11 insider facts about working at Walt Disney World only cast members know

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The terms "onstage" and "backstage" don't just apply to performers at Walt Disney World.

• Walt Disney World employees are all referred to as "cast members."

• This includes everyone from the costumed character performers to the ride operators to the people working in retail.

• The park also reflects a show business-like environment by requiring cast members to stay "in character" while in the presence of guests.

Walt Disney World has a rep for being the "most magical place on Earth."

But what's it really like to be one of the people responsible for making the magic happen?

Walt Disney World employs 70,000 "cast members" - the term the company uses to refer to all employees. They all help to run a world-famous park that attracted a record 68 million visitors to Orlando in 2016, according to The Orlando Sentinel.

It's fair to say that these thousands of cast members come to learn a number of secrets about the park that the rest of us tourists might miss.

Business Insider spoke with former Disney College Cast program attendee and "Devin Earns Her Ears: My Secret Walt Disney World Cast Member Diary" author Devin Melendy, Susan Veness, author of "The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World" series, and Mike Fox, author of "The Hidden Secrets & Stories of Walt Disney World" and founder of the site Disney-Secrets.com.

Here's what they had to say about the secrets of working at Walt Disney World: