Do you ever talk to the CM's?

[Missec]

I was just wanting to know if you take 5 mins out of your vacation to actully talk with the Cast Members?

If you get a chance to, please do.

You will find out so much, most of them are willing to talk about things to you.

Found out from a Bus Driver that he worked as a driver for over 20 years and the bus that he was driving had over 1 million miles on it.

Anyone else with stories that they want to share?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Sure, I talk to CMs all the time.

For starters, I met (okay, I had to request him from the back room ) the DISBoards very own Chip 'n Dale;

I spent about twenty minutes talking to one of the CPer's in Norway about, well, Norway one day. After he went back to work, I asked the CM who'd gotten him for me where he was from. Turns out - Norway! Next time, I read the name tag FIRST

I had a nice conversation with a CM on a bus from oh, shoot, I forget where but to Animal Kingdom one day. She was off and was going to meet some friends.

I met a wonderful server (who posts on the DIS occasionally) one night; the next night, in a different restaurant, a different server who'd been dining at the first restaurant and recognized me stopped to talk for a couple of minutes.

I've met some great bus drivers (and one with whom I had a somewhat odd conversation, in that he was mildly complaining about his employer to me, a Guest )

And on my one trip to DisneyLand, where I spent six days in the two parks, I had time to converse with lots of CMs, both on and off duty

 

[Feralpeg]

Absolutely! My sister is a CM and I've gotten to meet many others. Very nice people with interesting lives.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Our family always takes the time to talk with the Disney castmembers. We find some of their stories very interesting. We find this especially so in Epcot and Animal Kingdom. The people working in the different countries are, most times, actually from the country they are working in.

We also like to ride up front with the monorail drivers. They always have really good Disney World stories.

In June, 2006, we took the Behind the Seeds Tour at Epcot. Our tour guide had worked in various agricultural fields and it really made the tour all the more interesting to us.

Our next trip is set for June, 2007 and we are taking the Behind the Steam Train Tour and we are counting down the days.

 

[honeybee30]

Meeting and talking to CM's is great fun. They're people too, you know.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

You betcha! Any chance we get we like to thank them for everything and just take a few minutes to chat.

 

[EEyorelover22]

DH knew someone before we went to WDW that works there and we met up with he and his wife when we visited WDW back in 2003. We are good friends with both of them now. They have GREAT stories.

 

[snowwite]

DD would love to be a CM and plans to do the Disney to college so she asks pretty much everyone about it. We have had the boats to and from Swan pretty much to ourselves in the am so we talk to boat drivers. We have talked to bus drivers (except for the scary one with the manual open on the steering wheel) and we enjoy chatting with the CM from around the world in resorts and parks. We met some from Hong Kong Disney last yr who were part of an exchange program. It is fun.

 

[TikiGoddess]

Are you kidding? I talk to everyone everywhere. It's a family sickness. Growing up, my Dad was one of those people who never met a stranger. He talked to waitresses, cab drivers, tourists, etc. everywhere we went. During my teenage years it was a huge source of embarassment, but it turns out I have the curse. Now my children can be embarassed . And on the flip side, people always end up talking to me. I hear way more personal stuff than I need to. CMs are always interesting to talk to and so are other guests.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Here are a few CM's, I am sure I have talked to many of them over the years........


http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=770432


http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=775161

 

[mrmagicmph]

We talked to several cast members on our hunnymoon trip in October, and were enriched for it! Some of the best we experienced were Art, the Greeter at the Beach Club (or as we think of him, the Grand Admiral of the Beach Club!), Linda who is a 35+ yr CM at Crystal Palace (she was there working for the soft opening in Sept. 1971, when I first visited), and a Japanese CM who worked in Guest Services at Epcot whose name unfortunately we both have forgotten. They were all EXTRA special and VERY helpful with various things, making our trip (our hunnymoon, my wife's birthday, & her first trip to Disney ever) extra magical.

Definitely MAKE the time to talk to CM's, you never know what will happen (for example, Hurley and Jaime at the Beach Club gave my wife a special pin from Euro Disney after we talked to them for a while, they were TERRIFIC). My wife even got a special greeting in her Epcot Passport from Alessandra from Brazil who was also at Epcot Guest Services.

Enjoy the Magic, & especially the CM's, they can make it even more magical!

 

[Stitchfans]

Sure I have. I talk to everyone. If the person is willing to listen I will talk. More fun though if you have some feedback in the conversation. On our last trip I found a gal that lived a few towns away from mine. She was working through the college program Disney has. She was having fun, but a bit homesick.

 

[sticker231]

Sure, I talk to CMs all the time.

For starters, I met (okay, I had to request him from the back room ) the DISBoards very own Chip 'n Dale;

When I went in October, we took the kids to the Judges tent for pictures. Dw and DD went in the Princess line and I took the boys to the Chip and Dale line. After my son got his picture take, I couldn't tell if it was Chip or Dale, but they held and looked at the LGMH on my backpack for a few seconds. I asked if anyone knew if it was a fellow DISer, didn't get a response when I asked, guess my question is answered.

I also talk it up with the CMs. Love to talk to the ones from New Jersey and see what town they are from if it isn't listed on their tag.

 

[marc1477]

In 2002, I was talking to a CM ar CBR who was cleaning tables and found out he was from Ohio like me, just down the road a little ways.

In 2003, my gf and I were at Trails End and she was talking to out waitress and found out that she was from the St. Louis area where my gf is from.

Another night were the only ones on a bus going to CBR and it was raining and we were talking to the bus driver and pulled up to Jamaica. He told us that we didn't need to walk in the rain and took the bus around the circle and dropped us off at out bldg.

 

[Mecha Figment]

I've had many people talk to me. they just don't know they are talking to me.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Y'awl chat (on the Dis) with CMs all the time.
But chatting with CMs oin the parks was how DH and I were selected to be MK Grand Marshals (before we moved here).

 

[bytheblood]

I do, unless they seem grumpy!

I am a social butterfly and will talk to anybody, however. I will talk to people in line, CMs, people waited to be seated in a restaurant, etc.

Many CMs seem distracted, but they need to have friendly words said to them. So often, they are confronted by people who feel entitled to everything and they need that friendly conversation to get them through the day...so I absolutely speak to them.

 

[UP Disney]

We had our own privately chauffered bus one night from AKL to DTD. We had a nice talk with the bus driver. He'd had a 7up route in New Jersey (I think it was NJ anyway). A bunch of casinos opened on his route and the business expanded. He sold the route and retired to Florida when he was in his 30's. He took the job driving bus at Disney as a part-time job. He fell in love with working for Disney and now works full time hours!

We started a tradition of getting our girls picture, DD18 & DD21, with the waiter or waitress when we dine at a character meal. They always seem surprised. They do so much to help us enjoy our experience it is nice to show them we want to remember them.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Okay, on our Aug 06 trip, I talked to so many CMs, I lost count. Some of our best experiences started out as just a casual conversation w/ a CM.
Here are some of the highlights:
-Eating at CRT- Fairygodmother asked where we were from. I told her MD. She replied where in MD. I asked how familiar she was w/ MD. She said pretty familiar. I said Harford Co, MD. She said "Oh, as in Bel Air, Harford co., MD. I almost fell out of my chair. I said yes. Had she been to Bel Air before. Turns out she was born and raised very very close by. (6 to 7 mi away) lived in the area until she & hubby retired to FL. Was also a relative of a very prominent well known person here in our area.

-Talked to server in Boma. He asked me a bunch of questions about my pin lanyard. I was able to answer all of his ?'s about cast lanyard pins I had traded for w/ correct answers. There was still one pin in a series I was looking for (one from the chip & dale dessert series). Well Server went into the back and found one and GAVE it to me. He didn't even make me trade for it.

-Talked to a store manager in the main store in AK. Something Traders or Trader Something, I forgot exact name. Anyway, his sister lives 2 miles away from us. Pretty cool.

-Talked to a CM mgr in Fantasyland re; pin trading. Told us to look up Bill in Tomorrowland. Meantime, she told Bill about us. A couple of days later, we found Bill and he says "I've been looking for you, but I didn't know who I was looking for." Anyway, DD had an AWESOME pin trading experience w/ Bill. Got 2 free pins that were ones that couldn't be bought. They were given to CM's for going above and beyond. Also got a 'MAGICAL MOMENTS' certificate signed by Stitch. Bill also took DD to front of line for photos & auto w/ Stitch. He was so nice.

-at AK, we were talking to a CM after finishing riding EE and he asked us did we like Everest. We told him how much we loved it. He asked if we would be riding it again and we told him it was a definite must do again before we left. So he asked us if we were ready to ride it again right now. Of course, we said sure. He told us "This is my ride. I'm in charge of Everest. How would you like to ride it again right now with no wait and you can even sit in the front car if you want." He took us over and they put us on the next train that pulled into the loading platform. Too Cool!!

-at Epcot, we had just ridden test track and were in the GM display area. This CM kept following us around and talking to us. At first he seemed kinda strange, but we humored him. Well, then he asked us a kind of strange question. Did we have any immediate plans? Well, I said no we're kind of winging it today. So he asked if we were interested in a special treat. To which I responded it'd depend on the kind of treat. Well, it turns out he took us up to GM's VIP room. I know to some, this might not be exciting, but we thought it was pretty cool. They have you sign a welcome book asking for your name and hometown. You're treated to free drinks and the view from the lounge (it's about TT) was great for pics. I got some really cool ones. There's also a viewing window so you can see part of the inside workings of TT. Then, when you're done, they have a special entrance where you can ride TT without waiting. Very cool. He also gave us special fast pass tickets that were non-expiring for any ride in MK (where we were going the next day).

In general, I love to talk to the CMs there. I always ask them where they are from, how did they end up at WDW, and what's the best tip (other than something like FP) that they would tell their friends about the parks. I've gotten many different responses and some great tips in the process. I try very much to make the conversation about them. Showing an interest in them makes them want to share more info. Plus you get to hear some interesting stories. We've have the same server (Lynn) EVERY time we eat at CRT. Too funny. We've started to recognize some CM's from trip to trip. Can't wait until July '07

 

[2angelsinheaven]

Great thread. ;o)