Maggie Spivey

Adam Padgett
English 102
April 5, 2016
The Wonderful World of Disney
Disney is praised in the hospitality industry for being superior in their craft of
entertainment. Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida is ranked as being the
number one amusement park in the world by CNN (CNN). It is obvious that Disney must be
doing something different than other amusement parks to get this attention but what exactly is it
that makes Disney the preferred amusement park? Disney has created their brand and made
every aspect of their brand reflect their values and quality, which is something that every
hospitality company strives to accomplish. Disney is unique from other companies in the
hospitality industry because Disney revolves their service around any and every customer who
enters the gates of their parks and by doing this their level of service is deemed higher than other
amusement parks.
Walt Disney World opened in 1971, and since then it has grown both in size and in
population (About). In order to bring Disneys brand from the entertainment industry into the
hospitality industry, Disney had to bring out all of the bells and whistles to match the magic that
Disney has created in its stories. Nothing compares to the magic experienced at Walt Disney
World and that was Disneys mission. The unique thing about Disney is that most of their
customers will only visit Walt Disney World one or two times in their lifetime so they only have
those visits to make a lasting impression. This helps Disney maintain the quality of service at all
times because they know their service must be at top notch at all times. Other amusement parks
will on average have about 5 chances to make an impression on a customer depending on the

convenience of location and pricing. Disney is more of a destination than an excursion. Disney
has changed the entertainment and hospitality industry and raised the bar for competitors.
When Disney was beginning to build Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Coney
Island was captivating the amusement park world (Weinstein, Raymond). Coney Island was a
classic amusement park with hotdogs and cotton candy and trash covering the ground, endless
lines, etc. At that point Coney Island was what people thought of when amusement parks were
mentioned. Disney took this opportunity to reinvent amusement parks in a way that made the
more enjoyable and less trashy. Disney wanted to do everything in their power to separate
themselves from Coney Island (Weinstein, Raymond). Weinstein says, from the start, the
Disney organization made every effort to disassociate itself from all other amusement parks of
the day, to sell its creation as something entirely new and different, to credit itself with being far
better than Coney Island (Weinstein, Raymond). Disney had the advantage going into building
their parks because they had already created a well-known entertainment brand. Before building
Disney World, the stories had already been written so the challenge was figuring out creative
ways to incorporate all of these stories into the park. Whereas, other amusement parks were built
from scratch without themes. Themes are not the only thing that makes Disney different from
other amusement parks, their quality of service is ranked supreme over others.
As a corporation in the hospitality industry, service is the most important aspect of a
business. One thing that Disney has done to encourage their employees to hold their level of
service to a higher standard is to call all staff cast members (Free, Miles). This is important
because it means that all cast members are on all of the time. Basically employees are playing
a role and they cant break character. As a recent customer, I can vouch for Disneys employees
saying that every cast member I came in contact with, both in the parks and in the resorts, was

extremely nice, helpful, and genuinely seemed happy. For example, I stayed in the Animal
Kingdom Lodge and the cast members who work at this resort are all native Africans and come
to Disney to be animal experts. Every cast member I talked to could tell me anything I wanted to
know about the animals kept at the lodge. This strategy is important because Disney employs so
many people so in order to have universal service in all of the Disney parks the cast member
strategy requires all employees to act as employees and not regular people. In fact, all of these
characters attend Disney University to fully learn how to become their character and to train in
order to be able to not break character in front of guests at the park. Disney has also implemented
a disciplinary system to enforce the high demands of an employment job. The disciplinary
system is based off of points. Each indiscretion earns an employee either 1 or 2 points depend on
the severity and at the end of 12 months if an employee has exceeded 5 points they will be fired.
This system ensures that employees are accounted for (Casanova,25). While it may seem odd to
take away the true identity of your employees, it in turn takes away the negativity that could be
present, and instead, it gives them a new life and a new role to control. The quality of service
provided by the cast members can drastically change the experience had by the customers and
the customers opinions of the park, and their experience it was truly matters in the measure of
success.
Not only is Disney valued by its customers, but esteemed corporations such as Forbes
have ranked Disney as being one of the most valuable brands (Forbes). In 2015, Disney was
ranked number 11 out of 100 based on brand value, brand revenue, 1-yr change, and advertising
(Forbes). Both Forbes and CNN have publicly affirmed the success of Disneys brands and
parks. While good publicity can be beneficial, at the same time it can also conflict. By receiving
so much positive attention, Disney has become a target of competition for other companies in the

same fields such as Universal Studios, Six Flags, Cedar point, SeaWorld, etc . Other corporations
similar to Disney have always had to compete with Disneys brand and therefore will together
target Disney in any way they can. Disney has created a monopoly on the entertainment and
hospitality industry that so far has not been topped. Disney has been able to build on their
success by not making the mistakes that other entertaining parks have made.
Disney has learned from other amusement parks such as SeaWorld. Disney makes sure
their operations, especially operations involving animals, are conducted translucently. By doing
this they prevent customers from questioning what Disney is doing behind the scenes. For
example, in the Animal Kingdom park, Disney has included displays of what the animals are fed,
animal check-ups, minor surgeries, and living situations. SeaWorld faced major criticism from
past employees and animal activists for their mistreatment of animals, specifically the orca
whales. Disney has also created ways to educate their customers on efforts that can benefit these
animals (About). By creating a translucent display of how Disneys animals are treated every
customer that visits the animal kingdom park will feel confident in the positive treatment. This
coincides with Disneys mission to please every customer including those that may come in
search of unveiling the real Disney. However, the treatment of animals may not be the only
thing these sceptics will try to unveil. Disney has created behind the scenes tours specifically for
those customers that come to sniff out the real Disney (Bartkowiak, Matthew). Bartkowiak
says, Disney has capitalized astutely on the ardent fan, the curious and potential critics with the
introduction of a capital-driven plan to give those searching for an insiders knowledge of the
park a means to an end (Bartkowiak, Matthew).
All of this information is important to know because it can help other corporations in
these fields advance their own management styles. Businesses learn through competition and

challenging each other. Disney has not just gained their success through their movies and
products, Disney has created the king of all amusement parks by paying attention to detail. Every
details and decision that is made in the parks is made for a specific reason. These decisions have
allowed Disney to create their superior brand and maintain their status among amusement parks.
If other competitors such as Sea World and universal can learn from Disneys management styles
then all of these companies will continue to challenge each other and they will grow even more.
Although, Disney has received so many positive reviews they still have flaws.
The one park that has received criticism would be Walt Disney Worlds Epcot. Included
in Epcots park is the world showcase which is a walk through of 11 of the worlds biggest or
well-known countries (Epcot). This has received criticism because while the different areas may
be quaint and enjoyable, they may not be the most well-representative of the actual countries
(Best). These areas usually include the trademark locations that people think of when thinking of
these countries, for example, Paris has the Eiffel tower. While it is challenging to reveal the true
nature of these countries in a theme park, it is also not appropriate to create non-accurate
displays, especially when Disney prides themselves on being authentic (Best). However, when
criticizing these displays it is important to remember that all of the trademark places included in
the miniaturized cities do exist and are created to look accurate. These miniaturized cities may
not represent the whole city and the tragedies that may take place there, it is unfair to expect the
small displays to include that extensive amount of information.
No one can deny Disneys success because anyone can see that Disney has been
successful in both the hospitality and entertainment industries. Disney owns four media
networks, 11 parks and resorts, 10 studios, and has made over 492 movies. This is not a small
feat and their attention and praise is well deserved. While Disneys competition may continue to

target ways to break down Disneys success they cannot deny the success Disney has already
had. Disney treats every customer as a new customer and has created their service to revolve
around each and every person who enters their parks. Disney has created ways to even make
skeptics realize the magic in Walt Disney World. Both customers and experts have deemed Walt
Disney World as being a superior model for amusement parks because the magic experienced in
Walt Disney World is unlike any other experience. The great thing about Walt Disney World is
that no one will have the same experience twice, things are constantly changing and the park is
just getting better as the years go on. Walt Disney World allows people to escape from the real
world and step into the world of the character people have grown to love in Disneys stories.
Disney himself said, I dont want the public to see the real world they live in while theyre in
the park I want them to feel theyre in another world (King).

Bibliography
About- The Walt Disney Company. N.p., n.d. Web.
Bartkowiak, Matthew J. "Behind The Behind The Scenes Of Disney World: Meeting The
Need For Insider Knowledge." Journal Of Popular Culture 45.5 (2012): 943-959.
Academic Search Complete. Web.
Best, Joel, and Kathleen S. Lowney. "THE DISADVANTAGE OF A GOOD
REPUTATION: Disney As A Target For Social Problems Claims." Sociological
Quarterly 50.3 (2009): 431-449. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web.
Casanova, Michelle. "Agreement Between Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S and The Service
Trades Council Union." (n.d.): n. pag. 24 Mar. 2014. Web.
"Epcot World Showcase." Epcot's World Showcase. N.p., n.d. Web.
Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web.
Free, Miles. "Walt Disney World: A Model For Precision Manufacturing." Production
Machining 7.5 (2007): 17-19. Business Source Complete. Web.

King, Margaret. Disneyland and Walt Disney World: Traditional Values in Futuristic Form.
Journal of Popular Culture 15.1 (1981): 116-40
Lillestol, Tayllor, Dallen J. Timothy, and Rebekka Goodman. "Competitive Strategies In The US
Theme Park Industry: A Popular Media Perspective." International Journal Of Culture,
Tourism & Hospitality Research 9.3 (2015): 225-240. Hospitality & Tourism Complete.
Web.
Weinstein, Raymond M. "Disneyland And Coney Island: Reflections On The Evolution Of The
Modern Amusement Park." Journal Of Popular Culture 26.1 (1992): 131- 164.
Academic
Search Complete. Web.
"World's Top 25 Amusement Parks." CNN. Cable News Network, 04 June 2014. Web.