CM's with attitudes at DHS

[della]

I have never encountered any problems using a GAC card in all my years at WDW but there were two situations today at DHS!

I have a 2 yr old who has a host of sensory/neurological problems. To be respectful of other (no one wants to hear him bellow, see him head banging on the sidewalk or biting me or dh to the point of bleeding). We have found it best to ask to use his stroller as a wheelchair). I also have two visually impaired children, they have rp (retinitis pigmentosa). Son,15,uses a white mobility cane, dd, 11 actually has less vision, but refuses to use her cane.

Because we are a family of many colors, I think most people realize that we have adopted 4 special needs children. (The fourth has dietary (gluten/casein)issues. Three of my 5 children have GAC passes.

Today we approached The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. There was not a very long line for the next show but it was a 15 minute wait in the "holding area". I told the cast member I would come back closer to show time. I did not want my little guy having a melt down for the other guests. I told her if I timed it right great, if not we would catch the show next time. She was very nice and told me to return to the Fast Pass line. When we returned it was a different CM. I try not to be pushy and I said the previous CM told us to use FP line. Well she started to lecture me on how there was no reason for me to be in a FP line and we could enter just like everyone else. She had quite a tone. No problem we went to the other line, where a 3rd CM looked totally embarrassed for the last one's behavior. I didn't give it a lot of thought as I felt everyone, even CM's have an off day sometimes.

Now my 22 yr old just called and said she took the VI kids on RNR. My VI dd asked if there was any way for them to skip the preshow (this is done for them on TestTrack, and Haunted Mansion. They tend to get turned around in dark tight crowds, and get bumped around and bruised by the other guests). The CM asked why and oldest dd explained they were VI. The CM was really annoyed and told them the whole ride is dark, why are they going on it? DD answered that they could certainly enjoy the "feel" and "thrill" of a roller coaster. CM said she'd let them go on "This one time!" ????

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Sounds like they handed out nasty pills at clock in today. Hope all your other experiences were magical, though

Suzanne

 

[BroganMc]

Sounds like you're all having real world issues today. It happens.

I love to tell the story about the one and only time I was ever stopped for speeding in my power wheelchair. It happened in DHS when I rounded the gates between the Chinese Theater en route to Little Mermaid. An security guard in his senior years stopped me and read me the riot act. This after he waved my senior dad through on his ECV, going even faster. I figured it was a bit of age discrimination at play. And of course whenever someone jokingly asks if I have a license or have ever been stopped for speeding, I have a story to tell. (I also tend to slow down a bit more around that corner and look for Grumpy, the Security Guard.)

As you said, sometimes you just catch a CM having a bad moment. Best just to shrug it off and laugh about it later.

I'd tell your VI kids to make a joke of it every time they go on RnR. They can say "We'll just ride this one time, promise!"

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

As a CM, I would like to apologize for the behavior of these two people. I'm not condoning it, but this could be what caused it:

1.) At the FP line the person could have thought you were pulling their chain. This happens a lot. Normally if a CM tells somebody to return to the line they either give them an actual FP or they alert the next person if there is a rotation going through*.

2.) At RnR, it could have been a new CM like a CP. I know that I was not given much training on VI guests, just guests who were hearing imparied and had mobility issues. Like any job it takes time to become comfortable enough with your job to not follow it to the letter, so it could be that you threw them for a loop. Not to condone their behavior, but that could be why you experienced a problem.

*I actually had an embarassing experience with a similar situation at Philhar. I was working merge point inside when Sean Astin and his wife came through FP without FP. Now, at merge point we have to merge 500 guests in 10 minutes to prepare for the next show. They came through, I asked for FP, they didn't have one, I told them they had to go through standby (all the while thinking, "that looks a lot like Sean Astin!".) As I'm doing this I'm trying to count handheld children and open the wheelchair gate so that I don't overfill the show.

He shows me a Flik card, and I tell him that is not a FP but designed to measure wait time. Long story short, my FP Return sent him in with a Flik card then put the rest of his party in Standby with a Flik card. They had Sean come through with the Flik card then go back to his party. I apologized profusely for the misunderstanding, I had offered to let them bring their party through but since they had a Flik card they stayed in the line. I got rotated to greeter and saw his party coming out the entrance. I asked them what was up and they said they wanted to see the stage show and it was getting ready to start. I did give them FPs since they had gone through pretty much the entire line. He was very cool about the whole thing but I felt like an idiot.

 

[SueM in MN]

Most of the time, they do it right.
That's what makes things like this even harder - it's not something you expect.

 

[Joanna71985]

I am really sorry this happened to you. I hope the rest of your trip was magical.

 

[ireland_nicole]

Sorry this happened to you. FWIW, hopefully the second CM explained the lay of the land to the first one at VOTLM so that your experience can prevent this happening to someone else (like me for instance, so-Thanks ) Someday, when you get past that anger all of us moms feel when our special blessings are discriminated against, I think that you're gonna find what the CM at RnRC said; I mean, she told ya they shouldn't enjoy it 'cuz it was Dark- wow, I know I shouldn't say this, but were roots a certain, shall we say, lighter tone? I truly hope tomorrow is magical for ya'll.
Nicole

 

[Lilogirl]

I am sorry this happened to you.

I have seen first hand that some CM's missed their dose of "pixie dust" when it comes to handling a Guest with needs not in a wheelchair. I have even spoken with Managers in the parks who are in the process of providing "additional training" to some CMs. Hopefully it will get better.

 

[della]

Thanks everyone. It did catch me off guard. And it has become the basis of many a family joke. I think it was more offensive to my oldest dd, since she was the one there and she is just very protective of her younger siblings. All in all it was a great trip.