Once Upon a Time at The Disney Store

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Quite a few years ago, 1994, to be exact, I became a part time Cast Member at The Disney Store in Glendale, AZ. This was back in the day (It doesn’t seem so long ago; in reality it’s been almost twenty years!) when The Disney Store was a destination store; the focus was as much on collectibles and adult merchandise as much as kids’, and plush was relegated to a “mountain” at the back of the store. I was in heaven; definitely a DisNerd’s dream come true.

That’s my Cast Member head in the back row next to Goofy!

There are quite a few stories I could tell from that era, from the lady who had the Seven Dwarves tattooed all the way up her leg (yes – ALL the way up), to winning the store and participating in the district level of the Disney Store Trivia Challenge on three separate occasions, to a cast member trip to Disneyland where a fellow CM got caught shoplifting.

But this is a different story. One that began four years later.

I had just been made Stock Captain, which was a glorified term for warehouse manager. However, it was a full-time position (in the world of retail such things can be rare), and I wore that blue polo with honor, just as I did the blue and turquoise cardigan before. I looked upon the position as a jumping off point for a future with Disney.

However, one completely unexpected event changed that.

That fall, as was tradition, The Disney Store brought on its slate of seasonal part timers for the Christmas season. Among them was a girl named Stephanie. Now, I will say up front, The Disney Store did not have an anti-dating policy. But I did. I had decided that I wasn’t going to date anyone I worked with. From personal experience, it didn’t work well. But I liked Stephanie. A lot.

What was a boy to do?

I interviewed for and was transferred to a position with Club Disney, a short lived kids’ play concept from Disney. The day I put in my notice, I called Stephanie and asked her out.

Ten years later….

The powers that be at Disney decided it was time for a change. The Disney Store at Arrowhead in Glendale, Arizona, would be closed for an indeterminate amount of time until a newly remodeled store could be opened in a different location. The store that held many memories for so many people would be closing after 14 years.

So, on a mid-March afternoon, Stephanie and I took our 6 month old daughter to see where Mommy and Daddy first met, as well as to say goodbye:

The Disney Store has since reopened at that mall, and we are, of course, frequent guests. But the old Disney Store….. For some of us, it wasn’t just another store in the mall, it wasn’t just a part time retail job.

See Ya Real Soon!

It was a place of fantastic memories, some of which are still being made.

A DisNerd At An Early Age

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It’s not like I live at Disneyland. As a matter of fact, I live out of state and make it there about four times a year. To some, that’s too much, but not to me, my wife, or my daughter. It’s just that Disneyland has always been a part of me. In my blood, so to speak. My father started going to Disneyland with his family in 1956. My mother will volunteer the fact that I was conceived on a trip to Disneyland, a fact that just kind of freaks me out and for that reason, will not be discussed from here on out.

With my sister and Mickey, circa 1977

 

When I was younger, Disneyland was a favorite vacation destination for me. I can’t remember too much about those trips; I was a little too young. I do know that one of my family’s favorite photographs come from me being pushed in a stroller by Dale the chipmunk, screaming my cute little Mickey ears off. There are many other pictures of me at the park, but no real memories come of those.

The few things I do remember are little in the grand scheme of things. I remember my mom and dad making me and my sister lay down for a nap on a bench while my mom had iced tea and my dad had a vanilla milkshake, of which I got to have a sip of. A little thing, right? But here I am, 40 years old, and nothing tastes better to me than a vanilla milkshake from the happiest place on earth. (On a side note, on a trip there in 2006, I discovered the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor no longer sold shakes. I almost cried.)

I remember waking up on the floor of the hotel room, being told I had just rolled off in the middle of the night. (Just rolled off? I was sharing a bed with my older sister at the time, and I still suspect foul play.)

I remember riding my first roller coaster, The Matterhorn, with my dad. And it scared the living daylights out of me. He tried to get me to go on Space Mountain with him. He said I’d like it because it had cool pictures of the solar system as we were walking out. He almost had me sold on it as I was a pretty big astronomy buff, until I asked one more important question. “Does it have seat belts?” I asked him. No, he told me, just safety bars. “Then I’m not riding. Not until they have seat belts.” I have since softened my stance on rides without seat belts, though I still won’t get into a car without one.

Perhaps the memory that stayed with me most, however, is that we went as a family. My parents divorced soon after our last family trip to Disneyland, and I wouldn’t get to go again for quite a few years. Nonetheless, when I think of my family being happy together, I think of our trips to Disneyland. I still think of family every time I go there, hoping my daughter will have similar memories and feelings.

And I think Uncle Walt would be happy.