How to Apply Disney World’s Client Experience to Your Own Business
Our family trip to Disney World was exhausting, exhilarating, and amazing all at the same time. As we visited each park, I was blown away by the scenery, the creativity, the attention to detail, the lines (bleh!), and the client experience. Even more (I haven’t been to Disney World since I was 6 or 7), I was blown away by how much people spent when they were there. The garb, the $20 turkey legs, the $15 cups of popcorn, the $10 ice cream cones. Crazy.
Disney has thought of just about everything to ensure a high touch, low transaction, supportive, enjoyable, and comprehensive experience for its raving fans: aside from just loving Disney, its customers are OBSESSED with Disney World and seem to have no problem spending large sums of money with the company. After all, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
So how does Disney do it? How did they create a client experience that brings in billions of dollars a year, millions of dollars a day, just at the parks?!? I’m sharing my Disney World client experience takeaways and believe these can (and should!) be applied to ANY business, especially those that deliver a service and an experience in doing so (talking to you interior designers + wedding planners!).
HOW DISNEY WORLD NAILS THE INQUIRY PHASE
Their marketing precedes them. Disney movies. Disney Plus channel. Disney characters. Disney paraphernalia. They have a clear vision (“to be the most magical place on earth” and “where dreams come true” and “entertainment with heart”) and they are consistent in sharing that vision in their marketing and all the products they develop.
When someone is making the decision of which amusement park to go to, Disney will be top of mind. People know the brand AND they also know if they choose Disney, it’s not “just an amusement park” it’s like stepping into another world (Did you know EPCOT comes from Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow?).
So when they log onto the Disney World site and look at hotels and park passes, they aren’t surprised by the prices because they know it’s SO MUCH MORE than just a park with some rides. It’s SO MUCH more than just a hotel where they’ll crash after a long day of walking 20 miles. It’s a carefully curated and well-designed magical experience.
HOW YOU CAN APPLY THIS TO YOUR BUSINESS:
Does your marketing speak to the lifestyle and experience your clients will have once their room or wedding is complete? Sure, clients may say, I want my room to be gorgeous, comfortable, and inviting. But the next question you have to ask is “WHY?”.
Why do you want your room to be gorgeous and comfortable and inviting? What happens when your room is gorgeous and comfortable and inviting? And then what happens?
Then speak to the result of that result. For example, when you design someone’s forever home, you’re designing it not so they have the perfect finishes or the best appliances and so it’s all cohesive.
You’re designing it so they have a place their children and their grandchildren will love to visit when the time comes. You’re designing it as a promise to that future dream of a full house, the pitter-patter of small feet, the sounds of laughter while you’re playing with your sweet grandbabies. You’re speaking to the lifestyle they will have and the person they will be after their home is well designed.
HOW DISNEY WORLD NAILS THE ONBOARDING PHASE
I obviously can’t get into ALL the things Disney does at each step because that would be an entire novel. But their onboarding phase is again, another curated and well-designed experience.
Once you book your hotel, the Disney World app guides you through everything. Making reservations, booking parks, planning your day. We did work with a friend who consulted with us on how to “win” at Disney (ha!) and that seriously made a TON of difference (like booking all restaurants multiple months in advance the second the reservations were opened, getting the lightning lane/fast pass, how to maneuver the ride reservations, etc.).
You also get to pick out your Disney World Magic Band which will be the touch-free way to access the parks, get on rides, pay for everything at the parks, open up your hotel room, and more.
When those arrive in the mail a few weeks before the trip, it’s like Christmas morning opening up the package and finding your bands with your name on them. You also receive instructions for setting up the bands and linking your credit card, and then when your trip date arrives, you’ll find easy steps for linking your hotel room to your wristband.
Disney created the Magic Bands to reduce the “transactional” nature of pulling out your wallet every time you needed something, using tickets to get on rides and needing to bring your credit cards and cash with you at all times. A simple swipe of the band lets you pay, enter, check status, and more. And you never have to touch a thing (woohoo, no germs!).
They also made it (sorry to say) idiot-proof. Considering the sheer volume of visitors they host every day at the parks, they had to make these bands SO EASY for their customers to use, so even the dimmest customers could figure it out without frustration.
If we skip forward to actually being at the park, and waiting in line or fast passing your way to the front, EVEN THEIR LINES ARE INTERESTING. The attention to detail is incredible at every turn at Disney. It truly is magical and so many things had me googling “How does Disney do….?”. As you’re waiting in line, they have familiar music playing from whatever Disney movie the ride is related to. They have essentially created these waiting lines as “sets” with stonework, shells, landscaping, artifacts, water features, and more, so that as you wait, you feel like you have stepped into a new world. They also have videos that are entertaining, some that prepare you for the ride, and some that you can engage with that ask trivia questions and encourage playing games while you wait. So even if you have to wait in a long line, you’re still having an experience that is SO MUCH MORE than just waiting.
HOW YOU CAN APPLY THIS TO YOUR BUSINESS:
Make the onboarding process fun and exciting. Even if there is a wait. Break down what you need from them in the most simple way. And let them know how it will benefit them. Think about how you can create an experience with fewer frustrating transactions (like writing a check every five minutes, always needing to send yet another thing over, etc.). Think about what would be helpful as they wait and then create a waitlist experience that will keep them happy and engaged while they wait. Check out how to create a waitlist and the emails to send to clients.
HOW DISNEY WORLD NAILS THE DELIVERY PHASE
Disney World is a well-oiled machine like NOTHING I’ve ever seen. They know just how to move people through their rides efficiently and there is never an unnecessary wait as they shuffle people around. They’ve got the “one in one out” process down pat.
How do they do this? They know how long the rides take. They know how long it takes people to get on and off rides. They know what the customers need to do to be safely secured. They know what they need to ensure customer safety. Some of the messages are pre-recorded (hello automation)--like keep your hands and feet in at all times, put all bags under the seat, etc, and some messages are real-time from the Disney cast members.
They remind you again of the bumps, drops, turns, speed, heights, and all of that so you know exactly what to expect in case you actually can’t handle that.
HOW YOU CAN APPLY THIS TO YOUR BUSINESS:
Be efficient with your time and your process. Communicate timelines clearly to your customers. Let them know exactly what to expect from you and what you expect from them once their design is ready. Automate the repeatable parts of the process so you can make the 1:1 touchpoints really impactful. Have a designated person available to help when needed. No question is too small. Take an approach of “How can I make it better?” with your process and review your process at each phase.
HOW DISNEY WORLD NAILS THE OFFBOARDING PHASE
Once again, Disney’s offboarding phase is well thought out and further enhances the experience. Even if you’ve just waited in line for an hour, and then the ride itself was only 2 minutes, they make up for that in the “offboarding”. As you leave the ride, for most, there is more to see. There are games, exhibitions, cast members, additional information to review. There are pictures of you and your family on the ride (yup, you can view those by tapping your Magic Band on the screen). It’s a visual experience that further enhances and extends what you just experienced on the ride and in the line. So even if the ride was short, you can still “get your money’s worth” by checking out the post-ride attractions.
HOW YOU CAN APPLY THIS TO YOUR BUSINESS:
Think about what your clients might need that will allow them to further enjoy their finished room/event. Think about what questions they might have down the road. Think about how you can further extend that exhilarating experience of the grand reveal of their event or room. Then create an offboarding process that supports them, even when the contract is fulfilled.
IN CONCLUSION
There is SO much more to get into, like how Disney handles customer support, how they use processes to the max to create the highest revenue-generating park AND cleanest park in the WORLD, how they train their cast members. On the design side of it, there is SO much to take in, and so much behind every single detail. Like how the ground changes in EPCOT based on what “country” you’re in. How they have a team of Imagineers that ONLY make light fixtures (the lighting is out of this world!). So much eye candy (and I’m not talking about the visitors).
Disney World has created a seamless experience for its guests from start to finish. They review and refine and review and refine so their guests can truly experience the parks as the most magical place on earth. They do this in part by thinking of EVERYTHING their customers might need at the parks and then by analyzing their data, traffic patterns, ride information, etc. and delivering on those needs based on information.
If you are ready to create an amazing experience for your clients, be sure to check out the Luxury Client Experience blueprint to walk through your own process and start filling in the gaps, or skip the line and have your own client experience in your inbox in minutes with our done-for-you client experience templates.
Looking for more? Keep reading:
