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Former Greene woman beats long odds to be Disney mom
jstevens@observer-reporter.com
Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Need some information about hotels and restaurants?
Well, you can ask Heather Roberts-Nault, a former Greene County resident who is one of 12 people selected from 10,000 applicants to serve on the first Disney Moms Panel.
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Roberts-Nault is the youngest daughter of Dennis and Barbara Roberts, who raised their family in Rices Landing.
"We lived in Greene County until 1994 before moving to Kentucky," Roberts-Nault said. "I was a junior at Jefferson-Morgan High School when we left."
She said she made her first trip to Disney World as an adult in 2005, two years after her first daughter was born. Since then, she said, "I have been busy making up for lost time."
She and Christopher, her husband of seven years, and their three daughters, ages 5, 3 and 1, now go to Disney World two to three times a year, and it was just by chance last January that she learned about the Moms Panel through a Disney newsletter.
She explained Disney was creating a Moms Panel, and applicants were asked to submit three questions, each with 100-word answers.
"Initially, there were 5,000 applications, but then they upped it to 10,000," Roberts-Nault said.
From those 10,000, Disney cast members narrowed the finalists to 124. Then she was asked to submit three more questions, and the number was reduced to 25.
"We then had to give a phone interview and wait for a call to see if we made it to the final 12," she said.
"I got the call around 5 p.m. one day and was told I was a member of the Moms Panel," she said. "Being selected as one of 12 out of 10,000 applications is amazing."
Panel members were selected because of their vast knowledge of the Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. And what makes being on the Moms Panel especially attractive is that Roberts-Nault is able to work from her home.
Roberts-Nault believes so much in Disney World that she convinced her husband to decorate their kitchen in Disney decor, and she and her family are members of the Disney Vacation Club.
Since becoming a member of the Moms Panel, Roberts-Nault estimates she has answered about 600 questions, either e-mailed specifically to her or taken from a general pool of questions.
And Disney has rewarded her for her efforts with free family vacations as well as trips to the resort for training sessions.
She will continue to serve on the panel through the end of this year and will serve on a rotating basis next year while the second Moms Panel becomes comfortable with its responsibilities.
One of the highlights of her role has been arranging trips for families who are reuniting with a loved one who has been serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"That has given me a great deal of satisfaction," she said, "but I also enjoy recommending a good restaurant or hotel," she said.
"And if someone asks me about a particular restaurant that I don't like, I will tell them I don't like it." She made it clear that none of the members of the Moms Panel are Disney employees.
Roberts-Nault is the granddaughter of Mary C. Roberts of Rogersville and the late Rolland Boyd Roberts, and Harold and Elaine Ritenour of Waynesburg.
In her hometown of Bardstown, Ky., she has two eBay stores and is co-owner of Garden Party Teas, a family business that sells tea party accessories on the Internet.
"I love to help family and friends plan their Disney vacations, and I am excited to help do the same for your family," she said.
