For National Siblings Day 2026, Disney shared the story of Kate, Brittany, and Rachel Hackett, three sisters who all work at Walt Disney World Resort today in three completely different roles across three different parts of the property, and whose path to the parks traces directly back to their grandmother: a seasonal merchandise cast member who spent 27 years working for Disney and shaped the family’s earliest memories of the place. Disney released the story on April 10, 2026, as part of its National Siblings Day recognition of cast member families at Walt Disney World.
How a Grandmother’s 27 Years Became a Family Legacy
The Hackett sisters grew up making the trip to Walt Disney World as children, and the person who shaped those visits most was their grandmother. Her nearly three decades as a seasonal merchandise cast member gave the family something most guests never get: an inside view of what it means actually to work at Walt Disney World, and a deep respect for the people who make the magic happen. Her stories and dedication left an impression that none of the sisters could shake as they grew up.
The family’s connection to the parks runs deep enough that the sisters have also performed together in the Candlelight Processional Cast Choir at EPCOT, the same role their grandmother once held. That specific, generational detail is what separates a Disney career story from a coincidence. This is a family that did not stumble into Walt Disney World. They followed something.
Three Sisters, Three Roles, One Property
Brittany was the first to make the move. She relocated from New Jersey to Florida for school and picked up a part-time role at Walt Disney World, not yet knowing it would pull the rest of her family into the same orbit. One by one, Kate and Rachel followed. Two uncles and an aunt have since joined them, turning what started as a grandmother’s seasonal job into a sprawling family presence across the resort.
Today each sister works in a distinct corner of Walt Disney World. Kate works in Food and Beverage at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and completed culinary school, an interest she traces directly to her time in the parks. Brittany works as a scheduling specialist in Entertainment, coordinating logistics that keep performers, attendants, technicians, and costuming cast running smoothly. She describes the other cast members as her guests. Rachel works with the Disney Character Events team, helping bring beloved characters to events across the resort and beyond. Every day, she said, looks a little different.
The First Time All Three Worked the Same Event
For more than six years working at Walt Disney World, the sisters had never been assigned to the same project at the same time. That changed recently when all three worked the same event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It was the first time in their collective Disney careers that their paths had crossed on the job together. Cast members getting to experience the parks together in a professional context is rarer than guests might expect. Earlier this year, Disney cast members took over Animal Kingdom for Goofy’s Mystery Tour, one of the few events designed specifically to let them experience Walt Disney World as guests.
“That was the first time we’d ever been able to run into each other altogether,” Rachel said. “It was such a fun experience to share all that we do with one another.” For three people who see each other regularly as siblings, sharing the same professional world in the same moment was something different entirely. It is also a useful reminder of how large Walt Disney World actually is as an operation: three sisters working there full time could go six-plus years without landing on the same event.
What This Story Reflects About Disney Careers
Disney notes that Walt Disney World Resort employs more than 80,000 cast members, with an average tenure of 12 years and what the company describes as the lowest attrition rate in two decades. Earlier this year, Disney guests broke records with more than 3 million digital cast compliments submitted, a sign of how much the relationship between cast members and the people they serve has evolved. The Hackett sisters are a specific example of something that shows up across those numbers: people who do not just take a Disney job but build a life around it, often alongside family. “It just feels so normal that we’re all part of the magic,” Brittany said. “We have pixie dust in our veins.”
The story is also a useful reminder of what draws people to Walt Disney World careers in the first place. It is rarely just a job listing. For the Hackett family it started with a grandmother who spent 27 years making guests feel something at a merchandise location, told her grandchildren about it, and apparently made it sound worth following. That is a long chain of cause and effect, and it is now three sisters deep with no signs of stopping.
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National Siblings Day 2026: The Three Walt Disney World Sisters Whose Family Legacy Spans Generations
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