[Self] I grew up a navy brat.
We were always near the water.
Started diving in the Navy.
When I got back to California, I kept doing it.
Here in Southern California, we've got some of the best diving in the world.
I feel pretty lucky.
I am Thom Self.
I'm an outside machinist here at Disneyland Resort
in Anaheim, California.
The unique part of my job is, uh, most of my job takes place underwater.
I take care of a lot of the water-based attractions,
like the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage,
Splash Mountain, Pirates,
the Rivers, then the Jungle Cruise.
Keep them all running every day, ready for guests.
After I got out of high school, I just started college.
I started working as a culinary host at the Plaza Inn.
I'd eventually left Disney. I went into the Navy.
I spent ten years in the Navy.
Buoyancy compensator, regulator.
It's just so we can breathe.
When I got out,
I got a call from some people that said, "Hey. Disney's looking for mechanics."
That's the kind of stuff I was doing in the navy.
I figured, "Why not? Let's give it a shot."
Came in, we had an interview.
And they hired me on the spot.
Got to go home and tell the wife, "Hey. I'm back at Disneyland again.
I'm gonna be a mechanic this time."
That was pretty thrilling.
Behind me is Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage attraction.
Part of our job here, obviously, is taking care of the submarines,
'cause our submarines are actually from the original Submarine Voyage attractions.
Our girls are 60 years old.
Bit more of a challenge for working down there
than one of the attractions that's dry.
All ready to go? Let's go make some magic.
So, it's 1:30 in the morning,
and we're in front of the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
Everybody's gone home.
We're getting ready to hop in and start doing our inspections.
Check out everything.
Make sure the attraction's ready again for tomorrow.
Time to get wet.
The two divers that are in the water,
they're backed up by a standby diver who's ready to get in the water
if something goes wrong or we need extra hands.
And then the dive person in charge, who oversees the entire dive,
backs us up with any equipment or extra support that we might need
while we're in the water.
Our diving all takes place
once the sun goes down and the guests have all gone home.
It's all Tinker Bell. It's all magic and we don't exist.
And that's kinda the way it's supposed to be.
A Jungle Cruise attraction is 180 degrees from Nemo.
It's all surface craft. The water's a lot darker.
You can't see what's going on when you're down there.
It's a nightly thing to make sure all the figures are going
and a lot of the water elements and things like that.
So much goes into that 'cause it is up on the surface.
But it does take more planning because of a complete lack of visibility.
Jacques Cousteau was my favorite show when I was a kid.
I always wanted to be a diver.
I never imagined that I would be a diver at Disneyland.
It's a neat job. Anybody you tell any bit about, they say, "You work at Disneyland?"
They say, "What do you do?" "I'm a scuba diver."
What?
I love what I'm doing right now. I'll stay here forever.