The magic is still there, I think the issue right now is there are sooo many new hires that they’re still finding their comfort zone and learning what is “allowed” in regards to going above and beyond. I’m an official people watcher. I’ve worked for Disney almost 15 years now in various roles and working on my bachelors for guest service and theme park management. If I’m at the park, all I’m doing is watching and observing. Yes, I’ve seen some cringe moments, not because the cast member is purposely trying to be rude, but because they just don’t know any better. They’re probably new, their trainer was probably new, and half their leaders are probably new. They’re all trying to learn their role, their area, their resources, their networks. It will get more back to normal as time goes on. My sister and kids were just down for a trip last week so I was on high alert watching the service being offered. Some things that stuck out to me:
At Art of Animation we were greeted with curb side check in cast members who were able to complete our check in and issue us some key to the world cards right at the porte cochère which was great since we got right back in the car and drove to our room without having to park at checkin parking.
At the pool there was a cast member coming around offering fresh towels and water toys
Our server at trattoria al Forno was fantastic and went above and beyond to replate a couple things to make it easier to share
The cast in momento Mori were very engaging and gave my niece and nephew special stickers
All the cast at the flower and garden booths were super nice and suggested other things we should see and do.
We never really encountered anything “bad” during our stay so don’t have any stories of things like upgrades or things like that, but all the cast we interacted with were pleasant.
I also think it goes both ways, my family is always very polite to the cast and it is always reciprocated. For example, when I was washing my hands in the restroom a custodial cast member was washing the sinks, I turned to him and said “thank you so much for keeping this area clean for all of us”. He just about dropped dead. He went on to say it’s very hard work but he’s proud of what he does and thank you for noticing. I know guests are usually in a rush when they’re visiting but a please, thank you, a smile, it really makes the cast members day.
Another side note is that it has been BUSY here since halloween, there’s been no lull to give these cast a little break, it’s been non stop, and the busier it gets the harder it is for cast to get a few extra minutes to do something special, because it has to be all hands on deck.
So, We’re getting there, it’s just going to take some time I think.
