You may have heard that Disney World is offering a free day in '09 on your birthday, so that's where my wife and I headed Saturday. Off the EPCOT ('Every Person Comes Out Tired'). It was her birthday, so we pre-registered for a free admission for her.
I've always been impressed by the personal care offered by Bose and Nordstrom's, but without a doubt king Mickey is best. Disney sent my wife a personalized eGreeting Friday. Not only a nice thought, but also a gentle reminder that tomorrow was THE day to come and spend money. But with a free admission, we were not going to miss it.
We picked up the freebie at Will Call and my wife was given a large "It's My Birthday' button. She timidly put it on and off we went. All day long many, many Disney employees wished her a Happy Birthday by name. She enjoyed each one. And after dinner, our waiter (at the English Restaurant) brought my wife a birthday card personally signed by all the waiters and waitresses. She especially liked this Mickey surprise and still has the card. All in all, she had a great day!
One of the attractions we visited was Spaceship Earth, now co-sponsored by Siemen's. I was curious to changes following the departure of decades long co-sponsor ATT. Well, human communications is still the theme, but the exhibit has been about 80% different (and better).
At the beginning of the ride, you're instructed to look toward a camera. As flashes went off, I first thought they would try to sell us a picture at the end of the ride (frown). As the ride was ending, we were asked to answer a few short questions (via our own video terminal) about how 'tomorrow' would be different for us. Magically (a favorite Disney word), a short cartoon video appeared on our personal ride video screen. With our pictures (smile!) superimposed on stick figures, a short animated cartoon delighted us (watch here).
As we were leaving, a we passed a kioskand, entered our eMail address and the video was on its way to us to view again and again at home (and show family and friends).
Lesson reminder: in a world filled with gadgets, to keep a customer happy after the experience, do the unexpected and PERSONALIZE it.
