WHEN Andrew Bolstein started his internship at World Disney World in Florida in 1992 at the age of 19, he didn’t know that working for Disney would become his whole career.

He has since worked in operations at Disney Animal Kingdom in Orlando beginning in 1998 and led operations at Hong Kong Disney Resort, which opened in 2005. Now, after seven years of preparations, he will operate Shanghai Disneyland when it opens on June 16 in Pudong’s Chuansha Town.

“I feel more excitement than pressure now, being the first operational person to step on the land at the very beginning of the project,” Bolstein said.

Bolstein joined the Shanghai Disney Resort project in March 2009 and began working with the Imagineering team on the operational planning for the mainland’s first Disneyland. “A lot of what we have been planning is for a large volume of people, due to the high anticipation of local guests,” he said.

A large open space, for instance, has been designed in front of the theme park so that queues can form in an orderly manner during peak periods.

To get more experience on crowd management, Bolstein visited the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai about 20 times. “I think it was the largest scale event in Shanghai, and accelerated many industries in accord with the theme park industry,” he said.

Bolstein spent a lot of time in queues with other Expo visitors and walked inside various pavilions. He also talked with operators of the Expo bureau and invited some Expo officials to visit Disney parks around the world to share experiences.

Through the Expo, Bolstein learned that in China more structural queues work better than just chains or ropes that can be easily removed. Another Expo lesson is the importance of communicating the waiting time.

So when the Shanghai Disneyland opens, the theme park will have more structural queues than any other Disneyland.

Meanwhile, more guest service centers will be built across the theme park in Shanghai than in other Disney parks for visitors to talk with the cast members directly. They can plan the trips for the guests as well as introduce attractions. A mobile application will be available to inform visitors of waiting times at different rides.

Bolstein said his team designed different experiences for grandparents, parents and children because they anticipate multigenerational families to come. They also researched how Chinese consumers want to eat or shop for gifts.

Though a limited amount of tickets will be sold each day to make sure that the amount of people is manageable, the operational team still worked on emergency plans with the city’s public security, fire and other governmental authorities to maintain crowd management and order during peak periods, he added.

Bolstein has experience with crowd management. He served as a guest service manager of Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 1998 and managed the ticketing and crowds of visitors at the main entrance. When Hong Kong Disney opened in 2005, he was the head of the operations. “I never worked anywhere else. My entire career is with Disney,” he said.

“Crowd management is always a big challenge and we have learned from Hong Kong Disney that it is important to have more alternative space for guests, so we designed the Disneytown and Wishing Star Park,” he added.

“Moreover, the trial operation gives us confidence,” he said.

The resort launched a six-week test operation on May 7. A group of people got the chance to experience certain attractions at the theme park.

The trial operation is a key pre-opening step for all Disney parks and resorts around the world. “We start with small numbers and we work our way up to big numbers to get ready to welcome the first official guest,” he said.

Thousands of visitors, including Disney cast members, their families and other invited guests visited Disneyland last weekend. Others without tickets can visit the Disneytown and Wishing Star Park near the theme park.

People need to wait to take the popular rides, such as the world premiere of TRON Lightcycle Power Run, a roller coaster-style attraction on an indoor and outdoor track.

“It’s all about building the confidence of cast members,” said Bolstein. All the 10,000 cast members will take part in the operation to experience the visitors in the park. Their friends and families were also invited to simulate a busy day at the park, he said.

On May 1 weekend, when the Disneytown and the Wishing Star Park were opened to the public for the first time, Bolstein and his team stayed in the resort’s shopping, dining and entertainment district through the holiday to watch the visitor flow.

“We saw every age group walking around and taking in the environment, taking photos of every little detail of Disneytown,” he said.

Tens of thousands of local residents visited to the resort on May 1 and Bolstein’s team activated several access control plans.

The measures proved to be effective. The visitor flow was slowing down while people moved orderly and smoothly. “It gives me the confidence that we can manage the crowds quite well,” he said.

He said he would adapt the environment to meet demands. “If they really want to take a photo with these flowers in the rose garden, we just create a path.”

In the next step, Bolstein said his top goal is to successfully open the resort. After that, he hopes to be able to ensure the successful operations of the resort.

Bolstein said his wife and two young daughters motivate him. He took his daughters to the trial operation last weekend to be among the first group of visitors.

“After all these years of ‘Where is daddy? He is working late,’ I want my kids to understand Disney and know how special this place will be,” he said.

Bolstein’s wife serves as the Citizenship and Community Relations manager at the resort. They met at the Hong Kong Disneyland 11 years ago and got married two months before the opening of the Hong Kong Disneyland.

“Maybe we are the ‘authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese,’” said Bolstein, quoting the major goal for the whole Shanghai Disney team to create the Shanghai Disney Resort.