In my last article (“Disney at Work: Neal McCord“), I highlighted Neal McCord and his early days at Disney. In this second article, I wanted to share with you some of the lessons McCord learned in his later years with Disney.
One of the things that McCord came to find out in his years with the Disney resorts was how much he really enjoyed working with housekeeping. For many in resort management, this can be the dirty part of the job. It certainly seems less glamorous then focusing on food and beverage or retail. But McCord found so many Disney cast members in housekeeping to be so genuine. They had real lives, with real challenges and concerns. But they gave their all to the backbreaking work of readying rooms for guests. And McCord didn’t mind working alongside of them. After all, it aligned with a quote he had found years earlier that became his motto: “Every man is my superior; in that, I learn from him.”
With that attitude McCord was invited in time to transfer into human resources for resort operations. He then became manager of all training operations and helped in the openings of:
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon
- Disney’s Pleasure Island
- Disney’s Old Key West
- Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resorts
- Disney’s Port Orleans
In 1991, he was promoted to resident manager of the Disney Inn and then promoted to the same role at the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts. He enjoyed that role for about two and a half years. Around this time, he decided to buy a new Jeep Cherokee. Just after the purchase, Disney came to McCord and asked if he would help open what was then known as Euro Disney. McCord had a wife and three little kids and hated the thought of leaving them. But he made his goodbyes, parked the jeep in the garage, and headed to France. He led the opening team for the Hotel New York and then added the Newport Bay Club to his assignment list when that team leader had to leave. During the six weeks prior to opening, he was working 14-16 hour days. Meanwhile, he became ill with the Beijing flu. It was all he could do to stammer out of bed, shower, and work the long days. For McCord, it was the hardest, sickest, most frustrating, lonely period of his life. But it was also, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The first guests had no indication of the work done by Disney to open this new resort. Much was riding high on its success, and everything had to come off as seamless. That wasn’t easy, with 5,200 resort hotel rooms and a state-of-the-art theme park to open, language barriers, cultural barriers, incessant rain, mud that “caked like concrete when it dried,” and an underlying dislike of “ugly Americans” by many of the rank-and-file cast members.
When the electronic key encoding system failed on one of the early opening days of the Newport Bay Club, unknowing guests had to be issued master keys, since they were the only ones that were certain to work. V.I.P. guests, as well as regular guests, had keys that would open each others’—and virtually any—room until the problem could be resolved. Of course, no one was informed of this little detail and, fortunately, no one ended up any the wiser. Sometimes, doing what needs to be done must override what should be done.
Returning to the states, McCord continued on for many more years with the Walt Disney World Company. And where is he today? He is responsible for maintaining the operations of Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee. For those of you not familiar with this amazing and magical resort, it is dedicated entirely to fulfilling the dreams of children with life-threatening illnesses and their families who choose Central Florida as their once-in-a-lifetime dream vacation. It is a perfect role for McCord, who literally beams when he walks around the property, sharing his excitement about the resort. While a few of the workers are paid, many are volunteers, and they come willingly to create special moments for these very special children.
That’s where I found McCord the morning when I interviewed him. He had just come in from out of the hot sun where he was working side by side with a church group who had come to Give Kids the World to labor on a particular clean up project. It’s just what he does—working alongside others to make the magic happen. It all seems seamless on the surface, but behind the scenes, McCord’s paddling as hard as he can to make the magic happen.
So what about you? How do you work to make a seamless, exceptional guest experience? It’s all part of creating the magic in your own business.
And speaking of making the magic, if you ever have the opportunity, reach out and make a difference by volunteering your services to help the magic come alive for thousands of children who experience Give Kids the World Village every year. Just call (407) 396-0770 to inquire as to how you can support through either your time or means. It will certainly change your next vacation.
Until then, here’s to creating the magic in your own organization.
