C/Ms saying attractions are down when they're not?

[lentesta]

Hi folks,

I do research for the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. Today we received a letter (see below) from a reader who said that on two occasions, he received false or misleading information from a Disney C/M regarding the availability of two popular attractions, Big Thunder and Tower of Terror.

The reader said that on both occasions, C/Ms said the attractions were down, when it appeared they were not. I have two questions:

1) Have any of you experienced something similar as Disney guests?

2) Any C/Ms out there, is this an official Disney policy, or some C/Ms making their own rules as they go along.

Private replies can be sent to me at testa@ncat.edu. No names will be published, we're just trying to figure out whether this is an ongoing thing.

Thanks,

Len Testa


-----------Start letter------------------
During our week at Disney World we found out just how sneaky the Disney staff are. For example one night it was 6:58 (MGM studios was closing at 7:00 that night) when we got in line for the tower of terror. The sign at the front of the ride said the wait was 80 minutes.

While in line, a voice came over the loudspeaker saying that the ride wasn't working and it would take even longer for us to get on the ride. Luckily we could tell this was a complete lie, but some people actually left! When we got on the ride, we had only waited 20 minutes! This is known as stacking. They've been doing it for years.

Another example was one morning when the Magic Kingdom opened early. After going on a few rides we realised it was almost 9:00 and so we got in line for Frontierland. Before they let us in, the staff told us Splash Mountain wasn't working yet, but that Big Thunder mountain railroad was working.

They got us to follow them to Big Thunder, but as we got close, we could see that some other Disney employees were leading a group of other people to Splash Mountain! It turned out that both rides were working perfectly and that they lied to both groups just so they could avoid a chaotic rush to the two rides!

----------- End Letter

 

[idontknow]

The first time we went to EE at Epcot a few years ago, we asked if HISTA was open. We were told that it was and pointed in the direction of the show. When we got close, we just couldn't find an actual way to get to it. We asked and was told by another CM that the show was open and which way to get to it. (anyone figure out where this is going?) When we finally got to the area, we walked past a very burly woman with a walkietalkie. AFTER we walked past her, she started yelling at us. We couldn't hear what she was saying so we turned around and started walking towards her. At that point, she started talking to the person who was standing next to her. We figured we were mistaken and she wasn't yelling at us, so back in the direction of HISTA we went. When she saw we were not coming towards her any more, she starting yelling at us again and this time was walking towards us, too. We asked what the problem was, she told us HISTA was not open yet, we said we were told by 2 CMs that it was and sorry. (just appeasing her at this point) I went to guest relations and told them that I was not happy. (I was fuming at this point and said I knew I was, but I was so mad at what just happened I needed to vent) The poor guy let me vent and agreed that it should not have happened. I apologized for being such a hiney to him. He said he didn't understand why Epcot didn't have more open for EE and gave me front of the line passes for any ride. Very nice CM and was able to calm a guest down with class. I wish I would have gotten his name so I could let Disney know how great of an employee they had in him.