Five Strikes Against Magic Kingdom On Thanksgiving Night

[mousermerf]

I did it last Christmas at Space Mountain. But you know what? Dispatching a ride vehicle with a guest disembarking is unacceptable whether or not there are 8,000 or 80,000 guests in the park. So is leftover sansorb in a queue, though I can only imagine that is from where the operations staff got disgusted with waiting in custodial and just started cleaning it themselves. At least they were trying there.

Well, CM's are immediately supposed to toss the voban (or whatever you want to call the minty scented sawdust) on a "spill" and then keep other guests away from it until custodial can clean it up.

It seems they were forgetting the second part, which was keeping other guests out of it. Setting up stantions, wet floor signs, putting a trashcan over it, even standing infront of it themselves.

And it is possible to create a "floor" with enough voban to make a pathway you need to keep open walkable so that it wont get on people's shoes. You just need a lot of voban and be willing to stomp around on it yourself to pack it down.

 

[wesTcoastY]

When I was at WDW in Oct, there was a sandy pukey mess in the que for thunder mountain. Perhaps, the same? I simply stepped around it. However i completely understand how easy it is to make a wrong step and end up in it.

This sort of thing can happen anywhere though...retail store, stadium etc...it happens, Don't be so harsh on the CMs. Or ANYONE in customer service for that matter. It is a thankless underpaid job anywhere. We all know there are bad apples, but there are just as many that truly want things to be great for all of their customers. Off my soapbox.

 

[One Lil Spark]

When I was at WDW in Oct, there was a sandy pukey mess in the que for thunder mountain. Perhaps, the same? I simply stepped around it. However i completely understand how easy it is to make a wrong step and end up in it.

Why are so many people getting sick in BTMRR's QUEUE? Did I miss a super secret thrill ride while waiting in line?

 

[MAGICFLOP]

Wow that is rough attacking the CM's. I think as a whole they do a wonderful job and are always friendly. Disney has 10's of thousands of CM and rarely have I seen an incident that they didnt handle well. I worked with the public in the past and it is not easy or fun. 1 in 100 are jerks and 1 in 500 are the real deal A-H..., so you can imagine how many bad customers are at disney at any given time in the parks for the CM's to deal with.

Quick story, my neighbor and her family(2 kids) stayed in Disney at a resort and she (an adult) cried hysterically when she found out she was staying on the second floor (not ground floor) of the hotel. Now you can imagine how the CM's will fair waiting her table to serve meals alone....
and she is a kind person and not a jerk.

 

[majorrfb]

Walk the mile

woah...Woah....WOAH!!!!!!! That was UNcalled for!!! Try working on a holiday and having the park at capacity at 1030am, not being home with your family, and having people yell & complain at you because the lines are so long, and try having to deal with all of that and keep a smile on your face for 10+ hours. I did not work at MK yesterday, but I worked at MK on Xmas day 2004 and that's what it was like...so unless you've been there in that position...do NOT call Castmembers incompetent morons. :fork::fork::fork: ...and have a MAGICAL day!

I could not agree with you more. I've never been a CM, however I have worked in a similiar senario. Do not throw stones folks until you walk that mile in the CM's shoes. :wave:

 

[WDWToddKaren]

Strike Four: In line for Thunder Mountain, I noticed I was walking in sand. I recognized this sand from when I worked at Six Flags, and realized I was walking in an attempt to clean up vomit. My shoes still smell like puke and sanitizer.

:hurl: :hurl:

 

[BwanaBob]

I could not agree with you more. I've never been a CM, however I have worked in a similiar senario. Do not throw stones folks until you walk that mile in the CM's shoes. :wave:

Unless they're covered in puke and that puke-absorb-sawdust.

(the shoes, that is)

 

[celestia]

Welcome to the holidays.

Problems like this occur every day in the parks, it is just escalated when there are more guests. No, it's not great. But people should expect it and just get over it.

Yes, those problems were not fun, but these are things that happen any day at any given themepark in the world. Things break, there are new castmembers who are not sure of what they are doing yet (escalated when it is busy and they are stressing out.) Just deal with it or don't go to the parks on the holidays.

 

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

Strike One: The line for Fastpass on Space Mountain was longer than the regular line. We ended up waiting about half an hour in the Fastpass line because they were letting in more people in the regular line than the Fastpass line

Kay...there was a projected 55,000 people in the park yesterday. I think our actual amount of guests surpased that. I bet your 30 minute fast pass wait was MUCH SHORTER than the standby wait

Strike Two: This one doesn't really affect me, but anyways. On Jungle Cruise, a little girl was getting off the boat and the driver started driving away. The father had to yank the girl off the boat, and she almost fell in. How safe!

The safety violation was very unfortunate. With that many people in the park, CMs should be MORE careful...

Strike Three: Walking onto Thunder Mountain, yet again the Fastpass Line was longer than the stand-by line.

Then dont stand in the Fast Pass Line... :lookaroun

Strike Four: In line for Thunder Mountain, I noticed I was walking in sand. I recognized this sand from when I worked at Six Flags, and realized I was walking in an attempt to clean up vomit. My shoes still smell like puke and sanitizer.

Yes...the way that stuff works is that you sprinkle it down, then it absorbs the yuck so that you can just sweep it away. Perhaps we should be more careful...?

Strike Five: I went to get on TTA, and they were evacuating. I went on Space Mountain, and when I got out, the TTA was up and running. YAY! We reach the top of the escalator type thing, and realize that the line is backed up and for some reason people were not getting into the cars. All of a sudden, there was yelling and panicking. The people on the escalator kept coming up and couldn't stop, and everybody was getting squished. A little girl fell over and a man was being pushed into by about ten people. The line went into chaos, and people were yelling "STOP IT!". Both the ride and the escalator stopped, and I don't know if the ride ever reopened.

Again...55,000 people
thats a lot of people.
take into consideration that on some days in October...we were at 10 and 11,000

On the plus side, my turkey dinner was good.

Glad to see there WAS a plus side.

-end rant here-

replies in red

 

[Computer Magic]

replies in red

I agree. It can't be a surprise to people going on Thanksgiving that it WILL be packed.

 

[obsessedw/wdw]

Safety issues are not acceptable at major theme parks. I will say, that Jungle Cruise is tricky, the boats float around alot, and it could be that the boat was drifting, and the skipper was using the motor to try to control the boat, which they often do. It would have only appeared that he started driving off, when actually he was not. (I wasn't there, it could have been a huge mistake, and a very unsafe when at that.)

However, if people are going up the ramp at TTA, and the trains are not loading for any reason, the greeter at the bottom of the ramp, should be told immediately to stop guests from coming up the ramp. This is basic safety, and is not acceptable, PERIOD. Either the CM up top failed to inform, or the CM at the bottom did not respond, (either way the greeter at the bottom should have noticed).

I wish Disney would pay the money needed to hire, and train, the best CM's, because lets face it there are MANY CM's that are not up to the standards they should be. (Allthough there are also many that are absolutely wonderful.)

Before anyone accusese me, I work for two major attractions, that involve all of the same problems at Disney. I know there are angry guests, and stress levels can occur, but if you cant treat the customers the way they need to be treated, then you need to look for another job.

 

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

I agree. It can't be a surprise to people going on Thanksgiving that it WILL be packed.

its the last place that i would want to be
yes even as a guest.

The bakery has an express line...we directed people to one side if they were only interested in coffee, tea, and we had a few assorted pasteries on a rack for them. we were trying to keep the main bakery line down and provided a convienence to our guests.

I actually had someone yell at me because he couldnt get cold drinks in that line.
um dood...its express
if you could get EVERYthing...it wouldnt be express anymore!!


the holiday's bring out an interesting set of crowds

 

[v_misses_epcot]

Welcome to the holidays.

Problems like this occur every day in the parks, it is just escalated when there are more guests. No, it's not great. But people should expect it and just get over it.

Yes, those problems were not fun, but these are things that happen any day at any given themepark in the world. Things break, there are new castmembers who are not sure of what they are doing yet (escalated when it is busy and they are stressing out.) Just deal with it or don't go to the parks on the holidays.

AMEN TO THE "people should expect it and just get over it" part!!!
I got yelled at so much today, I don't even know why What did I do wrong?

Believe it or not, people actually were wondering why the lines were so long today. :brick:

And when I tell them "well, it's the holidays" they bark back at me saying "stop being a SA with me, I know it's the holidays, but shouldn't disney be prepared for this and have more fast passes and stuff like that and yadda yadda yadda" *sighs* I'm just doing my job here, please don't be angry at me.

Sorry the lines are so long but seriously, what did you expect, it's freaking thanksgiving weakend.

After illuminations today, it was hectic!! Just imagine 50 thousand people trying to get out of epcot all at the same time. Don't even bother. Go have some coffee, relax. I heard a dad today tell her son to push people out of the way!! :dazzle: A few guest came afterwards and wanted an estimation on when the crowd was going to calm down. I can't promise her anything and told her I didn't know.

And once again, she barked at me and said "what do you mean, you don't know?" You work this don't you?" X_X I don't know how long sheesh....I wasn't going to tell her oh, a good half and hour because as far as I know, It could be longer.

Anyhow, the moral of this story is eat turkey at home and come enjoy the parks after the mad rushes?? I don't know. I still love my job though. I had so many awesome guest today telling me they were having a blast anyhow. And that's what I like to hear.

 

[tigger248]

woah...Woah....WOAH!!!!!!! That was UNcalled for!!! Try working on a holiday and having the park at capacity at 1030am, not being home with your family, and having people yell & complain at you because the lines are so long, and try having to deal with all of that and keep a smile on your face for 10+ hours. I did not work at MK yesterday, but I worked at MK on Xmas day 2004 and that's what it was like...so unless you've been there in that position...do NOT call Castmembers incompetent morons. :fork::fork::fork: ...and have a MAGICAL day!

I agree completely with your statement. But, to play devil's advocate for a minute here....cm's are also trained (or at least used to be) to leave all the baggage behind. I don't know exactly what happened yesterday, cause I wasn't there. But, even if you're disappointed that you're away from home on a holiday, frustrated with crazy guests, just been yelled at, and working what seems like a never ending shift it should never affect your guest service. So....I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I agree with what you're saying, it still shouldn't be an excuse for a cm who maybe isn't pulling their weight (which again...I don't know if that's what happened or not because I wasn't there...)

But, I also want to say thanks to all of those who worked hard this weekend during the super busy peak week. I feel your pain. I worked in MK Thanksgiving and Christmas 2002, and I still work for Six Flags, and I work retail so guest service is a HUGE part of my life!

 

[Plutoboy]

What is unfortunate is that people will never come to expect it!!!! I cannot tell you how many times I got yelled at over the 10 years I was with Disney because of the holiday crowds. I even had a guy threaten to hit me one time because he was yelling and screaming about the crowds and I told him I was confident Holy Land Experience was not that busy if he wanted to go visit them.

Bottom line gang.....could the training be better YES, are the cast members incompetent morons NO (the person that made the comment is). Last but not least the crowds are not going to get smaller during the holidays so get used to it....better yet do your homework before visiting.....if you didn't do prior planning then it is no one else's fault but your own!!!

 

[juan]

as bad as crowds are, I had a decent experience with 4th of july crowds

you'd be surprised how much people listen to you if you have a nametag
the WS promenade was completely filled with people sitting all the way across the path, causing a complete jam
I got about 1000 people to stand and move in closer and then directed traffic to allow wheelchairs to get through and got the crowd flow moving again
while some people were upset that such a jam had occurred, I got many thanks for helping out


as for the problems with the lines and fastpass lines --- sometimes rides run into the "starve-stuff" cycle.
say a ride has a 60 min wait, people pass it up because it the line is so long and soon the line gets short enough that it says 30 mins
people rush in while the sign says 30 and soon its back up to 60

so this could be a possibility of something you ran into

 

[wedway71]

I have been to WDW many times-about 4 time a year since 1971.I have been there over about every holiday and even a super crazy Grad Night.I can honestly say that I cant remember any CM going out of their way to be rude or hateful or even neglectful.I can however remember times when CMS have done a great-no a SUPERB job at creating magic for guests even the jerks.
I am very critical of Guest Service for the fact that 1-I love and respect Disney so I hold Disney to a much higher standard and 2-Im am a Hardlines Manager for Target and have to create a great Guest Experience even on day like today"BLACK FRIDAY" with mobs of crazy shoppers that destroy a store.

When I go to WDW during the Holidays I suck it up and just accept if I choose to go to the WORLDS MOST POPULAR RESORT during that time it will be crazy.
We scheduled 5 times the amount of our regular staff today for BLACK FRIDAY which meant we had one team member down every toy aisle which is alot and still got our butts handed to us so maybe Disney is staffing accordingly but when u have 50k plus people in the parks in one day I can see how its a loosing battle no matter what they do.

 

[pheneix]

are the cast members incompetent morons NO (the person that made the comment is).

Thank you sir! Have a magical day...

 

[CatLady]

Believe it or not, people actually were wondering why the lines were so long today. :brick:

And when I tell them "well, it's the holidays" they bark back at me saying "stop being a SA with me, I know it's the holidays, but shouldn't disney be prepared for this and have more fast passes and stuff like that and yadda yadda yadda" .

On the cold, rainy Christmas a couple years ago, I heard a guest ask a CM "Why are you open on a holiday?" The CM's response was, "Well, becuase you are here!" It wasn't intended as a smart comment, but it was sincere. People who don't work in the hospitality industry really don't have any concept of why someone would work on a holiday... but without CMs giving up their holidays with thier families, there wouldn't be any parks during what are some of the most in-demand times.

If you're going to go to the parks during a peak time, everything will not be perfect. Disney can staff up all they want, but they can't instantly deal with every little situation. Instead of complaining about what is happening, how about stopping and (politely) pointing it out to a CM who might be able to summon some additional help?

 

[Plutoboy]

Thank you sir! Have a magical day...

YOUR WELCOME!!!! While everyone is allowed to have their own opinion...your comment was uncalled for and shows your mentality or lack of. Don't call people names if you don't want to be retaliated against besides I was just sticking up for my former fellow cast members.:xmas: