Experience Matters

Not a Goofy Experience, Part I

I remember my reaction like it was yesterday.  One of my friends was getting married, the first in my group of close friends to make that leap.  We were at dinner one night and I asked him where he was going on his honeymoon.  “We’re going to Disneyworld.”  It caught me off guard.  I actually thought he was joking.  It was in the middle of the Disney marketing program where athletes who had just won the big game would look right into the camera and say the same thing.  And for those of you in Chicago, remember the big stink about how Disney wanted MJ to do it by himself and he wouldn’t unless it was the whole starting five?  So when they did it they were all sitting there and MJ said “We are ALL going to Disneyworld.”  That’s sticking it to the man Mike!  But I digress.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, the honeymoon.  I asked him why and his answer was that his fiancé had grown up with Disney being part of her life and that she went back every year because it was always a great experience. 

I did not grow up going to Disney all of the time.  Other than one trip there when I was in 8^th grade (do you remember that smell from the backseat?), my experience with Disney was minimal.  I actually got more joy out of The Simpsons mocking the mouse than I did out of the mouse himself.  And frankly, I never understood the adult obsession with Disney.  However, when it came time to take my four year old daughter, I was genuinely excited.  We specifically waited until the morning we were leaving to tell her, in part to surprise her and in part to avoid being asked every day when we were leaving.  We woke her up and asked her if she wanted to go on an airplane.  At first she said no, she was still tired.  But when I asked her if she wanted to go meet Cinderella, you could see the excitement in every corner of her face.  So off we went with our video camera in hand and Cinderella dress in suitcase.  As a parent I could not wait to see my daughter’s reaction.  As marketer, I was curious to take in the Disney Experience for myself.  To say that it was impressive is an understatement along the lines of saying there are a few people that own an iPod, that Bill Gates lives comfortably or that the New England Patriots have a nice rhythm going. From the moment you land in Orlando, the mouse is front and center.  The shuttle service, called “Mickey’s Magical Express” is, in a lot of ways, a cattle call.  You wait in two lines, one to confirm your reservation and the other to get on the bus.  While you wait in line there are cast members (as all Disney employees are called) that walk around for the sole purpose of entertaining you.  They wear the big white gloves, they sing to you and ask you trivia questions about the characters.  If you aren’t into that, there are plenty of flat screens so you can watch cartoons.  When you get on the bus, a video plays that informs you about the parks and the experience.  The video stars your favorite Disney characters.  

When you arrive at your resort, the Disney machine goes in to full effect.  “Is this your first time at Disney World Mr. Shamberg?”, the cast member says to me while handing my daughter a Mickey coloring book, crayons and stickers.  Quick side note – there are stickers EVERYWHERE.  Each cast member walking around has the standard issue 3 pack of stickers.  I picture them all getting the morning briefing before their shift begins like they used to do on Hill Street Blues every morning.  “Everybody got their stickers?  Ok, have a good day and hey!  Lets be careful out there!”  I tell them it is our first trip and he produces “First Visit” buttons for us to wear around.  You hear rumors of Walt Disney being an anti-semite, so I joke to my wife that these buttons are like the yellow stars Jews had to wear in 1939 Germany.  But I whisper it.  I don’t want the mouse-stapo to hear me. 

We spend the next three days in two of the parks, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.  What you figure out very early on is that what they are selling is not the rides or the shows or the food or the chotzkies.  Actually, they are selling a lot of chotzkies at what has to be an unbelievable margin.  What they are selling is a customer experience.  How do they do this so successfully?  Here are some examples: 

• Interaction:  each cast member smiles at you and asks if you are having a good time.  This includes the person that lets you into the park, the person who sells you the $5.50 hot dog, the person who shows you wear your seat is and the person who is sweeping up a leaf that fell off a tree.  Within the parks, you can buy trading pins of all the characters, which you can trade with other park goers and the cast members.  It encourages conversation about the characters which are a representation of the brand.
• Appearance:  I did not see one piece of garbage on the ground.  They sell more food and souvenirs at the parks than any place in the world, yet not at any point did I see a vendor truck.  This is a result of the mythical Underground Disney that I learned about while I was there.  I was so intrigued by it I looked it up on Wikipedia and didn’t find anything.  But thanks to Google, I found a great blog post about it.  This is one of the most advanced logistics management systems in the world and this blog describes it in excellent detail.
• Simplicity:  When you walk in and look at the map, it is overwhelming.  But if at any point you have a question or get lost, you can ask ANY of the people working there and they will be able to answer the question for you.  They use what is called a “fast pass” which allows you to save your place in a long line.  For those that don’t have a digital camera, they take pictures of you with the characters, provide you with an ID card and allow you to get online to view those pictures before you purchase.
• Customer:  Without a doubt, cast members know that when a child comes to Disney World, it has to be everything they thought it was going to be.  The cynic in me says its because if they don’t, they won’t ask their dad for another princess hat or set of Mickey Mouse ears.  In reality, it is because in the minds of the kids, this truly is a place where dreams come true (The tag line in 2007 for the resorts was “the year of a million dreams”). 

While this gives you insight into how the show is staged, its when the experience gets customized, that the true power of what Disney can do is on display.  Part II of my Disney post will hammer home just how powerful that experience can be.  How, you ask?  I will walk you through the park from my daughter’s eyes, putting her own experience as a Disney Princess on display for all the blogosphere to see.