Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World ® The Orlando Eye
“ The most rewarding was watching the expressions of excitement in our guests from the experiences we were able to deliver to them . Also , the knowledge that we were providing lifetime memories that they would always cherish .”
While working at Walt Disney World , Aguel wore many different hats , or should I say “ ears ”. He enjoyed all the roles he had at both Disney World and throughout all the Disney Destinations across the world . He went on to say , “ Out of every one , my favorite role was when I could personally see how my team ’ s efforts delivered the special brand of service that only we could deliver .”
After working at Disney for over two decades one would think the “ magic ” and allure would have rubbed off . Aguel told us the secret of keeping his magic alive every
22 ILHA day . “ It was always important to remember that no matter what , it ’ s delivering those magical memories to our guests that mattered the most .”
He went on to explain , “ To understand that best , we needed to get out into our Parks and Resorts and personally experience that through what we called “ Cross-U Experiences ”. It ’ s a term to describe how from time to time , especially on peak periods of business , we would sign up to work actual shifts in the parks in roles like fast food , greeting guests at the turnstiles , parking cars , etc . Seeing it through the eyes of our cast members made me appreciate what they did and how much our millions of guests appreciated it .” Aguel went on to say , “ In each case , there can almost be nothing else that helps you appreciate , as a Disney leader , how powerful the brand is than through the magic of the Disney characters . Being in costume as a character really made delivering that kind of experience very special .”
After many years at Disney , Aguel moved on to represent Orlando and the Central Florida destination as President and CEO of Visit Orlando . During this time , Aguel has had many successeses . Under Aguel ’ s leadership , Orlando , Florida has surpassed every other city in the nation including New York , Chicago and Los Angeles to become the most visited destination in the United States .
When asked to reflect on moments he was most proud of he said , “ There have been many in the three years that I ’ ve served in this role and I ’ m very proud to have moved on to represent my community . But I would have to mark 2014 as a special example , when Orlando reached a historic milestone , having exceeded the 60 million mark in total visitors for the first time of any destination .”
Earlier this year Florida Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida passed a huge milestone by being the first state to surpass 100 million out-of-state and international visitors with a record breaking 105 million visitors to Florida in 2015 . In fact , Orlando alone welcomed 62 million of those visitors in 2014 . It is certainly no coincidence that Aguel is at the helm of a record breaking year for Orlando and at this rate it looks like Governor Scott will be pleasantly surprised with many more to come .