Originally Posted By BlazesOfFire Well yesterday I had a day trip to WDW> We went to MGM & MK and all in all, had one of the best times I have ever had at WDW, even with it being President's Day Weekend. At MGM, my friend and I encountered the best CMs! At Rockin Roller coaster, we decided to buy our photo from the ride. The CM said, "If you plan on going on the ride later, ask for the front of a car to get a better pic." I said, "not unless you want to give us a couple of fastpasses...the wait is too long." I wouldn't have minded buying that pic. I had a great time, and it was a funny picture! However, this guy asked us to folow him and we went back around to the unloading area, through the back exit there and right back into the loading area with no problems, and we got front of course. That just made my day! And our photo was even better the second time. At MK, since we were pushing a wheelchair, we had to ask CMs frequently about where we should go in line with it. Some were very nice! A CM at Winnie the Pooh even gave us a couple of fastpasses for a time much sooner then the time posted, and then let us in 10 minutes before the time alloted. Basically CMs made our day great (with the exception of one at Peter Pan)! I noticed that if you encounter a lot of CMs who are having bad days, they can really bring you down, but I was fortunate to encounter great CMs yesterday. I am totally convinced that CMs can either make or break your day at WDW!
Originally Posted By Chelledun Great to hear some positive stuff about cast members. Thanks for sharing!
Originally Posted By trailsend Yes it is. I know a few and they LOVE their jobs and try to spread the magic and sprinkle pixie dust.
Originally Posted By beamerdog Nice to hear that you had a good time. I'm always thankful for the cm's who go out of their way to make your visit wonderful.
Originally Posted By StitchMom84 The daughter of a friend got married in WDW in Oct 2004. Before the ceremony, she (Bride) handed her purse to her Grandma to hang onto. Of course, the purse had every single document, credit card, room key card & all of the cash that they had in it. And, you guessed it.. Grandma set it down and "forgot" it. They discovered it missing when they arrived at their restaurant after the ceremony. They were in a panic, needless to say. Their party split up, re-traced their steps trying to find it, but to no avail. They did have dinner ( and didn't enjoy it one bit ), and unknown to them at the time, the purse had been found by a CM who went out of her way ( and long after her shift was over, I believe ), to do some detective work to find this wedding party and return the purse intact to them. They were (naturally) overjoyed, and tried to give her a reward and she was adamant that this was her job and she would not think of it! She also stayed right there, requested that the Bride check the purse and make sure it had everything in it, before she left them! I guess there was a substantial amount of cash in there, and it might have been tempting for many people. But, the even more surprising part of this was two days later when they were on a ride in the MK, and the groom's ring came off his finger ( he had lost weight between the time they had the rings sized and the wedding ) and it slipped off his finger onto the seat of the ride without him noticing it. I guess the CM that found it, made sure it was turned over immediately to the Lost and Found area. Anyhow, when the B & G went into the Lost and Found area, they were describing the ring,and another CM who had been helping someone else overheard this and remembered a man's ring coming in earlier in the day and went to look for it. At first, they couldn't find it, as it had been put in some different place due to it's value ( or something like that), but they didn't stop until they turned the place upside down and finally located it. The dedication of all of the CM's involved prevented their fantasy wedding/honeymoon from turning into a nightmare! I guess in all cases, the CM's were very concerned about the B & G and that they go forward and have a wonderful honeymoon! To have just one of these things happen to you could be a big trauma, but to have both happen within two days is unthinkable!! But, due to the dedication and quick action of several caring CM's, they have an interesting story to tell about their wedding experience in WDW!
Originally Posted By RHODISNEY IMO,....The CMS I encountered that weren't real enthusiastic, were on rides that they didn't think were cool...like the bored looking guy at TTA, or the lackluster guides you get on the jungle cruise, who are tired of the same script day after day,(there are a couple of great skippers; ones who love their job mind you... or the CM, I talked to in line at PeterPan who was frowning because she felt overwhelmed with the great throng of people in the always crowed queue. (why don't they make that queue bigger and less cramped up?) I get claustrophobic standing in the line for PeterPan. The best CMs are the ones that have to get into character like for TOT or HM.
Originally Posted By Chelledun ^^My husband was stationed on "Making of Me" for a while but he says he was still enthusiastic!
Originally Posted By cape cod joe The CM's are so incredibly nice you almost forget the starting pay is around 7 dollars and hour. Incredible when you see how they pour their whole hearts into it.
Originally Posted By splashmountaincm It is nice to hear appreciation from time to time. what most people tend to not understand is that it is a crappy job at times and it is really hard to be "disney quality" all the time. Although I love my job and 98.5% of the time I will bend over backwards for guests I have bad days too. I have unfortunatley been in rather unpleasant situations with guests that I have not handled in the best way possible... but lets face it at the end of a 15 hour day after standing in 95 degree heat, in an uncomfortable costume, dealing with jerks and making crappy pay anyone can be pushed past the limit. If the guests treated us with the same respect that we initially set out to show them moralle would generally be much higher both for employees and guests. ok... Im done with this rant.
Originally Posted By itsme Had many CM's go out of there way {not relizing that they did} to make my sons day when we were just there. Quite a few of the caractures when signing my sons book were goofing around with him having fun, and then from hearing his name would sign it to him, a few added something like a heart or an xoxo, cool hair etc. It was definatly more interaction then i have had/seen in the past or even on this trip with some other kids who would just walk up get the sig, pose for the pic and go. With what they have to probably deal with from some folks who except the world and there personalitys i give them all the credit in the world.
Originally Posted By Mickey4President We took our kids to Disney in 2004 and stayed for the first time in the park. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach. While taking us to our room, the person that took our luggage stayed in our room for 20 minutes giving us suggestions. Then he went and got us more x-large towels, because we were heading to Typhoon Lagoon. A bad one was when we were at the MK, and we went to buy some ice cream near Big Thunder Mountain. My hubby asked the CM selling it, if the cookie on the ice cream cookie was hard or soft. (We can buy them at our grocery store that the cookies are soft.) She was really rude to him and kept rolling her eyes. My kids were happily eating there ice cream, and my hubby told me to pick something. I didn't want to make a scene in front of my happy kids. I whispered in my hubby's ear that, I wouldn't buy the Hope Diamond off of her if she was selling it for $0.10, she's too rude. Then I said out loud that I was too full from lunch and couldn't possible eat any ice cream. At which my 5 year old says, "OK that it's, Mom tomorrow no lunch for you so you can eat ice cream."
Originally Posted By danyoung ^^ There's a CM who should have been fired on the spot. I can understand when someone has a bad day and maybe isn't totally chipper. But to be blatantly rude to a customer after asking such a normal valid question is just plain bad. I'd fire someone working an ice cream cart at a local ballpark for that, so how much higher should Disney's standards be?
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney ^^Disney has NO standards with hiring CMs today at WDW, Dan. Whoever walks into the casting center gets hired, even if they're still wearing their ankle 'bracelet' from the county! ;-) I am amazed at how many good CMs exist considering how Disney treats them too.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 While I don;t want to get into the whole how Disney treats their employees, because let's face it- there are precious few companies anywhere today that treat their employees well.. the problem is trying to find 50,000 + CM's in Orlando and surrounding area. You'd have a hard time doing that in NY / Chicago or LA with populations their size....so I am sure that many hires are less than Disney standard -- but where are you going to find 50,000 of those -- regardless of any other side issues -- it's the service industry...and here's some numbers for the service industry -- the expected turnover rate is well over 200%. Yep - that's why everyone from Walgreens to Chuck E Cheese tries to hang on to the real good ones-- because the others average life span is less than 6 months. And for every one that makesit a year- there is another who has 3 -4 people in that same slot. scary
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney I agree, VBDAD55. However, if Disney raised its starting wages a buck an hour, you'd be amazed at how the talent pool gets deeper.
Originally Posted By xzoocrew I remember when I went through my CM training I was told that even if it's the one hundredth time you've been asked that question today it's the first time the guest has asked the question. Be nice. It's a lesson I've found to be useful in many situations beyond having left Disney long ago.
Originally Posted By LuvDatDisney ^^Considering how the Disney U Traditions program has been watered down, I doubt they even include lessons like that anymore.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo <<I remember when I went through my CM training I was told that even if it's the one hundredth time you've been asked that question today it's the first time the guest has asked the question.>> You know, I knew so many CMs who seemed to get frustrated in cases such as this. But really, all they need to do is see the humor in it, smile, play with it, etc... It makes the job much more fun and makes the CM more approachable as he/she seems friendly, even in odd or potentially frustrating situations. Heck, at entrance of Auto, I remember being asked where FP distribution was six times in a row —and I mean they lined up right behind each other and asked the same question almost verbatim. By the fourth guest, in didn’t bother to even drop my pointing fingers, just stood there pointing, smiling and animatedly saying “Up on the ledge.†I think I even remember receiving a compliment from that day. Point is, make the job fun and potentially frustrating situations won’t be too much of a bother.
Originally Posted By danyoung >However, if Disney raised its starting wages a buck an hour, you'd be amazed at how the talent pool gets deeper.< I agree. And I also think that the training program needs to be re-beefed up. It's possible to bring people up a notch in their performance if you train them properly and then expect them to perform.
Originally Posted By Kimrue Rolling eyes is the most obnoxious thing an employee working ANYWHERE can do. What people need to understand is you can think anything in your head and keep a smile on your face. I went to CVS yesterday and asked for "earplanes" the guy behind the counter rolled his eyes and said "what? What are you talking about?!" in front of a full line of people. I wanted to smack him in the head and say...you work in a pharmacy and you don't know what earplanes are and you have the nerve to treat ME like an idiot???! He looked at the girl next to him and said..."what is she talking about?" the girl said, aisle six miss....I smugly went back in his line with my earplanes Also, with the icecream I would've called the little brat on it...rolling her eyes over a question about the product she is selling...how DARE you!
