What You See is What You Get
Episode 25: What You See is What You Get
Believe it or not, today’s podcast is inspired by the difference between Disney World and Darien Lake. How does their atmosphere and customer experience differ? Which one offers more bang for your buck? And how does this all tie into theatre?
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Episode Transcript
Welcome to TFP, the Theatrefolk podcast. I am Lindsay Price, resident playwright for Theatrefolk. Hello, I hope you’re well. Thanks for listening.
Today it’s all about what you see is what you get. But first, let’s do some THEATREFOLK NEWS: Wow. I think I’m, seeming very bouncy today. It’s bouncy day at Theatrefolk. So this week, I’m going to be at the Arkansas State Thespian Festival teaching three different playwriting workshops. All of which focus on the beginning stages of writing, that’s kind of my specialty, that’s what I like to teach, how do we get started? Sometimes, that is the toughest part of all and it’s the part that makes us think we can’t be writers, or artists, or creators of any kind because the start is so daunting. So I like to focus on that, the idea, where does inspiration come from, and if indeed inspiration exists at all, and how to make sure that particularly with play righting that your work has a defined characters and it define conflict. Time and time again, when I worked with writers and when writers say to me my idea fizzled out and I don’t know why. It’s quite often because I’ve not defined the conflict. I haven’t been to this festival in a number of years and it’s lovely to be going back, really lovely students. I’m looking forward to it.
Lastly, where oh where can you find this podcast? We post new episodes every Wednesday at theatrefolk.com and our Facebook page and Twitter. You can find us on the stitcher app, and you can subscribe to TFP on iTunes. All you have to do is search on the word Theatrefolk.
Episode Twenty-Five: What you see is what you get.
So, Craig and I like to spend time at Disney World. You may not know that, you may, I owned it, and I said it. Walt Disney World – that’s where we like to go. For those of you who have no interest in all things Mickey Mouse, that’s the one in Florida; Disney Land, California, Disney World – Florida. We don’t have children, we have been with children. Did you know there are a lot of things to do with children on Disney world? You know, I didn’t know that. Two adults running around, riding rides, people watching, sugary snacks, the whole shebang; we’ve been going to Disney World for over ten years now. First time, we got free one day tickets. I think it was in 1997 and we really were hooked.
It was a number of years after that before we were able to scrape together the dough for a real vacation. And I still remember the day, I was temping, I was sitting in a doctor’s office and it was… I remember very clearly the doctor because I have to do a lot of dicta, which means the guy speaks into a little tape recorder and then the secretary takes the tape recorder. Sorry, the administrative assistant takes the tape recorder and then types up what he said. Whatever doctor he was, he had to use words. The length of which I have never seen and was a mumbler and a fast-talker and you just play over and over again just going, what on earth is he saying? Anyway I’m the doctor’s office and then on the phone to Craig and I remember clearly, I said “You know, well, I think you better go book that trip”. I remember that day.
Disney means a lot to us. So I just outlined above, it was the place we went to for our very first vacation and it was a long time. When we were in a relationship before, we could afford anything close to a vacation. And actually afterwards, it was the place that made us put a savings plan in place so that we were always saving for a vacation. That has stood us in good stead even today. We’re currently saving for up an English vacation. I’m just going to stay at home and speak English. A trip to England and from that same savings plan that we set up for Disney is, we’re using for this one. And for a while, Florida had a ton of high school theatre conferences and we were able to combine Theatrefolk and Disney a fabulous combination. If I do say so myself, I think it’s one of my favorites. And because further to being our favorite vacation spot, the way that Theatrefolk has grown, we have been inspired many times from Disney. And I, myself as a playwright and an artist, I have been inspired personally many times by Disney which I’ll go into further in a moment.
So why Disney? And I can hear you. Oh I can hear, I can see you through the microphone, all the groans from all over cyber space. Why do we succumb to the corporate machine? Don’t I know that every ride empties out into a store, man? Don’t I know that it’s an evil empire? That it pays their employees crap wages? That they dumb down the experience of artists who work there? It is a travesty man, a travesty.
Yes, I realize all those things. I know all those things. I know that there are many elements of the place that are really not good. As an artist, I choose not to work there. As far as evil empire goes, well, I’d like you to show me an empire that isn’t evil. At its core, it’s in place. I mean, I do rise stand my house with the shits over my head. Or I go to a place that gives me a lot joy and a lot of pleasure and I focus on that. And as a costumer, yes I know every ride opens into a store. Guess what? I don’t buy anything. I have bought things but that’s because I like objects in my house that create memories. I don’t have a Goofy Santa Hat sitting in a drawer. I have a lovely simple Disney Christmas ornament which hangs in our office, which I’m actually looking at right now and it makes me smile. I have a couple of t-shirts which I do not plan this, but I’ve just realized I’m wearing one right now because I like to be reminded of a place that makes me happy. I like being happy. It’s a fun thing. I am not always a happy person and when I’m happy, I really like to hang on to it so…
And that’s why Disney. That’s why I go, why I choose to go and I will choose to go. It makes me happy to run around like a kid. It makes me happy to be silly, to have someone who also enjoys being silly, to see others being so happy and silly, I adore seeing a dad and his kid totally forgetting the real world and having a magical day. It makes me happy to have a place to go to that creates wonderful memories. Craig and I, we’ve never had a bad trip there, never. And even though, as an artist, I certainly might have a completely different view of the place as an employee. As an outsider, Disney has had a huge influence on my own work. It has inspired me over and over and over and over again. And that’s primarily for two reasons:
One: atmosphere. Two: observation. Atmosphere and observation, these are a few of my… Oh, I lost the tune right in the middle. I love them, I love atmosphere and I love observation. And a lot of my work has been derived from atmosphere and observation.
As a writer, observation is my number one tool for finding play ideas and there is really no better place to observe the world than at Disney World. My brain, sometimes, I can’t take it all in. It’s sensory overload. There’s so much to look at, the smells of the Main Street bakery, the way that the music changes from Adventure Land to Frontier Land and the people watching. Do not get me started. Okay, get me started. The vast variety of people who go to the world is astonishing. Ladies wearing completely inappropriate shoes for walking around all day, families who have done zero pre-planning and they’re just sort of lost in the middle of EPCOT not sure where to turn and where to eat dinner, grandparents strolling hand in hand, folks from other countries and you just get a whiff of a different language as you walk by, parents who are clearly fighting and arguing and they don’t want their kids to know. They just sit on opposite side of the moaner wheel, staring out of the window. It blows my mind. Sometimes, Craig and I will sit for an hour on a bench and watch the people go by, getting a sense of somebody’s life story just by how they walk, what they’re wearing, how they themselves are reacting to the sensory overload around them. I think in order to move forward, as an artist in any medium, all you have to do is hone those observation skills on a regular basis. Park on a bench and watch the world go by and as for atmosphere, no one does atmosphere better than Disney.
The place is themed to the hilt. Every corner, every crack in the road, every garbage can has something going on. My favorite general atmospheric touch is the way that lighting is used. In EPCOT around the world showcase, each country has a different type of lantern lining the lagoon edge. And I just love… It’s a little tiny detail. It’s on a ride. You can’t experience the lamppost. You can’t eat the lamppost. It’s not a show. You can’t watch the lamppost sing and dance. It’s just a tiny little thing that adds to the whole.
Rides are not really rides at Disney. They are, to me anyway; a lot of them, they are experiences. You don’t enter a turnstile and get on a coaster. Okay, sometimes you do. We’re not going to talk about Dinoland. You don’t want to hear me talk about Dinoland. For the most part when you enter a ride, you are entering another world, another scenario. You are entering into atmosphere. So let me set the scene. You walk up to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. You see the tower in a distance. You hear the echoing and the distant sound of screaming. That can’t be right; it must be your imagination. You walk up to the gates, the Hollywood Tower Hotel, a hotel that hasn’t been in operation for years because something happened there on Halloween, 1939. But pay no mind to the walls overgrown with ivy, the broken gates, and the condemned sign. Pay no mind to the bellhop with the creepy smile.
You enter those gates and instantly there is no Disney, there is no Florida. You can look behind you but if you want but then all you’ll see is the twisted path. There is a mist in the air, the haunting sound of 30s jazz music, trees bending over you creating a canopy and still that now not so distant screaming. You enter the hotel; walk right through the front door, why not? And it looks like it’s been frozen in time. Luggage stands by the front desk waiting to be taken away, waitin… waitin… I lost my G. Waiting to be taken away. A chess game is set out, a hat and gloves sits uncollected on a table and everything is covered with a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. But there’s a bellhop leading you towards the library, again with that creepy smile, into the service elevator to take you to your room.
And here is a detail in this ride that is no longer there and I don’t know why they took it away. It is… I love it but on the wall in-between, there are two elevators in this lobby. There was an enclosed letter board that laid-out the events in the hotel that day. As you walked by, if you craned your neck forward and look to the down to the bottom of the enclosure, you couldn’t see it unless you purposely went out of your way to see it. But there were letters on the bottom and they were spelled out U R Doomed. I miss fear. Love it. And this goes on. You go from the cobweb encrusted library to the cold damp basement to get to the service elevator and only then do you actually get on the ride with the seatbelts and everything.
And the ride, it’s a whole another story. But that my friends… That is atmosphere; that is known as creating a world. That is more than your little drop thrill ride which every theme park has, right? You get in a chair, you get thrown up in the air and you plunge down to the earth. This is a drop ride that has a whole world built around it.
And as a writer and a playwright, especially as a playwright, that is the job of the playwright. It is the job to create a world onstage. Sometimes, I have little to work with and I have to create the world in the minds of the audience. But it doesn’t matter if I have a Disney-sized budget or a pea-sized budget. It’s still my job to make up the world of the play in all its living vivid detail.
And seeing a fantastical, detailed, amazingly detailed world created around a simple… Okay, it’s really not that simple, the elevator leaves the shaft and the drop sequence is random and there are special effects but that’s another day; I’ll be here forever otherwise. To see another world associated with a theme park ride, I find that inspiring. It makes me want to make sure I put in as much effort into the world I create. To make sure that there is detail, that characters have specific journeys, to never let plot holes in my stories go by the way side. That is what Disney does for me. And it does it every single time for over ten years.
So there’s actually a real… There’s a real reason that I’m bringing all this up. I’m not taking the shill for the mouse or to get you to change your mind about it. Frankly if you don’t like it, oh good for you; I don’t care, I like it. You should have your opinions and you should stick by them and what you like is what you like, and if you have a stance against Disney, cool. Why not?
But last summer Craig and I, we went to Darien Lake. Darien Lake is a theme park. It’s less than an hour from our house. It was reasonably priced. We could stay on site and walk to the park. That was pretty cool. Darien Lake, according to their own press, is Western New York’s source for family fun and great memories worth repeating! Remember that, great memories worth repeating. That’s what I’ve been talking about for Disney, right? That’s what we have a Disney, that’s what I’ve set up here. For me Disney is a place that creates memories. I have a Christmas ornament hanging in my wall. Still, I look at and I get a memory. Disney is a place that we want to return to time and time again for years and years and years. We started going in 1997, here we are in 2013. We went twice in 2012, if we’re lucky, fingers-crossed, we’ll be going twice in 2013.
So we went to Darien Lake. On paper, Darien did look like fun; big coasters, some interesting in a dumb way shows, which Craig and I love. There’s a reason we watch reality shows. They interest in a dumb way, we revel in the dumbness, revel in the dumbness, I like that. And on paper, I guess we thought it have possibility being a mini-Disney, you know close to home. You get the seasons pass; you go a couple of times in the summer. It’s something fun for us to do. We went once. We will not go more than once. We did not create memories. Well, we didn’t create good memories.
When I look at these two theme parks, Disney, Dairen Lake is a case 100% of what you see is what you get. Disney cost more, you bet. But you’re getting an experience and you can clearly see that. I can, anyway. I see my value upfront, it’s in my face. Darien Lake and this is only my opinion, but it was kind of a dive. I didn’t see anything of value, anything of worth. The rides were not well maintained. I had more than one very rough ride that made me queasy.
Those are not good memories to have. The rides didn’t look nice, lots of visible tears in seat cushions, dirty, paint peeling. The staff was indifferent to the point of wondering if you left off your seatbelt on a coaster, would they notice or even care? Not one single person there cared about my experience. The attitude was everywhere. I attitude of indifference, from the rides to the shows, to the performers in the shows, to the nightly Laser Blast which I don’t think has been changed in twenty years. It was just the horrible, it was just lamed. It was so lame although when I was looking at their website, it looks like their laser show is getting an upgrade with cutting edge water technology, pyrotechnics and high value production. It could just change my whole opinion.
But I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s going to be spectacular because nothing was spectacular so why would things change now? And everything was done halfway, the atmosphere was none existence. And I know there are people who go there all the time, who enjoy it. But for me, I was just at a total loss because what I saw was what I’ve got. Not a single iota more and I just… We were like, “What memories are we creating? What great memories am I creating that makes me want to return? What am I doing here?” It’s been months when we last summer and I haven’t, until now, spent a single second thinking about the place. And yet when I raise my eyes from my set-up here where my microphone is and I can see my silly Disney ornament, I got a smile on my face.
And I guess it’s the difference in transaction, right? What is the different ways in a company…I think it’s the difference of transaction right? What is the difference in a way a company interacts with its customers? Are they welcoming customers? Are they providing an experience? Or are they holding a hand out, expecting customers to pay up with indifference and with no connection at all.
Yes as CSI, I can still hear you. I can hear you very loud. You’re very loud. Did you know that? Yes. You’re very loud, I can hear you.
Yes, Darien Lake doesn’t have the same money that Disney has. They can’t be Disney. Okay so let’s say they can’t spend money on ride atmosphere. Say they can’t create 1930s jazz era. But they can sure spend a day, half a day on staff training. They can make sure that when their staff looks at customers, they don’t make it look like hell as other people. And I know; I can still hear you. Disney is a company. Disney wants your money, my money, just as much as Darien Lake. Of course they do. That’s what being a business, right? They want to make money, they are a business. But again, they do it in a way that makes me feel like I’m getting my money’s worth, I’m having an experience with their product and I do have great memories worth repeating. That’s the difference, right? If you’re getting your money’s worth and you create a memory, that is key. What you see is what you get.
So as we wrap up here, holy crawly that’s a lot of talking. Alright, so let’s talk about you. Yes, you. Let’s talk about you and your product that you want to get into the hands of the people. You have customers. If you’re an artist…I like, I mean sometimes we like to not think that that it’s all for the love of the art but alright, that’s fine. That’s over here. If you want to though, make a living as an artist in whatever field you’re at, you have to have customers. That’s the way the transaction works.
So think about what you have, what your product is and how you want your customers to experience it. What do you want them to see? What do you want them to get from the transaction between your product and them? Do you simply want their money? Is that the extent of the transaction? Hey! And if it is, own it and see how you can make the most of it. But on the other hand, if you want to give someone an experience, if you want someone to have an experience, if you want someone to have a memory, someone to create a memory so that every time they use your product, they read your play, they wear your piece of jewellery, they see your dance, every time, it’s with good feeling then something’s got to happen. That’s on you. What are you going to do to make that memory? How are you, as an artist, going to interact with your customers? What do you show them and what do they get?
And that’s where we’re going to end. That’s it that’s all, take care my friends, take care.
Music credit: “Ave” by Alex (feat. Morusque) is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
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