Originally named Mortimer, Mickey Mouse is one of the most recognizable brands worldwide. Most of the first week of training has been about branding and upholding the brand as cast members. Two items given to me and the other new cast members today are the nametag and the Mickey ears! A bit of detail on the nametag also contains the location or university you attend. Stetson University is a small school so I will enjoy seeing what connections this will make for me.
The Mickey ears are amazing. Mickey himself presented them to me and they have my name on the back. Disney is all about brand and the new cast training is intensive and focused on making magic. By teaching the cast in an intentional process, the brand remains consistent. Mickey brought the magic for me today. Today was the strongest example of making the magic. By Disney taking these small gestures of adding my name to these items, it made it all magical.
As we learn more today in seminars about the safety culture, it will be the most important thing for us to focus on with the guests. I will be interested in how this relates to the rides. As my passion is sculpture, I see the rides as installation art. The installation art at Disney defines a brand, delivers an expectation of quality and is experienced by hundreds of thousands of people a year. I will be getting the behind the scenes look at the installations, operations and management at Magic Kingdom this summer.
Consistency is certainly important to a brand like Disney. I hope you also get a sense of the creative work that goes into it too. That can sometimes be difficult at the entry level where you are. Be sure to ask questions of those in more creative roles when you cross paths with them. It could be instructive to hear how they able to work their way into these roles with the company.