Going to Disney World is very expensive (and not getting any cheaper), and it can be tricky to plan everything just right so that you’re able to do all you want to in the parks. So why do people keep going back?
Magic Kingdom
One of the main reasons that people return to Disney World again and again is the memories they have and continue to make when they visit. Meeting Mickey Mouse and the princesses, riding thrilling roller coasters, eating a Mickey ice cream bar while watching a parade — all of these can become core memories that inspire nostalgia later on. But, according to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, none of those things are the most important part of a Disney vacation. See what Chapek said is the “secret sauce” to making magical memories at Disney World.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek recently sat down with the Wall Street Journal’s Editor-in-chief, Matt Murray, at the WSJ Tech Live conference. They discussed the plan for Disney’s Amazon Prime-type subscription service, Disney’s relationship with ESPN and sports betting, and the controversy and future of the Park Pass Reservation system.
Bob Chapek
Towards the end of the interview, Murray asked Chapek about the feud between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law (commonly called the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics). He noted that Disney initially chose not to comment on the bill but soon faced pressure from employees to speak out against it.
Rainbow Mickey
When he asked Chapek what he learned from that experience, Chapek responded, “I think the lesson is — the lesson we probably always knew — Disney is all about the cast.” He went on to explain why Cast Members are so important to Disney World and The Walt Disney Company: “If you think about the nature of why people have great Disney memories — remember the end benefit is magical memories that last a lifetime. The reason they have those [memories] — yeah, it’s about the castle, and yeah it’s about the great attractions or they really enjoyed that churro on Main Street, but really what they remember more than anything is guest-cast interactions. So that’s the secret sauce for making those magical memories.”
We love Disney Cast Members!
Chapek previously worked as the Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products for about 7 years before becoming the CEO of Disney. He said, “About 99% of the letters I got were about guest-cast interactions, not about attractions. Literally, almost every single one.”
We love to see it!
So although many people will remember the awesome rides or the fun merchandise or the delicious snacks, what really sticks with visitors to Disney World is how they’re treated by Cast Members in the parks. Chapek said, “If that’s the key to a great guest experience — and we’re all about the guest and the audience and maximizing their experience — then you have to make sure that the cast is at the center of everything that you do.”
Cast Members doing water art
Chapek noted that, during the recent controversy, Disney was reminded, “through the passion of our cast’s reaction, of how important their sentiments are on these issues in terms of making them feel that they were part of the Walt Disney Company, could relate to the products that the Walt Disney Company puts out.”
Minnie with some Cast Members!
We’re in the parks every day, and we frequently see Cast Members making magic for guests. We see Cast Members helping visitors work out problems with their trip, painting character faces on the ground, playing games in front of attractions that have shut down, and more.
Cast Members playing hopscotch
If you have a great experience with a Disney World Cast Member, remember that you can use the My Disney Experience (MDE) app to send them a Cast Member Compliment! Just search for “Cast Compliment” on the MDE app and enter the reason for your compliment and the location where you met the Cast Member. If you know the Cast Member’s name or hometown (listed on their nametags), you can enter that information as well.
Wonderful Cast Members
Disney says they will do their best to locate the Cast Member and recognize them for their great work and pass along your compliment.
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I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Does he know he’s antagonized his cast members to the point that they openly complain about him? I never heard a cast members say anything negative about a previous CEO… But I hear complaints about Chapek every single time I go to the park.
This guy must be deaf because us cast members find him horrendous.
Someone clearly needs a reality check.
Is the secret sauce ripping off customers by nickel and diming them for everything? And, by the way, we are now customers and not guests. Guests are treated with respect, not exactly Cheaoskate Chapeks forte.
If Chapek just rolls over for Ron DeSantis instead of going to bat for his cast, and every “Non Ron DeSantis” looking person in Florida, it’s just hot air. Chapek is great with words, but pretty short on actions. Just look at the other comments here from cast members.
Everyone knows the cast makes Disney, and that the corporation ruins it. They ban smoking but imbrace drinking for a nominal increase to profit. They become poltical not to equalize but to benefit. If they continue to destroy the Family Park image their troubles are just beginning.
He’s freezing the hiring process, letting go a bunch of cast members but in front of a camera “yeah, they are the most important part of Disney”…way to go Bob…way to go…
He is right about one thing–the cast members are what can make your vacay memorable. Sooo many cast member have made my family’s vacay great!
Mr Chapek, now values “cast members”. WDW is about “GUEST”. (Not consumers as he previously mentioned) interactions with Cast members that we see every year. That actually remember us, value us and make us feel special. Disney has been about great memories but that magic has disappeared. My family and I (UK ). Have been regular visitors for 3 weeks each year. We spend tens of thousands of dollars and have always said that its not the cost but the feeling of value that is important. Now that has changed and we feel not valued at all. No Dining Discount (tables of wonderland) means we ate off resort (something we rarely did) and lack of APs.
For the first time we did not need 2 extra large suitcases for our return flights. This cant be just my family. Lots of our DVC family have sold their memberships. The parks maybe full but this is because of the pent up vacations from COVID. People have already spent the money or waited 2 years to return to WDW to be ripped off and disappointed by the massive hike in costs. The 3 Fast Passes (which were included in the cost of the tickets in realists) has been replaced by Genie+ which is another additional cost and restricted if you are there for 21 days (just like the dining plans). My Disney stock value has halved and not all of that is due to the state of the worlds markets. The content being created is so anti male hero I cant watch it any more. What has happened to Disney ? Chapek and his focus on profit above Guest experience is what has happened.
The secret sauce use money, right?! And as for the cast members,I actually know one outside of the world…. Not heard great stories about how they’re treated.
Yes that would make this vacation so expensive that no one can afford it that no can go
Which has done more for the other, Florida for WDW of WDW for Florida? I argue vehemently that it is the latter.
This guy is so out of touch with what’s going on. Cast members are paid absolute minimum, he’s talking of laying off more workers……..he’s on another planet. The secret sauce is pay and treat your employees like they matter. He will never get it.
Chapek is a horrible human being. He not only is disreceptful to guests-he treates the cast members the same way. He is now laying off and firing cast members. The ones that are in the parks are over worked and under appreciated. Shame on Chapek. I have been coming to Walt Disney World since 1988. The decline in services since Chapek took over are terrible. Chapek knows nothing about the Magic of Disney–he only knows the bottom line–the money.
How can a CEO be so out of touch with reality? He’s clearly in a fairly tale!
So, if the cast members are the secret sauce, why is he putting on a hiring freeze? The parks aren’t back up to pre-pandemic cast levels as it is.