Disney created a theatrical vocabulary for Disneyland: guests not customers, cast members not employees, attractions not rides. The words we use to describe an experience shape how we perceive it.
Book: Disney's Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World
When Walt Disney toured existing amusement parks before building Disneyland, he found them disgusting. The employees called paying visitors "marks."
Disney wanted the opposite. He saw Disneyland as a "three-dimensional film" and refused to hire anyone with amusement park experience. Instead, he brought in Van Arsdale France to train employees from scratch around one goal: creating happiness.
The key tool was language, borrowed from the theater. Visitors became guests. Employees became cast members. The park was a show. Breaks were taken backstage. The parking lot was the outer lobby. And the word "ride" was banned. Disneyland offered attractions and adventures.
The words inside a company quietly define what people pay attention to. If people are called users, teams optimize usage. If they are called guests, teams may optimize experience and hospitality.
Similarly, when a janitor thinks of themselves as a cast member, they clean differently. When a visitor is treated as a guest, they behave differently.