Five Strikes Against Magic Kingdom On Thanksgiving Night

[obsessedw/wdw]

"Look at that guy loading the boat, he just keeps putting more on and more-on and moron..... you know what that makes him? An inficient loader!"
Jungle Cruise Joke.

Lets be honest 98% of all WDW CM's are not morons, however, I would say that 2% are. I have run into my share of CM's who were downright ugly, rude, and not doing there job right at all. I am sorry but if an Epcot monorail is only being loaded with 120-150 people at a peak time when the lines are backed up all the way down the ramp, and the monorail itself hold 350, the loader is a moron, period, and should find a new job (at least he was being friendly).

I go to Disney every year for new years, and yes it is PACKED. I completely expect that. But give some of these people a little slack, its Disney's job to assure that all guests have a great time, not just say "its the holidays what do you expect."

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

I was at MK Friday night, the day after Turkeyday. The crowds were fairly unbelievable, the waits for food were enormous, and Main Street and the hub were wall to wall people for Wishes. Ridiculously wall to wall people. Children were screaming, mothers were running people over with strollers, and rude teenagers stood in the middle of nowhere blocking ecv's and wheelchairs. There was a wait for TTA, which I've never seen before (but I'd never been there on a holiday before), and the theater we were in for COP was FULL!!!!!!

I still had a freaking awesome time. How many people can get a text message from a friend saying 'we were visiting family for the holiday in Sarasota and decided to drive over to spend the day at MK, what are you doing?' and actually just drive over there AFTER A DAY AT WORK and spend the evening at MK. Oh, and not pay to get in. I got my churro, rode all my fave rides (except Splash Mountain. A little cool for it.), and was in bed by 1am. Amazing. I encountered nothing but friendly (if tired) CMs. Because as a CM, you are told to leave your life at home. When you get to work, you're there to make magic for the thousands of people who want magic and travel great distances to get it. I for one take great pride in that fact and love the idea of creating magic for other people. I just wish that the guests remembered they can make magic for each other - and CMs - by using common sense and common courtesy.

Someone on this thread stated there were 55,000 in MK on T-Day, does anyone know how many people on Friday? Just curious.

 

[luckyeye13]

Lets be honest 98% of all WDW CM's are not morons, however, I would say that 2% are. I have run into my share of CM's who were downright ugly, rude, and not doing there job right at all. I am sorry but if an Epcot monorail is only being loaded with 120-150 people at a peak time when the lines are backed up all the way down the ramp, and the monorail itself hold 350, the loader is a moron, period, and should find a new job (at least he was being friendly).

You shouldn't immediately be making assumptions if you are have not worked at a location. There could be many reasons that don't reflect on a Cast Member's ability to perform their role as to why a monorail was only being partially loaded. Sometimes, when the crowds are very heavy, we will lightly load the same train each time it comes around in order to keep the trains moving (and, on the Epcot line, to keep them from having to wait out on the beam). Also, if the Cast Member was alone on the platform, then the platform was probably being shotgunned (where Guests are kept at the top of the ramp and allowed onto the platform once a train has arrived), since it would be no fun to pull 12 sliding gates by themselves. Shotgunning takes more time, so the amount of Guests loaded won't be as high as if Guests were allowed to wait at the gates. Since the way to move more Guests is by keeping station times to a minimum, not by packing the trains to the brink (and we never do fill all the way up to the 364 Guest capacity), we do our best to make sure that the trains are not at a station for a long time. Finally, it could have been a Cast Member who has never worked at Epcot before. Each monorail station is actually quite different, so it takes a bit of getting used to every station. Most new platform Cast Members will spend much of their time at the Magic Kingdom (with automatic gates and lots of other Cast Members-7 or 8 on the Express side when it's really busy), so when we get put at Epcot (sliding gates and many fewer Cast Members-4 at the most) for the first time, it is a little tough to work the station. I remember that my first time at Epcot was not entirely a smooth shift, but, now, it is my favorite station and I can work that platform just as well as any other.

And yes, I know that there can be such a thing as an incompetent Cast Member, so none of the above might have applied. However, they are in the minority and get weeded out through the normal process by way of breaking rules, not being successful in further training, etc.

 

[obsessedw/wdw]

You are correct, I shouldnt have been so quick to blame that particular monorail cm. It could have been his first day at Epcot, and he was just underestimating the #of people. I understand wanting to keep the trains moving, although I will say that they can fill the monorail to capacity at MK/TTC and still keep the trains moving (and they could do it just as well before the automatic gates), so I dont really buy that as an excuse.

Bottom line somebody in the chain was a "moron" -(Just using that term cause it seems to be the theme of the thread) perhaps the manager who put that particular CM in that position on such a crowded night, when other CM's who were staffed at that station seemed much more used to the job. Sure you have to train new CM's, but not at an extremely busy time, and at the expense of inconveniencing guests.

Also, WDW is the only place I have ever been to where I would say only 2% are morons, most places the # is much higer, I think WDW does an amazing job with CM's

 

[Dragonrider1227]

I wouldn't blame the Cast Members. they may be Disney, but they're still only human. They're still no different from youu or me and have to work on a holiday with STUPID STUPID PEOPLE!!

 

[figgyfanatic]

I went over the 4th of July and noticed things were hectic. My best friend just got back yesterday and she was not happy at all. Her room wasn't ready at 8p.m.....and things just went downhill from there.
She said people were walking around smoking instead of keeping to the designated areas...and tons of perfectly fine people were wheelchair racing from ride to ride. SIGH

 

[darthjohnny]

I hear going to Magic Kingdom on Thanksgiving Day, or the next couple days after, is a real mistake, due to the enormous crowds.

 

[Disneyfanman]

I think it's the same garbage that I deal with in my restaurants.........understaffing on special days due to sick calls, no shows, and excessive requests for time off. You can't fire 25% of your staff, so you end up getting through it and trying to be better prepared for the next holiday. I know Disney is huge, and they hire the best that they can, but labor at the wage that they pay is more difficult to attract, retain, and motivate than ever. The only time that I have ever had any sort of poor CM experiences with any frequency at Disney was on a holiday. I was there one year at MGM for the 4th of July and they had exactly two trams running in the parking lot, and a guy sleeping in the third. People waited 45 minutes to board a tram (I walked but had a friend with small kids who had to wait). Fantasmic was missing several elements (I assume due to missing employees) and the park was packed! When I go at peak summer season, but not on a holiday they are amazing! The bottom line is that Disney is not immune to the problems that I deal with on a smaller scale. (Although with 27 restaurants I have a lot of employees too). Thus I now avoid holidays there and instead celebrate them at home with my family.

 

[BwanaBob]

Not to start a whole other arguement, but pay doesn't exactly cure the issue.

I didn't say it wouldn't help!... but it isn't the 'cure-all', either.


But I'm sure everyone is aware of that.

 

[BwanaBob]

I think it's the same garbage that I deal with in my restaurants.........understaffing on special days due to sick calls, no shows, and excessive requests for time off. You can't fire 25% of your staff, so you end up getting through it and trying to be better prepared for the next holiday. I know Disney is huge, and they hire the best that they can, but labor at the wage that they pay is more difficult to attract, retain, and motivate than ever. The only time that I have ever had any sort of poor CM experiences with any frequency at Disney was on a holiday. I was there one year at MGM for the 4th of July and they had exactly two trams running in the parking lot, and a guy sleeping in the third. People waited 45 minutes to board a tram (I walked but had a friend with small kids who had to wait). Fantasmic was missing several elements (I assume due to missing employees) and the park was packed! When I go at peak summer season, but not on a holiday they are amazing! The bottom line is that Disney is not immune to the problems that I deal with on a smaller scale. (Although with 27 restaurants I have a lot of employees too). Thus I now avoid holidays there and instead celebrate them at home with my family.

I feel your same pain.

200+ employees, many of them feel a sense of entitlement rather than performance-based recognition.

Every...single...day. Frosts my !

 

[unkadug]

I think it's the same garbage that I deal with in my restaurants.........understaffing on special days due to sick calls, no shows, and excessive requests for time off. You can't fire 25% of your staff, so you end up getting through it and trying to be better prepared for the next holiday. I know Disney is huge, and they hire the best that they can, but labor at the wage that they pay is more difficult to attract, retain, and motivate than ever. The only time that I have ever had any sort of poor CM experiences with any frequency at Disney was on a holiday. I was there one year at MGM for the 4th of July and they had exactly two trams running in the parking lot, and a guy sleeping in the third. People waited 45 minutes to board a tram (I walked but had a friend with small kids who had to wait). Fantasmic was missing several elements (I assume due to missing employees) and the park was packed! When I go at peak summer season, but not on a holiday they are amazing! The bottom line is that Disney is not immune to the problems that I deal with on a smaller scale. (Although with 27 restaurants I have a lot of employees too). Thus I now avoid holidays there and instead celebrate them at home with my family.

Wow, 27 restaurants is NO small scale operation. :wave:


While I already know the answers, just a few hypothetical questions:

Do you find that you have better moral and worker productivety by hiring more people at minimum wage or hiring fewer with greater experience at a greater rate of pay?

Do you find that in order to cover a holiday, it is better to hire more at minimum wage or hiring fewer with greater experience at a greater rate of pay?

How about people not showing up, do you find that those making more money have this ability to make it to work on time more than those making less?

 

[BwanaBob]

How about recognition based-off of performance.

How about a quality interview process.

How about accountability and consistant feedback and follow-up?

 

[jedimaster1227]

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.

Sorry for putting it so harsh, but sometimes the shoe has to fit on some of the cast members Disney hires. Yeah, the pay is real crap, but even with the current staffing issues there is more than an adaquate amount of staff so that everyone can do their job safely. So when I see things like I saw posted in this thread, that only tells me that the cast members on duty at these locations are incompetent or just don't care.

Incompetent moron CMs? No... Just overwhelmed. As far as I know, it is Disney's procedue to put the sansorb on the vomit and let the substance do its job. The only other way to get it up is with a mob and a bucket. Which is harder to see without creating more vomit for the CM to pick up: wet vomit being sloshed around with a mop or sand? I would personally choose the sand, but that is just me. Sorry to tell you but the parks work with a more than adequate amount of staff on holidays and on the days during their peak season. Disney is normally prepared for days like this. I am sorry that the OP had a bad day at the park (in my years of going to the parks I have had my few), because they do tend to make your trip a little less special, but for those of you that have already done this, simply plan around it or move on, as with Disney, the bad moments should never outshine the good! :animwink:

 

[wedway71]

Incompetent moron CMs? No... Just overwhelmed. As far as I know, it is Disney's procedue to put the sansorb on the vomit and let the substance do its job. The only other way to get it up is with a mob and a bucket. Which is harder to see without creating more vomit for the CM to pick up: wet vomit being sloshed around with a mop or sand? I would personally choose the sand, but that is just me. Sorry to tell you but the parks work with a more than adequate amount of staff on holidays and on the days during their peak season. Disney is normally prepared for days like this. I am sorry that the OP had a bad day at the park (in my years of going to the parks I have had my few), because they do tend to make your trip a little less special, but for those of you that have already done this, simply plan around it or move on, as with Disney, the bad moments should never outshine the good! :animwink:

Very well said.:animwink:

 

[v_misses_epcot]

I went over the 4th of July and noticed things were hectic. My best friend just got back yesterday and she was not happy at all. Her room wasn't ready at 8p.m.....and things just went downhill from there.
She said people were walking around smoking instead of keeping to the designated areas...and tons of perfectly fine people were wheelchair racing from ride to ride. SIGH

Oh man oh man I know what you mean. I really wish they just would ban smoking for good at the parks. It's obviously not healthy for you and the children are getting really bad second hand smoke!!

Noone bothers to ask for designated areas, they flip me off when I tell them to put it out and to go to a designated area, they throw them on the floor, they don't put them out and if they do put them out, they scrape them against the walls. They throw them in flower beds, in the water......It's seriously horrible.

Going back to the subject of holidays, they sure do bring out the happy people I do say.

Story number one: I was at the tipboard for the remainder of my shift and a man comes up to me and asks me if he can use the plugs to charge up his battery. I wasn't sure since I remember once hearing there was a place to do that. So I decided to call my cordinator so I wouldn't get in trouble and just let him use it.

So I call him and he tells me "nope" The place to charge up stuff is at guest relations. I told him sorry that he couldn't and he started cussing up a storm with me x_x I was like sir, I don't want to get in trouble, please go use the one designated for your charging needs. OMG....He kept yelling at me and then he went to pin central right in back of tipboard. He asked why I was following him and I procceeded to tell him he can't use any of the plugs anywhere nearby and the place for that is guest relations. X_X

Story two: Girl and brother swoosh by me in a wheelchair obviously using it in the worse way possible. Running and then hopping on. I catch them in the act and tell them to stop. So they stop and then like If I didn't say anything, they go and start up again. I run as fast as I could to them, caught up and told them "I thought I told you not to do that, stop that right now." They stopped and make sure they understood I stood there untill I couldn't see them anymore.

Story Three: ECVs are a ONE PERSON VEHICLE!! ONE PERSON!! You signed the contract. I obviously get flipped off at this all the time. For your own safety, please don't have two people on the cart. If security catches you, they won't give you back your deposit money. They were like "WHATEVER, GO AWAY PLEASE"

Story 4: Those wheels of death as I call them. A little boy was using them and told him to stop using them for his own safety. He listened but then proceeded to tell his dad and his father was like "WHY DOES HE NEED TO STOP?"

I tell him it's for his own safety and he says "whatever" and "lighten up B" ~_~

Story 5: At character Connections a little girl runs under the ropes almost tripping over some of them. Not tripping but unhooking some of the ropes. I tell her not to do that and the father tells me "what's the big deal? We're not cutting in line."

I tell him that she needs to not run and that ropes are there for a reason and she can get hurt. He scoffs at me. =/

So yeah, I still love my job seriously!!! Because it's xmas time and the music is playing cheery holiday music. But all I'm saying is that it brings out the worst in us sometimes

 

[wedway71]

Oh man oh man I know what you mean. I really wish they just would ban smoking for good at the parks. It's obviously not healthy for you and the children are getting really bad second hand smoke!!

Noone bothers to ask for designated areas, they flip me off when I tell them to put it out and to go to a designated area, they throw them on the floor, they don't put them out and if they do put them out, they scrape them against the walls. They throw them in flower beds, in the water......It's seriously horrible.

Going back to the subject of holidays, they sure do bring out the happy people I do say.

Story number one: I was at the tipboard for the remainder of my shift and a man comes up to me and asks me if he can use the plugs to charge up his battery. I wasn't sure since I remember once hearing there was a place to do that. So I decided to call my cordinator so I wouldn't get in trouble and just let him use it.

So I call him and he tells me "nope" The place to charge up stuff is at guest relations. I told him sorry that he couldn't and he started cussing up a storm with me x_x I was like sir, I don't want to get in trouble, please go use the one designated for your charging needs. OMG....He kept yelling at me and then he went to pin central right in back of tipboard. He asked why I was following him and I procceeded to tell him he can't use any of the plugs anywhere nearby and the place for that is guest relations. X_X

Story two: Girl and brother swoosh by me in a wheelchair obviously using it in the worse way possible. Running and then hopping on. I catch them in the act and tell them to stop. So they stop and then like If I didn't say anything, they go and start up again. I run as fast as I could to them, caught up and told them "I thought I told you not to do that, stop that right now." They stopped and make sure they understood I stood there untill I couldn't see them anymore.

Story Three: ECVs are a ONE PERSON VEHICLE!! ONE PERSON!! You signed the contract. I obviously get flipped off at this all the time. For your own safety, please don't have two people on the cart. If security catches you, they won't give you back your deposit money. They were like "WHATEVER, GO AWAY PLEASE"

Story 4: Those wheels of death as I call them. A little boy was using them and told him to stop using them for his own safety. He listened but then proceeded to tell his dad and his father was like "WHY DOES HE NEED TO STOP?"

I tell him it's for his own safety and he says "whatever" and "lighten up B" ~_~

Story 5: At character Connections a little girl runs under the ropes almost tripping over some of them. Not tripping but unhooking some of the ropes. I tell her not to do that and the father tells me "what's the big deal? We're not cutting in line."

I tell him that she needs to not run and that ropes are there for a reason and she can get hurt. He scoffs at me. =/

So yeah, I still love my job seriously!!! Because it's xmas time and the music is playing cheery holiday music. But all I'm saying is that it brings out the worst in us sometimes

Just the other day I confronted 2 kids racing each other on their heelies in my store.I saw them once and asked them to stop.I saw them again while their parents were wacthing them do this.I told their parents this is a safety hazard and they can get hurt or even hurt other guests.They blew me off.As i told them that if they will act in an unsafe manner they have to leave the store.No sooner as I asked them to leave the boy crashed into an encap and busted his head on the corner of the shelf.In turn the parents blamed the store for the accident and demanded we pay for the ambulance ride to the hospital.I had AP-(Assests Protection) get involved and since they ignored the warnings we would call 911 but will not pay for any medical bills. Sad thing is in this day and age they will get some compensation even if it clearly their fault.
As I always say my hats off to the CMS at WDW because the majority of them do make it a Magical Place even with the Moronic Guests that ruin it for the good Guests that are there just to enjoy Disney.

 

[Rob562]

Story number one: I was at the tipboard for the remainder of my shift and a man comes up to me and asks me if he can use the plugs to charge up his battery. I wasn't sure since I remember once hearing there was a place to do that. So I decided to call my cordinator so I wouldn't get in trouble and just let him use it.

So I call him and he tells me "nope" The place to charge up stuff is at guest relations. I told him sorry that he couldn't and he started cussing up a storm with me x_x I was like sir, I don't want to get in trouble, please go use the one designated for your charging needs. OMG....He kept yelling at me and then he went to pin central right in back of tipboard. He asked why I was following him and I procceeded to tell him he can't use any of the plugs anywhere nearby and the place for that is guest relations. X_X

OK, sometimes I just don't get people... Obviously there's no excuse for the way he acted, but it's even worse that it was in Epcot. In Epcot, Guest Relations is *RIGHT THERE*! You can stand at the tip board and SEE the doors to GR. In the other three parks GR is at least a bot of a walk from the tip board... But at Epcot... Jeez!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. These are the same type of Guests who throw their trash on the ground when there's a trash can 6 feet away, or let their kids ______ in corners and in the bushes when there's a bathroom a stone's-throw away.

-Rob

 

[v_misses_epcot]

OK, sometimes I just don't get people... Obviously there's no excuse for the way he acted, but it's even worse that it was in Epcot. In Epcot, Guest Relations is *RIGHT THERE*! You can stand at the tip board and SEE the doors to GR. In the other three parks GR is at least a bot of a walk from the tip board... But at Epcot... Jeez!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. These are the same type of Guests who throw their trash on the ground when there's a trash can 6 feet away, or let their kids ______ in corners and in the bushes when there's a bathroom a stone's-throw away.

-Rob

I forgot to mention that I did send him over there. He was so blinded by his anger, that he was shouting saying that he wanted to go the other way as in towards the countries. While shouting back at me, he headed towards guest relations, without his camera. :king: And so when he came back he came back shouting some more wailing his hands in the air stating that he couldn't find the place....I saw him get right next to Guest relations which rob is right, is only a few freaking steps away!!! He left turing around to leave me the stare of death! x_x At that point I was like woah....that's some hatred coming out from that man there. He was russian and shouting bad words in his language.

Guest everyday ask me if everything is far away from each other....How long does it take to get to the countries, how far away is soarin or mission space. And when I tell them, they give me this look Like if I just killed someone. The countries are far away okay, and everything is spaced out. Sorry....

And boardwalk and yacht and beach club is near by when you're in the countries. If you can walk, don't bother taking a boat...it'll take you even longer to get to your destination. Just walk!!! lol Few steps, a few minutes to get to yacht and beach and boardwalk. There is no bus going to those places because epcot built those resorts as designated epcot resorts. I've walked to MGM studios from epcot. Pretty long, but a nice senic route lol. There is a bus up in the front to take you to MGM but not to Boardwalk or Yacht and Beach.

And to get to Downtown Disney, you need to catch a resort bus and from epcot, the nearest one would be OLD KEY WEST.

x_x :lookaroun

 

[JimboJones123]

So, let me get this right. The CM was in the way for the exit. Instead of asking the CM to move so his kid could get out, the Dad YANKED the kid off the boat and almost dropped his own child in the water? What Dad w/ a kid under 7 doesn't help that kid off the Cruise to begin with? Why not just ask the CM to move. It isn't exactly the CM's problem if they didn't realize that they were doing something wrong. One poorly executed exit ruined 20% of your day?

I'm sure if something was actually said to the CM they would recognize there is a problem and no longer do what they were doing. I have gotten suggestions from customers at my work... and listened. I'm sure that would have been a better result than yanking your kid off the boat and risking everything that goes with that.

 

[celestia]

So, let me get this right. The CM was in the way for the exit. Instead of asking the CM to move so his kid could get out, the Dad YANKED the kid off the boat and almost dropped his own child in the water? What Dad w/ a kid under 7 doesn't help that kid off the Cruise to begin with? Why not just ask the CM to move. It isn't exactly the CM's problem if they didn't realize that they were doing something wrong. One poorly executed exit ruined 20% of your day?

I'm sure if something was actually said to the CM they would recognize there is a problem and no longer do what they were doing. I have gotten suggestions from customers at my work... and listened. I'm sure that would have been a better result than yanking your kid off the boat and risking everything that goes with that.

I agree the dad could have asked, but it is actually our policy to stand in the doorway, we have to. We don't have a choice. We have to stand in the doorway to the side we our feet placed in specific positions, etc. in order to help guests out or catch the random kid that may trip. A lot of times it can get chaotic when there are 5 kids and adults all trying to push out of the doorway at the same time, a lot of times it's not us that have to move, but the guests that need to exit one at a time. Don't even get me started on jungle cruise exiting procedures...

:hammer: