In a previous article I discussed the experience of a long-time Disneyland guest who was told “TIF—This is Florida” when he complained about how he had been treated while boarding Space Mountain and that it had not compared to his experience in Anaheim. The responses to this article fell into two camps. One was a discussion about whether service was better in California or Florida. I solicited conversation around this and appreciated those who wrote. More surprising however, was around the guest himself, and whether he really wasn’t one of those “entitled annual passholder” types. My preference would be to discuss the former, more than the latter. But there isn’t much to discuss here. There were a few people who felt Disneyland (DLR) was indeed better. And there were a few who felt Walt Disney World (WDW) handled customer service better. Here are some points:
“My family believes California is the friendliest of the two. When we talk about a Disney trip right off the bat my wife says we are going to go to Disneyland and not Walt Disney World. A couple years ago I took the family (four of us) to Walt Disney World. Now don’t get me wrong, we had a good time, but there was no special moment in the whole week we visited. While on the other hand we have had many a magical moment experience at Disneyland . From my oldest son making friends with two of the custodian cast members in trading hidden Mickey pins three days in a row to a cast member (I believe he was a lead) giving my son a whole set of hidden Mickeys. My wife dearly fell in love with RP (Disney photographer) who basically did a whole set of special magical photos (I think we got 75 pics from the set we did that afternoon). Plus other instances to numerous to list. Our vote is definately Disneyland!”
Conversely, here’s a response from someone who loves Walt Disney World:
“Stellar customer service should be a given when you pay the rates you do to visit Disney. Not to make a war between resorts, but it has been my own impression that Walt Disney World cast members have always been more polite and accommodating. They seem to be happier and more excited to do their jobs. That’s on a whole, there are most likely individual exceptions. But no matter the coast, Disney is a company that really has excellent customer service, and if they make a mistake or something doesn’t quite work out, they are more than happy to do what it takes to fix it.”
“For example, after my ex-girlfriend wasn’t happy at Fort Wilderness (because of the weather conditions, nothing to do with Disney), and they went and let us stay at Pop Century for the remainder of our stay at the Fort Wilderness rate. Nice! They even arranged a private shuttle that transported us from Fort Wilderness to Pop Century! I was extremely impressed, and blown away that they would do this… I had been prepared to pay the full rate at Pop just so she’d stop complaining. Things like this make me chalk up a bad experience as an individual problem, not a sign of widespread problems at the resort.”
Largely, I agree with the assumption that the service is on par great at both parks, but that certain individuals and departments rise to the occasion in both locations. But what I’m not sure I understand is the amount of criticism that was addressed at the guest who was seen as an “entitled annual passholder.”
Let me say that what I know of the individual is that he really loves Disney. He enjoys it along with his wife and family, and they sacrifice considerably to enjoy experiences there. They live outside of California and Florida, so they pay a higher rate to purchase an annual pass, and of course, that means they pay much more to travel to either park. He also works in the public sector, so he is not one who makes a lot of money, as anyone in the public sector will attest.
That said, a typical cast member in any location will not know any of that, unless the guest says they visit the parks frequently. And why would someone say, “I visit the parks frequently”? It’s largely in setting the stage for saying that they have some context for giving you the opinion they about to share. But when you say, “I’m an annual passholder,” or “I’ve been coming here every year since I was a small child” or “Every time we come we stay for two weeks on property…” you are pretty much admitting to being among Disney’s most loyal fan base. Or, as cast members put it, an “AP” (not that all loyal fans from all over utilize the annual pass-ticketing method).
The question is, how do cast members respond when they hear this? It typically falls under one of three categories:
1. The worse scenario is that the cast member immediately rolls his or her eyes and dismisses your remarks, at least mentally. This is the worse thing you can do (and too many unfortunately do it), even to those who might come off as “entitled.” When I’m saying “entitled” I’m really defining it as “one who lays claim to certain courtesies not accorded to others.” I think annual passholder should be entitled to some things. For instance, they are entitled to admission throughout the year. They are entitled to certain discounts and offerings outlined in their annual passholder booklet. Should they be entitled to more than that?
Yes and no. No, they should receive no more VIP treatment than any other. But if you read my article on what constitutes a VIP (Very Individual Person), then yes, they should definitely receive VIP attention. And so should everyone who receives a ticket to come in the park. And in providing VIP attention, that means sometimes you make them feel special when that is what they are really wanting to feel. But that’s something every cast member should be affording everyone who expresses that need.
2. The second response scenario is that they don’t respond at all to your frequent visits to the park. They just handle the matter “as is” based on the merits of the situation. That’s fine if you treat everyone equally as a VIP. Otherwise, your treatment is vanilla. There’s nothing special to it. If you’re response is “matter of fact” to a Disney Annual Passholder, you are doing damage, because you are saying they are no longer a Very Individual Person who needs to feel special. You’ve just made them another person in a sea of thousands.
3. The third scenario is to recognize, and give credence to the annual passholder. And what would you do for them? You guess it—offer VIP treatment–Very Individual treatment. Treating people in a special way is a great way to offer VIP treatment, do to any individual—especially to an annual passholder.
Let’s benchmark what this looks like at a place like Nordstrom. Nordstrom’s most famous story is a tale in which a customer came into the store asking for a refund for a set of tires they purchased. Nordstrom’s refunded their money, an unusual gesture since they don’t sell tires! The retailer that occupied that space previously sold tires, but not Nordstrom. But never mind, they did it and it’s made them a leader in going the distance for the customer. It gave them PR and provided them a label that keeps going.
It still happens today. And the more frequent the visitor, the more attention Nordstrom shows those shoppers. They go over board, providing a complimentary concierge-style service for those who need that 1:1 attention. The result is a loyal fan base. There are people who would never think of making their purchases in any other place than at Nordstrom. They write stories to Nordstrom expressing appreciation to their store employees. It’s an amazing experience.
Disney is capable of the same. For example, go back to those comparison stories I shared about Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Both of them really were about how people were treated like Very Individual People, whose needs were ultimately satisfied. These kinds of gestures are what creates customer loyalty–and let’s face it–customer loyalty in these economically troubled times is what matters. Disney’s success is based on millions of people who are either saying: “It’s our annual trip to Disney and nothing is going to stop that–it’s the thing we love the most” or “Let’s not bother this year, we’ve kind of been there…done that. Let’s save our money for something else.”
But of course, this is not about Disney, it’s about your business. So how are you treating your most loyal customers? Are you giving them VIP, individualized treatment? Are you giving everyone that treatment?
Your ability to do this effectively (and affordably) is perhaps what will separate those who survive these financially difficult times.
