When You're A Tourist...Do The Locals Hate You?

[jrogue]

Honestly, it's all about the type of tourist they are. I'm a native New Yorker and for a while I worked in the Times Square Disney Store. We've had all sorts of guests there -- even the Brazilian tour groups!! One of the questions I received the most from guests was "You were born and raised in NYC? But you're so nice!" -___-

But like I said, it depends on the type of tourist they are. There can be very polite tourists who will ask (with manners!) where things are, or where they could find certain things. There are guests who love Disney and just want to share their Disney love and knowledge with you and will tell you some fantastic stories. Then there are guests who could care less about the cast member helping them and are very rude. They insult you if you can't find something, they get nasty with you if you don't have something they want, and they tear apart the store both literally and figuratively. From my experience, it was always the nicer guests that cast members went out of their way for or gave free things to. The rude ones no one wanted to go near.

 

[Britt]

Not necessarily... I wear cargo pocket shorts and 6" lace-up hiking/work boots most of the year. Even when we take the kids to the aquarium, zoo, grocery store, etc.. I have my boots on. When we go on our Disney cruise next month and have a day in the parks, I will my lace-up boots. I wear my ropers (yes I am from Texas) or lace-up boots during the times when jeans are necessary. I don't even own "athletic" shoes and don't get me started on sandles on guys. So, I am sure there are lots of people that "dress up" to head to the mountains, but that is the way I dress daily down here on the plains.

Oh you can tell the "new" stuff from the worn! Boots that are worn like that, dont still have that sheen on the sole....haha ; )

 

[Tom Morrow]

The way I see it, typically a CM will either:

1. Have a positive or good interaction with you and think you're awesome/re-affirm why they work there.
2. Have a standard/minimal interaction with you and not think anything about it one way or another (probably accounts for 80-90% of all guest-CM interactions)
3. Have a negative situation with you, but in general your question, request, or concern has to be fairly ridiculous to where you would be mocked. Something like insisting your much-too-short child ride an attraction.

I wouldn't worry too much - if you're on this forum, you probably fall into category 1 or 2.

 

[Tiggerfanatic]

Well being from Scotland. I am the tourist and I always get " Hey! Where are you guys from.? " I think it's a combination of my accent and looks,but I love the way I'am treated in America. Your manners are second to none.Example...Iam waiting for our coach picking us up at PORS to take us to Sanford and this wee Mickey Rooney lookalike coach driver comes over to lift our three heavy cases onto the bus." It's ok buddy,I'll get them " ( yes I tipped him ) He struggled as he was about 80 years of age and 4ft 11" Anyway,when we arrived at Glasgow airport,our coach pulled up and the door opened and the bus driver yelled " Whits yer name and how many in yer party " I told him " Smith,party of 3 ". " Ok,He shouts,Just put yer cases in the back Jimmy." Welcome back to Scotland

That accent thing works both ways, Hatter! I met some wonderful people when I was in Scotland that started as soon as they heard me speak. I won't lie, some of them were hard to understand (one guy on the train wanted to talk about meatloaf and Bar-B-Q), I'm guessing your version of our deep South drawl, but we managed to have some pretty wonderful conversations.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I always treat others with respect whether I am at home or away from home. So I would always fall into catagory #1. Thats how I was raised and how I raised my child. Unfortunately there are people who demand they get treated differently, see themselves as being entitled to getting more than others or are above following the rules. Thats when the CM's get pushed to the point of viewing "tourists" negatively. A guest who interacts well, is respectful, will always make up for the one who was a jerk.

 

[hollywoodj]

This thread is seriously putting me off visiting if that is what CMs really think of me

I really wouldn't read into this thread at all. If someone has a problem with you but is courteous and does their job, and you can't even tell, who cares? It's the same situation as daily life. If people dislike you, do you really wanna know? A few negative experiences with select GROUPS of tourists are what give the whole population a bad rep to SOME CMs. This is typically inconsiderate foreigners, though. Me? As long as you follow the rules and are considerate to your fellow guests AND cast members, I'll treat you with the respect you deserve. I'm a friendly person to begin with though, lol.

 

[briar-rose]

Well I always try to be as polite to anyone like I want him to be to me but I see how tourists often are annoying. We never see so many fellow Germans when visiting WDW and I don't think I ever saw someone from Germany being rude or something but that doesn't mean that we don't have bad mannered people In fact when I visit German theme parks I often think that there is way more politeness and discipline in the US parks and they have way more tourists than our parks do I believe.

 

[acishere]

Locals do not hate tourists. They hate stupid and/or jerky tourists who cannot drive. So they only hate like 90% of tourists.

Though I am basing this on my experience with tourists visiting the beaches by me. And NJ beaches get the worst tourists.

 

[MKCP 1985]

To my recollection, locals weren't so crazy about each other either.

 

[luv]

I really wouldn't read into this thread at all. If someone has a problem with you but is courteous and does their job, and you can't even tell, who cares?

Excellent point.

 

[bethymouse]

cop to pull a stupid driver over...
That reminds me of when we were going down I-4 w/ the local traffic and trying to keep up w/ everyone going over the posted 55mph limit! The cop must've known somehow we were going to WDW. He was very kind and just mouthed to us "55" and put the 2 hands up to show "55". He could've pulled us over, but thankfully he didn't! He must've been thinking "stupid Disney tourists.".

 

[bethymouse]

teachers that go on Facebook to complain about students and parents and the
and vice versa.

 

[Figments Friend]

Nobody will ever know you are a tourist if you make SURE you pronounce *Kissimee* the correct way.
If you pronounce it KI-SIM-ee...you are okay and will blend in fine.
If you pronounce it KISS-i-mee...forget it, they know you are from out of town!

Oh, and no wearing shorts and t-shirts in 30 degree weather in FL during January visits.
Yeah, i am looking at YOU Northeasterners !

 

[Disvillain63]

I for one will be looking at CM's in a new light when I visit in six weeks.[/quote]

I'm sure that some of the CM's may be venting, as anybody does about their job from time to time. I don't think they really mean any harm; sometimes you just need to vent. I'd rather let them vent than actually take their frustration out on someone in the park. Do you think your children's teachers go home and tell their spouses that they had a wonderful day ... everyday? It's only human-nature.

 

[Monkee Girl]

I think it is this way anywhere you are dealing with people. I have a job that deals with handling customers all day and some of them can be nuts! lol. I don't mind helping people, but when you are rude or play dumb, I get very annoyed. There are people who have been coming to my office for years and will come in one day not wanting to follow the rules, so they play dumb like they didn't know a procedure. Then they get mad at me if I make them do something a certain way. Don't treat me like I am stupid. I am only doing my job. I understand I need to treat customers with respect; it's my job. But my goodness the attitudes!

The only plus I can give cast members is think of all the stories you can tell about people, lol

I have never had an issue with a cast member. They have always been sweet and nice to me because I am sweet and nice to them.

 

[Monkee Girl]

I couldn't resist

 

[Monkee Girl]

 

[Disvillain63]

As for tourist, I live in Augusta and we have this little golf tournament that takes place the first full week of April every year. We deal with a sudden, not continuous, onslaught of traffic and tourists...but it's fun...maybe we don't mind, since it is just one week. We know what to avoid, if we want to avoid it and we're prepared with the answers to the questions... When I worked at TDS, we enjoyed the tourist (especially the Japanese golf enthusiasts), they'd come into the store (we couldn't understand them) but they managed to spend a lot of money. If we suggested an item, they would buy the item...ca-ching! We also like the surprise look on tourists faces when we tell them that we don't golf...for some strange reason, they believe we all golf...all the time...

 

[AngryEyes]

I worked in hospitality in Las Vegas and I didn't mind the drivers much, simply because you just avoided the strip. The walkers, however...my reflexes were lightning quick and I could stop on a dime, because someone was always going to stop suddenly, change directions randomly, and so on. Tourists like shiny things.

On the other hand, I was well-prepared for touring the parks. Now, I've been out of the game for six or seven years, so I'm fully expecting to trip over someone and faceplant this June.

 

[Cliff Racer]

teachers that go on Facebook to complain about students and parents and the and vice versa.

Speaking as someone who has a teacher as a family member, maybe that wouldn't happen if none of the parents constantly bothered teachers trying to get grades changed repeatedly when the kid isn't anywhere close to failing, lied about contacts with teachers to school admins, pulled kids out of class every other week for trips to grandma's, laugh when the kid is caught vandalizing a teacher's house or sticking something in his food, buy the kid another car after he crashes his last while drunk (and the dad was a former cop who managed to have his friends misfile the paperwork so the kid didn't even get in trouble) or any of the other things I've heard about and seen myself. And to think someone went to court to try to get all teachers addresses publicly listed!

As to students and parents complaining about teachers, its their right to do so just as much as it is any worker's right to complain about their boss. They are, most of the time, kids after all so you come to expect and tolerate a lot of it.