Wowing Guests at Disneyland

My apologies for not submitting posts more often. Business is busy, and many things are happening. But I did want to offer a post before the week ended. So today we talk about visiting Disneyland.

If you’ve never visited Disneyland before, you are going to be wowed. That’s because Disneyland is a beautiful, mature park filled with amazing attractions and offerings. In fact, we refer to people who visit Disneyland for the first time as “wow” guests. Approaching the turnstiles they see Main Street station. They see a handsome locomotive come into the station. They see a beautiful floral portrait of Mickey Mouse greeting you. The first words out of your mouth may very well be, “Wow”!

Turning the corner into Town Square of Main Street U.S.A., one continues to be impressed. The architecture of the buildings on the square and street are beautiful. The Disneyland band is marching through. Flower gardens and shaded benches invite you to slow down and take it all in. All of it is a “wow”. But you want to see and experience it all, so you move on.

As you prepare to move down Main Street, you move past the Emporium.

Skirting that corner, your eyes take hold of display windows on the street. You quickly become intrigued by the various displays from Disney classics such as Cinderella, Princess and the Frog, and Toy Story. You are likely to say, “wow”. You are impressed as you continue to move down Main Street, U.S.A. and into the many lands of Disneyland. You are a “wow” guest, and rest assured, that will be your sentiment as a first time visitor to this American icon.

One of the things that makes Disneyland different than the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is that most of the people who visit “The Happiest Place on Earth” have already done so. More than about 80% of those entering the gates of Disneyland each day have already done so before. In fact, well over a million people have annual passes to Disneyland and go often. Therefore, it’s important that Disneyland stay fresh and offer new attractions, entertainment and other offerings whenever possible.

We call those frequent visitors “inspector” guests. We provide that title, because consciously or subconsciously, they are always looking at the park and evaluating for whether it still has the “magic” they remember when they were “wowed” as a first time visitor. So as they enter the front gates, they’re doing a sort of mental inventory in their minds. “There’s the train station–check!” “There’s the train–the train’s still there–check!” “There’s the Mickey floral portrait–check!” Again, it may be more subconscious than anything, but frequent visitors are always taking a mental poll as to whether it’s still as wonderful as they always remember it to be.

Like the “wow” guest, the “inspector” guests also step through the portals and enter Town Square. “There’s the band–check”. “Looks clean–check.” “Everything’s beautiful–check”. It’s all just as they expect it to be.

As the inspector guest turns the corner and heads down Main Street, U.S.A., they too will pass the Emporium. As the windows there catch their eye, they will also do a mental eval. “There are the windows–check.” But at some point, on some visit, something will catch their eye. They will stop, and they will take a closer, more examined look. What they will see is that the scene contains their favorite character, but it may not be the same scene they saw before. Suddenly they realize that each of these scenes unfold from one scene to another. Each window contains not one scene, but two scenes that dissolve and animate from one to another. And as they see these scenes unfold, they will say, “wow!”

Here’s what that looks like. Here is the Peter Pan window:

Here’s the window for Cinderella:

And here’s one for Aladdin:

These windows are just a glimpse of what makes Disneyland precious. While the park is smaller than others, it is still packed with so many beautiful details that even if you’ve been a hundred times, you will find some small thing that makes you go “wow”.

So it is with your business. Ask yourself:

• What is it that you do that “wows” customers the first time they do business with you?
• What do “inspector” customers look for every time they do business with you?
• What do you do to “wow” inspector customers?

When you “wow” your customers, they keep coming back to you. They advocate for you and tell others. They become your champions, and they keep you in business. You may not have windows on Main Street, but you do have products and services that you can tailor to “wow” those you do business with.

That’s what I do with organizations. I help them find the “wow”. I help them create great customer experiences, and I help them build an organization that continually focuses on those customers. Contact us today if you want to know more about how we can help you improve your organization. There’s no fee. Just call and let’s chat. I’ll offer you some ideas about what you can do, and then suggest some next steps for supporting you. Call us today!