What do you think?
Rate this book
40 Years in a Mousetrap: My Walt Disney World Career in Words and Pictures
When young David Ackert took a job at Walt Disney World in 1975, he figured that he'd stay for a few months, maybe a year, to enjoy the Florida weather and the novelty of the new theme park. He never expected to be in the "mousetrap" for 40 years. But that's what happened. In as a young man, out as a retiree. In those 40 years, Ackert went from taking tickets at the TTC to watching over dogs at the Disney kennel to helping open EPCOT and then finally to working at The Great Movie Ride and Star Tours in the new Disney-MGM Studios (when it actually was a film studio!). Ackert's adventures and exploits If you're beneath the ears yourself, or thinking about it, Ackert's book will open your eyes to the highs and lows of a life spent working for the Mouse.
156 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2015
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 20, 2018
One of the most interesting things about this book as how long David stayed with Disney. He was there so long, that it seems no one even knew what needed to be done when he officially retired from the company.
This book excited me when I found it. A behind-the-scenes look at the daily operations of theme park attractions?! Sign me up! But this was also what ultimately frustrated me as I read the book. There is a supreme lack of detail about working as a cast member. Sure, there are details, but not nearly enough!
At the beginning of the book, he goes into great detail about working at the Disney kennels. I wasn't even aware they existed, so this was fascinating. There were some great stories about surprise quantities of pets needing care over a holiday, shenanigans between Cast Members, and even a parody movie shot with the kennel crew! All of that was great fun to read! Before that were great stories about where he got his start as a ticket taker. These early chapters were filled with a satisfying amount of detail and I raced through those chapters with glee.
But then details started to disappear as the book went on. He mentioned transferring to EPCOT when it opened, but related to the reader SO little about early Epcot attractions. He went to the EPCOT kennel fairly quickly, but there just isn't anything told about those early days of EPCOT. I would have LOVED that! There really wasn't even much about the opening day festivities. He happened to be working the turnstile that welcomed the "First Family" to EPCOT and there's a little bit about that day, but not a whole lot! He mentioned feeling overwhelmed and probably looking that way in the promotional pictures, and then to the next topic.
When Hollywood Studios opened, he interviewed to be moved there and he was assigned to the Great Movie Ride. Here is where the book started to disappoint me. I really loved The Great Movie Ride and really wanted some insider detail about the operations of that attraction. But the chapters focusing on it were frustratingly lacking! There were some great moments where he talked about the Indiana Jones section and the fun acting done there, even some behind the scenes info about how easy it was to get injured running down the stairs back to the tram. He touched a little bit about their training (he was one of the Cast Members that opened the attraction) but kind of skips over the difficulties they had running the trams. He mentions it, but not in great detail! Nothing about the most intricate animatronic up until that time, The Wicked Witch of the West. Nothing about Cast Member silliness while working there, as we got from the Kennel and ticket taker chapters. There's a great moment about meeting a Hollywood director and a chapter dedicated to celebrity encounters, but that's about it. The chapter ended and I really didn't feel like I knew much about how the attraction is run.
Later he moved to Star Tours and, while there were a few stories with details, again, I felt like I didn't come away really getting how the attraction is run. Where were the details?! He mentions seeing George Lucas, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher at the ribbon cutting for the attraction... any other stories about that event?! There are a few stories regarding guests, but not much in the way of detail. How is the attraction run? What was he doing when they were revamping it to Star Tours 2.0? We don't even get any cool descriptions about what those simulators look like from the outside while running! Did he ever get to see that?
There was one chapter dedicated to the bar hopping he did with other Cast Members. He vividly recalls the growth of the bar scene in Orlando. Honestly, I skipped most of that chapter. I don't really care about clubs and bars and consumption of alcohol, but there sure were a lot of details there... Take me back to the parks!! What was going on there?!
The book really got interesting when he started criticizing the Magic Bands. He made it clear he isn't a fan, but WHY?! There was NOTHING about the disastrous initial roll-out of the Magic Bands. There could have been an entire chapter about that! I would have loved reading about the frustrations from Cast Members and Guests alike. He criticized Fastpass, too and gave a great example of how it creates a class system at the park that's contrary to Walt's initial vision. But that was just mentioned in passing...any stories about what happened when Fastpass was introduced? Surely he has some great details about that, right?
Another juicy section regards a meeting that Disney required all Cast Members to attend in 1994. I won't spoil it, except to say that there were few details. Apparently the meeting ended with angry Cast Members throwing empty cups at the stage, cursing and shouting boo! What was the general attitude of the Cast Members like after that? What was it like for Cast Members to have to go to work that day after that meeting? Were there any interesting conversations afterward? He all-to-briefly hints at why the meeting even happened, but with such frustratingly little detail! Why did Disney even do it?! Surely he has to know why! He stayed with the company 20 more years after that meeting... what made him want to stay after that?! Nothing about this. So few details at all!
When there were details in the book, it was about the attractive female guests he saw and female cast members he worked with. The reader gets details about women with big breasts and his crushes. But where are the stories about bad guest experiences? A couple times, there were stories about run-ins with unpleasant guests, but surely in nearly 40 years he has some more amazing stories. But instead, we read about his crushes on female guests and cast members. I mean... okay, but what about the dumb questions? What about the people doing silly things because they're lost in the magic?
There were so many wasted opportunities in this book that I lost count. What was there was fun to read, mostly, but I feel like so much was left out. So many missing details. At one point, he literally called The Sherman Brothers "those folks that wrote the songs for Mary Poppins." SERIOUSLY?! I only ever worked at Disney Store for a couple years, but I know who "those folks" are and quite a bit about them! I mean, couldn't he at the very least Google who "those folks" were to properly include their names in the book? The book was an okay read, but it could have been SO much better.
This book excited me when I found it. A behind-the-scenes look at the daily operations of theme park attractions?! Sign me up! But this was also what ultimately frustrated me as I read the book. There is a supreme lack of detail about working as a cast member. Sure, there are details, but not nearly enough!
At the beginning of the book, he goes into great detail about working at the Disney kennels. I wasn't even aware they existed, so this was fascinating. There were some great stories about surprise quantities of pets needing care over a holiday, shenanigans between Cast Members, and even a parody movie shot with the kennel crew! All of that was great fun to read! Before that were great stories about where he got his start as a ticket taker. These early chapters were filled with a satisfying amount of detail and I raced through those chapters with glee.
But then details started to disappear as the book went on. He mentioned transferring to EPCOT when it opened, but related to the reader SO little about early Epcot attractions. He went to the EPCOT kennel fairly quickly, but there just isn't anything told about those early days of EPCOT. I would have LOVED that! There really wasn't even much about the opening day festivities. He happened to be working the turnstile that welcomed the "First Family" to EPCOT and there's a little bit about that day, but not a whole lot! He mentioned feeling overwhelmed and probably looking that way in the promotional pictures, and then to the next topic.
When Hollywood Studios opened, he interviewed to be moved there and he was assigned to the Great Movie Ride. Here is where the book started to disappoint me. I really loved The Great Movie Ride and really wanted some insider detail about the operations of that attraction. But the chapters focusing on it were frustratingly lacking! There were some great moments where he talked about the Indiana Jones section and the fun acting done there, even some behind the scenes info about how easy it was to get injured running down the stairs back to the tram. He touched a little bit about their training (he was one of the Cast Members that opened the attraction) but kind of skips over the difficulties they had running the trams. He mentions it, but not in great detail! Nothing about the most intricate animatronic up until that time, The Wicked Witch of the West. Nothing about Cast Member silliness while working there, as we got from the Kennel and ticket taker chapters. There's a great moment about meeting a Hollywood director and a chapter dedicated to celebrity encounters, but that's about it. The chapter ended and I really didn't feel like I knew much about how the attraction is run.
Later he moved to Star Tours and, while there were a few stories with details, again, I felt like I didn't come away really getting how the attraction is run. Where were the details?! He mentions seeing George Lucas, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher at the ribbon cutting for the attraction... any other stories about that event?! There are a few stories regarding guests, but not much in the way of detail. How is the attraction run? What was he doing when they were revamping it to Star Tours 2.0? We don't even get any cool descriptions about what those simulators look like from the outside while running! Did he ever get to see that?
There was one chapter dedicated to the bar hopping he did with other Cast Members. He vividly recalls the growth of the bar scene in Orlando. Honestly, I skipped most of that chapter. I don't really care about clubs and bars and consumption of alcohol, but there sure were a lot of details there... Take me back to the parks!! What was going on there?!
The book really got interesting when he started criticizing the Magic Bands. He made it clear he isn't a fan, but WHY?! There was NOTHING about the disastrous initial roll-out of the Magic Bands. There could have been an entire chapter about that! I would have loved reading about the frustrations from Cast Members and Guests alike. He criticized Fastpass, too and gave a great example of how it creates a class system at the park that's contrary to Walt's initial vision. But that was just mentioned in passing...any stories about what happened when Fastpass was introduced? Surely he has some great details about that, right?
Another juicy section regards a meeting that Disney required all Cast Members to attend in 1994. I won't spoil it, except to say that there were few details. Apparently the meeting ended with angry Cast Members throwing empty cups at the stage, cursing and shouting boo! What was the general attitude of the Cast Members like after that? What was it like for Cast Members to have to go to work that day after that meeting? Were there any interesting conversations afterward? He all-to-briefly hints at why the meeting even happened, but with such frustratingly little detail! Why did Disney even do it?! Surely he has to know why! He stayed with the company 20 more years after that meeting... what made him want to stay after that?! Nothing about this. So few details at all!
When there were details in the book, it was about the attractive female guests he saw and female cast members he worked with. The reader gets details about women with big breasts and his crushes. But where are the stories about bad guest experiences? A couple times, there were stories about run-ins with unpleasant guests, but surely in nearly 40 years he has some more amazing stories. But instead, we read about his crushes on female guests and cast members. I mean... okay, but what about the dumb questions? What about the people doing silly things because they're lost in the magic?
There were so many wasted opportunities in this book that I lost count. What was there was fun to read, mostly, but I feel like so much was left out. So many missing details. At one point, he literally called The Sherman Brothers "those folks that wrote the songs for Mary Poppins." SERIOUSLY?! I only ever worked at Disney Store for a couple years, but I know who "those folks" are and quite a bit about them! I mean, couldn't he at the very least Google who "those folks" were to properly include their names in the book? The book was an okay read, but it could have been SO much better.
August 30, 2021
This book was especially interesting because the author started working at Disney World shortly after it opened and stayed for 40 years! He had a variety of jobs, saw many celebrities and witnessed historical events. Another reviewer complained about the things left out of this book. I agree! Mr. Ackert should write another book! I would gladly read it!
February 5, 2018
Pretty good book, however on many occasions he writes about the attractiveness of a woman, and one instance he mentions that he left a gay club because he felt uncomfortable. It's as though he's trying to convince the reader that he's straight, instead of just writing about his Disney experiences.
March 2, 2016
Insightful, historical insider look at working for Walt Disney World
This book covers forty years of "unintended" employment at Disney World. The author describes some of his experiences - good and bad - while going through the ranks of various positions within the park system. Personal anecdotes, friendships, and some interesting insider / backstage tales are shared.
Enjoyable for hardcore Disney fans, but others might not have any interest in the shared details.
This book covers forty years of "unintended" employment at Disney World. The author describes some of his experiences - good and bad - while going through the ranks of various positions within the park system. Personal anecdotes, friendships, and some interesting insider / backstage tales are shared.
Enjoyable for hardcore Disney fans, but others might not have any interest in the shared details.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews