Note to cast members: packing us in like sardines does NOT decrease wait time

[Disney_Princess83]

While during busier times this might help the line move, sometimes CM's take it too far. One night during EMH at 2am, a CM was trying to pack us into the PhilHarMagic Theatre, including telling people to move all the way to the end of each row. Literally there was maximum 30 people in the theatre. We had a similar experience at The Muppets when there was almost no one in the theatre.

 

[LBIJim]

Last time I was in WDW HM the Doom buggies were having some problems so no one was loading. This didn't stop cast members from continuing to dump more guests into the queue and yelling at us to move forward. It was ridiculous since there was no where to go.

Yeah, I witnessed the same thing once. The ride was down but three or four more groups of guests exited the stretching room with no place to go. And of course CMs were yelling at people to move forward.

I don't know if the HM CMs were just brainless idiots, or they were afraid to disobey some higher up's orders. In any event they should have made people wait outside until the backlog cleared.

Some guy became quite irate when the CMs continued to command people to more forward and let loose with a string of f-bombs. I really didn't blame him at that point.

 

[DopeyforDonald]

I'm well aware that sometimes CMs actions are questionable from a guest point of view but I really think some of the points is this thread are quite rude and there is no need to insult people, quite ridiculous really

 

[wilkeliza]

Yeah, I witnessed the same thing once. The ride was down but three or four more groups of guests exited the stretching room with no place to go. And of course CMs were yelling at people to move forward. I don't know if the HM CMs were just brainless idiots, or they were afraid to disobey some higher up's orders. In any event they should have made people wait outside until the backlog cleared. Some guy became quite irate when the CMs continued to command people to more forward and let loose with a string of f-bombs. I really didn't blame him at that point.

It is very nice you have a job that is very secure but Disney CMs are required to follow protocol to a T. That includes parts of spiels that say move down to the end of the row and to fill in all available space in line. If a guest refuses to listen that is on the guest but CMs are required to say these parts of spiels and can get reprimanded and even lose their jobs for not following the "script".

I know I got a verbal for saying my attraction takes 30 minutes when our wording was suppose to be 30 minutes or longer. I forgot the or longer portion when I was being audited and am lucky my manager heard me say or longer several other times or I could have gotten a point on my record.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

It is very nice you have a job that is very secure but Disney CMs are required to follow protocol to a T. That includes parts of spiels that say move down to the end of the row and to fill in all available space in line. If a guest refuses to listen that is on the guest but CMs are required to say these parts of spiels and can get reprimanded and even lose their jobs for not following the "script".

I know I got a verbal for saying my attraction takes 30 minutes when our wording was suppose to be 30 minutes or longer. I forgot the or longer portion when I was being audited and am lucky my manager heard me say or longer several other times or I could have gotten a point on my record.

Also when they say move forward they don't mean walk into the person in front of you, they mean don't leave 50 feet between you and the person in front of you.

 

[disneydude365]

seriously? i completely agree that packing the lines up together and and getting everyone to make line shorter works. because sadly most people aren't too bright and will linger if not kept within a herd I'm sorry but truth to it most ppl in that line are nothing bet heffers. i have seen several times where ppl weren't paying attention and missed getting on the ride due to not being ready. why because they weren't all the way down in the line with others

CM for the majority they want to help everyone and they know their job,

 

[WICKEDW3NCH]

Actually it does reduce your wait times. When I'm leaving seats empty because you're taking your sweet time walking and when you get to the front of the line you have no idea how many are in your party you're being selfish and making lines unnecessarily long for everyone.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

seriously? i completely agree that packing the lines up together and and getting everyone to make line shorter works. because sadly most people aren't too bright and will linger if not kept within a herd I'm sorry but truth to it most ppl in that line are nothing bet heffers. i have seen several times where ppl weren't paying attention and missed getting on the ride due to not being ready. why because they weren't all the way down in the line with others

CM for the majority they want to help everyone and they know their job,

Not to mention staring at their phones and not realizing the line ahead of them was moving and gone already.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Actually it does reduce your wait times. When I'm leaving seats empty because you're taking your sweet time walking and when you get to the front of the line you have no idea how many are in your party you're being selfish and making lines unnecessarily long for everyone.

Standing nose to hair and arm to arm, as we fill in every available space is completely different than taking your sweet time and not knowing how many are in your party.

It seems like many here, and many CMs, don't realize that.

Just because I want to leave a little room ahead of me, because I want enough space to step when I need to, doesn't mean that I will take my sweet time walking. (Or riding, when on my scooter.) Or that I have forgotten how many are in my party.

 

[elaine amj]

Some really cool insights by CMs here. I would never have thought of some of this.

I have to say - visiting other amusement parks really makes me appreciate the thought that goes into moving people around efficiently. It is incredibly amazing how GOOD Disney at this!

 

[The Hub]

Hello all,

I appreciated reading the conversation here so I figured I might as well chime in a bit.

Most of us CMs enjoy going to the parks in our days off. While we're in the park, we do hear the same spiels about filling in all available space. I understand from your point of view as a guest about being squished among other guests, as we encounter the same and especially during peak times. Please know this truly isn't our intent to make you feel this way and we do realize how frustrating it can be.

This isn't as much of a problem in attraction queues as can be found at a preshow. If you are uncomfortable in these enclosed spaces, preshow doors are not locked and you can bypass these should you really desire to if you're able to get near the door.

With this being said, we have specific guest carried targets we need to meet and spiels we need to recite. If you're going off script, you can get a reprimand or a point if a guest complains or you're audited. At attractions with targets, we do have photocells to measure how many guests are passing through each hour. At some shows, you only have a little over 5 minutes to load over 500 people. Of course, you can hold the doors open, but you may only get another minute or two. During the holidays and peak periods during peak hours, we need to fill all shows to capacity. If it takes 450 guests, there better not be less than 435-440.

For attractions, staying close to the person in front of you does lower the wait time. When you're closer to the guest infront of you, you're more attentive. This allows all ride vehicles and rows to be filled to capacity and can even achieve fewer ride stops. If there are less ride stops, the wait time would drop one or two minutes for every stop avoided. If ride vehicles are sent empty, the efficiency is lower and that adds an imaginary two guests to the line and over a long period of time, this adds up. Also, when you get to a merge point or to a grouper, you have a quicker and more accurate response time when asked how many guests are in your party.

All in all, this does decrease your standby wait time. Please understand why we do this and the strict guidelines we have to follow. We know how much this frustrates you, as we are in the parks frequently and during peak times, such as late December. We do try to be as efficient as possible, considering it is one of our "keys to success" and we really do appreciate your cooperation.

 

[LBIJim]

It is very nice you have a job that is very secure but Disney CMs are required to follow protocol to a T. That includes parts of spiels that say move down to the end of the row and to fill in all available space in line. If a guest refuses to listen that is on the guest but CMs are required to say these parts of spiels and can get reprimanded and even lose their jobs for not following the "script".

I know I got a verbal for saying my attraction takes 30 minutes when our wording was suppose to be 30 minutes or longer. I forgot the or longer portion when I was being audited and am lucky my manager heard me say or longer several other times or I could have gotten a point on my record.

Also when they say move forward they don't mean walk into the person in front of you, they mean don't leave 50 feet between you and the person in front of you.

That time in the HM, the CMs DID mean crash up against the person in front of you. There already was literally no room to move forward, but CMs were insistent about emptying the stretch room. I wouldn't be surprised if the crowd exceeded fire code capacity. The guy with the f-bombs wasn't the only person complaining. Many people were shouting that they just couldn't move forward any more.

I know CMs have to follow their procedures or face the wrath of their supervisors, but in some instances common sense has to have priority over policy. This instance was a big time failure of both. When the ride reached 30 seconds of being down, additional loading into the stretch room should have been suspended until the ride resumed and the crowd cleared. Metrics and CM protocol be damned.

 

[FrolloFanatic]

You know that's part of their job.......right?

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Hello all,

I appreciated reading the conversation here so I figured I might as well chime in a bit.

Most of us CMs enjoy going to the parks in our days off. While we're in the park, we do hear the same spiels about filling in all available space. I understand from your point of view as a guest about being squished among other guests, as we encounter the same and especially during peak times. Please know this truly isn't our intent to make you feel this way and we do realize how frustrating it can be.

This isn't as much of a problem in attraction queues as can be found at a preshow. If you are uncomfortable in these enclosed spaces, preshow doors are not locked and you can bypass these should you really desire to if you're able to get near the door.

With this being said, we have specific guest carried targets we need to meet and spiels we need to recite. If you're going off script, you can get a reprimand or a point if a guest complains or you're audited. At attractions with targets, we do have photocells to measure how many guests are passing through each hour. At some shows, you only have a little over 5 minutes to load over 500 people. Of course, you can hold the doors open, but you may only get another minute or two. During the holidays and peak periods during peak hours, we need to fill all shows to capacity. If it takes 450 guests, there better not be less than 435-440.

For attractions, staying close to the person in front of you does lower the wait time. When you're closer to the guest infront of you, you're more attentive. This allows all ride vehicles and rows to be filled to capacity and can even achieve fewer ride stops. If there are less ride stops, the wait time would drop one or two minutes for every stop avoided. If ride vehicles are sent empty, the efficiency is lower and that adds an imaginary two guests to the line and over a long period of time, this adds up. Also, when you get to a merge point or to a grouper, you have a quicker and more accurate response time when asked how many guests are in your party.

All in all, this does decrease your standby wait time. Please understand why we do this and the strict guidelines we have to follow. We know how much this frustrates you, as we are in the parks frequently and during peak times, such as late December. We do try to be as efficient as possible, considering it is one of our "keys to success" and we really do appreciate your cooperation.

For anyone wondering why CMs to it, this says it all. I am not going to get a CM in trouble just so I can have double the elbow room.

 

[dawnmichele]

This thread reminded me of something our tour guide said when we took the Keys to the Kingdom tour last month (great tour, btw):

"What you call personal space, Disney calls room for 10 more."

 

[GillianP1301]

My opinion on this is that it's not the herding in close quarters that will make a line move faster, it's people paying attention and keep moving that will make it move faster, that's for a constant moving line. It's the same number of people either way.

If it's a holding room situation, then I understand the need to get people to move in so that you can get a theatre to capacity. However, I usually travel in no peak times and it makes absolutely no sense to keep asking people to squish into the front half of holding room when there is only enough people to fill a fraction of the theatre. I hear CM's try this all the time and it makes no sense. I get that it's part of their usual routine though, but some common sense should be able to prevail. In that situation, I usually just hand back towards the sides or somewhere out of the way where I have lots of space.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

My opinion on this is that it's not the herding in close quarters that will make a line move faster, it's people paying attention and keep moving that will make it move faster, that's for a constant moving line. It's the same number of people either way.

If it's a holding room situation, then I understand the need to get people to move in so that you can get a theatre to capacity. However, I usually travel in no peak times and it makes absolutely no sense to keep asking people to squish into the front half of holding room when there is only enough people to fill a fraction of the theatre. I hear CM's try this all the time and it makes no sense. I get that it's part of their usual routine though, but some common sense should be able to prevail. In that situation, I usually just hand back towards the sides or somewhere out of the way where I have lots of space.

Exactly.

I always travel off peak. And we just laugh when the CM tells us to fill in all of the seats.

We did it once. The "crowd" filled in 1/4 of the theater. Then we all laughed, and spread out. No one else was coming. There was no reason for us to squeeze together.

But part of the spiel is to say, "Please fill in all available seats."

 

[wilkeliza]

Exactly. I always travel off peak. And we just laugh when the CM tells us to fill in all of the seats. We did it once. The "crowd" filled in 1/4 of the theater. Then we all laughed, and spread out. No one else was coming. There was no reason for us to squeeze together. But part of the spiel is to say, "Please fill in all available seats."

Did neither of you read where 2 CMs (myself a recent ex-cm and another poster above) explained that if spiels are not said as scripted we can be written up and even worse fired? Yes it is silly and sometimes we even hate it but it is apart of the job. Listen or don't listen it is up to you.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Did neither of you read where 2 CMs (myself a recent ex-cm and another poster above) explained that if spiels are not said as scripted we can be written up and even worse fired? Yes it is silly and sometimes we even hate it but it is apart of the job. Listen or don't listen it is up to you.

Which is my point. No, I don't listen. I refuse to be part of squeezing 100 into the last 100 seats, all the while leaving the remaining 300 seats empty.

Knock yourself out, saying everything you have to say. But don't get upset when we blow you off.

Now, I would never: put my arms or legs outside of the ride car, walk in front of a moving ride, stand up or unbuckle before the ride comes to a complete stop. I hold up the yellow loop, when they come by to check the seat belt. I always listen to the safety spiel. But when it comes to moving forward as far as I can. Or filing in all of the seats in a theater, I realize that although they have to say the spiel, there is nothing that says I have to listen.

 

[Disneywhiz323]

Definitely agree! There's no way it would decrease the wait time, probably just allow more people to enter the queue.