The Guest Experience

The stories keep coming! We have received so
many stories from cast members about interesting guests and from park guests about
the nice (and not-so-nice) cast members they’ve encountered. Last time, we began
presenting stories from Disneyland (link),
but there were too many for one column. Today, you’ll read more about the magic
makers in California.

Scott’s Story

I have the distinct honor
of having personally changed Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. Back in the late
’70s, there was a cast member who gave guests a brief overview of the life of
Lincoln before you went into the show. At times, though, the cast member would
test our knowledge of Lincoln’s life by asking the audience questions. One of
the first questions they asked was, “Where was President Lincoln born?”

Everyone
in the audience said “Illinois” except for me. Having brought a book
about President Lincoln on this trip with me, I knew that he was born in Kentucky.
So while everyone else was saying “Illinois,” this little voice from
a 10-year-old cried out “Kentucky.”

Everyone laughed including
the cast member. For a 10-year-old it was quite a embarrassing moment.

After
the show, my parents walked me over to City Hall and told the cast member there
about what happened and that the show was wrong. They apologized, and we thought
that was the end of it, but instead of trying to pacify us, the cast member called
the Anaheim Public Library and verified that Lincoln was indeed born in Kentucky.
The fact that they would actually listen to a 10-year-old who had a dispute with
a set Disney spiel surprised my parents and me.

Later on in the day, we
went back to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and once again the questions was
posed “Where was President Lincoln born?”

Both my parents and
I thought that it would still be the same story, where everyone would say the
wrong state, but we were yet again surprised when the cast member replied, ”No,
he was born in Kentucky, but moved to Illinois when he was still a child.”

The
fact that it was changed was surprising enough, but the speed in which the spiel
was changed knocked our socks off. We went back over to City Hall after that,
found the cast member that helped us and told her supervisor what a great employee
she was.

Another thing that happened—which to me shows the true Disney
spirit of the cast members—is an experience that happened to me a few years
ago. I am a bit hesitant to write it for fear that others might see it as a way
to take advantage of a situation. I was in line for Splash Mountain down in the
cave near where the final turn where you can see Brer Rabbit singing. I was leaning
on one of the guardrails talking with my girlfriend at the time when the line
moved. I stood up to move forward but I did not see the nail that was sticking
out from the rail, nor that it had hooked onto my back pocket. I only heard the
rip and felt a draft where I should not be feeling one. Needless to say, the back
pocket of my pants was almost completely ripped off. Fortunately I had a windbreaker
with me so I was able to tie it around my waist to hide the damage.

After
the ride I went over to guest services to let them know about the protruding nail
and to show them the damage to my pants. I had intended just to let them know
so they could fix it before someone got hurt on it, but I was taken aback when
they presented me with a $50 bill to cover the damage to my pants.

It is
people like these who make the “Disney experience” what it is. Unfortunately
over the years it has been waning as the morale of the cast has gone down. Hopefully
with the new leadership, we will see it back soon.

David’s Story

This
past Jan. 19, 2004, my wife and I met up with my sister and her husband for a
few hours at Disneyland. We had purchased Annual Passes for them for Christmas
and thought it would be a good time to meet so they could get their pictures taken
and “start” their passes, so to speak.

So, the four of us walked
into the Bank of Main Street. My sister, who hyphenates her last name, took her
picture first. Then her husband came in to take his picture.

The cast member
said, “Oh is this Dad?”

We laughed hysterically—even my brother-in-law
laughed.

My sister’s response was “Nope. He’s my husband.”

My
brother-in-law is 35 years older than my sister (although he’s a young 35 years
older). This sort of “mistake” has happened before at other venues.
This was the most recent incident and it has always been a point of laughter for
us. The cast member, I could tell, was embarrassed at her mistake, but she was
quite a nice person and we enjoyed our time with her that night. What a great
way to start an evening—with laughter!

Joy’s Story

Four friends
of mine—all in our early- to mid-20s—decided to take a trek from Washington
State to Disneyland.

We entered the park like a bunch of kids, and cast
members would laugh and smile at us as we walked down the walkways laughing and
racing (walking quickly because one should never run in Disneyland) to the rides.
We really wanted to get into the parade and everyday we would try to find the
right cast member that would let a bunch of crazy 20-year-olds put on tutus and
animal heads—but alas it was to no avail.

On the last day we decided
we weren’t going to make it in the parade so we should watch it. We found seats
right on the curb and made ourselves comfortable by greeting all the other guests
that came by. The cast members in charge of the parade must have heard about our
crazy group because the next thing we knew, all of the characters in the parade
seemed to take extra care to say “Hi.”

Terk stopped by us and
stole my hat. A stilt walker responded to our questions of what in the heck he
was by smiling and pointing back to the “Little Mermaid” float (I guess
he was supposed to be seaweed). But the thing that stole the show is when the
guests who were chosen to be in the parade came by. We cheered for them and the
next thing we knew, the cast members who were helping the guest had all the tutu-wearing
guests do a dance completion in front of us. We laughed so hard we cried. Here
was a 40-year-old man in a tutu trying to do a Michael Jackson dance move and
the cast members brought him over just for us. It is still a very special memory
for us and we laugh about quite often.

Pam’s Story

My recent trip
to Disneyland reminded me of what truly makes a great cast member experience—friendly,
caring cast members just doing their jobs.

We encountered friendly cast
members at every attraction, at every food stand, at every restaurant. None of
them did anything out of the ordinary and maybe that was just it. When they greeted
us they were sincere in their greeting. They asked us how our trip was going and
what rides we liked the most. They told us what rides they liked and made suggestions
about wait times, other things to see and do. They asked where we were from and
how long we were staying. No one went above and beyond, they just did what Walt
wanted cast members to do from the start. The year before we encountered some
really rude cast members.

They just weren’t nice. For instance, I asked
a cast member at the Haunted Mansion where Maynard was working that night. I was
very rudely told that she wasn’t Maynard’s keeper. It is little things like that
people remember. You don’t have to go and hand every guest the keys to the kingdom;
just smile and ask, “How are you?” and let us know you singled us out,
if just for one moment, from the thousands you have seen already.

It makes
us feel special. And we certainly did this past Christmas. Way to go Disneyland
cast members! It’s exactly what Walt would do!