On a regular basis, we ask members of our team to answer five questions about their positions at The Walt Disney Family Museum, their fondest Disney memories, and other personal tidbits.
While chatting with each other about fun summer activities, we found out that one of our Guest Service Associates is starring in a stage production of Catch Me If You Can starting this weekend. Fascinated, we asked him if he would mind being interviewed as this month's staff highlight. So today, we're asking JONATHAN LEAVY... what do YOU do?
WDFM: What is your title and what do YOU do here at our museum?
JL: Guest Services Associate—I welcome guests, guide them, answer questions (when I can) and listen to how their stories connect with Walt’s story.
What is your fondest Disney memory OR what is your favorite gallery at the Walt Disney Museum and why?
We drove from Colorado to Anaheim in 1975, it was my first time in Disneyland and I recall being shrunk for Adventure Thru Inner Space, being truly scared in the Haunted Mansion, and seeing America Sings and America on Parade, which both sent me over the top of joy! Little did I know then that after high school I would be dancing in the parades at Walt Disney World.
How does your job communicate and interpret the legacy of Walt Disney?
As a cast member in Orlando, we were trained at “Disney University” during orientation to welcome guests with enthusiasm and kindness, and to treat each person as a VIP. That is one of my favorite parts of working here at the museum: carrying on Walt’s philosophy that people are to be celebrated.
Describe your workspace OR your favorite item on your desk:
Well, as Guest Services we rotate positions every hour, which I enjoy, and some positions are more extraverted than others. The main reason I love being in Gallery 9 is the stories that people share about their own memories of Disneyland.
Tell us a little known fact about you!
I love to sing and am currently performing as Agent Carl Hanratty in a great summer musical, Catch Me If You Can in the Woodminster Outdoor Theatre starting this Friday, August 8 through 17. I am also an ordained minister in the Congregational Church—now called The United Church of Christ—which is the same denomination in which Walt was baptized.
(L-R): Rod Voltaire Edora, Charlie Fields, Darryl Williams, Zendrex LLado, JONATHAN LEAVY as Carl Hanratty, Jomar Martinez, Danila Burshteyn—as seen in the stage production of Catch Me If You Can. Photo taken July 2014 by Kathy Kahn."