Customer Service area?

[DYoung]

I'm sorry if this topic has come up in the past, so if the Mods feel that they have to move it so be it. Disney fans, I had an UNMAGICAL night tonight. Please let me explain-

I along with two to four of my friends have done the Mickey's Not-So-Scary for the past 5 years. We'll go once to twice during the event openings. We have authentic Star Wars costumes, in fact, we march in the Star Wars Weekends parades held during the summer.

We like to wear our costumes as much as possible, whether it be at a Children's Hospital, and fund raiser or event. So getting to wear them in Disney is even more special.

During these past five years, we've been told by Area Managers, "Guys, you can't wear your helmets. You're too close to the cast members." We've also heard, "Guys you look too much like th ereal thing, so you can't wear your helmets".

So that you all know, we FOLLOW the RULES to the letter-

1. No signing autographs
2. No taking pictures near characters
3. If you take any pictures with the guests, it a quick couple of pictures and you move on.

Last year we had to go to th eTown Hall, and speak with the Park Manager, to see what we can do to wear our helmets. Mind you, we travel at least an hour to and from, pay for our tickets like everyone else, and obey what the Mouse has told us. We explained to the PM what was going on, he said that he apologized that we had to walk all the way to the front, and that our night wasn't what we had hoped to be, so he refunded our tickets and asked for us to stay the rest of the night as his guests!!! I wasn't expecting that at all. I was floored by the great customer service. Well, that all ended tonight.

Last week, when we entered the park, we let Guest Services know that we were in the park, and that they wanted to make sure that we can see out of our helmets. We passed and we had a great time! Tonight again, is where I'm considering NEVER spending any more hard earned money on Disney.

Tonight we arrive in the park around 7:10pm. The event starts at 7:00pm sharp. Beforw we walked through the gates Security checked us out, our helmets and sent us on our way. We took a few steps, and Bill, the head of Security wanted to do one last inspection. He looked through my helmet and my friends helmet and said, "You guys are good to go! Have a great night, and you have the BEST costumes!" We said our "Thanks" and wnet inside, passing several Area Managers.

We were going to report in at the Town Hall, only to see that there was a line from the inside lobby, down the steps and into the street! We didn't want to even bother those that were behind the counter as we were sure those were guests who must have had a lousy time, or something happened where they felt they needed to be heard. We decided to pass, and go straight to Tomorrowland so we can get some food before the first parade started.

We wore our full costumes all the way there, and even into the restaurant with NO PROBLEMS, again passing a few Area Managers. We finished our meals, and proceeded to go outside. There a family of six were waiting outside before going into the restaurant. We took two, that's two pictures with the Dad, and before we could procced to the people mover, and Area Manager named Russ, said that we can't wear our helmets!

My first thought was, "Great. Here we go again." After explaining to Russ, that this has happened before and that as long as we obeyed the rules, we could wear our helmets. We even went over the rules with him, and he said, "You're right. But I have to get it approved with teh Park Manager before I let you leave." Well, 8 minutes later he said that he can't allow us to wear our helmets because, Tye the Park Manager said that he won't allow us.

Now folks, we could have said, "Okay", and moved on only to wear them anyways, but we decided that we needed to see Tye, speak to him, and ask him to please let us enjoy the park like we have done through these years.

This is where the Disney, "Have a Magical Day" wheels fell off. We spoke to someone behind the counter of our situation. He said that he couldn't make that decision so decided to get someone who could. Fair enough.

We spoke to a guy named Brandon, from Atlanta GA, as his name tag indicated, and he said that the reason why we were asked not to wear our helmets is because of the limited vision. We explained that security chec ked it twice, and that the head of security even checked them and passed us through. Brandon said, "Fair enough", and let us go. Well, just as we were about to leave, Tye the Park Manager comes out from the back office, and abruptly says, "You can't wear your helmets in teh park anymore." Once again we explained our situation, and even stated that last year the Park Manager let us stay etc.

Well Tye didn't want to hear any of it. He suggested that we leave our helmets with him, and that we can pick them up when we leave! Now folks, I live an 1 hour and 15 minutes away. It's another hour and 15 back. I paid 62.84 to spend 5 hours in the park, and have done everything that has been asked of me. Why would I pay and drive only to wear half of my costume?

Tye brought out a "rules" sheet and one of them said that no costume shall block any eyes or eye sight. I asked him, "Who in their right mind would wear a costume, at night, where they CAN'T SEE?! "He said, "I'm not talking about them, I'm talking about you!"

I looked at my friend, an dlooked at him as if to say, "I can't believe he just said that to me, in that tome of voice". I asked Tye, "If the helmets are not allowed, then why where we able to wear them two weeks ago, AND security just tonight checked them TWICE, and still said that they were "Okay"?

Tye then said well that might have been, but I'm not going to let you wear these in the park tonight. Before I go any further, just where is the customer service here? I spoke down to us, and acted as if we broke a mjor rule or law within the park!

We asked for our refund then since it was 8:20pm and at first he wasn;t going to give us one! When I had asked for his Manager, he quickly refunded the money. Now while we waited, two kids dressed in Star Wars costumes walked up to us and were in awe of what they were seeing. They asked us questions, and one wanted to know if we were going to be around, because he pointed to my friend, and said, "You're my hero!" If Tye had seen or heard that maybe things would be different tonight.

Here's the icing on the cake- He said, "Here are your refunds, and now I'm going to ESCORT YOU OUT OF THE PARK!" WHAT?! Escort?! Can you believe that idiot, and I'm being nice here actually ESCORTED us out of the park with two security men, while people were watching us leave. I was EMBARRASSED, and HUMILATED!!!!

I couldn't believe Tye's audacity tonight! Whom was he trying to impress? Why would he do this? If Walt Disney were still alive today, he would be SEVERELY ASHAMED of what happened tonight. Her eI am a grown man of, soon to be 36 years, oh by the way, tonight was a birthday present from my wife. Nice huh? Anyway, I was almost in tears because of the frustration of it all. I've been going to Disney since I was years old! This is the first time that I didn't do anything wrong, and I was booted out of Disney World!!!

Here it is 12:11am and I can't sleep because now humiliation and depression has turned to anger. I plan on writing a letter to the Corporate office, and ask that I am contacted either by phone or letter, as to what if any trianing or recourse that I believe Tye is in dire need of. I'm not asking that he be terminated. I'm asking that someone needs to remind him, that in a place where "Dreams come true", and where everyone there want's you to have a "Magical Day", that tonight those words and beliefs weren't lived up to, and were in fact so hurtful, that I'm seriously thinking about not spending another cent on any Disney merchandise or on Disney Entertainment as a whole.

What gets me thinking, is that if he was that demeaning to me, how many guests has he treated the same way?

 

[Scooter]

I was once pulled over by a policeman who was in a good mood.
He gave me a warning and then sent me on my way.
The next time I was pulled over it was a differant police officer who wasn't in such a good mood.
I got a speeding ticket.

Some days you eat the bear.
Some days the bear eats you.

Get a differant costume, one without a helmet, or you will face this conundrum on every trip.

 

[Monty]

I'm afraid I can't give much sympathy. Each manager has the right to interpret the rules as he/she sees fit. If you request a refund and expect to be permitted to stay in the park I can't support you either. Lots of people enjoy the parties without wearing a costume at all.

I'm truly sorry you didn't have the magical experience you expected, but I'll repeat the previous suggestion: If there have been issues with whether or not your costume meets the rules, the better approach is to make or acquire costumes that aren't borderline. :shrug:

 

[marni1971]

I believe one of the rules is a guests face must not be oscured or hidden beyond makeup or hairstyle. If that`s a rule then it can be enforced. It just depends on who decides to enfore it. Tye sounds like his guest interaction technique needs a lot of work but he is within his power to enforce the rules.

 

[heartodisney]

Too many chiefs and not enough indians...guess it is true..who wants to enforce the rules..sorry you guys had that experience.

 

[javs4evas1298]

If you have been told in previous years that you could not wear your helmets then why do you keep wearing them? Obviously if it has happened previously then it is going to happen again. The first time you were given a little trouble about wearing them then you should have just taken then off and enjoyed the rest of your night. I believe it is your own fault for not having a "magical experience" because you knew what you were getting into before you even walked into the park. Your comments about driving and hour and 15 minutes and then paying park admission means nothing. Just because someone pays to enter the park does not mean they are free to do as they please. Just my 2 cents.

 

[TubaGeek]

I'd encourage you to wait to send the e-mail until your head has cooled a bit, but I'm guessing that it may be too late.
IMHO that whole "costumes on Halloween" policy needs to be looked at. There's too much gray area.

 

[Slipknot]

I can understand where the OP is coming from, but the fact that they pulled the "I paid this much and drove this far" card makes it seem like they feel they are entitled to do whatever they want. There are rules, some enforced more than others and by different managers. I would abide by them just like the guests that paid the same amount of money to be there and drove/flew the same amount of distance, if not further, with or without a costume. But thats just me... :shrug:

 

[captain marvel1]

well heres the deal after searching through another forum this pretty much sums it up.

WDSearcher
DIS Veteran

Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 7,117




Quote:
Originally Posted by Wall-E1
Don't they let guests dress up for Star Wars Weekends? I seem to remember seeing a lot of Jedi in the parks during that event.

SWW is kind of a "special dispensation" thing. Star Wars (and other sci-fi / comic fans) are very big on wearing costumes to conventions and special events, and the Lucasfilms folks didn't want to lose this while at Disney. I think they felt that telling people they could not wear their Jedi or Padawan costumes would significantly limit the number of people who would attend, and so Lucas & Co. made the wearing of costumes a part of the "deal." You want our Star Wars fans to fill up your resorts and theme parks? Let them wear costumes on SWW. But outside of that weekend, folks can't show up in Princess Leia costumes and get into the park. And even on Star Wars Weekends, the only place you can wear the costumes is DHS. They'll ask you to change if you try to enter MK or Epcot as a Stormtrooper or Darth Vader.

Quote:
Originally Posted by scuba
I think most of us here at least try to be law and rule abiding, however this IS a classic example of policies that apparently are loosely enforced if at all. I was dressed as Prince charming 2-3 hours before our MNSSHP event September 15th...it just worked out for me to get dressed early.......no one said a thing. I certainly walked around and traded pins with my DD3 So it wasn't like I was blending in anywhere. I'm certainly not a bad Prince charming and I suppose I could have been mistaken for a real CM.

Then again ... the parks "open" to party-goers at 4pm, which is about three hours prior to the party. At 4pm, you can get in with only your party ticket. So if you're in costume, and it's around 4pm on party day, and you enter the park with your party ticket, it's quite obvious that you're going to the party and are in costume for that reason. If you had shown up at rope drop in your Prince Charming costume, my bet is that you'd have been asked to change.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wall-E1
it is interesting that a few on this board feel that CMs are the consummate professionals and authorities on Disney policies. It has been my experience that the rules tend to change from CM to CM. I have witnessed day old fast passes being honored, especially when the folks trying to use them are cute men or women with a younger CM manning the Q, I have seen folks shoot off hundreds of flash photos while getting in a car on a dark ride without any redirection....... alot of these folks could care less and are more worried about what they are doing later that weekend The policy may indeed somewhere speak about no adult costumes on certain days in the parks, however I would believe that you should simply start out wearing what you want, bring a change of clothes if you must.......but really, Disney has more to worry about with the folks that wear what I would call "gitups" on regular days more inappropriapriate than any holloween costume

The only thing that is really HUGE from a Disney standpoint is character integrity.

• If you show up at the gate in the middle of, say, February in a very realistic Snow White costume -- to the point that a normal guest (particularly a child) would have a hard time telling you apart from the "real" Snow White -- you will not be able to come into the park in that costume.
• If you show up at the gate in a basic yellow skirt and blue bodice, with a red bow in your blonde hair, you may get a second look from the gate CMs, but you'll have no problem getting in because it would be quite easy for even a child to realize that you are not Snow White.
• If you happen to be in a polka-dotted dress with Minnie Mouse shoes and a pair of Minnie Mouse ears, you'll be let in. Why? Because of COURSE you're not Minnie! You are clearly a person, not a mouse.
  
• If you happen to be wearing a Fred Flintstone costume or a Marilyn Monroe costume and it's not Halloween, you also will not be allowed to enter without changing, simply because you are in an obvious costume.

Disney does not want anyone misrepresenting a character -- theirs or anyone else's -- to its youngest guests. They have a hard enough time maintaining the magic that the characters are "real". It's much harder to do when there are a dozen of them wandering around, in various quality levels of costuming.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I was once pulled over by a policeman who was in a good mood.
He gave me a warning and then sent me on my way.
The next time I was pulled over it was a differant police officer who wasn't in such a good mood.
I got a speeding ticket.

Some days you eat the bear.
Some days the bear eats you.

Get a differant costume, one without a helmet, or you will face this conundrum on every trip.

Well said - and it sounded like he expected to face it each time - he was just lucky in the past and his luck just ran out.

 

[unkadug]

Ahhh, the American Entitlement Syndrome strikes again.

 

[Nightsbane]

not to stoke any fire here, but I thought it what a well established and oft repeated rule of "No masks of helmets in the parks". I was told that probably ten times on the phone buying the MNSSHP tickets.

 

[DYoung]

Some on this MB, I think, can kind of see where I'm coming from. The point that the rules are up for anyones interpretation is the one thing that was frustrating for me last night.

I'm not asking for the sympathy card here, in fact three of you seemed to take joy in my plight. Nice. If it were you, you'd probably would have felt the same way.

Folks, the "rules" changed every year for the past five years. One year it was, "Your costumes are too authentic", to the next year that, "You look too close to the cast members", to this year, "You need to be able to see out of your mask."

I think that last comment was really stupid. I mean, who in their right mind would wear a mask that you can't see out of at night? Seriously.

For the record, I spend a week at Disney two times a year for my daughter's birthdays. One week in April and one week in October, so when I made the comment of the hour and 20 minute drive etc., maybe I should have clarified as to why I made that comment, before posting at 12:00am this morning. Oh, and I just love how some of you took it to a different slant. Nice work. When I bought my tickets online, I didn't see the rules screen. Maybe next year Disney will be so kind as to make a mandatory pop-up of the rules before you submit payment from your credit card?

You know folks, the "Entitlement" thing as some have pointed out, was a little harsh. When I used the "time to travel" example, it was to emphasize the point that I'm willing to travel to and from and SPEND MONEY during a time that the economy is still trying to get jump-started and that Disney is pleading for people to spend money in the parks and hotels. Anyone take advantage of that 15 month Florida discount yet?

By the way, some made the comments in as much as, "You get wait you paid for". Why would we go into the park each year, knowing what to expect? I mean, let me just buy my ticket wear my costume because I know that I'm going to be asked to take the helmet off when the year prior, the "issue" of the year was resolved? Why in God's name would we do that?! Each year as the rules changed, the reasons for us to not wear our helmets have also changed. Did some of you not read the thread, or did you just pick and choose what you wanted to read?

The purpose of this thread was really two fold:

1. Create a room on this MB where people can vent or share some best practices as what to do and what not do to and

2. Share my thoughts on what was the most humilating moment while at Disney, because of one individual who decided that he has to show off in front of other employees.

I didn't want sympathy. I simply wanted to enjoy the moment and the time in the park last night. Also for the record, Javs and DisneyJoe- It was a Park Manager that last year said to stop by in the Town Hall, inform us that we're in the park, so that he or the Park Manager on duty, can inform the Area Managers. You know, we did that two weeks ago, and it was bliss. NO PROBLEMS. We walked by numerous cast members, Security and Area Managers, in fact one Area Manager took a picture with us. That's right - a PICTURE with US!! I bet Tye is still trying to pull that out of somewhere right now.....

THAT is where my frustration is in, and why I guess it's up to an interpretation of a 25 year old with a God complex, to decide how rules should be followed.

Our first mistake, is that we DIDN'T stop by last night, because there was a line that went down the steps and into the street! Obviously guests, like I mentioned in my first post, that were upset that their day probably didn't go as planned. We didn't want to bother those inside because they had their hands full at the moment, and the cast members wanted to make sure that there wasn't a log jam of guests near the main exit of the park.

By the way, one of the 4 guys that made up my party, works for Disney at the "Studios". He was the one that mentioned that we don't bother them.

Listen, I'll simply end it with this, because it's now become a dead horse. If security checks out your costumes, as does the head of security, and you've been informed of the rules that they gave you that night and FOLLOW them, then there shouldn't be a loop hole here.

I appreciate some of the civil remarks from those on this MB. However, I guess that there will also be some that once again, felt it was their obligation to defend the Mouse. So be it. I'll have to live with it.

Well, live an learn I guess.......

 

[disneydata]

not to stoke any fire here, but I thought it what a well established and oft repeated rule of "No masks of helmets in the parks". I was told that probably ten times on the phone buying the MNSSHP tickets.

Ding. It's not a character integrity issue per se, it's a safety issue. No masks or helmets can be worn at any time (adult or child).

 

[DYoung]

Ding. It's not a character integrity issue per se, it's a safety issue. No masks or helmets can be worn at any time (adult or child).

Data, there were A LOT of adults and children wearing masks last night. Try telling that to the adults prior to them buying the tickets... NSS would flop.

 

[Knightspast81]

I went through something similiar this week. It seems to me that as it gets closer to Halloween, Disney managers are getting more strict. I've done MNSSHP 3 times this year, wearing my proton pack all three times, which I cleared with Security beforehand. When I went the last time, I had a couple other Ghostbusters with me and when we went through security a manager spent 15 minutes looking at our packs asking us ridiculous questions (does anything open, does it shoot, is it a rocket pack ::eye roll: along with the fact he started TUGGING and PULLING on stuff like a jackass (luckily he didn't break anything) before finally letting us in. Mind you I'd done this twice before with NO problem, and this guy was definitely being rude when we were doing nothing but be nice.... It was probably the same guy you dealt with lol...

 

[chaggy102]

The one thing that I love in this entire statement is that you said that you knew you had to go and check in at City Hall yet you decided not to because the line was too long, then you're angry that there was an issue. It was a situation that could have been handled. The rules are known and you said that you knew them so why should you be surprised when they get enforced? Much like the height requirement...well my kid was tall enough to ride this ride with the same requirement...well you got lucky. Didn't follow all the rules and now you're not happy. Ah makes you wonder eh...

 

[Kerby626]

Sounds like the 501st isn't welcome at WDW. I personally would like to know how your costume was "too authentic". If your in the 501st your armor should be about as authentic as it gets. Maybe you should went Mando. Don't take anything for granted next time. It's kinda crappy about CM's being rude though, but what can you do.

 

[hemloc]

1) The Park Manager is THE ONLY ONE THAT MATTERS... Whether someone else let it slide is irrelevant...

2) The No Mask/Helmet policy is mainly for the safety of OTHERS. Wearing a helmet impairs YOUR peripheral vision and hearing, therefore it is very easy to step on/into someone else. Especially in the dark, and where there are lots of little kids roaming about.

If you've had issues in the past, why would you continue to try and beat the system??? I've never even been to one of these but I have always heard that there is a no mask/helmet policy, so it's not like it's not well known or anything...

 

[urbanvegan]

As much as it may not be what you want to hear, it all comes down to this: they are Disney's parks and they can set and enforce the rules any way that they wish.