Being Part of the Show

Whew. The past two weeks have been fun filled with work and respiratory ick. Trying to get back into the swing of things, so one quick blog for today.

Down in the basement, I have bins of awards for public speaking (and even some for stand-up comedy). Yet, for some reason, when the request for volunteers at a Disney park goes out, I typically try to hide. Yes, I live in terror about being part of the show.

So maybe it was the wacky feelings of joy about being on the honeymoon, but I actually volunteered at the Flights of Wonder show, and I have no regrets whatsoever. Here's what my experience was like.

The Flights of Wonder show, located at the Caravan Stage in the Asia section of the park, is a free-flight bird show. The plot is pretty simple--a tour guide is afraid of birds, and learns that birds are nothing to fear. During the course of the show, many different birds and their habits are displayed. Unlike some other bird shows that may have birds doing very unnatural things, the emphasis in this show is showing natural behaviors.

There are a couple times where volunteers are asked for out of the audience. The one that I participated in involved going up on stage (gulp) and having a very swift-flying bird flying over your head to perch on the handler standing behind you.

When I was picked, I was called down to the stage, asked for my name and where I was from, and was introduced to the audience. Along with two other people, we were escorted onto the stage and showed where to sit. With our cameras at the ready, we were told to watch for a bird flying from the far side of the auditorium. The bird was so fast, within a matter of seconds it was over, and off I went back to my seat, picture in the camera, memories in my head, and thundering applause from the audience from my spectacular performance on stage.

(Okay, the applause probably wasn't thundering, nor was it likely for my performance, but it was quite the rush nearly getting run over by that bird!)

I believe at the end of the experience I got a certificate. It probably is somewhere down in the basement with the public speaking awards.

If you ever get the chance to participate in a show at Disney, I highly encourage it. It is a low-stress experience and a great memory for years to come. I also recommend the Flights of Wonder show. It is a great way to get off your feet and see some really amazing birds up close and personal.

And if you get to be the person on stage with the bird flying at you at a high rate of speed with it getting so close that you can feel the breeze of its feathers on your face, it's really up close and personal!