Introduction

I was born and raised in Antioch, California. With Disneyland only an eight-hour drive away, my family went there every other year. I knew I wanted to work there. The dream had started. Then, when I was fifteen years old, my parents took us to Walt Disney World in Florida. I instantly fell in love with Epcot and knew I would work someday. That dream came true in July 1995. I will never regret the choice I made to work for the Disney company.

I have to admit that I’ve had more wonderful experiences than I can count working at Walt Disney World. Most cast members won’t find themselves in quite as many truly great experiences simply because they don’t make themselves available for those experiences.

Here’s a brief history of my working career at Walt Disney World:

I started off at Epcot’s Innoventions in 1995. My first job was that of a “technologist”. We walked around the two Innoventions buildings and gave help to those in need as they made their way through the attraction. We were also the greeter that met you outside as you came into Innoventions. Here I gained a wealth of knowledge about guest interaction.

Eventually, a tip board was constructed and the technologists moved outside to work it. A tip board is a sign board that gives wait times as to how long you will wait in an attraction queue. They usually have a cast member out front of it giving directions and helping to plan a guest’s day. I’ve planned many a stay at Epcot from the tip board and met many regular guests and annual passholders.

From here I was moved inside to the Oracle exhibit, where we talked about interactive television. This was ground breaking at the time, but you probably use it every day now—stopping, starting, fast forwarding your television shows at will. This is also where I was made a Disney trainer, a position I am still very proud of to this day.

Due to family responsibilities, I moved back to Wisconsin for about four months. I realized that I belonged at Walt Disney World, so my wife, Crescent; my daughter, Natasha; and I moved back to Florida and I returned to Innoventions, but this time they placed me in the Disney Interactive exhibit.

Soon I was picking up shifts at many of the other exhibits throughout Innoventions. But the one thing I shied away from was spieled exhibits. David, one of my managers, really wanted me to learn the spiel at the House of Innoventions. Eventually, I listened to him and did the spiel. And to my surprise I loved doing it. My first show was extremely scary to do, but as the show went on, I got more comfortable. I found out that I liked talking on a microphone. As soon as my first show was over, I asked if I could give the next show. I was hooked.

This led me to join the Fly Team. Our job on the Fly Team was to know all the exhibits and spiels at every Innoventions exhibit and be able to move from exhibit to exhibit on a moment’s notice. It was a great job with lots of variety.

From the Fly Team I was promoted to coordinator of training for Innoventions along with my partner Norm, who is still a treasured friend of mine. As coordinators, we would make the training schedules for our new cast members and teach the orientation class at Epcot, known as Discovery Day.

Innoventions had just gone through a complete rehab, so there was no longer a need for two training coordinators there. This gave me the opportunity to move to the Norway and China pavilions at Epcot’s World Showcase. Here I was in charge of four areas of training: merchandise, custodial, attractions, and food and beverage. Although I enjoyed them all, it was food and beverage that stole my heart.

My next move was to training coordinator for food and beverage at the Canada and United Kingdom pavilions. My passion for food and beverage was growing steadily. Soon I was promoted to the position of restaurant guest service manager (RGSM) at the Electric Umbrella in Epcot’s Future World.

After getting my feet wet in quick service, I was moved back to Canada as an RGSM at Le Cellier. What a great time I had there. The cast were as fantastic as the food. While at Le Cellier, I was given a six-month opportunity to be the area manager of Le Cellier. An area manager is known as a general manager in most restaurants outside of Disney. I still have treasured friends from working at Le Cellier. You know who you are.

From Le Cellier I was transferred to the Flying Fish Café, a four-star restaurant on the BoardWalk with plenty of awards. I had big shoes to fill. Fine dining was great, but I missed Epcot.

I made the move back to Epcot at a restaurant in the Land Pavilion called Seasons. There I worked both at Seasons and the Garden Grill restaurants. By this time I was also filling in shifts at many restaurants throughout Walt Disney World, including some where I had never worked (and occasionally never eaten!) before. What a thrill to walk into a location you know nothing about, but have to deliver amazing guest service. This taught me to be flexible on a moment’s notice.

From Seasons I was moved back to the Norway Pavilion as RGSM at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, a princess character dining location. I loved working at this restaurant, but it was time to move on again. This time I was transferred to Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café at the Magic Kingdom. At the time, Cosmic Ray’s was the third busiest restaurant on the planet.

Finally, I moved to Olivia’s at the Old Key West resort. This would be my last restaurant and work experience at Walt Disney World for three years. From there I would go on to open my own successful restaurant in downtown St. Cloud, Florida, called Crescent’s Coffee and Tea. Although we started out as a coffee house, we ended up as an entertainment night spot and specialty beer restaurant. But owning your own restaurant has a way of taking its toll on you. The hours are long and you begin to miss out on life.

After I closed Crescent’s Coffee and Tea, I took some time off. This doesn’t mean that I did nothing. I spent my time writing my first ebook, Employee Retention and the 21st Century Manager.

Next, I made the move back to Walt Disney World. I got a part-time job working at the monorails; I wanted to be as far away from restaurants as I could for a while. Not to say that I will never go back, as that passion for food and beverage is still inside me.

After about a year and a half, I moved to the Magic of Disney Animation at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Here I got to talk to Mushu the dragon, color, and interact with guests.

Then I was in a car accident that has made it tough to walk and stand, so I took a role at the Disney Reservation Center in Tampa where it’s my job to help guests plan their vacations. It’s an amazing job and I truly love it and am there to this day.

I may move locations again, but I never plan on leaving Walt Disney World; at least not until retirement.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I enjoy going down memory lane writing it. As you’ll soon discover, if you haven’t already, I love working at Walt Disney World. Maybe this book will show you some of the magic that being a Disney cast member entails. It’s not all roses and champagne, but the great things far outweigh any bad experiences that I may have had.

By the way, you don’t have to turn the page and start reading. You can turn to any page and start reading. There’s no chronological order. As the sub-title suggests, these really are “snapshots” of my years at Walt Disney World, and like photos you spread out before a friend, they can be enjoyed in whatever sequence you like.