24. Disney VIP Tours with BTS Goodies

I share the spotlight with my good friend Les today, who takes us behind-the-scenes of "the plaids" - aka VIP tour guides - at Walt Disney World. He shares his Disney origin story, what it takes to be in that elite role, and shares some celebrity hot goss. You'll never guess who he's still friends with today!

Download my free guide: 10 Tips for A Luxe Disney Vacation or connect with me on Instagram @michelevisitsmickey.

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This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher.

Transcript

Michele:

Hello, friends, and welcome back to another episode of let me adjust my ears. And I have been telling you since we first started that we were gonna do a very special episode on VIP tours at Walt Disney World. And since we only have a half hour, I can tell you right now, there will be more to come because we have such a special guest today. His name is Les and he was a VIP tour guide. So we are gonna get the inside behind the scenes scoop. And I am very excited that he is finally able to be here with us because after many years, over 20 years with Walt Disney World, Les has made a career change. He is using all that customer service knowledge and putting it to work in a different type of role. So without further ado, I'm gonna let Les tell us about his Disney origin story and how many years you worked there.

Les:

Hello, everyone. Well, thank you, Michele, for letting me be on your amazing podcast. I've always excited to talk about Disney because it was my passion and it was my life the past 24 years. I started off in 1999 at the Walt Disney World College Program. I was at the University of Hawaii in Manoa in Hawaii, Obviously, ahoy that I was a student there in my junior year and I saw a flyer that says, come work for Walt Disney World as a college student. So I thought it'd be a great way to go to Walt Disney World since I've never been before in my life. And from then on, I just interviewed, got the position. My first role was a merchandise host at the Emporium at the Magic Kingdom.

Les:

And I did my 1st spring role there for about 4 months, and then I loved it so much I stayed. And the rest is As I continued on and decided to move across the country to Florida, and I never thought I would be there for 24 years, But I did. And now, I decided to retire the pixie dust and go into another role working for a major airline, Which I brought the magic to the skies now and the company that I work for is synonymous with quality just like Disney, so it was such an easy transition as far as Being immersed in the great guest service

Michele:

culture. My god. That brings back memories except that I started with my college program in the fall of 1989. So, you know, your difference there. Yes. And I helped open the Disney MGM Studios theme park, which is where you Yes. Well yeah. Yeah.

Michele:

So tell us

Les:

about that. What oh, it's so funny. Yeah. It's it's wild. It's like coming Full circle in a way to you and me. Yeah. You and I because I've been with Disney MGM Studios after being at the Emporium at the Magic Kingdom. So when I came back As a college intern, professional intern, I started off at guest relations at Disney MGM Studios.

Les:

It was in about fall of 2000 And it was just in a great park to work at and I just love the show business aspect. And back in those days, they had filming because there used to be sound stages instead of who wants to be a millionaire play it or Toy Story Mania, which is what we know now as a sound stages. Did you know that that Toy Story Mania sound stage is where they used to film the Mickey Mouse Club with Britney Spears?

Michele:

I did. It was. I was in page on that

Les:

show. Oh, wow. Yes. That was my dream when I was little to be on that show

Michele:

where we're in the stage. And we used to see them out at Pleasure Island. Do you remember pleasure. I almost Yes. Were you there for the DI?

Les:

That was one of the hidden treasures, that that right? That college program Absolutely. I remember Thursday nights with no. So, Yeah. That's what how I bonded with a lot of my cast members, friends was going to Pleasure Island, which is like a party island With different clubs. So many memories.

Michele:

Right? Yes. So many memories. So just full transparency for all the listeners. Les Yeah. Had my absolute dream favorite role as guest relations, the studios slash VIP tour guide. And for whatever reason, this post on Facebook, it was someone else's thread always gets just a ton of comments that when I worked there, to be a certain size. And I did not get the job because I did not fit into the costume. Now Disney has since done away with those probably because they had to legally.

Michele:

So one of the reasons that Les and I met was because of my fandom of the role that you had. So tell everyone how we first met because I feel like I've known you forever and that really isn't the case.

Les:

Well, Michele, you're someone that we fall in love with instantly. So once I met you, I just felt like I'd known you forever. You have that conversation

Michele:

now. Same. I love you.

Les:

You draw productivity. Oh, thank you. I love you too. And that's why when you have your clients that you work with, I have no doubt that They fall in love with you the moment they speak to you on the phone or even in person. Because that's how we met was through my our mutual friend, Alan from Disney. I don't wanna mention any last names Yeah. In case. But He introduced us.

Les:

I went to his house and he told me, hey, there's this friend of mine that just loves Disney, wants to be in guest relations, and wants to be a VIP tour guide. And so I said, yeah, because I love my role and I've been with my role for 23 years. So I said, I'd love to share that. So I went to the house his house and I met you

Michele:

and And we were like instant Instagram buds, forever.

Les:

Yeah. Yeah. No. It's been, what, 3 years, I think, at

Michele:

least? Yeah.

Les:

Yeah. Yeah. But I just feel like I connected with you and I just kept in touch with you because you know how you meet people here and there and you're like, sure, we'll keep in touch or sure, I'll see you again and we both have to make efforts, but we both made an effort and we kept in touch and Oh. Yeah. So I think that was, you You know, you just come across

Michele:

people and

Les:

you're like

Michele:

still dream of retiring. Yeah. A guest relations at what is now called Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Les:

Yes. And I mean, you can be any age well, any age after 18 to work in guest relations and VIP Tours, which is a phenomenal role where I like to say that guest relations is the communication liaison between the guests and the parks, and that we Turn challenges into positive opportunities in our role because we are not just cast members wearing the iconic plaid. We are also not considered tour guides, so that's a lot of stereotype when you see the plaid person now. They're not tour guides. We used to be 1 department, but now we're separated into 2 different departments. So there's a guest relations cast member and there's a VIP tour guide cast member. So that's the costume that we all wear, but once you're in guest relations, then you're eligible to be a VIP tour guide. Actually, they open up the rule to Anyone to be a VIP tour guide as long as you meet the requirements of a minimum amount of service with the company and you have that company knowledge, and then, of course, you have to interview.

Les:

But you're right, Michele. Back in the day though, you had to be weighed, you had to be sized up, you had to fit that mold of what a guest relations cast member was. And it was more for female roles. It was like Walt Disney's assistant. You just see documentaries about Walt Disney and right? And you see His ambassadors or his guest relations cast members are females. So, it evolved over the years and they finally allowed males to be tour guides to a guest relations cast members. And then over the years after that, they decided that they wanted to be inclusive of everyone. So no matter what size you are, no matter who you are, In order to a culture, religion, as long as you have that Disney personality and that you are capable to handle guest situations, then you qualify to be a guest relations cast member or a VIP tour guide.

Michele:

Yes, huge strides in diversity at the Walt Disney World Company. And as a tour guide, did you ever give the Keys to the Kingdom tour or just VIP tours?

Les:

No, I did. Actually, no, I wanted the Keys to the Kingdom, but I never got that opportunity. I did do a tour called Backstage StageMagic. That was under the adventures by Disney umbrella or back then it was Disney Institute. Oh, cool. Yeah. So that

Michele:

allowed me to Love Disney Institute.

Les:

I'm a big fan of Disney Institute, which is a department that teaches companies and also individuals about the corporate structure of Disney and How the magic works to apply it to your business. But that's where Alan actually works at or worked

Michele:

at. Yeah.

Les:

Which is, sort of how I met him. But, yeah, I did Backstage Magic. It was like the longest tour that was offered. It was 8 hours and you had tours of the backstage of the laundry facilities In Walt Disney World, you go to the utilidor of the Magic Kingdom. You also get to see the costuming department of how they design the princess costumes or Mickey's wardrobe. And you also get to tour the horticulture department. So it was like 8 hours of pure magic and lots of secrets behind the scenes of Disney and I got to facilitate that tour for like the past 4 years before it ended because of COVID. But otherwise, that was a fun tour.

Les:

So yes, I did that and conducted VIP tours.

Michele:

And I know that technically, my listeners really wanna hear about the VIP backstage stuff. But I have to ask you because you also taught

Les:

traditions,

Michele:

which is a huge deal. Like, I don't think people realize what a big deal it is to be selected to teach traditions. So tell me just a little bit about the selection process for that role and what that is. I'm acting like everybody knows what traditions is.

Les:

Traditions is the 1st day of orientation. It's pretty much when they kinda immerse you into the Disney culture. One of the first

Michele:

things that best day of work ever.

Les:

It is. It is the 1st day of work.

Michele:

It's like It's amazing.

Les:

I bet a lot of Disney fans would pay money to be in this class.

Michele:

Oh, yes. Right? Yes. Yes. Because They should sell it. They should

Les:

absolutely follow it so much fun. Like a modified version of traditions because Yeah. It is so fun. To audition for this role, any person, any cast member can audition when they meet the requirements, but they have to go through the different stages of the interview process. And Back in my day, I'm not sure if it changed, but it was 5 stages. So the first stage was doing a group presentation. So you had to come up with a 3 minute spiel about A topic that they give you about Disney and then say it in front of the whole class. And then if you made it to that round, you go to the 2nd take.

Les:

And the 2nd take would be like in front of managers and leaders, They'll do a panel interview and then the 3rd one would be a video interview and the 4th would be another panel interview. So it was different stages and they would weed out the customers that weren't qualified and they went down from like, just making up numbers, but from 500 applicants down to like 30 or 40 in my day. So every year, they got to choose that and obviously it changed over the years, so Not sure what the criteria is now or what the stages are, but when you're in traditions, as soon as you enter this building called the Disney University, that's a 2 story building That's at Disney University, which is funny. That's where in college program do you remember, Michele? Did you get your master's or your doctorate degree?

Michele:

Did they? Yes. But we had, I got my doctorate, Doug Torret.

Les:

Duck Torret.

Michele:

Duck Torret. But we have our classes at Vista Way.

Les:

Oh, you did? Okay. Yeah.

Michele:

They had it. Yeah. Back. This is way back because now traditions is like one day, but we have 3 days of traditions.

Les:

That's right. That's what I heard. Every day would be like going to the Magic Kingdom for one day or doing this. Now they changed it to one day. And Since I've known it to be in 1999 when I first did my 1st tradition, there was one day only as well. But in traditions, you learn about their 2 finger point. Once you do that 2 finger point Right. You will never ever not do it again.

Les:

That's cruel. Right? And you also learned that there's only 1 Mickey Mouse in the world, and he Travels with his special magical sorcerer hat. And then you also learn about the Disney scoop is how you pick up rubbish from the ground and you do it in a magical way. And there's another thing where we learned that everyone who works at Walt Disney World is in the custodial world because everyone, no matter where you work at or no matter what you do, you pick up Trash if you find it on the ground. Obviously, you can use a scooper if you want or a a picker. So you learn all that in traditions also about the Walt Disney history, Walt Disney World, How we have our own language called Disney Ease. Right? Where Michele, what is instead of a customer, what do we call the customers?

Michele:

Everyone is a guest and that is Yes. Guest with a capital g.

Les:

It is always spelled I love it.

Michele:

Capital g u e s t.

Les:

Yep. On resumes, it's always a capital g. What do we call ourselves? We're not employees. What are we called ourselves?

Michele:

We are cast members because we are on stage. Because We're always on stage and on stage. It's always a show.

Les:

Yep. On stage isn't in times as a guest in front of you, even if you're backstage, if a guest is in front of you, You're on stage. So, yeah, all those lingos like uniform is not a uniform, it's a costume, and we audition for a role. We don't audition for a job interview. Another fun one is that, you know, you're not considered a senior citizen. You're young at heart. Yeah. We have all these great Yeah.

Les:

You forgot that one. It's a great term of endearment. Yeah. So we have all these terminologies and acronyms that are immersed in the culture, and that's what traditional Okay.

Michele:

So I have a question for you. When you visit the parks or really anytime you are yourself on vacation and a tourist, do you still stop and ask people, can you help take a picture?

Les:

Yes.

Michele:

Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. Even like

Les:

Even outside of Walt Disney World.

Michele:

Right. Uh-huh. A 100%. Uh-huh. That was my biggest takeaway from traditions.

Les:

Oh, yeah.

Michele:

Was that you always stop and ask, would you like to be in the picture?

Les:

Yes. I know. It's innate in you. Once they immerse you into the guest service role, Your level of services, your bar is set high. And sadly, you and I expect the same kind of treatment outside of Walt Disney World which sometimes we may not get. But we set the bar so high that if you ever apply to be a cast member, just be ready to learn, but to be immersed. Right? Yeah. To get that wonderful guest service.

Les:

I mean, even at the airport, I find myself right now in my current career, I even Stop. No matter where I walk in the airport, I don't tell them I can't answer your question. I say, let me find out for you or I will definitely give the courtesy that helping them out.

Michele:

My god. Of course.

Les:

Right?

Michele:

You can never say no. There is no no.

Les:

You can never say no.

Michele:

I think because Disney in Florida and in California. I don't know about the rest of the world, has had a hard time keeping staffing up. That that may be the one thing that has gone by the wayside is that sometimes now, I will hear no instead of

Les:

Yeah.

Michele:

Let me find out for you. But, yes, OGs, never say no.

Les:

You're right. You're right. So that's why when I left Disney, my friend and I compared it as It's it's like, were you to the original old school Disney way of doing things versus a new wave of way of doing I feel like the pandemic was a cutoff. I'm not sure why.

Michele:

Agree. I agree. It hasn't gotten back to standard.

Les:

Way. It was quite that.

Michele:

Yeah. Still great. I still love it. Represent. Every once in a while, you do roll across someone that you're like, not quite how I would have handled it when I was in that role.

Les:

Correct. 100%. Why it is my our duty, you and I, to try to instill it in other people, and I try to educate other people about it. And even the company I work for, I try to share with them what my Guest service skills would be if I did it this way.

Michele:

And you were doing a podcast about that too. So everyone should go listen to Les's episodes. Oh, thanks. What's the name of that?

Les:

It's called Les is More. Thank you for letting me shout out. L-E-S is More, The Art of Guest Service. Me and my husband, Gregory, are trying To, like, instill every episode about how to apply guest service to you as a person

Michele:

personally. And your business.

Les:

I have been recorded in 3 months because of the move. Yeah. Thank you. And I speak volumes about your podcast because I enjoy listen, you know, when I listen to your podcast the other day, I felt like when I was getting ready for work a hotel room. I just felt like you're in the room because we're just chatting. So it was very personalized.

Michele:

We are so the mutual admiration society. I mean, it's just

Les:

A 100%.

Michele:

And 100%. We're already almost out of time and we haven't even gotten to VIP No. Tour. So we are definitely gonna get you back. But Yeah. We've got 10 minutes. So let's do it. Yeah.

Michele:

So tell me, first of all, I mean, such a big deal to be a VIP tour guide. I know you made it sound like anybody can get that role, but we know that's not true. Because you have to talk for 7 hours, you have to manage guest expectations. You have to wait in line for them, go get treats, and sometimes even babysit toddlers during. So I wanna know what your absolute favorite part of being a VIP tour guide was and what Yeah. You wish guests knew about how to Yeah. Take best advantage of it.

Les:

First of all, we got 20 minutes if you allow me to.

Michele:

Oh, okay. Oh, even better.

Les:

Awesome. Oh, thank you. Well, being VIP tour guide is one of the best roles I've ever had because it gave me the opportunity to be on people's vacations and be an ambassador And representative to them. But the best part of that role is knowing that they told me that I was a huge part in making their vacation a success And that I made memories for them. And even to this day, I keep in touch with so many families I've had for the past 18 years and we still talk. We still keep in touch. Like there's this one family called the Turk family who've I've had since 2007 or 8, and I still talk to them. We FaceTime each other every so often.

Les:

I go to their place to visit them. I fly to their house in Canada. There's all these other families that I have a hand in that, Like the Como family where one of the sons who's now 20 something, but I met him when he was an infant and I carried him in his arms. And then there's the Rankin family where the 2 daughters are strollers and now They're adults now and we still have that same familiar hug that we had back when they were kids and we always talk about our Disney memories together. So knowing that I had a hand in their vacation and I'm part of their family now, and you know, as a Disney cast member and probably YouTube, we probably are in people's Picture albums and the frames and the YouTube videos in the background without us even knowing because we had play a part at Disney where you are part of their memory. And you're part of their memory and they'll take a photo of you with them and they'll remember that. I remember a boy in the family, I kinda made an impact on him on tour that his mom framed a picture of me and him and had it in his room. He brought my picture to show and tell with him.

Les:

Oh my gosh. My tour guide. I love it. Isn't that adorable?

Michele:

It is true, though. I mean, the VIP tour guide, sadly, you were not available to do my VIP tours ever. It's one of my great regrets that you were not my tour guide. But you did

Les:

recommend Yeah.

Michele:

An amazing tour guide who has Yeah. Tommy. Shout out Tommy.

Les:

Yeah. Who has become

Michele:

a friend. And I now recommend him to my

Les:

clients because

Michele:

he's just so amazing. So he's gotten to tour some of my clients around too and I adore him. And he's a foodie like me, so he's like always like, oh, well, you gotta try this restaurant or do this for breakfast and I love it. Recommendations.

Les:

Yeah. Yeah. He's awesome about it. I love you know what also the fun part is when you have your tour guide and you have your tour guide that you connect with and you had them for years, You can even ask them, who did you have on tour? Like that's always a Oh, yes. That's so busted. Whenever we need a VIP tour. Right?

Michele:

Of course, I wanted to ask you, but I wasn't sure if you would

Les:

No, no. Yeah. No. I mean, it's always fun because obviously I will never give you like the dirty dish on Certain celebrities, I'm kidding. But it's always fun to ask, who did you happen to work? That was a question that a lot of our guests would ask us. When they see a plaid, they think it's synonymous with being with Celebrity, which is not the case 80% of the time. Whenever you see a plaid walking in a park, you automatically think who's that celebrity with the plaid. Yeah.

Les:

In the

Michele:

Disney World Cup,

Les:

always. But 9 out of 10 times, it's normally just a family having fun with the tour guide. But you'll get once in a while that tour guide that has A tour with a celebrity and they're more obvious because we're trying to like corral the crowds away from them. When you asked if you see Tommy, ask him who he had because he had like oh, we

Michele:

know. He spilled some tea at all. So can't. I can't drop. Oh, absolutely. But you are still friends with a very special Disney VIP celebrity.

Les:

Oh, yeah. So Jodi Benson who's a Disney legend, the princess, We became so close that you never know on tour who you meet and who you meet, how you have a connection with. And after I left Disney, Jodi wanted to keep in touch with me and I fell in love with Jodi and her family. And we've been friends for years. I've been with Toriad for the past 7 years, I think. And when I were friends to the point where I just love her, she's a dear family now of Greg and I. And yeah. So you never know who you meet.

Les:

I mean, I have many great celebrities that I took around. I took Christina Aguilera around, Rihanna.

Michele:

I knew Christina

Les:

when she was on

Michele:

the MMC.

Les:

Yeah. Mickey Muslove. Yeah.

Michele:

Yep. Yep, former Musketeer.

Les:

I know her later on in his years, but she is phenomenal. All my celebrities I've had had nothing but good stirs about. And, You know, that's another book I could write about, but I don't think I should. Even though I don't think

Michele:

you don't work there now. I mean, if you work there, it is considered a fireable

Les:

offense to talk to. Yeah. But you know what? I mean, I could talk about the good things because I don't talk about bad things. But a really fun story about Christina Aguilera that I could talk to you about was because she was a former Disney cast member, right? Right. Musketeer. So I was walking with her on the parks with her and her Then fiance and her son and their nanny and their family. And so we're walking around Epcot, it looks like about 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock in the afternoon, it was hot. We're walking around by China, I remember, and she went up to me and she said, hey Les, is that allowed? And I'm like, what do you mean is it allowed? That guy, he's wearing a shirt that's very offensive and it had a word that was just like, it's not a really bad word, but it is a bad word.

Les:

Started with the letter b. So I said, no, well, hold on. And Christina goes, can you tell him to turn it inside out? So I paused her, put her on the side and I went up to the gentleman and like, hey, I'm so sorry, but this is a family park. We can't have you wear that shirt, you need to turn it inside out or change to another

Michele:

shirt. Nice.

Les:

And so when I went back to Christina, Christina was like, see, I was a former Disney cast member. Like, It was just funny because here you are, Christina.

Michele:

Never mind that those teens were highly disrespectful in many many ways. But they were teens. We'll we'll be

Les:

on that. Teens. Right? Yes. But then Christina was being the mom because she has 2 kids. Right? And she had Max back then and She looked into the view of a mother

Michele:

now, you know. So That's cute. Yeah. That's cute. Story.

Les:

Yeah. I have a lot of thousands of cute stories of Celebrities, like Rihanna was one of them. I love Rihanna. She was just so fun. She made me feel inclusive with her entourage of teams. You know, we were around the parks, she would always check up on us. So she was so sweet. You know, I know Tommy has a lot.

Les:

I'm a name Jack. He had like Jonas Brothers and he had like Mariah Carrie

Michele:

on top of it. Just gonna say he had Marie, Carrie. She has a special name for him. Was it teddy bear or bear? Cuddle. I can see. Cuddles. That's great. Cuddles.

Les:

Yeah. Because Ariana Grande apparently had a name for him, so Mariah Carey wanted to up her one. Oh, wow. So, yeah. Yeah.

Michele:

Cuddles. That's right, because then we all started calling him cuddles.

Les:

Because Ariana called him teddy bear, Like you're my teddy bear. And so Mariah goes, you're my cuddles.

Michele:

Yeah. Okay. So give us some ground rules also because we were an odd number, so Teddy like would ride with me. Yep. Every once in a while, he'd ride as the odd man out. But I see some tour guides who don't go on any of the attractions. So what's the 411 on deciding if you're gonna go with the group or not?

Les:

Here's the first secret. If I drop you off on an attraction and I say I have to make a phone call, that was my code word for I have to use the bathroom, so I'll let you all go on. So Alright. My guest caught on. My guest would say, who are you calling? You're calling so many people all day. I'm like, it's really cold for I have to use the bathroom. But anyway, it's really how you feel connected with the family. I'm not gonna say the tour guide doesn't go on the ride because they don't wanna be with the family.

Les:

It's because they're planning their next 5 steps. Like, when you drop you off at It's a Small World, It's either because I have to either use the bathroom or return a phone call about an upcoming reservation for dining that they have or Hey, Haunted Mansion is not working, but the family really wanted to go on it. So I'll drop you off at It's A Small World. I'm gonna check on the status of Unimension While you're in this small world, and if it doesn't work, I'm gonna go to the next attraction to see what's the next best one to do before while we're waiting for Haunted Mansion to go open. So we always, as a tour guide, we always think 2 to 3 steps ahead of our game. We always know that, hey, if it's gonna be raining today, Go to a test track first or go to any outdoor attraction first because you never know it's gonna shut down because of the weather, you know. Or if we know that The lines are gonna be so packed even for the lightning lane lines for birdies of the galaxy I'm saying or something. I'll be like, let's go there early in the morning first just so that we can get it out of the way or the back in the day was rise

Michele:

Resistance. I was gonna

Les:

say that. That first. Yeah. The electron rise first before anything can happen because, you know, our attractions are subject to availability and change because of technical difficulties. So If we see that Rise of the Resistance is open and I pick you up in the morning and we're gonna go to like 3 parks in one day, I'm gonna be like, well, give me your priority, Rise of the Resistance first? Let's go to Disney's Hollywood Studios first and let's get that first out of the way and then let's do things along the way at Disney's Hollywood Studios. But you know what? If they wanna really go to Epcot right after, then we'll bookmark Disney's Hollywood Studios after Rise of the Resistance. Go to Epcot, do their thing, then go back to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Another thing that we love to do as tour guides or I like to do is I maximize their time.

Les:

So if we know we're going to different parks and we know they wanna eat lunch, like quick service, I won't go to the parks to eat lunch. I would drive to Disney's Hollywood Studios. On our way to Disney's Animal Kingdom, I may stop at Disney Pop Century Resort or Disney's Art of Animation Resort Or even the McDonald's along the way, which I've done before because there's no crowds there. No one's there. So we just go there, jump out of the car,

Michele:

eat.

Les:

Nice. Yeah. So that way we're not In the crowds, we're not in the way. So quiet.

Michele:

You're in air conditioning.

Les:

Air conditioning. I remember when I had Michael Jackson's kids on tour And they didn't like crowds, I would take them to Disney's Pop Century Resort or Disney's Art of Animation Resort and we had the whole food court for ourselves because no one was there.

Michele:

I just love those food courts. I I will go there for dinner.

Les:

Yes. A 100%. They have good food there, so that's a treasure. I tell people this. If you're at Disney MGM Studios, they're holiday week. What time would you say it's crowded during the meal period for lunch? What time do you think?

Michele:

11 to 2.

Les:

Yeah. Right? If you go around that time, you're gonna be waiting at least an hour

Michele:

well, not only that, I tell my guests that as soon as they get into the park, they need to mobile order. Otherwise, it's 11, you're hungry, and your food's not gonna be able to be ready until

Les:

A 100%. But this is my another solution is when you're at Disney solid studios at 11 o'clock and you see it everywhere is full, hop on the skyline or go to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort or Disney's Riviera Resort. Go to their food court. Yes. You can order food from there, eat there, take a break from the parks.

Michele:

That's cool.

Les:

Yes. And then come back on Skyliner.

Michele:

See you.

Les:

Oh, thank you.

Michele:

So This is why you were a VIP tour guide because you know hacks so even I like it going on.

Les:

We learn from each other. Right? You probably had have a 1,000 hacks that I don't know about. But that's how I learn. I learn other people. You know, even like on a tour, I tie, merchandise bags on our double strollers because that helps To identify our stroller from the other strollers. So all these little tips and tricks that I Nice. Learn over the year.

Michele:

Yeah. So what is the number one, the number one tip that you would tell people, I mean, VIP tour is Yeah. A 100% worth the investment but Right. To get the most out of it. What is the number one thing that every family or friends or group, whatever to tell their tour guide when they meet their tour guide.

Les:

Well, first of all, not a pet peeve I shouldn't say, is when they come with a list. This is a list and we need to do everything on there because Then that is more pressure on the tour guide. So number 1, if you have a list, that's great, but prioritize it. Don't expect the tour guide to do every single thing that's on the list of a 100 that you have.

Michele:

Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

Les:

No. Right.

Michele:

Because there's a maximum of 10 hours. So

Les:

Yes. There's a maximum of 10 hours. So you wanna maximize as much as you can, but at the same time, Have a list, but the tour guide will ask you what are your top 10 priorities or top 20 for now, and then we'll go from there. And then if we can go to the rest, then that's great. But don't come in with Expectations that you're gonna do all of it because you're gonna be disappointed whether related or because of technical difficulties. You never know. But just come in with an open mind, Knowing that that tour guide is fully trained to accommodate you and to do at least 15 attractions with you. But yes, I would say that's The number 1 tip is just to come in with an open mind and to have fun, and let the tour guide take the lead.

Les:

Sometimes we have tours where the guest takes the lead, and I'm like, okay, then why are you hiring us? So that's the case. Yeah. Also, when you book a VIP tour guide, I would recommend either asking for a female or a male or someone that loves to ride rides versus someone that loves to tell stories. If you love Right. Disney history and stories, then say, I want a tour guide that knows Disney history. Right. Or I want

Michele:

someone By the way, for everyone listening, whenever I have a family who wants a tour. I asked those questions and then I go to Les and I say, so Les, which guides should I request? So that is why I've been so lucky with requesting the right guides. It's all because of Les. He's my secret weapon.

Les:

Thank you. Love the secrets out. But you know what? Michele, you're a 100% right. It's, I was gonna say also, if you know a past member that knows recommendations for tour guides, like Michele, if you use her service, You can ask her. She has inside knowledge of who the tour guides would be best fit for you. Because she has the answer

Michele:

to it. I will ask Les. So there we go. Yeah.

Les:

Yeah. So that's why there's another bonus of hiring Michele. My friend the other day asked me, he's a dear friend who's like my father to me. Asked me, hey. We're booking a trip for my family, my whole family, like 20 of us. And all these questions, I'm like, oh, well, I don't work for Disney anymore, and I don't know the insights. But my friend, Michele, she knows, and you're the 1st person that popped in my mind. I love you.

Les:

So I love you too. Yeah. I hope you don't mind if I did that,

Michele:

but I'm do not. And you sent me a text to give me the heads up.

Les:

Thank you. Yeah. I right. I did the proper protocol, but I trust you because I trust that you will take good care of them. Also judging by your work Ethics and over the years how you've handled your clients, I see that you take good care of your guests, and that's why I came to you.

Michele:

And that is why we love each other because I see that in you too. And even in your new role with the airlines, you're gonna be so successful there too just like you were at Disney. And our time is like coming to a fast and furious and so promise to come back.

Les:

Can I? Would you mind? I

Michele:

had 4 Oh my God. No.

Les:

My I feel there's feel there's more to explore.

Michele:

So much more to Yeah. To digress. We didn't get into any of the fabulous stories about Hollywood Studios and the handprints but you've told us

Les:

I have a lot

Michele:

of them. I know. So you have to come back because my listeners love the behind the beats and that's behind the scenes.

Les:

So Really? Yeah. I will definitely want to.

Michele:

Okay. Well, in the meantime, I love you and I'll see you soon.

Les:

I love you too

Les:

Yeah. I'll definitely see you soon. 

Michele:

And friends, thank you so much for another episode of Let Me Adjust My Ears.