Art The Greeter is retiring

[doconeill]

Thought I'd bring this over to the podcast board - at least to me, it is big news...found out from Tink901 in post #283 in this thread (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1462595)...


Art, the greeter at the Beach Club who was featured in the BC&YC episode of Samantha Brown's Great Hotels, is retiring October 17th.

Art is a genuine Disney treasure who will be sorely missed. Always friendly, always spending time with the guests, trading pins with the children, he exemplified the spirit of a cast member.

DW and I first met him personally in June 2007 on our kidless 10th anniversary trip while staying at BCV - we finally met him on our checkout day. When I spoke to DD#1 on the phone to say we had seen him, her first question was "Does he still have the pin that Samantha traded him?" He was extremely flattered at the question that a child who had never met him knew who he was and would ask a question like that (he didn't have it). When he found out it was our anniversary trip, he asked us to wait a minute, and rushed off upstairs. He came back, and apologized that he didn't have the box for it which had been misplaced a long time ago and he had to clean it up real good, but he gave us the very last BC/YC Anniversary pin he had.

We had brought the kids by in Dec. 2007, but that was the day Art had fallen ill with pneumonia. We tried again in Oct. 2008, but he was taking some time off to rest.

Finally the kids met him in April of this year. He spent a lot of time just chatting while DD#2 pretty much showed and described to him all of her pins. The kids traded pins with him, and we took pictures. We mentioned about him giving us the anniversary pin - and he remembered giving out the last one, not having the box, and giving it to a nice couple a couple of years ago...which was us!

We are really going to miss him.

[chirurgeon]

Darn it! I was hoping to meet him when I stay at BCV in April. I hope he has a great retirement.

Kim

[WDWtraveler27]

oh I wanted to meet him when I am going next year

[Gav N Becx]

I cannot believe he is retiring.
Art will be sadly missed by both myself and my wife.
We check out from the BCV tomorrow so I will be sure to speak to him about this before we leave. He hasn't mentioned it since we've been here but then I guess I never thought to ask.
We've always made the effort to go see him, no matter what resort we're at and have been keeping in touch by email for the last couple of years.
I'm really pleased we've had that extra quality time with him this vacation.
We'd love to take him out for dinner next time we're back just to say thank you for all the great stuff he's done for us over the years.
He's an outstanding individual with such a great persona and has certainly taught me to take a different perspective on life.
I always hoped that he'd get to see our children grow up (when we finally have them). I'll make sure to keep in contact with him...

Art we'll miss you...too much!!!
We wish him a very happy retirement.

[BriarRosie]

Oh I love Art the Greeter!

I'll be sure to wish him a happy retirement when I'm there in a couple weeks!

I remember on the one trip a couple years ago, when BCV was testing the check in desk at the Villas lobby area, Art nearly gave me a heart attack as I was getting off Magical Express.

He appeared to have been jumping out from a nearby bush to tell me that I should check in at the other building if I was checking in with DVC. Seriously, I hadn't seen him at first as I was walking towards the main lobby entrance. :laughing:

[Mouse Skywalker]

I had been trying to interview Art the past 3x I've been at WDW, but he was never there. Shoot!

[SamSam]

We will be sure to stop and wish him 'Happy Retirement' next week. We will certainly miss his warmth and charm during future trips.

[NC Belle]

NC B. and I are hoping to wish him well next week.

[WaltD4Me]

Sad news. Art the Greeter personified "Disney" to me. My niece pin traded with him on two trips and he was one of the highlights of her trip, she still talks about Art. Whenever she shows me her pins she says "Remember I got this one from Art?" He will be sorely missed. :sad1:

[ADP]

Art is awesome! I make it a point to stop and say hi to him when we are at the Beach Club. I'm sure we will all miss him.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb190/cdpa4d/Picture017-2-1-1.jpg

[TXYankee]

The World will be losing a little bit of Magic.

Congratulations and best of luck to Art!

[aspen37]

I met Art in May. He is such a nice man. He will be truly missed. Happy retirement Art! :goodvibes

[Minnie Lor]

Wow! Never met him but have always wanted to. I hope he has a very happy retirement. It'll be hard to find anyone that special to fill his shoes.

[CamColt]

Oh how sad! I had heard about him for years, and finally had the pleasure of meeting him earlier this month. My family all thought I was crazy taking this guy's picture. ;)

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs231.snc1/7835_1226372263556_1356521475_650600_5326637_n.jpg

[dvcfamily41801]

I had been trying to interview Art the past 3x I've been at WDW, but he was never there. Shoot!

Oh Dave I wish you would have been able to interview him! That would have been wonderful!!!

[ragtopday]

Oh, I am so sad to hear this! We will be at BCV in December and I was looking forward to meeting him with my girls. I have heard plenty of wonderful stories about him (like yours Bill!) but never got to meet him myself. I hope his retirement is full of fun and relaxation or whatever he is hoping it will be.

[tink576]

He is such a sweet man, we will miss seeing him every time we go to Beaches and Cream

[parrotheadlois]

I cannot believe he is retiring.
Art will be sadly missed by both myself and my wife.
We check out from the BCV tomorrow so I will be sure to speak to him about this before we leave. He hasn't mentioned it since we've been here but then I guess I never thought to ask.
We've always made the effort to go see him, no matter what resort we're at and have been keeping in touch by email for the last couple of years.
I'm really pleased we've had that extra quality time with him this vacation.
We'd love to take him out for dinner next time we're back just to say thank you for all the great stuff he's done for us over the years.
He's an outstanding individual with such a great persona and has certainly taught me to take a different perspective on life.
I always hoped that he'd get to see our children grow up (when we finally have them). I'll make sure to keep in contact with him...

Art we'll miss you...too much!!!
We wish him a very happy retirement.

PLEASE give Art our best wishes. He actually might remember us - if you tell him we're the couple who gave him a South African pin and a photograph of us with his compatriot greeter at the Cullinan in Cape Town South Africa. We thought it was terrific that the guy in South Africa (Mr. Liambi) wore formal attire with pins given to him by hotel guests all over his suit coat.

Lois and Greg

[crazytp93]

I have always wanted to meet him.

Very sad, Disney's losing a bit of magic.

I hope he enjoys retirement!

[OKW Lover]

Good for Art! Hope he enjoys a long and healthy retirement.

Val & I will certainly miss his cheery greetings at BC. Even when we aren't staying there, we often stop in to see the place and say Hi to Art. Fortunately, we'll have one more chance to catch him before his retirement date.

Disney is losing a valuable CM. :littleangel:

[sixbits8]

Art is the best. We always looked for him when we would stay there and each of our kids have traded pins with him. He is a true personification of WDW and the BC! We will miss Art and wish him only the best in his retirement! Cue Bob Hope...

Thanks for the memories! :hug:

[princesskelz]

NO!!!!!!!:guilty:
Seriously he is an amazing man!
We go a lot and he remembers our last names. Oh hello W**** family! How are you. It just added to the trips.:goodvibes

Good luck with everything Art we love you:cloud9::cloud9:

[doconeill]

Here is one of the photos we took with Art in April with the kids. Click the image to see the full size picture.

http://www.oinc.net/disney/trips/april2009/images/artthegreeter-thumb.jpg (http://www.oinc.net/disney/trips/april2009/images/artthegreeter.jpg)

[pklein09]

I wish him all the best! I feel blessed and lucky that we got to meet Art and had our picture taken with him. Maybe he'll come back to visit....

[drakethib]

Art and my little one who was 4 months old at the time.

Disney is losing a legend who will be missed.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10/drakethib/WelcomeBeachClub.jpg

[wendydarling826]

Is there going to be any way to send happy retirement wishes to Art? Being welcomed home by Art is one of my best BCV memories. I'll never forget trading pins with Art while Hurricane Charley raged outside in 2004. I wish we were going to be there before he leaves. I would love to send him a card to wish him well.

[oakmanner]

This is bitter sweet news. For Art and his family if this is what they want then congratulations and may he have a long and happy retirement!

Selfishly though, he will leave a huge hole at the resort and WDW in general. Art personifies what being a Disney cast member should be. He is a true gentleman, caring and passionate about his job. He makes Disney magic each and every shift that he works.

On several occasions even when we weren't staying at the Beach Club we would make the effort to get over there just to say hi. He enjoyed trading pins with kids and adults and seemed to genuinely enjoy it. The last few trips I would bring a handful of trading pins and give them to Art with the understanding that he give them away to some unsuspecting kids. He was so overwhelmed and appreciative!

He always said to me I'll tell whomever I give one of these pins to; they are courtesy of Dennis from Boston.

I really hope Disney does some sort of public acknowledgment of his retirement above and beyond what his fellow cast members may do.

Thanks for everything Art, you will truly be missed!:sail:

-Dennis

[anonymousegirl]

Sad news! I feel very selfish when I wish that Art would never leave BC. He is the spirit of Disney courtesy, friendliness, and the epitome of graciousness. He will be sorely missed.

I wish all the DISsers who will be out there on his retirement day could line the driveway and portico and salute him.

[Leigha]

The Beach Club is located at 1800 Epcot Resorts Blvd. Lake Buena Vista, FLA 32830. It seems if you sent a card to "Art the Greeter" he would surely get it.