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.

Facts of life

If you'd joined the Disneyland Cast when the summer of 1984 started, you'd know your way around guest questions well by now. By August, when the temperatures and guest counts had reached their highest points, answers to "Where's the nearest restroom?" and "Do you sell film?" came easy.

Still, it was nice to know that there was a summer wallet fact card tucked into your costume. The little folding card had all you needed to know about Disneyland and all that Disneyland ever needed to be.

Want to pick up a unique gift? Try the One-of-a-Kind Shop in Mlle. Antionette's Parfumerie, or the Wilderness Outpost in Bear Country. Short of cash? Visit the Bank of America branch in Town Square.

Need a break from waiting in lines in the August heat? Grab a bite to eat at the Space Place, then catch Show Biz Is! at the Space Stage. Or the polynesian show at the Tahitian Terrace. Or the Golden Horseshoe Revue. Or Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at the Opera House.

Tired of walking? Hop aboard the PeopleMover for a grand circle tour of Tomorrowland or take the Skyway.

You've got plenty of time. Disneyland is open until midnight (1:00 a.m. on Saturdays). But if you somehow run out of things to see and do, you can find information on other California adventures at Carefree Corner.

I'd been to Disneyland so many times before joining the Cast that I never really needed the Fact Card. But now that so much of the old Magic Kingdom is just a memory, I'm sure glad I've still got it.

Forever twenty-nine

Disneyland's twenty-fifth anniversary came twenty-nine years ago today. In my mind, it was the Park's greatest year. A time when Disneyland truly understood why it had been created and what it offered the world.

The Magic Kingdom then had what Walt called "that thing—the imagination, and the feeling of happy excitement—I knew when I was a kid." Whatever that thing was, Walt found it in Marceline, Missouri. He said that more things of importance had happened to him in Marceline than he imagined ever could. What kinds of things could have happened in that small town to make such an impression on him? Even today, the population is only around 2,500.

Walt put that feeling into words at Disneyland's dedication. Age and youth. Fond memories. Challenge and promise. Those simple, timeless things became the hub around which Disneyland grew.

Now that it's grown into what it is today, of course, simple, timeless things are a lot harder to find anywhere, not just in Anaheim. That's why birthdays are so important. They're times to reflect and refocus on those timeless things, and Disneyland's birthdays are no exception. I think that's why Disneyland gave buttons or ribbons like this one to the Cast working those days: to celebrate what it was, and to rededicate itself to being the Happiest Place on Earth, the place where whatever that feeling of happy excitement is could always be found.

Finding simplicity and timelessness is easier when you know what you're looking for. Disneyland: The First Quarter Century provided some examples back in 1980:

A child examines the hitching posts that line an 1890 street and asks, "Mommy, what kind of parking meters are these?"

An elderly gentleman on the same street smiles happily and tells a bystander what he likes best about Disneyland—"I can jaywalk here!"

A young man aboard a "Mississippi" sternwheeler on a moonlit night seeks an introduction to a girl by asking, "Is this your first trip aboard?"

Some people today might scoff at those kinds of things as naive longings for a past that never was. But Walt found them in Marceline, and they were at Disneyland when I wore this ribbon. I saw them. If you were that child, that elderly gentleman, or that young couple watching the pin lights twinkling from stem to stern as the Mark Twain pulled away from her landing, I'll bet that you saw them too.

On July 17, we're all entitled to celebrate that feeling of happy excitement we knew as kids who grew up in the Disneyland that used to be. So happy birthday.

And many happy returns.

Show Biz (was)

Back when the Space Stage sat under the speedramp to Space Mountain, a fantastic song-and-dance revue called Show Biz Is! played during Disneyland's summer season.

Signing back into the Park after a summer day shift, I would often catch the show. The Space Stage was a terrific venue, and Show Biz Is! was one of the Magic Kingdom's last great live entertainment offerings. As I remember, it was at least a half-hour long. A cast of about twenty performers showcased Hollywood, Broadway, and music in a flurry of costume and set changes.

Jack Wagner announced each cast member as the show ended, and each took a bow with some inventive move. Almost thirty years after, I'm sorry to say that I've lost everyone's name except for Kimber Elston. If you've got a kid who thinks he or she can dance, follow this link and look her up for some lessons.

The other performers were fabulous, too. I can remember the numbers (songs from The Fantasticks, The Pajama Game, Singin' in the Rain, and many more), but their names have disappeared from my mind like the Space Stage from Tomorrowland. Somehow, though, I think that sitting on one of those blue benches as the curtain went up on a show like this would bring them all back. I sure wish that Disneyland would.