Mean CM at Pirates

[BeachClubVillas]

Lat time I was at Disney, I had a bad experience with a CM at Pirates. I was just wondering if anything like this had happened to anyone else.

I was going on Pirates with my parents and my brother. Now, my dad and my brother are both 6'5" and over 250 pounds. When you add in me and my mom, we're a big family. We knew we would be squished in one row at Pirates, so we asked the CM if we could sit in two separate rows. He told us it was four to a row, no exceptions. We agreed, and had to practically sit on top of each other. Of course, the ride wasn't too enjoyable.

A couple of days later, we were back at MK. We waited in line for Pirates again. When we realized it was the same kid putting the people in the boats we decided to go separately so we could sit in two rows spread out. My brother and I went first and said we were a party of two. He put us in a row by ourselves, and our parents behind us. After we got in the boat, I turned to my mom and said, "Isn't this better?" Well, the CM heard me and flipped out! He said "Are you together? You're a party of four!! Party of four in one row." My dad got out and tried to explain to him that we couldn't fit comfortably. The kid told him that the rows were built for four people and maybe we should all think about dieting! Of course, my dad told him he was being very rude. Then my dad said, "Where's the Disney magic?" That really did it! The CM goes, "Sir, do I need to get security here to escort you out of the park?" My dad was like "No, I just want to be able to fit in the boat!" The kid would NOT let us ride separately. He made us ride in the same row and then left the row behind us completely EMPTY just to make us angry!

Now, I've been to Disney eleven times, and I can honestly say this was the only time I have ever encountered even a somewhat rude cast member. It's too bad this guy had to go so far over the top, don't you think?

 

[Pixie Duster]

DEFINATELY WRONG! I understand that he has to keep the line moving, but not at the cost of upsetting our guests and that was so uncalled for. Why on Earth did you not get his name and go directly to Guest Relations? That's just wrong of him to treat you that way. Just come see me next time you are at Animal Kingdom and we will hunt him down

 

[Testtrack321]

I think someone was yelled at about that before, so he dosn't want his ______ on the line again, but I agree, that's wrong.

 

[Sir Hiss527]

Do you remember his name? Write Disney a letter, or go to Guest Relations.

 

[johnvree]

Wait, he mouthed off to two guys who were 6'5", 250. I'm generally not a fan of self-help, but maybe your Dad and bro should have stuffed him in that dungeon room on the queue for a little while. :zipit:

Seriously, you should have complained about him. Not just because you deserved an apology, but also to make sure he didn't get a chance to ruin anyone else's day.

 

[darthdarrel]

you probably should have just kept quiet! :lol: :animwink:

 

[kal1484]

Originally posted by johnvree
Wait, he mouthed off to two guys who were 6'5", 250. I'm generally not a fan of self-help, but maybe your Dad and bro should have stuffed him in that dungeon room on the queue for a little while. :zipit:

:lol:


And I can NOT believe that! That is just terrible!

 

[mkepcotmgmak]

you should have reported him. not to be mean or anything, but to make sure he doesn't do that to other guests. that is the Universal way, not the Disney Way. Come see me - i'll make sure he gets what he deserves... a bannishment to Six Flags

 

[Woody13]

Just because you said that you and your brother were a party of two does not mean you get a boat row for the two of you. I often ride PoTC with another person and we have RARELY gotten a row to ourselves. Same thing is true on IASW and other attractions. Also, your Dad getting out of the boat was rude for all the other folks in the boat and dangerous!

 

[darthdarrel]

Originally posted by Woody13
Just because you said that you and your brother were a party of two does not mean you get a boat row for the two of you. I often ride PoTC with another person and we have RARELY gotten a row to ourselves. Same thing is true on IASW and other attractions. Also, your Dad getting out of the boat was rude for all the other folks in the boat and dangerous!

But atleast they most likely will put smaller people with them! He said they all were big and that`s why they were crowded, so if they had put 2 smaller people with them they would not have been so crowded.
I say you should have reported the Cm.

 

[lebernadin]

Yeah i'd have to second Woody13's comments. They have to have blanket procedures that accomodate the majority of the guests. If they were to allow every person who wanted to sit 1,2,3 etc in a row, all those guests after them in line would then want to do the same or if they weren't the assertive type would complain that they weren't able to do that to those cast members or guest relations.

Now i'm not defending the manner in which this CM conveyed this. If they were rude, that's rude in and of itself. But their rule is the most feasible way to go about crowd control.

Obviously if you were going on an attraction that was dead and had no line they wouldn't be as firm with this rule. But in this case, this is what they need to do to keep a constant flow of guests with the least amount of issues arising.

As far as size is concerned, don't take this the wrong way, but i don't think your family grew right before going on this attraction, right? They've been 6'5" 250 for most of their lives and have to deal with that on airlines, other Disney attractions, and other nuances of life where things are built for people smaller than them.

I'm 6'2" and bang my head on vents in my kitchens a few times a week. :hammer:

 

[Merlin]

Originally posted by lebernadin
Now i'm not defending the manner in which this CM conveyed this. If they were rude, that's rude in and of itself. But their rule is the most feasible way to go about crowd control.

If "crowd control" was the top priority, I would say you have a point. But according to Disney's own "Quality Service Cycle", the priorities come in the following order: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. If you've attended the Disney Institute Execute Training on the Quality Service Cycle, or if you've done any extensive reading on this, then you know that they make a huge deal of the fact that these steps in the cycle have a strict order of priority. According to the story relayed here, Safety was not in question. That aside, Courtesy should have been this CM's top priority. If this CM was placing Efficiency (or "crowd control") above Courtesy, then he was not following Disney's process.

Bottom line: This CM was wrong!

 

[Woody13]

Originally posted by Merlin
According to the story relayed here, Safety was not in question. Bottom line: This CM was wrong!

Bottom line Merlin, Dad got out of the boat. That's a BIG safety issue. Read the story again!

 

[lebernadin]

Originally posted by Merlin
If "crowd control" was the top priority, I would say you have a point. But according to Disney's own "Quality Service Cycle", the priorities come in the following order: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. If you've attended the Disney Institute Execute Training on the Quality Service Cycle, or if you've done any extensive reading on this, then you know that they make a huge deal of the fact that these steps in the cycle have a strict order of priority. According to the story relayed here, Safety was not in question. That aside, Courtesy should have been this CM's top priority. If this CM was placing Efficiency (or "crowd control") above Courtesy, then he was not following Disney's process.

Bottom line: This CM was wrong!

No, i haven't taken any courses at Disney on their service goals as like most people on these boards, other than CM's.

All major corporations have mantras that they instill in new hires of ways they want you to treat customers/guests/patrons, they even test you on them to make sure you weren't just nodding into oblivion in training. But when you leave the training room and meet your co-workers you soon find out the real "rules of the road" and you combine them with the qualities you already possess. In Disney's case, with so many guest contacts made each day, for at least 5 days a week, probably 8-10 hours a day, you learn the real rules of the road very quickly i'd imagine.

Now keeping in mind the above, i think pointing out that this cast member may not have been courteous before he was efficient is a lil too picky imo. When i'm getting onto a ride that involves the CM telling the guests which lane, i'm not looking for it to be done with pixie dust. I understand that this person's job is to tell thousands of people every shift what lanes to go to and i empathize. As i said before, i'm 6'2". I recognize that even though coach commercial is uncomfortable its not the flight attendant or pilots fault, its my genetics. lol...Similarly, when a CM tells me to do something with re to getting onto a ride, unless its them telling me to push it through the attraction, i'm not going to question it. If i have to sit with a stranger, what's the big deal? They paid the same admission i did, am i too good to do so?

Disney employs how many people in central florida alone? 50k?60k? I don't think those are 50,000 shiny happy people every second of their shifts and i wouldn't expect them to be. They're human. If Disney let a real <insert your expletive here> through their hiring process who terrorizes guests with their rudeness enough times, they'll reprimand and then fire them, as any company would.

Since you were kind enough to list the Disney service guidelines here's one you missed:

A few people have used the two men's sizes(6'5" 250) so here's another usage.

SAFETY guideline. As woody13 pointed out, the father standing up in the boat after it had been loaded is definately a safety hazard. Someone that big standing up when they're about to send the boat into free float and thru the ride is definately a safety issue.

Woody13 also made the valid point that, by standing, the father held up not only his boat from leaving the loading area, but the entire line of people.

All we've been given to pass judgement is this person's biased side of the story. We don't have the CM or other witnesses writing their sides. We don't know if other guests complained about this CM, or even about the family who felt they were wronged, right?


To reiterate, if the CM was rude, that's unfortunate, but life is full of rude people and instances and the answer shouldn't always be to get someone reprimanded, fired, or in many cases, compensated(not implying it in this case). If this was the answer, the unemployment numbers would be at 95% and we'd all still be rude to eachother.

 

[wherearemypants]

hmmmmmm... every time i have been there with a girlfriend, we have gotten our own row... even when it's busy... :lookaroun

 

[Pixie Duster]

BUT HE WORKS FOR DISNEY!!!!!!!

I understand safety, and I understand crowd control standards, but rudeness is checked at the door and should NOT ever be accepted at Disney. I am a CM I deal with rude, yelling, insulting guests EVERY day, but I have never gotten rude with them, that's not what working at Disney is about, it is not the same as the real world.

 

[aim]

I must say, that is sad to hear BeachClubVillas. I would be VERY upset if this happened to me! First off, how dare the CM tell some one to go on a diet! If you remember the CM's name, please send something in! It's not like the line for Pirates is SOOO long that they couldn't have let you guys sit in different rows. If this would have happened to me, I would have been making a complaint asap!!

Disney World is an escape from the real world. It is the CM's JOB to be overly nice. Disney World prides themselves on their polite CM's. Yes, they are human, BUT they are getting paid to be nice. I understand that stress can play a big part. But this guy should have got in trouble for his attitude.

 

[MicBat]

That is absolutely ridiculous! You dont talk to people like that off the job let alone when you've got your Disney costume and name tag on! I'll take that as an example of how NOT to act when I'm working for WDW.

 

[Pixie Duster]

exactly, if someone in my area acted like tha tooooooh man we would have it out!

 

[Maria]

When I worked those unfortunate months at The River of Time, if I didn´t have a big queue, I would send the boats almost empty with people comfortably seated. Also, because you can´t take too long to load them, so it was faster if we just sat less people in each.
However, if it was full, i would put 3,4,4,4 in the boat starting from the back, so that means full boat.

If I caught a family splitting, and I had already called the next party to get accomodated in the proper lane to board, I would kindly tell them to go back where I told them to stand but it was an obvious thing because I had more people waiting. If the people splitted and I didn´t have many people waiting or they looked big or like trouble to me, I just let them do it their way and we were both happy.

I don´t see why this kid would bother to argue with you seeing how tall you are. I would have just let you go... jeez...

:animwink: