Ever wonder how Walt Disney World flips the switch from a normal day to putting on world-class events?
The simple answer is practice, a service mentality, and elevating the importance of small details.
In our podcast, Flip the Switch, episode 03 – Running an Event the Disney Way, we explore this further with Kevin Weickel. Kevin is a former Disney Institute Engagement Manager, was the Executive Director of Disney’s PGA Golf Classic, and oversaw all of WDW’s 5 golf courses.
In the episode, Kevin speaks about the difference between running a golf course for the everyday golfer vs. running a PGA tournament.
Kevin treated each golf course hole as if it was its own interactive ride. Except it was a much different, because so much of the control was in the hands of the guest.
If you’ve ever played golf, there are few things as frustrating as hitting a bad golf shot, and that happens alot.
So Kevin constantly encouraged his team to think about this as the goal, for the golfer to say, “Hey even though I just hit the ball into the water, that was the most fun hole I’ve ever played.”
To Kevin and his team, it wasn’t just a round of golf. It was a human engaging in an experience.
When they hosted a PGA tournament, instead of 18 interactive rides, the mindset transformed into 18 stages for performance that the audience was watching.
For more insight into how Kevin led his team to host successful events at Disney, listen into the podcast here: Flip the Switch, Episode 003