Ever since Walt Disney opened the park in 1955, Disneyland has been known as “The Happiest Place on Earth.” So it’s fair to say the bar is set quite high for Disneyland’s president, Ed Grier.
“We don’t get to have a bad day,” Grier says. “Certainly we are not perfect, and we do make mistakes, but that is the approach we take. We don’t want to have a bad day. We want to have a great day every day for our guests. It’s important on that day, but it’s more important because we want them to keep coming back.”
As president of the Disneyland Resort, Grier is in charge of the operation of two theme parks, three hotels, and the Downtown Disney shopping, dining and entertainment district.
The historic Disneyland Park is the flagship of the resort, drawing nearly 15 million visitors annually. It’s the second-most-visited theme park in the world, behind only Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida. Disney’s California Adventure theme park — also a part of the resort — adds several million more visitors each year. Each one of those visitors expects his or her Disneyland experience to live up to Walt Disney’s promise.
Grier says the keys to providing that world-class service are gathering information, sticking to a plan and asking employees to contribute to the organization’s success.
With a work force of 20,000 employees spread throughout the 510-acre resort, that’s no easy task.
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