An Employee From Disney Reveals Little-Known Facts About What Happens Inside Theme Parks

One of the most fun things about Disney movies is that you can also go to their theme parks, which are full of joy and fun. However, for everything we see to be possible, there must be many secrets that the public hardly ever gains access to. Emiliano Ochoa, through his social media account, told us about his experience after working there in 2018 and shows us how the magic happens.

At Bright Side, we wanted to share some secrets and facts about what happens inside the Disney parks that many may not know about, revealed by one of the employees.

1. Why Disney characters don’t like to be hugged by the neck

According to Ochoa, the neck area of the Disney character costume is very delicate, as the head is very heavy. Therefore, trying to hang on the neck to hug them can hurt them. Because of that, many characters pull away and try to hug tourists from the side and not from the front.

2. What Disney does with the products it doesn’t sell

There is a store for park employees called Cast Connection, where they can get merchandise at up to 70% off. These are Disney products that are out of season or that have some small details that went wrong.

3. A VIP club inside the park

There is an exclusive club inside Disneyland parks, called “Club 33.” It was created by Walt Disney and first opened in 1967. According to Ochoa, it can currently only have 500 active members, and there is a 15-year waiting list to join. Membership to join the club, according to the influencer, is $50,000 per year.

4. What Disney employees are not allowed to post on their social networks

In another video, Ochoa shared that Disney leaders are very attentive to their employees’ posts. They are not allowed to wear their uniforms or badges in certain places and cannot comment on their social media about their work or experiences inside the park.

5. Wearing a costume in the parks is not allowed.

Visitors over 14 years of age are not allowed to enter the facilities in costume. There is only an exception for Halloween events, where tourists can dress up, but masks and various props are not allowed. This was confirmed by the influencer in one of his videos.

6. Special characters appear during Halloween.

Ochoa said that on Halloween, the park’s theme changes, as Disney villains take center stage with unique presentations. Among them, you can see Cinderella’s stepsisters, Cruella de Vil, and the famous Jack and Sally.

7. Not all the characters wear wigs.

People often think that all Disney princesses wear wigs to play their characters, but this is not the case. According to Ochoa, girls who look very similar to the character can ask the casting and makeup team not to wear one and to don their own hair.

8. Disney’s worst job, according to Ochoa

Ochoa said in one of his videos that there is a very bad but important job in the park. Employees of each attraction must rotate to fill in this position, which basically calls for standing a whole shift, ready to press a red emergency button in case something goes wrong. It’s basically a system set up to warn people that there was an accident or that the attraction is not working well.

9. Secret tunnels in the Magic Kingdom

There are tunnels inside the parks so that workers can move around without being seen by tourists. Ochoa said that drainage pipes and garbage also pass through these tunnels, so there is often an unpleasant smell in the area.

10. Secret police inside the parks

According to Ochoa, inside the parks, there are policemen dressed as tourists who are attentive to everything that happens to help in an emergency and verify that everything is going as planned. They also enter the shows to confirm that the characters are acting, singing well, and following the script.

11. Benefits of working at Disneyland, according to Ochoa

Being a Disney employee gives you the opportunity to enter all the parks completely free of charge, and you get discounts on products and tickets for anybody who wants to come along. There are exclusive events that only employees can go to, and you can see or ride the attractions before they are open to the public. In addition, you get to meet amazing people from all over the world.

12. The challenges of working at Disney, according to Ochoa

Working hours are among the hardest parts of this job, as, according to Ochoa, they’re fairly long. In addition, you often have to deal with difficult people, and you always have to be in “happy” mode to fulfill the magic of Disney. Employees live in “Disney Housing,” where they pay rent and share rooms with other colleagues. Of course, their experiences vary greatly depending on their roommates.

13. How to get a job at Walt Disney World

There are several programs for college and non-college students over 18 years old who want to work at Disney World. Applicants can go to Disney’s website and look for the program that best suits their tastes. According to Ochoa, there are summer options that last 3 months (this is what he did), as well as 6 and 12-month programs.

Applicants must fill out a letter explaining why they want to work at Disney, send a resume, and give an interview in English to demonstrate their communication skills.

14. How employees are trained

The new members of the Walt Disney World team receive training at Disney University. According to Ochoa, new employees are trained there, where they are taught the history of the park and its creators. In addition, they inspire the new members with the magic of Disney and give them their equipment and work materials, such as a badge and Mickey’s ears. Everything ends with a tour of the facilities.

Would you like to work at Walt Disney World? Do you know any fun things that happened inside the parks?