3/29There's No Crying at the Guest Relations Counter..TheyTook Me Into the Back Room!

[appleorchard]

Just read the 1st 8 pages of your TR and am enjoying it very much.
I'm looking forward to more and, of course, THE REAL MELTDOWN @ GR.

It's coming in the next installment, which might be up later tonight. I'm just dragging my feel writing it lol.

 

[appleorchard]

Today was the day that didn’t go so well. The one in the title. Overall, the day had more good than bad – some great moments, even, but the bad overshadowed everything today.

We went to Animal Kingdom. We haven’t had great experiences here; Queen M and J are somewhat unimpressed with the Safari, because our local Great Adventure safari is actually much more up close and personal with the animals. They’re changing it this year, though; we won’t be able to go through in our own car, so it might not have the same wow factor.

DH and I love the bird show, but M could take it or leave it.

Believe it or not, this is about all I’ve been able to get M and J to in the past two trips before M is ready to leave. If it weren’t for our favorite thing, we probably wouldn’t even go there at all. J’s perfectly happy having the ducks to see at the MK.

But we all love, love, love the Lion King show. I personally love several things, not necessarily in this order:

The music, especially if the leader of the wandering tribe is the older guy with the unbelievable voice. In my opinion, he’s the only one who can REALLY sing the song Scar sings in the movie.

The tumble monkeys, one in particular. Dh doesn’t believe I can tell them apart; they all look alike to him. But I know my favorite tumble monkey. He’s usually the shortest and he’s the most energetic. They’re all good, but he’s great.

Once he shook my hand when he was going through the crowd at the end. I told him he was my favorite.

He looked at me like he was a little afraid of me. Maybe I was overly enthusiastic.

The bird girl. I love when she flies around the whole stage at the end.
There are also a few things I could do without, like Timon. I find Timon annoying.

I like the fire guy, but he’s not my favorite.

The first time we went, J got picked to march around with the other kids. But she also got picked to be the one that gets to meet Timon at the end.
The second time, we were sitting up a little higher and she didn’t get picked.
So we made sure we were in the second row. We couldn’t sit on the very end, because an older couple was there already.

The show was fantastic, even though my favorite tumble monkey didn’t shake my hand. M kept trying to figure out which one he was, which is hard, because they move around a lot.

“Oh, that’s him!” she’d say, whenever one of them stopped moving long enough to ID.

It never was, though. I don’t think she believes I can tell them apart either.

She thinks I keep changing which one is my favorite just to drive her crazy.
So right before the end of the show, the older couple got up and left! We slid into their seats so fast we left skid marks on the bench. No, not really.

J was holding in new second-best friend, Zebra. So we held our breath as the lady in a zebra costume came over near us. M and I waved madly at her.
Of course, she picked J to come do the marching around thing from our section. A little girl behind us and a few other kids went down too.

And magic struck twice. Good thing, too, because we would need these wonderful memories to think back on later in the day.

J was picked to stay up after all the other kids went to their seats and meet Timon. Personally, I’d rather meet the Tumble Monkeys, but J doesn’t seem to care.

We hit up some of the characters in Camp-Minnie Mickey before we left the area, took a ride on the Safari and walked the trail next to it. Then we had lunch somewhere—honestly, I have the hardest time figuring out where I’ve been and how I got there in this park, maybe because I spend so little time in it.

J meets some small animal in a cage

I suggested we see the Nemo show, which I personally don’t like. But J loves the story, so I figured she might like it.

We had some time to kill after meeting Russell and Dug, so we decided to go to the playground. Our worst decision ever.

J drew this picture of Mickey while we waited in line to see Russell and Dug.

You’d think we would have remembered that we really didn’t have a great time in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground a few days before. That it was crowded, claustrophobic, and very hard to keep track of kids in. You’d think.

But J wanted to work off some energy and she loves playgrounds. We parked the stroller—remember that part, it’s important – and went in past the cast member guarding the entrance. Not the exit—the entrance.

It was a lot like the HS playground—lots of kids, lots of parents trying to watch their kids or, more frequently, to find a quiet place to read or play with their phone, lot of tunnels, slides, and general chaos.

We don’t do the reading or playing with our phone things at playgrounds.
Generally, we play with J or watch her play with other kids.

So I stood at the bottom of the slide while M went up with her.

A minute or so later, J came flying down and told me she was going to do it again and disappeared up the steps. Another minute later, M appeared in front of me and told me she couldn’t go down the slide, she was afraid she’d get stuck, so she came down the ladder instead.

“Where’s J?” she asked.

“She just went back up the steps to go down again,” I said.

“You saw her go back up?”
I nodded and M looked up the ladder, then waited at the bottom of the slide.

J didn’t come back down.

“There’s more than one slide, I bet,” she said, and headed off to see which one she’d come down. I stayed where I was in case she came down this slide.

Within a few minutes, M was back.

“I can’t find her anywhere,” she said.

“Well, it’s a big place, she could be anywhere. Let’s look in different directions.”

Of course the trouble with this is that we were both moving all the time. The other trouble is that you can’t hear yourself THINK in this place. The music is blasting and kids are screaming. So we couldn’t yell for J and ever think she’d hear us.

We’d looked all over the lower level and didn’t realize there was an upper level or where the boneyard was. M came back and shook her head.

“I don’t think she’s here,” she said.

I headed toward the CM guarding the entrance. I wasn’t worried. Disney was very good about finding lost kids. I’ve heard this time and time again.

So I was expecting more action than a blank look when I said,
“We need help. We can’t find my granddaughter anywhere. She’s 5 and very little. We looked everywhere.”

I waited for the undercover people to burst from the crowd. I waited for the CMs to spread out and search. I waited for the wonderful CM interaction you always hear about in other people’s reports.

It didn’t go the way I thought it would. At all.


Next chapter

 

[McDuck]

Oh no!!! I am always paranoid about losing my little one in the playgrounds--and we usually have about 4 adults in there. So hard to keep track of them! My heart is sinking reading this (even though I know it has a happy ending!).

 

[Robbi]

Disney CMs are terrible with parents/guardians and lost kids, at least in my experience. My niece came with us once on my daughter's first WDW trip. DN went on Splash Mtn and DD and I waited ..... and waited..... and waited. I saw people who had gone in with her come out several minutes before I talked to a CM who's reaction was -nothing. Talked to another CM and got the same reaction. My daughter and I stood near the entrance for another 2 minutes and finally my niece walked up. Thank God she was smart enough to retrace and figure we might wait for here at that spot. When I've read here not to worry about your child, my reaction is that they've never had a child go missing.
It was one of the worst times of my life and WDW was zero help.

 

[Deesknee]

I hate big playgrounds. Especially the ones at Disney! I can so see exactly what happened to you & your DD happening to us. My heart would drop. No matter how long it takes it would seem like forever. Obviously, J is okay, thank God. But how scary that must have been.

 

[appleorchard]

Oh no!!! I am always paranoid about losing my little one in the playgrounds--and we usually have about 4 adults in there. So hard to keep track of them! My heart is sinking reading this (even though I know it has a happy ending!).

Fortunately! But it really shook my confidence in Disney, I can tell you.

Disney CMs are terrible with parents/guardians and lost kids, at least in my experience. My niece came with us once on my daughter's first WDW trip. DN went on Splash Mtn and DD and waited ..... and waited..... and waited. I saw people who had gone in with her come out several minutes before I talked to a CM who's reaction was -nothing. Talked to another CM and got the same reaction. My daughter and I stood near the entrance for another 2 minutes nd finally my niece walked up. Thank God she was smart enough to retrace and figure we might wait for here at that spot. When I've read here not to worry about your child, my reaction is that they've never had a child go missing.
It was one of the worst times of my life and WDW was zero help.

Pretty much our experience, as you'll see!

I hate big playgrounds. Especially the ones at Disney! I can so see exactly what happened to you & your DD happening to us. My heart would drop. No matter how long it takes it would seem like forever. Obviously, J is okay, thank God. But how scary that must have been.

For all of us!

 

[cnjmom]

This is bringing me out of lurkdom.

I lost my then 3.5 year old son at our local children's museum last winter. Scariest 15 minutes of my life. Neither I nor my older two kids could find him. My fear is that he wandered outside and into the nearby woods. Of course, he had not done that but was inside looking at something and riding the elevator.

Just commenting because I know how scary it can be.

 

[appleorchard]

This is bringing me out of lurkdom.

I lost my then 3.5 year old son at our local children's museum last winter. Scariest 15 minutes of my life. Neither I nor my older two kids could find him. My fear is that he wandered outside and into the nearby woods. Of course, he had not done that but was inside looking at something and riding the elevator.

Just commenting because I know how scary it can be.

J got farther than we thought-- you'll see! Nice to see you out of lurkdom lol

 

[appleorchard]

Finally the CM spoke.

“Are you sure you looked everywhere?” she asked.
No, I’m just standing in front of you looking panicked because I have nothing else to do.

“Did you check the Boneyard?”

No, I hadn’t. So she took this opportunity to get rid of me, but not before I gave her a full description of J and showed her a picture on my camera of what she was wearing.

“Mike will show you where it is,” she said, effectively dumping me on Mike. Mike walked me to the stairs, pointed and left.

The boneyard was big and full of kids. None of whom were J, but it took me a few minutes to determine that. I could see M still searching on the lower level, so I did a quick unfruitful search of the upper level.

I grabbed the first CM I saw by the arm when I came down the stairs. She was taken aback, to say the least.

“Look, you need to do something; turn off the blasted music, let us get on the loudspeaker, something. My granddaughter is 5 years old and she’s not here. She…”

Well, just then something red with polka dots caught my eye. Up next to the CM still guarding the entrance. J was standing next to her, crying her little eyes out.

I didn’t even yell to M. I ran up, grabbed J and hugged her. M saw me and came running. Of course I gave J to her, since she’s her mom and she looked like she was going to have a major meltdown any second.

“Where was she?” I asked Ms. Clueless-guarding-the gate.

“I guess she walked out the exit when she couldn’t find you. Another mom brought her back in,” she said, pointing to an angel standing on the other side of the entrance.

We shoved our way out the exit before the other mom could disappear and asked her what had happened.

“She was sitting in her stroller, crying that she couldn’t find her mom or grandma,” the angel said. “So I brought her back in.”

We thanked her about a bazillion times, hugged J some more and got away from the playground as fast as we could.

We past a security guard sitting not 30 feet from where J had been sitting in her stroller. How he managed not to see this little lone child sitting bawling her head off I can’t imagine. Ever since, I’ve wished I’d gone over and talked to him, but maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t.

We all had a few minutes of post-traumatic stress, trying to assimilate everything. J was terribly upset, worried that we’d be mad at her. We were so upset we couldn’t even talk right.

I decided we should go watch Nemo to take our minds off everything. What a stupid choice. All about a dad who loses his kid and has to search the whole world for him. Yes, that will heal our trauma!

M was so exhausted she actually fell asleep during the performance. I’m sure it gave J lots to think about, how dangerous getting lost was and all. Finally it ended and we could leave. I told M I was going to Guest Relations on our way out, just to voice my concerns about how easy it was to get out and how unconcerned the CMs were about a lost child.

A happier picture from earlier in the day with the zebra that got her a starring role in the Lion King

We intended to just leave the park; none of us were really in the mood to stay, I didn’t want to further traumatize J with It’s Tough to be a Bug and M just wanted to collapse somewhere. But we got caught by the parade, so we tried to make the best of it.

I couldn’t watch it. My mind kept going over what I wanted to say and it was like watching everything from a long distance away. I finally gave up.
“Meet me at Guest Relations after the parade,” I told M.

All the way up to the front of the park I tried to get my thoughts in order and plan out what I wanted to say and how to say it. How my faith in Disney’s security was shattered. The impact it had on us. How upset J was.

In the middle of my raging thoughts were two other thoughts I had to deal with. First, how we hadn’t prepared J for this possibility at all. We never told her to look for a CM with a nametag if something happened, or to stay in one place and we’d find her. Because we’re always with her and because she never voluntarily wanders off, we didn’t tell her what to do if she got lost.

Our mistake. Completely.

The second thing going through my mind were two things that happened to my mom a few years ago.

My mom is in her 80s and in very good shape. But she forgets she’s in her 80s sometimes and doesn’t pay attention to when she’s not feeling well. DH and I were sitting with her at the Bird Show—we’d just eaten lunch – when I noticed she was sort of glassy-eyed.

“I feel funny,” she said, when I asked her what was wrong.

Well, from years of working in labor and delivery, I can tell you with all certainty that the words, “I feel funny” are invariably followed by someone passing out. Or worse.

So I made her lay down on the bench, put her feet up and told DH to go get help from a CM so we could take her to the First Aid Station. I didn’t want to stand up and make a scene in the middle of the Bird Show.

I was expecting him to come back with a stretcher and some paramedics. Instead, he had a wheelchair. My mom felt better after a few minutes lying down, so we trundled her into it and took her to First Aid, where her blood pressure, predictably, was quite low. A few glasses of juice and an hour’s rest later and she was fine, although we kept her the wheelchair all the way to the bus stop to make sure.

The other incident is hearsay, because I wasn’t there. My mom was watching my grand-nephew, who was sleeping in his stroller, while his mom and my sister went on Splash Mountain. It was brutally hot and very humid, and after standing in one place for 45 minutes—they told her not to move and she took it a little too literally – she either passed out or sat down on the ground. Reports vary.

When my sister arrived, she was still sitting on the ground with a crowd of people around her, and they took her to First Aid. All turned out okay.

The point of these bunny trails is that, in neither case, did the security people in tourist clothes burst out of the crowd. No CMs appeared to ask what was the matter, in either case. Even after we got my mom in the wheelchair, no one helped or asked what was wrong.

Maybe elderly women lie down during the bird show all the time with their daughter holding their legs in the air, I don’t know. At the very least, I was blocking the view of the people behind me, which should have upset someone.

The incident with J was the third strike for Disney’s renowned surveillance and assistance, in my mind.

And that’s what I was thinking about when I walked right past Honey Boo Boo’s family – I recognized them from the pictures on the internet a few days later -- and into Guest Relations.




Next Chapter

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Wow, how scary to lose your child/grandchild! I remember being around 4 or so and wandering around a dept. store crying for my mom.

Along the same lines, I had a scary experience today. I was put in charge of my new grandpuppy,all of about 3 months old. She was fine, I fed her, I went to make coffee, and then I couldnt find her anywhere in the house!

Looked in every nook and cranny I could think of, called her name. nothing!!

What if she ate some poison and lay dead in a corner? DD would never forgive me! Never mind ever leaving my future (hopefully) grandchild in my care.
Finally I called the BF, aka puppy daddy. he told me to look behind hubby's couch, which is the only place I hadn't looked. WHEW!

My daughter thinks the Norwegians are grim; she should go to Germany. Except for Bavaria. That’s a fun place.

Hey, that is a total stereotype. I happen to be from northern Germany, we have great parties and fun and beer and songs and Kaffee Klatches!

 

[Deesknee]

So, unbeleivable about the CM & the security guy right there near her... and nothing!!! I guess they are so used to kids crying and parents walking away for a bit to get something for them... I can't imagine walking away from my screaming crying child personally, but I have seen others do it. BUT regardless the security guard should walk closer to ensure it is not the exact situation you encountered...or worse. I have always enjoyed thinking Disney has plain clothed security. sad to think they don't really care that much. I am happy everything worked out okay. I am curious what guest services reaction to the episode was.

 

[appleorchard]

Wow, how scary to lose your child/grandchild! I remember being around 4 or so and wandering around a dept. store crying for my mom.

Along the same lines, I had a scary experience today. I was put in charge of my new grandpuppy,all of about 3 months old. She was fine, I fed her, I went to make coffee, and then I couldnt find her anywhere in the house!

Looked in every nook and cranny I could think of, called her name. nothing!!

What if she ate some poison and lay dead in a corner? DD would never forgive me! Never mind ever leaving my future (hopefully) grandchild in my care.
Finally I called the BF, aka puppy daddy. he told me to look behind hubby's couch, which is the only place I hadn't looked. WHEW!

Oh yeah--I have major anxiety when watching the grandpuppies too! I"m SOOO afraid one of them will get lost--or worse--at my house!



Hey, that is a total stereotype. I happen to be from northern Germany, we have great parties and fun and beer and songs and Kaffee Klatches!

LOLOL! I actually really like Germany and have been there numerous times.

So, unbeleivable about the CM & the security guy right there near her... and nothing!!! I guess they are so used to kids crying and parents walking away for a bit to get something for them... I can't imagine walking away from my screaming crying child personally, but I have seen others do it. BUT regardless the security guard should walk closer to ensure it is not the exact situation you encountered...or worse. I have always enjoyed thinking Disney has plain clothed security. sad to think they don't really care that much. I am happy everything worked out okay. I am curious what guest services reaction to the episode was.

That's all I could think, is that he thought a parent had told her to go sit there. But to not even check??? Guest Relations' reaction is coming in the next installment--I wish I could say it made me feel better.

 

[appleorchard]

I actually forgot to add to the story about my mom in the Bird Show that my DH had to go and get a wheelchair from the First Aid station himself. No one even did that much!

It's hard for me to admit how much all these things have affected my opinion of Disney. Obvious;y, were major supporters, both financially and in many other ways. We talk the place up to everyone, go frequently, own DVC and are AP holders. We defend Disney to the death against arguments that it's for kids, too expensive or too boring.

Sometimes ---like these occasions--- I wonder why we do.

To this day, M says it was a perfect trip. And in most ways, it was.

Because we forget the bad stuff.

 

[middlesista]

In the middle of my raging thoughts were two other thoughts I had to deal with. First, how we hadn’t prepared J for this possibility at all. We never told her to look for a CM with a nametag if something happened, or to stay in one place and we’d find her. Because we’re always with her and because she never voluntarily wanders off, we didn’t tell her what to do if she got lost.

Our mistake. Completely.

great reminder about instructions to young children. Never thought of this Similar reason - our granddaughter was usually close by and one of us always was watching and she was a bit younger last trip so tended not to get out of view. I just "copied and pasted" this part of your post to my "Disney FYI" list so we do not forget to "educate" her. Geez - how stressful and scary this was for all of you, get that awful pit of the stomach feeling. Glad all turned out ok - well, still have to read about your interaction with the folks at Guest Relations

 

[appleorchard]

Yes, we really learned our lesson the hard way. We'll go over it with her again before our next trip in the fall. We didn't want to keep bringing it up because she was so upset--this kid is such as perfectionist( her doing, not ours!) and she felt like she did something wrong.

Oh, yes, I'll finally get through the Guest Relations door in the next chapter!

 

[cnjmom]

What a smart little girl J is, though. To go back to her own stroller to sit and wait for you. As the adult, it would not have occurred to me to even check the stroller, though.

I'm sorry it was so stressful.

 

[appleorchard]

What a smart little girl J is, though. To go back to her own stroller to sit and wait for you. As the adult, it would not have occurred to me to even check the stroller, though.

I'm sorry it was so stressful.

We thought that was pretty smart of her, too lol. She must have figured we'd have to go back for our stuff sooner or later.

 

[pikaboo27]

I love your TR! Thanks for writing it!

I am flabbergasted by the CM response you described. I guess I always imagined a CM missing child swat team that would swoop in and help if such a thing were to happen. Then again, maybe in that area, because the sight lines are so bad they are used to a panicked parent who finds their kid two minutes later so they don't jump right in anymore.

But shame on that security guard for not checking on her crying in the stroller all by herself. What a smart cookie she is, though to think of it. Maybe next year, get some safety-tats and tell her who to show it to if her parents/grandparents get lost. (This is how my friends taught their kids to make it less scary. It's not that the kids get lost, the parents do. )

 

[appleorchard]

I love your TR! Thanks for writing it!

I am flabbergasted by the CM response you described. I guess I always imagined a CM missing child swat team that would swoop in and help if such a thing were to happen. Then again, maybe in that area, because the sight lines are so bad they are used to a panicked parent who finds their kid two minutes later so they don't jump right in anymore.

But shame on that security guard for not checking on her crying in the stroller all by herself. What a smart cookie she is, though to think of it. Maybe next year, get some safety-tats and tell her who to show it to if her parents/grandparents get lost. (This is how my friends taught their kids to make it less scary. It's not that the kids get lost, the parents do. )

I always envisioned that, too! In fact, that's fully what I expected would happen! Boy, was I surprised. We were just so ill prepared for this because J is the type of kid who's usually looking for us and our applause and adulation lol. She's not a wanderer at all. We'll definitely be better prepared next time!

 

[appleorchard]

I had every intention of being calm, cool, collected and reasonable when I walked into Guest Relations. I was asking for nothing. I didn't want our tickets for the day refunded or anything else. I just wanted to voice my concerns about security measures and CM's responses.

Me taking pictures of J taking pictures of fish earlier in the day

So I looked into the eyes of the cute 12-year-old -- that's how old he looked, anyway -- CM who asked how he could help me.

"I need to talk to someone about something that happened today in the park," I started. "I'm really upset about it."

And at that, I burst into tears.

I recognize a delayed reaction to stress, so I tried to reassure the poor guy, who looked stricken.

"It's okay, really, it's fine now, but... but... but..."

And I burst into tears again.

The other people hanging around Guest Relations started shuffling their feet and looking uncomfortable. Not as much as I was, though. Public crying really isn't my thing. I hardly cry in front of people I know. Crying wasn't one of my family's coping strategies. Were generally very stoic.

I didn't look very stoic right now, though. So he told me to follow him. And he took me into the back room.

It reminded me of a funeral parlor, actually. Somber décor. Tissue boxes in several places. Obviously the place they took all the really upset guests.

He left me there for a minute, while I tried to get things under control and he went to get a pad of paper to write on. Except I don't remember him actually writing anything down.

I tried to stay focused. I tried to be chronologically correct and calm. But I just couldn't get through this story without starting to cry again.

Once I got it all out, he asked what I wanted to happen.

"I want the policies to change. I want the CMs to man the exit, not the entrance. I want the CMs to respond when someone says they're missing a child. I want...."

Obviously, this was beyond this kid's pay grade.

"Let me get a supervisor," he said, undoubtedly breathing a sigh of relief as he went to turn me into someone else's problem.

After a few minutes, in came Mr. Supervisor.

He was sort of slick looking, obviously a higher pay grade than the kid.

So I told him the story again, with tears at all the appropriate places and in many inappropriate ones, too, like telling him about going to see Nemo right after losing the kid.

He clucked and muttered sympathetically at all the right places, like you would expect a person of higher pay grade to do after going through sensitivity training.

Then he spoke. What he said didn't help.

"You know she couldn't have gotten out of the park. There are people who would have stopped her from going through the turnstiles..."

We were in Dinoland at the time. I really wasn't worried about her finding her way to the front gate. I was more worried about someone picking her up, carrying her into the bathroom, cutting her hair and sneaking her out of the park. No, not really. I know that's an urban myth. And J wasn't going to leave her stroller without a fight.

But things can happen to kids. Does this guy live under a rock? What if she'd chased a duck down to the water and fallen in? Besides, that wasn't the point. The point was, she shouldn't have gotten out in the first place.
His next line was even worse.

My nephew used to get lost here on purpose, when he was about 7, because he knew he'd get a plush toy from the CMs if he was lost.

I assured him that I had no interest in getting a plush toy for our trouble. I was going for the big guns --- I wanted the procedure manual changed.

Meanwhile, my phone was lighting up with texts from M, wondering where the heck I was because she was in Guest Relations and where was I?

I texted back that I was in one of the back room. M told me to come out, she wanted to leave now.

I told the guy my daughter was waiting for me and assured him that she didn't want to talk to him. I thought she might take his head off.

Let me just come out and talk to her, he said. Ill be there in just one minute.

So I came out and found M and J who was fast asleep in the stroller, clutching Lamby, and told her he wanted to see her. I figured if he wanted to be yelled at in front of Honey Boo Boo's family, (even though I didn't know tha'ts who they were) that was his problem.

He came out waving the tiniest little plush dinosaur you ever saw. Even at Disney, it probably sold for about 99 cents. I guess he didn't believe me about not wanting a plush. He made M take it and repeated that J couldn't have gotten out of the park.

Mercifully, he left before she hit him.

We threw the plush right in the trash. The last thing we needed for J was a reminder of this event.

I have no pictures of this traumatic encounter with Disney management, so here's a picture on the Safari from last year.




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