Aurora couple to follow lifelong dream to new life in Florida

Brett and Stacie Faber have travelled the world over the past 30 years soaking up every Disney experience on the planet. Their passion for travel and the attraction to Mickey Mouse and Co. took them all over the world, and will soon take them on perhaps their biggest Disney adventure yet, requiring a whole new level of commitment.
The Iowa natives raised four kids in Aurora since moving here in 1996, but now as “Disney adults” they’ve decided to pack their bags, this time for good, and take a leap of faith by moving to the Orlando area, hoping to land full-time jobs as Disney employees.
“We’re calling it Chapter 2,” Brett explained of the couple’s pending move to Florida. “It’s always been in the back of our minds that we’d like to do this someday and then I had a health scare back in 2018 that kind of threw me for a loop. That was probably the day where it was like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do this sooner than later, because who knows what tomorrow brings.”’
Brett’s fascination with all things Disney dates back to his childhood. His parents drove the family from Iowa to both Disneyland and Disney World, making an impression that would last a lifetime.
“I just thought those were the coolest places I’d ever been,” Brett recalled of trips when he was 9 and 11 years old. “I went back in high school with our band trip to Disney World and then we went to Disneyland on our honeymoon. At some point we just decided to go to a Disney park every five years, then it was three years, and then it was like we haven’t been for two years ... I introduced Stacie to Disney on our honeymoon and she just kind of fell in love with it as well.”
The Faber’s four children — Aly, Paige, Lexie and Dane — experienced Disney early on during frequent trips to the parks, with the family eventually expanding their horizons by traveling to Disney parks around the world.
“In 2019 we finished off our bucket list of going to every Disney park in the world,” Brett recalled. “We’ve been on every Disney cruise ship, actually, and there is a new one out of Singapore we’re hitting this summer.”
Brett and Stacie have a passion for travel well beyond the wide world of Disney.
“I think part of that is being raised in a town smaller than Aurora,” Brett said. “The population of Rock Rapids (Iowa) was about 2,600 and my class size was 75, so I just knew I wanted to explore and see things. We’ve been on six of the seven continents, so we’ve done a lot more besides Disney. We try to mix it up because it’s a big world and we like to try and see it all, but we always try to get Disney in the mix somewhere.”

Remote agent role
Having gained both confidence and experience while booking various Disney adventures, Brett saw an ad in a magazine years ago from Galaxy Cruises and decided to apply. He’s been working as a remote agent for Galaxy ever since, helping clients plan all aspects of their trips, including destination, lodging, and daily itineraries.
“I can do any sort of trips, including cruises and all-inclusive, but I’m considered an authorized Disney vacation planner just because I’ve gone through some classes to be that,” he explained. “My expertise is Disney, obviously, so probably 70 to 80 percent of the trips I book, or even more than that, are Disney exclusively.
“Disney is definitely a place that you can’t wing it,” he continued. “You need some sort of plan. You can’t just show up and think it’s all going to be happy, because it’s four parks. It’s really big. I plan all aspects of their trip, just kind of helping them plan their days.”
All of their background -- both as guests themselves and with Brett’s work as a consultant for the Disney company -- planted a seed years ago for the Fabers that one day they would like to live and work in a place known as “the happiest place on earth.” Brett’s health scare was a motivator, and within the past year they made it official, selling their house in Aurora and buying a new home in Davenport, Fla., just 12 miles from Disney World.
“We’ll be in a suburb of Orlando, basically, so fairly close, but depending on traffic about a 20-30 minute commute,” Brett said. “That will be a little different than my two-minute walk to work here, so this is definitely a leap of faith. We’re leaving great jobs and the security of living in a small town, which is what we know. I’m just surprised that almost every day somebody comes up to us and said we inspire them and that makes us feel like maybe we’re doing the right thing. We are super excited and at this point there’s obviously no going back, but we know it is the right decision because this has been our calling.”
Moving to a warmer climate was also part of the appeal.
“So many people say they need the four seasons,” Brett said. “Nope. All I need is two — spring and summer. That’s perfect.”
The Fabers plan to make the long drive to Florida over the Fourth of July weekend, though there is another big trip on the calendar before they dive back into the work world.
“We know this is probably the most free time we’re going to have for a long time because we’ll be starting at the bottom of the totem pole again, starting over with vacation time and taking time off to go on trips and stuff,” he said. “We’re taking a month to see the world more, spending two weeks in Europe and doing a Scandinavian/Northern Europe cruise for a week and then spending some time in Norway. After two weeks in Europe we’re heading to Asia again, mostly hitting new stuff, doing Thailand, India, Singapore, where we’re going to do Disney’s newest ship, and then on our anniversary we’re going to Hong Kong. It will be kind of crazy trying to coordinate all this and getting jobs, plus throwing a wedding in the mix (of oldest daughter Aly), but we’re super excited.”

Career plans
As for the type of work Brett and Stacie hope to find with Disney, they both applied for the same position recently on a Disney career site.
“It’s considered a bench job, and basically what that means is there is maybe not an immediate opening, but it’s like sitting on a bench, almost like a waiting list, so we thought that was really the perfect chance for us to both apply for it,” he said. “That gets our resumes and our applications in their system, and hopefully we stick out a little bit and they can find a place for us.”
Faber will be leaving his job at the Aurora Cooperative, where he served as director of communications for 10 years before spending the last 16 years in human resources. Stacie has devoted her career to speech pathology, working for five years at Harvard Public School as a speech-language pathologist and then 25 years for Grand Island Public Schools doing the same thing, only for children from birth through 5 years of age.
“We knew we want to work in a different capacity,” Brett said. “We just want a job with Disney, and being amongst the people, you know, using our talents that we’ve gotten over the years and helping others while they’re there.”
Living and working in the Disney world reflects the couple’s sense of travel and adventure as well.
“We’re probably different from a lot of parents who live here,” Brett noted. “A lot of people encourage their kids to come back and we’ve kind of always been the opposite. You know, it’s a big world. Aurora is a great to raise kids and our kids loved growing up here, but there’s a big world out there and you need to see it. They’re kind of carving their own path, and that’s what we wanted.”
Aly, who will be getting married within the month, lives in Southern California working as a recruiter for National Veterinary Associates. The other three children live in Omaha, with Paige (married to Aurora native Aaron Vinkenburg) working as director of digital marketing for Fat Brain Toys; Lexie works at Nel-Net; and Dane is a senior at UNO studying computer science.