DEBATE: Does the color of employee's matter/affect the parks???

[Bob O]

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=1021
I have put a link to another site where the poster comments on his perception of why people like Disney over Universal and comments that it may be in part due to the race of the employee's.
What are your thoughts on this, it is true/untrue??? Newsworthy or not???

 

[KNWVIKING]

Wow. I guess in my case I'd say no, not for trying to appear politically correct, but because I never took notice of the workforce color at either location. Is it more white at WDW and more black US/IOA ?? What are the real numbers ? Guess I'll have to pay attention this May.

 

[Texan]

I did not notice, at all, the "color" of the employees at WDW versus US. I just noticed the indifference of most employees at US, they were younger, and less attuned to the guests. If you tried to chat with them or ask them a question the majority appeared uninterested or put out. That is just my observation when we went in Feb. I don't believe this person has a valid race issue, I just feel that WDW is more apt to hire people, of any color, who are more than just an employee with a job. Most CMs at WDW were really into interacting with our children and talking to me and DH. We could definitely tell the difference in their outlook, not their skin color. DH and I talked about it, we enjoyed US, but it wasn't the same employee wise, and it was never mentioned what race they were.

 

[dzneelvr]

I think it's sad that the "race card" shows up where it's not valid.
Unfortunately, once it's been played, it never seems to go away.

WDW, as does any world-class organization, has a recruitment and hire process that is based on qualifications. Period. My company some years ago used the Disney model to increase our customer service level. Their model had everything to do with top quality and nothing to do with race, age, etc.
This is a no-win debate.

 

[patsal]

I never really looked at it as a racial difference I just noticed a "quality "difference. WDW has nice clean colorful uniforms, friendly CM's that take time with my children, and I have never encountered anyone who worked there that was rude to extremes. At US/IOA we found the uniforms to be faded and stained, the staff not always so friendly and very few CM's willing to take time with the children. Often many people could not answer my questions, and they were not willing to find someone who could. I don't really believe it is a race issue, just a quality standard issue.

 

[deusEx]

I can't really comment much on US, as I've only been there once but...

I just got back from the World yesterday, after spending 10 days there. I dragged my partner down there for his first time and the one thing he commented on that he noticed was the fact that not only is disney obviously not racist, but it's not ageist or sexist either.

Also, after reading about report after report on the rumour boards here of how Disney's cumstomer service is going downhill, i was expecting the worst, well maybe I'm just lucky, but I saw nothing but cast members going out of their way to be helpful and curtious with many going way beyond expectation. This was one of my best trips ever.

 

[barbeml]

Gee, I never thought about this. All I remember about Universal CMs were how few there were in evidence and how unengaged they were.

Thinking about the most enjoyable interactions I have had with Disney CMs, one was a caucasion female sr. citizen, one was an African-American woman, one was an African-American man, one was gay, proud and fabulous, and one seemed to be developmentally challenged. I only remember what they looked like because they made such a wonderful impression that I could never forget their faces and smiles.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

Interesting article. I don't particularly think it's very accurate though. Coming from the inside... Disney has a very wide diversity of Cast Members... Male, female, transgenger, black, white, hispanic, indian, asian, folks with disabilites, different sexual orientations, younger, older, you name it, we got it. We've got such a large base of ethnicity, a lot of our training materials, and company literature is put out in English, Spanish, Haitian-Creole, and Vietnamese. (And maybe even some other languages as well) I don't think the company would be so willing to invest in those resources unless there was a large enough population to warrant them.

 

[deirdrefitch]

I have gone to WDW five times in the past six years, and never
noticed the color of the cast members skin. I can say that the cast members at WDW spend alot more time conversing with their guests than US does. My family has had many interesting conversations with CMS' while waiting in lines for rides, openings, etc. To be quite honest, I can't recall even one conversation with a CM at US. We enjoy both parks, but Disney is the kindest!

 

[MikeScott8]

I will have to agree with the previous posts, in that I never noticed the race of the employees in the two parks.

But I do remember that at IOA I don't really recall seeing as many employees as at WDW. The ones I did see were not as customer oriented as at WDW.

Mike

 

[MELSMICE]

I have to agree with the other posters. I have never even noticed the race of the employees at WDW.

The one thing I was told was that the employees in Future World are citizens of the countries where they are working in EPCOT, which I think is the neatest thing.

 

[kimmar067]

...picked up on the fact that employees at IOA/US seemed to be younger, as well as not taking their job as seriously as the CM's at WDW (especially those "guys" who are the bellhops at ToT!!) I never noticed a "race" or "color" difference, although I definitely noticed that the parks of Universal aren't as clean....just MHO!

 

[Planogirl]

Last week I remember seeing a lot of elderly employees and also several in wheelchairs at BOTH resorts. We never ran into a rude employee at either resort except for a bit of trouble at Port Orleans but I think that was a fluke. And I chatted a lot with people at both places since I'm always prying into park things.

 

[Kilted_Yank]

In my humble opinion, as a black person that goes to Disney at least twice a year... I think that people see whatever they decide to see. I don't think that the racial/ethnic make-up of the WDW cast has anything to do with how good it is, unlees it is a factor on the plus side. I think that the aouthor of those remarks took a set of circumstances and decided that she saw what she thought she saw.

People do that all of the time.

 

[LIFERBABE]

We enjoyed our US visit and I think the CM's have a different role at US than at Disney. Disney the whole place is meant to be MAJIC and you can't have that without a total facade including the people. At US you don't go there for MAJIC you go for a Thrill (not that WDW is not thrilling just not their primary objective).
I did notice the difference, just not the color. No one at US was rude to us, but they didnt go out of their way to be extremely nice either. I think it's very difficult to serve the public with a smile and those that are capable deserve to be paid accordingly.