I started taking my kids to Walt Disney World in the mid-seventies.
Over the course of years, I've taken all three of my children there
several times, and each time I've felt that I had left the real
world for a better place. The transportation worked better, the
staff and visitors seemed happier and the entertainment swept you
away from whatever was troubling you.
So it was a bit of a shock to read of the recent hostage drama played out at a Disney World
hotel. Happily, thanks to excellent work by the police the drama
ended peacefully, but the incident reminds us that even in a place
as blissful as Disney World, the real world can impinge.
It also underscores the responsibility that travel service
providers such as Disney have to deal with any eventuality. As part
of its excellent training, Disney must prepare its people for any
contingency. With thousands of people walking through its gates
every day, the company has to be ready, whether it be to control
surging crowds or to handle a medical emergency.
And they do the job remarkably well. I recall that on one of our
earliest trips, a crowd began to swell around the main stage of
Walt Disney World in anticipation of a performance by Disney
characters.
I remember how well the "cast members," as Disney calls its
staff, handled the situation, right down to the choice of words
used to keep the crowd under control. "I need you folks to step
back behind the rope," a young man said in a cheerful tone that was
quite different from the way a policeman might address a crowd in
an urban environment. It was clear to me that the Disney employee
had been trained not just in what to say but in how to say it.
People working in the travel and transportation industry must be
prepared to encounter situations that require specialized
training.
Ask flight attendants these days about how they must be ready to
face passengers with "air rage," or hotel staff employees who
contend with the full range of human emotions every day.
The travel industry makes millions of people happy. Probably few
companies do that better than Disney. But the tense moments at the
theme park the other day drive home the reality that you can't keep
the outside world away from even the best places.