Will Ferrell worked at Disneyland for just one day before quitting with a hilarious excuse.
Will Ferrell worked at Disneyland for a day
The 59-year-old actor was delighted to land work at the theme park until he discovered he wouldn’t get to do anything as “fun” as operate one of the big rides until many years into the job, so after undergoing his first day of training, he decided to take on something else instead.
Speaking to Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast, he said: “I got a job and you were paid for the orientation day to work at Disneyland.
“And I thought that I was going to be assigned to be one of the really fun jobs like the Jungle Cruise operator. And I find out, oh no, those guys work there for eight years before they get [that role], so they assign me one of the front kiosks for selling tickets.
“At the same time, I had a rival offer to work at a friend’s surf shop. A friend who was managing a surf shop right down at Newport Beach.”
Both jobs had the exact same $5.50-an-hour rate of pay, so Will opted to take the surf shop job, but was too embarrassed to quit Disneyland himself.
Instead, a friend of the Anchorman star agreed to make the call – and came up with an inventive reason as to why Will wouldn’t be returning to work.
He said: “I was too embarrassed to call up Disneyland, so my friend John called on my behalf and said, ‘I will be quitting after one day.’
“And they asked, ‘Okay, reason for leaving?’ And he said, ‘I have a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys.’ And they went, ‘Thank you very much.’
“So somewhere there’s a file at Disney corporate, it says: ‘Will Ferrell worked for one day. Reason for leaving? Tryout with the Dallas Cowboys football team.’ “
He then jokingly mused: “Did he make the Cowboys? You want to hear an interesting story? We just had someone call and cancel. They’re not going to work, but they’re going to try out for the Dallas Cowboys. How good is that? Anyway, I wish them the best.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, the pair reflected on what a great time they had making 2017’s The House, despite admitting it was a “flop”.
Amy said: “We did The House together, which was so fun to do with you. It was a dream come true to make a movie with you.”
After she noted it was a “flop”, Will replied: “It did not resonate at all.
“Yet, I still argue that that movie’s funny.”
Amy added: “My kids often tell me — they’re like, ‘Mom, that was 7% on Rotten Tomatoes.’ “
