Emergency actions at WDW

Walt Disney once said: “You can design and create, build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality”. Walt always believed that the Cast Member from Disney are the dream makers so as part of that there must be a good communication. Most importantly everyone should be aware on what to do in case of any emergency either caused by Mother Nature or human so even in an emergency Cast Members would be able to deliver the Magic. The article “The Storm of Summer” by Barbara Higgins gives a great lived example of what actions are taken in case of any Mother Nature disaster and what those lived experiences have taught them how to prepare themselves better for future
Mother Nature disasters are not the only emergency situations that can occurs at Walt Disney World, also every cast member is trained to know what to do in any man made disasters. The first thing to know in our work location is to know where is located the emergency exits. Working merchandise in two locations, I have been trained to know where to exit in case of any emergency situation. Both of the location I work for has more than 2 exits. Depending where the threat is coming from, we should all evacuate as fast as we can and direct the guests to the most efficient exit. Also it is very important that you remain calmed and so your guests. If a guest ask us questions about anything impacting Disney property we must just say “Everything has been taken care of. You are safe with us.”
Compering my emergency trainings to the article “The Storm of Summer”. As it says on the Traditions book, “At Disney, we take safety very seriously. Safety means protecting every Guest and every Cast Member.” Similarly in the article “The Storm of Summer” on page 41, Higgins says in other words that even if we can not prevent the situation from happening, we should assess to mitigate with honesty the effect of the situation. Also keep your guests and employees away from harm’s way.
One more similarity from the article “The Storm of Summer” to my work location is that I work for merchandise and in both locations I work for have a big stock room. We sell a lot of different snacks from Chips to Donuts, from natural Orange juice to water and liquor. We try to have as much we can outside and in stock. In case of an emergency we would get a lot more delivered to make sure every guest can get what they need to keep in their rooms. As Higgins mention in the article on page 42, “The most important elements of our plans turned out to be… operating food service.” Even though we do not sell food but for example a good wine would keep a guest satisfied and relax and for the kids candy, ice-cream and toys during a storm.. Higgins says that during the France and jeanne, “we had to advised them to stock up on any items they might need during that time.” In a situation like that our leader would let us know if we have to tell the guests to get everything they need to keep in their rooms.
Last, as the Walt Disney Company is enormous, keeping such a large staff safe and satisfied is challenging. Surely almost nobody would like to work during a mother nature disaster. But as part of our commitment is to serve great customer service to the guests and even more needed in situations like that. Disney would never make Cast Members risk their life to go to work. If they believe Cast Members can go to work, it is because they should be out of harm’s way. Some situations are unpredictable like when according to Foxnews U.S. Octuber 26, 2016 a guest tried to carry a loaded gun to one of the Disney parks, Epcot. He was arrested and luckily nothing happened but in case something happen we just have to follow the emergency directions and leaders.

– Johandry (joe) Veras