Hey, Mouse Breath, Can I Sit Up Front?

That's probably not the best way to ask for a special favor at Disney. Cast members want to grant requests, within reason, but they're wired just like other people when it comes to the complex calculus of whether to say 'yes' or 'no' to a particular person at a particular time for a particular thing at a particular place.

Randy Pausch, the inspirational speaker who died of pancreatic cancer in 2008, wrote about the 'power of asking' in his book, The Last Lecture. Pausch was a former Disney Imagineer, and in his book he recounts the story of a trip to Disneyland with his father who wanted to sit up front in the monorail but didn't think the driver would let him do it.

My father was exactly the same. He expected not to get what he wanted and so he didn't even bother asking. Randy's father would never have sat with the monorail driver if Randy hadn't done the one thing he cites in his book that many people are reluctant to do: ask.

Ask nicely, of course, with plentiful pleases and thank yous, even if you're turned down.

I've gotten some amazing things at Disney because I asked for them. If I want to sit in the front of the boat on Splash Mountain, for example, I offer to wait until a seat becomes available. If I have a bad experience at a resort or at a restaurant, I ask what can be done to make it right: I don't ask for something specific but rather ask what the cast member thinks might be appropriate in the situation. You'd be surprised how often the cast member's notion of appropriate is far more than what I expected (or would have asked for).

Randy Pausch gave a lecture at Carnegie Mellon (where he taught computer science) shortly before he died. In the lecture, he covers the most important points of his book, and the video is readily available. Randy speaks of achieving your childhood dreams. It's worth your time.