Disney theme park cast members notice particular traits about guests within the first seconds of meeting them. As a former cast member myself, today I’m sharing some of the most frequent observations that play a key role in how Disney’s thousands of cast members serve their customers, or in Disney speak, their guests.
Disney employs over 100,000 cast members in its domestic theme parks alone, and as these individuals clock in and clock out, with their work ethic dubbed as nothing short of alchemy in the public consciousness, they’re perceiving things about the people they interact with every single moment. This is what Disney Cast Members notice within the first 30 seconds of meeting a guest, and some of these observations may surprise you.
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Disney frontline theme park cast members’ roles extend deeper than their job descriptions. In their dozens of interactions with guests every day, cast members are perceived by guests as ambassadors of the Disney brand, and all the connotations associated with that legacy-charged name.
As a cast member working at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, my role was in Merchandise, or as Disney called it, “Merchantainment.” While my day-to-day tasks all related to selling, stocking, and delivering Disney products throughout the park, I was expected to be capable of solving whatever problem the guest approached me with, even if it didn’t pertain directly to merchandise sales.
The hospitality and tourism industry often refers to this attribute as “the Disney difference,” and it’s informed by what cast members are trained to notice about the guests they interact with. Here are some of those observations.
You’re Lost
Disney cast members are expected to know the lay of the land, the geography of their theme park or resort hotel, even beyond the confines of their designated workstation.
If a guest has a map in their hands, cast members are told to approach the guest and ask if they can personally assist them with finding what they’re looking for to save the guest from trying to find their way around on their own.
You Know the Lingo (or Maybe You Don’t, and That’s Okay Too)
Thousands of guests visit every Disney theme park each day, many of them visiting for the first time and some for their 100th time. How a guest asks a question informs what kind of language the cast member uses in their answer.
For example, if a guest asks, “How do I see Bluey?”, the cast member would answer differently than if a guest asks, “How do I ride the Wildlife Express Train?”, despite both questions basically asking the same thing. The language of the latter example implies more knowledge about the attraction, and therefore would require less explanation than the former example.
This distinction of the guest’s familiarity, or lack thereof, with the park helps them reach their solution in a way that meets them where they’re at.
You Have a Favorite Disney Character
Guests often visit Disney theme parks wearing a hat, shirt, or other apparel bearing the face of their favorite Disney character. A cast member can make a guest’s day by telling them where to meet the character, or if there’s a ride with that character in it, even if the guest didn’t ask.
Wearing a pin trading lanyard was one of my favorite parts of being a Disney cast member. A young guest once approached me to trade pins, and I noticed he had quite a few Muppets pins. His family was thrilled to learn about Muppet*Vision 3D, which they had no idea existed. Today, I would’ve told them about Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets instead.
You’re Struggling to Get That Perfect Family Photo
Cast members may notice a family attempting to take a selfie, or one family member is taking a photo of the rest of the family, and therefore not in the photo themselves. In such instances, cast members are trained to offer to take the photo for them.
As a cast member at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, I saw this most often in front of the huge, themed Rainforest Café sign at the entrance to the restaurant as I made my rounds delivering packages across the park. Often a simple “Would you like me to get with everybody in it?” clearly meant a lot to guests.
You’re Either on a Mission, or You’re in No Hurry
The pace of how a guest asks a question or approaches an interaction can inform how a cast member responds. In an age of advanced dining reservations and Lightning Lanes, many guests are on a tight schedule that they prefer to stick to, and cast members help in that regard by keeping their answers short and sweet when a guest is clearly in a hurry.
Conversely, if a guest is in no hurry and the cast member isn’t busy with other time-sensitive tasks, the cast member knows to ask follow-up questions or make extra recommendations that might elevate the guest’s day in a way they didn’t even know to ask for.
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I Might Not Be the Best Person to Help You
Even though cast members are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to helping guests navigate the parks, sometimes they don’t have all the answers, but the solution is never far away. If a guest asks a question beyond the cast member’s knowledge, the cast member almost always has access to a supervisor or a phone to help solve challenges, and is not expected to deal with that on their own.
You’re Being Rude
It might seem like common sense, but it unfortunately needs to be said: frontline workers don’t make the rules of a multibillion-dollar corporation, and there is never a reason to verbally abuse cast members.
Every cast member has at least a few stories of when an entitled guest snapped at them, called them an impolite name, or belittled them in some way.
Sometimes a guest isn’t exactly shouting, but still being difficult. Perhaps they seem to think they can do the cast member’s job better than the cast member, or might take it upon themselves to bark unsolicited demands. Just because cast members’ interactions are required to be professional and set to a high standard doesn’t mean they can’t tell when guests take advantage of their hospitality.
Even if a guest is frustrated with their experience, channeling that frustration toward frontline workers is misguided. If you’re reading this, help balance out the scales by being extra nice to cast members. They appreciate it more than you know!
It’s Your Birthday!
Many guests visit Disney World to mark a special occasion, like a birthday, graduation, or anniversary. Disney happily supplies guests with free celebration buttons to wear for all such occasions, even a first visit.
As much as a cast member is able, they know to go out of their way to make the celebrating guest feel special.
Even if a cast member isn’t in a position to give away free stuff, they know to always acknowledge a celebration button. To ignore it would be out of the question.
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