Creating a Magical Moment for a Guest with Disabilities: Keys to the Kingdom Tour

After my amazing experience as a Disney Cast Member, I decided that if I no longer worked for the most magical place on Earth, I could at least continue on in the hospitality business and therefore entered the world of hotels and resorts. Today, I am a Human Resources Manager with a world renowned hotel company. One of my roles as an HR manager is training our employees and last week I was able to conduct one of my favorite training classes: Customer Service Training. The amazing techniques and tips I learned as a Disney Cast Member, and as a certified Disney trainer, have stuck with me and I absolutely love sharing many of those Disney philosophies with my employees during these training sessions.

I was talking with the employees about how it’s the little things that really make the biggest impact on our guests. Just taking the time to go out of your way to do something to make a guest smile can really make someone’s experience. Many of them chirped up at this idea and said that most people just want to be compensated monetarily with free breakfasts, free internet and money off their room rates. While I agreed that some people may want that kind of compensation, depending on the issue, making a big impact doesn’t need to be expensive. It fact, it doesn’t need to cost anything at all.

I told the employees a story about my time at Disney. I was hosting the early morning Keys to the Kingdom tour and was prepping my audio devices backstage. (On the Keys to the Kingdom tour, tour guides, like myself, would use microphones and the guests would have headsets so they could hear the guide easily as they walked through the park. This also helped the tour guide tremendously because it allowed the guide to not lose their voice on a daily basis from needing to scream over the sometimes very noisy crowds.) Just as I was walking onstage to pass out my devices and introduce myself to the guests, the Tour Coordinator Matt stopped me, “Kristen, we need to talk with you quickly.” Matt pulled me into an empty City Hall where one of the Guest Service Managers was waiting for us. “Is everything okay?” I asked timidly. “We have a bit of a concern with your tour today,” started the manager nervously twirling one of her brown curls. Matt jumped in with urgency in his voice, “There’s a guest who is hearing impaired and she said she had informed central reservations that she needed an American Sign Language translator for the tour.” Having worked at Disney for over a year, I had picked up a little ASL from some fellow Cast Members, but being able to sign “welcome,” “thank you,” and “hello” wasn’t going to get me very far. The GSM stepped to my side and placed her hand on my right shoulder. Staring into my face, she sighed and spoke to me in a soft serious tone, “Kristen, the audio devices won’t work for this guest, but she can read lips. Do you think you’d be able to make the tour work?” I exhaled with relief. That was all it was? I let out a goofy giggle and informed the team that everything would be just fine.

The guest, Beverley, was visiting with her husband. The couple was in their late 60s and explained they had always loved Walt Disney World but were nervous to do any of the special tours due to her disability. I asked Beverely a few questions about how I could ensure she had a great experience on the tour and figured out some easy adjustments I could make. I still used the audio devices, but made sure Beverely was next to me when I was talking so I could look straight at her face so she could read my lips. Before we went into any attractions, I made sure we talked about the history and fun facts before we went inside. And Beverley also let me know that I could tap her on her shoulder whenever I started talking so she knew to look at me. To me, it was no inconvenience whatsoever to make these tiny adjustments. The rest of the group didn’t seem to even notice. At the end of the tour, Beverley thanked me profusely for the magical experience. I signed Beverly “thank you” and wished the couple a very enjoyable vacation. A few weeks later, my Area Director pulled me into his office and presented me with one of the most amazing mementos from my time at Walt Disney World.

Disney Cast Member Perks: Company D and SALSA Sales

After seeing how many people were excited to read about Cast Member perks in one of my prior posts, I thought I’d share some more about the amazing benefits I enjoyed while working at Walt Disney World.

Being a Cast Member, you may think we would be turned off from spending tons of money on Disney souvenirs and knick-knacks after being surrounded by Disney-everything each day. Well, the truth is indeed quite opposite of that for it appears Cast Members are even MORE inclined to give back their whole paycheck to the company on gifts and other Disney goodies. What can I say, there’s just so many cool and interesting things to buy and Disney does a great job of constantly updating their merchandise and coming out with new things. Thankfully, the Disney Company knows how much their Cast Members love to buy Disney merchandise so they have provided several avenues for Cast Members to buy great Disney items on a budget.

Company D is a discounted merchandise store just for Disney Cast Members located in several behind the scenes areas at Walt Disney World. The last time I checked, there were 6 different Company D locations:

-          Disney University (located behind the Magic Kingdom, Disney University is the learning facility for new and existing Cast Members)

-          Disney Reservation Center (off-property, close to Universal Studios/I-Drive)

-          Maingate Office Complex (located near Disney’s Animal Kingdom)

-          Disney’s Hollywood Studios (located behind the Villains Shop)

-          Epcot (Located behind Test Track and the Mexico Pavilion)

-          Team Disney (across the road from Downtown Disney)

Company D primarily sells Cast Member exclusive merchandise such as cast exclusive pins, lanyards, Vinylmations, figurines and more! I remember, while working as a College Program student, every time a new Disney movie was released you had to go to Company D to get the Cast Exclusive release pin. Now for you non-Disney Cast Members out there wishing you could go to Company D you should know there is a way! Cast Members are allowed to bring guests to all the non-restricted area Company D stores (Disney University, Team Disney, and the Disney Reservation Center)

Besides Company D, there were also seasonal SALSA Sales. SALSA stood for “Spend a little, Save A lot!” These sales would be held twice a year, one in the beginning of summer and one just before the holiday season. The SALSA Sales would take place in big tents in the cast parking lots behind the theme parks, usually behind EPCOT. The sale was basically a liquidation sale of all the excess merchandise in the warehouses. The first day of the sale was just for Cast Members and then then next few days Cast Members were allowed to bring guests with them. The first day was always the best to go to the SALSA sales because you’d get a chance to find some vintage Disney items. At one particular sale I purchased a signed gold plate edition Carl Barks (the famous artist of Uncle Scrooge McDuck) lithograph for the insane price of $200. Today, it is priced well over $1,400!

Creating a Magical Moment for a Family's First Disney Visit: One of My Proudest Moments as a Disney Cast Member

A lot of people talk about their favorite Disney memories or their most magical moments. When I was thinking about mine, I realized my favorite magical moment was really another family's magical moment. Allow me to explain…

It was a hot summery evening at the Magic Kingdom when I was working as a full-time Cast Member at Guest Relations in City Hall. It was one of those rare days when the Magic Kingdom had reached its capacity so the amounts of people that were coming in to City Hall with concerns was plentiful. A very sweaty and very angry looking man came over to me with his wife and two young daughters behind him. The guest explained to me that this was their first trip to Walt Disney World and they couldn't believe that people thought the place was so great! He said he only had encountered rude and unhelpful Cast Members. He informed me that he had made an advanced dining reservation several months in advance to have a dining experience with Cinderella to which they had been told by the Cast Member that booked the reservation was indeed at Cinderella's Royal Table. The guest explained when he went to Cinderella’s Castle, he was told that his reservation was not there and instead at a completely different park. I looked at his confirmation information and sure enough, he had been booked at Akershus Restaurant in the Norway Pavilion at EPCOT for Princess Storybook Dining. I tried my best to see if the Cinderella’s Royal Table could open up any extra spots, but as you may know, they were booked solid for the last 6 months! I explained to the guests how the other dining experience actually had all the Princesses and eventually convinced them it would be just as wonderful to dine there instead.

The guest then pointed out that there was no way they would make it to EPCOT in time for their dining reservations with all the crowds and the back-ups on the monorail and ferry boats. Luckily, Guest Relations had a few vans for emergency situations located back stage and I was able to make a special request to use one to personally transport them over to EPCOT! I loaded the family into the van and it looked like this story was going to have a happy ending.....when all of a sudden a shuttle bus rounded the corner next to our parked van and sideswiped us!!! Everyone was just fine, first of all. No injuries were incurred by either party. When the shuttle hit the van, it did move us quite a bit though.

After I checked on the family, I was about to make a call to security on my Nextel, but the park Security office was right next to us and they had witnessed the whole event and were already talking with the shuttle driver. The security team informed me and the family that we would have to write statements about the incident right then and there. At this point the father was just “done”, if you will. He followed me with his family and filled out the reports. Several hours later the paperwork was complete and the dining reservation time slot was long gone. I eventually got another vehicle and since the family was staying on site at Caribbean Beach, I at least was able to drive them back to the resort.

Talking with the family, the mother and father were so exhausted, the children were passed out in the backseat and the parents informed me that they were seriously considering leaving early and just going back home. Although they were not angry with me and were very complimentary for my assistance, at this point they really didn't want anything to do with Disney. I asked them to give it another chance and said there were just so many wonderful things about Disney that they needed to see and do. I asked what their plans were for the next day and the mother told me that they had planned to go to Animal Kingdom. As I dropped them off I told them to have a wonderful time at Animal Kingdom tomorrow and that I was certain things would turn around for them.

 The next day at work, I spoke with one of my managers about an idea I had for this family. I couldn’t let them go home with that as their lasting impression of Walt Disney World. After a quick approval from my manager, I was off to the Emporium on Main St. USA picking up t-shirts, Princess dolls, pens, plushes and more. Then it was off to the Chapeau to get embroidered hats and then to the bakery for some tasty sweets. I also was able to catch my pal Mickey for a few autographs on a special letter for the family. After a quick shopping trip, I stopped into Guest Relations for a few last items, hopped into a van and headed back to Caribbean Beach.

After speaking with my friends at the front desk at the Caribbean Beach resort about the situation, I was able to call the family’s room to see if they were there. Fortunately they had left for the day, but had not decided to check out! There was still hope!! My friends from the front desk helped me to stop in the family’s room and we set-up decorations, balloons and filled their beds with the gifts from the Magic Kingdom. I left Mickey’s letter and a special letter from myself and the Magic Kingdom Guest Relations team on their bed. The letter I had left them was apologizing for the whole situation again, but also inviting the family back to Magic Kingdom, complimentary (tickets included) to join us on the Disney’s Family Magic tour as special guests where they would get to spend some personal time with Peter Pan, Wendy and other Disney Characters. I left the note, crossed my fingers, closed the door and left with my Caribbean Beach friend and hoped for the best.

One day past, then another, then another…and finally it was the day the family had been invited back for the tour. I hadn’t heard anything from them or the Cast Members at Caribbean Beach. I was just finishing up assisting a guest when out of the corner of my eye I saw the family walking into City Hall after just finishing up their tour. There they were decked out in the t-shirts and embroidered hats we had purchased for them and their daughters were all smiles clutching onto their Princess dolls. The mom and dad both gave a huge bear hug and just kept saying how amazing everything had been. It was my proudest moment as a Disney Cast Member seeing how happy I made this family and being able to show them how magical and special a place Walt Disney World truly is.

 The family and I exchanged email information and from then on, the family has been going to the parks every year. I still get occasional emails from them and in the last one I received I was informed their oldest daughter was now in high school and couldn’t wait to go to college to participate in the Disney College Program.

Un plat à fromage, s'il vous plaît! - EPCOT France Pavilion

Taking a trip to Paris has been on my must-do list since I was a little girl. I haven't managed to make that trip yet, but while I save up my money and vacation days I'm still able to enjoy a little taste of France in the France Pavilion at EPCOT.

I have to say that EPCOT wasn't always my favorite Disney park. In fact, it wasn't until my College Program experience that I even went to the World Showcase section of the theme park! It was about halfway through my College Program when my mother came to visit me and we decided to spend the afternoon walking around EPCOT. At this point I had been around the World Showcase many times, but it wasn't until my mom's visit that I actually took the time to walk around the shops in the France pavilion. My mom had noticed nestled back in the corner of the pavilion a cute little shop with wooden signs that said "Boulangerie" and "Patisserie." We happened to be a bit peckish, so we thought we'd stop by and check it out. We popped inside the little shop and were squeezed into a tight line with several other park guests. The shop itself was tiny and for a moment I caught myself thinking why on Earth would the Imagineers make sure a popular place so cramped, but I caught myself realizing this was just Disney magic at its best. The little shop was modeled after an old French cottage so even waiting in line to buy our sweets made us feel like we had been transported to France. We purchased one cheese plate and a baguette to share and headed out to the cul du sac to sit at one of the vacant cafe tables along the street. Sitting there with my mom, eating cheese, listening to street music of accordions playing familiar French tunes, I truly felt like I had been swept away to Europe.

One of my most favorite things about Disney is how the place can completely transport you to a different time, a different place and a different state of mind. This experience really stuck with me and now it has become a tradition. I can't make a trip to EPCOT without stopping into the Boulangerie Patisserie for at least a croissant, cafe au lait or of course my favorite French cheese plate. :)

The Waiting in Line Experience – Taking a “Queue” from Walt Disney’s Vision

When I go to see a movie, I make sure to be at the theater with plenty of time before the show because I absolutely love seeing the previews! When I visit Walt Disney World I also spend a lot of time enjoying the previews. But wait, previews at Walt Disney World? Walt Disney World isn’t a show…or is it?

As a Cast Member at Magic Kingdom Guest Relations, one of my roles was hosting the historical and behind the scenes tour, Keys to the Kingdom. The tour starts at the main entrance to the park about 30 minutes before rope drop. If you’ve ever been to a Magic Kingdom rope drop, you know there is a show featuring several Disney characters riding to the main entrance to welcome the guests on the Walt Disney World Railroad. If you think of the Magic Kingdom as a show, the railroad acts as a curtain to the show, encircling the perimeter of the park. The daily morning rope drop show with the train coming in acts like an opening curtain and as the train passes by, the curtain has dropped and all the guests come piling in! Immediately after the curtain opens, before any show there are always the previews, right? Well as you cross under the railroad station at the entrance, there are vintage movie size posters of several of the attractions in the park. So these are the previews to the “main show” which is the park itself! Pretty genius huh? (All Walt’s idea, of course) On a side note, I know that you must have noticed all the names on the windows along Main Street USA. What comes after the previews in a movie? The opening credits! Indeed, those are the names of the “producers” and the “crew” and of course, the Director, Walter Elias Disney (last window, located above the ice cream parlor facing into the park), who helped make the Magic Kingdom “show” a reality.

The “show” and “previews” concept goes beyond just the entrance to the park. Walt knew that waiting in a long line for a ride is not fun, so why not make the wait fun AND part of the show? Have you ever noticed the amount of detail that goes into the waiting lines for the attractions? Well, that’s because the waiting line is the preview to the attraction! Also, the line serves another important purpose, it is the bridge between the world of reality to the world of fantasy and the Imagineers spend a large amount of time puting in the fine details to make you feel like you’re becoming a part of the show as you transition through those lines.

I think one of the finest examples of this can be seen in the queue for The Seas with Nemo & Friends at the Living Seas pavilion at EPCOT. When you first enter the line, you’re in a beach scene with sand dunes and beach signs indicating the possibility of strong currents. As you progress through each room of the queue you realize that you’re transitioning under water! If you look up in one of the final rooms, you’ll notice there are boats above your head and you can see the top of the water glistening. Now you’re ready to board your clam mobile and continue on your underwater journey with Nemo.

So the next time you’re waiting in line, I recommend to look around and take in the details, you get to experience another one of Walt’s incredible before-his-time ideas that is still utilized today.

The Perks of Being a Disney Cast Member

So I apologize in advance for going a little off the theme of my blog, but I was searching around in my Disney Memories scrapbook from my College Program days and came across several things that sent me right down Memory Main St. USA. I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the things I found!

As you can probably imagine, Cast Members receive lots of great benefits for working at the most Magical Place on Earth. Of course all Cast Members are able to get into the Disney theme parks for free whenever they like, but did you know they are also able to bring up to four people in with them for free as well?? While the Cast Members can come and go into the theme parks as often as they like with no limit on how many entries, they are given a set amount of complimentary entries per year for their friends and family.

For Cast Members just starting out with the company, they receive a Blue Main Gate pass which provides twelve entries. For managers and Cast Members with more seniority with the company, they receive a Silver Main Gate pass with more entries. The pass is good for one calendar year and can be used at all the Walt Disney World theme parks, Disneyland theme parks in California, the Disney parks in France and Hong Kong Disneyland. While looking through my things, I found several of my old main gate passes along with their sleeves.

As you may notice in the picture, one of the main gate passes has Donald on it. That pass was a main gate for Cast Members at Hong Kong Disneyland! This particular one was never coded as it was a blank card given to me when I visited the facility in Celebration, Florida that creates ALL the main gate passes for all the Disney parks around the world. :)

Another great benefit that Cast Members receive is during the holiday season. Cast Members are sent a Family Holiday Celebration coupon booklet and passes that are able to be redeemed November through January. The passes include complimentary entrances to the water parks and Disney Quest as well as another complimentary entrance for friends and family that might be visiting you during the holidays. The coupon booklet had coupons that ranged from free popcorn and sodas to 50% off table service dining and 65% off Disney Resort reservations!

On top of all of that, the company also gives out special Cast Member only merchandise items as a special holiday gift and thank you for all the hard work the team provides throughout the year. One of my most cherished items is my 2003 holiday gift I received during my College Program. A picture of it is at the beginning of this blog.

Disney is truly a special place for both guests and employees.

Typhoon Lagoon and Singapore Sal's...it's all in the details

It’s hard for me to believe that Disney's Typhoon Lagoon opened in 1989. Sure, I can remember going there as a child on family trips and being deathly afraid of the Humunga Kowabunga but also super proud that I could go as far into the huge wave pool as my older brother. Even so, going there nowadays the water park seems just as fresh and exciting as the new Fantasyland area in the Magic Kingdom! How does Disney accomplish this?

Well, Disney is all about transporting you somewhere, leaving today to enter a world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy. One of the biggest ways Disney accomplishes this is in the details. Typhoon Lagoon is a fantastic example of that concept: you can see the aquatic props and island locals represented all around the park, the theme music including surfer tunes and Beach Boys ballads can be heard on every storm slide and every corner of Castaway Creek, and even the merchandise that is sold there is chosen specifically because of its tie to the beachy theme!

I think this is why Singapore Sals  holds a special place in my heart. The outside theming is great with the straw roof covered in typhoon blown away surf boards and rafts so it ties in with the overall theme of the park, but it also has a modern surf shop appearance from the outside which to me is so very Florida (perhaps I’ve been to Ron Jons too many times). I love looking through all the beach towels and beach bags they have in the shop, there’s something new every time I go. But my favorite display holds the jewelry. They have such a great variety of beach-themed necklaces and bracelets including the traditional pooka shells and leather tribal bands. I don’t think there’s been a trip yet where I haven’t stopped into Sal’s to purchase something!