Canadian Marketing Blog

Disney Debrief

It's my first day back from vacation and that impending feeling of doom decends upon me as I open up my inbox. In spite of this, while I was away as I got to recharge my batteries and collect my thoughts. Few as they may be.

We were in Miami and then went to Orlando and Disney World. A couple of observations from a marketer while on vacation:

The first one came when we tried to pick up complimentary tickets (full disclosure) at the guest relations booth. We had all the right documentation but were not in the reservation system.

Having seen this scene at airline counters it rarely plays out well. And try telling your 3 year old girl and 5 year old niece to do a 180 degree turn after they have seen Cinderella's castle in the distance. Time to pull out the Amex?

Wrong. The Disney representative said, "This is our problem and you are our guest. I don't want to delay you any longer. Here are the tickets. Please enjoy yourself." Talk about customer service. Advertising only gets you so far after all.

Secondly, before entering the park one must provide a finger scan when passing through turnstiles. I realize safety/security is necessary but still found this extreme. With all due respect to Disney, I don't want to provide my personal email much less biometric information.

However, it was explained to me that the reason Disney scans customer fingerprints is that it matches them to tickets. So if a guest purchases costly multiple-day tickets and loses them, they can be re-issued and the old ones are voided. It was the first time I've ever seen anything like that. Talk about impressive.

The third observation was that Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse start at $6.40 per hour. Yes, I was stunned when an employee told me that. However, turnover is apparently low because training and benefits provided are very good. And one college student remarked having Disney on your resume doesn't hurt. Apparently salary isn't everything.

Finally, at Disney they pay attention to the small details. Whether it's having cleaning crew walk directly behind the horses in a parade picking up 'debris'. Or where a child starts to vomit and cast members (wearing identifiable uniforms) decend on the stressed-out mother like a swat team ready to assist. For any parent who has gone through this - 'wow' indeed.

It terms of improvements, their merchandising could have been stronger. Disney improving their merchandising? Was I drinking Florida swamp water? Please let me explain.

Disney sells merchandise as it relates to their classic movies and characters (Mickey Mouse, Alladin, Cinderalla) or current movie releases. But movies such as Cars had very limited merchandise available. I can't recall how many kids asked for Cars related product. It wouldn't be a stretch to say they lost hundreds of dollars in potential revenue in that store. And I was only there for a few minutes. Not to mention the fact, the markup at the park is higher from a margin perspective.

They also have a FastPass program which I highly recommend if you ever visit with young kids. Waiting 75 minutes for Space Moutain with kids is unwise. The problem was that very few people knew about the FastPass program. Good for those in the know. Not so much those who are not.

All in all, I've been to Disney a half-dozen times because of some charity work I was involved with during my airline days. This was the first time with both my family and a marketer hat on. Mouse ears and all, it gave me a lot to think about.

Great article. One small correction
>

They actually don't scan your fingerprints. Just the distance between a few key points on your finger and (some documents claim) the depth of the ridges on your fingers. The system uses a calculation to generate a number out of this. The next time you scan your finger the number has to be close to the original figure. There is no way to undo the calculation and get identifying information about you.

Also, your fingerprints can't be used to re-issue a new ticket. But your receipt or a copy of the backside of your tickets can.

To add to the previous comment on finger-printing, I don't know the details of how it works or whether there are any ties to security, but I think the primary purpose is to ensure only one person uses a multi-day or park-hopper ticket. At first it seems extreme...but then think about how many tickets with remaining days would end up on e-bay or such places.

I travelled to Disney World back in October and did indeed lose my ticket (well, I knew where it was--back in my hotel room 30 miles away). Disney was able to issue me a new version using my companion's ticket (bought at the same time)--which was very convenient. The person helping me was very fun and friendly too.

With the old, two-finger scanner you could fool it if your hands were a similar size: for example, once I forgot my pass and used my husband's annual pass to get in to the park.

The new single-finger scanner creates a mathematical formula that matches to your finger. It does not store a fingerprint, it stores the mathematical formula. I haven't tried to fool this system.

Regarding merchandise, different merchandise is sent to different locations. If you are looking for Cars merchandise in the Briar Patch, or Pooh's Thotful Shop, you are looking in the wrong place. The bulk of current film promotions goes to Main Street USA and nowhere else.

Regarding characters' wages, I wonder if you talked to a College Program member or a regular FT cast member. CPs get paid less than regular CMs. CMs' wages are union-negotiated and starting pay increases yearly. I doubt
it's 6.40 since other roles start at 7.00.

i worked at disney last year and the salary can start very low, im not sure how low but i wasnt on the lowest salary and i got 6.47 being a merchantainer, i dont know about the rest.