A Disney Park Cast Member’s job is to make guests’ days. However, when I worked at Walt Disney World for a semester with the Disney College Program, I discovered that it’s often the guest who makes the Cast Member’s day.
I worked at the "Festival of the Lion King," which is the top-rated show on Disney property for good reason. The incredible performers take the audience along on a circus-like celebration of the Lion King’s story and music, so the Guests really appreciate the show. Many times, as I helped to direct guests out of the theatre at the end of a performance, someone would stop to thank me for a wonderful performance, even though I hadn’t done any of the really cool stuff. I was the person who told guests to slide all the way down to the end of the bleachers so that everyone could get a seat and who helped them escape to the bathroom during the show. However, I think that guests, on some level, understand that it takes a village to make a show run smoothly and their thanks always brought a smile to my face.
One family in particular that brought a smile to my face, I met while working outside the theatre. They wanted to see the show, but were too late to enter for the performance that had already started. I told them to come back in a half hour and they’d be sure to get a seat, then recommended that they take a walk down the Pangani Forest Trail to pass the time. “Tell the gorillas I said 'hi.' They’re my favorite,” I added as they left, mostly joking. About a half hour later, the family came running back over the bridge towards the theatre. As they passed me, the mother called out, “The gorillas say 'hi' back!”
Some days, I wondered if guests saw Cast Members as faceless, forgettable uniforms, but on that day, I knew that they’d seen and remembered me.
Those personal connections with guests were the best part of working at Disney World. One day, I was working at the backdoor of the theatre where the FastPass holders queue up. At the front of the queue was a family with two small children, so I crouched down to speak with them at eye level, asking them about their day and their favorite animals. After a few minutes of chatting, the parents looked down at me and said, “I wish there was someone like you in every line, to keep them entertained!”
To be honest, the kids were sometimes more entertaining for me than I was for them. Once, at the end of a show, I had the job of encouraging the remaining guests to finish taking pictures and exit the theatre so that Simba and his friends could get ready for the next show. “Simba has a lot of work to get to today,” I told the group.
“Yeah,” a little boy chimed in, “’cause he’s the king! He’s really busy!”
On another day it was pouring rain, I was working outside, and I had forgotten my rain poncho at home. I was completely soaked and starting to feel bummed, but then I realized that it was literally impossible for me to get any more wet, so there was no point in lamenting it. I started to dance to the African atmosphere music, which I firmly believe is the catchiest background sound in all of the Animal Kingdom. As guests passed by me, most of them looked at me like I was crazy to be dancing in the rain, but a few came over and started to dance with me, making me feel even better!
Dancing quickly became something that I did to pass the time during a shift. As long as I still did my job, my managers didn’t mind. At the end of a show, a guest came up to me and asked if she could take a picture with me. I was surprised; Guests often want to take pictures of the show’s parade floats and performers, and rarely of the Cast Members. A few weeks later, one of my coworkers linked me to an Instagram post. That guest had put up the photo, with a caption about how my dancing had made her smile! I have that post bookmarked on my laptop and I often look back on it, and my memories of the other guests who made my time at Disney World great, fondly.
