Meet Gina Nassar
“Toontown was the start of my Disney career,” shared Gina.
In 1993, she was working as a Walt Disney Travel Company reservation agent and was offered a role helping in the original grand opening celebration. Gina coordinated reservations and itineraries for media outlets invited to experience the new land.
Mickey’s Toontown opening was only one of many “first experiences” for Gina. In 1998, she accepted a full-time role as a west coast senior events manager, a role she still has today.
“The energy was infectious, just over the top,” she remembers. “It made me want to do this forever.”
A Chance Meeting
Gina also met her future husband working that grand opening event in Toontown. Her husband, Al Nasser, worked as part of the guest control crew. “I was still learning,” said Al, now a senior manager in Experience Services and Event Production. “I was that person who had a million questions and asked why we were doing things.”
Al experienced a variety of roles at the park, and enjoyed occasional breaks on the road as a music tour manager. “This was nowhere on my career path,” remembers Al. “I’m still having a blast 30 years in.”
Gina and Al worked together again when they supported the grand opening event for the reimagined New Tomorrowland in 1998.
The couple married in 2000 (strategically to avoid scheduling conflicts with the opening of Disney California Adventure) and had their son, Caden, in 2002.
Their love for Disney also had a positive impact on their son, now 20 years old.
“I have grown up with Disney my entire life,” said Caden. “I came to the parks for fun all the time. When one of my parents was working, the other would be with me [there].”
It only made sense for Caden to apply for a role at Disneyland where he started his career with a role in attractions. He is now pursuing a communications degree from Wilmington University in Delaware through the Disney Aspire program.
Caden brought the Nassar family story full circle when he joined the opening team for Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. The best part? The entire Nassar family played roles in a media event celebrating the opening of Mickey’s Toontown.
“It’s almost like history is starting to repeat itself,” reflects Gina on the Toontown connection for this Disneyland Cast Member. “Sharing it with Caden and watching his career be at the point mine was … it’s surreal starting to see his dreams come true.”