The Arribas Brothers name is synonymous with perfection and masterful glass art. The impeccable craftsmanship of each glass piece is unparalleled. For over 50 years, the company has been exclusively situated on Disney property with locations in Orlando, Anaheim, Tokyo, Paris and Shanghai. Rudy Arribas, son of Alfonso, is the president of the Arribas Brothers Company. Born and raised in the family business, Arribas has been a cast member for 27 years. Orlando Family Magazine recently spoke with him about the Arribas Brothers company, its rich history and exciting future.

How did the Arribas Brothers company come to be?

My father (Alfonso) and uncle (Tomas) were glass cutters by trade from Spain. The Spanish government actually contracted them to represent Spain and perform the art of glass engraving in the Spanish pavilion at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Walt Disney was there showcasing audio-animatronics and other cool exhibits. As he was making the rounds at the World’s Fair, he came across my father and my uncle and was intrigued by what they were doing and saw that people really seemed to love it. Walt told them he would like to talk to them further about their art and possibly doing business together. He invited them to Disneyland to talk more about it. About a year or so later, they finally met and it was decided that they would have a shop inside the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. Unfortunately, Walt passed away in 1966, however [his brother] Roy honored what Walt had promised and in 1967 the first contract with Disney was signed. After a few months, my father and uncle had a good feeling that this was a place they wanted to stay and a company they wanted to stay with so all other ventures were closed up and more of the family came into the U.S. from Spain. We have only worked with Disney and been exclusively in Disney parks and resorts around the world now for about 53 years.

Arribas Brothers has had a shop on Main Street, U.S.A since the opening day of Walt Disney World. What stories did your father share about that time?

My father said that shortly after Disney World opened, it was very quiet for the first few months. At that point, they were just coming from California and as immigrants, were not very familiar with the U.S. On top of that, they really didn’t know much about Florida, which at the time felt like the middle of nowhere to them. “Then all of a sudden,” he would say, “they arrived!” And of course, the guests have never stopped showing up.

What are the types of glass art that Arribas Brothers creates?

Glass engraving is generationally what our family has done. Along the way we have also done what is called lampworking, which is glass blowing with a torch and two glass rods. We are probably more known for the glass blowing at this time, just because the torch and fire really attract people. However, generationally speaking we are glass engravers. We still do a lot of personalization with the glass engraving. We have some wonderful glass engravers all over the world.

How do you find your artists? Is there some type of apprenticeship?

We do in-house training of our engravers for the most part but a lot of our overseas engravers have attended engraving schools in Eastern Europe, Hungary and Poland. In the U.S., most of the lamp workers come from their own garages. For many artists, it starts as a hobby that they end up developing a love and a talent for.

Arribas Brothers has been affiliated with Disney for over 50 years. What has that relationship meant to the company?

Disney constantly sets the bar so high. Just trying to keep up with them has made us better at what we do; the constant evolution, improvement and investment, especially over the last 20 years or so, of time, effort and money. What WDI (Walt Disney Imagineering) does and how they work when we are putting together a new shop or a location and how detailed they get into everything sets Disney apart from everybody else. We hold ourselves to those same standards so every little detail is thought about and that is how our artists are able to make such beautiful glass pieces.

Is there a particular piece that Arribas Brothers is most known for?

Most of the feedback we get is for the expensive pieces; those always garner the most attention. We have what we call the “$35,000 castle,” which is actually more expensive now. It currently costs $50,000. It is made by my cousin, Miguel Arribas, and it is a 3-foot-by-3-foot, hand-stitched glass castle. We have sold multiples throughout the years. It is incredibly large. One of the largest castles we ever made is in the Shanghai Museum of Glass. Unfortunately, it was recently broken by some children visiting the museum. Many people have asked if I was mad to learn of that but I say, “Look on the bright side, parents brought their kids to a museum of glass, and that’s a good thing. We want to encourage that.” Glass can be repaired. Once the pandemic settles down and we can safely send our artist over there to repair it, we will repair it, simple as that.

How many people work on a project as large as that glass castle?

It’s actually just one person. That particular type of stitch is called a “loop stitch” and it takes Miguel about six months to do it. He’ll do it in quadrants and piece parts almost architecturally, so he’ll do turrets and then slowly but surely bind it all together. At the moment, he’s actually in Paris doing some special projects for us there. Normally, you will find him at our store on Main Street. There are not many artists in the world that can do that type of work; it’s very methodical and tedious. I think Miguel is by far the best in the world and one of the few in the world that still performs the art.

What is the most popular item that guests ask for?

Certainly, Mickey Mouse is an often-requested piece. Other than that, it ebbs and flows depending on what’s being marketed more heavily at the time. Of course, Cinderella’s glass slipper is a very popular item. Actually, our store in Tokyo Disneyland is named “The Glass Slipper” and it is in the middle of Cinderella Castle.

Do you have any special pieces coming out in honor of Walt Disney World’s 50^th anniversary?

For Disney’s 50th anniversary this year we are launching a gorgeous 3 ½-foot-tall and about 3 ½-foot-wide rendition of Cinderella Castle, a very sparkly jewel styled castle with close to one million Swarovski stones. It is quite impressive and will cost roughly $200,000. We are launching a limited edition of 10. We will have a showpiece in our store and will also have the standard small glass characters in our glassware line. We have about 15-20 products coming out for the 50^th, which is very exciting.

What does the future hold for Arribas Brothers?

I see our future as more than just the retail or demonstration side of things. In Paris, we have already started taking guests through the whole process of seeing how we create the various glass pieces of art and having them create their own pieces. We purchased an old château near the theme park, because we always revolve around Disney, where we offer these guest experiences. Our plan is to do the same thing here in Orlando. We recently acquired some nearby property and are hoping to build a studio to accommodate just that. This experience will be geared toward everyone, whether it’s a hobbyist here in town wanting to hang out with other artists and blow their own glass at our facilities or guests looking for a fun and unique two-hour activity. Our passion is glass and showing guests how it is made is what we are all about. When they purchase an item at Arribas Brothers, they are buying more that just a glass piece, they are buying a memory. Every time they look at their keepsake they will remember when and where they got it.