Originally Posted By PirateJohn You know, as much as I think the VMK scavenger hunts at Disneyland are a great idea, I'd be quite happy to see it go. Frankly, there are WAY too many people who get completely indignant over getting a wrong answer. I'm not kidding -- I don't see why people get so livid over getting questions wrong. Does Alex Trebek have to put up with this?
Originally Posted By fidoprincess Well, we won't play again! My ds is 10 and was really into it, drove me crazy but I played along counting all the rubies at the horseshoe, checking the jeep at Indy and walking all the way around the matterhorn to see the special footprint! Other CMs helped us find places too and it was a great opportunity for DS to overcome being so shy because he would actually ask CMs where things were and they were all being so nice to him. I was thrilled with that part and happy to see him so excited about something challenging and fun. Ds was soo excited and while I hit the restroom, he and DH took his paper over to the VMK stand and a really nice female CM was there. Ds had something wrong and the CM gave him a hint and when I rejoined them off we went again to find the right answer. The CM was really sweet and told ds she would help him but when we returned 10 minutes later a different male CM was there and was rude to my ds! Hope it wasn't you! It wasn't as if he was busy, no one else was even there. He didn't help him and as we walked away with 3 little cards (virtual prizes), ds was crying! He's 10 and it takes a lot to make him cry!! He was crying because he did get something wrong and it was the same one we just tried to fix with the help of the other CM. It wasn't just that it was wrong but how the CM talked to ds, really rude! He felt shamed by the CM. I could not believe that Disney would promote something that would make little kids cry! And look at the "big" prize-a plastic wristband. Geez, they should give those away just for the effort of finishing the tasks. When we asked the mean cm about when the nice (other) Cm would return thinking she would be nice and maybe give us a hint of encouragement, he said there was no other CM, he had been there all night! Why lie? Ds was so dismayed and confused that this CM was so rude and so disappointed too because he was sure the female CM who had been so nice would have helped him. What is the purpose of shame and humiliation? My ds didn't want the wristband but was enjoying doing the challenges and excited about the virtual prizes. Maybe the "WAY too many people who get completely indignant over getting a wrong answer. I'm not kidding -- I don't see why people get so livid over getting questions wrong" are just upset at the way they are treated!! Not upset over getting the answers wrong but the way the CMS treat them! I felt so bad for ds and told him to save it and we can do it again next trip when we have more time. He threw it away and won't even go to the website anymore. Maybe it was never meant for kids, just adults? Or maybe they should make a special effort to put CMs at the booth who would be kind to children and not shame and humilate them. Kids love to learn and do challenges and it can be a great experience for them in the hands of the right people.
Originally Posted By bean fidoprincess, i hope you did something about this CM's rude behavior toward your child. If there is one thing the Walt Disney co. takes serious, is complaints of rude CM's especially towards children. I reccomend to anyone that encounters a rude CM to immediately report that CM. Ask that you talk to his/her lead and make sure it is put in writing. believe me it will be taken care off. It is up to the guest to make sure that Disney park Castmembers do not turn into rude employees. Most of these bad apples go undetected until a guest reports them. I also reccomend you make the CM aware that you will be reporting him/her. Ask the person for her name (yes i know its on their tag but make them aware you are did notice) "Excuse me your name is? (stare at his/her tag). I will need to know when i go to city hall" or ask that you see his/her lead and report him/her in front of the lead then make sure it is also reported at city hall to make sure lead does something about it.
Originally Posted By PirateJohn Well, fido, I can tell you that wasn't me as the story doesn't sound familiar at all. All the same, I don't give hints, either. The official line from Disneyland is that we're not supposed to give hints at all. Frankly, IMO, I happen to agree with that, too. After all, it is a game, and like any scavenger hunt, a big part of any game is that everyone should have the same rules. I used to referee youth soccer, so I know what I'm talking about here... Granted, that doesn't excuse outwardly rude behavior, but let's not forget that just because one CM does what they're specifically told not to doesn't mean a CM that sticks to the rules is trying to be mean or rude, either. I try to be as polite as possible even when people are upset over wrong answers, but sometimes that just isn't enough. Frankly, all of this is one major reason why I wouldn't mind seeing the VMK Scavenger Hunts go away. It's a good idea, but I think too many people take it far too seriously and it makes it difficult to get any sort of consistency or fairness in the game. That's why a lot of the CMs over there tend to hate working the VMK booth. Most of the time, it's a lot of fun, actually, and I really do like it there. I never tire of explaining VMK to guests even when I get asked about it a hundred times a day. But I just see far too many people get absolutely livid over the game. I've even had people who didn't even bother going on the quests tell me I should just give them all the prizes anyway.
Originally Posted By TP2000 fidoprincess, you are going to send off a quick not to Disney on the disneyland.com website about that experience, right? You know that posting it here for us to read won't really do anything, right? I feel badly for your son. I just hate to see a legit concern go away because the person was able to vent on a message board, and felt like they told "someone", when they weren't really telling anyone. Email Disney from the official disneyland.com website. It will take 3 minutes. You can even cut and paste most of your post into the email.
Originally Posted By fidoprincess I know I should have made a report/complaint (hanging head in shame!) and should have kept my vent to myself-sorry. It's just that when a mom complains about something when her kids are there it makes it worse for the kids and by the time we get home, I just don't want to deal with it anymore. The other big part is that we, as a family, have a great deal of respect for CMs in general. They really can make the trip special and almost every single one does things that IMHO are "above and beyond the call of duty." Who am I to say that at that minute, that CM wasn't just having a bad day/minute/etc..? Plus, it was Thanksgiving Weekend and we know how hard they were all working and all the overtime they were doing. So we tend to forgive and forget or at least that is what I tell my kids but really my heart was broken for ds and I was sad that he wouldn't play the VMK anymore because it seemed like one of the better online games. Worse, he now plays Runescape! The one CM who really ruined MY day was the one at the fantasmic balcony I posted about in my trip report. I was really going to write to Disney about him! However when we got home, I realized that he was just stressed and probably had no idea that he upset me so much! It must have be upsetting to him that he mixed up the seating for the 2 shows and made us wait so long. I guess I am a softy but by the time I got home, I actually felt sorry for him but at the time, all I could think of was how much $$ and how hard it was to get the tickets. So in all our trips to DL, if those are the only 2 bad experences, we are indeed very lucky. If I had to write about all the super nice CMs and each and every thing they did to make our days special, I'd be here all day-lol. Really, little things like letting my kids sit up in the front of storybook boat can just make their whole day!
