Why Walt Disney World is Great – Part Three

The Company’s Philosophy

When I say the “Disney philosophy”, most of you probably think of the way they treat their guests. While this is true (and will probably show up here soon), this isn’t the philosophy I’m talking about.

The philosophy I’m talking about goes along with the theming of their rides and attractions – but a bit beyond that. You see, Walt Disney World thinks of all their rides as a production.

That idea was started by Walt himself and the company has been using that mindset ever since. The keyword here is quality. Instead of placing rows and rows of big buildings housing the rides and attractions, they “plus” it as Walt would say. They decided to actually give it a realistic feel. They want to give you the whole experience – and the experience begins the minute you see the attraction.

Let’s take The Haunted Mansion for instance. If Disney just decided to be lazy and not worry about the exterior of the ride (similar to Universal’s E.T. Adventure and such) – the entire attraction would be spoiled. Here’s the Disney difference: Universal tries to make their attractions entertaining, while Disney tries to entertain while making it realistic and believable.

The Disney Haunted Mansion experience begins long before you get on the ride. You go through a queue next to the creepy house, hear wolves howling while waiting, see the thunder and hear the lightning (at night), go through the mini-graveyard with amusing but creepy little tombstones, and more – all before you even get on. Although you haven’t gotten on the Haunted Mansion, you have been experiencing the attraction from the moment you walked up to it – wether you realize it or not.

Every ride and attraction is treated like the set of a movie. There are backstage areas, but what the viewers (guests) see/experience is what counts – and Disney takes that into account by making the theming and details count. That’s what Disney does best, and that’s just another reason there is no comparison to Walt Disney World.

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Photos: About.com, Devil Elephant