Digital Media Concepts/Bruce Laval

Bruce Laval, aka the Father of Guestology, was an industrial engineer who worked for Walt Disney Imagineering. During his time at the company, he held many high-ranking positions at various Disney Parks.

Education:

Bruce Laval graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Industrial Engineering in 1969. Two years later, he graduated again with a Masters in Business Administration. He began to work for the Walt Disney Company the same year he got his Masters.

Early computer simulations:

Bruce Laval was among the first people to use computer simulations to optimize systems. Within a few years of working at Disney, he discovered a false demand for a few rides thanks to their old Ticket Book system.

One of the Submarines from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea: Submarine Voyage, when it was still in operation

When Walt Disney World first opened, local visitors didn’t know which rides were best, but they did know about the ticket system, meaning that some rides, such as the Country Bear Jamboree or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage, had long waits simply because they were deemed ‘E’ Tickets, or the best of the best.

Laval, knowing that the ticket book system would continue to inflate the lines of some rides while diminishing interest in other rides, campaigned for its removal, and succeeded.

Job Positions:

Spaceship Earth, the Icon of Epcot

In 1973, Laval was promoted to the Manager of the Industrial Engineering department. In 1976, worked on Epcot’s development team, and when it opened in 1982, he was named General Manager of the park.

Once his work in Epcot concluded, Laval then oversaw the development of Disney-MGM Studios as Director of Project Development. In 1989, he was named Vice President of Disney-MGM Studios.

Laval’s responsibilities expanded to cover all Orlando parks in 1994, when he was named Executive Vice President of Theme Parks and Walt Disney World Operations.

FastPasses:

Bruce Laval’s most famous accomplishment is his invention of the Disney FASTPASS system, designed to reduce the amount of time people were waiting in theme parks by putting guests into a virtual queue.

The initial plan was to create a reservation system, like the one Disney uses now for their newer attractions, to completely remove wait times. Some flaws with this idea included that if people missed their reservation time, the ride would go empty, and that if the ride went down, either the guests who had reservations for the ride would be out of luck, or they would have to get in a line for when the ride did come back on, defeating the purpose. The concept was initially scrapped, until Laval came up with a solution.

Laval figured out how to fix the reservation system in 1997, while on vacation in Colorado. He took note of the queue to get up a skiing lift hill, where lift chairs could each hold four people, and there were two lines to get on the ski lift: a group line, which had priority and would get as many people on the lift as they had in their group, and a single rider line, which would fill in empty spaces when groups had two to three people on them. Inspired, Laval came up with the FASTPASS system, which took aspects from both the single rider line from the ski lift and the reservation system plans.

Retirement:

In 2001, approximately 30 years after he was first hired, Laval retired from his last position as Executive Vice President of Operations Planning and Development for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

He and his wife, Peggy Haire, have two children, Michael Laval and Missy McConnell.