Investigating how Walt Disney World creates “Disney Magic”

Abstract

Aim and objectives The main aim of this project is to investigate how Walt Disney World creates “Disney Magic” within its theme parks and what impact this has on guests and Cast Members. The research objectives are:  To investigate what; marketing and promotion strategies, branding and consumer image tactics, service quality and guest experience influences, theming techniques and employee management ideals are used within Walt Disney World Orlando.  In order to discover; the impact these have on guests and how Cast Members feel about their role in “creating magic”. Design and methods For this research a mixed methods approach has been selected. An online survey of the general public is used to gain insight into branding, promotion and Disney experience. This is compared to structured interviews with previous Walt Disney World Cast Members to assess their feelings around creating Disney Magic and employee issues the hospitality and tourism businesses commonly face. Findings The key findings include the idea that guest’s perceptions of Cast Member’s involvement and Cast Member’s perceptions of their involvement are rather different. It is also discovered that the marketing and promotion, branding an consumer image, and theming strategies that are used at WDW are extremely effective and have major impacts on the guests overall relationship with the company. Conclusions Despite the limitations of this research it is interesting to look into the sheer number of different factors that go into creating Disney Magic and how the subtlety of many of these is astounding. Recommendations for future research include using larger sample sizes, and factoring in age and gender into both elements of the methods chosen.