Antisocial media
What Disney expects of its cast members and how they actually behave is a matter of some discussion. The rule at Disney theme parks is that the employees aren’t allowed to talk about their job. In fact, a non-disclosure agreement prevents some of them from talking about their job even after they’ve quit and started working elsewhere.
These strict rules also apply to social media. While not everyone honors them, Disney asks that its workers maintain a sense of mystery. They shouldn’t tell others what they do. The company requests a veil of secrecy for job duties. That’s why stories exist of family members not finding out for years after the fact that their loved one was once Cinderella, Minnie Mouse, or Grumpy. It’s also why so many of the secrets of the Disney work day remained a secret for so long.
Disney asks a lot of its cast members, but the corporation is also fantastic at picking the best new workers. The overwhelming majority of them can keep a secret. In fact, I recently interviewed more than 20 former employees. Six of them flat out refused to solve any existing park mysteries, preferring to honor the company’s request. Two of them hadn’t even worked at a Disney theme park since the early 1990s, yet they still held true to the company’s vision.
First name basis
Walt Disney used to wear a name tag when he traversed the Happiest Place on Earth. The button simply said “Walt.” That’s by design. A Disney theme park is supposed to be a welcoming environment, the ultimate safe space where parents can bring their children. Disneyland should blanket its guests in a warm feeling of acceptance.
Calling someone Mister, Miss, or Missus wouldn’t have that effect. Instead, it would create a wall between cast members and theme park tourists. Walt Disney appreciated this form of communication better than anyone else. He set the standard in putting his own name on the nametag rather than a more ostentatious title such as Founder, Owner, or President.
Every Disney employee who has walked through the gates of a Disney theme park wears a name tag. And that ID always shows their first name rather than their full name or job title. Instead, the name tag states the person’s hometown, offering a potential topic of conversation between strangers. It’s a form of intimacy that underscores the friendly neighborhood vibe of a Disney theme park.
Comments
Actually, the final point about having their hometown on the name tag is wrong, on a recent visit, a staff member had an official name tag listing her hometown as Alderaan. not only is that fictional (it pains me to say that) it is also a planet, not a town, city or village