Originally Posted By Malin *** Disneyland Paris is notorious for dirt and disrepair. It's a shame. *** *** but the maintenance and custodial standards at DLP were simply atrocious. *** Well what you guys need to understand is that the park is open 365 days a year so its acceptable that some things will get overlooked like broken AA's on Phantom Manor. This was the excuse used to me by a CastMember when I made a complaint to City Hall about the poor standards in which Phantom Manor were in on a recent trip. Nothing in the ball Room scene was working accept one group of Ball Room Dancers and I know I'm not the only Member to pick up on this, and to me while you can ignore a few minor issues like railings, when it comes to attractions I simply can not, as you are paying to visit this park to enjoy the attractions only.
Originally Posted By SuperDry That almost sounds like the type of excuse that comes out of WDW these days: something that's complete nonsense but might convince some people.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Interesting ... a friend just got back from his first visit to DLP and what he raved about most was how every attraction was in top show quality. Now, he said the park was a mess outside ... and that most CMs didn't appear to have a clue about English although one apparently did and thought the use of the word bull$hit with a guest was acceptable ... but no complaints with show effects at all. I personally wouldn't waste time with logging a complaint at City Hall in any park that Disney actually owns myself ... although I would have gotten that CM's name and sent their response on to Philipe Gas and/or George Kalogridis to see if that type of response is the official DLP stance.
Originally Posted By Malin *** Did you ask that person if Phantom Manor is open 365 days a year? *** I could of argued that point to her but end of the day she is not someone who makes Management decisions and is responsible for handling Guest enquiries only. Her job is to spin everything in a positive light, but to her defense she did make the time to listen to my complain as well as find out how the rest of the my visit to the park was. Before showing me to a side room where I was able to fill in a form. *** That almost sounds like the type of excuse that comes out of WDW these days: something that's complete nonsense but might convince some people. *** Sadly with WDW there are actually running these attractions into the ground by having them operatate 365 days a year. During my visit to the Magic Kingdom only one attraction was closed for refurbishment in the off season and that was the Hall of Presidents. *** Interesting ... a friend just got back from his first visit to DLP and what he raved about most was how every attraction was in top show quality. *** Interesting because Phantom Manor has recently come back from refurb and reports say everything is now operating like normal. Every other attraction I encountered at the park was in top condition and I can only hope this will continue. Despite some sore points like Phantom Manor and the upcoming Mickey's Magical Party the overall DLRP experience is very good at the moment with improvements being made in many key areas and sadly is the small stuff like broken AA's which ruin it. *** Now, he said the park was a mess outside ... and that most CMs didn't appear to have a clue about English although one apparently did and thought the use of the word bull$hit with a guest was acceptable ... but no complaints with show effects at all. *** Park upkeep has never been a strong point but part of it is also down to the Guest, but I find it suprising your friend was unable to find any Castmembers who spoke English as this is not the case. I have visited the Resort on a number of times and have only twice ever had a problem with a CastMember not being able to speak English. Attractions in top show quality and CastMembers who can't speak English, are you sure your friend didn't visit Tokyo Disneyland instead.
Originally Posted By Mr X **Attractions in top show quality and CastMembers who can't speak English, are you sure your friend didn't visit Tokyo Disneyland instead.** lol.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Park upkeep has never been a strong point but part of it is also down to the Guest, but I find it suprising your friend was unable to find any Castmembers who spoke English as this is not the case. I have visited the Resort on a number of times and have only twice ever had a problem with a CastMember not being able to speak English. Attractions in top show quality and CastMembers who can't speak English, are you sure your friend didn't visit Tokyo Disneyland instead. >> No ... I think TDL is on the horizon for him ... as well as myself! But, yeah, I was a bit surprised as in my visits to DLP it's been very rare to find a CM that has no knowledge of English ... although I will say that many have just a smidge of knowledge, which is surprising because considering where it is located, everyone should have passable English skills. At HKDL, I never encountered one CM who couldn't communicate and/or understand English ... that should be the case in Paris too! ~Shanghai DL -- Coming Soon!~
Originally Posted By avro_imagineer I'd have to argue it's more of a choose not to speak English. I can tell you there are some clerks in Montreal who won't speak English until they see a wad of money or a gold/platinum cc.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Disney Parks can work on pantomime alone. The lack of knowing every cast member spoke English didn't impact my trip to TDR at all. But some cast members did speak English, and spoke it well. At one point I wanted to ask a cast member if Journey to the Center of the Earth was going to open again. So I looked in my stupid book to see if I could convey, "Excuse me? Is it open?" or something like that. So I go up to a cast member and say, "Sumimasen?" and he goes, "Oh, how can I help you?" haha. The guy spoke perfect English. There was no accent. He sounded just like my Japanese-American friends. So after I determined that Journey wasn't closed down for the night and that it would open back up even if it was 30 minutes before park opening, I had a little conversation with the guy. It was pretty cool.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***But some cast members did speak English, and spoke it well.*** In my extensive experience, I can say with reasonable certainty that very few cast members speak English well...BUT, they are very enthusiastic and will do their best (they study scripts backstage, in fact, IN ENGLISH, in order to anticipate what an English speaking guest might ask and how best to answer the question). ***The guy spoke perfect English. There was no accent. He sounded just like my Japanese-American friends...I had a little conversation with the guy. It was pretty cool.*** Very cool, but just for the record that's pretty unusual. I'm glad you happened upon that guy, he sounds like a real lifesaver (it is nice to read that you were working on the Japanese though...that is always very much appreciated around Japan where people often feel a great deal of stress at having to try and speak with a foreigner in English!).
Originally Posted By MagicalNezumi Maybe I've been lucky and met more than a handful of CM's that speak pretty good English. I've helped some of them practice their English in anticipation of the language test they take to earn a flag pin that some wear on their uniform. Also met quite a few that are half-Japanese, half-(English-speaking country). This includes a particular CM that told me about one of the NFFC incidents from last year. -- MagicalNezumi
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I have also found that in my (admittedly limited) experience in Japan, people are generally very willing to try their hardest to get over the language barrier. On my first trip there, my family was walking to dinner, and were waiting to cross a street and a lady came up to us and had a very nice conversation in English. She said that we looked American (shocking, I know) and that she wanted to practice some things. I don't think the conversation even lasted the entire cycle of the light, but it was very nice to get so see just how friendly she was. I have definately found that with almost no knowledge of the language (and alphabet for that matter), Japan is by far one of the most accomodating countries to foreigners, at least those who speak English.
Originally Posted By irishfan My first encounter in Japan involved a very nice Japaneese lady in a Kinkos asking me to explain "May the force be with you" actually means. Something I was not expecting!
Originally Posted By avro_imagineer I find that the average Japanese person also appreciates when you try to understand/develop Japanese culture. Although I admit slurping soup makes me blush. It's amazing the smile you get when you order Japanese and use chopsticks. Or gulp down several gallons of Melon Fanta...
Originally Posted By avro_imagineer Also driving a Land Cruiser on the wrong side of the road is very interesting. It's amazing how it disorientates you. I just love how organized Japan is though.
Originally Posted By Mr X The weirdest thing for me is sitting shotgun...I always feel like somehow the wheel just disappeared and I should be doing something over there.
Originally Posted By avro_imagineer Well the way I look at it, if you imported a car from America you could just drive up to a vending machine and buy a can of soup. Why can't we have as many vending machines, and why can't we sell the variety of soups/drinks they do there? Back on topic -> I enjoyed the retro tommorowland last time I was there. To think I haven't been to Disney Seas since opening week. I hope I can go next year...
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "My first encounter in Japan involved a very nice Japaneese lady in a Kinkos asking me to explain "May the force be with you" actually means. Something I was not expecting! " LOL, that's an interesting thing for her to be stumped by. I wonder what went through her mind trying to figure out what it meant...only to learn it only makes sense within the Star Wars universe!
Originally Posted By Malin I have never really encountered any problems with the languege problem at Tokyo Disney Resort. My advice if you require a TDR English speaking CastMember is to head over to either Guest Relations at both parks or at the TDR Welcome Centre. I have always spoken to CastMembers here who speak fantastic English at these locations. You also often get CastMembers who know a few lines of English that will use them out on you like a CM who apologised for keeping me waiting in a gift shop and I've been asked how many in your group before when boarding for an attraction. Another way CastMembers will comunicate towards you when the languege barrier gets in the way is to hand you a laminated piece of paper with English writen rules and instructions on it. I have also been given it before when purchasing DVD's to let me know the format is Region 2 and will not work on all DVD Players.
