CM's=bad / park guests=good

[krismom]

Hi- I wasn't sure where to post this but was wondering if anyone else has had less than stellar CM experiences this summer?
I ask this because we returned a week ago and the more I think about it... the more aggravated I get about a few things that were directly cm related....
I say first that these were not worth complaining about at the time- we were in Disney after all! But now I realize that this was our 4th trip and I haven't felt this way after previous trips.

Our 3rd day at The Polynesian (I broke the bank to stay here!) the front desk would not give my mother change for the laundry room. The change machine in the laundry room was broken and the arcade was not open. She was told she'd have to wait until one of the stores opened- she said, "we are hoping to be at the EMH at magic Kingdom today and I was hoping to have the wash done before we left" ... needless to say, the rude CM was of no help until she told them "I think I'll go outside and ask all of the people waiting to check in for spare change." Then, surprise, surprise, the CM working NEXT to the original one, found her some d#*m change!

I couldn't find CM's working the monorail twice. Once at MK and again at the Poly. Both of these were peak travel times (when isn't it in summer?) and I had a question regarding the handicapped car that went unanswered.

We ate at Ohana's and our AR / PS was for 5:00. We were in our hawaiian shirts and all set at the podium at 4:45. We were seated at 6:15!!! After asking why the wait, we were told the flu backed up and there was going to be a slight delay- I understand that stuff happens.... but when we were FINALLY seated, we were very rushed by the entire staff probably due to the backlog of people with plans to eat at some point! The hula hooping / coconut races were a DISASTER as all the kids who seemed way to old for that sort of thing grabbed all the materials and literally left my kids and some others in tears. I asked the hostess at the podium thingy if they could possibly do 2 sets of games for the older / younger kids and she pretty much laughed in my face.

We finally caved in and bought lanyards / pins for my 6 year old daughter at Mouse Gear. The girl at the cashier said to her (not to me as she should have) "do you know the rules about pin trading?", "well, a CM doesn't have to trade with you if they already have that pin you want to trade and it has to be a real disney pin. So many people try to trade knock offs." First of all, my daughter doesn't know a "knock off" from a knock knock joke. And secondly, the ATTITUDE was all wrong. I was BUYING into this pin trading crap and you lay out rules for me? How about a smile and a "welcome to the wonderful world of pin trading! You are about to meet new people and have fun!" (as her shyness was the reason for me wanting to get her into it in the first place!)

The CM's during the parade and mass exodus times (granted its a tough job but...) who used their blinking red wands like police batons and said "move it, move it, this is a walk way, let's go people! I actually looked at one right in the eyes and said, "you have a pleasant evening too."... And I'm not usually sarcastic or confrontational!

The general decrease in CM's all over the park was very obvious. You had to really look for one if you needed to ask a question.

The CM who told me at The Incredibles character meet and greet that my sons couldn't get their visors stamped. I told her very nicely that Buzz lightyear stamped them the day before and that if it didn't turn out well, it was fine. She said it was "paper only" and I KNOW this is not policy, but how was I going to argue when we are next in line to meet Mr. Incredible?

I know I chose to stay at a deluxe, but the invisible hands outstretched for tips was unbelievable! The magical express guy, the guy who brought the fridge to the room, the guy who brought the bags to the room, the mousekeeping staff... and by the way, the rooms were "neatened" but not really "cleaned" at all during our week long stay.

Anyway... all of these incidents are in contrast to the wonderful, caring, and patient guests I interacted with. Of course, there are going to be tour groups and lots of teens, but I steered clear of yellow shirts and was fine.I was worried about traveling without my husband, but was pleasantly surprised at how others came to my assistance so often. One fellow guest helped me push my twins double stroller up that resort monorail ramp at midnight. Many gentlemen offered my mother and myself their seats on the busses. A nice woman gave me her shiny pennies to use in the penny press and wouldn't take my daughter's nickel. In general, I noticed alot of "excuse me's. please's and where are you from's?" and was proud of my fellow travelers.

I don't really know why I feel a bit disney-dissapointed. I guess when you get home and realize how much you spent you get more frustrated at what could have gone better. All in all the trip was wonderful and I have many more good memories than these few bad ones. Maybe next time we'll go off season. Or go to Disneyland!

 

[disboy21086]

I was there for the 4th as well. and had the complete opposite experience w/ CMs than you mentioned.

Every single CM I encountered was friendly, and more than willing to help. The Hotel Staff (CR) was great, helped me in making a room change (my request once the crowds died down after the 4th).

I was in MK one night during Spectromagic and was kinda of lost (didn't have a map in hand), and went by a store a CM was standing out side and kindly took me inside and had a map and pointed me in the right direction.

I guess it just depends on which CMs you had.

Only trouble I had was on 7/4 after the fireworks at MK I think i boarded the wrong monorail,back to the TTC rather than the resort monorail. I had kindly asked the CM "Which Monorail do I take to get back to my hotel", and he said "which hotel" in kind of a nasty tone. He was acting like the smart one, and probably figuring that I had no clue what I was talking about.

 

[daisy_77]

I'm sorry that the CM's were so rude! Hopefully, next time things will turn out better for you! At least the other vacationers were nice, usually they are the ones with attitude! Thanks for your trip report!

 

[sanibelover]

It shouldn't matter "which CM's you get." (Sorry that your visit was less then magical.) Disney has (had....)a reputation for superior service which they are quickly losing in my estimation.
Unfortunately, even Disney can't "manufacture" niceness anymore.

Tell you what. We just went to Dollywood. (Not my idea!!!) The workers there were genuinely nice. They actually wanted to be there and tried hard to serve you! I was amazed!! Also, most of the guests (even teens) really impressed me with manners and kindness. I am not a "country" fan - give me NYC any day, but Disney could learn a thing or two about customer service from one of it's smaller competitors!!

 

[bicker]

Probably the main thing they could learn is to move to Tennessee where there is an overabundance of incredibly motivated and polite people to work for them.

I've had wonderful experiences with CMs during every visit to WDW. At the same time, I've seen other guests dump serious disrespect on CMs quite often. It has got to be a horrific job, so I'm doubly impressed with the service I've received.

 

[agotta]

As a former CM, I have to honestly say I am so tired about hearing all the negative feedback. I am not disagreeing with you in that there are CM's out there (probably quite a few) that don't have that Disney magic, and heck don't even have great customer service skills. But when I see these posts it makes me sad for all the CM's out there that do a great job, a fantastic job. You know, even the CM's that just do their job with a smile are getting a bad wrap. As a former CM for 5 years, and one that was given a WWWD award (What Would Walt Do), for excellent guest service, I would really like to see more positive posts out there. Believe it or not, some CM's look at their jobs as just that, jobs. And no they don't go out of their way for guests (even Deluxe guests). Again, I am not disagreeing with. I have seen nasty CM's first hand. I just wish I read more positive reviews.

 

[CarolB]

As a former CM, I have to honestly say I am so tired about hearing all the negative feedback. I am not disagreeing with you in that there are CM's out there (probably quite a few) that don't have that Disney magic, and heck don't even have great customer service skills. But when I see these posts it makes me sad for all the CM's out there that do a great job, a fantastic job. I just wish I read more positive reviews.

We stayed at the Poly (for I think the 6th time) and at the WL (1st time) June 12-19 and had excellent CM experiences on both properties. We were always greeted with "aloha" as we walked the Poly grounds, front desk CM was extrememly accomodating regarding a room request, our mousekeeping staff did a great job keeping our room clean - even got towel animals twice at WL. We had a fridge delivered to both rooms (don't know why they aren't in the rooms yet) and neither person acted as they expected $. I never felt "tipping is required before I leave", although we do tip mousekeeping daily and always bell services when they pick up/deliver luggage.
We did wait about 1/2 hour or more for our Ohana reservations on our last night, but that has been typical for our Ohana experiences....our server was less than stellar, so that was a disappointment. Her assistant was excellent however, and when he realized she was not as responsive as we liked, he seemed to pick up the slack.
We did have a bad CM experience while eating at the castle. Our server was poor at best and I doubt I will return (it was an attitude thing more than anything else), but otherwise, our 8 days were excellent. (went to IOA last year and boy did the CMs we encountered there need some customer service training!)

 

[C.Ann]

As a former CM, I have to honestly say I am so tired about hearing all the negative feedback. I am not disagreeing with you in that there are CM's out there (probably quite a few) that don't have that Disney magic, and heck don't even have great customer service skills. But when I see these posts it makes me sad for all the CM's out there that do a great job, a fantastic job. You know, even the CM's that just do their job with a smile are getting a bad wrap. As a former CM for 5 years, and one that was given a WWWD award (What Would Walt Do), for excellent guest service, I would really like to see more positive posts out there. Believe it or not, some CM's look at their jobs as just that, jobs. And no they don't go out of their way for guests (even Deluxe guests). Again, I am not disagreeing with. I have seen nasty CM's first hand. I just wish I read more positive reviews.

--------------------

I was in WDW in April and I have to say that all of the CM's I encountered were wonderful.. There was one instance where two CM's were being LOUDLY chewed out by an elderly man (totally uncalled for - they did nothing wrong) and I just wanted to smack that guy right up alongside of his head.. Even as they were being humiliated though they never stopped smiling or exhibiting the Disney courtesy we have all come to expect..

The only complaint I have is that the CM's seem to be far and few between in the parks and whenever I needed one, I really had to search high and low to find one..

I think the CM's do a GREAT job - considering what they have to put up with from angry, rude guests..

 

[PoohnPglet]

I am an AP holder that lives about 20 minutes from WDW. so we go A LOT and let me tell you it is more often park guests=bad / CM's=great.

There are many times when my son and I choose to sit and do people watching instead of fighting the crowds and we are constantly amazed by the behavior of people visiting these parks.

A few examples:

Strollers - There are very specific places to park strollers, there are even signs indicating stroller parking. Yet, many guests will leave their stroller where they want and then get all upset when they return and find that a CM has moved it to the proper place. I saw a lady trying to leave her stroller in the middle of a walkway and a CM was trying to explain why they could not have the walkway blocked and the lady screamed and cursed at the CM saying she would have the CM fired if she returned and the stroller was moved. WHAT?!?

Crowd control - We have seen many people get upset over what they perceive as CM's yelling at them/being pushy at parades/certain shows where the CM's are trying to move large amounts of people, quickly. Take a chill pill, people. The CM's are not yelling AT you, they are yelling to be heard. They are not being pushy, they are just trying to get you to move along. Especially those with the groups of 10+ people that think it is perfectly ok to stop right in the middle of the walkway. (This is a pet peeve of mine as well. If you need to stop to look at your map, get a drink or whatever - why not move to the side? )

Ropes/curtains/sectioned off areas - This my personal favorite. My son and I play a game whenever we see a rope across something at one of the parks, to see how long before someone comes along and goes under the rope. It never takes long. Then they get offended when a CM tells them they cannot be in that area. One of the funniest things I have heard was at FotLK, they had a rope across one of the sections and a group of people had ducked under the rope to sit there. A CM came and said that they would need to move as that section was not open. The man said something about how there should be a sign saying they couldn't go there. The CM very politely said there was a rope there. He had no response to that but told her she ruined his whole F&@^# Disney experience. Wow, could not believe it.

So, when you think the CM's are being rude or not into giving the Disney Magic, just remember it is not just the heat from the weather that they have to put up with.

 

[Marseeya]

Especially those with the groups of 10+ people that think it is perfectly ok to stop right in the middle of the walkway. (This is a pet peeve of mine as well. If you need to stop to look at your map, get a drink or whatever - why not move to the side? )

I have an answer to that.

We're the type of people who don't want to get in the way, so we'd be more than happy to move to the side to do whatever we need to do. While we were in an amusement park yesterday, there were numerous times we'd want to stop and move over, but the crowds just wouldn't let us through. It was like trying to cross a busy highway! People just don't want to stop/pause for common courtesy because their "business" is so much more important than anything going on around them. Towards the end of the day, we were all just "the heck with this!" and would just stop and the crowd would flow around us nicely. It's a whole lot better than being run down and glared at for trying to move over.

Then again, others just might stop because they're not thinking or in their own little world.

I can think of a lot worse things in the world to get peeved over.

 

[Dare2Wish]

I bet you were a bit more stressed due to not having your husband with you. It just made the bad things seem worse. I know that when I travel without DH, I get aggitated easier. I'm just used to having him around. Glad you encountered nice guests.

 

[DiszyDean]

I realize that guests can be unreasonable and CMs do have rules they have to follow.

But, most people spend a lot of money to go to Disney and certainly should not expect or accept the kind of rude treatment that the OP had to endure.

People go to Disney for a certain experience and I am sure that most get the experience they are looking for and that is a credit to the good CMs which do their jobs.

However, Disney management should do a better job at removing the CMs with poor attitudes to avoid this kind of perception. If you hire quality people, you get quality workers.

 

[Feralpeg]

First, I'm sorry to hear you had bad experiences with CMs. This is no excuse for bad behavior of certain CMs, but Disney is so shorthanded right now. They've been having huge hiring fares trying to find people, but they haven't had great success. My sister was told that people hire on and just never show up. She had one girl start at her store. The girl went on her lunch break and never came back. This means that the other CMs are working incredible hours. Although my sister is supposed to be part time. She has been working over 40 hours a week due to the crowds and the fact that they are shorthanded. She said that it gets very hard to put on that pleasant face after you've stood on your feet for 10 hours. She also said that she's noticed a change in the attitudes of the guests recently. When they come into her shop, they are hot and tired and not always friendly. She totally understands that, but it makes dealing with them a little harder. Again, I'm not excusing poor behavior, but I think some of this should be taken into consideration when judging the CMs.

 

[DiszyDean]

I realize that you are not excusing poor behavior by the CMs but seriously, this is a Disney problem to figure out, not a guest problem. I am sorry that some of the CMs are overworked and unreliable. Maybe Disney should dip their hands into the profit jar and spend a little more money to pay the CMs more and get a higher grade of worker and more of them. This is supposed to be their business.

First, I'm sorry to hear you had bad experiences with CMs. This is no excuse for bad behavior of certain CMs, but Disney is so shorthanded right now. They've been having huge hiring fares trying to find people, but they haven't had great success. My sister was told that people hire on and just never show up. She had one girl start at her store. The girl went on her lunch break and never came back. This means that the other CMs are working incredible hours. Although my sister is supposed to be part time. She has been working over 40 hours a week due to the crowds and the fact that they are shorthanded. She said that it gets very hard to put on that pleasant face after you've stood on your feet for 10 hours. She also said that she's noticed a change in the attitudes of the guests recently. When they come into her shop, they are hot and tired and not always friendly. She totally understands that, but it makes dealing with them a little harder. Again, I'm not excusing poor behavior, but I think some of this should be taken into consideration when judging the CMs.

 

[Disney Gator]

I don't buy all those experiences as "bad CM's". It doesn't sound like the CM who told you about the pin trading rules or the one directing traffic after the parade were rude at all.

 

[taximomfor4]

I'll tell you about a great CM story!

We were in AK, over the week after Easter. It was about 1 hr or so before parade time. We happened to be over by Africa. We stopped and asked a CM at a kiosk where a good place to park ourselves for the parade was (the ropes were already going up). She said, anywhere. Not too kindly, but it is not her job to hjelp us pick a parade-viewing spot. So we moved down the line to another souvenir display. There was a man from, I think, Senegal working there, out on the sidewalk selling little stuff. We asked him. He was SUPER friendly, looked at our kids, and asked them if they like to play games. Kids all nodded. He told us to park the stroller right there in front of him, at the rope. So we did, and all sat down on our towels. A little while later, he came over and called our kids names (they were wearing GOH badges.) He and a couple of female CMs from African countries had just brought out hula hoops, ring toss, and hopscotch. My kids played those games with the CMs for QUITE a while before other families figured it out and came around.

I will attach a pic.

Beth

 

[PoohnPglet]

I realize that you are not excusing poor behavior by the CMs but seriously, this is a Disney problem to figure out, not a guest problem. I am sorry that some of the CMs are overworked and unreliable. Maybe Disney should dip their hands into the profit jar and spend a little more money to pay the CMs more and get a higher grade of worker and more of them. This is supposed to be their business.

Okay, so instead of writing complaints about overworked CM's we should shift our focus to writing complaints to Disney telling them to pay their employees decent wages? Think they would even listen?

 

[Dream1]

Everyone needs to remember that these are humans not robots. Don’t forget the value in taking the time to make the CM's day fun as well. We all need to watch our faces, attitude, and demands of CM’s. I like to smile and talk to everyone, so I always have great CM experiences. Put yourself in their shoes for a minute. That job is hard, and they have ugly faced, mean, hot, upset people in their view all day. Before you blame a CM for a bad attitude or experience, look at yourself and what you could have done to help that experience or interaction be a great one. I am not saying the OP deserved the treatment, as nobody deserves to be treated badly. I am just saying that we have a lot more control over our experience than we give ourselves credit for. Nobody wants to admit they are the reason they had a bad experience. …..

I hope your next trip is better and provides a little more magic. ;--)

 

[Chris]

I have to agree w/you about the CM's not being nearly as nice as I remember.
We had a few, one in particular at Alladians Magic Carpet, who was downright ignorant.
I'd say 90% of the time the CM's were great, unfortunately the other 10% leave a bad taste about the trip.
Won't keep me from going back, but it was a bummer!!

 

[bicker]

this is a Disney problem to figure out, not a guest problem.

There aren't always solutions to every problem. Somtimes, not even throwing money at a problem fixes it. In the case of CMs, what Universal and Disney found several years back was that as they increased pay to compete with each other over the available talent, the quality of the staff didn't actually increase -- rather, it just increased turnover, which thereby decreased productivity. The available pool of labor in the area was fixed. Increasing salary just hurt profitability for both companies. It served no constructive end.