One Triviateer's Story
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I really became obsessed with Disney trivia and read up as much as I could. I would make sure that the monthly contests we had to answer were completed 100 percent correctly. And when the next district competition rolled around, I was ready to win. Unlike the year before where only two of my co-workers were there to root me on (one girl was working the event, the other was my girlfriend), I had the entire store's support, which felt so good. They were so loud in cheering for me that all of the pictures of the district competitions that would appear in the "Scoop" (the Disney Store cast member newsletter) featured contestants except for our district. It showed these clowns yelling and screaming and holding up signs. The contest was really close between me and another cast member ... literally down to the wire. I can't describe the feeling that came over me when leading by a few points the final question was asked. I didn't need to get it right to win but I did anyway. I actually scored higher than the highest score the year before so I thought I was moving on to the finals for sure. I wasn't even close. Everybody did much better than the year before and the bar was set higher than I could jump.

The following year started with a bit of tragedy, as our store was devastated by the Northridge Earthquake. We were all split up and sent to different stores. I would find myself working at the Company's first store in Glendale. I had to prove myself all over again. But I did, winning the in-store contest and moving on to represent my new store that year. I was a bit stiffer this year, really wanting to take the contest and move on to the next level. I won another hard-fought battle, this time against a cast member from Hawaii who had to compete in California because there were not enough stores in the islands to create a district competition. I didn't win by too much and actually hurt my chances for advancing more after I blew answering a question that had been inadvertently omitted during the contest. It wouldn't have mattered anyway because once again, despite another rise in my score, I was shut out of advancing to Disneyland.

After leading the store to another perfect score on the monthly contests and winning the in-store contest again, I was set for the district competition. The "Gary Pyle Clause" had been put into effect the year before, which limited the number of times a contestant could participate in the finals to two times. I really wanted to compete against the best but always felt that the perennial powerhouses would shut me out once again. This year's district contest was held in the center court of our mall after hours instead of in the hotel where we had it the previous three years. The sound in this empty mall was horrible and the speakers to the microphone that the moderator used to read the questions faced the crowd instead of the contestants. I suffer from a hearing loss and had so much trouble hearing the questions. I really was putting pressure on myself to win and was really getting hot under the collar because of the poor conditions. I missed a question because I didn't properly hear it and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I figured that I was out of it at that point and just started answering questions without worrying about getting them wrong and having points deducted. I finished the competition without missing another question and won again. I didn't think I was close to making the finals. But to my surprise, I scored the second-highest score in the nation.

I was going to Disneyland.

I cannot describe what participating in the Disney Store National Trivia Showdown meant to me. It was truly incredible. I was rooming with Gary Pyle, who was participating in his sixth and final competition. Sue Ann Finstick from the Ala Moana store in Hawaii, whom I had competed against the year before in the district competition, made it to the finals as well. Five other wonderful people, who all had competed in the big show before, also welcomed me in to this new club. I was a Triviateer.

There's so much to tell about this happy time but there is no way that I can explain how it all felt without this column turning into a novel. Our competition was to take place at the Tomorrowland Terrace. We spent the night before the competition learning dance steps and blocking for the production part of the show, being taken to task by a dictator of a choreographer. I will never get the images out of my head of the costumed characters who rehearsed with only the head and feet of their costumes. I will never look at Clarabelle Cow the same way again!

Matthew Walker posing for a picture inside Walt Disney's apartment above the firehouse in Disneyland.

The contest seemed somewhat anticlimactic in a way that I would never have thought possible. All I ever wanted was to win this competition and yet I was not unhappy with my third-place finish. I actually was tied for second but lost the tiebreaker to the eventual winner. We were then whisked off for our parade down Main Street, pictures with the Mouses, lunch at Club 33, a backstage tour with Dave Smith and one of the highlights of my life - actually getting to walk into Walt's apartment above the firehouse. For those of you who think that Disneyland is the most magical of the parks because Walt actually walked through it, you are right. Being in this apartment was one of the most magical things that I have ever done in my life. It made all of the hard work to make it to the finals so completely worth it.