The CM's at Disney versus those at Universal

Whose 'cast members' are better, Disney or Universal

  • I'm going for the mouse, the best without doubt

    Votes: 65 52.0%

  • I'm going Uni all the way, better out of the two

    Votes: 8 6.4%

  • I'm saying pretty equal nowadays which is a win for all guests

    Votes: 49 39.2%

  • What's it got to do with you, you're British so comment on and visit your own parks

    Votes: 3 2.4%
  • Total voters
    125
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
The best CM/TMs that I have encountered anywhere in the Orlando market can be found at Loews Portofino Bay Resort at Uni. I find the frontline in-park CM/TMs are pretty equal. Disney wins in the Guest Relations (problem solving) department.
 
jonesenon4

jonesenon4

Active Member
my family are pass holders for both parks and go often.so i do feel qualified to comment on this.disney cast members overall are more informed , helpful and friendly. however universal has made great strides in the last few years and are closing in on disney.so i did vote for equal with a slight disney edge.but we do still love both parks and in 22 days will be spending 9 wonderful days using DVC points for the first time.
 
captainmoch

captainmoch

Well-Known Member
I've always thought they were pretty much the same. I have memories of great cast members and bad ones from both resorts. I do have a question, though. I'm a fan of both Disney and Universal, and would love to someday work at either resort, although at Harry Potter in particular. Do the two resorts have similar benefits for their CMs/TMs, and how does one even get a job there? (Sorry if this is too off-topic, I've just always been genuinely curious and haven't seen any other thread close enough in topic.)
 
POLY LOVER

POLY LOVER

Well-Known Member
Chef Mickey said:
"As someone who hires?" What does that even mean? What is your position, company, and whom do you hire? Just because you view ex-Disney employees with crossed eyes doesn't mean you're right.

Disney is a leader in hospitality and customer service. Fact. The style might not translate to every line of work, but Disney certainly gives good experience to its employees. The amount Disney gets out of an hourly employee making <$10/hr is incredible.
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As someone who hires I would take a former Disney employee over most.
 
mkt

mkt

When a paradise is lost go straight to Disney™
Premium Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
The best CM/TMs that I have encountered anywhere in the Orlando market can be found at Loews Portofino Bay Resort at Uni. I find the frontline in-park CM/TMs are pretty equal. Disney wins in the Guest Relations (problem solving) department.
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Loews Hotels has very high guest service standards - higher IMO than Disney's
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
MississippiBelle said:
I would say they were about equal; however, our latest trip to Universal changed my mind. We went to Harry Potter Land for the first time and I was surprised that I only came across one team member with a British accent. I'm not trying to incite some kind of bizarre racism argument, but being has the books are set entirely in the UK and all of the characters in the movies are from the UK, I was expecting there to be some kind of World Showcase-esque environment where the immersion went as far as the accents of the team members. I couldn't help but think "If this was Disney, all of these team members would at least be faking a British accent and feigning no knowledge of 'Muggle' life". That being said, one team member went out of his way to get into character when we asked him where Knockturn Alley was, which totally made the trip for us. But he was the only one in character that we saw.
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If I remember correctly, when the Wizarding World first opened, a lot of the team members were feigning British accents. As you might imagine, some of them were better at doing this than others, and soon an edict from management came down instructing the team to speak in their normal voices.

To answer the OP's question, I've found WDW and Universal's employee demeanors to be right around equal, which is understandable since so many people who work for Universal have worked for Disney at some point or other.

That said, the best staff I've encountered at any park are the ones working at Dollywood, though Disneyland isn't far behind.
 
englanddg

englanddg

One Little Spark...
Bairstow said:
If I remember correctly, when the Wizarding World first opened, a lot of the team members were feigning British accents. As you might imagine, some of them were better at doing this than others, and eventually an edict from management came down instructing the team to speak in their normal voices.

To answer the OP's question, I've found WDW and Universal's employee demeanors to be right around equal, which is understandable since so many people who work for Universal have worked for Disney at some point or other.

That said, the best staff I've encountered at any park are the ones working at Dollywood, though Disneyland isn't far behind.
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Not British, most likely...rather...Cockney. Iddn't that roit guv? U wot mate?
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
englanddg said:
Not British, most likely...rather...Cockney. Iddn't that roit guv? U wot mate?
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Exactly. Trying to sort out your American-born cast members who get paid to load the roller coasters and sell the candy by who can and can't differentiate proper Sloane from Surrey is way more trouble and potential HR difficulties than it's worth.
I swear on me mum.
 
mergatroid

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Bairstow said:
Exactly. Trying to sort out your American-born cast members who get paid to load the roller coasters and sell the candy by who can and can't differentiate proper Sloane from Surrey is way more trouble and potential HR difficulties than it's worth.
I swear on me mum.
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Shouldn't that be mam :rolleyes:
 
wdwjmp239

wdwjmp239

Well-Known Member
Universal Studios is full of overacting, extremely amateur, fresh out of acting school graduates (and those getting into acting school, as well.) I remember going on Jaws back in 2004 and my girlfriend (now wife) and I looked at the kid at the front of the boat as if to say, "Dude! Give it a rest!" He was all over the damn place almost to the point where when he grabbed for his gun to shoot the shark, he almost flipped over the side. When we got back to the loading station and we were getting off - I remember telling him to get his money back from the drama school he went to. You can act and pretend to give the guests the experience they're looking for, but when you overplay it.....kills the mood.

Disney....they're just fine! Some overacting, but not enough to get into a tizzy over. Disney all the way. :)
 
Miss Heinous

Miss Heinous

Well-Known Member
ntn_haqqer said:
Universal Studios is full of overacting, extremely amateur, fresh out of acting school graduates (and those getting into acting school, as well.) I remember going on Jaws back in 2004 and my girlfriend (now wife) and I looked at the kid at the front of the boat as if to say, "Dude! Give it a rest!" He was all over the damn place almost to the point where when he grabbed for his gun to shoot the shark, he almost flipped over the side. When we got back to the loading station and we were getting off - I remember telling him to get his money back from the drama school he went to. You can act and pretend to give the guests the experience they're looking for, but when you overplay it.....kills the mood.

Disney....they're just fine! Some overacting, but not enough to get into a tizzy over. Disney all the way. :)
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So you're basing the entire Universal staff off of one Jaws Skipper from over 10 years ago?
 
englanddg

englanddg

One Little Spark...
ntn_haqqer said:
That's the one that comes to mind. There were others. But, I still prefer Disney over Universal anyways. That's my opinion. If you prefer Universal over Disney....then that's your choice.
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Well, I'll say this.

I'll compare my dozens upon dozens of days in the past five year CM experiences at WDW and DL to my 10 total at Uni over the same time period.

I have more in park positive experiences that I can actually relate from the Uni Trips of people not only enjoying their jobs, but also going the extra steps.

I really hate to say it (I mean, I really do, because I have a LOT of great WDW stories as well, and I have some bad Uni ones too), but if you take that as a statistical average...

Well...what would you think?
 
mergatroid

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ntn_haqqer said:
Universal Studios is full of overacting, extremely amateur, fresh out of acting school graduates (and those getting into acting school, as well.) I remember going on Jaws back in 2004 and my girlfriend (now wife) and I looked at the kid at the front of the boat as if to say, "Dude! Give it a rest!" He was all over the damn place almost to the point where when he grabbed for his gun to shoot the shark, he almost flipped over the side. When we got back to the loading station and we were getting off - I remember telling him to get his money back from the drama school he went to. You can act and pretend to give the guests the experience they're looking for, but when you overplay it.....kills the mood.

Disney....they're just fine! Some overacting, but not enough to get into a tizzy over. Disney all the way. :)
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Well that's fair enough and is your opinion though it seems a tad harsh saying that to the guy as you left the ride :eek:

Reminds me in some way of one time on 'The Great Movie Ride' where I witnessed really bad presentation by the performing cm (bearing in mind this is one time from numerous great visits). Firstly they sounded like they were just reading the lines out, no interest, passion or even an attempt to 'act'. Initially I thought that was a deliberate attempt at a 'boring persona' but soon realised it wasn't and was just a terrible performance. Also their accent was so strong (not American) that much of what they said was unintelligible and most of the guests were looking at one another as if to say "Is it just me or is this lady hard to understand".

Of course I wouldn't judge Disney on just this one particular cm as that wouldn't be fair and she may have been feeling ill that day etc. However it is an example that any employee can have an off day or be just not suitable for a particular role etc and also shows it's not just Uni that has that problem..
 

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