Cast Member Confidential: A Disney Book Review

by Cheryl Pendry, PassPorter Featured Columnist
Last modified 07-27-2012

Filed in Articles > Walt Disney World > Making Magic

Let's be clear at the outset, Cast Member Confidential: A Disneyfied Memoir is not for the faint-hearted.

It's very much an adults-only book, and not something you want to leave lying around for the kids to find. There's a fair bit of swearing in it, which reflects the story being told. It's not out of place, but it's worth knowing in advance, if that's likely to offend you. There are adult themes running throughout the 258 pages, but it's never gratuitous or out of place. It's just how things are in the story.

So what's the story about? Well, you know it's going to be something a bit juicy when the back cover screams at you that, 'This is the story that Disney would never tell you,' and that's a pretty accurate description. This is an autobiographical tale from Chris Mitchell, who heads to Walt Disney World as a complete cynic. He gets a job there, and the next year sees him change his viewpoint on Disney magic; more than once, I'd say. It's always interesting, and certainly never dull, and by the time I reached the end of the book, I was genuinely sad to see this trip come to an end.

Each chapter is very cleverly titled with a famous Disney phrase, like 'Something There That Wasn't There Before,' 'A Spoonful of Sugar,' and, 'I just Can't Wait to be King.' Each title gives you a rough idea of what's coming up, as it should, but each chapter seamlessly blends a number of things together. As well as exploring the author's journey while working at Walt Disney World, it also explores his world view, which I found really interesting. I'll be honest, I bought this book to learn more about Disney behind the scenes, but in the end became more fascinated by what was happening to him outside of his work. That's something I never thought I'd say, and says something about the quality of the story being told.

I don't want to give too much away about Mitchell's journey, but it's fair to say that when he starts at Disney, he's the type of person that all Disney fans know, the type who roll their eyes whenever the 'D' word is mentioned. It's intriguing that he chose the job, but there is good reason, and before long, he finds himself being sucked into the magic.

Magic Kingdom - Castle and Rose Garden photo

Magic Kingdom - Castle and Rose Garden
Cinderella Castle, with the Rose Garden in front. - photo by chezp

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Although this a relatively recently-published book, it's obviously taken some time to see the light of day, as he ends his time with Disney working as a photographer, but before the days of PhotoPass. As such, it means much of his focus is on the characters at meet-and-greets, the people behind them, and their interaction with guests. I've heard some horror stories in the past about the guest behavior the characters have to endure, but my goodness, this was much worse than anything I was aware of before!

Something else that raised my eyebrows were the descriptions of how Cast Members treat each other, with those fortunate enough to play the characters, according to Mitchell, regarding themselves as much better than everyone else. Even among the characters, there was a definite hierarchy. Whether that's still the case now, I have no idea, but it's certainly a change from the happy Disney family that you imagine Cast Members to be a part of.

That happy family image also goes out of the window with the description of some of the parties that go on. Perhaps the observation that sticks most with me was that a lot of Disney Cast Members were leading a double life, with a Disney role to play during the day, but an alter-ego appearing outside of hours. It was also interesting to read about some of the characters that Mitchell came into contact with. On more than one occasion, from his descriptions, I'd made my mind up about that person (and by the way, all of them have false identities to protect their modesty), and then something happened that changed my mind completely about them. This book certainly has a lot of twists, and turns in it.

If you have a desire, as I do, to hear the whole truth, warts and all, about life working at Disney, then this is the perfect book for you, but be warned, it doesn't draw a veil over anything. You will learn things that will shock and surprise you. All I'm going to say is that I'm never going to look at Pooh Bear in the same way again; if you dare, read the book and see what I mean! Provided none of this review has put you off, I would thoroughly recommend this book. It's a really gripping read, and provided me with laugh-out-loud moments, tears of both joy and despair, and wonder, as I read it. It's certainly a wonderful Disneyfied memoir, and I'd love to read more such memoirs in the future.

Animal Kingdom - out on safari
Trucks out on safari. - photo by chezp

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About the Author: Cheryl and husband Mark live in England and love to travel, particularly to Disney, and they have made numerous visits to destinations across America and Europe. They recently completed their tour of every Disney theme park around the world, which culminated in their visit to Japan, including the Tokyo Disney Resort. Click here to view more of Cheryl's articles!

Reader Comments:

Thank you for this article, Cheryl. I will be heading to the Amazon website to purchase this book today! I purchased a book from Amazon entitled The Dark Side of Disney. I have not had a chance to read it yet but I have skimmed through it. Let's just say you shouldn't leave it lying around for your child to look at/read either.

elmb1972 on July 27, 2012 @ 1:19 pm

elmb1972;3997691 >Thank you for this article, Cheryl. I will be heading to the Amazon website to purchase this book today! I purchased a book from Amazon entitled The Dark Side of Disney. I have not had a chance to read it yet but I have skimmed through it. Let's just say you shouldn't leave it lying around for your child to look at/read either.

I've been eyeing that one up on Amazon - and having seen the cover, I know what you mean about leaving it lying around. :umm: If I do get round to reading it, I'll try and do a review of that one as well.

chezp on July 27, 2012 @ 1:36 pm

Thanks for the review! Now I'm even more curious about this book.

MayraLR on July 27, 2012 @ 3:04 pm

After working there for nearly 16 year, yes it's a job. I don't nor have i ever worked at a park itself, but I have heard the stories about the character clicks. And all the partying you hear about is mostly CPs. Once a year our zone used to go to F&W toghether, but we never got out of hand. I worked for CIGNA many years ago and they are both similar in the fact that you are one out of a great number of employees making the wheel turn. Mind you, I haven't gotten a raise at my FT job in nearly 4 years because of the economy; a good friend of mine just got a job offer (she's in the same business) in Jacksonville, but that is no something I would have applied for, since I don't want to leave my Disney job. Yes, it does get aggrivating somethimes, but so does ANY job.

doombuggy on July 29, 2012 @ 5:16 pm

Great review !! Thanks

Lainey7979 on July 29, 2012 @ 6:47 pm

I'm intrigued - but I don't know if I want to know anything bad!! I'm not ready!

TexasHeathers on July 29, 2012 @ 7:21 pm

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Updated 07-27-2012 - Article #826

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