Brady MacDonald – The Whittier Daily News, Calif.
(TNS)
Oct. 24—At 92 years old, Hank Ameen still works two days a week as a Disneyland firefighter after more than 62 years of service at the Anaheim theme park, making him the longest-serving Disney employee at the company.
Disneyland has been a big part of Ameen’s life. He took his wife to the original Disney theme park on their honeymoon in August 1955 — just one month after it opened to the public.
Sign up for our Park Life newsletter and find out what’s new and interesting every week at Southern California’s theme parks. Subscribe here.
After serving in the United States Air Force, Ameen got a summer job as a Jungle Cruise skipper in 1958 when he was 26 years old.
His previous bartending experience helped him land the Disneyland job. The Disney recruiter figured any worthwhile bartender would know how to talk to customers and tell a joke or two.
“I picked it up, and then lo and behold, people were clapping, and they liked my spiel,” Ameen told the Disney Parks Blog. “I felt pretty good about that.”
Ameen quit the Disneyland job after a few summers and joined Garden Grove Fire Department where he went on to work for 35 years as a city fireman. But he soon missed Disneyland.
On his days off, Ameen started working as a Disneyland firefighter — helping to put out the occasional fire in the parks, keeping attractions and entertainment running safely and monitoring pyrotechnics during nighttime fireworks shows.
“I have a passion for what I do because I feel like we are protecting the magic,” Ameen told the Disney Parks Blog.
A post shared by Disneyland Cast & Community (@disneylandcastandcommunity)
Ameen attributes his long career to his active lifestyle. He swims, works out at the gym and walks around Disneyland in the morning before the parks open. He’s medaled in several Disneyland 10K races. And he remains endlessly optimistic about life.
“You have to have a good outlook on life,” Ameen told the Disney Parks Blog. “Make the best of it. Live in the moment.”
Ameen helped the Disneyland firefighters win the park’s annual employee canoe race in August and dethrone the long-reigning champs from the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes team.
The firefighter’s Smoke on the Water team adopted Ameen as their mascot and trained with the “Win one for Hank” motto.
Ameen joined Smoke on the Water for a victory lap around Tom Sawyer Island after the resounding win.
“I have great pride in the people I work with,” Ameen told the Disney Parks Blog. “I learn from them and hopefully they learn from me.”
Ameen once ate lunch with Walt Disney at the Inn Between backstage employee dining area.
“He started walking towards my table, but I never thought that he would sit with me,” Ameen told the Disney Parks Blog. “He pulled up a chair and he asked me questions like, ‘How do you like working here? How do you like the food? What can I do?’ It was maybe a 10-minute conversation. That was a wonderful memory.”
In the decades since, Ameen has met Disneyland Resort President Ken Potrock, Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro and Disney CEO Bob Iger.
The nonagenarian has no plans for retirement.
“As long as I can smile and laugh, I’m going to be here,” Ameen told the Disney Parks Blog.
Originally Published: October 24, 2024 at 4:43 p.m.
___
(c)2024 The Whittier Daily News, Calif.
Visit The Whittier Daily News, Calif. at https://www.whittierdailynews.com/
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
