Guardian's CM's Shout Out

[Doug Means]

considering the highly coveted nature of every seat, willfully sending out an empty one--over a picture nonetheless--is flat out irresponsible.

and now a special shout out to the family that had the audacity to even ask at the expense of the thousands of others who wanted to ride "you need to work on fairness and social priorities"

Especially as we waited near the end they would ask for singles or low numbers to come forward when needed to fill a train. They were not letting empty seats go unless absolutely necessary

 

[flynnibus]

I am struggling to see what the issue is. The CM should have clearly sent the train with one empty seat, and everybody would have been happy. I understand filling capacity, but this reward wasn't worth the risk in my opinion, to cause additional delays, anger guests, and involve multiple CMs. They most likely didn't know how many people would be in the photo, and if they wanted a photo of just them, so be it.

Never heard of 'give someone an inch and they'll take a mile'?

Yeah, hold your ground Disney... just because some lamer makes up stories doesn't mean you have to stick to them. The fact the guy lied about the promise is probably just made the CMs even more determined to hold their ground.

F that guy.

 

[flynnibus]

You have 2 options to deal with this situation.

1. Allow the guest request, 1 seat goes empty. 1 person has to wait for the next train. The family gets the souvenir photo that last forever. Everybody is happy.
2. You hold up the line, anger the family, anger everybody else in line wondering why several trains are being loaded, but not this one, interrupt the manager CM to come over, and create a several minute delay, the family remembers that moment forever, all because we want to stick it to somebody.

This isn't bad guest behavior. Taking flash photos is, line cutting is, bumping into me to make the line move faster is, inappropriate conversation in line is, not watching your children is, and I can go on and on. Asking for special seat assignment is not bad behavior.

So, how is option 2 better again other than being authoritative?

The guy didn't request to be alone - he lied about a story to try to get something he wasn't entitled to. At that point he's already crossed a line and is no longer just an innocent guest with a request.

 

[Doug Means]

I just want to point out this. The guy became almost irate and wouldn’t stop arguing when the CM’s were just asking him to get in and ride. The guy could have easily just asked and moved on. The CM’s could have easily removed him. But everyone got to ride. He just kept being loud and asked for a manager. They brought a higher person over. He still didn’t like the answer.

 

[Chi84]

I just want to point out this. The guy became almost irate and wouldn’t stop arguing when the CM’s were just asking him to get in and ride. The guy could have easily just asked and moved on. The CM’s could have easily removed him. But everyone got to ride. He just kept being loud and asked for a manager. They brought a higher person over. He still didn’t like the answer.

This isn't bad guest behavior.

Yes, yes it is.

 

[NelsonRD]

I just want to point out this. The guy became almost irate and wouldn’t stop arguing when the CM’s were just asking him to get in and ride. The guy could have easily just asked and moved on. The CM’s could have easily removed him. But everyone got to ride. He just kept being loud and asked for a manager. They brought a higher person over. He still didn’t like the answer.

I am not going to defend a guest who makes a scene. I was just defending the idea of not being a sin to send a car with an empty slot.

 

[Doug Means]

I am not going to defend a guest who makes a scene. I was just defending the idea of not being a sin to send a car with an empty slot.

I’m with you. I’m just telling the story. My son offered to wait. The guy just got a little out of hand very quickly. I got a quick ride out of it.

 

[MissingDisney]

I’m with you. I’m just telling the story. My son offered to wait. The guy just got a little out of hand very quickly. I got a quick ride out of it.

I hope your son gave that girl one heck of a memorable ride photo for her birthday! . Arm around dad, huge smile, flashing a peace sign!

 

[Married5Times]

they would ask for singles or low numbers to come forward when needed to fill a train. They were not letting empty seats go unless absolutely necessary

Beautiful,

now that is how to operate. A+ for efficiency

 

[NelsonRD]

Never heard of 'give someone an inch and they'll take a mile'?

Yeah, hold your ground Disney... just because some lamer makes up stories doesn't mean you have to stick to them. The fact the guy lied about the promise is probably just made the CMs even more determined to hold their ground.

F that guy.

I have. But I have also heard of when to escalate and deescalate a situation. Maybe he was told by an unsuspecting CM this would not be an issue. Maybe he lost his temper because of a perceived contradiction. Maybe they tried that on other attractions and were allowed. I don't know. I am not defending their actions, I am just showing a little empathy.

I am sorry, but to me this reads as those stories of high speed police chases that were initiated over a tail light violation. Seems excessive and unnecessary to me.

Now, if Disney got this serious on flash photography on the other hand........

 

[flynnibus]

I have. But I have also heard of when to escalate and deescalate a situation. Maybe he was told by an unsuspecting CM this would not be an issue.

No - because a CM who wasn't within access of the grouper wouldn't make commitments like this. The guy tried to bully his way into something and got called out on it. It's selfish behavior that doesn't need coddling - and the temporary impact to other guests to stand up to this clown is worthy. Disney already lets people walk all over them way too much - I applaud any effort to quelch that kind of bratish behavior. If there was a tweet "I got kicked out of Disney because..." -- I'd be like HELL YEAH.

I am sorry, but to me this reads as those stories of high speed police chases that were initiated over a tail light violation. Seems excessive and unnecessary to me.

Except we know this kind of behavior isn't just some isolated thing. It's a large scale thing where people lie and abuse Disney's normal gracious posture. When people abuse it, we all suffer. So no... screw those people who try to game the system or lie to cheat Disney or others. Put their face all over the web as far as I'm concerned.

 

[BornOnTheMatterhorn]

Sir, please shut up and ride.

 

[efd]

My Family of 9 just arrived back home from our WDW trip last week. Last Wednesday was our EPCOT day and we got VQ boarding party 71 for GotG. Only 5 of us can ride for various reasons like height and pregnancy, so there was an odd man out and that was my 26 year old son. He happened to get paired with another family of 3 and really had no problem riding with them. The dad of this other family started raising cane to say the least with the cast members, saying he was promised that his group would not be put with anyone else because it was his daughter's birthday and he didn't want anyone else in the ride picture with them. My son wasn't even going to be riding with the daughter who was also in her 20's with her boyfriend. He would be with the dad. The CM's were being very nice and courteous in explaining that there was no one who would have promised that and even brought over a CM who is over them (this all holding up our side of the ride, they keep sending trains on the other side and had to skip our turn twice). My son even offered not to ride with them but the CM's Just asked the man and his family to leave or ride the way it was. They rode with my son. Who knows what happened with the man after the ride.

Here's the kicker though, as soon as we got off the ride, the main CM involved in all this stopped my son, apologized for the entire situation, asked if were we ok, then offered to take us up to the front of the line for another stress free ride. SO, we got on right away for a 2nd ride. My DS was a CM for 2 months with the DCP but was sent home right at the beginning of covid. He loved being a CM for that short time and understands how people can treat CM's. He tried to help the CM's through this situation the best he could, and we had a great conversation with them after the ride too.

I'm not saying that every CM is perfect, but most of the ones I've ever dealt with have been great and gone overboard to make us feel special. So, thank you cast members for making our trips great, and a special thank you to the Guardian's of the Galaxy CM's last Wednesday June 28th at around 1:00pm. Y'all did a great job. I wish I would have got your name to post here but failed on that.

Nice to see your son was the mature adult.

 

[efd]

Nice to see your son was the mature adult

 

[mgarbowski]

By the time the car in question was boarding, CMs had already lined up people in the proper arrangements for the next set of cars. If you pull one person to appease the selfish ones, you have to rearrange multiple groupings to accommodate the person who was bumped. Everything that follows is disrupted. The idea that giving in to the absurd request is less disruptive and only affects one person is completely mistaken, apart from any concerns about right and wrong and following rules. Then multiply the disruption by a few dozen similar requests every day if word gets out that this is allowed.

 

[MissingDisney]

Maybe they tried that on other attractions and were allowed.

And if so, there in lies the problem. Rewarding bad behavior encourages continued bad behavior and even worse, with an escalating sense of self-entitlement.

 

[NelsonRD]

Beautiful,

now that is how to operate. A+ for efficiency

Except the Cast Members ran the attraction at half capacity for 2 train cycles, plus let the group of 5 ride again.

You can argue if you think this was worth it to not give the original party the satisfaction of having the empty seat, but this in no way resulted in operational efficiency.

Talk about stepping over a dollar to pick up a nickel...

 

[NelsonRD]

By the time the car in question was boarding, CMs had already lined up people in the proper arrangements for the next set of cars. If you pull one person to appease the selfish ones, you have to rearrange multiple groupings to accommodate the person who was bumped. Everything that follows is disrupted. The idea that giving in to the absurd request is less disruptive and only affects one person is completely mistaken, apart from any concerns about right and wrong and following rules. Then multiply the disruption by a few dozen similar requests every day if word gets out that this is allowed.

Disrupting the board process is easily corrected on the next cycle. It does not trickle down for the rest of the day. It happens all the time, when people go to the wrong assignment, chicken-out at the last minute, or simply just make a mistake. This should be the least of all the arguments.

Is there any evidence of how often this happens?

 

[Chi84]

all because we want to stick it to somebody.
So, how is option 2 better again other than being authoritative?

Everybody feels the need to stick to somebody, teach them a lesson, get revenge

You can argue if you think this was worth it to not give the original party the satisfaction of having the empty seat

I think the CMs were just following the policies as they were instructed, just as they would be following policy by dealing with guests who chicken out or make mistakes.

The other posters on this thread simply don’t agree with you. You’re entitled to your opinion, but it seems you may be projecting a vengeful attitude on CMs that simply doesn’t exist.

 

[NelsonRD]

I think the CMs were just following the policies as they were instructed, just as they would be following policy by dealing with guests who chicken out or make mistakes.

The other posters on this thread simply don’t agree with you. You’re entitled to your opinion, but it seems you may be projecting a vengeful attitude on CMs that simply doesn’t exist.

I am sorry, but the only posters being vengeful are the ones who want to ban this guy from the park for simply asking for 1 empty seat.

There is no ill-will towards the CM's either. I just think they could have used better judgment. Sometimes following policy doesn't make it the right decision at the time. There have been discussions on the downward trend of customer service and the Disney experience. This is one of those make or break moments for a family that - at the end of the day - wasn't a big deal, until it was turned into one.

There are a lot of insensitive people here. Yes, the guy lost his temper, and then it became bad behavior. But it didn’t start out as bad behavior, a bad request maybe, but not bad behavior. Wearing an offensive t-shirt to get free Disney clothing and bragging about it on social media, is bad behavior.

I don't think there was any intent here. I am just showing a little empathy towards a family, who had a relatively simple request, and the result probably ruined the experience for them.