I Walk the Line

Yesterday I blogged about how amazing Disney’s marketing program is. Today, I’ll write about how amazing their line management skills are.

Anyone who has ever been to a Disney theme park knows there are lots of lines everywhere you go. But Disney has a way of making the lines seem shorter, both by making them invisible and by making them entertaining. As a parent, I appreciate both aspects of their approach. Keeping two toddlers happy in a long, hot line is never an easy task, but Disney makes it manageable. They hide the lines so even though you see a sign that says you’ll be waiting 10 or 15 (or 30 or 40) minutes, you don’t have that inner groan of seeing all 200 people who have to funnel through ahead of you. You shuffle through the line in one area with a clear goal in front of you – got to make it to that next corner! And then when you get around the corner – BOOM! More waiting in line. But around that corner there are lots of fascinating things to look at and details to check out. And just when you finish looking at everything there is to see in that section, you turn the next corner and there’s another whole room of delights.

Their attention to detail alone provides lots of interesting things to look at while you’re waiting in line. For example, outside the Enchanted Tiki Room, you can see birds and carved figurines that occasionally come to life and chat. In the line to the Haunted Mansion, you can read funny epitaphs and maybe see one of the carved effigies open her eyes, and you can push buttons to make music play or shuffle the books in the library. In the line for the Winnie the Pooh ride, some kids never make it to the ride because they’re too busy playing with the “whack-a-gopher” games, or playing on the vegetable drums, or jumping on the rabbit footprints to make the gophers pop out of their holes, or running in and out of Mr. Sanders’ house.

The Dumbo ride even has an air-conditioned playroom halfway through the line where you can stop for a long cool break!

Before you get on the Buzz Lightyear ride, you get to see Buzz himself give you a pep talk and instructions on how to help him defeat the evil Emperor Zurg.

Disney never gives you a chance to be bored unless you want to be. They make the waiting part of the adventure. And THAT, my friends, is the true magic of Disney.

If the Ears Fit...

My family just got back from a wonderful Disney vacation: three full days at Walt Disney World in Orlando, then a 7-day cruise on the Disney Fantasy to the eastern Caribbean. I am amazed at the Disney entity in so many ways. They invented line management, their people and service skills are incredible, and their marketing machine is unbelievable. Oh, their marketing. It’s all about the ears.

Mickey Mouse ears must be one of the most recognizable corporate symbols in the entire world, possibly eclipsing even McDonald’s golden arches. On our trip, I saw every possible variation of mouse ears, and plastered onto every possible item. I suspect their marketing motto is, “If it stands still, slap a pair of mouse ears on it. And if it moves, sell it one of the things you just slapped ears onto.”

In the Disney gift stores, naturally you expect to see mouse ears. Standard black Mickey Mouse ears, Minnie Mouse ears with a red-and-white polka-dot bow, with names in script or the official “Walt Disney font,” with a picture of Mickey in a red circle on the front. But the variations were beyond number. There were bride and groom ears with a white veil and a tuxedo, respectively. There were princess ears with a pointed cap and a trailing veil, or a sparkling tiara. There were pirate-themed ears emblazoned with a Jolly Roger and a jaunty bandana knotted at the back, or with Jack Sparrow's beaded dreadlocks. Ears topped with the Mad Hatter’s hat. Wizard ears with a pointed cap like Mickey wore in Fantasia. Ones with Jack Skellington’s face on top and spider webs over the ears. Santa hats with ears. Top hats with ears. Bike helmets with ears. Jack-o-lantern ears. Lightning McQueen wearing mouse ears. (Appropriately enough, Mater seemed to only wear Goofy ears.) Caps that look like R2D2 wearing mouse ears. Darth Vader with mouse ears. Darth MAUL with mouse ears. Ears with rainbows and paint splatters and glitter and American/Canadian/Brazilian/Italian/French/Morroccan flags and pictures of other Disney characters.

And above and beyond the mouse ear hats themselves, you will see mouse ears on every imaginable item. The complimentary shampoo and conditioner in our hotel even wore them:

There were ears on purses, jewelry, T-shirts, dog collars, headbands, trash cans, aprons, wine bottle stoppers, princess tiaras, snow globes, Christmas ornaments, and gift bows. There were things shaped like mouse ears – earrings, pretzels, crackers, waffles, cupcakes, confetti. Everywhere you looked there were mouse ears.

The Disney marketing team deserves kudos for how ubiquitous the ears are. Florida, California, Paris, Tokyo – every Disney park the world over sells the same mouse ears to the same enthusiastic crowd. I have no doubt that you could drop into some remote jungle in South America or the tangled bush in somewhere in the heart of Africa wearing mouse ears and the natives would nod and say, “Ahhh, Mickey!”

I have no doubt that Walt Disney knew the ears would make a great marketing symbol, but I suspect he never dreamed quite how widespread and well-known they would become. If he rose from the grave today and visited any of the theme parks bearing his name, I’m sure he would be proud of how well-loved those ears have become over the years. And I’m sure he’d be sporting a pair of ears himself.