Editor’s Note: Guest writer Cari Keebaugh joins us today to tell us all about the latest Disneyland Ambassadors. Take it away, Cari!
Nearly 80 cast members at Disneyland put their names in the hat to be on this year’s Disneyland Resort Ambassador Team. On Oct 8, cast members Sachiko White (a performer for special events and scripted shows) and Megan Navarette (currently a program facilitator for Disneyland Resort’s Youth Education program) were officially recognized as the recipients of this honor. Walt Disney and Jack Lindquist created the ambassador team in 1965 to help Disney handle the large amount of interviews, appearances, and hosting duties at which he was required to appear, as well as to “meet and greet all VIP guests that come to the park and [to] appear nationally and internationally at events, parades, celebrations, tourist industry activities, media events, always as the Official Representative of Disneyland as well as the Walt Disney Company,” according to Lindquist in a 2008 interview.
White and Navarette will continue this tradition today, appearing at hospitals alongside characters and performing as functionaries at cast recognition ceremonies. They will represent their fellow 23,000 Disneyland cast members at various other community functions throughout the year, as well.
President George Kalogridis praised the new spokeswomen, saying
“Sachiko and Megan are well deserving of this prestigious honor, and will do a tremendous job representing the Resort and our 23,000 cast members. After a rigorous training and interview process, the pair has demonstrated the depth of their Disney knowledge and passion for being a Disney cast member, and we look forward to their community outreach efforts over the next two years.”
While Walt Disney began the ambassador team at Disneyland, today every Disney park around the world yearly selects an Ambassador or Ambassador Team. According to the DisneyParks Blog, this year’s Tokyo Disney Ambassador is Ayaka Nagai. Nagai will have the honor of representing Tokyo Disney during its 30th anniversary celebration,
“Tokyo Disney Resort 30th – The Happiness Year” during 2013. A list of previous Disneyland Ambassadors can be found here.
