We Create Happiness: Disney Rhetoric Essay

Part of my internship included conducting a lengthy report analyzing something unique about the internship. It took forever for me to figure something out but I ended up utilizing my Rhetoric course outline in forming a observant participation essay highlighting the rhetoric of Disney. This was and still is one of my best works.

We Create Happiness: The Argument of Disney Magic through Invention, Kairos, and Phronesis

We are not employees— we are cast members. We do not work— we are on stage. We do not do favors— we create magic. After constructing Disneyland in 1955, Walter E. Disney set out to create something bigger, better. He was tired of seeing telephone wires and the looming shadows of non-Disney resorts around Disneyland which is why in 1964, he began buying nearly 28,000 acres of land to build a whole new empire called DisneyWorld. Although he passed away before opening day, Walt still managed to design four theme parks, six golf courses, the Disney Springs dining/shopping/entertainment, 21 Disney resorts, and the community of Celebration (Walt Disney World History, 2015). One of the resorts included the crown jewel of all Disney resorts in July 1988: The Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. The Grand Floridian is a resort that encompasses Victorian elegance at the turn of the century, featuring summery paintings and victorian architecture within every one of the 867 rooms. It’s the only resort in Florida with a four-diamond rating from the American Automobile Association (AAA), matched with an in-resort five-star restaurant called Victoria & Albert’s. There’s a birdcage in the lobby that once upon a time held exotic birds but now stands as a decorative piece. The Grand Floridian staff has a mission statement that says: “We Create the Grand Difference”. Over the course of the program, I’ve noticed how the place, the Disney concept of the four keys, and the people added up to the slogan. I began journaling my experiences and documenting the argumentative pieces. In Community Advocacy and Rhetoric, I learned how a volunteer organization displays an argument through the clever construction of a symbol which indicates invention, the place of advocacy that establishes kairos, and the emotional spectrum of phronesis when upholding a mission statement and being emotionally involved with the situation. I saw a similar argument to Disney as I did in my Community Advocacy class. With qualitative observations, I researched Disney’s argumentative nature of invention, kairos, and phronesis through guest interaction, the application of the four keys, and the Disney language.

Hidden in the peach wallpaper just above the GF initial is a tiny Mickey Mouse head. They’re on the floor of the grand and in a portrait leading to 1900 Park Fare (one of the character dining restaurants in the resort). The Mickey Mouse head is on the magic band key guests wear to get into their rooms; part of the script at front desk is to remind guests to hold their magic bands “Mickey to Mickey” at their room door in order to unlock it. It’s all a part of the invention of Disney. The argument of invention typically includes a symbol and the common attributes of the organization:

“invention is the direct participation in advocacy within the scene of research as well

as in the collection, preparation, and representation of data. In this way, the researcher learns of invention through enactment. As field researchers are pressed to perform the advocacy of their organization, social movement, or vernacular community, they discover and learn the process of inventing discourses as a means of making sense of their position” (Hess, 2011).

Outside of the hidden, universal symbol throughout the lobby, we as cast members at the Grand say things like “my pleasure” instead of “you’re welcome” to prevent the possibility of offending someone from a different culture. We also don’t ask guests if they need help because that would imply they are weak— instead, we ask if they need assistance. The language is very strong and becomes incorporated into our mundane speech from the very beginning, much like the Disney point which is indicated with two fingers instead of one. It’s all a part of the “Show”. After Walt created Disneyland, he formed a structure that every cast member must follow. They involved the four keys: Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency. “Show” is significant in the invention of argument because it enhances what every member of the organization must be: a performer. A warm, approachable character that, at the Grand Floridian, creates the “grand difference”. Kairos digs deeper into this concept by enveloping exactly where the magic takes place.

From three until nine forty-five in the afternoon, there’s a live pianist and orchestra— the last song of the day is “When You Wish Upon A Star” lullaby. There’s two pineapple chandeliers in the lobby with 44 tiny lamps on it and a pineapple fountain in the courtyard. This is where the magic happens. Kairos is “a consideration of the decorum of a situation along with the inventive goal of creative deliberation” (Hess, 2011). It’s the argument that involves space and timeliness. In the space of the Grand, there’s pineapples and red roof architecture to represent hospitality. There’s live music to entertain the guests and make them feel at home. It also adheres to the demands and requests from the guests. Two out of the four Disney keys are “Efficiency”(time) and “Courtesy” (space). For instance, a guest approached me one day asking when the next Disney Magical Express bus will be leaving because he missed his original one. The rule is the guest has to be on the bus three hours prior to the flight departure. So I instructed the guest to follow me and asked for a taxi voucher so the guest can make his flight. I was being efficient by not wasting time and courteous by providing an alternate option. These situations are called Guest Service Recovery. We perform this act based on the severity of the problem to the guest, leveled by the fault of the company. If we waste an extreme amount of time to fix magic bands or such, we add fast passes for Disney rides to their reservations (because these cost nothing but mean something to the guests) because although it’s a low severity, it’s high on the fault of the company. The Grand staff perform embodiment of kairos when they create the grand difference to their guests: “fieldworkers’ bodies are important research instrument and should— as much as possible— be treated well so that their sensitivity is not compromised” (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002). It’s important to understand that in the place, wearing a T-shirt and jeans when performing the Grand difference doesn’t mean as much as when the staff wears their petticoats and pastel green attire. That is what embodiment becomes: “If analyzing kairos entails an examination of the moment and space of speaking, phronesis is a self-reflexive measure of how the critical-rhetorical ethnographer develops and learns the practical wisdom of the organization.” (Hess, 2011)

Phronesis is the prudence or judgment of the argument. “As an ideal, Aristotle offered the notion of phronesis as ‘‘practical wisdom’’ to guide the exchange of words in stasis toward crisis; however, phronesis is not tantamount to an ultimate set of guidelines, a truth that guides rhetorical interplay” (Hess, 2011). In terms of Disney, it’s using the best judgement to contrast magical moments or act in emergency situations— a matter that relates to the most important key of all, “Safety”. One day, I was a closer with several colleagues and a small boy ran up to the concierge desk to say his father was having an allergic reaction and his throat was closing up. Sone of our supervisors quickly ran to him while two cast members called wither Disney security or 911. We were with him the whole time until the ambulance showed up. Safety is number one above all other keys.

We create the Grand difference. As a cast member, we are not just are entitled position but we are also all custodial. If there’s a leaf, cup, or glass littering anywhere in the lobby, we pick it up. Everyone’s responsible for keeping the home clean and it’s a part of the practical judgement that makes cast members perform this act. We also create magic for our guests by randomly sending maybe a box of chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne to the couple celebrating their 50th anniversary or properly placing some toys to a room for a child’s birthday or for unsuspecting children. Sometimes cast members at the Grand create small magic for guests in the lobby— providing flowers to little girls or giving away balloons secretly (an act I’ve seen and personally performed). We create the Grand difference by becoming skilled in this line of work and engaging in magical practices. Although we use our four keys to guide us, we have to include phronesis’s practical judgment to make decisions ourselves.

Throughout the past six months of the Disney College Program, I’ve journaled almost every training seminar and guest interaction. I’ve managed to study how Disney immerses the audience in this magical part of Central Florida where “dreams come true” and uncovered it’s argument. Through qualitative observation, I researched the argumentative nature of invention, kairos, and phronesis through guest interaction, the application of the four keys, and the Disney language. As Spradley states:

“Every social situation can be identified by three primary elements: a place, actors, and activities. In doing participant observation you will locate yourself in some place; you will watch actors of one sort or another and become involved with them; you will observe and participate in activities. These primary elements do not exhaust the social and cultural meaning of social situations, but they do serve as a springboard into understanding them” (Spradley, 1980).

Invention is seen through the hidden Mickeys and the character of the staff from personality straight down to the language they use— all of which is a part of the key of “Show”. Kairos is illustrated during guest service recovery with an emphasis on the “Courtesy” and “Efficiency” keys. It’s entailed through the design of the Grand and the process of embodiment of the staff whom fit the kairos by wearing a pastel green uniform. Phronesis upholds the key of “Safety” and becomes the practical judgement of the cast members. It’s implying that the staff of the Grand create the grand difference by making magic for guests or cleaning up the resort when trash is left. It’s being engaged in the role and upholding the values of the company as ones own.

The day I received my cast member name tag was the day our instructors discussed the true magic behind Disney: The place, the people, and the interaction. The Grand’s slogan for its cast members is “We Create the Grand Difference”. It’s very much like invention, kairos and phronesis. It’s safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency. It’s research that’s not measured based on data but rather one which can be observed through interaction, how cast members uphold the hierarchy of the 4-Keys, and presenting Disney magic via language. As it is, the real meaning of all cast members is: “We Create Happiness”.

References

Hess, A. (2011). Critical-Rhetorical Ethnography: Rethinking the Place and Process of Rhetoric. Communication Studies, 62(2), 127-152. doi:10.1080/10510974.2011.529750

Lindlof, T.R., & Taylor, B.C. (2002). Observing, learning, and reporting: A field of adventure. Qualitative communication research methods (2nd ed.) (pp. 132 – 169). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation (pp. 38 – 62). New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston.

Walt Disney World History. (2015, November 28). Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://www.wdwmagic.com/walt-disney-world-history.htm