BENEFITS OF GOOD

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

The Benefits of Good Customer Service within Disney Theme Parks

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

emphasis on keeping your customer’s needs attended to in a polite, knowledgeable, timely

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

the service they offer is, essentially, the customer experience.

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

amusement in its innovative theme parks .” (St. James, 2020)

1
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

maximum level of service can be achieved(Jones, 2018)

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
2
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

service by properly and timely attending to Guests needs.

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

your bottom line.

3
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

Customer Experience. Retrieved from DisneyInstitute.com:

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-

Webster Dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theme%20park

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/