We recently visited Disney for a week. Near the end of our trip our 6 year old daughter Brielle got very sick with a stomach ache. It cuminated in throwing up in the park near the Dumbo ride. Disney went into action. Immediately she was surrounded by a wall of Disney employees creating a feeling of privacy including an EMT with a stretcher. (Some of Mickey’s doctor friends!)

They tested her blood sugar level and found she was not running a temp. After seeing she was OK to go on, we were escorted to a nearby gift shop where they gave our family whatever drinks we wanted. Then our guest guide asked Brielle about her favorite princess. She then took us past the 40 minute wait line to the front to get a moment of time with Arielle, the Little Mermaid including a photo and autograph.

As we left the park, we stopped in a shop where another Disney employee noticed Brielle didn’t look like she was well. When he found out she had been sick he watched us to see what she liked in the store. Once he knew, he brought the $30 stuffed animal up to the counter and gave it to her at no charge. He said that they want everyone to have a good time and felt sorry that she was feeling sick…get well soon.

The following day Brielle was still not well enough to go to the park…but we had reservations for dinner at Cinderella’s castle. Not to be missed, we timed it right to gave her Tylenol, Pepto Bismal, etc…and were able to squeeze out a 3 hour window where she felt well enough to go, see all the princesses, and enjoy part of the evening.

We’re telling this story not to complain at all about our experience…but to celebrate the fact that Disney gets it. We talked to several “cast members” at Disney and heard no negative stories about working there.

So what lesson did we learn? We’re always going to have a sick kid when we’re at Disney. : ) Seriously, the Disney employees are empowered to make guest experiences great. How can you empower your employees to make smart decisions that make customers happy?