What I Learned on my Winter Vacation

There are several indicators that I am a business and finance junkie. For example, one of the highlights of our honeymoon was touring a sugar and plantation. Another example: we own a classic VHS tape titled “From Tree to Cup” (which not surprisingly is all about coffee production) acquired as a vacation souvenir.

Consequently, as we wrap up a Disney World vacation, I can’t help but draw some impressions about our trip from the professional side of things.

Following are some lessons we can learn from Disney.

Think Big – And Long-Term

The Disney complex in Florida is 47 square miles. If we think about this for a moment, we realize that if all we planned on doing was to build a theme park and a couple of hotels there is no reason we would buy up so much land.

However, by this very large purchase, Disney obtained an option to develop a much larger resort destination, which over the course of the last 40 years or so it has done. If it had just bought for the current term, it could not have grown into what it has. In other words, Disney bought for the future.

The Disney property is virtually surrounded with the trappings of gaudy tourism - hotels, restaurants, t-shirt shops, miniature golf courses, etc. Without the land buffer from its initial purchase, developing a new theme park later would require guests to pass through this neon maze when going from one to the other. Not great when you are trying to get the guests into a magical bubble where “dreams come true”.

March Slowly (Collins would be Proud)

Much as we discussed in our last post, “Why You Can Always Be Great”, Disney is a “slow marcher”. The Magic Kingdom was developed in the early 1970’s, EPCOT in 1982, Hollywood Studios in 1989, Animal Kingdom in 1998.

While the greedy might have developed faster (and perhaps gaudier), Disney seems content to manage the pace of growth rather than immediately maximizing the property’s capacity.

Maximize Your Content’s Potential

There are a great many Disney brands. The thing I noticed during this trip was how they maximize the “content within their library”.

For example, upon entering the ticket area we heard the “Yo-Ho” pirate anthem. In the Magic Kingdom’s Adventure Land, we witnessed a street performance with characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean. As part of this performance, several children were pirate apprentices and learned some lessons related to this profession. Later, we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Toy Story’s Woody character was seen in a parade in the Magic Kingdom, at a character greeting and on a poster hanging high in Hollywood Studios, in a parade in Hollywood Studios, in the Midway games ride, on signs marking a parking section in the Magic Kingdom, and in Andy’s room which is in the courtyard of the All-Star Movies resort.

Some might say that all this activity is about marketing and branding, and that is legitimate from one aspect, but it also has a content angle. Once the initial character and story was created, someone asked questions such as: How can this character or story line appear in other settings? Wouldn’t kids love to play at being pirates? Why not train them during a street show?

Details Matter

Part of what makes the theme park experience appealing is immersion in the ambiance that is created, and this cannot be accomplished without a lot of attention to detail.

In terms of design, if you are waiting in Space Mountain, there are space games people can play while they wait. There are videos to keep folks entertained in line. There are 8-Track tapes that cover the exits of the Pop Century resort’s 70’s buildings. The staff in Frontier Land dress differently than those on Main Street.

In terms of operations, details impact the guest experience to a great degree. For example, traffic and crowd control – someone can get out of a Disney park within minutes, contrasted with leaving a basketball or baseball game in Chicago, which can be an hour long ordeal. Cleanliness is another example - I had to look for three days to find any gum on the sidewalk.

Rejuvenate Often

Disney seems to consistently rejuvenate their parks and properties.

In the Magic Kingdom, one of the six major park areas and part of another are under redevelopment. Prior to this, a new roller coaster was added to Animal Kingdom, which previously lacked a signature thrill ride. Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki-room, It’s a Small World, the Haunted House, all have been worked on over the past ten years.

New items are added to the mix in what might be characterized as “in-between” spaces. With area surrounding each park, they can expand incrementally, which Hollywood Studios has done. If there is a resort complex on one side of a lake, a second one can be created on the other.

Key Takeaways

Disney World, in addition to entertainment value, can provide us with examples of important management practices, such as bold long-term thinking, managed growth, maximizing content, attention to design and operational details, and rejuvenation.

Questions

·         Do you have a management insight or two that is exemplified by Disney?

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