While most engineers and cast members remain on land to perform attraction checks, a diving team is needed to maintain the mechanical systems of Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland Park. Disney recently shared behind-the-scenes photos and stories from these cast members.
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage Diving Team
“I was a machinist at Matterhorn for two and a half years. Then someone came through one day and asked if anybody wanted to learn how to dive,” longtime Disneyland diver and Walt Disney Legacy Award recipient Ken Posey said of how he joined the team. “I said, ‘I’ll do it,’ and soon after I started scuba training before moving to work at Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.”
“People don’t realize there are even divers at Disneyland,” Posey added. His diving experiences at Disneyland led him to go diving around the world, including at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
At minimum, two members of the diving team swim through the Submarine Voyage lagoon every night, surveying the attraction for anything that might look out of place. During their dive, the team might replace lights, install new show elements, or support a multifaceted ride refurbishment.
“We’re trying to keep whatever the engineers design operating properly,” explained Disneyland diving team member Dave Fisher. “If the attraction is deviating from that, whether it’s a safety precaution or a show element, we’re going to find a way to fix it.”
Fisher and Posey have been diving together at Disneyland Resort for over a decade.
“I get paid to dive,” Fisher said with a smile. He began diving for fun in the 1980s and has been working with Disney for 25 years.
“We want anyone who comes here, even a 2-year-old who spots Nemo, to be happy,” he said. “We want to make the ride safe and give guests the best experience we can.”
Though the Finding Nemo version of the attraction opened in 2007, the original submarine ride opened at Disneyland in 1959. There are decades of history beneath the water. The ride went through a major refurbishment in 2022. Watch our video POV below.
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