“It is my hope that just as we are known for achieving synergy in marketing our product, we will become known for synergy in conducting our operations.” — Michael Eisner
When people think of synergy at Disney, they think about a film like Beauty and the Beast and how that film becomes merchandise, music, additional video, rides, attractions, Broadway shows and ice-skating spectaculars. Winnie the Pooh, Tinker Bell and High School Musical are synergy miracles.
Still fewer correlate synergy with operational excellence. It’s not as sexy as product or brand synergy. That’s not to say Disney hasn’t tried. There was some attempt at it when Jay Rasulo spoke of laying people off earlier in the year he spoke about a new “global” team, which would be established to focus growth strategies at existing parks and Resorts. An example of that was Toy Story Midway Mania! which simultaneously opened at both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and in Disney’s California Adventure.
I suppose that’s a part of what Eisner originally spoke of. But that is still more about strategy and brand-focus. I think there is still no real synergy in creating operational excellence.
Let me offer you three examples I’ve seen of this as I have visited the parks:
First: Last year I reported my surprise at visiting Disneyland and in not being able to go through a queue for those without bags/purses. This is something that’s been going on for years at Walt Disney World. It creates a much more efficient operation, and probably lowers the amount of labor if properly applied. Yet, when I returned this year I found that Disneyland still doesn’t practice a separated queue. Why?
Second: Recently, Walt Disney World announced a new annual pass that allows you entrance on certain days of the week. It’s an option for those wanting to go to the park, but who have difficulty purchasing more expensive annual passport media. Yet, for nearly a year Disneyland has offered an option to put you on a payment plan by doing a direct withdrawal every month broken out over a year. Other theme parks like Sea World have done this, as well. For many, that option is much more attractive and affordable as it doesn’t require putting out so much cash up front. But Walt Disney World has yet to create that option at all? Why?
Third: The Horseless Carriage on Main Street U.S.A. at the Magic Kingdom operates only a couple of times a day. While Guest Relations will tell you that it runs from park opening until 1 p.m., it really only goes up and back a few times. In fact, to the best of my ability to count, it only does about six to eight one-way runs during that time. Why doesn’t it do more? Well there’s the Trolley show, which requires performers to use the horse-drawn carriage.
Then there’s the Dream Along with Mickey show that congregates in front of the castle, prohibiting the trolley from passing through. To this they added the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! street performance, as well, again taking up the tracks. When all that is done, the clock turns 1 p.m. and the horses go back. Why?
No wonder they’re the “Happiest Horses on Earth!” They barely work at all!
Why do I even care? I frankly don’t. But it turns out that my young, autistic son loves the horses. For him, that’s the highlight of going to the Magic Kingdom. It’s the first thing he asks for when we mention going there as annual pass holders. So for some months now I’ve been playing this game of figuring out when the horses are actually going down the street, and timing my visit around that.
And I probably wouldn’t have thought more about that, until I was at Disneyland in September. As I spent time in the park, I kept noticing that the horse-drawn carriage kept coming up and back, and doing so all day long (I won’t even mention the other vehicles that are missing on Main Street). I thought to myself, “If Disneyland can figure it out, why can’t Walt Disney World?’
I contacted GuestCommunications@DisneyWorld.com on October 19 for an answer. I immediately received a response that told me that it sometimes takes up to 10 business days to get an answer. OK, I get that. After all, I want a response that’s more than just “that’s our policy…have a nice day.” So I waited. And waited. And waited.
About two and half weeks later, I read that the Liberty Belle Riverboat might not be operating between showings of Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee. Guess what? This is another favorite attraction for my son (why can’t I get him into the Country Bear Jamboree?) So I wrote again on October 29, reminding them about my original question and asking about the Liberty Belle. They responded immediately—letting me know they would get back to me shortly.
On November 5, I got a very nice voice mail from a Guest Communications hostess. She was very kind in her response, but didn’t really answer my question. So I called back and finally reached her. Again, she is a very nice hostess on the phone. She told me that there were running the the Liberty Belle between shows so that he could enjoy those. I thought that was great. She then explained that the horses run from park opening until 1 p.m. I explained that there were only a handful of runs up and down the street. She apologized, and explained that they had to also run the other shows. I asked why it couldn’t run after 1 p.m. She politely informed me that the street gets busy with setting up for the parade and that they had to put rubber strips down into the tracks to keep performers from being hurt. That made sense, but I explained that Disneyland had to do the same thing for their parades, and yet they run the horse-drawn carriage and other street cars up and down much more during the day.
She noted that the Magic Kingdom is much more crowded than Disneyland, and that it was difficult to run the cars up and down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom when it’s so crowded. I reminded her that the early and late afternoon hours before and after the parade hours are some of the quietest on Main Street, especially in comparison to the morning hours when guests are flooding into the park. Yet, they don’t run horseless carriage during those hours. I also concurred that Disneyland’s attendance is less than the Magic Kingdom’s, but that their Saturday and Sundays are much more crowded, and that they still ran vehicles. She made no argument, just an indication that these policies were established by operations.
The hostess treated me with respect and courtesy. But it was still a disappointing phone call. I felt heard, but definitely not understood. Frankly, I could have given myself those answers, and articulated such already in my letter to Guest Communications. I felt a little bit like Alex Trebek when he tells Ellen in The Universe of Energy: “We were looking for something more than just an embellishment of what I had already said.”
My response was just that—an embellishment of the facts as they were. And why it took so long to provide me such, I don’t know.
More importantly, I feel that Magic Kingdom operations is missing important insights. Not by listening to me, but by benchmarking how Disneyland is addressing this issue. When do they talk and compare notes? Why don’t they share insights operationally? What would be gained by those insights?
Now for the big picture context: What happens to the horse-drawn carriage at the Magic Kingdom is nothing compared to the kind of answers (or lack thereof) I get when I try to call about our family’s healthcare coverage, or what I find when I Disney’s inconsistencies are minor compared to the many products and services I find in other big corporations. Moreover, my son will get over this. I will work around this problem with him when I’m in the park.
But it does point again to the many issues that the parks address separately, rather than jointly. Disneyland is a great operation. Walt Disney World is a terrific resort. But more than sharing the same kinds of rides, they have much to learn from each other operationally, and from the other sister resorts around the world. This is a critical area for truly taking Disney to the next level.
To repeat:
“It is my hope that just as we are known for achieving synergy in marketing our product, we will become known for synergy in conducting our operations.” — Michael Eisner
