Disney has an extremely strong corporate culture that’s very distinct from other companies. Nowhere is this more evident than in the theme parks, where employees are “Cast Members,” the streets are “on stage,” and your everyday uniform is actually a “costume.” It’s difficult to leave some of the Disney ideas and terminology behind, even after you’ve left the park. Here are some notable differences between Disney and other smaller parks that tend to drive Cast Members (present and former) just a little crazy.
1. Inefficient queues
Long unmanaged lines at Kings Island
Image: Jeremy Thompson, Flickr (license)
Managing queues is an essential skill in Disney theme parks. It’s most prevalent in attractions, but merchandise, dining, parades, and characters all require well-managed and carefully organized lines as well. While Disney Cast Members experience fluctuating crowds 365 days a year, the employees at a theme park like Kings Island are only there for a few months. This doesn’t always offer the time and experience needed to eye up a line as efficiently as a Disney CM can.
Strolling through a smaller theme park, you’ll often find unruly lines extending past the entrance to the attraction and meandering down the street in a wholly haphazard manner. This can make Cast Members a little batty, particularly when they can clearly see unopened queue that’s going unused while the line wends its way down the street.
2. Lack of trash cans
In Walt Disney World, you’re never more than 30 steps away from a trash can. This is a golden rule that came from Walt himself. He eyed up visitors and tried to determine how long they would hold onto a piece of trash before tossing it on the ground. He decided 30 steps was a safe average, and trash cans have been placed accordingly since.
The easy availability of trash cans isn’t something you notice until it’s no longer there. However, when you’re used to finding a handy receptacle within seconds of finishing your ice cream and you’re suddenly holding on to your empty wrapper unable to find a nearby can, it quickly gets annoying.
3. Debris on the ground
Trash on the ground
Image: Daniel R. Blume, Flickr (license)
If you’ve spent any amount of time in a Disney theme park, you’ve probably noticed that the Cast Members are fanatical about keeping trash off the ground. Managers and coordinators pick up trash on the run. It’s considered a huge faux pas to pass something on the ground without picking it up. Many Cast Members have this so well ingrained in them, that they’ll habitually pick up loose trash just about anywhere they go. Head to a theme park where debris isn’t as well managed and this helpful habit can turn into a sticky nightmare.
4. Leaning employees
Leaning on a bridge
Image: Quinn Dombrowski, Flickr (license)
Disney Cast Members are admonished to never ever lean on anything. It even gets dicey when you have too much hand contact with something like a podium. It’s important to stand straight and tall and avoid using any type of wall or railing for added support.
This isn’t always enforced as seriously at other theme parks. Watching someone lean on the fence behind them just makes Cast Members cringe. Sitting on chains is worse, and actually sitting down on the job is unthinkable in most positions. After putting in many hours of their own standing tall in several layers of costume in the Florida sun, it gets a bit touchy when Cast Members see seasonal employees in parks farther north wilting under their duties.
5. Looks that are lacking
Tattoos must stay unseen at Disney
Image: Tony Alter, Flickr (license)
The Disney Look is extremely exacting. It forbids a long beard, ungroomed facial hair, nails in any unnatural color, and most makeup. Tattoos are never allowed, and piercings are limited to a single pair of demure earrings for women. There’s a lot of debate about the Disney Look, because it’s essentially designed to hold Cast Members to a fresh faced 1950s ideal of the American image which is long outdated.
Other theme parks are more lax with their hiring policies, and far more modern with their allowances. While there are plenty of Cast Members who would love to see relaxed rules about the tattoos they religiously cover with makeup or the piercings they carefully hide. However, after any amount of time in the company, it’s impossible for these “transgressions” not to catch your eye when you spot them at a fair, carnival, or other park.
6. Other areas peeking through
Disney coasters are rarely visible from a distance
Image: Martin Lewison, Flickr (license)
In Walt Disney World, you’ll never see one area bleeding into another unintentionally. The futuristic look of Tomorrowland is completely separate from the historic airs of Liberty Square or the wild look of Adventureland. The buildings are created in such a way that you won’t see anything that disrupts the immersive look and feel of the area that you’re currently in.
This isn’t the case in other theme parks. In fact, many lack the immersive “lands” that are so prevalent at Disney. Every little detail isn’t catered to as carefully, and the overall effect lacks much of the polish that you see at Disney. Most confusing to a long-time Cast Member is that unsettling feeling when you see a roller coaster from another part of the park clearly visible from far away. Other theme parks simply don’t do it the same.
Dedicated Disney fans will probably nod along to many of the items on this list. Though there’s plenty of excitement in parks outside of Disney, you can’t miss that things are done very differently.
