From The Past: August 2, 2008

Kevin and I found it fascinating that we heard more foreign languages spoken at Disney than American English. At Epcot, it made the experience of visiting different countries more realistic because the people who worked there were actually from the country in which they worked. For example, in the United Kingdom, the lady was actually from England. In China, the women were Chinese. Also, when speaking to each other, the employees always spoke in their native tongue.

I kept all of our receipts, so here is a list of employees’ names just to show you the diversity at Disney:

Michael, Frick, Cherry, Ileana, Chee-Lim, Stephen, Kiandra, Corey, Nick, Jack, Harry, Alice, Edward, Apolline, Gewnaelle, Kayleigh, Doris, Yvonne, Sergio, Anne-Celine, Danielle, Yosan, Bobbie, Jacobine, Donald, Maria, J.P., Divya, Magdalena, Jason, Marilyn, Andres, Milagro, Wing Yan, Jany, and Migrely.

I would say 98% of the time; we couldn’t understand a word spoken around us while waiting in line to board a ride. We heard Portuguese, Spanish, French, Russian, German, Hindi, Canadian accents and English accents. There were more languages spoken, but we could not recognize what they were. We did hear American English, but it was definitely NOT in the majority.

I feel it is wonderful that people from so many different states and countries could come together and be happy.

While on a shuttle bus one night I heard the familiar resonance of a Kentucky accent. I asked the people where they were from, and yes indeed, they were from Harlan, Kentucky! That twang is hard to hide!

This picture was taken on day 5:

We did buy some souvenirs for ourselves. I bought this shirt in The United Kingdom at Epcot:

The front says “Established 927 England” and the back is the flag of England (Saint George’s Cross).

In the photo below, Ashley’s souvenirs are in the top two blocks. She bought two purses, Rugrats in Paris, two bracelets, and two pairs of earrings.

The bottom left photo is a Christmas ornament of Mickey’s Sorcerers hat. The right photo is a key ring that says, “Haunted Mansion”.