Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CUSTOMER SERVICE
At Disney Theme Parks
Angela Pettry
January 2020
MKT 202
Benefits of Good Customer Service within Disney Parks
Week 3 Final Draft of Research Paper
Angela Pettry
Providing great customer service is tough and has recently been the source of much
research and analysis. It has become such a hot topic recently because of the link between quality
customer service and the success of that company. The customer-centric business model puts
manner in an effort to positively affect customer experience and satisfaction. When a company
provides superb customer service consistently, they inevitably benefit. These benefits include
return business, increased referrals and word-of -mouth, customer loyalty, industry recognition,
increased morale, decreased turnover, and increased sales and profits. Since these benefits are so
substantial and solidify a company’s long-term capabilities, it has become critical for modern
corporations to identify, analyze, and consistently deliver excellent customer service. Theme
parks are no exception to this fact and are even more dependent on being customer-centric since
Theme parks originally evolved from European pleasure gardens of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, which were the earliest form of amusement parks. The amusement park
industry gained substantial popularity when the Industrial Revolution made advances to the
unsafe rides and cars enabled people to come from farther distances, thus giving birth to the
modern amusement parks we are familiar with today. (St. James, 2020) But theme parks differ
from amusement parks because they “are based on a central theme,” according to the Merriam
Webster Dictionary (2020). “Disney was, however, the most significant creator of family
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Benefits of Good Customer Service within Disney Parks
Week 3 Final Draft of Research Paper
Angela Pettry
Disneyland, which opened in 1955, helped coin the term “theme park” and was instantly
successful. (St. James 2020) Since the beginning, Disney has employed four key values to
provide great customer service. These four key values are safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency.
(Jones, 2018) Safety refers to each employee, or “Cast Member” as they are known at Disney
Parks, practicing safe behaviors in everything they do and speaking up to ensure the safety of all
the people in their parks. Courtesy requires the Cast Members to be positive, courteous, and
respectful to all visitors, or “Guests.” It also outlines that Cast Members go above and beyond
Guest expectations by anticipating their needs. Show, also referred to as presentation, requires
each individual that makes up the Cast to always stay in character and make sure their attitudes,
physical appearance, and designated area is show-ready at all times. The final key value of
efficiency makes Cast Members accountable for using their time and resources wisely so the
The four key values, or concepts, of safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency were selected
to help Cast Members intentionally provide each and every Guest with the best possible
experience while attending Disney theme parks. These specific concepts are taught from day one
of training and reinforced often by Disney parks. By setting safety as the first, and most
important, concept, Guests are free to pleasantly enjoy quality time at the park without being
overly concerned with their family’s safety and security which would hinder their ability to
actively participate in the fun.. This allows them to truly be immersed in the culture and
experience that Disney offers at its parks. The key value of courtesy teaches Cast members to
seek greater Guest interactions by providing friendly, individualized service while projecting an
approachable, positive image and energy. Too many opportunities are lost simply because people
fail to smile and offer simple, sincere service but Disney does not let this inexpensive, yet
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Benefits of Good Customer Service within Disney Parks
Week 3 Final Draft of Research Paper
Angela Pettry
valuable service concept slip through the cracks. Dedication to being show-ready is the third
concept Disney parks stresses to all Cast Members. This concept is instrumental in transporting
Guests from their mundane reality to a place where they create magical moments and ensures
that these magical moments are not interrupted by sub-par dedication to the show, backstage
drama, or other unpleasant factors, such as trash in the street, which would steal focus from the
show and distracting The last key concept, efficiency, helps aid in Disney’s superior customer
Walt Disney considered training an essential investment the future of his company and
was rumored to be obsessed with customer service and an attention to detail that rivaled
perfection. (Disney at Work, 2018) As a result, the four key values were developed as an
effective approach to enhance customer satisfaction and experience. New employees are put
through six-weeks of customer-centric training before they even see a Guest. Disney’s
organization-wide commitment to higher standards has paid off by increasing attendance 4.9% in
2018 and have successfully maintained such high levels of customer service they boast world-
class customer service, a powerful competitive edge, and a 70% return rate of first-time park
visitors. (Watson, 2019) Other benefits of their efforts include increased job satisfaction,
customer loyalty, sales and profits. Also, a decrease in turnover rate at Disney parks has helped
decrease labor costs that would have otherwise been used to find, train, and pay new employees.
Disney parks excel at demonstrating how a rich, unique, personalized experience adds significant
value to services. Ultimately, Disney parks provide their industry with a model example olthat
demonstrates the fact that how your employees interact with your customers directly impacts
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Benefits of Good Customer Service within Disney Parks
Week 3 Final Draft of Research Paper
Angela Pettry
References
Disney At Work. (2018, November 8). Disney’s Four Keys To A Great Guest Experience. Retrieved from
Disneyatwork.com: http://disneyatwork.com/disneys-four-keys-to-a-great-guest-experience/
Jones, B. (2018, January 10). Success Is In The Details: How Disney Strategically Focuses On The
https://www.disneyinstitute.com/blog/success-is-in-the-details-how-disney-strategically/
Knapp, D. (2019). Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional. Boston: Cengage.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2020, January 17). Theme Park Definition. Retrieved from Merriam-
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. (2020, January 4). Amusement Parks. Retrieved from
encylopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-
maps/amusement-parks
Watson, A. (2019, September 29). Disney - Statistics & Facts. Retrieved from Statista Web site:
https://www.statista.com/topics/1824/disney/