Cut the grumpy CM's some slack

[MNRMommy]

We just got done with a wonderful week at Disney World. That said, we will NEVER go back during Christmas again. Not that it wasn't beautiful but compared to the crowds we are used to the week after Labor Day it was just too darn stressful.

Now, we have never run into cranky (or even down right rude) CM's before and we had more than enough to make up for it this time. However, I think with the increase in crowds comes a huge increase in pretty nasty guests as well. For every cranky CM we saw, we saw a great deal more rude guests. So, if you happen to get in line and the cast member you have is less than cordial just think of who may have been their last encounter and cut them some slack. It's probably not you they are cranky with and some people take awhile to get over.

 

[CodyBoy]

Well said and something to consider! thanks we are headed to Disney this weekend!

 

[rosebud4]

CM's have the most difficult job in the park. They must try and please even the most difficult of people, sometimes being yelled at, and blamed for things that are not their fault. Make a CM smile like my daughter did durning our recent trip. She made 400 small packets of candy and passed them out to the CM's. When she ran out of candy, she just would smile and thank them for making her smile or keeping the park, resturant, etc clean for her enjoyment. Sometimes a simple thank you and a smile can make the day of someone who has been working all day for not the best pay in the world but believes in making the magic!

 

[Zeebs]

While I totallly agree that people have off days, and that the CM may have encountered a rude and horrible guest before I showed up, I also believe.....

That is not my fault and I expect anyone whether a CM at Disney or my local shop assistant to be a professional and treat me in the manner I treat them.

I pay a premimum to visit a Magical park, part of that magic is to be treated nicely with a smile.

I know many will disagree but that is just the way I feel.

Now if I was rude and obnoxious to the CM then they can treat me the same way back.

That said we have never been met with a rude or terrible CM in our visits to DL, DL Hong Kong or WDW we have our first trip to DL Paris coming up and I will be expecting the same high standards as I have been treated to at all the other parks I have visited.

Kirsten

 

[GiGi30]

Well said-I think it's easy to forget that CM's are "real" people, too. They are not magical fairies I am a very non-confrontational person and it really embarrasses me to see people being rude to anyone. How am I to know what is stressing someone out....could be their kids, significant other, money problems, etc. I find that by cutting people slack, I don't get angry when they are snippy with me.

That being said-we went in Nov this year for a week and not once did I encounter an unpleasant CM. All were happy and eager to help!

 

[Rip]

We just got done with a wonderful week at Disney World. That said, we will NEVER go back during Christmas again. Not that it wasn't beautiful but compared to the crowds we are used to the week after Labor Day it was just too darn stressful.

Now, we have never run into cranky (or even down right rude) CM's before and we had more than enough to make up for it this time. However, I think with the increase in crowds comes a huge increase in pretty nasty guests as well. For every cranky CM we saw, we saw a great deal more rude guests. So, if you happen to get in line and the cast member you have is less than cordial just think of who may have been their last encounter and cut them some slack. It's probably not you they are cranky with and some people take awhile to get over.

Sorry, but that's no excuse. Using that logic, the cranky guests should be cut some slack. Afterall, they are probably only reacting to the crowded situation, long waits, and other rude people.

If I'm nice, then I expect the employee - whose job it is to make my visit as magical as possible - to be nice as well. If they can't handle their job, quit and work in a cubicle where you don't have to deal with the public.

 

[frndshpcptn]

I don't really agree. I was a CM, and no matter what, it was always my job to be friendly and professional to all the guests at my attraction.

I worked 4th of July one year and a guest who was rushing around in the CROWDED atmosphere of Tomorrowland ran smack into me and dumped 4 cups of hot coffee all over the front of my costume. It was hot (coffee and weather-wise). I was mad. It had been a LONG day as it was, nevermind having hot coffee spilled all over me by someone who wasn't paying attention to where they were going.

But you know what, I went and found my manager. Went back to costuming, got another outfit, changed and took 10 minutes to re-group.

And I wasn't mean / grumpy to any guests that I encountered for the rest of my shift. because (in my opinion), that's just not how a good CM behaves on stage. We are part of a show, and we should leave all our "real world" issues behind once on-stage...

 

[sbell111]

CM's have the most difficult job in the park. ...

Don't cast members have the only job in the park?

 

[Jimham4]

I don't really agree. I was a CM, and no matter what, it was always my job to be friendly and professional to all the guests at my attraction.

I worked 4th of July one year and a guest who was rushing around in the CROWDED atmosphere of Tomorrowland ran smack into me and dumped 4 cups of hot coffee all over the front of my costume. It was hot (coffee and weather-wise). I was mad. It had been a LONG day as it was, nevermind having hot coffee spilled all over me by someone who wasn't paying attention to where they were going.

But you know what, I went and found my manager. Went back to costuming, got another outfit, changed and took 10 minutes to re-group.

And I wasn't mean / grumpy to any guests that I encountered for the rest of my shift. because (in my opinion), that's just not how a good CM behaves on stage. We are part of a show, and we should leave all our "real world" issues behind once on-stage...

I agree. As a cast member it was my job to make sure the magic happened for everybody. If something was wrong at home I left it backstage before going out to the attractions. If a guest was rude to me it was my job to just smile and try to work it through. If I see a CM who seems to be having a bad day I smile give a friendly hello and hopefully help to change their mood; I know when I was working that kind of attitude from a guest would remind me of what I was there for.

 

[imLissy]

Just because you're cranky because people are giving you a hard time does not give you the right to take it out on other people, no matter who you are. I was in a terrible mood the other day and said something not so nice to one of my friends. She called me out on it, I apologized because I was wrong to take my bad mood out on her.

Just because it's understandable, doesn't make it right.

 

[seashoreCM]

Grumpy CM's out in the park are mostly the fault of "higher up" CM's behind the scenes. In other words it's a management problem.

1. There needs to be security to quell unruly guests.
2. There needs to be ample opportunity to change a soiled costume while still on the clock.
3. (under construction)
...
99. (under construction)

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/disney.htm

By the way, I disagree with the OP.

 

[homeschoolmomof4]

My son and I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of retired CM's at the Pop Century food court last week. They were a really lovely elderly couple who were forcibly retired from Disney when they hit 65(which they were immensely sad about). But they gave me some insight to what they thought the CM issues were. They believed that Disney's new hiring policies were at fault for the glut of not so nice CM's that they encountered. They seemed to believe that because most of the CM's are short timers(8-10 months at most with minimal benefits is what they said) that they had a lack of investment with Disney. They only viewed their jobs as just that, jobs, and not careers as they had. They asked me if anyone had said, "Have a magical day!" to us our entire trip and honestly we hadn't. I absolutely remember hearing it in years past, but not once this year. In fact, my travel agent and the elderly couple were the only ones I heard it from at all.

 

[defendthehill]

Cast Members are only rude, nasty, and un-magical to guest who fit the same description

 

[KellyNY]

I believe there are great, indifferent and rude CMs. Often indifferent are mistaken with rude due to different expectations but still they are not rude, they just do not make it special. I can definately accept indifferent CMs due to "bad" days for them, yes they are people after all. No excuse however to rude CMs, but I mean really rude CMs and there are really only few of them.

 

[TDC Nala]

I dont' think that's any excuse for acting unprofessional on the job. I'd have to know the level of unprofessionalism (leaning on a counter? no big deal. insulting a guest? That's unprofessional.) to decide whether slack should be cut or not.

 

[bytheblood]

While I totallly agree that people have off days, and that the CM may have encountered a rude and horrible guest before I showed up, I also believe.....

That is not my fault and I expect anyone whether a CM at Disney or my local shop assistant to be a professional and treat me in the manner I treat them.

I pay a premimum to visit a Magical park, part of that magic is to be treated nicely with a smile.

I know many will disagree but that is just the way I feel.

Now if I was rude and obnoxious to the CM then they can treat me the same way back.

That said we have never been met with a rude or terrible CM in our visits to DL, DL Hong Kong or WDW we have our first trip to DL Paris coming up and I will be expecting the same high standards as I have been treated to at all the other parks I have visited.

Kirsten

EXACTLY!

 

[bytheblood]

Cast Members are only rude, nasty, and un-magical to guest who fit the same description

Sorry, but that is a false statement. I have walked up to a counter, smiled, said hello and been responded to with nothing other a total for my items.

Having said that, I don't let it ruin my day or visit. I just smile and say "I hope your day gets better" before I leave. That is a polite way of letting them know their tude/mood is showing.

 

[bytheblood]

We just got done with a wonderful week at Disney World. That said, we will NEVER go back during Christmas again. Not that it wasn't beautiful but compared to the crowds we are used to the week after Labor Day it was just too darn stressful.

Now, we have never run into cranky (or even down right rude) CM's before and we had more than enough to make up for it this time. However, I think with the increase in crowds comes a huge increase in pretty nasty guests as well. For every cranky CM we saw, we saw a great deal more rude guests. So, if you happen to get in line and the cast member you have is less than cordial just think of who may have been their last encounter and cut them some slack. It's probably not you they are cranky with and some people take awhile to get over.

Sorry, I disagree. In any profession, if you take a job you are to perform it to the best of your ability, not based upon your surroundings. Take a backstage tour (like KTTK) and you will learn they are held to certain standards. The ones that do not meet those standards are in violation of their employment agreement....it just goes unnoticed by mgmt.

 

[KellyNY]

Sorry, but that is a false statement. I have walked up to a counter, smiled, said hello and been responded to with nothing other a total for my items.

Having said that, I don't let it ruin my day or visit. I just smile and say "I hope your day gets better" before I leave. That is a polite way of letting them know their tude/mood is showing.

But this person was not rude, he was indifferent, so it would be weird if that would ruin your vacation.

 

[bytheblood]

But this person was not rude, he was indifferent, so it would be weird if that would ruin your vacation.

I was raised that it is rude and disrespectful to not speak to somebody when they speak to you. I stand by that.