cm's that were not as nice as usual

[chase14]

we were at wdw thanksgiving week, we had a couple of incidents where cm's seemed not to be enjoying there jobs very much. it seemed as if they did seem as helpful and friendly as in the past. we had a real run in at test track, sunday afternoon . we were in fast pass line and when we entered staging area were there is door number 1,2, or 3 , a cm announced for everyone to move back as far as possible this put us into door number one. this turned out to be the single rider door. i dont remeber any announcement about that beinng single rider only. when we were to get on ride cm asked for single rider ticket for us, i had my wife and a 6 year old and a 8 year old. i stated i didnt have one ,had given it to cm at entrance to fastpass. he asked if we wanted to ride single and i stated not a 6 and 8 year old . we were told to go to other cm who stated that we had to exit the ride and building . all fastpasses had been issued for the day so with a wait time of 75 minutes dear old dad had to take action. i had to sort ruffle a few feathers and rfuse to leave and asked to see their supervisor at which time we were placed was placed on ride. there were some people directly behind us in line that had done the same thing we did and my stance helped with their problem. we have never had a problem like this at any disney location in at leat 10 trips. has anyone else had problems of this nature or noticed a slight difference in the action of the cm's. i really wonder if it was so, or if i was just having a bad day?

 

[KathyFP]

WE have never had that kind of experience. Must have been a bad day for that CM.

 

[tazz23]

There was a thread a while back, where a dis'er also pointed out that the CM's had been rude to them- oh dear!
When I was in eurodisney, i got some awful treatment where I was refused entry to the park as 'apparently' my ticket had already been used- it was horrible and to top it off my french isnt very good so i didnt quite understand what was going on
I havent had any trouble in disney world yet though!

 

[BethBreakey]

I am sorry you had trouble with CM's -- we were there a month ago and the CM were so incredibly kind to us -- actually it may have been the best service we have ever recieved in "the Worlds" We did not make it to EPCOT (only MDM and MK) -- I always try to remember that this is there job too and that I have bad days at work as well... hope the rest of your trip went well!

 

[Doug123]

The CMs as a group will never be perfect. Bad service at Disney World is like the regular service you get everyplace else. I think CMs have a pretty good track record, though. We all have bad days at work.

With that said, I expect good service while at Disney World. They set the standards high and live up to it 99 percent of the time. Again, a pretty good track record.

 

[jann1033]

not at wdw but i have to say the CMs I got this morning/last night at cro have been wonderfully helpful trying to figure out what is up with ap rates..really have only had 1 crab ever ( although she was such a pro at it she could probably counteract 6-7 nice ones !) in my wdw "history" and hope to keep up the great odds

 

[Efastpitch]

In all the times we have been at DW, only one time have we had trouble with a CM. On the Pouh ride, this CM tried to put two adults and two children in one set. Needless to say, this didn't go over at all.

 

[Fooboy]

sorry to hear that some of the CM's were a little disagreeable. it can sometimes put you down for a little while. but it's ok. gotta understand that it's a BUSY time of year and we're all human so a throng of tourists can get a little overwhelming during the day and night. I don't think i have ever experienced a rude or just plain bad CM. they've always been friendly. either way, sorry 'bout that.

foobs

 

[GOOFY D]

I was in WDW Thanksgiving week also and thought the same thing. I have been multiple times and there were a few who just were not as friendly as normal (especially a particular bus driver). However, like someone said, overall service at WDW is exceptional.

 

[RickinNYC]

We've never personally had any outright rude CM's, although I've often come across a few that were a bit too forthright about their opinions of WDW or Disney policy in general. To explain, for some strange reason both my partner and I are constantly mistaken for fellow cast members. Not sure why, but it happens virtually every trip. In any case, due to that misconception, a number of CM's have openly complained in front of or to us, or even joked about one policy or another. I understand the need to vent with a colleague, but not to a guest IMHO. That said, I've casually and very non-argumentatively and in an EXTREMELY friendly manner told the castmember(s) that we didn't work for Disney and that we were guests.

Virtually every time, they always apologize and explain that they thought we worked there.

But that's as far as it's ever gotten. As for service, for the most part, everyone has been incredible. Occasionally, we'll come across someone who is rather ambivalent but certainly not obnoxious, let alone rude or callous. And if ambivalence is as worse as it gets, I'll take it over some folks in retail or in other parks (Universal or Six Flags, anyone?) any day. And that's why Disney gets to pocket my hard earned money on an annual basis.

Still haven't quite figured out why we keep getting mistaken for cast members. Always thought that was weird.

 

[KFISCHER]

Most CM's have always been great, in my experience.

But WDW isn't perfect.

December of 2000. George W. Bush had finally been declared the winner in the election.

We're at the Tambu Lounge in the Polynesian. It's around 3:30, 4:00. Not busy at all. The bartender, seeing a CNN report on a TV in the lounge discussing one of Bush's cabinet appointees starts ripping that appointee, after I had mentioned Bush's pick was from the same state as I was.

The guy launched into a tirade that went way beyond a bar disagreement............and I had done nothing to provoke it.

We got up and left.

It was the most unprofessional display I had ever seen from a CM.

I chose not to report it to anyone (I think it may have been because it was the holidays). But I've never seen the guy there since.

So it happens. Thank goodness, not often.

 

[chase14]

i think maybe after 10 trips since 1997 i have been spoiled by the service. so much so that this may be why this incident surprised me so much. i have to say that this was the first incident like this i have ever experienced at a disney location. i have heard that there had been layoffs at wdw with a cutback of workforce since 9/11. could it be possible that with there being a lesser number of cm's that they have to handle more things with less people? maybe that was why i had a feeling things had changed a little. i know sometimes when companys are going thru changes employees are on edge. many you are right though, bad disney service is beeter than most places best service. we had a wonderful time last week, i was just wondering if some of the internal disney goings might be affecting cm's. one of roy disneys complaint upon resignation was concerning theme park buiding and operation.

 

[jann1033]

I think both resignation letters also mentioned morale so could be that is why some are not as happy...too bad. I have to again in my 8 times of calling today($$$$$ on the phone bill) to try to get the Ap rate everyone but me seems to be getting(lol) I did not get one grouch and they were busy busy busy ( 30min+ waits)

 

[danny1649]

Never had a rude CM yet,this must have been bad day for CM.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I have always found the Disney CM's to be the nicest and most patient of anywhere I have ever been but there is always an exception to the rule anywhere. I had so many wonderful experiences with cm's on my last trop but GoofyD reminded me of one bus driver that was a bit jarring and am wondering if he might not have been in line with me waiting for a bus that day.

I do not like the new buses and I guess I am not the only one as people were wanting to wait for the next bus rather than stand. The bus driver got off and announced that the bus was NOT going to leave until it was full and no other buses would come until it was so. I imagine he was getting a lot of pressure for dispatch or whatever but it was so unusual, for Disney, that it got my attention. I still hate the new buses though.

Slightly Goofy/Linda

 

[jfulcer]

Originally posted by SlightlyGoofy
I do not like the new buses and I guess I am not the only one as people were wanting to wait for the next bus rather than stand. The bus driver got off and announced that the bus was NOT going to leave until it was full and no other buses would come until it was so. I imagine he was getting a lot of pressure for dispatch or whatever but it was so unusual, for Disney, that it got my attention. I still hate the new buses though.

Slightly Goofy/Linda

While talking with the bus drivers this past trip, we got the same impression from the drivers - that they needed to fill up as much as possible. That all is tracked and made note of. If the driver left with a half full bus and dispatch saw more people waiting, they'd be unhappy that he left guests waiting. Everyone already thinks they wait too long anyway - what if the next 3 buses that came were the new style buses?

I personally liked the new buses - more room for our stroller and I don't have to worry about knocking everyone on the heads with our bags as we walk back to the back. And not that I had to use this option, but the handicapped access is MUCH better.

 

[Jestocost]

Our experience with cms has been almost universally positive and last week was no exception. We did run into an unpleasant "Fast Pass Nazi" at Thunder Mountain, however. She severely chastised several guests with 12:05 p.m. Fast Passes when they tried to enter when the clock clearly showed 12:06 p.m. We were waiting in the wings because we had been there since about noon and had seen her tear into a few people whose time hadn't quite come up yet, so we weren't about to attempt to enter until she called for the 12:05 crowd.

One other unusual experience comes to mind too. On our last trip in 2002 we sat next to and talked at length with an off-duty cm to watch Spectromagic from the balcony of the Main Street train station. While she was very nice, she gave us quite an earful about how things had gone downhill as far as how cms are treated by Disney. I sure hope that there's no long-term erosion of morale that could lead to declining levels of service, but it's something I worry about.

Last week I also heard one cm at the MK tell another guest that "Disney will hire anyone to work here," which was surprising to me.

 

[luvpooh]

we ran into 2 particularly memorable CM's this past weekend. One was the girl who was helping our CM at check in (our CM was earning her ears). When I asked if there were any rooms in the building I requested or if not, closer to the main building than what we were given, the training CM rudely stepped up and started shouting at me that no, the hotel was completely booked and that was all we could have. She didn't even let the other CM speak!

Then, we had dinner at 'OHana's and received the worst service ever. The helper woman (not the main server) was incompetent and downright nasty. Every time we were actually able to get her attention and ask for something (Sometimes for the 2nd or 3rd time), she would snottily reply, "Oh, didn't he (the server) get it for you?" The other server really wasn't much help either. They must have been in hurry up mode, because they didn't come around a 2nd time with the skewers and they brought out the hot towels right after the 1st skewers were served. Then he brought the check without asking if we wanted coffee or a dessert not included w/the meal. I brought 2 friends to dinner here and I was raving about the place, but I wound up being very disappointed and a little embarrassed because of the service we received. BTW, the food was great!

All that said, most other CMs were very nice, the guests on the other hand...let's just say they weren't all on their best behavior...(especially all the groups of unchaperoned teen boys and girls, did Pop Warner start early this year?)

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

IMHO, poor customer service at Disney stands out cause it is so unusual and so much is expected from prior experiences. Some of the things that I see some guests do causes me to wonder why no one has ever been beaten at WDW. LOL

Wish I could read the CM board and see what they have to say about us. (cringing with fear) LOL

Slightly Goofy/Linda

 

[threeboysdad]

DW and I have been going for 17 years. We both comment on how it is not like the old days (CM's that is). Once upon a time we thought "wow how do they find the BEST people". Now we think "wow they must be having trouble keeping people".

Having gone to Universal several times in recent years we see very little overall difference (IMO) between the personnel. I do believe this is because now there are two major companies competing for the same work force. The one that treats their people the best will win. Here's hoping that Disney can get its act together again (see resignation letters).

All that aside, we both still say, "there is no place that compares when it comes to the 'magic' ingredient!"

Universal is cool, but WDW is still Magical!