Triviateers
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For Antonio Ruberto, Jr., winning the National Trivia Competition in 1997 made him somewhat of a celebrity. His success was even featured in an article in the Spring 1998 Disney Magazine entitled "Mr. Know-It-All." Working at the Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan helped his visibility.

"After winning the competition, I became a bit of a celebrity since my store had a lot of out-of-town cast members and guests visiting who had heard of me," said Antonio. "I got every guest trivia question and even was asked to pose for a few pics! Because our store was the flagship, we had huge traffic and people were always asking us questions. I was glad to be there to clarify things for cast members and guests alike."

In 1994, the Disney Store instituted what might best be called the "Gary Pyle Clause," in honor of the six-time Triviateer from the Annapolis Mall store in Maryland. This new rule restricted cast members from competing in the Nationals more than twice before being "retired" from competition in an effort supposedly intended to infuse "new blood" into the event. The year after Gary was retired from competition, he took it upon himself to return to the finals as an observer and a fan where the current batch of Triviateers paid him homage.

"The year after I was told I couldn't play anymore," said Gary, " I returned just to see the show. As a sort of salute to the old man, some of the contestants decided that if there was a question that they didn't know the answer to, the answer would be 'Gary Pyle.' Imagine the thrill when I first heard my name called out! It was so funny. I just stood and held my hands high in the air. It was quite a tribute and a thrill."

Over the years, there have been thousands of cast members who donned sweaters and greeted guests the Disney way in malls around the world. Some joined the team for the paycheck. Some joined for the merchandise discount. Some joined because of a love of Disney. At least one person joined simply to become a Triviateer - Kevin Burke.

"Walking through the local mall, I saw a sign announcing that the Disney Store was coming soon. At the job fair a few weeks later, in our group interview, they asked what we hoped to accomplish while working at the Disney Store. One girl said she wanted to make money for college, another girl said she was hoping to advance into management. I told them quite honestly, 'I want to win your trivia contest.'"

Kevin, from Southern Hills Mall in Sioux City, Iowa, would be the contest's final champion in 1999. The competition was ended in favor of the Biz Quiz, a contest featuring questions themed more to selling techniques and product knowledge than Disney history. The Biz Quiz ended after only one year.

"I am very honored to have been the last trivia winner," said Kevin, "but at the same time it's also a little bittersweet. I never had a chance to pass the trophy onto the next winner - it ends with me. There must be dozens, if not hundreds, of other Disney fans out there who never made it as far as we did. They'll never get the chance to 'go for the gold' as we did, and that disappoints me more than you'll know. I know how much fun I had, in the midst of a lot of work, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I'm just sorry that others won't have a shot at it like I had."