Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, and Pin Trading

The national motto of France is Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, and it's also quite possibly the motto of everyone in the service industry in Paris. If you've ever been to a restaurant or cafe in Paris, you'll know what I'm talking about. I think it's the "egalité" part - equality - that trips up the service industry. Americans in Paris blog about this, the "I'm not your slave" attitude where people in the service industry try to prove you're not better than they are by not bringing you anything until they're good and ready, and smoking cigarettes while standing next to your table. .

I was interested in service at DLP because the service culture is so very different. US Disneys have incredible service. The cast members are cheerful, engaging, smiling, and helpful. The Japanese, a service-driven culture, excels at it even more than the US. At Disneyland Paris, the American training in service has clearly not quite caught up with the cast members. Rob was unable to get change from a few cast members who were standing in front of a pile of change. "It's not possible," they insisted, deadpan. All THREE of the cast members, while standing in front of about 30 Euros in change. 

I had even more fun with this when trying to trade pins. Pin trading is a very prescribed interaction. 

"May I see your pins," I ask the cast member.
"Of course," they smile, and hold out their lanyards for examination.

Anaheim cast member displaying pins in perfect form. Note the smile.

At this point you may trade any two of your pins for any two of their pins. Disney produces thousands of different types of pins, some unique to the park, some only available through trading. People are really into this. Fully grown adults, with children, will walk around the park with three pounds of pins around their necks. There are pin-only web sites for discussion and learning, pin trading stations in the park, even pin trading conventions. At Disney Tokyo, pin trading was so remarkably successful that they had to shut it down, because it changed the entire experience of the park. Now you can only buy pins there. Next time you're at a park, pay attention to people with pins. It's a not-so-secret club, a different layer to the Disney experience.

These people are wearing at least $150 in pins on their chests.

My collection. Sometimes it makes me happy just take them out and look at them at home.

At about $7 per pin, this is also quite a lot of money in Disney's pocket. And this is where Disneyland Paris is different from the US. Disneyland Paris has struggled because of the lower per-guest expenditure compared to US parks. Getting a guest to shell out even more money is just not happening. It's clear that DLP is trying to encourage pin trading, by having more cast members wear lanyards.

The cast members, however, are French. Not only do they not understand pin trading, they don't like being "summoned" to show their pins. And when they do, it wasn't unusual for me to be faced with some kind of egalité-demanding action on their part.

"I want that pin," one cast member said, pointing to my treasured Cheshire Cat. 
"I like that one," I said. "I want to give you this one."
"I can choose," she insisted. "That's the way it works. You choose mine, I choose yours. It's fair that way."
"That's not how it works," I protested.
"Yes it is," she says. And then she pulls her co-worker over. "She chooses and I choose, right?" Two against one. I lose.

In the end she got my Cheshire Cat, because I was just so bemused and shocked at this kind of assertiveness. I got the distinct impression that she knew exactly what the rules were. She just didn't want to live by them.

This wasn't the only time I had pin trading turned on its head in Paris either. The French are not okay with being in different positions of power. Certainly there were many cast members who understood the rules, even if they couldn't figure out how to display a lanyard correctly. But the attitude is just different. It was clear that they were not out to make a magical day for me. They had a job to do - making cotton candy, ringing up purchases at a register - and it did not involve some American coming and choosing pins from their collection while they had no say at all in the interaction.

Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité