May 6, 2026
Given that we just got back from Disneyworld in March and I had Disney very much on the brain, this one felt perfectly timed.
Given that we just got back from Disneyworld in March and I had Disney very much on the brain, this one felt perfectly timed. Be Our Guest is the Disney Institute's breakdown of how Disney has built one of the most recognized customer service cultures in the world. Here are the five things that stuck with me most:
1. Know your guest. Disney calls it guestology. Before you design anything, you need to deeply understand what the people you serve actually want, not what you assume they want. They study it obsessively. It is worth asking: how well do we actually know our investors and tenants?
2. Set clear quality standards. Once you know what your guests want, you define what excellent looks like across every touchpoint. Safety, courtesy, the show, efficiency, in that order of priority. Everything else flows from having those standards agreed on and lived out.
3. Your people are cast members, not staff. Everyone at Disney is performing a role in a larger story. The attitude, the language, the training, it all reinforces that they are part of creating an experience, not just showing up for a shift. Culture is built through language and repetition.
4. Design the environment intentionally. Every physical detail at a Disney park is deliberate. Trash cans are placed exactly 30 steps apart because that is how far people walk before they start looking for one. The environment either supports or undermines the experience. This one made me think about everything from our rental units to our investor communications.
5. Exceed expectations, do not just meet them. Satisfying a guest is the floor, not the ceiling. The goal is to create moments they did not expect. That is what makes people come back and tell others. Easy to say, takes real intention to execute.
Easy listen if you are in the hospitality, real estate, or any business where experience matters. Which is all of us, really.