To make the dream of Disneyland come true took the combined skills and talents of hundreds of artisans, carpenters, engineers, scientists, and craftsmen. The dream they built now becomes your heritage. It is you who will make Disneyland truly a magic kingdom and a happy place for the millions of guests who will visit us now in the future.
Walt Disney, to Disneyland Cast Members in 1955
In 2017, I was able to be at Walt Disney World for 31 days – most time spent in the parks and resorts in any calendar year of my long history there.
Thanks to the unexpected generosity of two of my kids, my 2016 Annual Pass was renewed for 2017. That, coupled with a lot of client work in the Central Florida area, was all I needed to have an amazing year of yes, magical, experiences.
Let me unpack this a little: I don’t do attractions that have motion to them (vertigo). Most of those days were solo trips (though I did have some very special time with my wife in April, and my wife and daughter in November). On a few of those days I would drop in for just a few hours – maybe during the evening hours for a single show and a meal. On most of the days, it was a full day experience including a stay in one of the Resorts. On one particular day, I spent almost 20 hours at the Magic Kingdom, beginning with a 5:45 a.m. visit with the Parking Lot Cast Members, and ending at 2 a.m. the next day closing the park out.
As one of my friends put it, “Why?”
Simply put, I am always amazed by the Cast Members as they fulfill Walt Disney’s dream referenced above for Disneyland, and by extension, to all Disney endeavors the world over.
A picture is worth a thousand words:
Start with the image on the left: the Cast Member is smiling at the large crowd headed her way. But as you look at the next two images on the upper right, she is looking downward – seemingly away from the crowd approaching her. As the final image shows in the lower right, her focus all along has been on children right in front of her, but masked by the crowd from my initial viewpoint.
Boom.
The 31 days at Walt Disney World provided me with dozens of conversations with current and former Cast Members just like this. I was able to spend hours just watching interactions between Cast Members and Guests. I photographed thousands of “moments” that tell stories. Whether an hour or a day, my time at Walt Disney World provided an immersion into the excellence of Disney’s Cast Members when it comes to interactions with Guests.
Here are just a few personal stories from my Disney visits that would illustrate this takeaway:
- The very helpful Cast Members who helped with my Backstage Magic tour arrangements
- Cast Members at the parking lot ticket booth and in the parking lots who understood I was just being dropped off for the day
- Bob, the Security Team member who told me I was in for a good day
- Wayne and Ernesto, our Disney Institute tour guides, who were knowledgeable and passionate about all things Disney
- The funny and loud Cast Members of the Whispering Canyons restaurant, who fed and entertained us at the same time
- Cast Members who smiled and greeted us backstage and onstage all day
I could go on and on, but maybe the best story is one from the past:
In 1978, Disney announced it was opening another part of Walt Disney World in 1982. Not just a new section – this was Epcot, one of Walt Disney’s original dreams for Disney World. And the opening was specific: October 1, 1982.
At the time, Epcot was the largest construction project in the world. Most of the people working on the project did not work for Disney; they worked for all the contractors and subcontractors all over the country.
What Disney decided to do was to make these workers feel as though they were part of the Disney family – to get them to identify with Epcot even though they weren’t actually part of the Disney organization. Here’s how they did it:
They closed down the job site one Sunday a month for over a year. Keep in mind that this was the world’s biggest construction project, moving toward a rock-solid deadline that had been announced almost four years in advance. To shut the place down one day a month was a big deal.
Disney brought in several big circus tents and set the up in what was eventually to be the Epcot parking lot. Food service went in one of the tents – hot dogs, hamburgers, and the whole works – a picnic.
In another tent, the Disney Imagineers created a miniature Epcot: the ground was sculpted to show where the land and water would be; photographs of the work were posted; artists’ renderings showed what the completed project would look like. Everything was kept up-to-date for over a year.
On that one Sunday a month, the project was shut down, and all the construction workers and their families were invited to enjoy the picnic and look around. They would enjoy the food and see what their Dad or Mom was doing.
Disney continued this for over a year so the families could watch it grow and the workers could see what they were creating – not just the big picture, but where their piece happened to fit into the big picture.
This went on all the way through the construction cycle until Epcot opened. The $1.2 billion project came in on time and on budget, with very few snags. This was in part thanks to thousands of people who were not Cast Members, and had little motivation to do so. Disney wasn’t writing their checks; they weren’t giving them benefits. They couldn’t do the traditional things that you normally do to keep employees happy.
Instead, they treated them like Cast Members. And it worked. At the grand celebration of the opening of Epcot, there was a huge celebration with thousands of people attending – most of them the construction workers and their families.
When a rough-necked iron worker is seen wearing mouse ears, you know he understands the dream.
Don’t you love the surprise of getting something extra when you least expect it?
Disney’s Custodial Cast Members are some of my most favorite Cast Members to observe as they go about their role. It’s a very important role, far more than you might think. The Custodial Cast Member is much more than a “janitor” or a “street sweeper.” They are independent for the most part – meaning they have the freedom to move around in different sections of the parks because of their white costumes don’t clash with any theming. They receive extra training because of their visibility and accessibility. Their official title is Custodial Guest Services Cast Member for a reason – their very visible presence in all the parks allows them to answer guest questions, make personal connections, and create artwork…
Wait a minute – create artwork?
That’s what I said! In addition to upholding Walt Disney’s vision for keeping the parks clean for guests, members of the custodial team can also become water artists.
Custodial Cast Members can sign up for a class where they learn to draw various Disney characters with their pan, broom, and a little water.
Not to be outdone, on a recent trip to the Magic Kingdom I even saw a few regular Cast Members practicing a little art magic with masking tape.
Lee Cockerell, former executive vice president of operations at Walt Disney World Resorts, talks about this in his book The Customer Rules:
With a little bit of imagination, you too can delight customers by giving them a little extra when they least expect it. They’ll surprise you in turn by coming back early and often and by singing your praises to others.
Lee Cockerell, The Customer Rules
That’s right – some of the best comments and thanks from Guests go to the Custodial teams. That speaks so powerfully to the culture at Disney.
Now for a tough question – think of the “least desirable role” in your organization. Do those team members have the same passion and culture exhibited by the Custodial Cast Members at Disney?
We train them to be aware that they’re there mainly to help the guest.
Walt Disney
References
- Walt Disney’s Epcot Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow
- The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot at Walt Disney World
- Cleaning the Kingdom: Insider Tales of Keeping Walt’s Dream Spotless
- Cleaning the Kingdom: Night, Day, Past and Present
- Disney U: How Disney University Develops the World’s Most Engaged, Loyal, and Customer-Centric Employees
- and more from my 475+ volume Disney library!
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