Americans are retiring later and picking up part-time work to cushion their savings, pursue a long-lost passion, or simply fill the extra downtime. After sunsetting their decades-long careers in the aerospace industry, brothers Jerry and Peter Wong decided to add a bit of magic to their lives by working at Disney.
Jerry Wong, 66, is a photographer snapping pictures of park-goers at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. He joined as a photographer four years ago, the same year he wrapped his career as an engineer at aerospace and defense giant Northrop Grumman. He began as a summer intern in 1979, and went on to lead a four-decade career at the $75 billion company. Jerry worked on ground communications for government contracts—picking up people skills he now uses at Disney—and later retired from the profession in 2022.
But a blank calendar left him restless, and after just four months, he began hunting for another gig. He and his brother, Peter, had been going to the amusement parks since 1967, and wanting to stay busy and reconnect with that childhood nostalgia, he looked into what Disney jobs were available.
Courtesy of the Wong brothers
The baby boomer found a part-time role in photography—a hobby he had picked up from his dad as a freshman studying at UCLA. By October that year he was suited up in photography blues and armed with a professional camera, capturing the magical moments at both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. Jerry currently works around 14 hours across two or three days a week during the off-season, and 32 hours on a five-day schedule when the holidays roll around. For the retired engineer, the job is less about the paycheck than the people and the experience.
“I don’t know if I would call it a second career…the term career is something that you’re there because it’s something you need to do to support yourself, or to create a long-term lifestyle,” Jerry tells Fortune. “Working post-retirement, it’s a different perspective. From a personal point of view, there’s no stress. I’m enjoying myself…I’m here because I choose to be here.”
But Jerry might not even be working at the park if it weren’t for his youngest brother, Peter Wong. He had already made the leap years before, showing Jerry the upsides of adding a Disney gig to the leisurely schedule of corporate retirement.
Retiring from desk jobs and working at Disneyland: ‘I’m finished with being married to my laptop’
63-year-old Peter was the first of the Wong brothers to add a Disney job to his retirement schedule.
The former finance worker wrapped up his own aerospace career back in 2017, winding down from a three-decade career of crunching financial figures. He began working in fixed asset accounting at Hughes Electronics in 1987—an aerospace company that had been purchased by automotive giant General Motors.
One decade later, U.S. defense contractor Raytheon snapped up Hughes during a major consolidation of aerospace companies. Peter was responsible for the financial planning rates and budgets of seven facilities across America. Around 30 years into his career, a buyout offer pushed him to throw in the towel—the $271 billion contractor offered special golden handshake packages for employees from the legacy Hughes days. Peter took the deal, and phased into retirement.
But just one year later, the retiree was back on his feet working the rides at Disney California Adventure. For Peter, it also meant reconnecting with the special moments in his life, from his memories of going to Disney every year with his Hong Kong relatives, to proposing to his now-wife on the Skyway ride (which closed in 1994).
“I’m finished with being married to my laptop and phone all day and night,” Peter tells Fortune. “I want to do something to make magic for people.”
Now, Peter is a Disney attractions host bringing the park to life while keeping guests safe on the rides. He works two to three days a week, around 14 hours in total, and during the holidays and busy season, he’ll take up to 28 hours. The job required some adjusting; having worked an office job his entire career, it took time to get used to being on his feet everyday.
He was trained at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail at Disney California Adventure, and still splits his time between working the attraction and flight ride Soarin’ Across America. For hours each workday, Peter suits up in wilderness outfits and Disney vests, greeting guests while getting a peek behind the rides.
“I wanted attractions because of the face-to-face interaction with the guests, and also learning how the attractions work,” Peter explains. “As a guest, you just see the person pushing the button…But you don’t see all the intricacies involved with actually working the attraction.”
Courtesy of the Wong brothers
Due to their differing schedules, the Wong brothers don’t often get the chance to meet up while on the clock. There is the off chance that they’ll spontaneously stumble into each other while working a shift, Peter says, but oftentimes they just go to Disneyland together as annual pass holders.
Having worked there for several years now—and seeing the way things have changed since being kids in the 1960’s—Jerry and Peter are reconnecting with the place that has been part of their lives for nearly six decades. And they’re passing that whimsy onto thousands of visitors around the world every week.
“I look at the pictures that our parents took of us in ’67…I can remember exactly what ride we had to go on first, which was Pirates [of the Caribbean], because it first just opened up,” Jerry recalls. “As a photographer, it’s the same thing. In that one or two minutes that I get with the guests, I create a lasting memory for them.”
