Read and React 2
One of Disney’s major priorities is Safety. Whether its cast members or Guest, Disney is constantly updating their safety measures and emergency evacuations to ensure everyone’s safety. As mentioned in the Traditions Read and React, one of the mantras that they instill into our brains is “Safety Begins with Me.” In the beginning of every lesson and every training, our teachers and trainers made sure that we were aware of where the emergency exits, the fire extinguishers, and the AED’s were located. They also made sure that we knew what the emergency evacuations protocols were by teaching us about it as well as quizzing us to make sure we were completely trained in the subject. Because Disney wants to ensure that everyone feels safe, we also make sure to keep the magic alive even when there is an immediate threat. Trainers make sure that if a guest is in distress, we have to attend to their needs and calm them down. When dealing with such a large amount of people within one area, keeping everyone calm is vital to the success of any operation. As mentioned earlier, Safety begins with me; another mantra should be calmness and order begins with me. When anyone is in distress, they look for a disney name tag; therefore, if a guest finds that the person who they are need are not calm and collected, they automatically don’t feel safe. For this reason, trainers make sure that the first thing we do when there is an emergency is to take a breath and calm down. If a cast member is calm, the guest will feel safer and every other guest will feel the same way.
The “Storms of Summer” article talks the protocols set up for when hurricanes are scheduled to hit Walt Disney World. The protocols are set up into five different phases, five being the least threatening and one being the most. Phase five is the monitoring phase, the monitoring phase comes before the preparing stage begins. In this phase the company makes sure to get the contact information of all employees working in particular areas. Phase four is the research and planning phase, this is when the company prepares for the hurricane and prepares for the “possibility of a shutdown” meaning that they have the resources for having guests in their room for a long time. Phase three is when the team begins to prepares the emergency supplies as well as barricades and preparing overall for what’s to come. Phase two is when guest areas as well as employees are closed off any ride out crews are given their roles as well as rooms to stay in. Phase one is like a lockdown. Guests are told to stay indoors. This is when the hurricane winds go above forty miles an hour. Phase two and one are equally important because this is when the hurricane is hitting property and when it’s too dangerous for people to be outside. In these phases, making sure people are entertained, calm, and above all safe are vital in getting through the operation.
One of the biggest issues that we have to deal with in florida is Hurricane Season. With large amounts of rain, speeds reaching over 50 miles and hour, and trees flying around everywhere, Hurricanes pose a huge threat to the company. For this reason, hurricane ride out was created. Hurricane rideout is an initiative that allows for cast member to stay on property (usually resorts) for the duration of a hurricane. Cast members would help according to their roles. For examples, food and beverage would ensure that meal bags are made so that guests don’t have to get out of their rooms, recreation cast members will make sure that children are having fun and distracted from the crazy storm, and room keeping as well as janitorial cast members were in charge of making sure that doors were closed, windows remained clear and once the storm is over, that the guest areas are cleaned up. Teamwork above all is essential to the success of the operation. When everyone is working together and keeping the guest occupied, then everything run smoothly and everyone is safe and calm. I was able to speak to other cast members who had been at the Port Orleans French Quarters Resort during hurricane Irma, and they mostly talked about the importance of hot food. While they had prepared in advance for guests to have cold food in their rooms just in case the curfew was not lifted in a timely manner, guest were still annoyed with the inconveniences that came with the storm. French quarters had made bags with foods for guest to purchase and guest purchased about five or six bags at a time, when they realized the storm was not as prolonged as expected, they tried to return the unused bags, and then when they were told they couldn’t, they were outraged. The best thing that cast members could do at the time was to tell the guests that it was better to over prepare for a natural disaster than to underprepared.
From the “Storms of Summer” article, we can learn that there are so many ways to be prepared for events such as hurricanes or manmade disasters; however, there are always ways to improve. The best thing to do is to use the resources so that the operation runs as smoothly as possible. The last thing, and probably the most important thing is to always expect the worst. If you prepare for the worst, then if the worst happens you’re ready for it. If the worst happens and you’re not prepared then there are so many other problems that arise.
