It's a Team's Life

What time is the 3:00 O'clock Parade?

Have you heard of the Disney Institute? If not it is something worth researching and reading the blogs for a different mindset. This is a little history on why we built a hidden Mickey truck.

My first visit to Disneyland was when I was a small child. Riding the Tea Cups and Dumbo was the highlight of my day. From the very first time I visited Disneyland I was captivated not only by the rides but the atmosphere inside the park. It is hard to imagine that after the park closed at night over 600 workers clean the park, touch up paint, scrape gum off of sidewalks, trim the plants, all so the next days guests see a pristine Disneyland. Still to this day when I walk through the magical gates I am transported into another world.

As a child, the park, the characters, the rides, and the smells kept me wanting to go back. Over the years though my appreciation about Walt's life and his business approach to building Disneyland has kept me wanting to learn more about the man and about the magic.

There are many books on how Disneyland was built and how the illusion make the buildings look taller, that you really are in underground caves and in the jungle, or flying through space. Learning about how the illusions are created helps in our business.

Reading many of the blogs on the Disney Institute site is a great reminder we are in a customer oriented business and we provide a service. Our customers want us to pickup their goods on time, take care of their products, and deliver the freight on time and in good condition. Going the extra step to arrive at the customers site in a nice well-maintained truck, dressed as professionals, and then taking care of their freight as if it was the most important piece of freight we have ever hauled is all part of the service.

In our line of business, we often are in unusual situations that require thinking outside of the box to get the freight either on our truck or off of our truck. We carry the tools to get the job done and tell the customer, "yes we can and will handle your freight safely." If necessary, we will own any dilemma until the freight is delivered.

The Hidden Mickey's on our Freightliner Cascadia is a testimony to the hard work that is constantly going on behind the scenes to provide our customers with a magical experience. So magical might be a little overboard but with each load we strive to make our customers experience as good as it can be.

So what does this all have to do with what time does the 3 o'clock parade start?

When a customer or agent calls with what appears to be a simple or at times an irritating question before answering find out the root of the question. As people look at our truck, take pictures of our truck, or smile as they are looking for the hidden Mickeys, remember there is a lot more going on besides the fun of what is seen on the surface. The teaching and philosophy of Disney is something we work on everyday to achieve as it is all part of a total picture.

Here is an original quote from "What time is the 3 o'clock parade?"

As our Guests are often excited and distracted by the myriad of sights and sounds in our Theme Parks, we know that when they ask this question, more than likely, they want to know more than just the start time of the parade. So, Cast Members will ask some additional questions to uncover what it is that the Guest really wants to know...such as, "What time will the parade get to me?" "When should I start waiting to get a good viewing spot?" and "Where is the best place to stand?"

Here is a link to this thought provoking blog:
https://disneyinstitute.com/blog/2015/06/how-would-you-respond-if-asked-what-time-is-the-3-oclock-parade/355/

Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
[email protected]

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.