Is Disney too lenient to guests?

[raven]

Last night I rode TTA around 9:30PM before leaving the park. A large group of college-age guests were crammed into 2 cars a few cars ahead of me. As we approached the unload area 2 of the guests hopped from one car to another while the CM looked on but she smiled and said absolutely nothing to them.

 

[BigRedDad]

Disney is a private facility requiring admission and every square inch of the open property is the work place of a CM. Therefore, the law still applies. Easier for Disney to just ban smoking 100% on the property. The lawsuit would not be on the affects of long term exposure. It would be with the fire codes and the reckless endangerment of mass groups of people, including small children in confined spaces with a known fire hazard.

Personally, "accidentally" spilling my water on a cigarette smoker is the best practice. I would be protected on all sides of any ensuing incident after the fact.

 

[Tinkwings]

I truly wish smoking was banned parkwide...I was so happy when the resorts did away with it and the huge fine seems to keep things at bay...that being said walking to the boat from the WL some lady lit up in front of me midway on boardwalk.....we all ran by and did not disguise our disgust and looks....sure I don't want to see security peeps confronting people who have no regards for rules...I don't know how they can enforce it without upsetting CM's and guests alike in circumstances when someone is intentionally bullying their behavior....would be nice if they had a "magic" wand like at airport security that would be able to capture their bar code on ticket and enter in violation that could be dealt with at their next re-entry off to the side where it could be better addressed....

LOL the person who mentioned the rude kids with food on ride....would have liked to shut down ride until they complied but personally I would not want to confront a large group of irate peeps either.....

Many times I have seen parents allow their children do whatever....recently a young 3 year old was climbing over a metal rail over cement and was about to crash headfirst...the mother started to say something and the Dad dimissed her saying "If he falls, he falls....":lookaroun Sure wouldn't want to spend rest of my trip with child in ER....:zipit:.....

 

[niteobsrvr]

Disney is a private facility requiring admission and every square inch of the open property is the work place of a CM. Therefore, the law still applies. Easier for Disney to just ban smoking 100% on the property. The lawsuit would not be on the affects of long term exposure. It would be with the fire codes and the reckless endangerment of mass groups of people, including small children in confined spaces with a known fire hazard.

Personally, "accidentally" spilling my water on a cigarette smoker is the best practice. I would be protected on all sides of any ensuing incident after the fact.

I am sorry but the law does not support your point of view. I would suggest taking the time to read the statute. It has very specific and limited exceptions. To borrow a summary from Wikipedia:

On July 1, 2003, smoking was banned statewide in all enclosed workplaces in Florida, exempting private residences, retail tobacco shops, designated smoking rooms in hotels/motels, stand-alone bars with no more than 10% of revenue from food sales, rooms used for quit-smoking programs and medical research, and designated smoking areas in customs transit areas under the authority of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The key words are enclosed and indoor. If this were not the case, even though Disney is private property, they would not be able to create designated smoking areas. In fact, a close look at the statute clearly makes exemptions for certain indoor and enclosed areas or private property. Otherwise smoking in your own home would have been illegal.

There are no laws to support the last sentence that you made. What you are stating is a matter of personal opinion that I happen to agree with to some extent, even as a former smoker, but smoking in a theme park is not in violation of any life safety codes for that environment. Where it would be an issue is areas not accessible by guests in which case Disney takes all necessary precautions and adheres to required codes.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Easy solution and WDW could manage it simply. Have a mobile system that CMs can use for security. In this example, if someone is smoking, the CM can tell them that it is not permitted, swipe their pass, flag it as a warning with the reason. Then, if it happens a second time, revoke the remainder of the ticket. If it is the last day of the ticket and they are a resort guest, charge $500 to their room for smoking maintenance.

Getting their pass to swipe it is problem #1 - and a BIG problem.

You are also assuming they are a resort guest - and their would need to be legal fine print somewhere that let someone know that a smoking fee could be charged to their room if they were caught smoking in a non-smoking area - even in a park.

How do you handle off-site guests?

 

[SirGoofy]

This might be because management in most areas frown upon CM's doing anything about it. I mean they want them to take care of it without conflict but they don't explain how to do it. And no matter what you do you still get reprimanded for it. So it's a win/win situation for these guests. I guess other guests will have to take it upon themselves to do something. :lol:

I can vouch for 'Raven'. I did the college program, and as a CM you are only 'allowed' to handle certain situations. Majority of the time managers expect you to come and find them, which i suppose, is the role of a manager. But still...

on a second note, there are alot of CP's working too. I would say most really want to be there and really enjoy themselves. For the rest of them, they just think its like working at any other retail, restaurant, etc. and dont see the need to live up to Disney expectations. During my CP, myself and one of my roommates worked in quick service food, i thoroughly enjoyed myself, he on the other hand hated it. I would go sometimes and visit him at work and he was one of those CMs you see who wasnt smiling, mingling, etc. he was just doing his job so he could clock out and go home. I think its these CMs, even for the guests causing no trouble, that make the parks less of what it should be at times. If you have a CM who really wants to be there and really cares about the Disney experience he/she will do anything to keep the magic alive.

Sorry to go off on a rant

Great posts, and basically everything I would have said on the subject.

 

[fosse76]

Getting their pass to swipe it is problem #1 - and a BIG problem.

Well, when the RFID technology is implemented the CM won't need "to see" the ticket media! :animwink:

You are also assuming they are a resort guest - and their would need to be legal fine print somewhere that let someone know that a smoking fee could be charged to their room if they were caught smoking in a non-smoking area - even in a park.

How do you handle off-site guests?

That's a good point. Why does everyone just assume that people stay on-site?

 

[luckyeye13]

I voted Yes because I think that Disney is ridiculous with their lax enforcement of Guest rules. I don't think that Guests should necessarily be kicked out on the first offense of quite a few of the rules. For example, in about 95% of the experiences that I had with Guests who were smoking outside of designated areas, a simple and polite reminder of the rules and pointing out of the nearest designated area resolved the problem and often even ended in an apology and thank you from the Guest. In these cases, they weren't out to cause problems, they just weren't aware of the rules and were appreciative of the fact that I treated them respectfully while enforcing the rules and giving them options. In the other 5%, there was resistance, but I picked up the phone and dialed Security (and, in one case that I posted about in another thread, even held a monorail train after a Guest had threatened a fellow CM after the CM asked him to not smoke in the station).

The problem, though, is that it's not just things like smoking that Disney ignores and it's not just that they stop at ignoring things. Instead, they actually reward bad behavior! When I worked at Monorails, one of the TTC Vacation Planner CMs (the ones who sit at the ticket windows) told a few of us about a Guest who had wandered into the backstage building (despite the prominent "Cast Members Only" sign) and was politely told that she was in a non-Guest area and directed to the exit. She was offended by that and complained to a Monorail manager who gave her park tickets! I honestly don't even understand why they have rules if they don't enforce them. About the only place that actually did enforce the rules was Pleasure Island, but that's over and done with now.

Compare all of this to what is done over at the ski resort where I am currently working for the season. For example, if it is found that a guest has lent his season pass to someone else, even if it is the first offense, the pass will be confiscated and immediately voided until the passholder pays a fine of up to $200! In another case, a student from one of the school groups that come to the resort for a few hours to learn to ski or snowboard had his pass revoked after he started a scene by shouting obscenities and throwing food in the food court. Despite his pleading after the fact, the pass remains shut off. At WDW, he would probably have complained to a manager about his treatment at the hands of the CMs in the area and then gotten a free pass for next year, too. (Ironically, there was a highly untrue rumor going around that Disney had bought the ski resort, though, luckily, it remains in the hands of a company that knows a thing or two about skiing.)

 

[Gorjus]

As a cast member who was recently terminated for stopping a belligerent guest from smoking, I find it hard to blame my fellow cast members for doing nothing.

 

[muse1983]

1. I find it extremely hard to believe that you were terminated for telling someone to stop smoking in a no smoking area.

2. For any idiot to light up while standing in line shows you how trashy he is in the first place. There is NO reason for him to be told to either go to a smoking area or leave the park.

3. When we were there in May I watched a guy (who obviously got a free pass to get into the park somewhere, he looked like he just walked in from the street) crumple up a wad of trash and toss it over his shoulder in fantasyland. I was blown away by his lack of respect and frankly for trashing up such an amazing place that so many people LOVE. I picked up the wad of trash and hollered for him, I walked up to him put the trash back in his hand and told him to throw it in the trash can. He walked over and threw it in the trash can, calling idiots out can make a world of difference