LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. \u2013 Long before the first family walks through the gates each morning, teams of mechanics and maintenance workers are already at work across Walt Disney World, inspecting equipment, repairing vehicles and handling the day-to-day jobs that keep the massive resort operating.<\/p>\n
For brothers Michael and Bob Archer, that behind-the-scenes work has become a long-term career \u2014 and a family legacy.<\/p>\n
Bob Archer joined The Walt Disney Company in August 2010 after his older brother helped open the door. \u201cMike got me into coming here,\u201d Bob said. Since then, Bob has spent his entire Disney career in transportation maintenance, moving through several roles that keep guests and cast members on the move.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started at central shops and moved the buses,\u201d he said. \u201cWent to trams, vehicle maintenance. And now I\u2019m in transportation with heavy equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Archer is in his 20th year with the company. He said his path to Disney began with a backstage tour he took as a birthday gift \u2014 a visit that turned curiosity into a plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took us to central shops in a couple of different areas,\u201d Michael said. \u201cWith my mechanical background, I looked and I said, \u2018I can do that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
WKMG Insider<\/p>\n
Exclusive membership newsletter for News 6 Insiders.<\/p>\n
Breaking into a large company wasn\u2019t easy, he said, so he took a job wherever he could and worked his way toward the mechanical work he wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to the casting department and I said, \u2018I\u2019ll take anything you\u2019ve got,\u2019\u201d he said. Michael started in merchandise, then met co-workers who helped guide him toward maintenance and transportation. Eventually he landed at the bus garage \u2014 and later, Bob followed.<\/p>\n
Today, Michael works at Magic Kingdom as a service manager for engineering services, a role that reflects both his experience and the scale of the operation it takes to keep a world-class destination functioning.<\/p>\n
For the Archers, the longevity matters. Michael said his previous industry experience taught him to expect frequent job changes to advance \u2014 a mindset that shifted once he found stability at Disney.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe industry that I came from, if you wanted to do anything, you had to leave,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I came here with that mindset and here I am 20 years later. \u2026 It means a lot to me just to have that security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bob said what kept him \u2014 even as he moved across different transportation shops \u2014 was a consistent culture that put family first.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly on, one of my service managers said, \u2018Don\u2019t worry about it. Take care of your family and you still have a job here,\u2019\u201d Bob said. \u201cAnd that kind of stuck with me.<\/p>\n
Two Brothers and Infinite Magic at Walt Disney World (Walt Disney World)<\/p>\n
Working at the same company has also helped the brothers stay connected as adults. They live about an hour apart, Bob said, so they often see each other more at work than outside of it \u2014 catching up briefly between assignments.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt work, I\u2019ll get a phone call or I\u2019ll call him sometimes like, \u2018Hey, where are you at?\u2019\u201d Bob said. \u201cWe\u2019ll bump into each other at work more than we do at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael agreed, saying it isn\u2019t unusual to cross paths on property, talk for a few minutes, then head back to their respective responsibilities \u2014 small moments that reflect a shared sense of purpose.<\/p>\n
The family connection extends beyond the two brothers. Both said other relatives have also worked mechanical roles at Disney, adding another layer to the trade they\u2019ve built their lives around.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife was a mechanic out here before we decided to start a family,\u201d Bob said, adding that his father-in-law also worked as a mechanic.<\/p>\n
Beyond the workplace, the Archers said one of the most meaningful parts of the job is being able to share the parks with their families \u2014 and to point out pieces of the operation they\u2019ve helped support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can bring my family here whenever we want,\u201d Bob said, recalling moments of telling his children about what he\u2019s worked on. \u201cWhen I worked at the bus garage, I\u2019ve worked on that bus. \u2026 It\u2019s really neat to be able to do stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
After years of keeping critical systems running \u2014 often far from the spotlight \u2014 the brothers say they\u2019re proud of the impact of hands-on work that most guests never notice: the maintenance checks, the repairs, the troubleshooting and the teamwork that keep the experience moving.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, Bob said, the people around them matter as much as the machines.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilies are important,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the end of the day, if you don\u2019t have family, who do you got?\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. \u2013 Long before the first family walks through the gates each morning, teams of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5766,1089,28,2158,139,141,140,2411,8064],"class_list":["post-318249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-daytrippers","tag-family","tag-florida","tag-insider","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-theme-parks","tag-walt-disney-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}