disney and the union extend the contract till jan 20

[disney david]

http://www.wesh.com/r/26067530/detail.html

 

[soarinup]

Great post, you'd never know this stuff if it weren't for the internet.

 

[WorldWacky]

My mom and sister just got back from a 10 day stay in the World on Friday. They said the only downside to their trip was that the cast members were miserable and very unfriendly everywhere that they went with the exception of the World Showcase. In fact, one cast member of a food kiosk told my brother-in-law that his t-shirt was dumb! It was his first trip the DW and he was a bit taken aback. Each member of the family had a t-shirt with a picture of Mickey and their title under it, ie; Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, Jack and Kaylin. They also said they have never seen the park so dirty. When I told them that they were in contract negotiations they said that it all made sense.

Hope they figured all of this out before too long.

 

[goofy4tink]

My mom and sister just got back from a 10 day stay in the World on Friday. They said the only downside to their trip was that the cast members were miserable and very unfriendly everywhere that they went with the exception of the World Showcase. In fact, one cast member of a food kiosk told my brother-in-law that his t-shirt was dumb! It was his first trip the DW and he was a bit taken aback. Each member of the family had a t-shirt with a picture of Mickey and their title under it, ie; Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, Jack and Kaylin. They also said they have never seen the park so dirty. When I told them that they were in contract negotiations they said that it all made sense.

Hope they figured all of this out before too long.

Wow...I had the exact opposite experience. In fact, when in AK, I mentioned to a CM that I was surprised to see and talk to so many happy CMs since they are in contract negotiations. She said the vast majority of CMs were very happy and that they weren't being portrayed very well. That the focus was on that small percentage of unhappy CMs..and that it is a very small percentage. She just shrugged and said she was very happy at WDW..as were her many CM friends.

I think the parks were 'dirty' simply due to the excessive numbers of guests. I did notice many overflowing trash bins. Would have been nice if they had been emptied more frequently. But all in all the parks were fine.

 

[WorldWacky]

Well I'm glad to hear of someone else having a good experience. Like I said, they had no idea what was going on with the contracts, so they weren't looking for fault. I guess they just happened to run into the few unhappy ones! It figures... this was my sister's attempt at making a Disney fan out of her husband. He's very anti-Disney.

They had quite a few interesting stories to tell. Like my BIL getting stuck in World Showcase in front of the Candlelight Processional. He was accidentally leading the group and couldn't get out. Or, my mom and sister leaving their bag on the DTD boat at PORFQ and the resort calling the bomb sniffing dogs to check it out! They each thought the other one had the bag and didn't notice that it was gone until an hour later. The guy at the boat said they were trying to hold off as long as possible in hopes that someone would retrieve the bag, but after an hour, they called in the dogs. It was just one of those trips for them!

 

[CR88]

Wow...I had the exact opposite experience. In fact, when in AK, I mentioned to a CM that I was surprised to see and talk to so many happy CMs since they are in contract negotiations. She said the vast majority of CMs were very happy and that they weren't being portrayed very well. That the focus was on that small percentage of unhappy CMs..and that it is a very small percentage. She just shrugged and said she was very happy at WDW..as were her many CM friends.

I think the parks were 'dirty' simply due to the excessive numbers of guests. I did notice many overflowing trash bins. Would have been nice if they had been emptied more frequently. But all in all the parks were fine.

I am sorry to hear of the OP experience. We actually had a really good experience. We go every year just after Thanksgiving and we had a group of family members that wanted to go with us this time. They wanted to see in person what we talk about all the time. Nothing like being there around Christmas.

They all said they had a great vacation and that they couldn't believe how nice and helpful the Disney staff members were. On numerous occasions a CM went well above and beyond including a bus driver driving us and some other guests back to our resorts when we were stuck very late at the Contemporary. It was very cold that night too so we were all VERY appreciative.

Another time, my brother, his wife and their new baby who was turning one the next day were at MK when a CM approached them and gave them a Mickey Ears hat with Happy Birthday on it and a big cookie from Main Street Bakery. It was just a small gesture but they were both surprised that a CM would have gone out of their way for just some random guests. It was very special to them.

Our experiences may have been the exception, and these were just a couple examples but I just thought I would share them. Hopefully they'll get the contract thing worked out asap.

 

[Chuck S]

We had nothing but nice interactions with CMs during our Dec 1 to 11 trip.

 

[Magicbus]

CMs that fall under that contract only account for about a third of the total CMs. Bus drivers, parking attendants, laundry workers and some others. So unless you're one of those, you're not affected directly by the contract dispute. However whatever happens with that union might trickle down to the other unions. Also there is a very large number of CMs that don't belong to any union. It's not required.
I havent seen any difference in CM behavior due to union contracts. People see what they want to see. If a CM was unhappy or grumpy, that's probably how they are normally.

 

[disney david]

CMs that fall under that contract only account for about a third of the total CMs. Bus drivers, parking attendants, laundry workers and some others. So unless you're one of those, you're not affected directly by the contract dispute. However whatever happens with that union might trickle down to the other unions. Also there is a very large number of CMs that don't belong to any union. It's not required.
I havent seen any difference in CM behavior due to union contracts. People see what they want to see. If a CM was unhappy or grumpy, that's probably how they are normally.

Magicbus You protesting mkbus and dhsbus we should all be greatfull to cm like magicbus who goes to Disney every say and treats the guest with respect and make sure they are happy. No matter what if has a contract yet or not he knows it not and should not affect the way he treats the guest. magicbus

 

[doconeill]

We likewise were there Dec. 1-9, and the only CM that any of came across was with a bus driver my in-laws had who didn't seem to want to deal with DFiL's ECV at all. All the rest were very accommodating and helpful at all levels.

In fact, while waiting for a MK bus at SSR, the Treehouse Villas bus driver stopped, got out, and started talking to us about checking out the villas. I think he just wanted to have someone on his bus...

As for cleanliness, I didn't encounter anything I could call excessive. There was one bathroom that could have used a cleaning, but it looked like it was something fairly recent and not simply left that way for hours.

Now, as for the transportation system working in general...that's another matter entirely. Let's just say were were 0-for-2 getting to the MK on time thanks to the monorail...