading to the four other areas of the park. It’ll have its own restaurants, entertainment, play areas, and a hotel on site, among other things. And the other four areas are as follows:
How to Train Your Dragon Isle of Berk: It's of course based on the movies (I haven't seen them all but up to the point of where the nightfuries have babies I guess?) There was a lot of enthusiasm for this park. And there was a leak a few months ago...some dragon-related content that generated a lot of hype...and should give you an idea of what amazing things are in store for this land. If you want a real sneak peek, check out the Untrainable Dragon show that's happening in Beijing! Same show is coming to us!
Super Nintendo World: You can get a good idea of what we're in for by looking up footage of Super Nintendo World in Japan! The hype here was mostly about character meet-and-greets, the food, and the merch. There are other surprises that I can't detail here ;)
Dark Universe: Classic monsters! Frankenstein, werewolves, vampires, and more. If you're a fan of classic monsters or just paranormal/gothic/supernatural stuff, this world is gonna be for you. There's a vampire-themed steakhouse, a monster makeover experience, and LOTS more themed stuff that I can't talk about yet.
Harry Potter Ministry of Magic: This is where I'll be working. Guests can ride the Metrofloo, a mass-transit version of the Floo Network, across time and space to visit 1920s Britain and Paris. There's actually so much in this park that I'm not sure I remember it all, but I can tell you that there are new and customizable wands and interactions, incredible restaurants featuring French cuisine, interactive performers strolling around, gorgeous 1920s costume theming, and an incredible circus stage show featuring Newt Scamander and his Fantastic Beasts! If you're a Harry Potter fan this is a must.
The technology being used, especially in Berk and in the Ministry of Magic, is astounding. I mean, you saw the flying dragon/drone...imagine what they HAVEN’T revealed yet! Some people are gonna have their minds blown.
Covering all five new “worlds” took pretty much the whole day. This park is gonna be massive and all-new. Very exciting! We were released at 5:30, and shortly after that I got my official offer letter.
From here we’ll go into a full week or two of rehearsals, during which time they’ll decide who will get full time roles and who will get part time/sub roles, and offer us contracts accordingly. The decision will be based on how we perform during those rehearsals. EEK.
Andrea has the most theme park experience of the three of us. Both Andrea and Mariah are more extroverted and have more stage presence than me. PLUS I’m a pessimist. So I anticipate being offered part time or sub. And whatever is offered I will take it and be grateful. I barely, begrudgingly auditioned for this only because a friend badgered me into it. It’s more than I ever expected already.
Some of you may remember that I have ALSO been offered a touring opportunity for later this year.
And you may be wondering how I can make Universal AND the tour work.
The answer is, I can’t. I’m waiting for a written contract from the tour. While I wait to see what happens, I can work for Universal for several months.
Ultimately, I haven’t crossed that bridge yet.
For today, I have work, in Orlando, as a musician, for the spring and summer.
At a shiny new theme park! It’s very exciting!!
I drove home and told Jameson everything. He’s very excited and happy for me, as you may imagine! I feel guilty to have such good windfalls while he is struggling. But also, I'm not an idiot. I know that we are all dealt different hands in life at different times. And when you have a good hand, you play it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, I got a new transcription job and was up early to work on it knowing that my time will be limited next week.
In the afternoon I took a break to sweep the pool deck and move our furniture to the garage in preparation for pressure washing on Sunday. Then lunch and practicing bass trombone for a bit before returning to transcription (I won't get this project done before rehearsals start but need to do as much as I can.)
Jameson had a day off plus he can't do much with his arm yet, so he watched the classic Batman movies and relaxed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, up early and worked at transcription until the pressure washer showed up. He's done our pool deck before so I knew what to expect. While he worked I ate breakfast and continued transcription. He finished up around 11am, and did a great job.
Before and after of the whole pool deck. Notice the dark rust spots are gone in the second photo.
Before and after of the area around the pool.
When he'd left I moved all of the furniture back to the pool deck, had lunch, and went out to get ingredients for dinner. A few more hours of transcription and I didn't quite finish where I'd wanted to, but it's better than nothing. Since I'll be in full time rehearsals all week now, that means anything I didn't finish today will have to be done either VERY early in the morning, or at night after the workday.
Dinner was a pork tenderloin I found in the freezer, cooked with apples and onions and thyme and a mustard rub, with roasted potatoes and brussels on the side. It feels nice to cook again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday: First day of Epic Universe rehearsals! And, you know...transcription.
Tuesday through Thursday: Rehearsals every day, transcription, and whatever else I have energy for.
All it means at time of this writing is that I've got orientation on Friday, it's 9 hours long and no idea what it will entail. So I'll dress nice-casual and pack a lunch and have my trombone in the trunk? Idk. Maybe by the end of that day we'll have actual job offers.
Meanwhile I've got transcription to do. Ate breakfast and worked on it, chatted with Jameson, planned to make enchiladas for dinner. Finished this messed-up transcription project and sent it in hoping I'd done everything right (it's a new scenario for me, getting broken audio.) Went to the dentist, got ingredients for dinner, made the enchiladas.
Nice, normal night.
-------------------------------------------------------
Up early to enjoy "me time" before Universal orientation. Did I mention that this orientation is optional? Yeah, so weird. I suppose because it was so last-minute, and because they haven't actually given anyone an offer yet? I hadn't made plans for today anyway.
It was a long day.
(IMPORTANT: I've signed an NDA with Universal. I will not be sharing any unreleased or confidential details about the new park, sorry :/ But there are still exciting details here if you're a theme park fan!)
Drove to the HR building, and there was a huge queue out the door. There were about twelve musicians for our show there: clarinet, trumpet, and trombone. Our third party representatives (Villa Creative) rounded us up and took us to a building where we received Universal ID badges! I was not expecting this to happen today as the orientation had been optional.
It is so wild to have ID badges for both Disney and Universal at the same time. Wow.
(it feels like working simultaneously for Coke and Pepsi lol)
After that we walked to a big sound stage, signed our NDAs, and found seats in the huge room as the orientation got underway. It started off with a lot of general info, stuff that you might hear at any employment orientation: safety, types of employees/employment, pay rates, etc. Snacks and water were provided, and we got a 90-minute lunch break.
During the break I walked around a bit in the sun to warm up. I saw the Hogwarts Express pass by on overhead rails about five times! I ended up at an employee cafe where I bought an apple, then found the rest of my group and sat and chatted about music nerd stuff for a while. We took a short walk into the park, just because now we can freely walk between the public park and the backstage. Fun, and a feeling of power muahahahaaaa!
(Myself, Andrea, Rick (clarinet, taking the photo), Joe (clarinet, holding the cuppa), and Brayden (trombone))
The orientation resumed with several hours covering details about each of the five "worlds."
The world that you see when you enter the park is Celestial Park, which is a sort of Narnia-like "wood between the worlds" with portals leading to the four other areas of the park. It’ll have its own restaurants, entertainment, play areas, and a hotel on site, among other things. And the other four areas are as follows:
How to Train Your Dragon Isle of Berk: It's of course based on the movies (I haven't seen them all but up to the point of where the nightfuries have babies I guess?) There was a lot of enthusiasm for this park. And there was a leak a few months ago...some dragon-related content that generated a lot of hype...and should give you an idea of what amazing things are in store for this land. If you want a real sneak peek, check out the Untrainable Dragon show that's happening in Beijing! Same show is coming to us!
Super Nintendo World: You can get a good idea of what we're in for by looking up footage of Super Nintendo World in Japan! The hype here was mostly about character meet-and-greets, the food, and the merch. There are other surprises that I can't detail here ;)
Dark Universe: Classic monsters! Frankenstein, werewolves, vampires, and more. If you're a fan of classic monsters or just paranormal/gothic/supernatural stuff, this world is gonna be for you. There's a vampire-themed steakhouse, a monster makeover experience, and LOTS more themed stuff that I can't talk about yet.
Harry Potter Ministry of Magic: This is where I'll be working. Guests can ride the Metrofloo, a mass-transit version of the Floo Network, across time and space to visit 1920s Britain and Paris. There's actually so much in this park that I'm not sure I remember it all, but I can tell you that there are new and customizable wands and interactions, incredible restaurants featuring French cuisine, interactive performers strolling around, gorgeous 1920s costume theming, and an incredible circus stage show featuring Newt Scamander and his Fantastic Beasts! If you're a Harry Potter fan this is a must.
The technology being used, especially in Berk and in the Ministry of Magic, is astounding. I mean, you saw the flying dragon/drone...imagine what they HAVEN’T revealed yet! Some people are gonna have their minds blown.
Covering all five new “worlds” took pretty much the whole day. This park is gonna be massive and all-new. Very exciting! We were released at 5:30, and shortly after that I got my official offer letter.
From here we’ll go into a full week or two of rehearsals, during which time they’ll decide who will get full time roles and who will get part time/sub roles, and offer us contracts accordingly. The decision will be based on how we perform during those rehearsals. EEK.
Andrea has the most theme park experience of the three of us. Both Andrea and Mariah are more extroverted and have more stage presence than me. PLUS I’m a pessimist. So I anticipate being offered part time or sub. And whatever is offered I will take it and be grateful. I barely, begrudgingly auditioned for this only because a friend badgered me into it. It’s more than I ever expected already.
Some of you may remember that I have ALSO been offered a touring opportunity for later this year.
And you may be wondering how I can make Universal AND the tour work.
The answer is, I can’t. I’m waiting for a written contract from the tour. While I wait to see what happens, I can work for Universal for several months.
Ultimately, I haven’t crossed that bridge yet.
For today, I have work, in Orlando, as a musician, for the spring and summer.
At a shiny new theme park! It’s very exciting!!
I drove home and told Jameson everything. He’s very excited and happy for me, as you may imagine! I feel guilty to have such good windfalls while he is struggling. But also, I'm not an idiot. I know that we are all dealt different hands in life at different times. And when you have a good hand, you play it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, I got a new transcription job and was up early to work on it knowing that my time will be limited next week.
In the afternoon I took a break to sweep the pool deck and move our furniture to the garage in preparation for pressure washing on Sunday. Then lunch and practicing bass trombone for a bit before returning to transcription (I won't get this project done before rehearsals start but need to do as much as I can.)
Jameson had a day off plus he can't do much with his arm yet, so he watched the classic Batman movies and relaxed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, up early and worked at transcription until the pressure washer showed up. He's done our pool deck before so I knew what to expect. While he worked I ate breakfast and continued transcription. He finished up around 11am, and did a great job.
Before and after of the whole pool deck. Notice the dark rust spots are gone in the second photo.
Before and after of the area around the pool.
When he'd left I moved all of the furniture back to the pool deck, had lunch, and went out to get ingredients for dinner. A few more hours of transcription and I didn't quite finish where I'd wanted to, but it's better than nothing. Since I'll be in full time rehearsals all week now, that means anything I didn't finish today will have to be done either VERY early in the morning, or at night after the workday.
Dinner was a pork tenderloin I found in the freezer, cooked with apples and onions and thyme and a mustard rub, with roasted potatoes and brussels on the side. It feels nice to cook again.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday: First day of Epic Universe rehearsals! And, you know...transcription.
Tuesday through Thursday: Rehearsals every day, transcription, and whatever else I have energy for.
Tags:
no subject
Date: 2025-01-13 03:32 pm (UTC)Is it unusual to do the orientation before getting an offer? That feels out of order to me, but as you said since things are so last minute maybe they're just doing the best they can. Still exciting!
If you put your ID for Disney and Universal in the same back, does the bag spontaneously combust?
no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 02:15 am (UTC)Yes, it's super unusual to do orientation before getting an offer, especially for a new park and having to sign a nondisclosure because orientation involves super-secret information. They want as few people as possible viewing that information before the park opens. Having people you don't intend to hire in the room to see that stuff, even with an NDA, is a liability.
It's one thing to open a new show, or a new section of a theme park. But this is an ENTIRE new theme park. It would be like opening Universal Orlando, the whole thing, all at once, for the first time.
And if it helps with context...Epic Universe will be twice as large as Universal Orlando.
And LOL!! Maybe the two IDs would fight to the death in my backpack!
no subject
Date: 2025-01-14 02:57 pm (UTC)ID thunderdome!
no subject
Date: 2025-01-13 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-19 07:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-01-19 02:33 pm (UTC)There's a lot of info online already actually, digital "fly-throughs" of each world and descriptions of merch and rides and such. I'll be sharing some of those for now. Somewhere between March and April I expect previews to start happening for VIPs and employees, so there will be more info released then. And then in late May there should be pretty much no more secrets!