Splash.
Splash.
What I learned about leadership by breaking Disney’s most popular ride.
Splash Mountain closed at the Walt Disney World Resort last week.
It was time. I’m excited to see what the Imagineers come up with to celebrate The Princess and the Frog, which has one of the best soundtracks of any Disney animated film …
Gonna take you down
We're gonna take you down
We're gonna take you all the way!
Going down the bayou
Going down the bayou
Going down the bayou
Taking you all the way!
All of the hullabaloo around Splash Mountain’s closing caused me to reflect on the time I worked there. Specifically, I recalled my first night in charge of Disney’s then most popular attraction. It would be the most unforgettable night of my operations career.
Quick backstory.
I started my Disney career as an attraction host. I sent guests to the Forest Moon of Endor at Star Tours. I robbed banks and hijacked vehicles at The Great Movie Ride. I worked with Sweetums, Waldof and Statler at Muppet*Vision 3D.
Then I was promoted to management. I oversaw custodial operations at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and ran DisneyQuest, an indoor interactive theme park (aka a big arcade with a few outdated interactive attractions and amazing chicken sandwiches) at Downtown Disney / Disney Springs.
Next stop: L&D. I designed and delivered instructor-led sessions on guest service for every line of business. Grab a copy of my book - The Modern Learning Ecosystem - for those stories. My L&D position was eventually eliminated during a layoff, and I was sent back to operations.
Howdy.
I was now a manager in the busiest corner of the busiest theme park in the world - Frontierland at The Magic Kingdom Park. Big Thunder Mountain, The Country Bear Jamboree, Tom Sawyer Island and, of course, Splash Mountain were my domain. Training for new cast members typically required 5 days per attraction. I covered the entire land in less than a week. I was THAT good. ;-)
I spent the next few days shadowing other managers. By that point in my career, I had 10 years of management experience and had worked 12 other theme park attractions. I knew the job, but I needed to get up to speed on the nuances of my new locations. And I had to do it fast, as the Easter holiday was approaching.
I came in on my days off that week and worked in costume alongside the cast. I knew how jarring the change in management was for everyone. Some of their favorite managers were let go during the layoff. This time gave me a chance to get to know everyone. It also showed them what kind of manager I was going to be before I took the reins for my first solo manager shift that Sunday.
6pm.
I went 10-8 as Splash 7 two weeks after I arrived in the area. I popped into the control room to see how things were going. I reviewed our staffing for the night. I checked in with my coordinator. Everything was running smoothly, and I was feeling confident about my first shift overseeing this very popular, very complicated attraction.
I always looked for fun and unique ways to engage my frontline teams. “Theme of the Day” was one example. I’d write a message on the break room board about something interesting happening that day or a particular area on which I wanted the team to focus. Since it was my first night at Splash and I was just getting to know everyone, I decided to adopt “HUH?” as today’s theme and wrote a message on the board in the break room.
This is JD’s first time covering Splash. All questions will receive ‘HUH?’ as a reply. JD
It was a silly way to make me appear accessible as the new manager. I didn’t want to come across like I knew everything (because I didn’t). So, I leaned into my learning curve in an attempt to score a few relationship points with the cast.
730pm.
Looks like Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear are causing some kind of commotion downstream ..
This announcement played automatically when the ride stopped to remind guests to remain seated in their vehicles. Typically, it was caused by a backup in the load station - people taking too long to get in and out of the logs. The stop was easily reset, and the ride would continue as normal.
This time, the ride didn’t continue as normal.
Modern thrill rides like roller coasters and log flumes use a series of sensors positioned along the ride path to track vehicle motion. The system knows where every vehicle is at any given time. It also knows how many vehicles are allowed to occupy various spaces along the ride path. If the system loses track of a vehicle, it automatically stops the ride and awaits further instructions.
This is what happened, but it still wasn’t a big deal. We just needed to reset the system and let it know where all of the logs were along the ride path. I’d only done this a few times, so I stood back as the team executed the process like clockwork. In less than 20 minutes, they had guests on their Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah way.
Five minutes later …
Looks like Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear are causing some kind of commotion downstream ..
Now guests on the ride were facing a second delay. An enjoyable 12-minute experience had ballooned into a grueling 40-minute escapade. I called for an in-show exit and sent the team out to retrieve our beleaguered guests. At 815pm, I called Splash Mountain 101 (out of service).
9pm.
Engineering assured me the problem was fixed. Splash Mountain was open for business … for five minutes …
Looks like Br’er Fox and Br’er Bear are causing some kind of commotion downstream ..
We had to do it all over again. Several guests had been on the ride before, exited when it closed, gotten back on when it reopened and were now exiting again. They demanded to speak with the manager. I put my coordinator in charge of the operation while I attended to the line of unhappy tourists at the exit for the next hour.
12am.
The park closed. We never got the attraction back up. I spent the rest of the night standing at the entrance, backing up my team as they spoke with unhappy guests who came to Florida specifically to ride this ride.
I felt defeated. It was my first night in charge, and I lost the park’s most popular attraction for 4+ hours. Plus, because the downtime was so long, I had to call my boss’ boss to explain what happened.
Hi … I’m the new guy … I broke your most popular ride … :-(
But then I walked into the break room.
Awesome job JD.
Way 2 go boss!
You’re awesome JD.
Super Man!!!
Those dry erase board messages are the most meaningful recognition I’ve ever received at work.
Takeaways.
Leadership is about trust, not title. That night accelerated the relationship building process in ways I could never have expected. The word about JD’s first night at Splash was out, and suddenly I was the go-to manager. People now trusted me because, when the sh*t hit the fan, I had trusted them.
Simplify decision-making through process. It was a unique night, but I didn’t have to make that many unique decisions. The processes for how to handle everything - even the most corner of cases - were defined and documented. I just had to point people in the right direction.
Put the right people in the right places. The smartest decision I made that night was getting out of people’s way. I stood back as the team executed processes they had done dozens of times before. Instead of inserting myself where I wasn’t needed because I was “in charge,” I put myself in the spot that made the most sense at that moment: dealing with upset guests.
Practice. Practice. Practice. Most of my team that night was from the college program. This meant they had only worked at the attraction for a few months. And yet they knew exactly how to handle every curveball the mountain threw their way. It all came down to training. They had practiced these scenarios over and over again during onboarding so they’d be ready for this special evening with JD.
That’s the story of the time I broke Splash Mountain.
One thing this week.
Virtual High Five. Send an unexpected note of appreciation to a coworker. Pick someone who isn’t on your immediate team (and therefore wouldn’t expect your praise). Send them a quick Slack message or drop a handwritten note expressing your appreciation for their hard work. Call out their unique capabilities and specific contributions they’ve made that have improved your workplace experience.
Set a reminder to send a virtual high five to a new person every week.
Coming up.
Pardon the Insight. We’re breaking down this year’s biggest employee experience trends on the next episode of In The Know. Jordan Ekers (VP - Product Marketing at Axonify) and I will discuss how topics like the economy, labor challenges, skills strategy, manager burnout and AI are impacting the workplace.
Join us on LinkedIn Live this Wednesday, February 1 at 1130am ET to find out what’s HYPE and what’s HAPPENING in 2023.
Next week, I’ll talk about that table at which everyone wants a seat.
Be well. JD.