Be Our Guest

“Why do Disney guests feel they're in the ‘Happiest Place on Earth?’ It’s because Disney meticulously crafts every aspect of the customer experience, delighting all senses and exceeding expectations.”

1. Knowing Your Guests: The Art of Guestology

Understanding customers is the cornerstone of Disney’s legendary service. Guestology, a term coined by Disney, centers on studying and interpreting guests’ desires, preferences, and expectations. This knowledge serves as the foundation for creating memorable experiences.

By observing visitor behavior, Disney identified the two core reasons families visit theme parks: to spend quality time together and to escape the pressures of everyday life. Disney shaped its offerings to fulfill these goals, modifying attractions, schedules, and interactions to provide what families wanted most—fun, relaxation, and connection.

Disney doesn’t rely solely on intuition; it collects and analyzes guest feedback through formal surveys and personal interactions. This constant flow of data sharpens Disney’s understanding of what guests value, ensuring that the company continues to evolve.

Examples

• Disney altered its park layout to make it easier for families to navigate based on guest feedback.
• Observing long faces in parking lots, Disney created a system to track arrival times for easier car location.
• Families requested more child-friendly amenities, leading Disney to launch stroller and family care services.

2. Delivering Quality With Set Standards

Disney’s service excellence lies in a framework of four standards: safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency. These standards guide every decision and action, balancing a magical experience with operational effectiveness.

Safety stands as the highest priority. All cast members are trained to assist guests during emergencies or even minor discomfort. Courtesy ensures each guest feels valued and welcomed, reinforcing Disney’s commitment to personal touches like greetings or heartfelt interactions.

Show and efficiency complete the framework. The “show” aspect ensures every visible detail supports the magical environment—from uniforms to whimsical decor. Efficiency emphasizes seamless processes, ensuring smooth operations without detracting from the magic.

Examples

• A Disneyland worker addresses a lost child immediately, prioritizing safety over show timing.
• The ornate, themed doorknobs in hotel rooms immerse guests in a story-rich world.
• Efficiency principles led Disney to streamline park entry systems to reduce bottlenecks.

3. Seamless Integration: The Delivery Matrix

Disney achieves service consistency by integrating employees, settings, and processes into one cohesive system. Each of these pillars supports the guest experience, ensuring every detail aligns with Disney’s mission for excellence.

Employees are consistently trained to embody courtesy, show empathy, and deliver solutions. Magical settings, such as themed parks, hotels, and even parking lots, ensure guests feel transported to imaginative realms. Processes like clear signage or helpful apps provide convenience and minimize confusion.

Disney employs an integration tool called the Implementation Matrix, which aligns one specific theme—such as courtesy—across employees, settings, and processes. This system ensures all components work in harmony to exceed guest expectations.

Examples

• A Danish-themed hotel incorporates themed decor, staff wardrobe, and food offerings for immersion.
• Courtesy is encouraged by offering “recognition cards,” where guests thank outstanding employees.
• Coordinated efforts between parking attendants and signage reduce wait times while maintaining the magic.

4. The Power of Smells, Sights, and Sounds

Disney appeals to the senses to amplify its storytelling. Smell, sight, and sound are orchestrated to evoke joy, nostalgia, and excitement, contributing to the immersive experience.

Popcorn wafts in the air at Disneyland not by coincidence but through strategically placed smell diffusers. Vibrant visuals, like bold red-and-purple road signs, make directions easier to process and remember. Audio plays its part too, whether in cheerful background music or the magical sound when employees retrieve costumes.

Every sensory detail is intentional, maintaining Disney’s commitment to making the mundane extraordinary and reinforcing the emotional connection guests have with their environment.

Examples

• Unique smells like churros are released throughout Disney parks to evoke playful memories.
• Employees at Hong Kong Disneyland hear a magical “jingle” to signal entering their character roles.
• Bright, contrasting color palettes boost memory retention for wayfinding.

5. Immersive Eating Experiences

Food is never just sustenance at Disney; it’s a continuation of the park’s storytelling. Guests don’t merely eat; they experience themed meals that enhance their immersion in the Disney narrative.

Each area of the park offers unique menus mirroring its theme. In Frontierland, guests enjoy roasted turkey legs as they imagine an old western town. On the BoardWalk, saltwater taffy adds a vintage carnival flair. Matching food to the park’s visuals and stories deepens guests’ emotional connections.

Disney goes beyond traditional dining by offering food that resonates with children and adults alike, contributing to a cohesive, enjoyable experience rather than disrupting the magic.

Examples

• Authentic Italian meals available in Epcot’s Italy pavilion create a global dining experience.
• Pirates of the Caribbean-themed food offerings include tropical mocktails that evoke swashbuckling adventures.
• Cookie shaped like Mickey Mouse ears delights children across all age groups.

6. Gathering Feedback for Better Service

Disney doesn’t assume what its guests want—it asks. Surveys and feedback loops form the backbone of Disney’s guestology. They shed light not only on visitor demographics but also emotional responses, habits, and expectations.

For example, Disney learned that many visitors to its parks are Brazilian tourists traveling in large groups. Armed with this data, Disney trained Portuguese-speaking cast members who could communicate fluently and enhance these guests’ experiences with cultural nuances.

Feedback also reveals how emotions change throughout the day, such as excitement at entry or tiredness at the day’s end. Such information allows Disney to match messaging and services to guest sentiments, improving satisfaction.

Examples

• Surveys revealed that international guests represent 25% of Disney’s visitors, prompting more multilingual services.
• Guest feedback on exhaustion led to installing more sitting areas and shaded zones.
• Knowing emotions peak near rides like Space Mountain, Disney optimized promotions for the attraction.

7. Tackling Wait Times Creatively

Waiting in line can sour any experience, but Disney has devised three methods to tackle the issue: optimizing operations, controlling guest flow, and enhancing the queue itself.

Opening limited-time-only areas (Extra Magic Hours) allows certain visitors to enjoy attractions with shorter lines. Tip boards display wait times for attractions, usually overestimated, so real-life waits feel like pleasant surprises. Pre-entertainment, like Muppet Vision’s pre-show, ensures the time guests do spend waiting is fun, not frustrating.

By focusing on each phase of waiting, Disney transforms an unavoidable hassle into an opportunity to delight guests further.

Examples

• Extra Magic Hours privilege resort guests with quieter, exclusive times to explore parks.
• Pre-entertainment turns queueing for Star Wars attractions into an interactive narrative experience.
• Tip boards displaying wait times allow families to plan their days more effectively.

8. Making Every Employee A Missionary

Disney empowers employees by giving them a shared sense of purpose. Rather than submitting to routine tasks, employees personify Disney’s mission: to create happiness for every guest.

This mission sets clear expectations for interactions. Employees are taught to welcome every guest—not as a stranger off the street but with the warmth given to a family friend. From maintenance workers to costumed characters, every member plays their role in creating the happiest place on earth.

Turning jobs into roles serving a larger purpose helps employees find meaning and pride in their work, fostering exceptional service.

Examples

• Employees don’t refer to patrons as customers but as guests, evoking the hospitality owed to someone special.
• Costumed cast members undergo character training to ensure their performances enrich the magical storytelling.
• Employees like cleaners use “guestology” insights to time their appearances during breaks between crowds.

9. Designing Touch Experiences for Delight

Disney understands that hands-on interactions heighten guests’ emotional connections to their environment. Touch enhances perception, adding texture and layers to the immersive magical world.

Surprise water fountains placed throughout the park delight children, creating spontaneous moments of joy. Attractions and themed decor, such as cobbled streets, make visitors feel like they’ve traveled to a distant, vibrant land. Even small details like the feel of basket-weave chairs amplify the environment's storytelling.

By thinking about the sense of touch, Disney creates opportunities for both wonder and comfort.

Examples

• Hidden squirting fountains thrill children and encourage play.
• Cobblestone paths in Fantasyland enhance its storybook village feeling.
• Larger-than-life replicas in Toy Story Land invite tactile interaction.

Takeaways

1. Study your customers’ preferences and habits as Disney does with guestology, adapting your services to meet their explicit and implicit needs.
2. Engage all five senses to craft a more captivating and unforgettable customer experience, from smells to sounds.
3. Design solutions for common frustrations, like long wait times, with unique approaches that align with your brand’s values.