So I'm becoming one of those and a little miffed

[Club Cooloholic]

Yeah, because I hate when I get offered a job and they don't tell me what my wages will be until after I've already started working for the company.........






Does Disney suck as far as their pay goes......well, duh! Does that make it okay for CM's to behave the way the poster said they did.....no.

I worked valet parking at Fitzgerald's Casino for 2 years. The pay was 5.65 per hour + tips. Trust me, you weren't going to get rich doing it. With tips it might have averaged about 9 bucks an hour. I've been called everything you can think of and I've even had threats directed at me from irate and/or drunk guests. All I could do was say sir/ma'am and smile. That's part of taking a job. If customer service isn't your thing then working at the world's most visited theme park is not the right choice for you.

Draybook, the OP said the CM did not say anything to them directly. I am sure you had times you complained about people, just not in front of them. I don't think that what the CM did was right, but what I am saying is that maybe Disney is slipping in it's training and management. The attitude of a company can be felt in it's employee morale so maybe there are problems at the top trickling down. And as for wages, well to a degree you get what you pay for, but your right nobody forces them to work there.

 

[draybook]

True, but I've never spoken about a guest/customer in a public area where it might be heard. For example, at the casino we waited until we were in the key booth or the buffeteria.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Wow!

The phrase, 'the more you explain yourself the more you need to explain yourself' seems appropriate here.

What else is there to explain? I've been around... I know all too well that simply being a good CM is not enough to get noticed at WDW, so there is very little incentive to be "magical", and I know there are several people on here that can vouch for that. Heck, management in most cases doesn't even support you if you get assaulted of threatened, so how can you even expect them to acknowledge you when you go "above and beyond"?

As a result, you have, and will see a growing number of CMs being rude, pushy, yelling, complaining about other people in front of guests, etc.

 

[Belowthesurface]

Usually at WDW, that only works if you're talking about two males.

Absolute truth.

 

[Belowthesurface]

What else is there to explain? I've been around... I know all too well that simply being a good CM is not enough to get noticed at WDW, so there is very little incentive to be "magical", and I know there are several people on here that can vouch for that. Heck, management in most cases doesn't even support you if you get assaulted of threatened, so how can you even expect them to acknowledge you when you go "above and beyond"?

As a result, you have, and will see a growing number of CMs being rude, pushy, yelling, complaining about other people in front of guests, etc.

This is 100% true.Walt Disney World has a lot of ego and agendas to wade through.

The company will be your friend until you are associated with anything negative, your fault or not. I've witnessed horrific things done by managers that should be instant suspension or termination. I've also seen great Cast Members left to fend for themselves because they were sick, assaulted or slipped up one time.

Disney World does not manage their talent accordingly. If you want to get ahead, kiss an incredible amount of , don't speak out against anyone and learn the buzzwords.

You'd be surprised what kind of people head up divisions responsible for decisions that affect 1000s of Guest and Cast. Stay the course, piggyback off of safety and efficiency (not show or courtesy) and you will get far at WDW.

 

[Wesleyjohn]

This is 100% true.Walt Disney World has a lot of ego and agendas to wade through.

The company will be your friend until you are associated with anything negative, your fault or not. I've witnessed horrific things done by managers that should be instant suspension or termination. I've also seen great Cast Members left to fend for themselves because they were sick, assaulted or slipped up one time.

Disney World does not manage their talent accordingly. If you want to get ahead, kiss an incredible amount of , don't speak out against anyone and learn the buzzwords.

You'd be surprised what kind of people head up divisions responsible for decisions that affect 1000s of Guest and Cast. Stay the course, piggyback off of safety and efficiency (not show or courtesy) and you will get far at WDW.

Ugh, I hope this isn't true. But if it is ,and I have what happened to me happen more in the future, WDW is headed for decline. This trip, due due to literally my second interaction with a CM being part of the OP, I have been on guard more. Overall, things have been great. I feel I see less smiling CM's, but I think I'm simply looking for that and in reality, just because its not a smile, doesn't mean it's bad. One thing though, is it me or is the cast, well, older in age. Seems last time I was here and CM's were in their 20's and 30's now I'd say I see several of CM's in their 40's and up

 

[thomas998]

Draybook, the OP said the CM did not say anything to them directly. I am sure you had times you complained about people, just not in front of them. I don't think that what the CM did was right, but what I am saying is that maybe Disney is slipping in it's training and management. The attitude of a company can be felt in it's employee morale so maybe there are problems at the top trickling down. And as for wages, well to a degree you get what you pay for, but your right nobody forces them to work there.

The truly odd thing is, that the economy is in the toilet and there are millions of people that don't have jobs... yet somehow they can't simply go in and eliminate the discontents and replace them with people willing to do the job with a smile? Sorry, but I can understand bad service when an economy is doing great because at some point you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for people in the low paying jobs... but that isn't the case right now with 10% unemployment.

 

[thomas998]

This is 100% true.Walt Disney World has a lot of ego and agendas to wade through.

The company will be your friend until you are associated with anything negative, your fault or not. I've witnessed horrific things done by managers that should be instant suspension or termination. I've also seen great Cast Members left to fend for themselves because they were sick, assaulted or slipped up one time.

Disney World does not manage their talent accordingly. If you want to get ahead, kiss an incredible amount of , don't speak out against anyone and learn the buzzwords.

You'd be surprised what kind of people head up divisions responsible for decisions that affect 1000s of Guest and Cast. Stay the course, piggyback off of safety and efficiency (not show or courtesy) and you will get far at WDW.

Sadly, kissing up to the right behind is the way you get ahead in every company in America... I like to say I don't kiss butt and I have the job to prove it. Maybe someday I'll develop a penchant for fannies and then I'll become CEO.

 

[Tom Morrow]

The truly odd thing is, that the economy is in the toilet and there are millions of people that don't have jobs... yet somehow they can't simply go in and eliminate the discontents and replace them with people willing to do the job with a smile? Sorry, but I can understand bad service when an economy is doing great because at some point you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for people in the low paying jobs... but that isn't the case right now with 10% unemployment.

I wouldn't necessarily say Disney is scraping the bottom of the barrel. I mean if they were, you'd have legit carnies working there. The people they do hire are just not being held to a high standard. Sure, they can say they are, and they can continue to convince people that WDW is the industry leader in guest service... but its just no longer true. There are many factors that go into this. I'd say that the overall attitude of WDW management and leadership, from the execs all the way down to frontline management - needs a serious overhaul.

Sadly, kissing up to the right behind is the way you get ahead in every company in America... I like to say I don't kiss butt and I have the job to prove it. Maybe someday I'll develop a penchant for fannies and then I'll become CEO.

Its particularly prevalent at WDW though. I guess its somewhat baffling because WDW didn't become what it was by accepting and rewarding the mediocre.

 

[ParentsOf4]

The truly odd thing is, that the economy is in the toilet and there are millions of people that don't have jobs... yet somehow they can't simply go in and eliminate the discontents and replace them with people willing to do the job with a smile? Sorry, but I can understand bad service when an economy is doing great because at some point you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for people in the low paying jobs... but that isn't the case right now with 10% unemployment.

WDW hasn't cornered the market on near-minimum wage jobs; there are lots of those out there. Considering what they are paid for what they have to put up with, WDW CMs should be highly commended for doing their jobs as well as they do.

Conversely, Iger got paid about $19,000/hour last year.

When it comes to WDW, does anything think Iger is earning his pay?

 

[WDW1974]

Postwar baby boom. Then it all went downhill.

Really? ... Um, no. Not at all.

 

[WDW1974]

Absolute truth.

That's the only way I speak ...

 

[WDW1974]

This is 100% true.Walt Disney World has a lot of ego and agendas to wade through.

The company will be your friend until you are associated with anything negative, your fault or not. I've witnessed horrific things done by managers that should be instant suspension or termination. I've also seen great Cast Members left to fend for themselves because they were sick, assaulted or slipped up one time.

Disney World does not manage their talent accordingly. If you want to get ahead, kiss an incredible amount of , don't speak out against anyone and learn the buzzwords.

You'd be surprised what kind of people head up divisions responsible for decisions that affect 1000s of Guest and Cast. Stay the course, piggyback off of safety and efficiency (not show or courtesy) and you will get far at WDW.

Nail. Hammer. Head.

So true.

This is why those who believe WDW's new Prez will make a meaningful difference should realize what it has taken to remain with the company from being a teen to a shade shy of 60 and bring thai excitement down a few decibels.

 

[Jrn14]

As a former CM in that very park who was asked 100s of "stupid" questions daily the CM was dead wrong... You don't call guests stupid on stage... You don't call your co-workers, your boss, your mom, the president, or mickey mouse stupid "on stage" ... if you need to vent do it in the cafeteria or backstage. When you're on stage part of your job is to make people feel good and enjoy their vacation not throw around insults. As an attractions worker in the summer at HS in 2007 if anyone asked if they needed to come back within the hour I would have told them "No, you can come back anytime after the fastpass window starts" as was the rule back then. Also I actually enjoyed working the standby que and answering "stupid" questions all day...Most of the questions to me such as the fastpass one just seemed normal and expected... When we would truly get what I considered a "stupid question" like "Is this Epcot?" I wouldn't get MAD!!! I wouldn't get sassy and condescending.. I would probably smile ... let a light chuckle and politely tell them no this is Hollywood Studios (MGM at the time) and then have a funny story to tell my friends when I'm on break. If people asking you questions about fastpass when your working the fastpass machines is ruining your day ... you have the issue.

P.S. not to say guests never got me upset or riled me up would be a lie... when people demanded to go to the front of the line, pushed other guests, yelled at me about the wait times, or the lack of rides in the park... I would get annoyed and angry and sometimes I might have let it show... raised my voice or rolled my eyes... but I still wouldn't call them stupid... and never for a simple question.

 

[thomas998]

WDW hasn't cornered the market on near-minimum wage jobs; there are lots of those out there. Considering what they are paid for what they have to put up with, WDW CMs should be highly commended for doing their jobs as well as they do.

Conversely, Iger got paid about $19,000/hour last year.

When it comes to WDW, does anything think Iger is earning his pay?

No one is really worth the huge salaries that CEOs get, but unfortunately the boards in the us are often filled with friends of the CEO so it isn't going to change.

 

[BigRedDad]

I'm starting to look for things wrong or missing. I'm starting to raise the bar on what I see and hear. Why are you deliberately looking for problems??

You don't have to look for them. I was there when he was. It is obvious. You learn to ignore it, but why should we have to?