CM's who show the magic

[Nansafan]

12/26/02, we had arrived in the afternoon, headed to Epcot, our usual first stop. That night, MK was open until midnight so when Epcot was nearing closing time, we hightailed it to the MK. We love the JC at night so we decided to ride at about 11:30 or so. We were the only 6 on the boat. Lenora started the tour and after a few minutes, she realized we all could do the spiel as well as she. She offered us the opportunity to steer the boat. She then pointed out some hidden mickey's along the way. When we reached the dock, another family got on, we stayed for another ride and the other family got a chance to steer the boat too. When we returned home, I posted on this site and received information from a fellow board member about who to contact to write a recognition note. Two pages later, I sent off my letter extolling the great experience we had with Lenora. I really have to be treated terribly before I'll complain, but I ALWAYS will call/write/email etc. when I feel I've been treated well.

 

[Dizknee_Phreek]

these nice cm stories are so much more entertaining than the bad cm stories! i actually tried to start up a thread like this a while back, but something happened and it didn't get posted. anyway, there are 2 cms from my last trip that really stick out.
one being Scoop Sanderson, the pin trading guru on Main St. to make a long story short, i met him on Main St. and he invited my sister and i to his one-o-clock-pin-talk. we agreed and he offered his arm, which i took, and we walked arm-in-arm all the way down Main St. every now and then we'd stop and he'd introduce us to some of his cm friends. we ended up spending an hour and a half with him that day. he was incredibly sweet and funny, and he made that hour and a half a Disney Moment that i will NEVER forget! he's definately someone i'm going to look for every time i visit!
the other magical cm was Bob from the PotC giftshop. he totally enveloped himself in the pirate them and constantly used pirate lingo! "Ahoy there," he'd say, "and how might you be?" being a HUGE fan of pirates, i absolutely loved it! and i couldn't help but notice that his line seemed to be a little bit longer than the other registers.

 

[ajcrusher]

In December of 2000, my family took our 2nd trip to Disneyworld the week before Christmas. It was colder than we'd expected and one particular day, it didn't warm up as much as the weather man had predicted so we weren't quite prepared. We were walking through a store in Magic Kingdom and a CM who had just walked in as well commented on how cold we looked and handed over 2 hand warmer packets to my sons. She worked outside and had given us her own packs. They were much appreciated and I thought that was so sweet of her.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Here's Two that certainly need a raise.....

There's Aimee at the haunted mansion, a maid, someone who knows Show and being in character and how CMs 'should' be during the stretching room spiel. I think i can still feel that evil eye, 3 dats later.

And Jungle Cruise Skipper Katie, very original very funny. Improved my day yesterday.

 

[barnum42]

Security guards on the baggage checks at Animal Kingdom always seemed especially friendly.

There was a chap on the Animal Kingdom turnsitles who greeted everyone with a big smile and hello / hello princess as applicable.

The bloke at MK guest relations city hall who could not have been more pleasant - and the bloke from maintenace who was called out with a set of hex keys to sort out a sliding footrest on my mother's wheelchair. I'm sure there were much bigger projects requiring his attention, but he was happy to help.

The cheerful Yorkshire sounding bloke on the entrace booth to the Animal Kingdom parking lot.

The waiter in Norway who was wearing someone else's name tag.

The hyper Californian on the Pooh ride.

The ample lady in Columbia Harbour house who appeared from nowhere with a menu card for my Mother as the overhead ones were difficult to see from her wheelchair.

The assorted Mickey's Jammin Jungle Parade CMs who flirted with my camcorder.

The lady trying to hold back the sea - or rather keep walkways free in the run up to Spectomagic. She would raise her voice, shout to be heard but how she was able to not swing at the vast number of rude and ignorant guests is a mirracle. (She has the look of having been a school teacher in a past life)

The custodian outside Spaceship Earth who chatted whilst I was lining up a night time shot.

And so on......

I look forward to more of it starting on Friday :sohappy:

 

[Raven66]

We had a wonderful CM who brightened my daughter's day. She was wearing her lanyard and he came up and asked her if she wanted to trade any pins. So she picked out the one they give you for the package deal. He asked what one she wanted and she couldn't decide between Mickey and Minnie. So she finally said she wanted Minnie and he said, Well you can't have a Minnie without her Mickey and gave her both of them. His name was John. And he was just one of the great CM's we encountered. There was Linda at Chef Mickey's who got so excited when we asked if we could take her picture for our photo album and the CM at Splash Mountain whom we asked if we could sit up front because it was out daughter's first WDW trip and he did it.


We can't wait to see all of you again in May!!!:sohappy:

 

[bigfatdonna]

The first situation took place in Canada at Epcot. Alexis was working at the Beaver Tail Cart and began talking to my 5 year old son. They started talking about dancing and my son mentioned that he could "River Dance", (his version is absolutely histerical!). She came out of the cart, grabbed her friend, Lili working a pin cart next to her and they commenced to attempt a wholehearted, give-it-all-you've-got, Jerry Lewis-reminiscent "River Dance" in a row with my son in the middle. People actually stopped to watch and applauded at the end. They then gave my son a certificate to remember his "Magical Moment" that they each signed.

The second situation also took place in Epcot. It was in the handicapped viewing section for Illuminations (I had my mother with me on this trip). My son is quite the performer and HAM and started to dance to the pre-show music. The CM, John, in the area came over to my son and initiated a friendly dance-off. John would do an elaborate move, step back, and then my son would do his elaborate move. It was so cute! My son would stand to the side during John's turn with his hands on hips, rolling his eyes, and smiling as if to say "Is that all ya got?!" The crowd behind us went WILD with applause and laughter. Several even came over at the end of Illuminations to shake my son's hand.
CM's are truly a huge factor in the "MAGIC"!:sohappy:

 

[swimmom]

Originally posted by wdwprincess03
Hey all!! I'm a CM, and just to let you all know, getting recognition for making magic is an awesome thing. So if someone does truely "make magic" tell them, or give their name to guest services. It's always nice to know you made someones day, or even just made some magic.

I can honestly say that we have not had any horrible experiences with CM's and on our next trip I will be sure to write down names and let guest services know about our exceptional experiences!

 

[MagicMan17]

My experience has found many more CM's sharing the magic rather than just punching the clock. It's not only refreshing to see but almost expected now from our family. On our last trip, we left our home late the night before and drove all night (so our kids would sleep) to arrive at MGM by opening. We were all tired from the trip and it must have shown. A young lady outside of the Great Movie Ride made a point to say hello. Upon learning our story, she asked us to follow her. She took us through the back entrance of the G.M.R and right to the front of the line. She told the other CM's to take care of us, which they did. Whatever you CM's are paid, it's not enough for that kind of quality customer service!

 

[Lokheed]

You know who is a spectacular CM? Beth in Fantasyland. She also posts here on the board, btw.

My (autistic) son rides Snow White's Scary Adventure several times per week, it's his favorite thing in the whole world. When we found out that it was going to be closed for a month long rehab, we kinda panicked. But Beth was kind enough to go through the entire ride with her camera and take a ton of pictures for us. The word from management was that it was cool as long as the pictures were only taken from along the ride path. Just tonight she handed me back all of the image files, and the photos are spectacular -- much better than I could have gotten from going around on the ride.

So tomorrow I will be making a photo book for Ben so he has something to look at while the ride is down. It's going to be a long month, but it will be a little easier for us because Beth was so nice, and really went out of her way to help us out.

I see the park work its magic for my son every week, and it's CM's like Beth that really bring the magic to life.

 

[Nansafan]

I already posted but here is another story. We happened not to have FP for RnR this particular time. It was to be our last visit to MGM this trip. After waiting almost an hour, we were finally close to boarding. Just before getting in line to board the limos, my cousin said she couldn't wait anymore and had to use the rest room. She asked the nearest CM where the closest rest room was and how to get to it. She was directed out a door and told to come back the same way when she was done. She's 21 so she was fine going by herself. The rest of us boarded the limos and took our ride. As we were getting off the ride, she screams, "Amanda!" My neice looks up and says, "Hey there's Carol". The CM said that we all could join her and to go back the way she had originally come. It was really great of them to do that. She hadn't originally planned on riding but the CM's told her no problem. If this is standard practice, very cool and if it was special treatment for her, that was nice too.

 

[LoriMistress]

There are a few. One of them was at MGM. Jeff and I were waiting to get into the park. We were the first ones there and when they were about to open they noticed that we were newlyweds so they let us in to "open the parks." Another one is where we were trying to find good seats for Fantasmic and they let us sit at the very front middle row. We were in heaven. We had the entire bench to ourselves. Or CM giving us free desserts, little special gifts, etc. to make our trip special.

 

[Senderella]

Originally posted by wdwprincess03
Hey all!! I'm a CM, and just to let you all know, getting recognition for making magic is an awesome thing. So if someone does truely "make magic" tell them, or give their name to guest services. It's always nice to know you made someones day, or even just made some magic.

I'm curious. If someone gives a CM's name to gues services for doing a great job what happens? Do the CMs get some sort of "Hey someone reported you went the extra mile today. Good job!" at the end of the shift or something? How does that work? How do the CMs find out?

 

[HntdMansionFan]

One of the best CM's we have seen was Sarah at EPCOT. In 2001 we were buying the family photos that the CM's take for you at the entrance of each park. We had all of them except EPCOT's. It was @11:00 am on our last day, and there were no photgraphers to be found. We went to the camera center to ask when one would be available, since it was our last day. Sarah heard me ask the CM at the counter and said she would go out with us right then. She took our picture, and we followed her back in, where she downloaded the pics for us to see. We selected the one we wanted, and a half hour later it was waiting for us! Yay for Sarah!:sohappy:

 

[TwoTigersMom]

I have no idea about how WDW does it, but I work in a hospital and here's how we do it. If a staff member does anything that someone thinks they should be recognized for, they get a little form (sitting in clear holders everywhere around the hospital lol) and fill it out. It's called a Grid Award. It originally goes to HR, then the actually pass across the CEO's desk, then to our department manager and then posted on our locker so we know we were recognized. At the end of the year, if you have 5 or more Grids you get invited to a special dinner. I'm sure if my little hospital goes through this much trouble to let us know we're doing a good job, certainly WDW does. I hope.
We leave Sat am for WDW. So far every cast member I have spoke with has been absolutely wonderful! I even had a situation where they accidently charged my card for Cindy's B'fast and when I called to clear it up, the CM was great. She even reminded me to check my statemnt and make sure it came off.

 

[hoppypooh]

PS. Hoppypooh, did your husband ever find his wedding band?

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Sadly no. We never found it. But that lifeguard was just so darn nice!

You know... my husband still hasn't replaced that band either! I must admit it makes me feel weird/insecure!

Any wives out there whose husbands don't wear their wedding rings??

 

[Nansafan]

Hoppypooh - I've been married 19 yrs. My husband wore his wedding band for our honeymoon (Jamaica and WDW). Since then, he has put it on only a few times. I don't think if I asked him right now he would even know where it is. He hasn't worn it in at least 10 years. The band is just a thing. Marriage/love is getting up in the morning when it's 10 below 0, shoveling the snow off the steps and cleaning off and warming my car up before work. My parents were married 30 years and my dad never wore a ring. Him not replacing or wearing a ring is nothing. Him coming home everynight from work and spending the evening with you is what it's all about.

 

[tigger248]

the best cast member i encountered worked at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. Her name was Aunt Linda and she was serving the table next to us. She really got into the show and got me in "trouble" twice for elbows on the table and talking on the cell phone. It was really funny and I had fun, my family especially got a kick out of it. When we went back 2 months later she remembered me and we thought it was cool. But then a year later she still remembered me (my name and everything). So now everytime we go we eat at 50's Prime Time and we try to ask for Aunt Linda just to see if she's working

 

[TTA Traveller]

There's one CM I'll always remember, unfortunately I can't quite remember his name! I think it was Rob or Chris.

Anyhow, he was at the Haunted Mansion and I'm sure he noticed how my brother and I kept coming back to go on it. He'd hassle my brother so much; blocked his way while walking, stare at him constantly, follow him around. I thought it was a riot! The only words I heard him speak were, "I want a picture." So now I have a nice picture of my brother and the CM in front of the mansion. (I even saw him inside the mansion talking to another CM and pointing at my brother. They both laughed. :lol: )

 

[Senderella]

Originally posted by hoppypooh
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Sadly no. We never found it. But that lifeguard was just so darn nice!

You know... my husband still hasn't replaced that band either! I must admit it makes me feel weird/insecure!

Any wives out there whose husbands don't wear their wedding rings??

Mine doesnt. When we first got it, it was too big and he was working at a job where he couldn't wear it for safety reasons. He'd wear it when we went out though. Now, he's got a job where he CAN wear it but we cant find the darn thing.