DL vs WDW characters

drew81

drew81

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Does anyone else think WDW guests continue to get shafted by WDW management making poor decisons when it comes to characters? Disneyland has new characters out on set. I'm mainly talking about the White Witch of Narnia and Captain Jack Sparrow. Both of these are only in shows at WDW and not available for pics or autographs. Both of these characters have been very popular at DL and do pics and autographs there. I wish WDW management would take some cues from DL management when it comes to the characters. Any thoughts????
 
brertigger

brertigger

Member
Yeah, DL may have a few more characters, but WDW is SO much more organized. WDW Management: please do NOT follow Disneyland's meet and greet style.

DL has most of their meet and greets outside, with no organized line. Like once, a CM had everyone play "Duck Duck Goofy" before he would take pictures. Yeah, that was probably fun for the kids, but it greatly reduced the time he was out for pictures. Goofy took a few pictures, then had to go visit Mickey and friends (to return in about 5 minutes). When he was taking the pictures, parents were actually yelling at each other about whose child was next. The CM didn't seem to care. It was terrible and un-Disneylike. A number of guests were talking about stopping by Guest Relations on the way out to mention this unmagical experience. No one seemed "Disneyed" at that moment. And it was not just this one cast member, I observed the same thing a number of times. It just seemed like how other parks (not naming names) would run something.

The organized lines just work so much better.
Even if there are less characters out, but the experiences are more magical and organized, I am all for keeping WDW meet and greets the same.
 
drew81

drew81

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I was just saying that Disneyland has those characters actually out on set not just in shows like WDW.
 
I

isitingood

New Member
I go to DL and DW every year. I was at DL in march and the lines were organized so I don't know what you are talking about Tigger. Now last year when I went to DL people were running to see the Beast so it took a few minutes to get everyone organized but I saw that at DW also at Epcot when The Beast was with Belle:lol: The Character meal at Goofy's Kitchen at the DL Hotel is way better then anything DW has because the characters such as Belle, Mulan,Aurora and Cinderella will come and actually talk to you for a while instead of just saying hi and how old are you? And the characters will keep coming back to talk instead of just walking by you and saying nothing:wave:
 
brertigger

brertigger

Member
isitingood said:
I go to DL and DW every year. I was at DL in march and the lines were organized so I don't know what you are talking about Tigger. Now last year when I went to DL people were running to see the Beast so it took a few minutes to get everyone organized but I saw that at DW also at Epcot when The Beast was with Belle:lol: The Character meal at Goofy's Kitchen at the DL Hotel is way better then anything DW has because the characters such as Belle, Mulan,Aurora and Cinderella will come and actually talk to you for a while instead of just saying hi and how old are you? And the characters will keep coming back to talk instead of just walking by you and saying nothing:wave:
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Well, I had been there back last September, so things might have changed between Sept and March (due to all the complaints).
 
ThreeCircles

ThreeCircles

Member
brertigger said:
Yeah, DL may have a few more characters, but WDW is SO much more organized. WDW Management: please do NOT follow Disneyland's meet and greet style.

DL has most of their meet and greets outside, with no organized line. Like once, a CM had everyone play "Duck Duck Goofy" before he would take pictures. Yeah, that was probably fun for the kids, but it greatly reduced the time he was out for pictures. Goofy took a few pictures, then had to go visit Mickey and friends (to return in about 5 minutes). When he was taking the pictures, parents were actually yelling at each other about whose child was next. The CM didn't seem to care. It was terrible and un-Disneylike. A number of guests were talking about stopping by Guest Relations on the way out to mention this unmagical experience. No one seemed "Disneyed" at that moment. And it was not just this one cast member, I observed the same thing a number of times. It just seemed like how other parks (not naming names) would run something.

The organized lines just work so much better.
Even if there are less characters out, but the experiences are more magical and organized, I am all for keeping WDW meet and greets the same.
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I encountered this at the Disneyland Resort too. It was actually my first (and only) visit to to DCA and I wanted a picture with Chicken Little and Abby. The CM "maintaining" the characters was doing nothing more than standing there with no organization at all. At one point he did the "duck duck goose" thing for about two minutes and then stopped. Again crowds formed around the characters and the CM did nothing.

There are some things that the Disneyland Resort could learn from the flagship resort here in Florida. Character greets and food are among two of them.
 
S

should-be-BELLE

Member
isitingood said:
Now last year when I went to DL people were running to see the Beast so it took a few minutes to get everyone organized but I saw that at DW also at Epcot when The Beast was with Belle:lol:
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Oh no you saw that? :hammer: I can't help it..I'm 18 and just as a hardcore Beauty and the Beast fan as the 7 year olds.


just kidding of course..

kinda :lookaroun
 
C

ChipmunkStar

Member
bsummer said:
I've heard from an inside source that Jack is soon going to be doing sets.
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Um, consider your source outside. Jack's been out for at least a week now, and there are many pictures of him online since then.


I, personally, am not going to get into West Coast v. East Coast controversies. Both parks' departments have their strengths and their weaknesses. I'd prefer to stay on the west coast, however.
 
C

Cliff

Well-Known Member
"The CM didn't seem to care. It was terrible and un-Disneylike. A number of guests were talking about stopping by Guest Relations on the way out to mention this unmagical experience. No one seemed "Disneyed" at that moment. And it was not just this one cast member, I observed the same thing a number of times. It just seemed like how other parks (not naming names) would run something."



This strikes a big chord with me. I have been to DisneyLand two seperate times in two years. I noticed what you said BIG TIME!

I came accross Castmember after Castmember that just didn't care about anything in the park. I bought an ice-lemonade right near the matterhorn enterence,...I jokingly said "OK,..how much do I owe you,...like 12 bucks or something..[chuckling]",...this kid comes back with "Yeah man,...what do you expect?,..this is Disneyland, where everything cost 10 times more than it should." He didn't even smile,..he had this nasty sneer.

That in itself is not that bad but I just saw so much of that kind of stuff that it bummed me out a bit on each trip.

Something else that I found odd,...On my last trip in May,..I wore shirts with WDW all over them....you wouldn't believe how many "snotty" cast members I met that made (somewhat) negative comments about WDW itself...like it wasn't "real thing" and junk like that.

I had totatly had enough,..On my last night, I started messing with CM's out there. I got off their monorail and said (loud enough to be heard) "Gosh,..this thing is tiny and doesn't really go anywhere" Two CM's looked at me funny and I said WDW's is much bigger and is actualy a "real" transportation system....I can even stand up straight in the ones in Florida". One said back to me "Yeah, Florida gets eeeeverything."

It was really really wierd.

Sorry for getting a little off topic..

CT
 
A

abian

New Member
Cliff said:
"The CM didn't seem to care. It was terrible and un-Disneylike. A number of guests were talking about stopping by Guest Relations on the way out to mention this unmagical experience. No one seemed "Disneyed" at that moment. And it was not just this one cast member, I observed the same thing a number of times. It just seemed like how other parks (not naming names) would run something."



This strikes a big chord with me. I have been to DisneyLand two seperate times in two years. I noticed what you said BIG TIME!

I came accross Castmember after Castmember that just didn't care about anything in the park. I bought an ice-lemonade right near the matterhorn enterence,...I jokingly said "OK,..how much do I owe you,...like 12 bucks or something..[chuckling]",...this kid comes back with "Yeah man,...what do you expect?,..this is Disneyland, where everything cost 10 times more than it should." He didn't even smile,..he had this nasty sneer.

That in itself is not that bad but I just saw so much of that kind of stuff that it bummed me out a bit on each trip.

Something else that I found odd,...On my last trip in May,..I wore shirts with WDW all over them....you wouldn't believe how many "snotty" cast members I met that made (somewhat) negative comments about WDW itself...like it wasn't "real thing" and junk like that.

I had totatly had enough,..On my last night, I started messing with CM's out there. I got off their monorail and said (loud enough to be heard) "Gosh,..this thing is tiny and doesn't really go anywhere" Two CM's looked at me funny and I said WDW's is much bigger and is actualy a "real" transportation system....I can ever stan up in the ones in Florida". One said back to me "Yeah, Florida gets eeeeverything."

It was really really wierd.

Sorry for getting a little off topic..

CT
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If you try to be so denfensive about DL or so easily getting offened, you are sure not going to enjoy Disneyland. While I don't care how big the monorails are, I do care how much longer Pirates in DL is. I aslo had the wrost experience with CM in WDW, but I think that just people, doesn't mean CM in WDW is better or wrose. And what that kid say is right, Diseny theme park IS expensive. What do you expect you will get a cheaper juice in WDW?
 
C

Cliff

Well-Known Member
abian said:
If you try to be so denfensive about DL or so easily getting offened, you are sure not going to enjoy Disneyland. While I don't care how big the monorails are, I do care how much longer Pirates in DL is. I aslo had the wrost experience with CM in WDW, but I think that just people, doesn't mean CM in WDW is better or wrose. And what that kid say is right, Diseny theme park IS expensive. What do you expect you will get a cheaper juice in WDW?
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No,..I'm not expecting prices to be different. Yes, I love DL and I DO like it better than Magic Kingdom. In fact, I wear DL shirts all the time in WDW,..but I never once had any WDW castmember say anything "snide" about DL.

Yes,..Bad CM's can be found anywhere. And great ones are everywhere too.

I have a habit; If I come across a great CM, I get their name and fill out an awesome comment card with Guest Relations...I can't count how many times I have done that for great CM's. Also,..I have yet to EVER formally complain about bad CM's,...if I come across a bad one,(a rare situation) I always give them the benifit of the doubt and chalk it up to "well,..they are just having a bad day".

With that said, after 6 days in DL (and DCA) during two sepearte years, I noticed a BIG difference in the "overall" quality of their staff.

CT

BTW,..I did speak with a FANTASTIC lady in Walt's museum at DL. We spoke for almost 1 hour,..and I made my usual trip to Guest Relations acros the square to let them know that she was a great asset to their staff.
 
NASAMan

NASAMan

Member
hakunamatata said:
My thoughts on why there are more face characters at DL is that there is a larger talent base to draw from.
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Yes this is true. It seems that WDW often casts based on need and who the caster likes rather than look for the spot on faces. I know someone who is friends with Belle, Snow White, Ariel, and Aurora. All different face shapes. She is a real sweetheart and loves the kids and is not a 'royal' (some girls think they should be treated like royalty even off the set!). DL has many who hope they will be discovered so they are gravitating toward the west coast. But somewhere between the makeup, wig, and costume, magic occurs! And everyday hundreds of kids (young and old) get to meet their favorite Disney characters.
 
bsummer

bsummer

New Member
ChipmunkStar said:
Um, consider your source outside. Jack's been out for at least a week now, and there are many pictures of him online since then.


I, personally, am not going to get into West Coast v. East Coast controversies. Both parks' departments have their strengths and their weaknesses. I'd prefer to stay on the west coast, however.
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He doesn't do sets. He only does the pirate tutorial show. Guests can not meet him or get his autograph.
 
tirian

tirian

Well-Known Member
I have noticed that DL CMs are generally more obnoxious onstage than WDW's, but you have to realize that the majority of them are working for nearly minimum wage in California's inflated market! DL currently has an extremely high turnover rate for CMs.

As for DL vs. WDW, I've observed that my fellow WDW CMs are usually willing to accept the two DL-style parks as different versions of the same thing, while CMs from DL are much more determined to establish DL's supposed superiority. Before the "Remember" fireworks show at DL, I watched a DL CM get into an argument with a Guest who harmlessly mentioned that she preferred "Wishes" at the MK. (Again, this was before the 50th anniversary presentation.) Talk about bad show!
 
A

abian

New Member
tirian said:
I have noticed that DL CMs are generally more obnoxious onstage than WDW's, but you have to realize that the majority of them are working for nearly minimum wage in California's inflated market! DL currently has an extremely high turnover rate for CMs.

As for DL vs. WDW, I've observed that my fellow WDW CMs are usually willing to accept the two DL-style parks as different versions of the same thing, while CMs from DL are much more determined to establish DL's supposed superiority. Before the "Remember" fireworks show at DL, I watched a DL CM get into an argument with a Guest who harmlessly mentioned that she preferred "Wishes" at the MK. (Again, this was before the 50th anniversary presentation.) Talk about bad show!
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To tell the truth, the CM friends of mine from WDW are the people who has the superiority mentality. They are so mad at Universal's staff making joke on Disney or DL'cm making joke on WDW. I was like, comn on, WDW got "everything" from Disney Company and still so defensive?
 

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