This photo is from October 2004. I had just moved to California at the age of 17 to start school at Chapman University. In September I turned 18 and in October I applied to work at Disneyland. The first time, as pictured, I didn’t make it because I said I wouldn’t work on thanksgiving.

A couple weeks later, I was hired. I spent the next year and a couple months working Fantasyland Attractions. In that same short time I discovered that a film production wasn’t the major for me. I lived in three dorms, Henley, Braden and New Hall. In this short year, I met some of the best and worst people I’ve yet known.

My first serious blog “Adventures Through Southern California” also existed during this time period. The name is based off the classic Disneyland attraction “Adventures Through Inner Space.” I learned what to do and what not to do with this medium and how easy it is to offend people. So really, I learned more of what not to do.

Working almost full time and going to school full time was interesting. I figured out how to time manage. I learned that something you thought you anted to do might not be what you really want to do.

I learned how difficult it can be to deal with situations that you haven’t encountered before. How in these situations you learn how friends can be really supportive, or just destructive. More importantly, I discovered that the only person who can control my happiness is me.

Among complex circumstances and a desire for change I left Disneyland for bigger and better things. A few months later, I decided I just wasn’t yet done with Disney and went for an adventure [that I had wanted to have since being a child] that landed me in Orlando.

I spent six months working at the Great Movie Ride, and no, not on the lego version seen here. There is something to say for attractions that are so grand that you feel like you’ve left reality and are truly in a new world. True, the max 4 mile-per-hour ride system and relatively passive audience turns most people off. You really have to walk through this attraction and explore the passageways and catwalks to truly understand its magic.

From here I spent another six months in Orlando working as a technical photographer. I don’t even know what to call the division I worked for, but at the time it was Worldwide Safety and Accessibility. It was the perfect job for me at the time… I was paid to take photos of and explore the mechanical and show systems in the attractions at Walt Disney World. I’ve literally taken pictures of every attraction at every park there. I know “it’s a small world” better than anyone ever should. You can even see a couple photos I took in the Report on Safety [PDF attack!]. My leader in this position was pretty great too, and she helped me understand the professional environment…as well as the Little Mermaid.

After I completed this internship I returned to Chapman with a new mission: Graduate. Only because I wanted to switch to a Public Relations and Advertising Major I was set back. Then Chapman decided that Freshmen should be permitted to register before upperclassmen. So I was stuck for a few semesters, unable to select the prerequisite courses required to take upper division credits.

In a strange turn of events I ended up interning at Walt Disney Imagineering actually working with some of the same people I used to work with in Florida. A year later I came back as a contractor…and that brings us to today.

At school I’ve completed all of my required coursework, including Spanish. I joined the NSAC team [sure wish I did that before] and we won our district competition with Feel Free. And we are going to Orlando for nationals. Talk about weird connections! I am a semifinalist for a Cecil Award for my Entertainment Marketing project. Even better, I complete my assignment at Imagineering on the 31st and start an awesome internship with Brandtailers, an advertising agency in Irvine.

Next Saturday I’ll be graduating from Chapman with a BA in Public Relations & Advertising. I started at Chapman when the film school was in a tiny building, the library didn’t exist and the football field was actual grass. It’s been a long journey, but in the end I wouldn’t trade the experiences I’ve had for anything.

This is all just so shocking to me. It has been a long journey from freshman to senior.

What I do know is it is only in hindsight that you see how all these seemingly random and ‘useless’ experiences combine to make you, you.

While I was working at Walt Disney World I had a mission: take a picture of every different type of themed exit sign at EPCOT. This seemingly simple task turned into an epic struggle against the salida gods [that is exit in spanish...not the god part]. Below, you’ll see a collection of the ones I captured. I’m sure I missed a bunch, any ideas which?

One of the many reasons I love EPCOT is the little design touches that contribute to the authenticity of your experience…such as exit signs that match the theme of the space they inhabit. You see, there isn’t any reduction in the safety of the environment by theming an exit sign. It is likely 95% of the visitors don’t ever notice the signs. That is the point. If the parents of Kelsey and Hunter need to exit the building quickly, the exits are clearly marked…but when they are experencing the pavilion or attraction, the signs do not intrude or interrupt the themed experience.

When the exit signs are not themed they clash between the fantasy of the designed environment and the reality of egress safety. Designers should take note of little details like exit signs that separate a novice from a professional. In recent park enhancements there has been a switch to generic exit signs [The Land, California Adventure, etc]. Usually they are black and don’t draw too much attention to themselves, but they certantly don’t match the overall theme. Sure it is a little more expensive to paint the sign or choose a unique typeface, but the subliminal enhancement of authenticity is worth it!

Without further delay, here are some great themed exit signs at EPCOT. See if you can guess what pavilion they are from and click show below the image to find out of you are right!

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And here are a few at other Disney parks…

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Does anyone have photos of these exit signs?

• Mission Space
• Test Track
• Old Journey Into Imagination
• Spaceship Earth

Maybe I should ask, has anyone else noticed these exit signs?