In recent weeks, Daps Magic has been covering the stories of cast members who have received the Walt Disney Legacy Award this year (read about when Mr. Daps attended a Walt Disney Legacy Award ceremony here). There have been quite a few who have been from the Disneyland Resort. Today, the cast member who is in the spotlight comes from EPCOT. In fact, he has been at EPCOT since the day it opened!

Esteban Carrillo, co-founder and director of the world-famous Mariachi Cobre. Esteban and the Mariachi Cobre have been performing at the Mexico Pavilion since EPCOT opened 43 years ago at Walt Disney World Resort. He is one of the less than 1% of Disney cast members who have been honored with this award.

The Walt Disney Legacy Award is a peer-nominated award that is given to cast members who exemplify Walt Disney’s values of Dream, Create, and Inspire. Esteban has been a treasured fixture at World Showcase for over four decades. He has touched the lives of both guests and cast alike. He is known for his ever-present smile, his co-workers say, “If anyone doesn’t have one, Esteban will make sure they do by the end of the day.”

The Disney Parks Blog shared about Esteban’s story, going back before EPCOT opened! Read about his full Disney story here:

Esteban has been creating happiness at Disney even before EPCOT was opened and fondly recalls his first performances at Disneyland, starting in 1968, as part of a youth mariachi group. During the days of these early performances, he had the great fortune of flying in Walt Disney’s personal plane, which felt like a dream.

Inspiring the Next Generation

With over five decades of incredible experiences sharing mariachi music and Mexican American culture with the world, Esteban has had a huge impact on the mariachi community. Some of his fellow band members who nominated him for the Legacy Award were inspired by him at a young age.

Rene Aguirre Garcia, a Mariachi Cobre member who hails from the same hometown of Tucson, Arizona, as Esteban, recalls growing up with posters of him and his brother/co-founder of the group, Randy Carrillo, hung up on his walls.

“As a kid, he was the director of many of the workshops I would go to and he was definitely one of my idols,” says Rene. “I always looked up to him and aspired to be part of the group one day. I never thought I’d be playing alongside him, but the last few years have been a dream come true.”

A Forever Legacy

Esteban shared how proud he is to join this select group of recipients of the Legacy Award at Walt Disney World, including his brother, Randy, co-founder of Mariachi Cobre who recently retired, but remains one of his biggest inspirations.

But that’s not the only honor Esteban has received during his impressive career. In 2022, he served as inspiration for one of the five Mariachi Forever stamps released by the United States Postal Service honoring the cultural importance of mariachi around the world.

Throughout his remarkable career, Esteban remains humble, admitting he’s still surprised when he receives letters and cards from family or friends accompanied by a stamp with his photo.

“It’s quite an honor. I’m very proud they’re putting mariachi out there to a bigger demographic to promote our music and our culture,” he says.

From his signature smile to his cheerful confidence, he makes sure Walt Disney World feels like home to all our visitors.

When asked one of the reasons why he nominated Esteban, Rene says, “He goes above and beyond for all of our guests here at EPCOT and I believe he embodies exactly what Walt Disney wanted a cast member to be like.”

Whether sharing a special song for a magical moment with a guest or mentoring newer members of the band, Esteban’s known for dedicating his time to creating happiness and joy. While excited to wear his new blue Legacy nametag, he recognizes and credits his success to the entire Mariachi Cobre group. He says he shares this with them because without them, he wouldn’t be the musician or person he is today.