Howdy!
I am a little more than half way done with my Disney College Program here in Orlando! So far it has been many long and late hours working at Disney’s Pop Century. Working in the hospitality industry is a very unique experience. Previously, I have worked at two Hilton Hotels. I have to say, working at a Disney resort is vastly different. For one, Pop Century as almost 3,000 rooms, where as a Hilton may have around 300 rooms. Often guests will ask me how I ended up working here, and what my major is. I get many puzzled looks when I reply with my answer of horticulture with a business administration minor. This had me thinking, how does working for Disney in the hospitality industry relate to my horticulture and business degree?
The answer, is not a simple one. I’ll start off with a more straight forward answer. I deal with money all day long. I take payments, deal with foreign currency, travelers checks, and refunds all day. Slowly, I have figured out how the money circulates through the hotel. Whether we have to refund a guest for an inconvenience, or take payment for a long distance call, each payment has a specific way it has to be entered into the system. The payment has to be entered correctly for it to be taken or given to the correct area of business within the hotel or Disney. Every night I fill out all the paperwork for the transactions I made during the day. I send the paper work to multiple different areas within Disney. I have also watched as our room prices have fluctuated week to week depending on the season. This is business. I have watched as prices during spring break become slightly higher, because people are willing to pay it to get a room during that time. I see group discounts, cast member discounts, and Florida resident discounts come through during the slower times to put heads in beds. Disney has it all figured out so that they can maximize every room available.
The biggest answer to how this job relates to my job, put simply, is customer service. I have had Mr. McKinley as a professor for multiple classes during my time here at Texas A&M. Although the majority of his classes are about how to create floral arrangements, a large portion of what he teaches about is customer service. I have heard him tell personal stories about guest and customer interactions during class to teach us about customer service. Mr. McKinley taught me how to deal with customers who are crying tears of anger, sadness, and happiness. I had never really encountered these situations until I got this job here at Disney. With Disney there is an extremely high expectation. So, when guest have something go slightly wrong during their stay, sometimes the response is a tad on the sticky side. I have had guests cry at my desk because they have to return home early due to a family emergency. I have had guests crying tears of anger because they are not receiving the room they want. I have also had guests cry tears of happiness because we were able to upgrade their room simply because it was their birthday or anniversary. Every time I encounter one of these guests, I think back to what Mr. McKinley taught me in my floral design classes. I have learned to sympathize, apologize, and celebrate when appropriate and necessary. Customer service is a huge part in any industry whether its the floral design industry or the hospitality. I have been thrown curve balls many times at work, but I know one of the common goals for almost all industries is to make the customer happy.
Here at Disney I have learned about service recovery. This means exceeding the guests expectations in difficult situations. The very first thing is to actively listen to what the guests has to say. The next thing is to apologize to the guest for situation. Then, you solve the problem to the best of your ability. The final step is to thank the guest for making you aware of the situation. I use these four steps daily at work, along with what Mr. McKinley taught me in class. The majority of the time, I am able to see a guest leave happily. I know I will carry these steps onto my future job, because I have seen these steps work time and time again. Guest interactions can be tough, but I could not be happier that I am getting the experiences I am here at Disney. I know I will be well prepared for future situations.
In conclusion, no, my job here at Disney is not in the horticulture department. However, I am learning to solve guest situations, and learning how important customer service is to a business. I am able to apply things that I have learned in my classes at Texas A&M, and here at Disney to my job. I know that the only way to get better at customer service, is to actually be in situations where you solve problems with customers constantly. Every customer is unique, and have unique requests, but it is my job as a cast member to solve or meet the requests of that specific guests as efficiently has possible.
I also had a chance to drop by the boss’s office the other day, here are some pictures:
Have a Magical Day!
Alexa
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