Introduction

When is a job more than a job? Is it, when you love what you do, and look forward to working each day? How about when you look for not only ways to do your tasks better, but look to improve the facilities around you? Or maybe when you blend with your team so well, your job becomes a form of entertainment and stress relief? Or when the entire team you work with stops being just coworkers and becomes a family? But what if it’s the time you spend at work that makes you a better person?

With its official opening on May 21, 2004, Universal Orlando became home to Revenge of the Mummy, a high-speed rollercoaster thrill ride. The opening attraction operations crew got to experience lightning in a bottle, as the time spent there became a pivotal moment for themselves, the company, and the guests they interacted with daily. Their tales, are prime examples of how one should strive to “raise the bar” and not only find happiness at work but thrive within it.

My name is Mike, and I was gifted with the opportunity to work with a unique group of people who cared deeply for one another, the venue we staffed, and the company. This crew was different from anything one might find in other work environments because the majority of the crew at Mummy willingly and voluntarily engaged in activities and projects well beyond their regular job function.

These team members would be proud to work together, in order to create amazing thematic moments for our guests. They would invest personal funds to provide better amenities for the crew. They would literally write the book on how the team should thematically interact with guests. Even a select few volunteer team members, known as the 3rd Unit, met after hours to work on projects

May 21, 2019, marks the fifteenth anniversary from the grand opening of Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Florida. With the anniversary fast approaching, I decided to get together with several of the original Mummy team members to gather their stories.

What follows here are the personal accounts of these team members, the laughs we shared, the heartaches we endured, and the lessons we learned.