LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Tens of millions of guests visit Walt Disney World Resort each year. Many "ooh" and "ahh" at big theme park icons, like Cinderella Castle, the centerpiece of the Magic Kingdom.
Behind the scenes, hundreds of cast members (Disney parlance for employees) work to keep those icons -- and everything else -- awe-worthy, from the paint jobs on buildings to the ferryboats that often give guests their first view of the castle.
Alec Ras, director of facility asset management, said about 250 cast members -- engineers, architects and construction managers among them -- are dedicated to the maintenance of Disney's parks and resorts, working closely with Walt Disney Imagineering.
Outside of Disney World's four theme parks and more than 25 resorts, the team also is responsible for maintaining two waterparks, a sports complex, two miniature golf courses and the resort's transportation.
"We've got a lot of things going on," Ras said in an interview last week during a media event.
One of those things was the recent repainting of Cinderella Castle, which shed the pink hues the castle has sported in recent years in favor of a gray, cream, blue and gold color scheme, closer to its original paint job.
"We listened to guest feedback," Ras said, acknowledging fans' approval of the recent transformation.
Expanding the ferryboat fleet
Another item on Ras' team's list is a new ferryboat that will transport guests across Seven Seas Lagoon to the Magic Kingdom, marking the first ferryboat fleet expansion since 1976. There are currently three ferryboats.
Launching in 2027, the vessel will be named the Meg Gilbert Crofton, after Disney World's fourth president.
"We reinvest into our transportation just as much as we do in our experiences, so that's going on right now," Ras said. "We're eagerly awaiting to get that in the water."
Just behind Cinderella Castle at Fantasyland, Ras' team is currently replacing and refreshing the fabric that makes up the land's iconic tents.
"Across all the parks, those are the types of things that we get into -- and then some not-so-visible things," he said.
"Walk into an attraction or a merchandise spot, you might see the floor's been replaced. We're doing that stuff, too. We've got things that are on cycle that are important enough for us to make sure that we're changing it on a frequent basis."
Precise attention to detail
Disney World invests hundreds of millions of dollars every year in maintaining its various assets, according to Ras. His team has forecasted dates for a number of those assets. They also conduct regular walk-arounds to inspect the property and work closely with maintenance partners.
Those partners do regular inspections from every quarter to every six months.
"They walk through and they stand in one spot, and then they'll scan and they'll look at things," he said. "They'll look at concrete, caulking, facades, paints -- they look at everything. That'll inform some of our forecasts."
Ras said his team is also aware of things guests notice. If they've seen something and pointed it out online, for instance, odds are his team is aware.
Work is ongoing throughout Disney World at any given time. Construction and maintenance crews are busy in the parks at night, while work on the hotels usually happens during the day, when guests are out enjoying the parks.
Whenever and wherever that work is happening, Ras' team is behind it, and they're always looking for what's next on the list.
He admitted that his team's attention to detail can make it difficult to slip out of work mode: "It's hard for us to go on vacation because we look at everything and go, 'Wait a minute, what about…?'"