Space Mountain Cast

[General Grizz]

Is it me or is the Space Mountain cast GENERALLY pretty bad? I am sure there are *excellent* Cast Members who work here, but probably the worst I've seen ever at Disney were right here.

I was in line yesterday with a FastPass for the attraction, and a short brunette was standing in front of the area where the Fastpass and regular lines would divide into two separate queues.

We arrived to see her YELLING - and I mean YELLING - at other Cast Members (throwing her arm back with an attitude, rollering her eyes), and even shouting out at guests. She or her assistant wouldn't even accept my Fastpass and put me into the regular line. It was ridiculous.

Of course there is irritation when dealing with so many tourists, but don't work at Spaces Mountain if you have to be so rude.

I want to make it clear that I'm not bashing the cast at Walt Disney World - they are VALUABLE, WONDERFUL assets who bring true magic to the parks. But once and a while, one seems to pop up and away at the magic.

Has anyone seen anything at this degree at Space Mountain or elsewhere at Walt Disney World? Are there any trends with this - i.e. College Program? Thill rides? Fastpass?

 

[cm1988]

Hi, Grizz -

You (nor anyone else) are of course under no obligation to do this... but... if you want to fix a problem like that, just 1) remember the cast member's name, then 2) find the nearest Supervisor either at that attraction or later in the next convenient gift shop or whatever. You can ask any cast member at a register and they will phone a Supervisor for you. Explain the incident to them in terms of situation, then who said what, with what body language, etc.

Posting aberrations like that on a website don't resolve clear, flagrant violation of company policy. What policy? Well, to start with, the one that says treat every Guest like a cherished friend. The policy that fortunately, most cast members seem to understand.

 

[Danny14]

I encountered a horribly mean CM at Peter Pan's Flight last year. She screamed at guests to hurry into their seats because "The ride wasn't going to wait for them." She also swore quite a few times under her breath. (Although I'm sure many people heard her) Maybe they meant to put her at Tower of Terror because she was terrifying people at Peter Pan's Flight. (Which is the last place that she should've been working)

 

[General Grizz]

Hi, Grizz -

You (nor anyone else) are of course under no obligation to do this... but... if you want to fix a problem like that, just 1) remember the cast member's name, then 2) find the nearest Supervisor either at that attraction or later in the next convenient gift shop or whatever. You can ask any cast member at a register and they will phone a Supervisor for you. Explain the incident to them in terms of situation, then who said what, with what body language, etc.

Posting aberrations like that on a website don't resolve clear, flagrant violation of company policy. What policy? Well, to start with, the one that says treat every Guest like a cherished friend. The policy that fortunately, most cast members seem to understand.

I have her name and have reported my concern to guest communications.

Thank you.

 

[StevenT]

I have never really had a problem with Space Mountain CMs. Usually they are either freindly, or just don't really say anything at all (which isn't necisarilly great, but it's better than yelling).

 

[cm1988]

I have her name and have reported my concern to guest communications.

Thank you.

No, thank you. Again, nobody has to do that, but obviously you took time to help preserve the magic for guests who later that day would be going through that queue.

 

[diddy_mouse]

i only recall one time where i had a nice CM working Space Mountain. it was right at the loading platform. after i got into the rocket (i actually wasn't feeling very well) the CM told every one to smile before he let us out of the station. he noticed me and tried to make me smile..which worked. then we were off. i thought he was very nice, but this was the only encounter where that happened....but most of the CMs are usually non-talkative

 

[dxwwf3]

It seems to me that the "Mountain" CM's seem to be less friendly than other CM's in the parks. It is probably due to the high popularity of the 3 attractions and the pressure to get people off and on ASAP. But I would also have to say that Space Mountain CM's (As a general rule) are the least talkative attraction CM's at the Magic Kingdom. And of course there are expections. It just seems that Space Mountain CM's are different from the rest.

 

[sissa216]

Of course I'm gonna take this personally---that's my baby, even though I was just a CP there---but yeah, I have to agree.
BUT I have to put in that it is the full timers there. I couldn't stand most of them (any of the full timers that happen to read this are probably the ones I liked, the others really wouldn't care).
There are several full time cast members that work at Space that don't care about Disney, creating magic, or anything in general. In fact, they really pretty much just suck in general.

*In fact, you probably didn't even report the right person, since the majority of the CMs there don't wear the right nametag*

The CPs that I worked with were the greatest bunch of cast members. We all really appreciated our jobs, sought out guest contact and just tried to make it the best time of our lives. We had bad experiences, but I was never ever rude to somebody unless they started using foul language or threatening me. Then I was stern, but considerate.

I'd like to think I was one of the good cast members. :wave:
High volume isn't an excuse, there isn't one. Just for some reason there is a group of rotten people that happen to work there.

BTW...would you mind letting me know which cast member it was? I'm sure I could even narrow it down to predict it...(that is, assuming they had on the right nametag :lookaroun )

 

[mrtoad]

Unfortunatly I did not get onto Space Mountain on our last trip as our daughter was too young and we did not want to do the swap thing. But in the past I never noticed anything out of the norm. I have found in general CMs are very nice but I did notice a few around the parks who were too busy chatting to each other to even bother with the guests. I did notice though the CMs that were in certain areas that would give stickers to kids and were very nice to my daughter. I am not sure if this is a new thing. I don't remember it when I was a kid and this was the first time with a tiny child.

What you experienced sounds bad. Did they give you a reason for not accepting your fastpass?

 

[mkt]

lately, the number of bad CM's I've seen in WDW has gone from my expected minimal number (the aberrations I call them), that I wouldn't report... to most CM's I encounter. My visit to Typhoon Lagoon on Friday started off well with a friendly tipboard CM, and from there went downhill, with a rude merchandise CM, clueless F&B CM's, and a generally clueless cast.

Not up to par Mousey, not at all.

 

[lamarvenoy]

Hey Grizz, they actually denied your fastpass? Whoa, I would have blown a gasket right there.

 

[barnum42]

I guess Space Mountain is one of the harder attractions for a CM to maintain a happy smiling face with abusive guests ranting that their little brats should be able to ride despite not meeting the height requirement and the fast turnover of guests, many on whome do not appear to be able to follow simple instructions at the load bay. I often hear CMs shout at guests, but not in an agressive way, just to get themselves heard over the background noise.

One good Space Mountain CM that I have previously given Kudos to is Elton who was goofing the with guests, pretending the lap bar was not locking in place and telling guests because of this they would have to hold on extra tight. Especially on the loops. :lol:

 

[Kwit35]

I've never had a 'rude' CM at SM, but, they are usually not very talkative. Could it have something to do with working in virtual darkness all day? I think that could depress anyone, even if you are working in one of the best places in the world. Just a thought.

 

[mellie882]

I worked at Space Mountain a few months ago (CP). I tried, and I think I succeeded, at being a good cast member there. And, as sissa216 mentioned, the cps were super. It was mostly the full time staff that had attitude issues. I remember how shocked I was during training to see CMs not being magical .

The hardest part for me was that Space Mountain has no story and provides no context for its CMs. HM and ToT CMs have a role to play. Fantasyland CMs get to be friendly and see all the little kids. At Space Mountain it is very easy not to get into things because there is nothing to get into. My motivation to be an outstanding CM would have been greater if I had a better role to perform.

So no fun role or atmosphere, along with a line full of often cranky adults and teens (since little kids can't ride), makes for a tough job. It takes a strong CM to stay happy and friendly under those conditions. Report the bad ones and PLEASE thank the good ones at Space Mountain. It is a harder job than one would think.

 

[KevinPage]

Can't say I've ever had a problem with a CM before, except last year when an overzealous CM grabbed my 8 month pregnant wife by the arm to stop her from entering an area where dozens of other guests were already at. After we questioned her on it, a young nice CM, who was in charge of the area, was very apologetic and asked me what she could do to rectify the situation(and asked 3-4 times). I said it was okay and appreciated her calming the situation down as my wife blew a gasket over being grabbed by this woman and called her on it.

So we filed a complaint with Guest Relations on the "grabber" and also a compliment for the CM who calmed the situation down. Then I filed a complaint via email and Guest Communications called me. They offered me a private viewing area in Italy for Illuminations as "compensation" but I never bothered to show up the day it was scheduled for (it wasn't just for us from the impression I got).

So I was happy at the way it was handled and addressed. Just goes to show you, you can't control all the nuts out there no matter how much training you give them

 

[ToTBellHop]

I've never had any problems with any one attraction, but we have all had our experiences with bad cast members. The fact that most of the CMs are great makes it easier to ignore the obnoxious ones. I don't expect the cast to be perfect, but I wish they would put the mean ones in areas with less guest exposure...

 

[Rcoaster809]

Space Mountain is my favorite attraction at WDW, and I have never had any bad experiences with CMs there. Sometimes though, especially late at night it seems that some at the load platform do not move quickly, so when they finally dispatch a rocket, it goes right around into the tunnel. I dont know why, but no matter what, it really is not anything bad.

I would love to work at Space Mountain, but I thing the two jobs that would be the hardest are the onse where you have to tell little kids (and their parents) that they cannot ride. Also the CM that "lines people up" on the loading platform has a stressful job. I always see guests standing on the wrong numbers!!! It is funny sometimes.

My only complaint about Space Mountain is that they added a singles line, but no one (other then those of us here) knows about it, and I have never seen it used.

 

[Chape19714]

I would say that Space Mountain is one of the most difficult attractions to opperate. I have never had a problem with the CM's, but some of them tend to be less into thier job than others.

 

[WDWScottieBoy]

While at the MK Monday night for the e-ride night, we had a very friendly CM at the loading bay. He was the one that put us on the numbers and he seemed to be having a blast with his job, and that was around 11:30 at night. He said everything with a positive tone in his voice and always had a smile on his face.