Snobbery among cast members?

[heliumalias]

At the end of the night the ICP buses come every 10 minutes. Not long at all to wait so there isn't an excuse to be pushy. I understand the line is long for the bus as well but a lot of them still hang out inside the building and directly outside the door making it difficult just to enter. And the costume thing? My locker is only steps away from the stench of it. :hurl:

The buses do not come as often as every 10 minutes although I wish they would! There are often occasions when not everyone is able to board the bus and on july 4th I heard stories of people waiting 2+ hours for one of the buses.
I can't speak for others but i can safely say that I have never once dropped my dirty costume on the floor or run through cast services. I have had people walk into me because they don't see you coming out from the lockers though. Also I assume that the people you are referring to are not actually ICPs but the Cultural Reps that work in their own countries.

 

[BrerFrog]

At the end of the night the ICP buses come every 10 minutes. Not long at all to wait so there isn't an excuse to be pushy. I understand the line is long for the bus as well but a lot of them still hang out inside the building and directly outside the door making it difficult just to enter. And the costume thing? My locker is only steps away from the stench of it. :hurl:

I don't think there is any excuse for pushing and throwing costumes around, but the bus situation for CPs and ICPs is very complicated. Everybody closes the park, and one hour after park closing things get crazy on the bus stop. If I remember correctly EPCOT buses have a 15-20 minute interval between them, and MK buses 20-25. Needless to say when the buses arrive there is no way everybody waiting can get in and go home.

I have waited on the bus stop for quite a while - more than one hour - because I refused to take part on all the shoving that happens. I think it is something that should be looked into by the company, the programs are amazing, but the transportation has some problems.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Interesting that this came up just now, because I just witnessed a counterexample at Epcot on Saturday. I was waiting for the Friendship Boat to cross the lagoon. The Illuminations crew were out in their boats, and there was a custodial cast member on the dock cleaning up. He flagged down one of the boats, which contained a guy who appeared to be acting in a supervisory role (can't explain why, it just felt like he was "in charge") on one of the boats and "sent" him to retrieve some debris that was in the water. The guy on the boat was very polite and respectful to the custodial guy, and thanked him for pointing out the debris, even though he seemed to clearly outrank him.

All of which is to say that Disney is a large corporation which is made up of human beings. And like any such organization, these attitudes surely exist, but on an individual basis.

I think that says it! Why should Disney be different from anywhere else. There are heirarchies in neighborhoods, elementary schools, McDonalds, wherever. With a "city" population of over 50,000 people, how can you not expect to see (at least occasionally) the good, bad and ugly of human behavior.

 

[tizzo]

Not saying that the jesture wasn't genuine but this was in an onstage area. It doesn't happen to everyone and everywhere but backstage there is plenty of it around, at least at Epcot. At the end of the night when nearly everyone is leaving, 3rd shift comes in and attempts to walk through Cast Services without getting ran over by loud, obnoxious CPs and ICP running through the hall, throwing costumes all over the floor and sitting in the middle of the hallway. One often runs out from a row of lockers and slam into me giving me the evil eye. That stuff happens every night and it's out of control...let alone the smell of soiled costumes they leave behind.

I don't know if you meant to single out CP and ICP (College and International College programs I presume?) or were just using them as an example of something more pervasive, but - at the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man - "these kids today" don't seem to hold themselves to the same standard of behavior (in general, not just at WDW) that my peers and I did when we were their age - which if memory serves wasn't all that high a bar to begin with.

Frankly I think it's an achievement in itself that Disney manages to get as many college kids as they employ to treat guests on-stage with as much respect as they do.

 

[Tomi-Rocket]

I don't know why but I actually laughed when I read this post! It never occurred to me that there could be an "Upstairs/Downstairs" atmosphere at WDW. Although it makes 100% sense since there are always politics involved at every job there is, no matter what you do. However, no matter what politics there are nobody, and I mean nobody, has a right to look down on someone else, whether they are a manager looking down on a clerical or a guest looking down on a custodial worker. I have found that the lower you are "ranked" the harder you usually work and make the least.

Thanks for that question, it gave me something to think about today.....

 

[copcarguyp71]

Frankly I think it's an achievement in itself that Disney manages to get as many college kids as they employ to treat guests on-stage with as much respect as they do.

From what I have read in the past they take a pretty much "No-Nonsense" approach to this. Basically they are giving these kids the opportunity of a lifetime if they are at all interested in the customer service field for future employment. If you can obtain any sort of work history with Disney and leave with good references you can pretty much write your own ticket at future employers BUT you have to be willing to tow the line with no if's and's or but's about it...this is your job...do it or there is another human dixie cup ready to be pulled from the dispenser if you don't tow the line.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Cast members amongst the shrubbery is a bigger concern.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

i would guess it's like every other company and the higher ups will always feel they're better than the guy sweeping the street or serving your soda.

 

[copcarguyp71]

I had not really taken into account the "suits" in my OP but was more interested in those workers "in the trenches" so to speak. The people that REALLY make the magic happen for us all. YES, YES I know that the office dwellers are necessary but I would call it a necessary evil. The faces we see at the parks are the ones I think we all gage our experiences by even if they are acting on corporate doctrine.

 

[AREM]

As a Cast Member for nearly 3 months now, I can safely and confidently say that when it comes to cocky attitudes and snobby people, CMs in entertainment are the worst, with the face characters being the worst of all.

The princesses are just downright nasty to others CMs backstage. Never making eye contact, never saying hello, and pushing right past you if they are in a hurry. And if you dare say hello or flash them a smile, they give you a glare that could kill.

There are a few characters who are genuinly nice and happy to be there, but the vast majority of face characters are rather unpleasant people.

With myself going from F&B to attractions, I must say, I get alot more respect and "Wow that is cool!" from fellow CMs. Custodial and F&B may be the ones who don't get looked at with a good eye, but they have the biggest work load, and they certainly make more money.

Overall, I treat everyone the same, as I feel like it is everyones responsibility to make magic and carry on Walt Disney's legacy, regardless if you are cooking hotdogs in the back of Casey's Corner, or helping bring a character go life for a guest.

But, a CMs 'status' in terms of what they do exists, and the 'I'm better than you' attitudes they most always display will continue.

All I know is, I'm lucky as hell to be working here, keeping Walt spirit alive.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

If I owned a theme park or something as big as disney I would always make a point to greet the guests at opening. When administration opens attraction I always sence a poker face.

 

[raven]

As a Cast Member for nearly 3 months now...

Much more to see if you are here longer. :animwink:

Actually it seems the longer you work for them the more disgruntled, un-iterested, or in some cases "fake", you become. Even at Traditions it was easy to tell that we were all being "poker faced." In my department it seems that there are only a handful of us that actually care. The reason for that? Management. We get the same appreciation for caring as we do not to care. And that is nothing. Talking to 2 friends of mine that are in management elsewhere I find it amazing that they give away at least 1 Fanatic card every shift they work. In our department they give away at least 1 reprimand each shift. Fanatic Cards are reserved for special occasions about once a year. They just haven't figured out the formula that happy CM's make good CM's. So on we go, not caring because it doesn't make a difference anyway.

 

[unkadug]

Much more to see if you are here longer. :animwink:

Actually it seems the longer you work for them the more disgruntled, un-iterested, or in some cases "fake", you become. Even at Traditions it was easy to tell that we were all being "poker faced." In my department it seems that there are only a handful of us that actually care. The reason for that? Management. We get the same appreciation for caring as we do not to care. And that is nothing. Talking to 2 friends of mine that are in management elsewhere I find it amazing that they give away at least 1 Fanatic card every shift they work. In our department they give away at least 1 reprimand each shift. Fanatic Cards are reserved for special occasions about once a year. They just haven't figured out the formula that happy CM's make good CM's. So on we go, not caring because it doesn't make a difference anyway.

That's really sad. The problem is not your management, it's not middle management, it goes all the way up the ladder. It's all interconnected. There needs to be a major shake-up in attitude that will trickle all the way down to front line CM's.

 

[raven]

That's really sad. The problem is not your management, it's not middle management, it goes all the way up the ladder. It's all interconnected. There needs to be a major shake-up in attitude that will trickle all the way down to front line CM's.

Well you can see that all CM's are not treated alike by this example. I'm sure there are many more departments that get the same treatment. The entire system needs a complete investigation, restructuring and overhaul, which includes replacing some of the higher-ups. I feel this is really the only way to do it.

 

[copcarguyp71]

I figure it this way, Executives behave a lot like cops (I deal with them everyday) There is an occasional easy going good one in the bunch but for the most part they were either the bully or the kid getting picked on and the bully never changes and the first chance the picked on kids gets his chance he becomes a bully too. Kinda harsh but there it is, my usual $0.02.

 

[unkadug]

I figure it this way, Executives behave a lot like cops (I deal with them everyday) There is an occasional easy going good one in the bunch but for the most part they were either the bully or the kid getting picked on and the bully never changes and the first chance the picked on kids gets his chance he becomes a bully too. Kinda harsh but there it is, my usual $0.02.

You deal with cops or executives? Or executive cops?

 

[copcarguyp71]

LOL...officers of the law AKA...

Constables
On
Patrol

Little known fact that the term cop originated across the pond in England:wave:

 

[Piebald]

In my experience of working there for a year and a half, the Entertainment CMs seemed a little cocky. Not all, but a majority (enough to draw criticism) acted like they were above the rest. They always drew attention to themselves (inadvertently) because no matter how long you work there, it always seemed that the characters were still amusing to the rest of the CMs.

I think face characters were the worst. I ended up dating Ariel and just going down under to meet her friends opened up a little world of divas to me. They were...interesting.


/they love karaoke

 

[TheBeatles]

Raven, you are a brave man. Trying to explain the hierarchy of being a CM is tough.

I've noticed that Quick Service and Custodial don't get their dues. It is said that everyone at Disney is Custodial, but I can hardly classify myself as that. I have nothing but respect for those roles because I know many people who work it and they deal with a lot.

I'd say Attractions and Entertainment get the rap for being snobs.

 

[mkt]

I'd say Attractions and Entertainment get the rap for being snobs.

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