The Disney Customer Experience Trick: It’s Not Our Fault, But It Is Our Problem

What can Disney teach us about customer experience? More than you might expect.

Rory Sutherland recently highlighted a brilliant example of how Disney handles an unhappy customer, and the lesson goes far beyond theme parks. It comes down to a simple principle that every customer-facing business should understand: something can be outside your control and still be your responsibility to solve.

The Problem With Long Queues

Disney understands that waiting in line is part of the customer experience, so they don't simply make customers stand around for two hours. The queue itself is designed to keep people entertained and immersed in the experience, with activities, themed environments and opportunities to spend money while they wait.

But there's another clever psychological element: if the estimated waiting time says two hours and you get on the ride after an hour and a half, the experience feels better because you've beaten the expectation.

The lesson is simple: customer experience isn't just about how long something takes. It's about how the customer experiences that time.

"It's Not Our Fault, But It Is Our Problem"

Here's where Disney's approach becomes really interesting.

Imagine a child reaches the end of a ride queue after waiting for an hour and a half, only to discover that they're slightly too short to legally go on the ride. Disney isn't responsible for the child's height. The minimum height requirement was clearly displayed at the beginning of the queue.

Technically, it's not Disney's fault.

But the customer is still disappointed, and that's Disney's problem.

This is the mindset that Rory Sutherland highlights: "It's not our fault, but it is our problem."

That distinction is incredibly powerful in customer experience. Being technically correct doesn't automatically mean you've provided a good customer experience.

Solve the Problem, Even When You Didn't Cause It

Disney doesn't simply tell the child, "Sorry, you should have checked the height requirement."

Instead, they acknowledge the situation and provide a solution. The child can return later, once they're tall enough, and receive a voucher that allows them to go straight to the front of the queue.

Suddenly, an experience that could have ended with frustration becomes something the customer remembers positively.

Disney didn't cause the problem. But they took responsibility for the experience.

That's what accountability looks like in customer service.

Put Yourself in the Customer's Shoes

It's surprisingly easy to come up with solutions like this when you look at your business from the customer's perspective.

The problem is that businesses are usually looking from the inside out. Owners and managers are dealing with operations, staffing, processes, costs, systems and a hundred other things every day. It's easy to become so focused on running the business that you forget what the customer actually experiences.

Try looking at your business from the outside in.

What happens when something goes wrong? What does the customer experience? And even when the problem isn't technically your fault, is there something you can do to make the situation better?

You might not be able to fix the original problem, but you can often fix the experience surrounding it.

Trust Is the Real Business Advantage

This is ultimately what great customer experience creates: trust.

When customers feel that a business genuinely tries to help them, even when it doesn't have to, they remember it. And that trust can be worth far more than the immediate transaction.

Sometimes, doing the right thing even means giving something away, refunding something or helping a customer without making money from the interaction. It might feel like you're losing money in the short term, but you're building a relationship that can bring customers back for years.

Businesses that consistently ignore customer experience eventually give their customers a reason to leave. Competitors don't always win because they're cheaper or better. Sometimes they simply make customers feel more valued.

That's the real lesson from Disney.

It doesn't have to be your fault for it to be your problem.

And if you make solving the customer's problem part of your responsibility, even when you didn't cause it, you can turn frustrating moments into some of the strongest opportunities to build trust and loyalty.

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