Originally Posted By bobbelee9 I feel that if you want to be taken seriously, you must look and act serious, and if you have 30 piercings and pink hair... no way I'd take you seriously.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORGOCH: I got news fer yerself, danyoung, ducklin'--ya ain't so young as ya pretend! Ya sound more like an old toad who jumped off a the wrong side a the toad stool. I knows ways ta really give ya somethin' ta be grumpy 'bout, if'n ya ain't careful! ORWEN: And what's this nonsense you're talking about, claiming that we're really one person instead of 3 and even a MAN yet?! You just don't seem to get who we are! ORDDU: Of course the MAIN point we were trying to make is that Disney Management needs to be more concerned about making sure their cast members are informed about new attractions coming to the park. If they want to make sure their guests are going to be excited about making a return trip to Walt Disney World, it naturally SHOULD follow that cast members can be the best advertising tools to inspire everyone to look forward to something new. Years ago--as one of you sweet little ducklings already said--it was a given that cast members would naturally know about upcoming attractions and even be promoting them to unsuspecting guests. But the current morale at Disney theme parks is so low that it's no wonder the young girl we spoke with was totally unaware and uninterested in something that was taking place just a few feet away from where she was working. We don't blame her. We blame Upper Management......and, by the way danyoung, duckling, if you don't believe in 3 certain witches, I suggest you make the trip to Morva some time soon so we can prove just how wrong you are!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Danny, I'm shocked that you would treat three lovely witches with such disrespect ... I know Texas can be toxic, but please don't go all evil spirit on us. And their point was dead on. As was Jim's response. To make excuses for Disney's poor hiring and training habits only further the continuing WalMarting of WDW. If some CM doesn't even know what is going on in the building behind him/her, what are they going to do if they're asked an important question ... or worse, how will they react in an emergency? You don't make excuses for management, Danny. You are many things, but an apologist ain't one of them. I'll chalk it up to you having crabs in your pants or whatever you said ...
Originally Posted By kennect OH, I remember a perfect day back when Epcot was under construction...It was the day that the new monorail line was going to be open to general guests so they could ride over and get a peek as to what was going on...Well, for me it didn't happen...I approached a gal at the TCC who was picking her nose at the time...Quizzed her on the socalled preview ride and she told me she didn't know what I was talking about...Back at the Comtemporary I asked the front desk about it and they told me "yes" that rides on the new monorail line were happening that day....Sloppy cast members are nothing new even back in the spirited days....
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> Why should this poor newbie automatically know all about everything around her? << She shouldn't. But if I'm stationed to work in front of a building I would at least ask ANYONE nearby what was going on inside, including passing guests. Somebody knows something. That way I'd have an answer when somebody else would ask me, even if I wasn't sure it was 100% true. That said, yes, it is harder to get and keep good people. It saddens me when I see really good Disney people leave the company for better pay elsewhere. They're giving up a lot for money, and they know it.
Originally Posted By danyoung I agree with the general point that Disney is not training their CM's like they used to. And I also agree that it would behoove a CM to be aware of his/her surroundings and be able to answer questions intelligently. I know that's the kind of CM that I would like to be (and maybe will be someday). But I still say that jumping on a CM because she didn't know one piece of info is more of an indication that we're way too freakin' picky. If the girl had said SCREW YOU, that would have been different. But a new employee, somewhat overwhelmed by her situation, was given a test by a knowledgeable regular, and she failed. Do we gasp and freak out that she's an awful CM? Or do we give her a break because she's a newbie and a human and perhaps not as steeped in the history and culture of Disney as the rest of us? It just seemed like a rush to judgement to me.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Now, who 'jumped' on who? There was no attack on this particular cast member what-so-ever. At the moment we were with her, we didn't let on that we were the least bit taken aback by her response. We merely moved on and waited to do our venting here. ORGOCH: If we's gonna' be attackin' ANYBODY it's them upper management types who don't give a Remy Rat's behind 'bout proper trainin'. ORWEN: From what we've heard, the Traditions class has been cut back so badly that it's almost like they don't even have one anymore. And this situation with the cast member is the result of that. That's the main point here.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << I agree with the general point that Disney is not training their CM's like they used to. >> What formal training program has Disney ever had to educate cast members about new rides? It's not like you go back to Disney U. every 2-3 months just to get formal presentations about things that are new. Also, cast members should not be engaged in the sort of rumor mongering that goes on in the online world. If there is construction going on, but no formal sign or announcement yet of what is to come, I wouldn't expect a cast member to acknowledge the existence of a new attraction. It's hard to say if that was the case in this very specific circumstance, but I don't believe Disney had any advertising for TS Mania up until after they had walled off Mickey Ave -- which would have been after this particular episode was described since the cast member was depicted as working only a few feet from the building.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> Also, cast members should not be engaged in the sort of rumor mongering that goes on in the online world. If there is construction going on, but no formal sign or announcement yet of what is to come, << Thank goodness that the bus drivers still know what's going on, and aren't afraid to tell anyone who will listen!
Originally Posted By vbdad55 ^^^^^^^^^^^^ they may just make some stuff up - but they are entertaining
Originally Posted By danyoung >There was no attack on this particular cast member what-so-ever. At the moment we were with her, we didn't let on that we were the least bit taken aback by her response. We merely moved on and waited to do our venting here.< I didn't assume that you'd attacked the CM herself in person. But you most definitely attacked her here - >One would think that, by now, all the cast members at this particular park would know exactly what attraction is being built inside the former Who Wants to be a Millionare building--especially if they happened to be working at an outdoor vending cart right across from it!!!< Reading your statement again, it just hits me all over that we sometimes have unreasonable expectations of CM's, and I still think this was clearly a case of that. Look, this CM might normally work a cart over on New York Street, and may be very knowledgeable about that area of the park. Move her to a new area and she's clueless. Again bringing up my older brother, a CM in DCA, you'll never find a more dedicated, fully indoctrinated employee than my brother. He's been at the DL resort for almost 20 years, and he really loves his work. That said, I'm always surprising him with info about what's coming up, what decision management has just made, etc. He's expected to be knowledgeable about where the nearest restroom is and how much ponchos cost. It's just not realistic to expect him to spend hours of his own time scouring the net for the latest and hottest rumor (or in this case what attraction is going in what new building). Toy Story Mania is a totally known situation by us Disney freaks. That doesn't mean that every CM is going to have the same thirst for company info that we do.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA <Toy Story Mania is a totally known situation by us Disney freaks. That doesn't mean that every CM is going to have the same thirst for company info that we do.> I don't know danyoung. While I understand part of what you're driving at, your statement above begs the question, 'why wouldn't all cast members who work at Disney-MGM Studios know about a new attraction going into the park?' It's not as though new attractions have been sprouting up every other week so it's old news. Sure, a Cast Member at Disney-MGM may not know the specific times of 'The Hoop-dee-doo Revue' but an attraction in their park, directly behind them? Seems odd to me too...
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << It's not as though new attractions have been sprouting up every other week so it's old news. >> It's also not as though this was a new building being started from scratch. There's always rehab work and construction walls up somewhere. Would it necessarily be intuitive that an existing building was going to house a new attraction if there were no signs up announcing something new? I can understand if they were pouring the footers on a new plot of land, but when it's a building that's been used before, maybe you might consider that it's just under rehab and will reopen as the same old thing it was before?
Originally Posted By MPierce While it would be nice for every CM to be a Disney Geek, realisticly you can't expect that. What you do expect is a cheerful helpful person. If a person acts like they are not interested in your question that can be a turn off. I some how get the feeling it was the way that the CM answered Witches that set wrong with them. A pleasant "I don't know, but Ill try to find out" would go a long way in trying to please a coven or just regular guest. After all, you wouldn't want a spell cast upon you, would you.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Wow. Interesting conversation. To my mind, knowing that a new attraction is going into an existing building isn't to my mind, being a Disney geek. It's just being aware of your surroundings.
Originally Posted By MPierce Taking an interest in everything going on at WDW makes you a Disney Geek. Just working there does not. If the person has no interest in knowing what's going on outside of their immediate work area so what. They are not assigned to guest relations, they might have a roving job. They may not work at DHS all the time. I'm just saying everyone at every job does not know what's going on in their office, much less an office as big as WDW. Like I said before it would be nice if every CM wanted to know every little detail about Disney (thus a Disney Geek). Evidently this CM did not fall into this category. It's nice if they would have had the knowledge, but I don't think it's paramount to running a vending cart. Knowing what's going on is nice. but it doesn't necessarily mean you are required to.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Indeed they are--especially when they misinterpret a simple observation as an 'a most definite attack'. It's easy to understand some of TDLFAN's reactions to a certain old toad around here, who would deliberately mis-interpret 3 harmless old ladies as being on the attack of a cast member. ORWEN: Yeah, danyoung, whatever you are. There are times you just don't interpret people correctly at all. I'm glad you're not a trial Judge! ORGOCH: No frog legs fer him, then! ORDDU: But for those of you who DO understand the point we were trying to make, it's been made and we appreciate the fact that SOME ducklings out there aren't quite so interested in trying to color things in a way that is so totally false.
Originally Posted By MPierce ^^^ I very much see your point, I'm just not as passionate about it as you seem to be.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Well, Witches, I think it's clear to see that many don't really care if a Cast Member is knowledgeable about anything outside his immediate work responsibilities. If he can serve ice cream from a vending cart -- he's doing his job, and therefore, he's a perfect Disney cast member. It's no wonder the Disney standards continue to slide.
