Disney recently filed permits to improve the security screening area between the Contemporary Resort and the Magic Kingdom. This is an on-going project to fix the damage Disney did to its own show staging when it had to quickly place new security procedures in place.

With the rise of individual and ideology-driven terrorist attacks in 2015, Disney expanded its bag check regimen to include more vigorous bag checking and metal detectors. The result was terrible crowd congestion (see snap above) at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. This would not, for many organizations, seem like a problem. But the new screening system, for Disney, went directly against Walt Disney’s original Magic Kingdom design.

Unlike the Epcot and Studios theme parks, you cannot park directly in front of the Magic Kingdom. It can, on the worst days, take as much as 45 minutes to travel from your car into the Magic Kingdom. Guests parking in the main parking lot travel from car to tram to monorail or ferry before arriving at the turnstiles, train station and tunnel into Main Street, USA.

The long travel period functions as an emotional transition from the real world to the Walt’s fantasy world. By the time you arrive Main Street, USA, your mind has emotionally reset itself.

There was, unfortunately, nothing magical about the congested bag check at the front of the Magic Kingdom. After an intentional 20 minutes of careful transition away from reality, the bag check areas thrust you right back in and reduced the emotional appeal of entering the Train Station plaza.

Disney wisely realized that they had cheapened the experience and took action. The security check points have now been moved back to the real world. Guests now go through screening BEFORE they board the monorail. It’s not a perfect solution—the security still reminds people of the real world and no one likes being screened—but it adequately preserves the emotional transition from real world into Disney fantasy.

With this new permit filing, it is clear that the Mouse is continuing to invest money investing money most organizations wouldn’t spend so that its guests experience a magical, and Walt inspired, show.

Refining this process isn’t cheap. It required the building of new structures and the hiring of more security personnel. But the costs are worth it because it did the one thing that Walt Disney would have appreciated. While protecting his guests both physically and emotionally, it reestablishes the separation of reality from magic.

Three key points I take away from this information are:

1. Establishing a proper mood for your products and services is an important, but often overlooked, element in customer satisfaction.
2. Although needs and situations change in the real world, a company still has to stay true to what it promises customers and find ways to address those real-world issues without violating its core promise.
3. Money is well spent if it improves customer satisfaction, even when there is no direct tie in to profits. Although you cannot prove the investment is worth it, the cost will be recouped by guest spending elsewhere.

Disney certainly doesn’t seem to be hurting for profits. It makes magic that way too.