After a two-day visit to Disneyland and California Adventure, I was reminded what a remarkable organization Disney really is. Disney takes the customer experience seriously, particularly in their theme parks, which are quite likely among the toughest venues on the planet.
Let’s just say that I have high expectations when it comes to customer experience (and that’s probably an understatement). Those expectations are greater when my kids are involved. The thought of paying hundreds of dollars to stand in lines and deal with the crush of people who visit the parks during winter vacation had me expecting the worst. The kids would have fun, no doubt, but my wife and I might be tearing our hair out before the trip is over.
*Wow* Factor #1: A Quality Call Center
About a week or two before the trip, I called Disney’s dining call center to arrange a special character lunch for my daughter. Like most large organizations, I was greeted by an automated attendant and then placed on hold. Just like every other call center, right? Well, maybe not quite. The hold music sounded like something from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was infinitely better than Muzak. Anyhow, I was on hold for a few minutes and then someone came on the line. To my surprise, the woman was friendly, helpful, and seemed to genuinely be enjoying her job. If she wasn’t, I sure couldn’t tell. At this point, I began to forget about the time I spent on hold. Then we get to the part where I have to spell my name (it’s kind of long and gets misspelled a lot). I spell it out for her as I typically would…”F–as in Frank…E–as in Edward…” Then came this delightful little touch. When she spelled it back to me, she used all Disney places and characters! “F–as in Fantasyland…E–as in Eeyore…” She didn’t have to do this, although she was probably trained to do it, it seemed natural and as silly as it sounds, it made me smile and forget completely about the start of the call. This was the first *wow* moment but there were more to come.
*Wow* Factor #2: Even the Bus Driver is part of it
Our first day at the park was spent at California Adventure. It was a rainy day. We pulled into the parking lot around 10am, paid $15 to park, and hopped on a shuttle bus. The attendants helping us load onto the bus were friendly and engaging. That was nice. I mean, these guys are from SoCal, they’re standing in the rain, and yet they’re still smiling and greeting us warmly. As we pull away, the bus driver starts asking questions over the intercom. Who’s here for the first time? Who’s just married? Who’s celebrating a birthday. I’m sure this is planned but, like the call center experience, it didn’t seem stilted or contrived. One of the passengers had a one-year-old son who was the only passenger on the bus celebrating a birthday. So the driver gets all of us to sing him Happy Birthday as we’re pulling up to the front gates. Maybe you had to be there, but it was a very cool moment.
*Wow* Factor #3: Special events that feel special
The special lunch I arranged before the trip was a visit to Ariel’s Grotto, where my daughter got to have her picture taken with Ariel and received a table-side visit from four other princesses. The food was pretty good but the best part was the fact that, while their visits were brief, every cast member made an effort to get down to my daughter’s level, ask her name, talk with her for a moment, and take a picture with her. She was thrilled. There were probably 50 other kids in the restaurant but she felt special. Total cost $200 for lunch and another $29 for the professional photo. I can think of no other place I would feel okay about spending that kind of money to take my kids out to eat (they are usually happiest with burgers and pizza) but that really didn’t bother me in this case. The experience was great for all of us, the adults included.
*Wow* Factor #4: Details, Details
My sister, my son and I rode the Tower of Terror twice that day. Great ride. Different from anything I’ve ridden before. The staging areas are pretty cool. In typical Disney style, every space we entered had been meticulously designed and constructed to give just the right feel. The detail that stood out the most, though, was the effort put forth by each of the cast members (in this case, ride operators) to become part of the experience. Both times, our guides were funny and sufficiently creepy to make the experience that much more real.
*Wow* Factor #5: Intelligent Crowd Management
On day 2, the rains had lifted and the crowds were out in force. We went to the Disneyland side and found it difficult just to get down Main Street. The wait times for all the main attractions were ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours. Having been to the park before, we knew about the FastPass system and quickly went to work to outline our day (at least to some degree). For all the big attractions, like Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Thunder Mountain, we were able to avoid the lines and just come back when the FastPass said to come back. We waited no more than 15 minutes in any of those lines and in many cases, we were able to ride twice. In one case, though, we came back and found that Space Mountain was down for maintenance. The Disney employee told us to come back later and they would honor our FastPasses, even if the window had passed. Nice recovery. Our only bad experience (and it was actually mostly my wife’s) was that FastPasses aren’t available for many of the younger children’s attractions. To me, that’s a mistake. Adults and teens can stand in lines and tolerate it if they have to but who wants to stand in line for 90 minutes with a toddler so she can see Mickey Mouse or ride on Dumbo (regrettably, I’ve done both)? Nonetheless, rather than remembering the crowds and the lines, I remember getting to ride Space Mountain for the first time since I was a kid, getting soaked on Splash Mountain, and squeezing in at the end of day to watch the Christmas parade with my daughter.
Just taking into account the sheer number of people involved (guests and employees), it is truly remarkable what Disney does. Over the course of each day, there are innumerable encounters and other touch points that make up the overall guest experience at a Disney park, creating a very difficult set of circumstances. Yet, the combination of creativity, diligence, employee buy-in, and comprehensive attention to detail go a long way to delivering on the promise to make great memories for their guests. Somehow, the not-so-great parts are minimized and you’re left with the highlights and the *wow* moments. So, despite waiting in lines, getting soaking wet, walking more than 12 miles crisscrossing the parks, and spending more than $1,000 with Disney over just two days, I’m completely satisfied and have been sufficiently ‘wowed’ to make a return trip highly likely.
