Working as a cast member in Walt Disney Magic Kingdom has made me aware of how they operate during emergency situations. At every orientation I have attended, facilitators always play a video about Disney’s evacuation plan in case of emergency which can be boring but as i tried to recall the four keys, safety always comes first versus courtesy, show and efficiency. I currently work as a quick service cast member at Magic Kingdom: Food and Beverage Stands East and I learned various emergency preparation during emergency situations. Julie, one of our leaders taught me the code ABC. This “Ä,B,C” plan has been taught to every cast members and is imprinted to our weekly “Tell-a-Cast” so they are aware of what to do during this situation. A is accelerated approach, B is for best route if normal routes out of the theme park are blocked and C is to seek cover during natural disasters.
As mentioned in Barbara Higgins’ article “The Storms of Summer,” the Walt Disney Company has developed hurricane plans with the following goals in mind; keep guest and employees safe, a plan for tie-down, ride-down and recovery. As an example, during heavy rains and thunderstorms, we have a code called “101” which means to close our outside quick service stands and go inside the nearest CDS or Cast Deployment System station for safety. It is a common occurrence in Florida that lightning strikes accompany a rainfall. So, for guest and employee safety, we follow the C plan which is to seek cover and in our guests safety they are instructed by fellow cast members especially custodians to go to the nearest shelter like an attraction, merchandise store or in-door restaurants. After the code “101,” we wait for the second code which is called “102” which is to be announced by either a coordinator or leaders and it means that the area is safe and get ready to open our previous stands and resume our assignments. Thankfully, I haven’t experienced a natural disaster like a tornado while working here in Florida but I am confident to perform the WDW emergency drill if such emergency arises.
I like that your leaders continually remind you of the ABC’s of safety and evacuations. I hope that all you need to worry about is thunderstorms. Try to discuss with your leaders who have been working with Disney for a while if they have had time in which they needed to take action for reasons other than thunder storms. It will be a good learning experience for you.