By BRODIE H. BROCKIE

INTO THE CAVE OF WONDERS

The Dream Jobbers meet in the Disneyland Hotel.

I left my family and darted back through the park (noticing that they were setting up for the parade on Main Street, and thinking that was odd since we were scheduled to be brought right back to the center of the park in a few minutes), rushed through Downtown Disney and into the lobby of the hotel. There, I met for the first time the rest of the Disney Dream Job winners. Most of us had already been corresponding online, and of course I had watched everyone's videos, so it was very fun to finally come face to face with these people.

We eventually were grouped into our various categories and we Jungle Cruise skippers met Rebecca (our guide) and Donna (our hostess). We walked back through Downtown Disney and into the park only to find that the parade was now taking up the path we were meant to be on, just as I'd suspected might happen. So we got our first glimpse of "backstage" (what Disney calls the areas of the park where guests never go). Rebecca led us up onto one of the rooftops on Main Street and then, realizing we were there prematurely, took us back down to the Plaza Inn ice cream parlor where the rest of the Dream Jobbers were.

We all had Polaroids taken and then were taken in groups back up to the roof where a large camera crew had assembled. With Sleeping Beauty's castle as a backdrop, we all took turns briefly introducing ourselves to the camera, saying who we were, where we were from, and what our honorary position was. It would be the first of many such recorded sound bites for the weekend.

After everyone had taken their turn, we were led back downstairs and then taken to Aladdin's Oasis in Adventureland. There, our families joined us and we were treated to various Aladdin-themed desserts (including three-dimensional magic lamps made out of chocolate). Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Genie were also on hand to say "hello." There wasn't much time to eat, though, before the winners were asked to sit in front of the stage.

I enter the Cave of Wonders.

Mickey Mouse himself appeared from the rear of the room and each of us were called, one at a time, to come up to officially begin our tenure as honorary cast members. When our names were called, we walked up to the stage, hugged Mickey, and then walked into the enormous gaping mouth on the statue of a tiger's head, the entrance to The Cave of Wonders. Fog billowed from the tiger's head as we crossed past his teeth into the harsh glare of red light and then...backstage (what Disney calls the employee-only areas of the park).

This time we were backstage in Adventureland and there we caught our first glimpse of the boats. Several of the Jungle Cruise boats were parked right on the other side of the fence where we emerged. It wasn't time yet to climb aboard, and there wasnąt much time to even look at them. We had a long walk, weaving in and out of backstage areas until we came to a costuming building.

Inside, there were five tables, one clearly themed for each dream job. The pirates' table overflowed with treasure, skulls, and plastic swords. A parrot perched in the center. The Haunted Mansion table was purple and green with a glowing green orb in the center. The Parade Performers' table was the red and white of High School Musical and decorated with pom poms, megaphones, and basketballs. The princesses' table was lacey and pink with tiaras for each girl. Our skipper table had a leopard-print tablecloth with plant life, monkey and elephant statues, and a cauldron full of shrunken heads. Even the chairs were themed to go with each table. There was no filming done in this room, we were not allowed to take our camera with us backstage. Here was elaborate themeing just for the 25 winners, Disney's legendary attention to detail at its finest.

Also on each table was a new pair of Mickey Mouse ears for each winner, our names stitched on the back, attached was our $250 gift certificate.

But it was also time to get down to business. Our orientation began with some small discussion of the proper sort of behavior for Disney cast members. We were also instructed about how to talk to the cameras (in short succinct sound bites, suitable for TV news clips).

Next we all met our trainers, two for each group. First for us was Randy. One of Disney's most experienced Jungle Cruise skippers, he has been working the attraction since 1979. He looked quite a bit like Wilfred Brimley would look if you can imagine him wearing a safari hat (shouldn't be too hard to picture) and smiling warmly (much harder, I know). Our younger trainer was Jordan, a skipper now of two years. They told us a little bit about what we'd be doing the next day and asked if we had any questions.

We did. In fact, we all had the same question: Do we have to stick to the script?

After initially being told we wouldn't receive a script at all until our arrival, we had finally received the scripts in the mail only days before leaving. None of us were thrilled with the versions we got, which seemed to only include the dullest versions of the possible jokes. Most of us had tried to prepare before by finding other official jokes online or by preparing our own material.

While this was the question on all of our minds, we weren't sure if we actually wanted to ask it. One of the other skippers, Grant, finally did. Randy replied that while we didn't need to follow the script word-for-word (yes!), we would have to stick to the scripted jokes and not make up any of our own (oh). We were also told that Randy or Jordan would be on the boat with us to drive while the honorary skippers told all the jokes.

After orientation, we were brought back to our families and to a specialreserved seating location to enjoy the night's fireworks extravaganza. The familiar voice of Julie Andrews started the show, and Tinkerbell flew across the sky to start the fireworks. Disneyland's fireworks show is really spectacular, mixing music and sound clips from Disney movies and Disneyland attractions while the sky is filled with fireworks in intricate shapes and patterns (follow this link to check out a video of the show). It's a great show, and at the start of our adventure, with its theme of dreams coming true, we all found it particularly moving. After all the worry of the contest, the elation of being named a winner, and the expectation of going on the trip, we were finally there. Something about watching those famous fireworks really drove it home: we were there, it was happening ­ weąd won! We still didnąt know exactly what to expect in the days to come, but we could already see our pre-trip expectations would be exceeded.

That was the end of the official activities for the night, and with a couple of hours before the park closed, Christa and I finally visited some attractions: Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, The Indiana Jones Adventure, Mr. Toadąs Wild Ride, It's a Small World... but not The Jungle Cruise. I stayed away from the boats that night, knowing full well I'd be on them an awful lot in the days to come.

PART FOUR: BECOMING PART OF A TRADITION