Disney Service Basics Part 1

Joanna, you asked what makes the magic for adults.  Well, I don't know the full answer to that (hence the research...) but I do know something that helps a lot.

It's called the Disney Service Basics, or just "the basics" and I will probably be writing a number of posts about it.  The basics were created in response to guest surveys and focus groups, about how they want cast members to act.

The Disney Service Basics are:

1. I project a positive image and energy

2. I am courteous and respectful to all guests, including children

3. I stay in character and play the part

4. I go above and beyond

Sadly, today as my friends and I visited the Magic Kingdom, we did not see the basics in use.  Almost all of the cast members we encountered looked bored or unhappy.  None of them talked to us, they just waived us through, pointing us in the direction that we needed to go.  In some instances they gave us confusing directions and seemed annoyed when we asked again.  In other instances they did not go out of their way to help people who needed it.  In other places, this would have been ok.  Just doing the tasks that were assigned to you and watching the clock all day may fly at other places, but great service is what separates Disney from everywhere else.  It is in the job description to go above and beyond.  And we did not see that in action today.

My friend decided to go to guest relations to complain, and the hostess there genuinely listened, and agreed with his comments and we hope she took note of them.  However, I think it is important to recognize people who go above and beyond every day.  Positive reenforcement is much better than negative.  So, from now on, I am not going to go to the parks without a few great service fanatic cards in my pocket.  This way, if I see a cast member going above and beyond, I can do my part to make sure they are recognized.  You can do this too (and it doesn't have to be at Disney), if you ever are somewhere and receive great service, take the 10 minutes that it takes to write a letter to the manager of wherever you are.  It really goes a long way and means a lot to the people who receive them.

Jammin' in the jungle to the rhythm of one!

Yesterday afternoon I was assigned to Info Guide (the greeter out in front of the attraction) at around 3:45, which was really cool because I got to see Disney magic come alive for a bunch of different people.

Every day at 4:00 Animal Kingdom has Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade.  The afternoon parade is quintessential to the Disney experience, and MJJP in my mind is one of the best.  Not only does it have all of the characters and fun that all of the other parades do, but it also is themed to the park, and its daily procession fits in to the village of Harambe (and all of the other lands as well).  But it isn't the parade itself that I saw the "magic" it was in the actions of cast members working to make the magic for the guests.

For the parade, guests are required to stand behind a rope that way they and the performers are safe.  One of the managers however, saw that there was a little girl near the rope wearing a birthday button, and she brought her over onto the other side of the rope so she could get a closer view of the parade.  Each of the performers and characters as they passed by would come up to the girl and play with her or wish her a happy birthday.  The girl had a huge smile on her face when she went back over to her parents.  I would guess that she will remember this experience more than any thing else over her entire visit to Disney.  It is about making the magic come alive in each individual, and that manager succeeded in doing just that.

One of the other cool things about info guide is you wear the only pin trading lanyard for Safaris, and I was able to trade pins with a bunch of people.  Now honestly, I think pin trading is silly and a waste of money, but it was really cool to see these little kids get so excited for it, especially when I had something that they really wanted.

I love having a job that empowers me to directly make people happy.

Karibuni - Welcome to the Harambe Wildlife Reserve

So it has been quite a while since I have posted here, sorry, but I've been pretty busy with training and such.  

Today I finished my fifth day of training, and tomorrow I have my assessment.  Starting Sunday I will be a full blown safari driver!

We have done a lot of stuff throughout training and I won't go into all of it because it is a lot to remember and write about.  But I thought I would explain a little bit about what we do.

Kilimanjaro Safaris is located in Harambe, a town in east Africa (somewhere between Kenya and Tanzania).  Harambe means "Let's all pull together" in swahili, the language of east Africa.  From the Harambe village , we travel out on two week safaris through the Harambe Wildlife Reserve, a 600 square mile wildlife sanctuary featuring many different protected species.  On our safaris you can see many different kinds of animals in lots of different habitats.  Often you will see elephant, reticulated giraffe, white rhino, cheetah, and many other animals.

I'll talk more about the story of Harambe and our character in it in another post.  But I really am loving my job and am having a lot of fun with it.  I get to see and teach people about beautiful animals every day, and hopefully people will come away from their day wanting to help conserve and protect animals and their habitats.

Traditions & Wishes

I am going to be starting out todays post by saying that I am not going to be telling you all everything on this blog.  Not just because I signed a confidentiality agreement, but also because I don't want to destroy the magic.  I came down here to learn about Disney Magic and how it works to serve people and why it makes Disney one of the world's foremost vacation destinations, and I think that I would be doing the wrong thing if I was to spill all of the beans.  So in this blog I will be talking about what I am doing, and my impressions of my time on the program, but I will not be giving a "behind the scenes" tour of the day to day operation of the resort. 

Ok, so disclaimer out of the way, this morning I officially became a cast member!  After bussing over to Disney University with some of my housemates we got our cast IDs and nametags, woohoo!  We then had the Traditions class, which was a 4 hour introductory class on the past, present, and future of the Walt Disney Company and the Walt Disney World Resort.  I knew a lot of the stuff that they told us already, but I did learn some interesting new facts, like this way to remember the 7 dwarfs: 2 s's, 2 d's, and 3 emotions (Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashfull, Grumpy).  Important life lesson there...

We also talked a lot about how things work here.  There is a lot of lingo to learn.  I'm not an employee, I am a Cast Member (or CM for short).  We don't have customers, we have guests.  I don't have a job, I have a role in the show.  When I am at work I am onstage, and when I am on break I am back stage.  Since I am onstage while working, I always need to be in character.  One of the ways this is achieved is by my wearing of a costume (my uniform) and by my adherence to a set of grooming/presentation standards known as the Disney Look.  Also, CMs will never point with one finger because it can be seen as accusatory.  We will always point something out with the Disney point, which is two fingers, or the whole hand.  There are lots of other things like this that create overall what we call "the show."

After traditions, I went to the Magic Kingdom with some of my housemates and other friends.  There was barely anyone there, so we were able to get on almost all of the rides with little to no wait.  At the end of the day I saw Wishes, the nightly MK fireworks show, for the first time, and it really hit home for me as to why I am here doing this.  Not only am I fulfilling one of my lifelong dreams of working here, but I also get to make magic in the lives of our guests every day.

I wonder what kind of mileage it gets...

So for the next four months, I will be driving one of these:

Yes folks, thats right, I will be working at Kilimanjaro Safaris at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

I am so excited :-)

Pedro Sez...I'm here!

So I have arrived :-)

There's not a lot to post about yet.  I moved into my apartment today, tomorrow I find out my work location and wednesday I begin training.  

So instead, I have attached a picture of my favorite billboard from the drive south.  And yes, it will be hot tamale... :-P (for those of you playing at home it is currently 68 at 8:30 pm and it will be in the 80s all week)  :-D