Extraordinary Magic in Everyday Life
by Blake Taylor
I, as I’m sure is the case with many of you, often fantasize about lending my talents to Disney in one way or another. To be on a first-name basis with Mickey Mouse, to develop new attractions for the parks, to spend my workday on Main Street, to be the person to hand a Dole Whip to an anxious guest, to make the magic that we have all been on the receiving end of.
As these aspirations have accumulated over the years, I’ve found myself portraying some of the quirks of Disney Cast Member lingo. I was thrilled, for instance, to notice when I actually pointed with two fingers when giving someone directions. But some of that is unintentional. Being immersed in Disney culture so thickly has made certain things just subconsciously be “part” of my everyday vernacular.
There are some actions, though, that I now intentionally do to add a little Disney to things. There are, of course, customer service tactics that Disney utilizes to add excellence to its company’s work ethic (which I would suggest reading all about in the superb book Be Our Guest), but I’m talking more about increasing the smile intake of those around you rather than implementing business tactics.
One easy example of this your voicemail message. Mine starts out with the usual “Hey, you’ve reached Blake, I’m not here right now,” and then blah, blah, blah typical voicemail stuff. Until the very end, when I switch into my best Disney announcer voice and say, “Thank you—and have a magical day!” It always throws the caller off, and their voicemail usually starts with incoherent laughs as they try to remember why they called. They simply don’t expect it, especially since as a usually reserved person it’s not like me to bust into voice impersonations. I even had someone who called me one time and was upset that I picked up because they wanted to hear the voicemail tell them to have a magical day…
But anyway. It adds a Disney touch to my voicemail and starts the caller’s message off with a friendly tone, but also doesn’t overdo things too much. There are plenty of other fun ideas for a Disneyfied voicemail, like perhaps your favorite Walt quote or piece of movie dialogue. (I will eternally be your best friend if you choose to say “Have some candy!” like King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph.)
So, WDW Radio reader, you just read a snazzy new blog post, what are you going to do next? I’ll tell you what you’re going to do: make a voicemail yourself! Your very own, personalized, Disney message. Choose what you’d like to say… go ahead, choose anything! Do you have it? You’ve got it, right? Ok, good. Now go find your phone. Find it! Is it in your hand? It’s in your hand at this point? Now go to your voicemail settings and change that thing!
If your phone’s not nearby, cross your heart that you’ll change your voicemail later. Cross your heart… cross it! (Sorry, couldn’t resist an Up reference.) Oh—and have a magical day.
Congratulations to Benny L.! He was randomly selected from all those who commented on last week’s blog to receive a WDW Radio Mystery Ticket!
Blake is a college student focusing on Creative Writing and Media Studies. He enjoys making his family of six watch the parade on Main Street and then sprint to Frontierland in time to see it again. You can follow Blake’s random Disney ramblings on Twitter at @blakeonline, or at BlakeOnline.com.