Purpose

Many of us reflect on the purpose of life when Decembers come around. Walt was born today, and one of his quotes about his most famous creation seems like both a good tribute to the man and a fine thought to inspire those resolving things for the next year and beyond:

All we ever intended for him or expected of him was that he should continue to make people everywhere chuckle with him and at him. We didn't burden him with any social symbolism, we made him no mouth piece for frustrations or harsh satire. Mickey was simply a little personality assigned to the purposes of laughter.

The simple purpose of bringing joy to others. Happy birthday, Walt. And thank you from all of us for the gift.

Holidayland

Now that we're past the official "busiest shopping day of the year," it's time to make your list and check it twice. Here are ten of my Disneyland holiday wishes. Feel free to add your own!

A new Tomorrowland inspired by science and filled with silver and blue optimism;

A PeopleMover or similar advanced transportation system for a leisurely tour of said new Tomorrowland;

A Skyway over Fantasyland to the new Tomorrowland wished for previously;

A magic shop in Fantasyland;

A One-Of-A-Kind antiques shop in New Orleans Square;

A Keel Boat trip around the Rivers of America;

A Plaza Gardens stage with big bands;

A new Circle-Vision 360 theater with a film on something that could make particularly good use of the format, like global climate change;

A return to the Disneyland look; and

A special "classic" month at the Magic Kingdom, with the old characters, costumes, merchandise, music, parades, etc. If the National Hockey League can play outdoor games in historic uniforms every season, Disneyland could pull this off for sure.

Build me up Buttercup

The Best Possible Job has been off the clock for a while due to family matters. We all have to face certain issues, but that doesn't make them any easier. Sometimes you need something to build yourself back up before things look all right again.

At times like that, nothing's cheerier than flowers. Even artificial ones like the blooms and blossoms that one spilled out onto West Center Street off Disneyland's Main Street. The flower market made it through the first half of the eighties when I was a Cast Member, and I remember vividly the pleasant feeling of stepping onstage through the door tucked in the back. Evicted by the unstoppable force that squeezes commerce into every once-quiet spot in the "Resort," the "small plants and unusual artificial flowers" are gone now. Most modern guests probably don't even notice.

Those who grow up with today's Disneyland are steeped in a Park where period graphics on stores selling everyday plush have taken over the themed experience that Main Street was once. Then, it wasn't just printed signs with nostalgic type and curlicues. Walt's Main Street had a flower market, a bank, a general store, a Carefree Corner because they helped create the state of mind that we imagine existed in bygone days. How many kids with their own iPhones pick up the receivers in the Market House and listen in to 1890 party line conversations?

Probably not many. Fortunately, the Market House still stands. I haven't been to Anaheim since nearly as long ago as 1890, and I hope the old phones are still there, too. Things like the phones and places like the flower market provided a foundation for suspending belief that created the theme experience once so easy to find in the Magic Kingdom. Foundations like that help build you up when you'd rather be in another time.

Thanks to the Best Possible Job's (four) loyal readers and new friends whose kind words helped get this show back on the road. A smile and a song to you all.

Know the answers

Lesson three. Walt's innovation in guest relations wasn't the result of some hotel management program. It was basically an extended version of the Golden Rule. Simple, but never done better . . . as long as the effort was put in at every level, every day, every interaction with guests:

A question from a guest is never an interruption in our Disneyland VIP Plan. You're a walking, talking information booth . . . with a smile. It's no easy task to answer the same question 68 times . . . in the same patient and friendly way. You must remind yourself that most of our guests are strangers to our stage and as a rule they don't read directional signs. In fact, many of our foreign guests can't read English.

When people travel, they enjoy many things, but the most important factor is the human one . . . it's the PEOPLE THEY MEET that make the difference. It's you . . . our walking, talking information booth with a smile . . . who makes the difference.

Next: Accept people as they are

Disciplines of the Show

Lesson two in this series of principles taught to me as a Disneyland Cast Member back in the 1980s. It's a particularly good one for Labor Day weekend. Disneylanders work while others play, and that takes discipline.

Show business is a fun way to make a living . . . most of the time. But, with fun as a way of life, and the creation of happiness as a goal, it is still the most highly disciplined thing. Here are some of the rules of the game . . .

*We work while others play.
*Presenteeism a must.
*Never any eating or smoking on duty, or within view of a guest.
*You were highly selected, so we assume we don't have to dwell on such things as drinking . . . or going to pot.
*No horseplay . . . which is dangerous and bad show.
*Never . . . never . . . argue with a guest.

Someone once said, "the highest form of discipline is self discipline." We prefer to discipline ourselves.

Next: "Know the answers"

Class of 1983

We're heading into the end of summer. Casual/Seasonal Cast Members are wrapping up their shifts, maybe hoping for a spot among Disneyland's permanent part-timers. Grad nites are long past, canoe racers have lapped the Rivers of America, and the last softballs have been thrown. The All-American College Marching Band has packed up and headed back to school.

Seems like an ideal time to reflect on the lessons learned in the Best Possible Job. That was what working at Disneyland was for me back in the 80s. Like all Disneyland alumni, I still carry the valuable things that I picked up while training to follow Walt's unique approach to creating the finest in family entertainment.

I hope that the University of Disneyland is still teaching Cast Members what it really meant to be part of the magic of the Magic Kingdom. Not just an outdoor vendor, attractions, custodial, culinary, merchandise, or security host or hostess, or even one of the many talented folks working entirely backstage. But someone given a rare privilege — finding personal happiness by creating happiness for others.

Just in case some in the Resort weren't taught as thoroughly as we were back then, I am dedicating the next few posts to presenting a lesson plan for living through the viewpoint of a Disneyland Cast Member as it once looked. Here's our first lecture, from Showmanship . . . Disneyland Style:

Working together

One of the "key" words in the successful production of any film is TEAMWORK. THis means the actors . . . sound men . . . camera men . . . light men . . . producer . . . and director all work together to product the ultimate goal, a "smash" hit.

Here at Disneyland, TEAMWORK is also a "key" word because we are, in effect, producing a living experience for our guests. This means our "onstage" crew myst not only work together, they have to work in unison with our "backstage" crew for a successful production.

Disneyland is no place for hermits . . . and your role is not a "do-it-yourself" operation. Your every effort lies in your ability to work with others in our cast in order to properly produce a happy show for our guests. Always try to practice what we preach about guest relations . . . on your fellow hosts and hostesses.

Next: "Disciplines of the show"

Paper's ghost

Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is forty today. It's an attraction that both preceded and survived the years in which I grew up in the Magic Kingdom. I'm thrilled that it remains today in almost the same condition as it did when I first stepped into the portrait gallery.

When the "paintings of some of our guests as they appeared in their corruptible mortal state" begin "actually stretching," I'm still willing to believe it. I think such simple illusions—transformed by Imagineering into thematically perfect spectacles—are still the greatest magic shows ever presented. For me, Disneyland is always at its best in the uncomplicated form that stretching portraits, singing busts, and endless hallways illustrate. It doesn't matter if you realize that the gallery is really an elevator. It makes no difference that the banquet scene is not a hologram.

In some ways, it's kind of more fun when the illusions aren't complex. Long before Pixar and CGI, special effects like those in the Mansion were just as special. I think that somehow they're more fun than a perfectly rendered scene, even if it's an amazing work in its own right. They create the sense that maybe you, too, can do magic.

When I was a kid, Disneyland sold this little instruction book on how you might get started. During the era when Disneyland merchandise included "your personal tombstone," you could transform a dollar into this delight at Merlin's or Main Street Magic. Written by one "Phinneas J. Pock," the venerable tome presented simple tabletop tricks and gave instructions on how to throw your voice. It was all done in a sort of "poor man's Marc Davis" style with illustrations inspired by the Mansion's various effects. I remember well practicing all of the little sleights of hand. The book sat on my shelf right beside my Secret Panel Chest for years.

But there's a little matter I forgot to mention. You can still enjoy Magic from the Haunted Mansion today! Blogger The Haunted Closet has made images of it reappear. The secrets have properly been concealed. Head over and have a look, and a ghost from Disneyland's past will follow you home.