‘Happiest chef on Earth': How a CSULB grad is shaping Disneyland's food and sustainability efforts
Toby Hollis ‘05 was a teenager when he first stepped behind the grill at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland Terrace, flipping burgers while — just beyond the counter — Mickey and Minnie Mouse dazzled awestruck children.
It was meant to be a summer job, something to fill the time, but Hollis never left.
More than 35 years later, the CSULB alumnus still walks the kitchens of Disneyland, only now he wears a chef’s coat and leads some of the park's most iconic restaurants, including Tiana’s Palace and Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree. These days, he sees to the business side of food, developing menus, supervising teams and spearheading efforts to make resort dining more sustainable — nudging a kingdom built on nostalgia toward a greener future.
But flipping burgers didn’t get him there; Cal State Long Beach did.
“All the lessons I learned while at CSULB I utilize every day,” he said.
Hollis credits The Beach with helping transform him from a theme park line cook into a chef who understands not just how to prepare food, but how to run a kitchen.
“It helped me realize where my career could go,” Hollis said.
As it turns out, his career went to some of the happiest kitchens on Earth.
The business of food
Hollis always has felt at home in kitchens — his mother taught cooking classes when he was growing up — but his journey to becoming a chef wasn’t straightforward.
Living with his dad in Reno, Nevada, he initially set his sights on electrical engineering, but the financial burden proved a bit too steep. Instead, after high school, he moved into his mom’s house in Southern California full-time, leaning into his job at Disneyland and climbing the ranks of its many kitchens.
By 1996, he’d begun taking culinary classes at Orange Coast College, and in 2002, he enrolled in the hospitality management program in CSULB's College of Health and Human Services. That’s where everything clicked.
Courses in food science introduced him to cook-chill techniques, now a staple in Disneyland’s high-volume kitchens. Nutrition classes shaped his approach to balanced menus, while psychology courses helped him understand how guests emotionally connect with food. An externship at Hoag Hospital reinforced the importance of personalized guest care.
“You can learn all you want in a book, but until you've really applied it to real life, you're never going to fully understand what that education meant,” he said.
Even his finance courses proved essential.
“We learned how hotel occupancy can forecast supplies for menus, restaurant concepts and staffing levels.”
Now he’s applying all of it — not just to create food but to drive change. As part of an environmental fellowship, he’s also committed to pushing sustainability efforts, exploring and introducing menu items that lower Disneyland’s carbon footprint without sacrificing flavor.
"You can’t change the direction of a massive ship on a dime," he said. "You have to nudge it, nudge it, nudge it to get it where you want to go."
'Big hug and a kiss’
Hollis knows that not all chefs aspire to work at a theme park; chicken fingers and corn dogs aren’t known for earning Michelin stars. But the park’s corn dogs are really good – and, for him, the job is about more than food. It’s about crafting unforgettable experiences.
“People come in expecting just fair food … We love the fact that we can surprise people, and make them go, ‘I wasn’t expecting to love this, but oh my gosh, what did you do?’”
That’s why perfecting the gumbo recipe for Tiana’s Palace was so important to him.
Before the restaurant’s opening in 2023, the team spent six months testing 10 different versions before getting it right — sourcing Carolina Gold rice from Louisiana, Leidenheimer bread for po’boys and Savoie andouille sausage to ensure authenticity.
A few weeks after opening, a woman from New Orleans walked in, skeptical that Disneyland could replicate her hometown flavors.
“She walked in and started giving me a hard time: ‘My gumbo is the best, you’re never gonna come anywhere near my gumbo.’”
Then she took a bite.
“She gives me this big hug and a kiss on my cheek," Hollis recalled.
"Now that was good gumbo," she told him.
It was the ultimate compliment, which he reciprocated by sending her off with a bag full of freshly baked beignets.
Magical moments
Those are the kinds of moments that keep him coming back. He said he often reminds his team that even the smallest guest interactions can have a lasting impact. After all, for many, visiting Disneyland is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"You may have five minutes of their day,” he said, “but you may have just changed the last five years of their life."
Much has changed since his days flipping burgers. Hollis is now married with two daughters, the older of whom is 16 — the same age he was when he discovered his own calling. In another year, she’ll be heading to college, with CSULB among her top choices.
Asked for the advice he would give aspiring chefs, he spoke not of jobs but of companies, emphasizing the importance of believing in the mission behind any institution one serves.
“Find a company that aligns with your values,” he said. “If it doesn’t, you’ll never be happy.”
For Hollis, that company is Disney. For today's CSULB students, the possibilities are endless — and adventure awaits.
