DEBATE: Please answer some questions for another loyal poster!

[caseymaureen]

Hello everybody!
Let me say at the top that I know this has absolutely nothing to do with rumors & news, but I wanted to ask my friends on this page a few questions...
I'm an American Studies major and the final for one of my classes is to construct a research proposal on just about any American Studies related subject. After working at Disney, I decided I would probably have the most luck working with a Disney subject since I'd have the experience to back up my opinions. The problem here is that I need some help organizing my thoughts. This is why I have come here, to consult with a few others who spend as much time thinking on the subject as I do

My subject is something along the lines of "Why are Disney theme parks still seen as the Happiest Places on Earth?" If you can think of a better way to word this, feel free to suggest! I noticed at Disney, that not too many people look like the people in the commercials. There's a lot of arguing, pouting, and family issues coming to a head in the parks, as you can imagine under the pressure of the lines, the prices, and many times the heat. But these people who may have spent their lifetime savings and fought with each other for the entire trip still go home and said they had a great time, and many will return again, why is this? I met 80 year old couples who told me it was their lifetime goal to go to Disney World, why? Is it the advertising? The company history? How do we explain this pixie dust effect? Why do people who had a miserable time still go back? This includes the people on this board. Many of us spend a lot of time debating issues and problems facing the parks. We talk about the dissapointments and the way things could be much better, but we still go again and again. Where did this loyalty come from?

I'd just like to hear some of your thoughts on this, maybe they'll help jumpstart my brain enough to write out the paper
Thanks for all your help!
Casey

 

[Greg Wright]

For me...my appreciation of Disney, now that I am an adult, is reliving my experiences as a child. The things that disappoint me, then, are not the crowds, heat, the hours (OK they disappoint me somewhat), it's when things change from what I remembered with fond memories of myself, my brother, and parents. For instance, no offense to Whinnie-the-Pooh, but he is no Mr. Toad! He should give his ride back.

The Disney vacation is really the main vacation thay my family would take for years. only when I was in my mid-late 20's did I ever go to the ocean and understand how relaxing it is. The Disney vacation really "fights back." Heat, sore feet, line-waiting, paying way too much for everything. But there is nowhere else where I can remember this.

I only hope my future kids will get the same kind of things out of this that i did. (I'm still not even 30 yet, and not married until this summer.)

Disney appeals alot t dreamers, which I must confess I am. Watching a movie or reading a book...I really get transported there. Living in 'another world' of Disney is just better because you don't have to put it down or turn it off until you leave.

Oh, another thing. Staying on Disney property with all of the "sugar coating treatment" from Disney staff is like visiting another planet for the length of your stay.

I am curious as to the person who originated this post. Where are you from originally and what did you do for a job at the park?

If you want to ask me any more specific questions...go ahead!

 

[CasualObserver]

Casey,

While other people will disagree (I guarantee it), in my study on the subject, I came to the conclusion that, to a large part, Disney's success is built on two things - nostalgia and the ability to create the sense of "something nice is just about to happen".


The Nostalgia aspect is where the adults begin their journey. Almost everyone my age remembers watching Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night. A trip to Disney park gives us the chance to connect with our childhood memories. Disney in those days was very careful to maintain their image. They were not focused on being a media mega empire, they were creators of clean, wholesome, family entertainment. We, as children, were the target audience of that product. Now, as adults, we want to relive those experiences and share them with our children.

The second most important part is this "something nice is just about to happen". A trip to a Disney park has it's moments, but the design of the place, the nostalgia, come together to make people forget the crying kids, the short tempers, and only focus on the smiles and the wonderful experiences. There is always a feeling in the air at Disney parks that any minute now something incredible might just happen.

A third aspect just came to mind: the self-selected audience. If you pay thousands to take a vacation, it would be like Tabasco in an open cut to remember it as a disaster. Therefore, we subconciously remember the good things, minimize the bad things, and retell only the best parts to our friends. Why spend all that money and remember that everyone was at each other's throats for 4 days? Instead, remember the fun rides, the "once-in-a-lifetime" trip in only the best terms. Therefore, one could make the argument that if Disney were not so over-the-top we would tend to feel more comfortable talking about the downside.

Hope this helps.

Casual Observer

 

[Walt's Frozen Head]

casey,

To me, it sounds that you intend to explore what some folks on the R&N board have been exploring under the simple heading "What is Magic?"

There are finer ways to slice the title, if you're interested in slanting the piece in any particular direction; or trying to make a particular statement about/toward Disney.

I'm not sure I can be of much help to you. Although Disney has created some enjoyable rides, I find it difficult to recognize modern versions of the once technically innovative and excruciatingly detailed Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea... a few "new classic" standouts like Splash Mountain and Tower of Terror just don't seem substantial enough, to me, to offset the decreasing relevance, gradual degradation, and occasional outright loss of the old classics; not to mention support the huge growth of WDW's daily "population," over the intervening decades.

To me, a mastery of the use of story-telling tools... both technologically marvelous and time-testedly effective, and zealous attention to detail were the rich soil in which a very rare Disney Magic was able to bloom.

Today's Disney Magic wilts in a rocky sand of the technologically cheap, the time-testedly cheap, and a spirit of zealous attention to what's cheapest.

The roots of Magic wither and die in such climes.

I would define Disney Magic as it exists in May of 2003 as equal parts "family memories," "it's still better than Six Flags," and "the kid shuts up for a few minutes when I buy it."

"Comfortable 32 degrees," indeed.

 

[Greg Wright]

I must state my agreement with the previous post. Disney offered story-telling rides...very different than thrill rides. For some reason, Disney seems to be moving away from story rides and into thrill rides...seems silly to me because there are other places that do that better! (Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.)

 

[Planogirl]

I agree with the nostalgia aspect. When I think Disney, the first image that pops into my mind is a kindly-faced Walt Disney introducing the next episode of the Wonderful World of Disney and then Tink flashing her wand. I feel warm and cozy and that everything is right with the world.

I imagine that a lot of people feel that to this day and are determined to share that feeling with their children. The cold truth isn't quite like that unfortunately but a person's ability to suspend reality and play the imagination game helps them to keep that image alive I think. I'm a bit of a realist so it's been a bit of a struggle for me lately.

 

[SoonerKate]

Casey!

You might want to expand your paper to discuss college program as well -- I've noticed that nearly all of us who wanted nothing more than to go home during parts of the program now look back on it as a great time.

Also, totally O/T -- I think the boyfriend and I are going to be in Baltimore for a while this summer. Are you staying around town when school gets out?

 

[crusader]

"Why are Disney theme parks still seen as the Happiest Places on Earth?"

I'm not sure if the general consensus is that they are actually the Happiest Places on Earth. I view this as a sales pitch. It works very effectively when you're dealing with more than your fair share of everyday events and disney keeps telling you where to find sanctuary. Most people get very excited in anticipation of going because it represents so many solutions to their problems and is promoted as a really wonderful vacation experience. Of course it does cost more than the average hiatus so you justify the expense by convincing yourself that happiness is worth every penny.

The reality of this experience is that it really doesn't relieve a person - particulary a parent - from any of the the burdens or responsibilities involved with raising a family. Decisions still have to be made and situations continually have to be dealt with. What ultimately winds up happening is the stress level reaches maximum proportions as your trying to find a way to relax and enjoy yourself while dealing with continual family demands in a heavily conjested environment. You also feel compelled to do more in order to get your moneys worth.

Before you know it, it's over. Are you going to come back and tell everyone that you just spent a small fortune on something which gave you very little in terms of what you thought you were buying and you now need a vacation to recover from this vacation? Not at that expense so you keep up the pretense and embellish a few things hoping to convince yourself as well.

 

[caseymaureen]

Wow, that's a lot of good responces for one night, thanks guys!

Greg Wright~ I am from Maryland, but I worked in Quick Service Food & Beverage at POFQ, AKL, ASM, and the Grand over my time in the Fall 2002 CP. I'm not one of those CPs that loved the whole thing and kept going back, I actually left 1 month earlier than I was supposed to. I think I ended up very disillusioned after growing up such a huge Disney fan and it not being quite what I expected.

Kate~ Hey girlie! I won't be in Baltimore, but home is only an hour away and I'm very used to the commute. When were you planning to visit? The fam might be going on a vacation sometime during the summer, I think mid-Julyish, and I'm taking classes at U of M college park through July 12th. Let me know when you decide on the dates, I'm sure we can work something out!

As for the CP, I have mixed emotions about it (and I think they must have brainwashed you after I left!) I feel like it was a good experience, it is definitely something I'll remember, and if I could go back I'd still do it because if I hadn't I always would have wished I had. However, I think I saw a lot of things and learned a lot of things that I would have been happier and better off not knowing. I would never want to work there again, but I'll visit when you do . I was trying to think of a way to include it into my paper but my teacher said to keep it to one slim subject to make it easier.

 

[CasualObserver]

Casey,

One thing that goes along with the nostalgia aspect is that Disney never seemed to b.uild their parks around the idea of being the "coolest". DCA is an example when they tried to be "cool" and came off "lame"

Is Victorian mid-america cool? Are former Presidents cool? Even some of the most beloved attractions, Haunted Mansion and POTC are not cool by today's standard. Instead they are classy, campy fun.

Other parks attempt to succeed by being the coolest game in town with "X-treme" attractions. Disney tries to entertain on a less adrenlain-laced basis.

Today's market says fast, dangerous, and loud are cool. Disney, at it's best, is slower, sillier, and yet, still fun.

I would also factor in the cohesiveness of the Disney parks. Disney is about Disney. People associate the characters and stories with the company. Other parks go the licensing route to get characters and fail because the characters aren't seen as having anything to do with the park. When you think Popeye or Bullwinkle, do you immediately think of IOA? Of course not. However, when you think Mickey or any of the Disney characters you associate them with the Disney parks. That association makes you want to go and experience the same creativity that made your favorite films.

Disney has succeeded in connecting, in the minds of the public, the creativity on film with real life creativity. As long as the creativity on both sides stay in synch and stay on a level above the competition, that connection will be reinforced and grow stronger. As the level of creativity in the parks drop, the public will begin to loose the idea that there is a place to where they can travel and experience, first-hand, the creativity they saw on the screen.


Casual Observer

 

[DisneyKidds]

Casey - as you can see early on, you will get a lot of different thoughts and opinions when asking a question such as yours. Those opinions will be divers and divergent, and you might be well served to explore all sides of this subject, both positive and negative, in your paper.

WFH and others have already started to lay out what is wrong with Disney. WFH's elegant prose is very moving, and not entirely untrue. However, I believe that what you are looking at goes deeper than that which can be affected by the wither and decay brought about by a lack of a certain type of ride and trend toward cheaper when it comes to rides in general. For many who find the Disney theme parks to be "The Happiest Place on Earth" (I wish I new how to do the trademark thingie as I do agree this is more of a sales gimmick than anything else, but the thought behind it is very real, IMHO), Disney is about much more than the rides, or the theme parks themselves. I'm sure many will now provide many examples of how the cheapness of which WFH speaks pervades all aspects of Disney - and maybe they are right. Yet what you are looking for still goes deeper.

Yes, there are things that are wrong with Disney, I won't deny that - yet tens of millions still flock there, and the recent Consumer Reports study finds that the Disney parks are widely regarded to be the best value out there. So, despite the failures, negatives, and problems, Disney continues to be very successful in the theme park market. Perhaps less successful than they used to be, but rather successful nonetheless. That is what I think may be interesting to explore - how Disney can be "ravaged" by the current "problems" (some self imposed and some from outside sources), yet remain as successful as they are. It interrelates very well with the type of "How can a family succumb to the stresses of a WDW vacation and still walk away smiling?" question that you ask (and in this case we know that a smile is not just a smile ). It is the fact that most can, and do, walk away affected in a positive way by the experience despite the stresses and the problems that allows Disney to be as successful as they are. What is it about Disney that makes that possible? Sort of like a thesis on 'Disney, a study in how a corporation and the families it serves weather the stresses of the modern day vacation world together'.

What makes this interrelationship between what Disney provides and what guests desire work? I think it is a complicated mix of nostaligia, fantasy, escapism, illusion, and just plain good entertainment/fun. Here is where the interrelationship becomes so important as it is all these things that Disney works to provide, while at the same time they are the very things that people are searching for. To boil it down, Disney has a unique way of providing it's guests with things they may not even know they are looking for. How exactly they do that is up to you to boil down.

When my family vacations at Disney we really are taken away from the real world (if only for a brief respite), moreso than at any other vacation destination we have travelled to. While we are taken away we relive old memories, create new ones, we immerse ourselves in the worlds of our favorite characters and icons of the past and present, we bond around common threads, and we have a boat load of good clean fun. It has taken 50 years to create all of the factors, products and properties that allow this to happen at Disney unlike anywhere else. The reason we all debate this stuff so much is because we want to see Disney create 50 more years of this very stuff, rather than simply rely on and exploit that which has already been created.

Ok, enough of my ramblings for now.......................

PS - I'd love to read your paper when you are done .

 

[caseymaureen]

Casual Observer~ I understand what you're saying. What I've gotten from putting everyone's posts together is this: Disney began with the family-fun, Tink and Walt days of Disneyland and Wonderful World of Disney. They made rides with stories like the Haunted Mansion and Mr Toad. Since then they have stepped away from this and tried to go for fast and cool as opposed to timeless, but people still think of Mickey and the classics when they think of Disney. So they go to the parks with this image and are, many times, dissapointed but they don't want to admit that it was a letdown after they paid so much money and looked forward to it for so long. Parents want their kids to see the Disney they grew up with but are dissapointed when all they get are the Space Ranger Spin and Kali River Rapids. The fans put a lot more into the nostalgia than the parks do.

DisneyKidds~ Depending on how think it ends up I may post it... I definitely understand your point of view because it is very similar to the way my family and I have vacationed at Disney; we may fight and have to stand in long lines and pay high prices, but we still go home with a happy feeling and goos memories...

 

[crusader]

"How can a family succumb to the stresses of a WDW vacation and still walk away smiling?"

I agree some of us do smile for all the things you mentioned and have the ability to make this trip very rewarding. But there is a tremendous amount of insincerity going on down there. I've seen it every time I visit and I hear it often upon someone's return.

People tend to suppress the real truth if it means disclosing something too difficult or personal to admit to. It is much easier and more convenient to save face and keep up the pretense. Eventually you may even begin to convince yourself of your own story and disney starts to resurface as something you imagined it to be. The next thing you know you're planning another trip.

 

[DisneyKidds]

So they go to the parks with this image and are, many times, dissapointed but they don't want to admit that it was a letdown after they paid so much money and looked forward to it for so long. Parents want their kids to see the Disney they grew up with but are dissapointed when all they get are............

But is this really the case. Sure, most of what we read around this board might lead one to such a conclusion. Also, you have been there and seen the people, and perhaps you have seen a lot of disappointment in the guests you have interacted with - but is there such a pervasive level of disappointment and dissatisfaction? I'm not sure there is.

we may fight and have to stand in long lines and pay high prices, but we still go home with a happy feeling and goos memories...

Thanks for reminding me that I forgot that value is an important part of the mix. We may all complain about prices, but the simple fact is that Disney provides an incredible amount of value for all that money. Cheap does not necessarily equal value. Disney is not cheap, but I believe it is an incredible value - and I think most of us around here realize that. As for fighting and lines, that is an individual family thing. While both can be avoided, it is inevitable that you will hit a line now and again, or someone will have a melt down. However, when you consider the source of the fight or the reason for the meltdown it puts things in perspective.

However, I think I saw a lot of things and learned a lot of things that I would have been happier and better off not knowing.

This thought is very interesting to me. I always wondered if working for Disney would somehow make the whole place somewhat less Magical. Is that what you are talking about - learning a lot of what goes on behind the curtain that leaves you a little disillusioned, or is it perhaps just the furthering of your education in the general business world that isn't so much related to the workings of Disney? Either way, it is a valuable part of your education.

 

[Sarangel]

caseymaureen -

Don't worry, this is no more off topic than many of our debates (I have taken the liberty of adding the word to the header, tho')...

As for your question, one of the reasons my family keeps going back, despite the issues the company seems to have lately in regards quality or storytelling, is that the cast members and other fans bring something of the 'world we'd all like to live in' with them to WDW. Yes, children cry & parents yell at them & everyone has at least one bad day - but something always seems to happen that is 'magical' (for lack of a better word). I could give you tons of examples, but one or two should suffice.

One afternoon in Epcot, my husband ran across a distraught woman pleading with a cast member to get back the Steamboat Willie pin that her daughter had traded to him (and which he had subsequently traded away) without her son's permission (it was *his* pin). Both kids were in the 5 to 7 year range, and crying for various reasons. Now, my DH is a pretty serious pin trader & so he sat down & pulled out a set of Japanese mini-pins that included Steamboat Willie (the only one he had) and gave it to the little boy. No strings, just something he did to make a little kid happier. This sort of stuff doesn't happen in the 'real' world, and it's pretty cool no matter which side of the coin you're on.

We've also met total strangers and turned them into friends during our stays at WDW, something the common language of Disney allows that the 'real' world doesn't seem to...

Anyway, it's something to think about.

Sarangel

 

[DisneyKidds]

People tend to suppress the real truth if it means disclosing something too difficult or personal to admit to. It is much easier and more convenient to save face and keep up the pretense. Eventually you may even begin to convince yourself of your own story and disney begins to reappear as something you imagined it to be.

I suppose for some people a vacation or destination can become this complicated, but it really does baffle me as to how . No offense to you, but to me that just seems like a rediculous statement to attach to a vacation or destination. I can't imagine what could be so significantly difficult or personal to admit about a vacation or a destination. While we have friends who might not enjoy their Disney experience as much as we do, the whole concept of 'saving face' with regard to a vacation seems rather odd. Yes, there are complicated factors at play that influence a persons Disney experience, but in the end there are two questions to be answered. Number one is - did you have a good time? Number two is - did you have a better time there than you have had, or think you might have, at other destinations? So long as the answers are yes, your trip was a success and the place is worthy of another visit. If the answer become no, you explore other options. Why should that be so difficult to admit to? Just because that may not be true for others has no bearing on my experience or opinion, and as such there is no need to hide behind anything or save face. The way I always look at it is - if we have a good time we'll go, and if you don't - well then don't go. Simple as that. It isn't that hard to descern between having a good time and convincing yourself that you had a good time, if you ask me (and I'm still not sure why someone would have to convince themselves they had something they didn't).

As for Disney being something you imagined it would be, I suppose there are many people who go looking for something specific. For the most part they find it. Is it wrong to go looking for something? Not really. I do agree that only going to look for something specific can be a recipe for disaster. Disney works to provide that which people are looking for, but they won't always be successful.

 

[crusader]

but to me that just seems like a rediculous statement to attach to a vacation or destination

I suppose it could be interpreted that way in general, but not when applied to a disney trip which someone just spent literally thousands on.

People are inclined to be dishonest about the truth so I tend to not buy into every exit interview or statistical survey floating around promoting something as the general consensus.

There's the truth; there's what people tend to say;
and there's what people want to hear.

If these forums don't operate as a testament to that I can't think of a better example to apply.

 

[caseymaureen]

I do understand Crusader's point though, because it is very similar to how I felt about the CP. It has to be true that there are some people who have had bad vacations at WDW, even if you just go by probabilities. These people probably don't want to admit that they did not have fun, or did not make magical memories or whatever the case may be, because the general consensus is that "everyone has fun at Disney World!"

When I tell people that I worked at WDW for 4 months the regular responce is, "Oh wow! That must have been so much fun!" It actually wasn't and that's hard to admit because people tend to think you're crazy. How could it NOT be fun?! It's Disney World! I worked long hours, doing menial work which I could do working at my local McDonalds, and I didn't even make enough money to cover my weekly rent. I knew that I wouldn't profit from the experience, but I didn't think that I would be quite so in debt when I left.


As to what left me disillusioned, I just saw a lot of things that practically ruined my image of "Disney" as a big magical place. I saw managers laugh in my face when I got upset about an upset guest. For example, a man ordered a cake to be made a week in advance so that his family could celebrate his young daughter's birthday at the resort (POFQ). At the prescribed time the man came to pick up the cake, which had to be done quickly because it was to be a suprise, and the cake hadn't been made. The chef had just plain forgotton to make it and was not at the resort that day. Needless to say the man was very upset, not so much for financial reasons but because his daughter's birthday suprise would be ruined. I was appalled that this kind of thing would happen and became personally involved in righting the situation. I told the managers about the situation, thinking that they would help to solve it. They told me to tell the man to take his receipt to the register to get his money back. That's it. As if that would "save the day." I refused to accept this and pretty much went on a crusade to have a cake brought over from PORS and quickly decorated. I also gave the man a large bundle of Mardi Gras beads to take back to his family with the cake for the celebration. I felt like I was the only person who cared whther or not this guest was happy. He ended up leaving happy and thanking me for my help. I was reprimanded by my manager for wasting company time, for neglecting my station while I tried to find a cake (depsite the fact that there were 3 other CMs at the same station) and for giving the man Mardi Gras beads for his family.

This kind of thing happened almost every day in different ways and it is very depressing to feel like you are the only person who cares to hold up the good reputation of a huge company which is just supposed to care. I just realized that they didn't.

 

[DisneyKidds]

People are inclined to be dishonest about the truth

Then shame on them...................and again I have to ask why? What purpose does it serve to be dishonest? Who does it benefit? I suppose someone who feels rooked might make themselves feel better, but they aren't likely to go back so why the need for the elaborate ruse? To be honest, most people I know that didn't care for Disney say so, and don't go back. I just don't understand how it can get any more complicated - but I guess it does.

I do understand Crusader's point though, because it is very similar to how I felt about the CP. It has to be true that there are some people who have had bad vacations at WDW, even if you just go by probabilities.

Of course there are people that don't like their Disney vacation. Just like you have no qualms about admitting there were things you might not have liked about the CP, most people I know are willing to be honest about their WDW vacation experience. I know two families that have gone in the past 6 months that didn't have a great time (for various reasons) who have told me so.

These people probably don't want to admit that they did not have fun, or did not make magical memories or whatever the case may be, because the general consensus is that "everyone has fun at Disney World!"

I supose if you let what others think or expect color your perceptions or affect your judgement there could be a problem. IMHO, that is not how most people live their lives, but I could be wrong.

As to what left me disillusioned, I just saw a lot of things that practically ruined my image of "Disney"

LALALALALALALALALALALA............HHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMM..........NANANANANANANANA.............I can't hear you . Only kidding of course. Sometimes it isn't a popular argument in our dicussions, but Disney is a business, and always has been. If someone were to believe otherwise I can see that it would lead to problems. I said I always wondered if working at Disney would tarnish some of the Magic. I guess what I realy mean was I wondered how much, as I always knew it would. How could it not? Business is business. People are people. Bad managers are bad managers. Even at Disney. I suppose if Disney has one more manager or one more employee such as yourself it is bound to create an element of Magic that just doesn't exist anywhere else.

 

[caseymaureen]

DisneyKidds~ I didn't particularly want to get into a debate, so this will be my last post on this new subject! ( but no promises!)

The thing is, I do have qualms about saying that I did not enjoy the experience. The vast majority of CPs do enjoy their time and so when I didn't, it makes it seem as if there is something wrong with me as opposed to the experience just not being good. People don't want to believe that bad things happen at Disney, and that bad people sometimes work at Disney, they would just rather think that I am crazy for not enjoying it. Prior to my CP experience I would argue with people who said they hated Disney or never wanted to go there, etc. I did not understand how they didn't think it was as great as I thought it was. Now I understand, but I am often confronted with people who feel similarly to how I used to. It gets to the point where when people say "oh, that must have been so much fun!" I just say "yeah, it was" so that there isn't an arguement.

As for Disney being a business, I knew that before I went and that was no shock. But Disney is supposed to be in the business of making their guests happy, and I believe that the example I gave was an example of very bad business on their part. If I hadn't cared about what was happening, that man could have gone back to his hotel with a handful of money instead of a birthday cake. I think that this kind of thing could probably ruin a vacation or at least severely dampen it. He most likely wouldn't have returned and the company would have lost not only the money they would have made from the cake, but the money they would have made from his subsequent visits. And it wasn't just the managers at POFQ, it was at every hotel I was deployed to. At PORS a guest bumped my arm while I was carrying a cup a scalding hot water from a coffee machine (which I was using to melt the overabundant ice in the soda machine.) My hand was burnt and starting to blister by the time I found a manager who did not want me to go to first aid, he thought it would be fine. I decided to go anyways, and when I returned with a hand bandaged like a boxing glove and a nurse's note saying that I shouldn't work for the rest of the day and that for the rest of the week my hand shouldn't be near heat. I was promptly put back to work in the pizza shop, getting hot pizzas out of the oven. At AKL the managers forgot to schedule enough people to work all 10 of the stations and, instead of lifting a finger themselves, decided that the 4 working CMs could handle it all. When the lines quickly became backed up we were berated for not doing our jobs correctly and told that if we hadn't been so incompetent there would have been no line. These kind of things were running rampant and do not seem like good business to me. It seems like a way to run out the people who care and who try so that all are left behind are the people who could care less about the guests, the show, the product, or the company.

Ok, that's all for my CP horror stories! They're a little off topic but I felt that I needed to clarify that this wasn't a one place or one manager problem.