This month marks the anniversary of canoes at Disneyland park – no motor or track since 1956! To celebrate, Disneyland Resort cast member Jessica Voiles will give you a glimpse into her role as a river guide aboard Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes, in this installment of Every Role a Starring Role!

Check out these posts for more Every Role a Starring Role:

• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Sketch Artist
• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Stage Technician
• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Painter

Tagged: BtS, DL, DLR, Video

Filed: Behind the Scenes, Cast Member Profiles, Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort

Whoever your favorite Disney characters may be, my bet is that cast member David Mitchell can sketch them for you. David creates custom sketches inside Disneyana at Disneyland park, and watching him work is pure magic! See for yourself in this installment of Every Role a Starring Role.

Check out these posts for more Every Role a Starring Role:

• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Stage Technician
• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Painter
• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Tram Driver

Tagged: BtS, DL, DLR, Video

Filed: Behind the Scenes, Cast Member Profiles, Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort

Disneyland Resort stage technicians have been bringing “Fantasmic!” to life for 20 years. As we celebrate the milestone anniversary this month, join stage technician James Adling for a peek inside the iconic show – and Mickey’s imagination!

For more Every Role a Starring Role, check out these posts:

• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Painter
• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Tram Driver
• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Cast Activities

Tagged: BtS, DL, DLR, Video

Filed: Behind the Scenes, Cast Member Profiles, Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort

Disneyland Resort painters are known for making the old look new, and the new look old. The key is attention to detail, according to Disneyland Resort Painter Alan Smith, who will tell you more in this installment of Every Role a Starring Role!

For more Every Role a Starring Role, check out these posts:

• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Tram Driver
• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Cast Activities
• Every Role a Starring Role – Disneyland Resort Chef

Tagged: BtS, DLR, Video

Filed: Behind the Scenes, Cast Member Profiles, Disneyland Resort

Walt Disney’s spirit of showbiz and entertainment extends far beyond a specific job classification at Disney Parks. When he created Disneyland Resort, Walt wanted everyone working there to entertain guests no matter what their day-to-day duties were. And to this day, we are called “cast members” instead of “employees”; we each have a “role in the show” rather than a “job.”

In fact, when he famously said, “You can dream, create, plan and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality,” Walt was describing that foundation. It was part of his vision behind “The Four Keys” for a great guest experience: 1) Safety, 2) Courtesy, 3) Show and 4) Efficiency.

One of the shining examples of these “Basics” for a great guest experience is found in Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort. Her name is Barbara, and she is a Main Street, U.S.A., Hostess. But she has taken her Hostess role and added quite a few twists (and turns…and spins…and several other moves!) to it. She has gained quite a few fans through the years with her dance moves during the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party that is performed several times on most days in Magic Kingdom Park.

In fact, her dancing has not only led to smiles on guests’ faces, it had another positive result. A few years ago, Barbara made the commitment to lose weight. And by creating her high-energy dance steps and celebrating with guests in the interactive street party, she has lost a total of 60 pounds since Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! debuted.

Recently, I decided to shadow Barbara as her “dance apprentice.” And despite my earlier dance attempts while eating The World’s Hottest Pepper and learning from Irish dancing pro Sarah at Raglan Road, there was no way I could keep pace with Barbara as she joined the festivities with Mickey, Minnie, stiltwalkers, dancers, the emcee and the guests who took part in the fun. She was a bundle of energy and kept a smile on her face at every turn.

It’s easy for her, she told me. “I am having so much fun out there. I love to share it with our guests. That’s why guests visit and that’s what makes the magic for me.”

Barbara is an inspiration to me. In my opinion, she embodies the spirit of a cast member that Walt Disney envisioned all those years ago.

Have you seen Barbara in action? Or do you have another cast member that sticks out in your mind as going above and beyond with some of the same “Basics”? Please share with us in the comments.

Tagged: MK, Video, WDW

Filed: Cast Member Profiles, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort

Happy Earth Month!

Did you know the Disneyland Resort guest parking lot trams run on clean-burning compressed natural gas, eliminating approximately 56,000 gallons of diesel use per year? Hear more from tram driver Debra McDowell in this installment of Every Role a Starring Role.

Tagged: BtS, Conservation, DLR, Video

Filed: Behind the Scenes, Cast Member Profiles, Disneyland Resort

In November, we announced that Imagineer Joe Rohde would be honored by the Themed Entertainment Association with its Buzz Price Thea Award Recognizing a Career of Distinguished Achievements, and on March 17, 2012, Joe received his award during the Thea Awards ceremony at the Disneyland Hotel. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Joe about the award and his career at Walt Disney Imagineering – which has included such enormous projects as Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park; Expedition Everest; Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa; and the upcoming AVATAR project at Walt Disney World Resort.

What does receiving the Buzz Price Thea Award Recognizing a Career of Distinguished Achievements mean to you, coming from your peers in the industry who make up the Themed Entertainment Association?

It’s a great honor to look at my list of achievements and to be counted among people who have done so much more than I have – it’s really an honor.

Looking back on your career, what has been the most exciting project you’ve worked on, and what has been your biggest challenge?

When I first saw the Disney’s Animal Kingdom site, I was truly terrified. Disney’s Animal Kingdom was unexplored country – we were doing lots of things that had never been done before. It’s hard not to see getting Disney’s Animal Kingdom built as a challenge. Attempting to do so many things all in one project – it was challenging and a growth experience. We were truly learning as we were doing.

With Aulani, I knew there was more to Hawai`i that many visitors don’t realize, and I knew Disney had a great opportunity to tell that story.

You’re known for your love of storytelling and attention to detail. You’ve visited many places all over the world for research – which have been your favorites? Are there places you’d still like to visit?

I love the Himalayas, and I’ve spent a lot of time there. When we were doing research for Expedition Everest, we visited places few people have been before.

Where I’d like to go…I have to go camel trekking in Mongolia and I want to go to Papua New Guinea.

What are you looking forward to next?

When I think about the AVATAR story and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, I see the value systems that underlie both. We have the opportunity to tell that story in a way that will make the AVATAR experience feel like a natural part of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

All of us who are designers have an opportunity to take the work we are given and make it something unexpected. That’s how we help the company to grow and expand into new areas.

Please join me in congratulating Joe on receiving the Buzz Price Thea Award Recognizing a Career of Distinguished Achievements!

Tagged: DLR, WDW

Filed: Cast Member Profiles, Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort