Dream Weavers

Key to the Kingdom

A core Disney player remembers 25 years of magic.
by Ken Schlager

Jeff Ralls likes to refer to his position at Disney Youth Programs as "the longest summer job I've ever had." Indeed, Ralls started with Disney as an intern in the summer of 1984, just after completing his final semester at the University of Southern Alabama. This year, just like Disney Magic Music Days, he is celebrating his 25th anniversary in the Disney lineup.

But Ralls' Disney history goes back even further. As a child, he visited Walt Disney World with his family every year. As a high school freshman in 1975, Ralls, who studied clarinet and saxophone, even got to perform with his school band as part of America on Parade, a Disney celebration of America's bicentennial.

Ralls remembers that performance like it was yesterday. His band had the leadoff spot in the parade. "I can remember when the gates opened for our band to step off and just looking out at that sea of people. It was truly one of the most amazing things," he says.

At college, Ralls set aside his musical studies to earn a degree in marketing and public relations. He did not envision working at Disney until one last family trip to the Magic Kingdom. "It just clicked," he says. "It mesmerized me." Soon after that trip, Walt Disney World came to his campus. He was selected for an internship and went to work as a street performer in the nightly Electric Light Parade.

Ralls became a permanent Disney cast member in January 1985, just as the youth music program was formalized and expanded into Disney Magic Music Days. He became a band host at Epcot, which had been made part of the expanded program. "I don't know if any of us had any idea what to expect," says Ralls. But in the ensuing years, Disney Magic Music Days grew exponentially, attracting a stream of instrumental, choral, and dance groups from around the country.

Meanwhile, Ralls was working his way up the Disney ranks. In 1991, he became the first sales manager for Disney Magic Music Days, later adding the title senior sales manager. In 2001, he took on the role of wedding director in a Disney division responsible for more than 1,400 weddings a year. Then last year, he came back to Disney Youth Programs as sales director for national accounts.

Through it all, Ralls has remained enamored of the parades that routinely take place as part of Disney Magic Music Days. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to march down Main Street," he says. "We tell the performers: 'Today you are a Disney cast member. You are performing for our guests. You are actually a part of Disney.' "

And no one knows better than Jeff Ralls just how magical that can be.

Jeff Ralls, Dream Weaver

Grew up in: Fairhope, Alabama

Education: University of Southern Alabama

At Walt Disney World since: 1985

Disney Roles: Street performer, band host, stage manager

Current title: Youth National Accounts Director, Disney Youth Programs