LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – 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.
For brothers Michael and Bob Archer, that behind-the-scenes work has become a long-term career — and a family legacy.
Bob Archer joined The Walt Disney Company in August 2010 after his older brother helped open the door. “Mike got me into coming here,” 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.
“I started at central shops and moved the buses,” he said. “Went to trams, vehicle maintenance. And now I’m in transportation with heavy equipment.”
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 — a visit that turned curiosity into a plan.
“They took us to central shops in a couple of different areas,” Michael said. “With my mechanical background, I looked and I said, ‘I can do that.’”
Breaking into a large company wasn’t easy, he said, so he took a job wherever he could and worked his way toward the mechanical work he wanted.
“I went to the casting department and I said, ‘I’ll take anything you’ve got,’” 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 — and later, Bob followed.
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.
For the Archers, the longevity matters. Michael said his previous industry experience taught him to expect frequent job changes to advance — a mindset that shifted once he found stability at Disney.
“The industry that I came from, if you wanted to do anything, you had to leave,” he said. “So I came here with that mindset and here I am 20 years later. … It means a lot to me just to have that security.”
Bob said what kept him — even as he moved across different transportation shops — was a consistent culture that put family first.
“Early on, one of my service managers said, ‘Don’t worry about it. Take care of your family and you still have a job here,’” Bob said. “And that kind of stuck with me.
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 — catching up briefly between assignments.
“At work, I’ll get a phone call or I’ll call him sometimes like, ‘Hey, where are you at?’” Bob said. “We’ll bump into each other at work more than we do at home.”
Michael agreed, saying it isn’t unusual to cross paths on property, talk for a few minutes, then head back to their respective responsibilities — small moments that reflect a shared sense of purpose.
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’ve built their lives around.
“My wife was a mechanic out here before we decided to start a family,” Bob said, adding that his father-in-law also worked as a mechanic.
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 — and to point out pieces of the operation they’ve helped support.
“I can bring my family here whenever we want,” Bob said, recalling moments of telling his children about what he’s worked on. “When I worked at the bus garage, I’ve worked on that bus. … It’s really neat to be able to do stuff like that.”
After years of keeping critical systems running — often far from the spotlight — the brothers say they’re 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.
At the end of the day, Bob said, the people around them matter as much as the machines.
“Families are important,” he said. “At the end of the day, if you don’t have family, who do you got?”