Raylene, Cooper and I just got back from a short holiday down to California for my cousin’s wedding. While we were down there, we took the chance to go and enjoy some time at Disneyland. Since Cooper’s only 2 months old, it really wasn’t for his benefit, but more for ours. Raylene wanted to go on some rides, and I wanted to observe the Disney experience, watching carefully how they do things and why they’re so successful. If you’re as obsessed about business, marketing and such like I am, there’s no better example than the folks at Disney. When you go to the Disney parks with the purpose of observing the way they run their business, it’s fascinating. You notice so many little things they do that most people never even think about. At every moment, they are carefully trying to control your experience, and make sure it’s positive. They’ve thought through an incredible amount of detail and situations to try and make sure that every visitor to the park has a great time. Some of the more obvious things are the sparkling clean grounds — there is just NO litter or garbage anywhere on the grounds, in the entrance area, in the washrooms.. nowhere. They pay very close attention to keeping the park CLEAN. Raylene commented when we were on some of the rides how CLEAN they were. We’re used to the rides at the Calgary Stampede, on which you’d probably be advised to wear gloves. Another obvious one is the music. The music is everywhere. There are literally speakers all around you, and you’re never more than 20 feet from one. They’re on poles, in the trees, in the shrubs, buried in the ground. Everywhere. Disney knows that music is a very powerful subconscious tool which can have massive influence on someone’s state of mind. I literally noticed myself feeling happier when we went onto the grounds because of the music — even when I was fully conscious of it! Raylene is also a big fan of business and marketing, and she noticed something interesting — everything at Disney is built like a brick.. well, everything is built REALLY solid and long-lasting. For example, all of the signs on the park – from parking directions to hours of operation, you name it – they are ALL made from heavy duty metal. All the chairs, benches, seats and tables — long-lasting, durable metal that retains paint and looks good. We didn’t see a plastic chair or table anywhere on the grounds. The technology at work in Disney is also spectacular. Since Raylene’s a photographer, she paid special attention to all of the Disney photographers all over the grounds, ready to take your photos for free. Their cameras are all tied wirelessly into their main photo server, so every picture that gets taken on the grounds gets individually tracked and can be instantly called up at the end of the day when you’re ready to leave the park. The photographer takes the photos of you, then gives you a little card that you take to the photo studio. They scan the card, and instantly, all of your photos show up on vivid, gorgeous flat screens that allow you to choose which ones to print out. Again, all of this stuff happening without most people even thinking about it, or wondering how it happens. What I found really interesting about the experience is that I expected everything to be over-the-top, Vegas-style, chaotic, and feeling exhausted by the end of the day. But I didn’t feel like that at all. In fact, I found the Disney experience very enjoyable and all 3 of us were in a very good mood for the entire day. All of the thousands of little details that Disney pays attention to have truly created the result of a positive, joyful experience for the visitor. In fact, Raylene commented on the walk home that she didn’t see one family stressed out. You didn’t see kids screaming and misbehaving. You didn’t overhear parents yelling at their kids or being stressful. It’s almost like Disney sets such a high standard, that the visitors rise to that standard and behave accordingly. Anyway, it was a very fun experience for Raylene and I, and now we know what to expect when we return with Cooper in a few years when he’s at an age that he can actually enjoy it. So I guess my point in all of this would be this .. it’s hard to find truly exceptional examples on which you should model your business, regardless of what it is you do. But Disney is one of them, and I’d highly recommend that any chance you get, take a field trip to a Disney park and really try to pay attention to the little details .. because it’s the little details that make an organization spectacular.]]>