As I mentioned last week, I went on vacation.
Not only did I go on vacation, I went to Disney World.
During their busiest week of the year.
Yowza.
I’m going to spare you the trains, planes and automobiles of it all as that is well-trodden ground and I am not nearly as entertaining as Steve Martin or John Candy.
Nope. I want to talk about Disney World as a business.
As a nascent entrepreneur I could not resist the urge to analyze, marvel at and be befuddled by what makes the house of mouse tick from the consumer perspective. Some things are what you would expect. Some things were actually quite surprising.
Obviously they are doing a lot of things right. The place is packed. A lot of people are obsessed.
And while I have no authority or experience that credibly allows me to critique Bob Iger and the rest of the brass that run Disney World, I do think there are some really glaring holes in their product.
Let’s start with the positives.
Whoever does design and architecture for the Disney theme parks deserves some sort of Lifetime Achievement Award from whatever institution hands out such honors. The second you get off the parking lot tram and step foot in the park you are truly transported to another world.
Every building, every light post, every kiosk, every sign is designed to perfection. The consistency is really impressive. There is not one angle or viewpoint that doesn’t take your breath away regardless of where you are standing on the property. There is not one light bulb that needs replacing.
None of it feels like a studio backlot rouse. Everything feels permanent and well constructed and beautifully executed. It gives you butterflies every time you pick your head up from the chaos and take a look around. Really incredible stuff.
The second standout is the staff, or what Disney refers to as ‘cast members’.
The first thing that caught my attention is just how many of them there are.
Walk into a Best Buy in an effort to plunk down three grand on a giant flat screen television and you literally need to go on an expedition to find anyone to help you or take your money. Seriously, I expected to see these people’s pictures on the back of milk cartons, they are so hard to find.
(Ok, that was a real Gen X-only joke and I apologize to all the young people out there.)
But at Disney there seems to be three cast members for every one that is needed. At one ride there were four separate cast members who were there to ensure that the harnesses on a single ride were closed.
They have small customer experience kiosks throughout the park armed with multiple cast members who are there just to make sure you have anything you could need and are having a good time. When they found out it was my son’s first time at Disney they magically produced a “My First Visit” pin for him to wear on his sweatshirt.
Small stuff like that goes a long way. They’ve got it nailed.
Not only is the cast ubiquitous, they are also remarkably nice, personable and accommodating. Everyone has a smile and a wave for you. When the hostess at the buffet at Epcot heard of my son’s many food allergies she sent the chef over to our table who, in turn, had a booklet with every ingredient in every dish at the ready. Shen then went back into the kitchen and delivered a customized, sauce-free plate of food that satisfied his needs.
Try that in an Atlantic City buffet and they will just tell you to fuck right off and get the chicken nuggets.
Of course the list doesn’t stop here. Disney’s dedication to exploring and celebrating (and occasionally exploiting) various cultures, science, technology and progress while not without a difficult history does feel like they are trying to share the best parts of the human experience in a positive and entertaining way.
But before we blow too much sunshine up Goofy’s ass, let’s take a look at some of the real challenges that Disney faces.
The first trip to Disney that I can remember (I went as a toddler but have no memory of it) was the year Epcot opened and the Magic Kingdom celebrated its 10th anniversary. In the 40 years since I was actually shocked by how they have failed to update many, many attractions. While brand new Star Wars, Avatar and Guardians of The Galaxy rides have ridiculous cues and good reviews, some of the longer standing attractions featured 1980’s technology, difficult to hear sound and burned out screens.
Much like Elvis Presley’s Graceland, if Disney continues to simply rely on its heritage rather than updating and captivating new audiences, the well could ultimately dry up. It doesn’t seem like a problem at this very moment, but as I walked through the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood studios I did notice a suspiciously large adult-to-kid ratio. That’s not a great sign. And unless Disney wants to continue doling out huge money for intellectual properties such as Star Wars and Marvel, they are going to have to find more and more ways to present their princesses and personified animals in a more modern and relevant way. Otherwise, Playstation, AI and even iPhone’s will outpace them for a younger audience’s attention.
Again, this seems like crazy talk now but a Netflix takeover seemed unlikely to Blockbuster Video in 1998 and we all know how that ended up.
Disney has become infamous in the past few years for jacking up their ticket prices with essentially no fall off in attendance. This is the type of outcome that every business dreams of. But as the economy changes and with a current ticket price of $185 per park per person per day, I can’t imagine that this trend is endless. Also, as the national attitude starts to skew away from rampant consumerism, the fact that the Disney parks feel a lot more like a shopping plaza than an amusement park may end up turning off a lot of people.
While my son and I held bags and waited for family outside of one of the many, many, many shops throughout the parks I felt more like I was transported back to a childhood of waiting for my Mom outside of Dress Barn or Lerner’s at our local mall than to a world of magic and wonder.
Ultimately, what the hell do I know? Disney has a remarkable infrastructure, tons and tons of die hard fans and about a billion more customers than I do.
But business is a lot like fitness. If you don’t keep nudging the needle forward you don’t only end up stalling, you ultimately end up going backwards.
And now that I’ve unexpectedly managed to tie this all back to fitness, my vacation is officially over.
Happy New Year.