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Would You Like Magic with That?: Working at Walt Disney World Guest Relations
What's ground zero at Walt Disney World? Guest Relations. It's where visitors go to cajole, connive, and most of all, complain. Guests cry. They lie. Some even collapse to the floor. For these unhappy campers, Annie Salisbury was the power behind the pixie dust. Her tell-all will shock and amaze. From her unhappy start as a DisneyQuest cast member, Annie worked her way through the theme parks to Guest Relations, and then Magic Kingdom tour guide. Along the way she made friends, she made enemies; she delighted some guests, disappointed others; she discovered the vast gulf behind the public face of Disney and the backstage cauldron of politics, jealousy, and betrayal. Annie's witty, incisive memoir is a fascinating tale of day-to-day interaction with the people behind the pixie dust, and the pushy public who want some of it, no matter WALT DISNEY WORLD GUEST WHERE PIXIE DUST TURNS TO ACID RAIN
- GenresNonfiction
180 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 4, 2016
20 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 1, 2021
4 stars for the funny customer stories and detailed behind-the-scenes insight. 2 stars for the author's ungrateful and complaining attitude towards a dream job, and making sure to include every time she thought she got jilted.
February 20, 2017
From BetweenDisney.com
I was a big fan of The Ride Delegate. So seeing a second Annie Salisbury memoir got me super interested. Her first book took us to places that the regular people like me cannot consider. And I hoped this second book focusing on her time as a Plaid in Guest Relations would provide more fun and unique stories.
Would You Like Magic with That?: Working at Walt Disney World Guest Relations by Annie Salisbury starts in a sad place. Salisbury begins this memoir with her first Disney casting, working DisneyQuest, a site she never wanted and attempted to escape. Surviving the College Program, Salisbury continued on and was able to briefly move over to the Great Movie Ride. From this position she was able to use the Disney casting system to get moved to Guest Relations at the Magic Kingdom. But instead of being posted as a Plaid, she instead was tasked as a Celebrate Greeter, spreading magic in the park for guests without actually being trained into Guest Relations or wearing the famous uniform. After bartering her way into actual training, Salisbury recounts stories that let her readers understand the roles and politics of Guest Relations, including the threat for many that this casting is temporary and something they could lose forever.
Salisbury helps illustrate several points. First, College Program members you get what you get. And Disney may lie to give you hope of other castings. But really, if one is dissatisfied with what Disney has chosen for them the only real escape option is to leave. Salisbury also does a nice job of explaining how non College Program cast members can switch positions at Walt Disney World and the extreme efforts and risks one may have to take to move into a desired role. And most of all, she provides clarify like all offices, Guest Relations has politics and maybe even people meaner than those you work with on a daily basis.
I have quoted Would You Like Magic with That? a few times. I am currently training staff who help resolve situations. And I have used the concept of "appropriate" and "obtainable", which Salisbury learned at Guest Relations as a good ruler for for strong problem resolutions. If something does not meet both of these conditions, in all of our customer relations we should review if it is the solution we select.
I liked Would You Like Magic with That? but still find The Ride Delegate to be my favorite of Salisbury's memoirs. But this time she did not have the chance to surprise me with the strength of her stories. But I can now proudly ride the Great Movie Ride knowing that Gangsters are jerks. And I now know just how bad a situation it takes to get Disney to consider free admission, there will probably be tears. Because sometimes has to ask Would You Like Magic with That? when circumstances make the day less magical for both cast and guests...even at Walt Disney World!
I was a big fan of The Ride Delegate. So seeing a second Annie Salisbury memoir got me super interested. Her first book took us to places that the regular people like me cannot consider. And I hoped this second book focusing on her time as a Plaid in Guest Relations would provide more fun and unique stories.
Would You Like Magic with That?: Working at Walt Disney World Guest Relations by Annie Salisbury starts in a sad place. Salisbury begins this memoir with her first Disney casting, working DisneyQuest, a site she never wanted and attempted to escape. Surviving the College Program, Salisbury continued on and was able to briefly move over to the Great Movie Ride. From this position she was able to use the Disney casting system to get moved to Guest Relations at the Magic Kingdom. But instead of being posted as a Plaid, she instead was tasked as a Celebrate Greeter, spreading magic in the park for guests without actually being trained into Guest Relations or wearing the famous uniform. After bartering her way into actual training, Salisbury recounts stories that let her readers understand the roles and politics of Guest Relations, including the threat for many that this casting is temporary and something they could lose forever.
Salisbury helps illustrate several points. First, College Program members you get what you get. And Disney may lie to give you hope of other castings. But really, if one is dissatisfied with what Disney has chosen for them the only real escape option is to leave. Salisbury also does a nice job of explaining how non College Program cast members can switch positions at Walt Disney World and the extreme efforts and risks one may have to take to move into a desired role. And most of all, she provides clarify like all offices, Guest Relations has politics and maybe even people meaner than those you work with on a daily basis.
I have quoted Would You Like Magic with That? a few times. I am currently training staff who help resolve situations. And I have used the concept of "appropriate" and "obtainable", which Salisbury learned at Guest Relations as a good ruler for for strong problem resolutions. If something does not meet both of these conditions, in all of our customer relations we should review if it is the solution we select.
I liked Would You Like Magic with That? but still find The Ride Delegate to be my favorite of Salisbury's memoirs. But this time she did not have the chance to surprise me with the strength of her stories. But I can now proudly ride the Great Movie Ride knowing that Gangsters are jerks. And I now know just how bad a situation it takes to get Disney to consider free admission, there will probably be tears. Because sometimes has to ask Would You Like Magic with That? when circumstances make the day less magical for both cast and guests...even at Walt Disney World!
October 28, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. Learned a lot of interesting, behind the scenes things about Disney. The only downside for me was that Annie seems to be a glass-half-empty kind of person. One of her assignments was to wander the Magic Kingdom and sprinkle pixie dust(buy families ice cream, buy toys for kids, hand out fastpasses.) Hard for me to believe she hated that job. I know all jobs have their good points and bad points. But that sounded pretty awesome to me!
October 8, 2017
Meh.....maybe because I watch a lot of UTUBE Disney vloggers, nothing in this book was new to me.
For someone who does not know much about Disney jobs and the inner workings, this may be a very interesting read. For me it was not.
For someone who does not know much about Disney jobs and the inner workings, this may be a very interesting read. For me it was not.
April 24, 2018
Just like her other book, this one is just as entertaining and just as interesting! I adore hearing her tales of things that happened in the park. For any fans of Walt Disney World, this is a must read.
June 8, 2019
A fun read. Many reviews said she hated working at Disney, but I didn't get that impression. I did think the book ended rather abruptly, but it was a fun read.
November 12, 2020
Hands down the best book about working at WDW.
September 2, 2023
Could not empathize with the narrator at all. She made some big assumptions about the reader (e.g. "you probably visited Disney half a dozen times"). Maybe I was just not the target audience.
September 18, 2016
A fun tour of the insider view as a Guest Relations Cast Member
The author shares many stories and anecdotes of her experiences at Walt Disney World as a Guest Relations CM. Her days and nights were filled with guest fun and challenges, as well as the regular employee stresses and politics experienced in many companies. She also provides an insider view of some backstage and tour highlights not available to the public.
All in all a pleasant read, and easy to pick up and read conveniently in segments.
The author shares many stories and anecdotes of her experiences at Walt Disney World as a Guest Relations CM. Her days and nights were filled with guest fun and challenges, as well as the regular employee stresses and politics experienced in many companies. She also provides an insider view of some backstage and tour highlights not available to the public.
All in all a pleasant read, and easy to pick up and read conveniently in segments.
June 1, 2016
Everyone thinking about doing the college program or just going to Walt Disney World should read this. It teaches you that once you get your cp job, they won't change the job. Also how not to be a jerk at the most magical place on Earth.
February 6, 2017
One of real Disney fans, it's an honest warts and all description of working for the Mouse. If you don't like Disney you won't like this. If you do like Disney you'll love this. Me? I'm a Disney fan.
July 30, 2017
Great memoir on being a cast member
As a former cast member myself, I loved reading Annie's hilarious retelling of her time with the mouse. She has an exceptional voice and is very entertaining and knowledgeable.
As a former cast member myself, I loved reading Annie's hilarious retelling of her time with the mouse. She has an exceptional voice and is very entertaining and knowledgeable.
April 11, 2016
A book on kindle.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews