Back in November, we got an email asking if we were interested in working the merchandise booth for The Lion King when it arrives in Spokane. We, of course, signed up, and over the holiday, we had a Zoom call with Disney, where we were told they would love to have us. At the end of January, it was time to embark on this three-week tour, and each shift saw us up at 6:30 am, working 8:00 to 5:00 at Macy’s, then 5:30-10:30 pm for the show, and back home by 11:15 pm, and the next day would be the same schedule.

At the start of our second week, we found out we had exceeded the sales goal by $10,000 the previous week. We also received our schedule for the final week, and we plan to see the show after our last shift. On our second shift this week, I was the first to sell a vinyl cast recording of the show, which has to be played at 45 RPMs to hear every note. On Friday, we made great time getting to downtown, only to be met with a full parking garage, ugh. They directed us across the street, also full, but we eventually spotted some spots down the street and ran to the theater, arriving just a bit late.

Our last week started with three shows in a row, and we hope to see the show on Friday. Our Tuesday show was much slower than we experienced before, but overall sales have been outperforming their goals. Our final night with the show started with an accident on the freeway, which delayed us by about 15 minutes, but once we arrived, we were ready. Before we opened, they announced this was our last shift. Everyone was a little sad but glad they got to know us, and we felt the same way.

After the intermission we purchased a few souvenirs for ourselves and were able to meet and talk with the actor who plays Zazu, and we got a photo with him, although it was against policy.

All in all, this was such a fun three weeks. Were we tired? You bet, but we pushed through and enjoyed every minute. On Friday, I headed back down to the theater to get tickets for that night’s show, only to find that the last four shows had only single seats left. We knew it was going to be a gamble whether we could get tickets, so we headed home for dinner, watched the Olympics, and were in bed by 9:30.