The happiest place on Earth. Right away, people recognize Disney parks with this well-known catchphrase. Some people consider these magical parks there, “home.” With Disney being the largest entertainment company in the world, it is no surprise that the parks have thousands upon thousands of people visit them each and every day. Guests wearing Mickey hats, Minnie Ears, using bubble wands, and getting those coveted autographs from beloved Disney characters. With every child coming into the parks, there is a family behind them looking for the smile on their face, no matter the cost from their wallets. Since Disney theme parks are one of the most visited tourist destinations, the lines for those magical attractions are longer than ever. Disney owns several theme parks, thus creating extremely long wait times that guests are not happy with waiting in. In effect, Disney has incorporated a number of systems solving this issue and adding accommodations to please their customers.
Across the country, there is 12 Disney theme parks, with six parks in the United States each park with exceptional customer service, dining experiences, and magical entertainment. With two amusement parks, California Adventure and Disneyland in Anaheim, California. In the East Coast (Orlando, Florida), Disney World is home to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom; this list does not include Disney’s water parks. In a study by Themed Entertainment Association, they projected that more than 140,000,000 guests visited Walt Disney Attractions worldwide in 2016 (Theme Index Museum). Since there are thousands of guests visiting the parks, there was a high demand for Disney Parks to design an innovative way to reduce the wait time on their largest attractions and rides.
In 1998, Disney introduced the Fast Pass system, which has expanded to all Disney theme parks worldwide, and now is used by over 50 million guests per year (Cope, R. F.). With a FastPass system, park attendees are able to skip the long wait times on rides by simply getting tickets on a kiosk. This allows guests to select attractions, shows, and more. Guests then get a ticket to return to a ride at a designated time and is all free for customers. A guest is allowed to get a FastPass every 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on how busy the park is. At popular attractions, Fast Passes are often sold out before noon on busy days (Burgess, Stephen).
Theme park operators introduced quick pass programs such as the FastPass for efficient management, expecting to reduce customer’s dissatisfaction resulting from long-wait lines. Since FastPass system enable guests to manage their time at the Park, it allows guests to decide which lines to wait in and which to bypass with a FastPass (Newell, Lauren A.). This later came to tie in with the MaxPass, for California Parks only, that allows guests to book their Fast Pass on their mobile devices and had the additional feature to download guests’ Disney photos. Depending on park, the Max Pass does include a one-time $10 fee. This is beneficial for Disney since rides such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Peter Pan’s Flight (Fantasyland) and Space Mountain always have long wait periods. Depending on the season, guests visiting the park are waiting in attraction lines from minutes to up to 3 hours.
With the FastPass systems, guests can avoid waiting in line from hours at a time, to just minutes with this system. Summer and spring times are some of the busiest times to visit any of the Disney parks as well as during the holidays. New Year’s Eve, Christmas, and Christmas Eve being some of the busiest times to visit. During the end of Winter and Early spring, wait times become much less crowded, as well as the month of September since this is a time that many children head back to school and families seem to be getting back into their normal fall schedules.
Along with the certain times of year, new attractions or additions at Disney parks are always in high demand when opened, which then result in long lines. For example, Toy Story Land opened at Walt Disney World Resort in June of 2018, which brought thousands to enjoy the classic film through rides. Considering the new attractions, there are long wait times since no guest has experienced these rides. With guests and cast members all waiting to experience the new land and all of the attractions this area has to offer, lines are exceptionally long. With the newest roller coaster at Walt Disney World being “Slinky Dog Dash,” wait times seemed to consume most of the guests’ day since many guests wanted to experience this ride immediately. For many new attractions guests can keep track of when the attraction’s open date will be and plan ahead of time when to make their FastPass selections.
Coming up in the Summer of 2019, the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be opening in Disneyland Resort in California and crowds and long lines are already being expected to rise. In the Fall of 2019, Star Wars Land is expected to open in Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. After Toy Story Land, Star Wars will then be the newest area to the parks and are very much expected to be the longest wait times in any of the parks at the time they open. With this, Toy Story Land and the newest roller coaster, “Slinky Dog Dash,” will then be expected to not have nearly as long of wait times as they did when they opened. Disney guests will be able to use FastPass systems and features to experience more of the parks rides without waiting in line for hours.
Guest also have the ability to see how long wait times are in each ride with the ‘Wait for Disneyland’ app for California Adventure and Disneyland Park. Disney also made these more accessible for even more people across the country to have a chance to get on their favorite ride without waiting hours. It’s apparent that these FastPass systems are useful, in a society advancing with technology, these applications and tickets help maintain the functionality of Disney to be the happiest place on earth.
In 2014, Disney enhanced the features to be more digital, the new FastPass+ system allows people to reserve up to three attraction tickets per day online. This opportunity also gave guests the ability to obtain additional tickets at the Fast Pass kiosks or on cellphones. The Fast Pass+ allows guests to make these selections 30 days prior to visiting the park. So, if families, friends are planning a trip they can get the best selections and rides with less wait times. If a guest is planning a trip or books a room at the Disney Resort Hotel, guests can make selections 60 days prior. The only requirements for FastPass+ is signing up for online registration.
Instead of buying tickets online or retrieving a printed ticket from the kiosks, Disney included another element, the MagicBand which is part of the MyMagic+. Disney Resort hotel guests and Disney Work Annual Passholder automatically receive a MagicBand or card when checked into Walt Disney World. Magic Bands and cards are secure all-in-one devices that allow you to effortlessly access the plans and vacation choices on the My Disney Experience app (Unlock the Magic). This device is a band that can be placed around the guest’s wrist that holds the entry of the guest’s hotel room, FastPass+ selections, allows guests to charge food and merchandise to hotel, and more. Magic Bands are convenient bands, that can be personalized in any color and customized at the park for extra charge. Unlike the FastPass system, the Magic Bands helps with other features for guest’s vacation plans and highlights their FastPass+ selections in a quick, easy, and convenient way.
With a technology driven society, the crowds are getting bigger, but people wanted to have more rides instead of the 3 limited Fast Pass tickets allows. In January of 2018, Disney added a new program that allows Disney Resort guests to purchase additional FastPass reservations. This program is huge change because while the FastPass are known for being free, Disney Park can now charge for additional Fast Pass. This method which is beneficial for guests who want to skip more lines and is becoming a source of revenue for Disney parks.
With the holiday celebrations already happening in the parks, there is even higher numbers of people entering the parks every day wearing those festive Minnie ears, waiting in line for their favorite attractions, including Space Mountain, It’s a Small World, and Peter Pan’s Flight, just to name a few.
Other factors that contribute to Disney being the happiest on earth is considerations and accommodations they make to maintain a positive image. Once you, a family, or guests walks into Disney theme parks there are many factors that go into effect, from settings, colors, and much more. This starts largely with the company staff. Disney’s staff or (CM) cast members, are prepared to respond and interactive with customers before they enter the park, while waiting in lines, up until they leave the doors. These methods help Disney by being prepared to respond in unpleasant situations.
To avoid situations that stimulate negative elements or emotions, Disney incorporated a few regulations that are aimed to maintain Disney theme parks a family-oriented environment. Disney parks are known for their unique and magical dining experiences such as Pluto’s Dog House, Stage Door Café’ (Magical Kingdom), Galactic Grill (Tomorrowland) and more. Disney prohibits smoking in all of its restaurants and throughout the Resort, except for specially-designated areas. This technique of environmental control provides for the enjoyment of nonsmoking guests, particularly those concerned about their children’s exposure to second-hand smoke, while it makes some accommodation for smokers. Disney has also used these tactics concerning drinking, crime and etc.
Disney also has many social controls in the environment, this contributes largely to how Disney hopes to keep a positive image and brand. While as guests you may hear your favorite Disney’s song, the company is positively influencing the environment with music. Disney avoids any music with triggers such as profanity that can cause a negative emotional reaction. As guests the world of Disney is full of music that is upbeat, cheerful, with classical favorites that guests can sing along too. By doing so, Disney is able to decrease complains based on lyrical music or lyrics that may offend any guests. Having these social controls, helps the company maintain its happy, fun environment with parents and children being in a negative-free zone.
In conclusion, having the FastPass systems and other accommodations available for consumers is what has kept Disney parks successful. By creating these opportunities to obtain a FastPass instead of waiting in a traditional line, people can get on rides quickly and enjoy many other attractions and shows that are available in the park. Technology is changing the way guests retrieve and secure their information, which helps make it convenient for Disney guests. From Disney’s casts members being prepared to fulfill customer needs to the moment guests walk out the door, Disney has maintained a positive environment. By incorporating these factors into their Disney parks, they are ensuring guests that they will be in the ‘happiest place on Earth.’
