Dealing With Cast Members At WDW

[joanna71985]

I have never had any issues with CMs.

 

[hwdelien]

These rules don't only apply to WDW CMs, they apply to life. Thanks for reminding us.

 

[burninup4nick]

Ive never really felt CM's were "lackluster".....I was just there in October too....

 

[Jasper Dale]

i probably worked my first post wrong. true, there were several times when we came in contact with a CM who seemed to be having a bad day. i am sure a lot of it had to do with guests who were not used to having to watch what they spent at the parks.

i have never been anywhere on vacation where i saw more irritable people than i did on this last trip to WDW.

i think the cast members at WDW are great.

 

[PaisleyMF]

Thanks for a great post. And I agree, this should be a way of life for everybody!

I have so many stories about both sides that i should write a book.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Actually, I experienced two unbelievable quirky CMs at TOT a few weeks ago. It really did ruin the ambiance—and I don't usually let other people affect my feelings.

Three days ago, the creepiest, oddest CM in the history of TOT worked the loading area. It was awesome. :sohappy:

What did they do?

 

[agent86]

before we left for our trip, i read so much about the lackluster attitude by CM's. after going, i can totally understand how someone who works their could just "give up" trying to give people a magical experience.

if you are planning a trip to WDW in the near future, here are some suggestions and tips to get great service from WDW:

1. make eye contact when you encounter a CM, especially when they look a bit worn out. i can't tell you how many times i saw a CM "just going through the motions", and just by looking at them in the eye and saying "hello" or "merry Christmas", totally changed their attitude, AND i found that it "brought them back to life" and watched them begin to interact with the people behind us more than they did with us.

2. don't get mad at CM's when they ask you to follow the rules. GO TO THE END OF THE ROW! don't plop down and then make a CM have to ask you five times to move down. and if you are one of the ones that obey the rules, make sure to smile and make small talk with the CM after you witness incidents like this. i found that an exasperated CM can "get their magic back" just by having someone showing them a little attention and letting them know you understand how crummy it is to have to tell grown people to follow the rules.

3. i noticed that a lot of people ignore the elderly CM's who basically just stand around and keep a line moving or who stand by themselves to help tourists with questions. it was my experience that these CM's are just waiting for someone to strike up a conversation with them. ask them about their job, how long they have been at WDW, etc. i was amazed at some of the stories i got from some of these CM's and i could tell by their smile that they really appreciated the fact that i acknowledged their part in making WDW such a wonderful place.

4. if you have a problem with a particular CM, before you allow yourself to get angry and lash out at them, remember that these people have to deal with rude, obnoxious people all day. people who show them no respect and treat them like trash. if they perceive you as one of those folks, you can't blame them for not caring whether or not you have a "magical day". sometimes just saying to a CM that you understand how hard it must be to deal with "some" people, totally changes how they react with you. it's almost like you have let them know that you are not "one of those people" and so they almost go out of their way to help you.

5. don't walk into WDW with a chip on your shoulder and don't treat CM's as your personal servants. what do these people make, 7 bucks an hour? if you walk around thinking everyone "owes" you the time of your life, don't be shocked if everyone doesn't jump when you demand something.

6. finally, think how tired you are after just a few hours touring. and just imagine what it must be like to be on your feet all day, day after day, trying to bring magic to other people, while not getting to "have any fun" yourself. i think CM's are great people and they made our last trip the best ever!

First off, let me echo what others have said in stating that this is a great post and it's not rocket science. It's sad there are people who even NEED a list to remind themselves how to behave appropriately.

Having said that, I do have to say that I have occasionally encountered rude CMs at WDW. And whenever it's happened, I can't say that any of the excuses that are made for their sometimes rude behavior is really acceptable (e.g. "They might be having a bad day", "Maybe their boss just chewed them out", "Maybe they've had to answer the same questions over and over hundreds of times", "Maybe the last guest they encountered before you was really mean to them", etc). In the first place, Disney trains their people (or at least they used to) on how to deal with these specific types of mindsets and behaviors. I can also tell you that I have never been rude, demanding, or in any way negative toward a CM ever. In fact, having worked in customer service jobs for a large part of my career, I think I'm probably someone who empathizes more than the average guest, so I tend to go out of my way to be understanding and easy going when things aren't going just right during my visits. So I guess for me, when I do encounter a rude CM, and it's totally unprovoked, it's really hard for me to be very sympathetic to what that CM might have dealt with prior to my encounter with them.

Also, it always seems that whenever there is a thread on this topic, there are almost always some posts from people who will say that they have "never encountered a rude CM" on any of their visits. I think that if that's true for those people, then I don't know that they can really provide an accurate insight into the topic. They probably assume that because they have NEVER encountered one single rude CM ever, that this must mean that rude CMs don't exist, and therefore people who complain about CMs are just being ridiculous. Personally, of the countless times I have been to WDW, it is easy to say that fewer than a small fraction of a percent of my CM interactions have involved rude or unpleasant CMs. For this reason, though, the rude and unpleasant ones really stand out in my mind.

 

[mickey&me]

I applaud this post. It is very spot on. It made me happy reading it. But people shouldn't just treat CMs this way, anyone is the service industry should be treated with respect. Actually, EVERYONE no matter what profession should be treated this way.

Tonight at work, this pompous, elitist acting man was walking with his son. Without even LOOKING at me, he said rudely, "Restrooms." Annoyed but not showing it, I smiled and said, "Excuse me?" He repeated, "Restrooms." I smiled and asked, "Are you asking WHERE the restrooms are?" He said yes and I showed him. He is the prime example of a rude person.

I would have been so tempted to say, "Yes, we have those here," and turned away.

 

[Disney05]

Don't think I've ever had a lackluster or rude CM. Good post. But like others have said, it's just common sense to be nice. You get so much more out of it being nice, in more ways than one.

 

[Jasper Dale]

the only CM we had a real problem with on our trip, was our server at Liberty Tavern. the guy was just lazy and apathetic. i tried making small talk, i ignored the fact that he constantly passed our table when we needed something.

this went on for about 20 minutes. finally, i had to get up and ask him if he could refill my wife's soda. and again, i had to get up and find him so that we could get our dessert. because he was so difficult, i asked him when he brought our dessert if he would bring us our check. of course, he didn't and i had to get up a third time and when i couldn't find him, had to ask another CM for the check.

yes, it was busy at the Liberty Tavern, but i did watch the other server in our area do a great job while our server just didn't seem to care.

however, we found this kind of behaviour was not the norm. almost all the CM's at WDW were very gracious and helpful to us on our trip.

 

[tirian]

What did they do?

Smiling to adults, not children:

Hi, how are you doing today? Are you having fun here at the Studios? It's almost time to board...

...etc.

:fork:

the only CM we had a real problem with on our trip, was our server at Liberty Tavern. the guy was just lazy and apathetic. i tried making small talk, i ignored the fact that he constantly passed our table when we needed something.

this went on for about 20 minutes. finally, i had to get up and ask him if he could refill my wife's soda. and again, i had to get up and find him so that we could get our dessert. because he was so difficult, i asked him when he brought our dessert if he would bring us our check. of course, he didn't and i had to get up a third time and when i couldn't find him, had to ask another CM for the check.

yes, it was busy at the Liberty Tavern, but i did watch the other server in our area do a great job while our server just didn't seem to care.

however, we found this kind of behaviour was not the norm. almost all the CM's at WDW were very gracious and helpful to us on our trip.

Funny, every time I've had a bad CM experience, it's been exactly the same—getting completely ignored in restaurants.

 

[Monty]

the only CM we had a real problem with on our trip, was our server at Liberty Tavern. the guy was just lazy and apathetic. i tried making small talk, i ignored the fact that he constantly passed our table when we needed something.

this went on for about 20 minutes. finally, i had to get up and ask him if he could refill my wife's soda. and again, i had to get up and find him so that we could get our dessert. because he was so difficult, i asked him when he brought our dessert if he would bring us our check. of course, he didn't and i had to get up a third time and when i couldn't find him, had to ask another CM for the check.

yes, it was busy at the Liberty Tavern, but i did watch the other server in our area do a great job while our server just didn't seem to care.

however, we found this kind of behaviour was not the norm. almost all the CM's at WDW were very gracious and helpful to us on our trip.

I think I've had the exact same server! Sadly the result is I'll just never eat there again.

 

[AstareGod]

Beautiful. It makes me happy to hear everyone's experiences with CMs are mostly positive. From personal experience it does get tough keeping a magical attitude, for me and a lot of my fellow CMs - try working outside for 7-12 hours in a row! It helps to have a general happy attitude to begin with - and the tips the OP mentioned are great. I especially appreciate it when guests take time out of their day, if only for a few seconds, to thank me or interact with me. It makes the job feel like less like a job and more like fun! I don't care if they work at a water park, at ODF, attractions, or merchandise (and sorry if I left anyone out) but give them a few seconds of your time and it makes the day so much better

(And if anyone's going to the water parks in the next two weeks I'll be there!)

 

[Raven66]

My DH and I were just talking about this today. I don't think we ran into a nasty CM at all during our trip. If I ever get around to the trip report I have a few shout outs actually. Just trying to catch up on house stuff.

But anyway the ones that made me laugh were the HM CM's. I wore my birthday button and as we were walking on the belt they would say in that creepy voice "watch your step" and then get all excited and say "Happy Birthday" in a chipper voice. It made me laugh every time. We had a wonderful time.

 

[agent86]

Tonight at work, this pompous, elitist acting man was walking with his son. Without even LOOKING at me, he said rudely, "Restrooms." Annoyed but not showing it, I smiled and said, "Excuse me?" He repeated, "Restrooms." I smiled and asked, "Are you asking WHERE the restrooms are?" He said yes and I showed him. He is the prime example of a rude person.

Okay, I gotta throw in my 2 cents on this scenario: First of all, if this guest was (to quote you) a prime example of what so many CMs on here are talking about when they complain about the rude treatment they have to endure, then I'm sorry, but you don't have it as badly as you make it out to seem. All the guy did was fail to make eye contact with you, and ask his question with one word, and this was enough to "annoy" you?? And this is honestly a "prime example" of what you and other CMs are talking about when you come on here and talk about how you have to deal with rude guests all the time?? Wow! I honestly mean no disrespect by this, but maybe you need a vacation from your job, or maybe guest service isn't your forte. To the one or two other posters here who jumped on your bandwagon about how rude this guy was, I'd have to give them the same advice. I also don't think the way you handled it was really very professional. It seems as though it was pretty obvious to you (as it would be to anyone) that this guest just wanted to know where the restrooms were, but you kind of played games with him and pretended you didn't know what he was asking (all because he didn't ask in the way that you thought people should ask).

I also am curious as to how you were able to so quickly draw the conclusion that he was "pompous and elitist" just from hearing him say one word. Who is to say that he wasn't a foreign tourist who wasn't fluent in English? After all, it sounds like the only two words you ever heard him say were "restrooms" and "yes". It's very possible you wouldn't have even detected an accent with just those two one-word utterances. And even if, worst case scenario, he was simply being rude, do you really think your response to him was a grown up and mature one?

 

[wdwCC]

This reminded me of a good CM story. We were eating at the tables outside of Casey's Corner and this older guy who was cleaning around that area came up and talked to us, asked us if we were staying for MNSSHP, gave us pointers, etc. It must have been at 5 minutes or longer, and when he finished he kept cleaning and started talking to the family a couple of tables down. He was a senior citizen and looked like he had worked there for a while, but just enjoyed meeting guests while he did his work.

 

[BriLee]

They were all first class on our December trip. I was wearing my Texas gear and they were all giving me the Horns Up!

Go talk to the CMs in the Art of Disney stores and One Man's Dream at DHS.

My family and I met the friendliest CM at One Man's Dream as well! He was a CP participant and we telling me and my sister all about it, since we plan to do it in 2010. He was so helpful and very nice!

However, for the first time, we ran into several CM's that were not working in the "Disney way". We heard several cuss (not the worst words, but still, it's not supposed to be at all, especially with children around!) and a few were just blatantly rude when we weren't being at all.
For example, me and my sister went up to a photopass woman and asked her to take a picture by the Partners statue in front of the castle. Right when we asked another family sat down to our right and would've been in our photo. We politely (I swear!) asked if we could wait for that family to be done taking their picture. Instead of saying sure, the photopass woman starting to argue with us and say they wouldn't be in our photo and to just take it! We were shocked at how rude it was said, too! We said no, just wait, we didn't want them in our photo. but she still insisted they wouldn't be in it. So we said all right, take the picture. She held the camera up, looked through, then had to put the camera down and wait for the camera to be done. Then, once we took our pic (other family-free) she scanned our pass and didn't say a word to us as she handed it back. So rude.
There was a few other instances of non-Disney acceptable behavior by CM's, but I don't want to type them all out. lol

 

[puntagordabob]

Was just at WDW 1st week of December and always went out of my way to greet the CMs I was passing... being friendly takes so little effort and brings happiness to so many ...

 

[Jorden]

I didn't read the whole thread but as a former 2x castmember (thanks to the international programs, tough to stay when you can't you know?) some roles are much easier to keep your magic in than others.

I spent a month working on the ODF carts in Future World at Epcot. This was probably the most stressful role of them all. Now when it was busy it wasn't bad but when it wasn't you were stuck outside in the elements rain, sun/heat. I did my month in July so I expereinced it all. Alson on the carts you don't get frequent breaks, your breaks are all lumped together in one long break that you don't know when is coming. You could be outside for 6 hours with only a water bottle to get you by then get an hour break with only 3 left in your shift. Very tough time there, with very few guests making it easy for you. I even had someone come up to me one day and say "it's my birthday what are you going to give me?" I took this role thinking it might be my only chance to experience being a CM.

Thankfully (for me at least anyway) a month into that program I got an e-mail because they were looking for people to transfer to attractions (pretty much my dream CM job) and I was moved to Mission:SPACE (fantastic as it was and still is my favorite Epcot attraction). Maybe it was the fact that it was my dream role, or maybe it was the fact that guests weren't expecting as much from me I had a BLAST here and very rarely lost my magic. But if you want to know where CMs need guests "help" more often than not there it would be pretty much anywhere outside of the building (like where passing out tickets, or sperating lines). This is where generally speaking the rudest guests appear, and actually a lot of people forget how to speak english here thinking they get move up the line faster or something. It can be frustrating.

Merchendise (Canada Pavilion) wasn't too bad but wasn't immune from it's own different problems. Guests here were GENERALLY ok but we did have to deal with intoxicated ones a lot more, especially when it was raining and all people wanted to do was finish drinking alcohol around the world showcase. In Canada the only place you can get one is at the popcorn cart which closes in the rain so they'd come into merchedince and some less politly than others ask for beer. It was also a lot easier to "go through the motions" when you hada constant lines at your register on busy days. I know I've stood in the same spot just ringing thrings through for roghly 90 minutes multiple times. Factor in some days I was working 14 hour shifts and it could be rough.

Now that said I had some fantastic experiences that I will never forget. I had an Applause-o-gram while I was at Mission:SPACE so make sure if you do have a cast member who you think is fantastic you make your way to guest relations. I can't tell you how special that piece of paper was to me. I got it roughly a week before the end of my international program for an event that had happened a month prior and it was extremely hard to leave Mission:SPACE but it helped to get something liek that to show me my work had been appriciated.

In Canada I had a few familys come by during different times (Christmas, New Years, Mardi Gras) and decided to give a little back to the cast members. A year ago today I was given a few candy canes from kids, not as rewards for good service or anything they just came up to me said Merry Christmas and handed me the Candy Cane. Being accross the continent for my first ever christmas away from home this was especially special. I was also given a home made pin of a ginger bread man last Christmas. In Mardi Gras I was given a few sets of beads from people visiting from New Orleans. While these are just small gestures, I can tell you that both the ginger bread man pin and beads definatly made their way back to Alberta Canada with me after my program ended last summer.

I lurk here MUCH more often than I post but I just wanted to chime in with my take on this.

1. If you feel you had an exceptional experience amek sure you let the Cast Member know, either directly, indirectly or even both! I knew the family that left me the applause o gram appricated everything I did for them but still a month later I got my own magical moment from them.

2. It doesn't hurt to have small tokens of appriciation for cast members, especially those who are far from home at the holidays (like in the World Showcase). I'm not saying go out and buy a bunch of things, I know there are free cards you can print out online. Some might appriciate it more than others but you wouldn't believe the magic they can bring to someone having a rough day.

3. As stated before follow the rules, don't be rude to people who are doing their jobs. There is a stroller parking area in Canada where people like to smoke and I couldn't tell you how many people were rude when I said something to the tune of "Sir/Madame I'm sorry this is a non-smoking area of the park. There is one just down the path this way on the right hand side". I actually had someone fire back "You know what? I don't give a S#!T."

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to say some things from a former CM's (spent about 18 months total working for the mouse) view. Keep in mind the "elements" of these international programs aren't always the easiest. A lot of CMs from the world showcase leave hating Disney (or at least the parks and such). Sometimes it's not an easy job, all I can say is I was fortunate to have experience working elsewhere in the parks before I did the World Showcase. I can't tell you how many people came up to me to finish all my sentences with eh? Ask questions like how am I keeping my house from melting while down in Florida? Accusing me of being from Alabama (Alabama is AL, Alberta is AB on the name tags), or even trying to sing Oh Canada to the tune of Oh Christmas Tree. Your "international" related joke might be funny to you or your group, but to a cast member whos had to deal with it 1000+ times in a year it's just not all that funny, it's down right rude/annoying. Oh and telling a Canadian to job off isn't exactially a nice thing to say either.

Ok I'll end it here any questions feel free to ask, but thats the sum of my time working for the mouse and I can't WAIT to go back to visit again!

 

[Duckberg]

SUPPORT of WDW CM's

For the most part CM'S are hardworking,
many are part of WDW College Intern
Program. They WANTED to work here!

Doing the same job daily for months in
front of streams of park visitors can be
tiring & repetitive. The contacts I've
had with WDW cast members has been
POSITIVE :sohappy:

Duckberg :xmas: