Expensive yes, Crowded yes, Cast Members unpleasant, haven't seen it yet.

[allstar01]

I have seen a lot of posts on here complaining about CM not looking like they don't want to be working, ignoring guests, playing with there apple phones or watches, ETC.
Yes things are getting way to expensive. Stayed at the Polynesian Resort for just under 300 a night in 2011, know it's over $700 a night for a standard room.
Things are up in price across the board, but the one thing that for me is constant is the excellent service I get from cast members, weather at the rides, restaurants, and hotels, always Smiling and always willing to help guests. Even when it's 90+ degrees during the summer, still excellent service.
With the increasing crowds could use more CM's
I hope posts I see on here are very isolated incidents

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I've encountered a few rude CM's throughout the years and I have encountered CM's talking and goofing around.
I still maintain that is a small amount and it seems like there are many more rude and entitled guests that say a CM was rude when really it was only because the guest didn't get what they wanted since we live in a world of me, me, me. I want it now, now, now.
Not really sure what the point of your thread is though.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

My last visit, I would say about 5 - 10% of front line CM's I ran into were miserable people.

Most of them are awesome and I love interacting with the staff. I have stories encountering both types.

 

[Prince-1]

I will say that I have seen some "not so happy" CM's on the past few visits I made but they are the minority for sure. Most CM's have been extremely polite, kind, and professional.

 

[JIMINYCR]

In all our trips I can count on one hand the number of unpleasant, rude CM's weve encountered. Its certainly not as wide spread as youd think from the posts you read. Out of the thousands of CM's youll meet on a trip, you are bound to get someone who fails to meet Disneys expectations and training... after all they are human and everyone is entitled to have a bad day. Long shifts, unpleasant guests and all they have to deal with in a work environment thats challenging. I'd give them some slack. I certainly get better mannered service at WDW than I get most every day at other place I do business in.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I have found some Cast Members who are mean and not nice. However, for me, the majority of Cast Members are kind and caring.

 

[larryz]

I have seen a lot of posts on here complaining about CM not looking like they don't want to be working, ignoring guests, playing with there apple phones or watches, ETC.
Yes things are getting way to expensive. Stayed at the Polynesian Resort for just under 300 a night in 2011, know it's over $700 a night for a standard room.
Things are up in price across the board, but the one thing that for me is constant is the excellent service I get from cast members, weather at the rides, restaurants, and hotels, always Smiling and always willing to help guests. Even when it's 90+ degrees during the summer, still excellent service.
With the increasing crowds could use more CM's
I hope posts I see on here are very isolated incidents

People are more likely to post complaints than compliments. And it's apparently a remarkable occurrence to run across grumpy CMs, or people wouldn't find it noteworthy enough to mention in these boards.

It's refreshing to hear that your family hasn't encountered the legendary Rude-and-Inattentive CMs who plague some peoples' trips to WDW.

 

[NickPytlinski]

nah, CM's are great!
if there was a disney in the uk. God help us

 

[eliza61nyc]

Interestingly enough every time I read a complaint I realize I'm probably not all that attuned into the cms on the rides. Most of my true "interaction" is with waitstaff and hotel cm's. & they have been fabulous. On the rides? well most of the time I'm yammering with family members or friends so truthfully I couldn't tell you much of the CM's demeanor. once in a while I'll get to the front and have a brief 20 sec chit chat with the loader but that's about it.
I've always wonder exactly how rude could they be simply loading people onto a ride? how much interaction is there?

The photo people in the parks are absolutely awesome. I've seen them field question after question, take countless pics with countless cameras and still keep smiling and the CM's in the shops are great also. never encountered a bad one.

lol quick service at high dining time in the MK would definitely be enough to make me grumpy.

 

[networkpro]

Folks who are driven to post about their bad cast member interactions IMHO are looking for validation and sympathy. They can't grasp the difference between the marketing advertisements where only a few people are in what appears to be an empty park/attraction and everyone is smiling and reality when there are shoulder to shoulder crowds at times not necessarily in the best of moods. Its not the cast members' fault that you chose to go to a park on a day that lots of other people are free from work and/or school (Easter, Spring Break, Thanksgiving, Jersey Week, etc).

As a guest, civil interaction with cast members in their role is my expectation. Most of them exceed that standard and fortunately I have not had one not meet that minimum goal even when interactions wandered beyond their present role position. They've done as much as they can do and either called for assistance or directed me to someone who could properly address my concern or issue.

I'm quite sure most have seen others who ignore instructions by cast members just doing what they were assigned to do ( such as crowd control keeping areas free for pedestrians or away from the parade danger zones).

I get that people are paying for these experiences, some more than others because they live in places that are far removed from where the parks were built. Different backgrounds, incomes, cultures, budgets, and life experiences all color ones' attitudes and expectations.

What I dont get is how poorly some customers treat cast members who are doing as they have been instructed for particular positions. You have a problem with an interaction? Fine, don't puff out your chest and go ballistic. Gather the necessary information (who what when where) and go to guest services.

 

[jloucks]

I have never seen an outright rude staffer at WDW. I have seen a few goof-offs, and I saw one person having just a really bad day. Super grumpy, but not really projecting it. I assumed she just got some really bad news of some kind, and low wage jobs being what they are, I suspect there is no "take the rest of the day off" option available.

I've told this story countless times before, but short version... If I see anyone being a jerk to staff for no valid reason, ima say something blunt that is almost assuredly gonna take the spotlight of the victimized staffer.

 

[Glasgow]

I have seen a lot of posts on here complaining about CM not looking like they don't want to be working, ignoring guests, playing with there apple phones or watches, ETC.
Yes things are getting way to expensive. Stayed at the Polynesian Resort for just under 300 a night in 2011, know it's over $700 a night for a standard room.
Things are up in price across the board, but the one thing that for me is constant is the excellent service I get from cast members, weather at the rides, restaurants, and hotels, always Smiling and always willing to help guests. Even when it's 90+ degrees during the summer, still excellent service.
With the increasing crowds could use more CM's
I hope posts I see on here are very isolated incidents

I can deal with the higher prices but one thing I will just not tolerate is poor weather at the rides! lol

Seriously though, we're in the same boat. CM attitude has been fairly consistent for us over the past 5-10 years .. although I strongly believe you get out what you put in when it comes to Disney. Positivism in = Positivism out, in general.

 

[Mickeyboof]

It’s also not always about rudeness, but sometimes simply unawareness.

College Students are often chipper, but equally unaware.

I was beside myself when I had to ask four college program CMs where available food was late one night at Riverside. I got everything from blank stares, blank stares+ calling over another clueless CP CM, to “I don’t know.”

Finally someone said try the Disney pizza delivery service, but that was a two hour wait...

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It’s also not always about rudeness, but sometimes simply unawareness.

College Students are often chipper, but equally unaware.

I was beside myself when I had to ask four college program CMs where available food was late one night at Riverside. I got everything from blank stares, blank stares+ calling over another clueless CP CM, to “I don’t know.”

Finally someone said try the Disney pizza delivery service, but that was a two hour wait...

I went to order food at the Main Street Bakery on Nov 1. There was no line for once, but it took forever to get our food despite 10 or so CMs behind the counter because they were all chatting with each other not thinking the few customers inside would mind the wait.

"unaware" would be the polite way of putting it.

 

[Moka]

I’ve gone quite a lot within the past 3 months, and 99% of the CM were fantastic and had smiles, and worked hard to ensure everything was great. I think I’ve ran into maybe 2 or so that came off as rude.
Coincidentally, both in Magic kingdom’s Frontier Land, lol.

 

[wdwfan22]

I visit often (every 2 to 3 months) and have yet to run into rude Cast Members. Some are not as friendly as others, but none i would consider downright rude. The one thing I have noticed though is how the knowledge levels have dropped. Cast Members don't seem to be as informed about things as they had been in the past. Even simple questions regarding transportation and operating scheduled are often answered incorrectly. This is becoming more and more common.

 

[aladdin2007]

I visit often (every 2 to 3 months) and have yet to run into rude Cast Members. Some are not as friendly as others, but none i would consider downright rude. The one thing I have noticed though is how the knowledge levels have dropped. Cast Members don't seem to be as informed about things as they had been in the past. Even simple questions regarding transportation and operating scheduled are often answered incorrectly. This is becoming more and more common.

This is so true now, however for every one that doesn't know much of anything, the next one knows everything, and back and forth. Some of them I feel like asking do you even know the location your working in??? It has become a lot worse your right........as to the other part about rude ones etc....I have only ever encountered maybe two or three truly outright rude cm's in all my years of going.....emporium, the store under Spaceship Earth, and Mousegear......others are just not that friendly sometimes whether its just a bad day or they simply dont care, probably a little of everything. It just seems to be like any other hourly job to a lot of them like anywhere else these days, they dont care about the "role" they were in like they use to. the place is becoming a giant walmart. But still in general I think they are the friendliest at Disney overall normally, Seaworld they are not I have found, and differences like that I have really noticed between different places and brands so to speak.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Cast members get cranky when things are crashing and their hours are cut. The wages don’t support drops in income at all.

So I would expect that with steady income and management promises that money will flow like a river and they’ll “benefit”...the attitude should be generally good right now