From the overnight custodial crew to Holiday Services manager: a 23-year Walt Disney World career

By entgrove · October 8, 2026

Dacia joined Walt Disney World's overnight custodial team in the early 2000s and is now an Area Manager with Holiday Services, whose teams work with Walt Disney Imagineering on the resort's seasonal decor. Disney's profile traces her path through craft, decorating and planning jobs, and notes that about three in five of the resort's leaders started in hourly roles.

Dacia started at Walt Disney World on the overnight custodial team in the early 2000s, cleaning backstage offices. Twenty-three years later she is an Area Manager with Holiday Services, and she credits a habit of saying yes to new jobs for getting her there.

From the night shift to Holiday Services management

Dacia's path ran through several roles, and the move that defined it began as a temporary assignment.

• Roles along the way. Her jobs included Craft Support Foreman, Decorator and Planned Work Specialist, and Disney says each widened her view of how the operation runs.
• A temporary start. Holiday Services began as what she expected to be a temporary assignment, taken out of curiosity about another part of the business and a wish to keep learning.
• The job today. She helps lead Holiday Services teams that collaborate with Walt Disney Imagineering, the company's design and engineering arm, on seasonal decor across the resort.

"I've always liked challenges," Dacia said. "That's where the magic happens."

Traditions, the class every cast member takes first

Every new cast member starts with Traditions, and Disney says that is where Dacia's habit of learning began.

• Disney's onboarding. Traditions is the session new Cast Members, Disney's word for its employees, attend before they start welcoming guests.
• What it covers. The company's history, culture and values, and the standard of guest service Disney expects.
• A big workforce. More than 80,000 Cast Members work across the resort, serving millions of guests.

"I never imagined I would get this far," Dacia said. "Every opportunity helped me learn something new."

Mentors saw it first, and now she coaches others

Leaders spotted Dacia's potential before she did, and helping other cast members grow is now part of her job.

• Pushed by mentors. Mentors and leaders encouraged her to see possibilities she had not yet recognized in herself.
• Paying it forward. She now helps other Cast Members build new skills, go after new openings and see their own career options.

"Sometimes other people see something in you before you see it yourself," she said.

"There's a lot of talent here," Dacia said. "I love seeing people grow."

Three in five Walt Disney World leaders started in hourly jobs

Dacia's climb from an hourly role is the usual route for the resort's leaders, according to Disney.

• Three in five. About three out of five Walt Disney World leaders began their careers in hourly roles.
• Training she used. Operational training, safety programs, leadership development and courses at Disney University, the company's in-house training school.
• Her advice. Asked what she would tell someone weighing a new opportunity, she said: "Be the best you can be wherever you are today."

Our take. For anyone weighing a Walt Disney World job, the numbers favor starting hourly: three in five of the resort's leaders did, and Dacia moved up through Disney University courses and leadership development.