Heroes truly do work here at The Walt Disney Company, and many joined in for this year’s Be Well…Cast Member, Friends & Family Holiday 5K. Cast Members, Crew, Imagineers and Employees, along with friends and family both near and far, prepared to light the way to well-being together this holiday season.
This year’s event kicked off during National Veterans and Military Families Month, a special time of year we come together as a company to recognize our Veterans and their families. We celebrated many of these Veterans, along with their family members, who joined thousands of fellow participants at the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort on Nov. 17, for 3.1 magical miles of endurance. Many new core memories were created coast-to-coast and even virtually while miles apart.
In what is becoming an annual tradition, once again the United States Marines literally led the way at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park as the Be Well…Holiday 5K kicked off. The focus of our Disney Ultimate Toy Drive is the Marine Toys for Tots program, which allows the Marines to join this exclusive event as ambassadors for their amazing holiday toy program. They even helped to cheer on the participants at the finish line!
Many of the Cast Members, Crew, Imagineers and Employees participating in the 5K donated new, unwrapped toys at the event packet pick-ups, and also brought toys on the morning of the 5K events to continue to share joy with children this holiday season.
Veterans from every branch of the United States military: the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force and U.S. Coast Guard were all represented in the three Disney Experiences Be Well…Holiday 5K events, including virtually.
“It was important to me to be part of a company that prioritizes the health — physical, mental, financial — of their team members,” said James Cooper, DX Communications Manager, Tech & Digital and Veteran of both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, who participated at Walt Disney World Resort. “Having numerous resources and programs available for me and my family members gives me peace of mind knowing they are taken care of.”
For Brian Walters, a Veteran of the U.S. Navy who works in Global Engineering and Technology, he loved how everyone in his family gets excited about coming together and participating.
“We all like to run, and the last time we ran together [until today] was about two months ago…my family’s older now and we all live apart from each other,” Brian said. “So, we go running and we send messages to each other, saying, ‘Hey, I ran this morning.’ We’re always looking for the kind of exclusive things that only Cast Members can do, right? It’s fun and it gets people excited and wanting to participate.”
The uniquely Disney experiences ring true for Robert Yoshioka as well, a Lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard, and Business Development Sales Director at the Disneyland Resort. Robert not only joined the Be Well…Holiday 5K on a drill weekend, he also brought his commanding officer, Commander Brosnan, along for the run!
“It’s such a privilege to be able to blend my military service with my role here at the Disneyland Resort,” Robert said. “My story with Disney is actually so closely intertwined with my role inside the Coast Guard. When I applied to be in Officer Candidacy School, I actually talked a lot about being an Imagineer working on the Disney Wish, as well as being married onboard the Disney Dream. I got to see first-hand how the Coast Guard supports Disney experiences.”
“And being here at the 5K is just so amazing,” Robert continued, “I’m so excited to be able to share this with other veterans as well as getting out here and being active with my fellow Cast.”
For fellow 24-year Cast Member and Army National Guard Veteran Judy Robles, with Casting Services, she joined in with praising the Disney Veteran programs while preparing to participate in her first ever 5K.
“As a veteran, the Heroes Work Here program is fabulous,” Judy said. “I’m very, very proud of our company for what they do for veterans. I think that in the military you learn to work as a team and you learn to be open to other cultures…that inclusion and diversity and that teamwork definitely helped [prepare me] for this environment.”
Disneyland security officer and U.S. Marine veteran, Ulixes Hernandez, agreed with Judy on what it means to be a Veteran at Disney and the sense of team here. “To me, being a Veteran working at Disney means a lot,” said Ulixes. “Getting out of the Marine Corps, I was looking for a place that had that same kind of camaraderie, and Disneyland has been a place that I feel…the same sense of we’re all kind of a big team together.”
Ulixes, participating with his wife, young son and 4-month-old daughter said “it’s cool seeing this place [Disney] has a lot of care for their cast members, so being able to enjoy an event like this is just an awesome feeling.”
The Be Well…Holiday 5K: Virtual also allowed for many cast members, crew, Imagineers and employees to feel close to their Veteran loved ones whether miles apart or joining them in person. Like Kami Ellender, Editorial Content Manager for Disney Signature Experiences, who while on vacation with her family and veteran/brother-in-law, Cliff Wilson, U.S. Army National Guard, completed the 5K together while enjoying a preview sailing on the amazing new Disney Treasure.
Family members miles apart were also able to have some fun, family competition, participating both in person and virtually. Dan Quinn [Jessica’s husband], a U.S. Army Veteran and their nephew, Chris Chorney, an active-duty U.S. Air Force officer recently deployed, enjoyed the opportunity to run for well-being and enjoy this magical Disney opportunity.
We continue to be inspired by our Veterans and our more than 100-year tradition of honoring their service, beginning with our founders Walt and Roy O. Disney, who both served their country during World War I.
If you are reading this and realized you haven’t already donated to the Disney Ultimate Toy Drive, it’s not too late! You can donate a toy online at Disneystore.com through Dec. 24, or donate a new, unwrapped toy at one of our drop-off locations at a U.S. Disney Store, the Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort, or in select locations at Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort now through Dec. 13.
We hope you’ll take a moment this holiday season to Get Active, light your way to well-being using Disney Care & Well-being Resources, and thank a veteran near you — possibly even working right next to you.