I’ve been on vacation with the family for the past week, and the Disney Magic amazes me. Since we arrived on the property, Disney has gone out of its way to make us feel special. From the “First-time Visitor” buttons to the cast members calling my kids “princes” or “princesses,” Disney cares about our experience.
In that same vein, I often hear couples talk about how they’ve “lost the magic” in their marriage. Somewhere along the way the romance has fizzled, and the magic has moved to the mundane. I don’t think this is intentional for most couples, but the struggles of life become the focus of the marriage and the magic is left as an afterthought.
What can we learn from Disney on how to keep the magic in our marriages?
1. Make the customer number one. Disney knows who its target audience is, it cares about its target audience. The entire experience is designed for this audience. Disney wakes up in the morning thinking about how it can serve young families. I wonder how our marriages would change if we woke up thinking about how we could serve our spouses?
2. Make life easier for the person your target audience cares most about. Disney does a lot for the kids. It has things like special play areas, secret adventures, and kids’ clubs. If you want some extra magic in your marriage, then be sure to find out what your spouse cares about and serve that area too. One example is babysitting. Don’t plan a night out without finding someone to take care of kids. If your spouse is stressed by the details then the magic will be lost before it has a chance to begin.
3. There is no such thing as magic, there is just hard work. I’ve talked to several of the Disney cast members and they all say the same thing: the magic is in the attention to details. The magic is created when they take all the special details and wrap them up together. There is no special formula; Disney simply prepares for everything. If you want magic in your marriage, then prepare for everything, leave nothing to chance, and pay attention to the details. Don’t just buy her flowers- buy her favorite flowers. Don’t just buy him tickets to the game- get the tickets he has never had before.
So often in our marriages we leave things like romance, dating, and magic to chance. Walt Disney World wouldn’t be the place it is today if it were as haphazard about the magic as most of us are about our marriages.
Intentional thought + hard work + attention to detail = Magic
What can you do to create magic in your marriage?
Where can you serve your spouse as the number one customer?
What details can you incorporate into your next night out?