Anyone notice a dramatic difference between DL and WDW employees?

[Dionnemay]

I'm not surprised that TripAdvisor has so many people complaining about rude CMs but not for the reason you would think. I think what's important to remember is that most happy customers don't bother reporting the great time, it's mostly the unhappy customers who feel the need to voice their disappointment that contribute to these sites. This is fine, it's just always something that you have to consider before assuming so many are unhappy. It's not the case, it's just that the unhappy ones are the ones speaking up.

We've been to Disney twice in the last 3 years and are going again in December. I can honestly remember ONE out of the hundreds of CMs that we interacted with that was unhappy/rude. Our brains are strange. We will remember that ONE bad experience more clearly than the multitude of good. For instance, I could pick that bad employee out of a lineup of 100. But could I pick out the ones that were excellent? Nope. But that doesn't mean they don't exist.

I think CMs are amazing and have an incredibly difficult job of dealing with VERY frustrating people ALL day long. I can't imagine dealing with some of the guests we see every time while still maintaining a "magical" attitude. I wish the guests would more respectful of each other, the CMs and the rules put in place for their own safety and enjoyment.

That's true about our brains remembering the negative.

I think it s even MORE SO with Disney parks because you EXPECT a higher quality of Employee, and a HIGHER level of professionalism and a more magical experience etc...
That may be Disney's fault, lol! It's advertised as "The happiest place on earth" and people who have BEEN many times, like myself, and have EXPERIENCED the HUGE difference in quality of Disney Parks/Staff vs regular theme parks, get spoiled and come to expect that experience on every trip. That's the MAIN draw of Disney....the experience and the treatment of guests. So yes, when you run into one or a couple of "bad eggs" THERE, it stands out WAY more than it would at any other park.

A far as Trip Adviser, I think I mentioned this before, but the negative reviews on Dl were VERY few (a few hundred) compared to the positive (Thousands). DL Park was ranked # 3 in attractions in California and DLCA was ranked # 2. The only reason I read the few negative reviews was that I couldn't imagine what anyone could have to say BAD about DL. Even with those couple of grumpy CMs I ran into it in no way paled my love for Disney Parks so I was curious what could have happened to be bad enough o make someone rate it "Terrible".

That's when I started seeing the reoccurring complaint of Rude and lackluster CM's- AND the comparison of them to WDW CMs (also a lot of complaints about crowds and DL needing to put a limit on how many tickets they sell per day because they pack it over capacity "to make more $$" and if people can only get n 3 rides a day because of long wait times, its not worth the $ they spend for the ticket), and I started thinking "Hey, yeah, that's true- Ive never had a problem with WDW CM's but those times I experience bad CMs were all at DL...I wonder why that is?"

Which is what led me to ask the question here...

 

[Dionnemay]

My experience in the world, even at Disney, is that if you are looking for rude or bad behavior, I promise, you will find it.

The vast majority of people working at Disney on either coast are happy to be there, they like their jobs and are great.
They're also just real people like you and me. They have bad days. They have a real life and stuff happens.

It's not just automatically magical once you step through the pearly gates.

If I encounter something "off" I just keep it moving and don't bother with it.
They are in a service industry and that can be hard sometimes. Especially when people spend pretty big $$ and expect and demand a lot.

See thats the thing --I wasnt "looking" for rude or bad behavior...its DISNEY!!! I go expecting the polar OPPOSITE- thats why I LOVE going

So when I encountered "rude and and" behavior- it shocked and disappointed me and yes, stood out and once almost ruined the trip for my daughter and subsequently , ME.

I think its a GOOD thing that Disney's quality is so high that guests come to expect it- so much so that when it falters, people take notice.

IF I were at one of those traveling Carnivals, and I experienced the type of rude and unprofessional employee that barked at my daughter that time at Dl, I would be upset but not surprised and would count it as a "You get what you pay for" experience. Carnies are known to be low -level , lackluster employees- many who just got hired temporarily off the street and show up drunk or high or with baggage and zero interest in guests or customer relations.

But Disney purports to be, and has proven to be the leader in Customer service so when THEY deliver low level- it stands out.

 

[GatorChris]

i completely agree.
i went to DL for the first time in june 2013 and i was highly disappointed with the cast members.
in fact they were not cast members to me they were just employees.

they acted like they hated their job and wanted you to know it.

when they were on break they just wandered around the park with each other complaining about their job and gossiping about other employees.

This is how it went for us on our Nov '13 trip. Same thing in 2006.

I think the words that comes to mind is unprofessional and unaccommodating. On the last 4 day trip, I heard/saw 8 different CMs complain or talk about when their shift was over - INCLUDING Goofy!!! Yip, walked over to a CM, pointed at his wrist, the CM said 2 minutes and Goofy bolted back stage. 54 park days at WDW and I never heard that or saw that, but multiple times each day at DL tells me there's a different culture in Anaheim. Of course, we do live in CA and not the Southland, so that probably has a lot to do with it.

The other part is that WDW CMs seem to take extra steps to make your trip great. Showering us with Mickey-fetti on our Honeymoon trip when we entered the Crystal Palace; stopping our kids to give them stickers and even free Disney pins; engaging us in meaningful conversation like they actually did care. Maybe it's because WDW goers are mostly family vacationers, while DL goers are mostly locals who consider the platitudes a pain. Whatever the reason, I can honestly say that when I'm at DL, I miss the "extra" that I would get at WDW. If only FL wasn't that far.....

 

[Dionnemay]

Well I wholeheartedly agree with GeneralTso, on all points!

DLR seems to have a lot more veteran CMs, who have worked at the park for years or decades. That either means they love the place and are filled with pixie dust (I find this to be the vast majority) or have gotten a bid jaded and forgot why they started working at The Happiest Place on Earth in the first place.

My recent trips to WDW have left me absolutely stunned at the percentage of CMs who are working there on the college program. That means that every semester there is a new batch of thousands of eager, excited, starry-eyed CMs. They took the internship because they love Disney or at least resonate with the corporate values, are freshly out of Traditions training (and all the pixie dust that entails), and are still excited to go to work each day (mostly).

That actually makes a lot of sense, Never thought of it that way. WDW Does have a lot of College Program CM's and international CM's who rotate through more often and probably dont spend enough time there to get "Jaded" which can happen after years of working there. And Dl probably does get more locals who stay longer.

 

[Allison]

We were just at Disneyland for the first time this past May. We found all the cast members to be very friendly. My husband and I both commented on how all the workers we had interaction with were very friendly and took time to talk to us and help if they could. Everyone has a bad day but we didn't run into any rude cast members.

This was my experience during my first trip in March. They were very friendly.

However, what I did notice is much more interaction with their friends visiting the park than I have ever seen at Disney World.

 

[Dionnemay]

It looks like people from Texas just don't like Disneyland CMs. LOL

LOL I'm actually "from" California- Sacramento raised to be exact, but I now live in Texas. So being from Cali, I should be accustomed to Californian aloofness and shake it off...on the other hand, having lived in Texas so long with southern hospitality maybe its harder for me to adjust to bad manners when I encounter it?

 

[bumbershoot]

Name tags mean nothing. They can choose a town where they used to live or the town they live in now. If I worked there I'd have four city/state combos to choose from. Plus wherever is live if I were working at dlr or wdw.