“We love to entertain kings and queens, but the vital thing to remember is this—every guest receives the VIP treatment.”
–Walt Disney’s Disneyland
Where Kings are Commoners and Commoners are Kings
Since Disneyland opened in 1955 there have been a long list of very important people who have wanted to come from around the world to spend time in the parks. From Emperor Hirohito of Japan to the “I’m going to Disneyland/Disney World” Super Bowl stars of today, celebrities have been heading to play the castle.
The interesting thing about these individuals is that they often want to simply be like everyone else when they visiting. A classic tale that Imagineer Marty Sklar shares is one of the late Betty Hutton (an actress most known for her role in Annie Get Your Gun) who visited Disneyland one day. From the moment she arrived, visitors recognized her and asked her for autographs. So Miss Hutton determined to that she would disguise herself. Heading over to Merlin’s Magic Shop in Fantasyland, she purchased long, false eyelashes, a bucaneer’s hat and a special “sword” that went right through her head. The disguise worked perfectly; no one recognized the famous actress. But everyone stopped her to inquire where they could buy “a hat like that crazy one you’ve got on!”
I had the personal privilege of working closely with Judi Daley, who for over 30 years was the official hostess to almost every VIP, statesman, and celebrity who came to Walt Disney World. She exemplified the perfect ideal of a Disney hostess. On her office walls were portraits of her over the years with five American presidents. If a celebrity needed to be taken care of, they called on Judy to look over their visit to Walt Disney World.
I asked her on one occasion, who of all of the people she met made the greatest impression on her, or who of all the people she met, did the experience mean the most. She gave me the names of two individuals:
John Denver
Understand that when most celebrities arrive, they do so with an entourage of family, fellow performers, and support staff. Most of them are focused on the experience of the headliner. On this occasion there was little advanced notice of John’s arrival. They had been playing out in Lakeland, and decided at the last minute that they would spend time at the Magic Kingdom. There was none of the customary planning or scheduling. Judy and her team met them and escorted for a standard formal portrait in front of the castle. Then she turned to John and asked, “where would you like to go first?” John immediately spun his heels toward his team and asked: “Where would all of you like to go?” The itinerary was then largely driven not by John but by everyone in the entourage. Not only was John more focused on whether the members of his band were having a good time, but they laughed their way through the Magic Kingdom and probably had more fun than any group that had come through before.
Princess Diana
For the Princess of Wales, family was the most important thing to her. And if there were a time when that was most important to Diana, it would probably have been just after her divorce to Prince Charles. That’s because her boys were at a turning point of becoming teenagers, and she wanted to spend important one-on-one time with them.
That meant getting rid of the paparazzi. So while there was an entire entourage spread out over a floor of the Grand Floridian, Judy’s role was to make sure that Diana had as much time away from the press and others. At times that meant back-dooring them into attractions or holding attractions over after hours. But the end result was that Diana was able to be a mom spending time with her boys. And the paparazzi? They never got a photo of Diana or the boys that entire week.
Just like the story of the Prince and the Pauper, Princess Dianna didn’t want to be treated better than anyone else; she just wanted the experience of being like everyone else. And that was manifested not in being able to go incognito, but in being able to spend the time that a mom gets to spend with her children.
Similarly, commoners want to be kings as well. People want to feel special. So Disney goes out its way to make people feel special. Disney believes in treating a every day guests like a VIP—or a Very Important Person.
What is Your Dream?
The Year of a Million Dreams is one very formal way Disney works to make individuals feel very special. In late 2006 Disney created a promotional campaign whereby park visitors might win one of more than one million different prizes. This bi-coastal event awarded hundreds of thousands of Fastpass badges, gourmet dining experiences, shopping sprees, mouse ears, pins, and lanyard sets. For a few luckier individuals it included such amazing experiences as:
- A chance to stay inside Disneyland Park at a Disneyland Dream Suite above Pirates of the Caribbean
- A private day at Disney’s tropical island paradise, Castaway Cay
- A flight of fancy in a hot air balloon above a Disney theme park
- A nightly stay inside Cinderella Castle Suite at Walt Disney World
- A trip around the world to every Disney park
Few would turn down any of these surprises, and most would feel fairly special from the experience. But the fact of the matter is, Disney has been making guests feel important for many years. Whether it’s giving an honorary monorail pilot license, or simply helping someone look for a lost item, these random acts of kindness do so much to make people feel very special. They are at the core of why people feel like they are in a very different experience when they visit Disney.
I’ve experienced three “Year of a Million Dream” wishes during my various trips back in the park. None of them were of the caliber mentioned above. But let me comment on each experience.
The first was receiving parking at the front of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, which meant parking in the guests with disabilities section. I’ve commented on this before in this column, and was rather dismissing of the experience. Since then I thought a little better of it. If I hadn’t been an annual passholder, I would have also been comped the parking. Since that’s an $11.00 value these days, that would have been a nicer gesture. Still, it seemed token and not quite as genuine.
We came off of an attraction at the Magic Kingdom along with some 30 other guests who were coming off of the attraction at the same time. We were all escorted to a little alcove, and there were provided a Fastpass badge, allowing us front-of-the-queue access on all of the attractions that provided Fastpass. I must admit, that I was kind of excited to get the badge. I honestly felt somewhat special. And I do love going on an attraction with a FastPass. The trick was that it was around 11:30 that I received this pass. I had brought my two youngest children to the park and had already ridden all of the attractions we would have used a FastPass for. In fact, we were really on the way out of the park. The badges are individually dated—they are only good for that day. In the end it worked out well—I actually brought two of my older children back to the park later that day and we used the passes for them. In short, it ended up being a win. But I did wonder about the timing of providing that kind of gift.
I came out of Disney’s Animal Kingdom the other day with my youngest son. We were tired and waiting for a tram on what was a very hot Orlando day. Along came a cast member in a golf cart. She pulls up next to us and asks how many were in our party. She then said that she was here to whisk us away to our car so we don’t have to wait in the tram. We boarded the golf cart and off we went. When we arrived, she gave us a certificate (it’s not magical without that certificate!) along with two buttons. I must tell you that was not only wonderfully timed, but it felt more personalized. Indeed, a friend of mine who I had no idea was at the park saw us as we were being whisked out to a car and wondered how we became so special!
I’m not the biggest fan of the Year of a Million Dreams fan, but I’m not its biggest critic. I think that whenever one takes time to make someone feel special, you are going to create greater customer loyalty. You don’t need a marketing campaign to do it. Just do something special. But you do need to understand what their individual needs are. And that brings us to another way of defining a VIP.
VIP: A Very Individual Person
The expression, VIP, normally stands for “very important person.” But it can also mean a Very Individual Person. When we understand guests and the essential needs they have, we come to better addressing them as individual persons.
Here’s how Disney explains it:
EVERY GUEST on our entire 42 square miles of property is a VIP whether they are visiting the Magic kingdom for a day or vacationing in our resort-hotels for a week or more…Remember that 99% of our guests are great people with everything going their way and having the time of their life. They are the easy ones to serve. Your real challenge will be that tiny 1%…the guests who are hot, tired, hungry, confused, frustrated and perhaps missing their luggage, ticket books or cameras. Or perhaps all of the above. They may not be very understanding and it may be up to you to turn their day around into the positive kind they came here to experience.”
–1975 Walt Disney World Cast Member booklet
Individualizing our service toward that tiny 1 percent that Disney speaks of is a great way to treat guests like a VIP. That’s why it’s important to really understand the needs of our customers and to walk in their shoes. When we do so we find our customers are extremely satisfied with the services we provide.
Let me say something about paying attention to the 1 percent. I don’t know that we will individually serve the remaining 99 percent. But I will tell you that often the 99 percent is looking at our treatment of the 1 percent and making silent judgements about how we would treat them as well. When we are extra patient with the 1 percent, when we go out of our way for the 1 percent, when we stay calm, cool and collected with the 1 percent, it speaks volumes to the 99 percent.
Another funny way of looking at this comes in my own experiences working with zoos. How a zoo takes care of its animals often becomes a silent commentary about the kind of extended effort we would make towards the guests frequenting the zoo. And vice versa. The way we treat guests visiting a zoo speaks a silent sermon on how well the zoo pays attention to its animals.
By the way, a great approach to this is by using the Platinum Rule. Most of us are familiar with the Golden Rule—to treat others as we would want to be treated. The Platinum Rule suggests that we treat others the way that they themselves would want to be treated. This stronger approach means we have to understand what people really need and want. It’s a great step toward really exceeding guest expectations.
This opens new ideas to how we might treat our own customers. So how do you make each of your customers as very important people. Better yet, how do you treat each of your customers as very individual persons? It’s when we explore the possibilities we create magic in our own business.
