Candy apples are a favorite every fall, especially those that sweetly embody the Halloween season, but the iconic Evil Candy Apple is the top seller year-round at Disney Springs’ Candy Cauldron. And merchandise hostess Joanne Torres would know. She’s been making them here for more than 20 years.
In fact, Torres and her son, Pedro Sarraga, are Walt Disney World cast member legacies.
Torres has worked here for 31 years. Cerraga, 11.
These days, Cerraga’s title is a long one: senior manager of merchandise products and integration. But he started dipping candy apples alongside his mom.
“I was finishing my senior year in high school,” says Sarraga.
Incredibly, his placement by casting was completely coincidental. They had no idea his mom worked there, too.
“My initial thought was, ‘Is that even allowed?’” He laughs, noting that early on, their schedules were mostly opposite.
A freshly decorated Evil Candy Apple cools on a tray at Candy Cauldron in Disney Springs. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
“She was the morning opener, and I was going to school and more often doing the closing shift. A lot of times, I’d be her ‘bump out,’ the person who would clock in and relieve her.”
Sarraga was front-of-house at the outset, but once selected for confectionery training, he became his mother’s trainee.
“It was very memorable,” he says. “And great.”
Joanne Torres gathers a handful of freshly dipped candy apples to take to the decorating station, where she will add the signature skull of the Evil Candy Apple at Candy Cauldron in Disney Springs. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Torres moved from Puerto Rico to Orlando in the early ’90s, landing at what was then called the Disney Village Marketplace. A few years there, and a few more at Pleasure Island, preceded her placement at the Candy Cauldron, a job she’s loved since her arrival.
“I love doing this,” says the candy apple connoisseur. “We work in the show kitchen, and the best part is the interaction with the guests. They watch us making all the treats; we see the kids’ faces. It’s just nice, every day, to see so many different people from everywhere and make their experience fun.”
Joanne Torres rolls an apple in boiling cherry candy coating while creating a batch of Evil Candy Apples at Candy Cauldron in Disney Springs. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
The Evil Candy Apple, which emulates the poison apple made famous by “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’” celebrated villainess. The Evil Queen is a delicious balance of sweet and sour, and a tasty take-out treat for guests.
“It’s the most popular apple we sell,” says Torres, “but I love making everything here. There’s also a cake pop version with the evil face on it. It’s the same, but a little one. It’s so cute.”
Sarraga’s job now sees him leading merchandise projects that support all of Walt Disney World — back-of-house spaces, floor replenishment and projects he sees from conceptualization to integration.
“We launch a new thing and it’s either making our guests’ experience better or our cast members’ lives easier,” he says. “Seeing it in real time is my favorite part.”
He never expected that this summer job would lead to a career path that’s since logged more than a decade — “I never thought that from dipping candy apples I’d have the opportunities I’ve had. Our leadership team here makes the possibilities seem limitless. You can find your passion and mix it with work and create a lifelong career.”
His mom certainly has. And though he’s no longer at the register, he makes a point to stop by and say hi, as his role sees him visiting Disney Springs quite often.
Pedro Sarraga looks on while his mother, Joanne Torres, creates at the Candy Cauldron in Disney Springs, where she’s worked for more than 20 years. Eleven years ago, Sarraga began his tenure as her trainee. He is now the senior manager of merchandise projects and integration. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
“When I was a kid, I remember thinking, ‘Oh, my mom makes candy! That’s fun!’ As an adult, there’s more of an understanding of what parents do for their children, what they sacrifice just so you can have the best life possible. There’s more of an understanding that it’s a job, it’s hard work.”
Torres, if figuratively, whistles while she does so. Life is sweet.
Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
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