By Greg Primm
I just returned from a week at Walt Disney World in Florida. We spent a great week enjoying the parks with our two daughters (Allison – 7 and Lauren – 4). My parents were able to come with us as well, and we enjoyed a long week of solid family time. Normally, I’m the one in our family who plans the trips, but this time around my wife handled all of the details. I just had to show up.
There’s one thing you can count on at Disney World – you WILL have fun. I don’t know anyone who has ever left there thinking – “that was just OK”. There’s just something different about the way the folks at Disney do things. From the first day, I started noticing the little things Disney does differently. What makes the experience so special? After six days visiting all four parks, I came up with my top three things that Disney does differently to insure that your experience is “magical”.
Stories Matter
No one tells a story like Disney. Several of the rides at the Disney parks are pretty tame, even boring for a roller coaster junkie like me. However, at Disney World, each ride has a story to tell, and you become a part of it. You’re not just taking a little boat ride, Disney takes you on a journey through “It’s a Small World” where you can’t help but smile and sing the song for hours afterword. You don’t just ride a roller coaster, you are visiting a recording session by Aerosmith and suddenly they invite you to ride in a stretch-limo to their show.
While we were at Magic Kingdom, we stood in line to meet several of the Disney princesses (Cinderella, Belle, and Arial). After a 20 minute wait, we were escorted into a room with about 5 other families where we got to meet the princesses, take pictures, and get autographs. We were the last of the 5 families to go through the line, so after we left the first princess, she had a short break until the next group of families arrived. I expected her to relax, duck behind the curtain, start talking to the photographer about her weekend plans, etc. What happened? She never broke out of character. Even when the kids weren’t watching, she knew that the little things matter. A simple glance back from one of my girls could have caught her taking a break and stolen something from my daughter’s experience.
Do stories matter in our own lives? Absolutely! Most all of us are in some sort of position of leadership in our job, church, home, or other organization. Is the story we tell consistent from day to day? Do you send mixed signals by telling a story one way in front of everyone, but acting differently behind closed doors.? We all do this from time to time, of course. We must all strive to be consistent in the messages we send. It makes a HUGE difference in the way you are perceived and your ability to achieve your goals.
A few nice words go a long way
On our last day, we took my daughters to the Bibbidi, Bobbidi, Boutique to get their hair, nails, and makeup done just like a princess. It was a wonderful experience for the girls where they were the center of attention. Lauren, our youngest, even wore her Snow White dress the rest of the day in the parks.
I noticed immediately after we left the boutique that every Disney worker that came into contact with my daughters called them “Princess” or otherwise commented on how beautiful they looked. The reaction from the girls was always a giggle and a grin. The fact that complete strangers said nice things to them made the experience so much better.
It should be obvious to us that saying just a few kind words will brighten someone’s day. However, I usually am so self-absorbed with my own agenda that I forget to even acknowledge the people around me, not to mention even saying a few nice words. Try saying something kind to two people today and see what kind of difference it makes.
An extra 30 seconds makes all the difference
If you’ve ever been to Disney World, you know that some of the gift shops can be rather large, especially on Main Street at Magic Kingdom. Our last day, we were making some final purchases. To be honest, my legs were aching from 6 straight days of walking 10 hours per day. I was ready to get home, and the last thing on my mind was doing some shopping. However, Allison wanted a Disney snowglobe to add to her collection. My job was to find one.
Not sure where the snowglobe department was, I asked a worker. She started out by giving me directions — “it’s way at the end of the store, on your right, next to the Christmas ornaments, but don’t go too far . . . . “ At that point she stopped and said, “why don’t I just take you there?”
I said that wasn’t necessary, I would find it. She responded, “nonsense, I’ll be happy to walk you there.” So, she stopped what she was working on and walked me a couple of hundred feet to where the snowglobes were.
It wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but by walking me through the store, she made me feel like she cared, that I needed to have a positive experience in her store that day. I had this same experience at least two other times during our stay where a Disney worker went out of their way to make sure my experience was positive.
How much time did each of these people take to help me out? Not much, maybe 30 seconds or a minute or two. It took very little time or effort to make a big improvement in my experience.
My advice? We should all take an extra minute or two help out a co-worker, family member, or friend. Do it today!
Finally, there is actually a fourth thing I learned at Disney. It may be the most important of all: fanny packs are not only functional, but stylish as well!
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