Building Brand Disney

During my recent visit to Disney World, I couldn’t help but to view the place through a slightly different lens then I did all approximately 10 times I’d been there before. Now, as an educated college grad (with no useful employment of my degree, but that’s another story), I observe the marketing and brand-building effort behind “Brand Disney”.

It’s amazing when you think about how Walt Disney began with animated films and lovable characters that eventually grew into the globe-spanning empire of theme parks, resorts, merchandise, and lifestyle that it is today. And it all is encompassed by those few logos: the iconic Mickey Mouse ears, text set in the typeface called Waltograph. (Download it here ).

As I observed the day-to-day operations at the Disney parks, I became amazed that a base adult one-day ticket is only $80. Every ride, shop, etc. requires a different uniform for each of its employees. A fancy, themed, fitted uniform for each employee. And then there are all those employees. Every attraction has multiple attendants while hotels like the Yacht Club have an admiral greeting guests at the door. Just imagine the cost of all those employees, even if they make minimum wage, plus their uniforms—which I’m told they don’t pay for. Payroll plus textile costs must be huge. Is it any surprise that a burger is $6 in these parks and a poncho $8, even if it is a “tourist trap?” I won't even go into the Disney Transport system, and the costs of diesel fuel plust maintenance for all those buses and boats (the iconic monorail is electric).

On a lighter note, how about the rides and attractions? The experiences are second to none. Wait times in line were generally short (semi-attributable to bad weather and being “pre-peak season” when I visited.) In fact, in many cases I wanted to wait longer, because Disney goes all out to make wait times interesting and informative, but they also design rides that are constantly loading, keeping the line in motion. Boarding was always very organized with a slew of attendants directing revelers, and rather than check each person’s safety restraint, Disney includes a built-in mechanism placing the responsibility of restraint checking on the rider. Hey, it cuts wait times and keeps guests happy—better than at Six Flags parks where attendants manually check each restraint.

If there’s one thing about Disney that surprises me, it’s the fact that many rides have a “darker side” that could disturb young children especially. Take “Pirates of the Caribbean” for example: drunkness, violence toward females, waterboarding (oh, this could open a whole new can of worms!), the decimation of a Caribbean village—all themes that run rampant throughout this attraction. There are other things I could mention too, and while Pirates is a bit of an extreme example, conflict and darker themes surprise me in many of the attractions.

It’s interesting to note that in a Buffalo News article today by movie critic Jeff Simon, he basically states the same, albeit as it applies to Walt’s early animation career. It’s an interesting piece, especially considering animation is where Walt’s other visions ultimately got their start, their brand image.