I just wanted to share a bit of interest.
Over the weekend we dropped my son off at the University of Notre Dame for his first year of college (and our first year of poverty). Part of the orientation program included a welcome Mass for the families and students. The President of the University began his sermon by citing, of all things, a Disney World story.
Apparently, when the MK opened Disney hired a small army of costumed "hosts" to staff Main St. and answer guest questions. However few guests ever asked them anything; they all gravitated to the the street sweepers and maintenance people for directions and advice. After studying the reason for this, it was found that guests felt that the maintenance staff would know the "real" info on where to go and what to do in the parks verses the host's prepared responses. Disney's response was to increase the number of sweepers and their pay scale, as well as educate them on every facet of the park. The speaker's point was that the student should use "Thinking outside the box" to answer questions and solve problems.
Now, I don't know if any of this is true or just Disney legend. I just thought it was interesting to see WDW operations cited in a forum such as this. Feel free to discuss.
Over the weekend we dropped my son off at the University of Notre Dame for his first year of college (and our first year of poverty). Part of the orientation program included a welcome Mass for the families and students. The President of the University began his sermon by citing, of all things, a Disney World story.
Apparently, when the MK opened Disney hired a small army of costumed "hosts" to staff Main St. and answer guest questions. However few guests ever asked them anything; they all gravitated to the the street sweepers and maintenance people for directions and advice. After studying the reason for this, it was found that guests felt that the maintenance staff would know the "real" info on where to go and what to do in the parks verses the host's prepared responses. Disney's response was to increase the number of sweepers and their pay scale, as well as educate them on every facet of the park. The speaker's point was that the student should use "Thinking outside the box" to answer questions and solve problems.
Now, I don't know if any of this is true or just Disney legend. I just thought it was interesting to see WDW operations cited in a forum such as this. Feel free to discuss.