"Mean" Cast Members

[dizpins14]

I've heard a lot of people say the cast memeber at WDW are not as nice and not following Disney philosophy the past 5 or so years. While I have run into cast members who have not been the best, I am beginning to think it is the guests who have changed and therefore have made cast members more agressive.

I've worked the college program for only 3 weeks now and before that I worked the Disney Store for 2 years so I know all about Disney values and guest satisfaction. However, the past couple days I've found I am not helping the guests as much as I had the my first two weeks of work or the 2 years I worked the Disney Store. I feel it is because the guests are very demanding and do not treat the cast members with respect at all. I got ripped into the other night becuase another cast member did not let a girl on crutchs through the fastpass line with out a fastpass of guest assistance pass. Maybe it's just me but it seems like the guests look at the cast members as being able to give them VIP treatment. The nicest people I have met are the ones who have been coming to Disney for years and they know Disney and what it stands for.

 

[disney2005]

We've made multiple trips to Disney World. However, we noticed a change in attitudes in *some* cast members on our 2001 visit and visits afterwards. I witnessed yelling, rolling eyes and "salty" attitudes. Fortunately, there are more pleasant case members that are not.

 

[cAiTmOuSe]

I agree. The CMs arent getting the respect they deserve. Guests these days are taking the magic for granted I think.

 

[speck76]

I've heard a lot of people say the cast memeber at WDW are not as nice and not following Disney philosophy the past 5 or so years. While I have run into cast members who have not been the best, I am beginning to think it is the guests who have changed and therefore have made cast members more agressive.

I agree.

A few things are at play here.

1. Credit is MUCH easier to get than it was 10+ years ago....so people who could not afford in the past to visit the parks can now just charge it (and file Chapter 11 a few years later).....many times, these guests can not afford manners either.

2. The American public has this bad sense of self-entitlement......many guests thinks that everything needs to cater just to them, as if they are the only visitors in the park. They don't follow the rules, which puts the CM's in a bad spot.....a CM can only take so much of this before they snap.

3. Fastpass.....more guests are out and about in the parks, instead of waiting in lines. This leads to more interactions with CM's, and can wear them down.

 

[nighttimewisher]

every cast member ive delt with has been extremely polite and made the whole experience even more magical. I remember when i was about 6/7, i had just got an ice-cream and was walkin towards my dad, when a sea-gull swooped down and knocked the ice-cream out of my hand and began to eat it off the floor. i was very scared and upset but by the time my mum had reached me, a CM who had seen it happen already had another ice-cream for me.

and it was bigger! :slurp:

CM's deserve all the respect you can possibly give them

 

[sleepybear]

I just got back yesterday and I, too, noticed a few cast members who seemed a bit frayed. I can't really blame them, since many guests can't seem to read signs, listen to announcements or follow rules designed for their own safety. Two glaring instances:

On the boat from Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom, the skipper told riders specifically to NOT stop once they were immediately off the boat to unfold their strollers, wait for their other party members, etc., because the dock might not be able to hold all that weight. So of course everyone stopped on the dock immediately once they stepped off the boat, completely ignoring the cast member who told them to keep moving. That would definitely irk me.

At Test Track, two teenage girls bypassed the entire line by going through the single rider line. When a cast member directed them to two different cars, the girls said they were together and started to protest and complain. The cast member had to practically manhandle them into their two seperate cars, which made me smile to no end.

 

[wedway71]

Lets keep in mind that the Walt Disney World Resort is the states largest single site employer.Is it fair to say that out of 55k or more cast members there might be a couple of bad apples?-Of course there is and Disney does wondeful job at doing thier best at keeping CMS doing what they should.I always try to brighten up the day of a CM who is having a bad day by flirting with them (female of course) or jokng with a guy and saying have A "Disney Day".Keep in mind you might have just encountered a CM who just got ripped for 20 minutes by an irate dweeb who ruined that persons day-Even CMS go through training on how to be civil in bad situations it is human nature to be "POed"after someone abuses you for some stupid selfish reasons-


I think Disney CMS are the best!

 

[captcanada]

I can't really think of a time that I encountered a "bad CM".
And that, in itself, amazes me.


I have, however, encountered many bad guests, in the past.

So, I will take the opprotunity now, to say "thank you", to any and all CM's who read this. You guys/gals do "front line" the magic, and make sure it gets to where it has to be. Well done, and thank you.

 

[tigger_rox00]

I work retail, so I can understand what the CMs go through to an extent. There are two reasons that may be the cause.

1.People overexagerate when they have a problem. I once saw a guest get all upset because the CM at the pretzel stand gave him a salted pretzel when he asked for a non-salted pretzel. The customer took a simple to fix problem and blew it into a shout fest. By the time I got to the CM to order my pretzel, he was in a terrible mood.

2. People are impatient. We used to have a society where people would be willing to wait. Now, people get all flustered if they have to wait at all. Some guests get bent out of shape when they have to wait 15 min. in the fast pass line. I've seen that a few times.

With that said. I think that the Disney cast member has to put up with more idiots now than they used to, but I think they are great and ALWAYS make my stay the best.

 

[The_CEO]

Lets just say the CM working in the hot sun isn't going to be as friendly as the one working in the AC.

 

[hcswingfield]

I don't think I've ever encountered a mean cast member. I do think the ones that go out of their way to make the day magical, and really enjoy their work, make the ones that do a good job look less than special by comparison. But not everyone can be outgoing and vivacious and cheerful all the time. Overall I think Disney does a great job of hiring and training people to make the guests feel special.

 

[LoriMistress]

For the one time I've been to WDW, all the CM were great (though we were on our honeymoon, so that's part of the reason why we got the special treatment.)

 

[Merlin]

I've heard a lot of people say the cast memeber at WDW are not as nice and not following Disney philosophy the past 5 or so years. While I have run into cast members who have not been the best, I am beginning to think it is the guests who have changed and therefore have made cast members more agressive.

I've worked the college program for only 3 weeks now and before that I worked the Disney Store for 2 years so I know all about Disney values and guest satisfaction. However, the past couple days I've found I am not helping the guests as much as I had the my first two weeks of work or the 2 years I worked the Disney Store. I feel it is because the guests are very demanding and do not treat the cast members with respect at all. I got ripped into the other night becuase another cast member did not let a girl on crutchs through the fastpass line with out a fastpass of guest assistance pass. Maybe it's just me but it seems like the guests look at the cast members as being able to give them VIP treatment. The nicest people I have met are the ones who have been coming to Disney for years and they know Disney and what it stands for.

I have a somewhat different take on this topic than the rest of the people who have posted here. Personally, I feel very strongly that there's no excuse for rudeness on the part of a CM. Even with the incredibly rude and demanding guests, a CM should never lose his/her temper or let it get to them to the point where they are rude back. And there is DEFINITELY no excuse for taking it out on the next guest in line, who had nothing to do with it. Having the ability to deal with difficult guests is what sets the professional apart from the others. It is something Disney is supposed to be known for, and I don't think we should be making excuses for CMs who can't deal with the less pleasant aspects of the job they're hired to do.

 

[Merlin]

I agree. The CMs arent getting the respect they deserve. Guests these days are taking the magic for granted I think.

Disney sets the expectation, in their marketing and in their philosophy, that guests SHOULD take the magic for granted.

 

[Merlin]

Lets just say the CM working in the hot sun isn't going to be as friendly as the one working in the AC.

The rudest CM I ever encountered was working in the air conditioned loading area of Space Mountain.

 

[Misty]

This is my first ever post, but I've been reading these boards for a long time now.

I've never been treated badly by a cast member, but i think i would be shocked if it ever happened and I'd complain immediately.

 

[Merlin]

I think the guest should receive the same treatment from the CM's that they give to the CM's.

In an ideal world where all things are equal, that would be nice. However, in the real world where you are dealing with a customer/employee relationship (aka guest/CM relationship), as unfair as it may seem, the guest has a lot more leeway as far as what is "acceptable behavior". The guest is paying for the experience whereas the CM is BEING paid to perform a job. That job includes dealing with difficult guests from time to time. If a CM can't handle that job duty, they are in the wrong job.

None of the CM's should have to put up with this kind of treatment for the wage we make at Disney

The amount of money a person makes is irrelevant. If he/she accepted a job at a particular wage, then they should be expected to PERFORM that job. If they find something about that job to be unpleasant enough to warrant being rude to someone, that's a sign they should not be in that job.

...one of the many reasons I love being a "backstage" CM.

My point exactly! At least you recognize that dealing with the general public is not something you'd deal with very well and you've chosen an alternate job as a result.

 

[Merlin]

Maybe it's just me but it seems like the guests look at the cast members as being able to give them VIP treatment.

Your words struck a chord with me, so I pulled out my Disney Store Traditions manual from when I used to work there (you mentioned that you also used to work for TDS). I'm holding it in my hands at this very moment and it says right here on the page, "Treat EVERY Guest like a VIP".

So my question for you is this,..Is it fair to set an expectation like that in our Guests minds and then not be willing to follow through?

 

[DisneyFreak1228]

Lets just say the CM working in the hot sun isn't going to be as friendly as the one working in the AC.

This is rather untrue, since Fantasmic! has the highest Guest Satsifaction rate on property (97%) and we also not only do Fantasmic crowd control, but we do the parade crowd control as well, so we spend our entire shift outside.

It's not fair to say that the attitude of every CM now is bad, when that is not the case. Most of us have good attitudes, and pretty much make the irate and unruly guest the butt of jokes for the rest of the day. Besides, no matter what you say at GR, all we get is a firm talking-to. I had one guest one night at Fantasmic rip me a new one because I politely asked her to go to standing room when she planted herself behind the Beast wheelchair section. She screamed back, "WELL THAT GIRL TOLD ME I COULD STAND HERE AND IN 5 MINUTES IF NO ONE SITS HERE, I COULD." and pointed to another CM. (Now, mind you, I was a house captain this night, really didn't want to be because I HATE being a house captain, but I did it anyway) I smiled and said, "Ma'am, I apologize, but you were misinformed. We are currently at Standing Room Only for this show, and I've got 10 parties with Guests travelling in wheelchairs coming up the ramp right now to fill this space. Standing Room is up on the steps, back behind the yellow line please." smiled again and walked off to meet up with my 10 wheelchair parties. When I went back, this woman ran up to me, got in my face, and asked rudely, "WHAT'S YOUR NAME, SO I CAN COMPLAIN TO GUEST RELATIONS ABOUT YOU?!" and I smiled and politely responded, "Number One: Please maintain your distance, or I will be forced to contact Security. Number Two: My name is Leslie (and showed her my nametag and watched her write it down) and when you go to Guest Relations, please make sure you tell Melissa I said hi!" and walked off again to let my manager know what had just happened. I never heard anything after that.

You encounter a rude guest everyday, it's just how you handle it as a CM that matters. I'm not justifying my fellow CMs behavior when it comes to taking out their anger and frustration on another guest, because as a CM that is certainly not justifiable behavior. It's not fair at all, because the second guest did nothing.

Also, frustrated CMs don't take advantage of the fact that as long as they let a manager know they are frustrated, they are able to step backstage for a few moments to cool down.

Btw, no offense or anything, but I honestly doubt a TDS CM goes through half of the abuse us park CMs do on a daily basis. TDS CMs probably get in a year the abuse we park CMs get in a week.

 

[Amber]

I work in retail myself and felt the need to contribute. Some people are just down right nasty. They look at us as though we are "beneath them," like we aren't educated and things like that. I deal with someone either yelling or swearing (or both) at me just about every day. It gets tough sometimes. It helps that usually there is someone behind them laughing at the scene that they are making. But, it makes it really tough to be nice to the next person. This topic actually came up in one of my classes once - Disney has set a standard for themselves to exceed guests expectations, and sometimes guests use that to their advantage and the CM pays for it. Does that make sense? Just throwing in my two cents.