“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality” — Walt Disney
And when it comes to next week’s “One More Disney Day” event (which will run from 6 a.m. Wednesday, February 29th right through to 6 a.m. Thursday, March 1st. Making this the first time ever that Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom Park will have both been open for 24 hours straight), it’s going to take lots & lots of people (not to mention lots & lots of overtime) to make this special Leap Year happening happen.
So while the schedules for the WDW Cast Members working this “One More Disney Day” event went out just yesterday, the Ops department for the Magic Kingdom is still tinkering with its plan to keep that theme park functioning for a full 24 hours. As they try and determine which rides, shows and attractions will be closed in what order over the course of the night for necessary maintenance.
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And while Disney World’s Marketing department would genuinely love it if every single ride, show and attraction could stay up & running for the full 24 hours of “One More Disney Day” … As far as Ops is concerned, this isn’t really a negotiable issue. The safety of the Guests (as well as delivering an overall high quality show experience) remains Ops’ top priority. Which is why — though some Magic Kingdom visitors may squawk in the wee smalls as signature Disney theme park attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean & Space Mountain are shuttered for a few hours over the course of this event — these rides will still have to have their daily safety checks & vehicle inspections done. Not to mention then cycling each individual ride, show and attraction before allowing any Guests to enter to make sure that everything’s now working properly.
Which brings us to a tiny but constant area of friction between WDW’s Marketing & Ops department. In that the Mouse’s merry marketeers will invariably come up with some sort of high-profile but hard-to-pull-off stunt to help promote the Parks & Resorts. And it’ll then be left to the people in Ops to find a practical way to actually make this event happen.
Case in point: The Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle Suite. Back when the folks in Marketing were looking for a hook for 2007’s “Year of a Million Dreams” campaign, someone remembered that there was this huge empty space high up in Cinderella Castle which had originally been intended as a private suite for the Disney family & company. However, given that it was Roy O. Disney who was calling the shots back when the Magic Kingdom was actually being built in the late 1960s / early 1970s … Well, Walt’s frugal older brother just couldn’t stomach the idea of spending that kind of money on a space that the Guests would never ever see. Which is why the private suite idea got nixed. And this huge empty space high up in Cinderella Castle eventually wound up being used as a telephone call center as well as a dressing room for performers who were appearing in those daily shows that were presented in the castle forecourt areas.
But that was 1971. And 35 years later in 2006, Disney World’s Marketing staff was looking for an extra special hook for next year’s promotional campaign for the Resort. Which is when the idea of finally completing the construction of that long-delayed suite in Cinderella Castle came up. So that — on every day of this year-long event — some random family in the Parks could then be selected to stay in WDW’s most exclusive hotel room.
It sounded like a wonderful idea … on paper. But when it came to the actual logistics of building, operating & then maintaining the Cinderella Suite, they bordered on the nightmarish. On a daily basis, Ops had to handle all of the special behind-the-scenes aspects of running this Suite (EX: artfully & discreetly separating the Guests from their luggage for a brief interval, so that these bags could then be taken backstage and quickly sniffed over by the Resort’s explosives detection dogs. Not to mention posting a Cast Member right outside of the entrance of that room every single night. Not just because Disney was looking to honor any special requests that the Guests staying in this Suite may have had over the course of their night in the Castle, but also because the Company wanted to insure that these people couldn’t somehow get out of Cinderella Castle late at night and then go wandering around the now-closed Magic Kingdom. Which — the way Mickey’s attorneys saw this situation — was been a lawsuit just waiting to happen).
It took a lot of hard work (not to mention being almost prohibitively expensive). But the Ops staff at the Magic Kingdom did manage to keep the Cinderella Suite up and running for over two years (The “Year of a Million Dreams” campaign — which officially got underway on October 1, 2006 was thought to be so successful that it was then extended by another full year in August of 2007. This promotional campaign finally officially came to a close on December 31, 2008), giving over 800 families & individuals the genuinely magical experience of spending the night in Cinderella Castle.
And in case you’re wondering, though the “Year of a Million Dream” promotional campaign has been over for 3+ years now, people do still occasionally stay in the Cinderella Suite in the Castle. Though these days, the most-exclusive-hotel-room-on-property is mostly reserved for large scale investors in The Walt Disney Company, not to mention would-be sponsors of new rides, shows and attractions for the Parks. I’ve also heard that stays in Cinderella Castle are now regularly being offered as an extra-special perk to high-profile performers that Walt Disney Studios is actively wooing for upcoming film & TV projects. That — if this actor agrees to sign on the dotted line — the Mouse will treat that performer & their family to an extra-special Walt Disney World vacation which will then include an overnight stay in the Cinderella Suite.
And speaking of overnight … One of the lists that Ops is now putting together for the night of February 29th / morning of March 1st is places where people will typically go to catch a few Zzzs over the course of this “One More Disney Day” event. So if you’re in the Magic Kingdom that night and happen to notice a lot of extra staff manning The Hall of Presidents, The Enchanted Tiki Room, Mickey’s Philharmagic and Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress … Well, there’s a reason for that. These additional Cast Members will literally be working as wakers. Their jobs will be to sweep each of these individual theaters after each show is completed that night and then — as politely as possible — rouse those Guests who have fallen asleep over the course of those performances.
And if it’s any consolation to you Disneyana fans on the West Coast, I’m told that there’ll be a similar sort of beefing-up-of-the staff working Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, The Enchanted Tiki Room and Captain EO. So that visitors to the Disneyland version of “One More Disney Day” should know in advance that there’ll be no snoozing allowed in those shows either.
Which brings me to today’s question: There’s got to have been a number of JHM readers who have taken part in Grad Nites and/or those 25, 30 & 60-hour-long parties that were held at the Happiest Place on Earth back in the 1980s. So what advice do you have for those folks who are thinking of taking part in this “One More Disney Day” event? What advance prep work should these people do if they’re thinking of spending a full 24 hours inside of WDW’s Magic Kingdom and/or Disneyland Park?
Your thoughts?