Ever have CM's take the Magic out of it?

[FloridaDreaming]

CMs? No. Other guests? They've come pretty close.

 

[Jkpark]

I don't know that I have ever had one of these moments at WDW, but I have at DLR. It honestly makes me feel a little better to know they happen at WDW, too

At DLR, CMs come to and from the park in costume. We were heading back to our hotel for naps and I saw a Tomorrowland younger female CM run up to a much older boyfriend/husband and they just started making out. I'm not a PDA fan either way - but it bothered me for my kids to see this of a CM in costume.

Same trip - we went to the Tiki Room around 10am. At one point during the show I was looking around and the CM in the room was asleep in the corner. Full on head back, mouth wide open, asleep! Didn't ruin my trip or anything - but have some coffee like the rest of us

 

[LisaCat]

Few years ago, my daughter was so super excited to finally meet her fav. Peter Pan. As we patiently anticipated our turn, she ran up to meet him and he proceeded to tell her "Now you know...I am not real....this is just pretend" Damage was done and her little heart was broken. Good thing the fairy god mother was the next character we met, cuz she really helped diffuse a tense magical disney moment.

This is what I would say qualifies as "stealing the Magic". Oh my goodness. I would have TOTALLY said something to the handler as well as to Guest Services. If a character said that to me, I would be surprised and somewhat disappointed, but you don't say that to a CHILD who quite possibly thinks that you ARE who you appear to be. Sheesh.

 

[DisneyHardin]

For the most part we have only encountered fantastic CM's on our trips. We did have one CM at Buzz that was a little snitty.

As we were exiting the ride, DH's shoelace came untied and got tangled up in the door of the car. He tried to stop and get himself untangled and the CM kept yelling at him that he couldn't stand there. DH tried to tell him he was tangled up but the CM just kept yelling at him and didn't offer to help. Finally DH got untangled and was able to get out of the ride. I understand that you have to keep the people moving off the ride, but when someone is tangled up and can't get out of the ride vehicle, you have to cut them some slack.

 

[kaleighmariesmom]

OMG...where was she from???
It seems like almost all of the rude encounters we've had have been at Epcot. Almost every trip we encounter someone there that just makes me shake my head.

she was on the college program cause I noticed it said a school I never heard of!

 

[bytheblood]

This is what I would say qualifies as "stealing the Magic". Oh my goodness. I would have TOTALLY said something to the handler as well as to Guest Services. If a character said that to me, I would be surprised and somewhat disappointed, but you don't say that to a CHILD who quite possibly thinks that you ARE who you appear to be. Sheesh.

If a CM was reported for doing that, I would be willing to bet he/she would no longer be employed by Disney Corporation.

 

[bytheblood]

That's crazy. I've gotten Eeyore's autograph several times.

We have his autograph, too.

 

[violinlover5661]

so, i know this post is to talk about "unmagical" things cast members do, but I thought I would add a cute story just to bring the disney warm and fuzzy feels back into it.
My family had just gotten to magic kingdom in the morning, and were waiting to go through the bag check (which is always hectic). A little girl infront of us asked the security guard why they had to get their bags checked. Without even thinking he said to her "ever since Snow White had that incident with the apple, she wanted us to make sure that no one had any apples in the park. Just to be safe" I had a smile on my face for the rest of the day! (Especially when I saw the caramel apples at epcot the next day )

 

[FloridaDreaming]

so, i know this post is to talk about "unmagical" things cast members do, but I thought I would add a cute story just to bring the disney warm and fuzzy feels back into it.
My family had just gotten to magic kingdom in the morning, and were waiting to go through the bag check (which is always hectic). A little girl infront of us asked the security guard why they had to get their bags checked. Without even thinking he said to her "ever since Snow White had that incident with the apple, she wanted us to make sure that no one had any apples in the park. Just to be safe" I had a smile on my face for the rest of the day! (Especially when I saw the caramel apples at epcot the next day )

Awe I love that!

 

[EEEBEE]

It didn't ruin the magic for me, looking back its still kind of funny....

DH and I were checking in at Pop Century, the Cast Member who was checking us in was in the process of training a new Cast Member.

It was not at all busy and I am not sure what the trainee was doing (she was not helping a guest, looked like paperwork) but all of a sudden the woman checking us in (the trainer who should be the model for good behavior) stopped and snapped at the poor, young trainee "now don't ever let them see you do that, that will get you terminated".

Having been a customer service trainer for a good chunk of my working life I am sure she was trying to be helpful but I was a little shocked that she would repremand her like that in front of a guest and not wait until we had stepped away.

The funny part though is the young trainee looked at her trainer and said "what does terminated mean"? I laughed silently to myself as the trainer explained "it means you get fired" and then proceeded to complain about management.

We went on about our business and had a great trip!

 

[canopynut66]

WELl would have to get the litle darlings name from her tag and wrote to guest realations but have to say in 65 trips we have have not had any bad moments with CM's.. we have had rude and lazy servers in Chef Mickey. but that was waste of time to write guest services about.

 

[origin62]

I haven't had any magic moments ruined by CMs, there was a CM who I was grateful for that stood his ground against a large group so that it would be fair for all....

We were waiting in a HOT and LONG line to see Donald at AK. He was the only other character left that my family really wanted to meet. I noticed a woman in front of us who was by herself. I didn't think anything of this, because I know that there are solo travelers who also want to meet characters.

When it was her turn, she turned towards the exit and shouted really loud in a foreign language. At that moment there were 20+ people who started filing in from the exit line (a tour group perhaps?) and all started taking personal pictures with Donald. My jaws dropped because I dreaded waiting for this large group to be done with autographs and photos. Immediately the CM working the line told the woman "NO. We cannot do this. These families have been waiting a long time for photos and autographs. You cannot wait in line for 20 people. If they want to meet the character, they will have to wait like everyone else." Everyone in line applauded and cheered while the group cursed and threw rude hand signals and spit on the ground as they walked out.

It's almost like me waiting on TSM and then holding the line, opening the exit doors, and telling all 20 of my friends to come on in totally disregarding the line of patient waiters in line behind me....

When it was our turn, I shook his hand and thanked him for saving my sanity!

Why some guests think this is acceptable is beyond me. Good for the CM for handling the situation appropriately!

 

[origin62]

True enough, but doesn't Disney pride itself as a level above all in the training of it's employees and their customer service? I know of two friends whose company spent a couple days in a training session for customer service put on by Disney. They hold themselves out as THE standard in this aspect from what I hear and read?

You are right, Disney does want you to believe that they set the bar when it comes to service, but those days are long gone. Back in the day, very carefully selected new staffers went to three days of immersive orientation, followed by 1-2 weeks of location-specific training. They now receive a fraction of that. Combine that with the fact that thousands of their staff are hired without an interview, and are only there for 3-6 months before being replaced (3,500 Cast Members just left, 3,500 new people just started). That they are able sell these seminars to other companies is amazing and arrogant. Disney is no more qualified to teach other businesses how they should operate than is Target, Red Lobster, or Joe's Auto Repair.

 

[origin62]

I think this is the second or third mention of CMs separating parties in line. If it happened to me, I would absolutely tell my family members to duck under the rope and come with me. If the CM tried to start anything, I would tell them to call a manager. I'm pretty sure it goes against their rules to split up families.

No, separating families is not against rules, but ducking under or over ropes is.

 

[origin62]

I would not let a CM take the "magic out of anything" because short of slapping me in the face or shoving me or perhaps cursing me out......I don't really care how they treat me. They don't fit into my expectations for my vacation--this would apply to any vacation and any hospitality worker. I just have no idea why people let small things bother them or care about these type of things. So a CM did not grin at your child or was talking cr*p about someone else--who cares.......seriously.

The only thing that "bothers" me about Disney CM's is that for the most part they are more anal and preach more about all the freakin rules that Disney institutes. That is the only thing that annoys me about their behavior. Yes, I know that car 23 miles away is coming and I cannot place a toe outside the white line...............and the trams are so dangerous and anyone under 38 cannot sit on the outside.............and dare I try to walk/run in front of the parade that is 2 miles away...........but all these anal things do not bother me, they are just things that me and boyfriend laugh at when we are at Disney. The way they treat everyone like they are infants and everything is SO dangerous.

Please don't visit Disney theme parks anymore. You're part of the problem.

 

[origin62]

At Landscape of Flavors in AoA the staff at the Tandori Kitchen -- ALL of them -- were surley and rude to each other, to guests, everyone.

Was not cool.

Also at LoF -- i commented on how good the Mac and Cheese for the kids meal looked (it looked awesome) and was told by the server "Well you can't have that so pick something else".

I think we also met the "Mad Line monitor" who separated DS and I from DD(12) on splash mountain. She let me and my son go through, then blocked the line and started letting FP people through -- when i mentioned DD was with us, she said "if she was WITH you she would be on this side of the rope wouldn't she?"

We stood against the wall while she let through about 60 FP people -- just rude.

This happens a lot when CMs are trying to load the rides. CM asks: "How many in your party?" Guest responds: "2." But they really mean: "the two us us, but we're part of a larger group of seven, all behind us." So the CM doesn't realize that it's 2 + 5 more. It's always helpful when the first member of the party is on the ball and ready to communicate clearly to the CM (and, please, holding the FastPasses, if applicable.) All that said, the CM you described should not have made that comment to you, and she should have allowed you to rejoin your family.

 

[nharding20]

Please don't visit Disney theme parks anymore. You're part of the problem.

Agreed!!!!

 

[fairestoneofall]

while i agree that CMs are human, i also think that there is really no excuse for poor service anywhere (not just Disney). i worked in retail for a few years and dealt with MANY rude customers. i never once returned that rudeness. that's not to say i didn't vent to my coworkers later (when no customers were around), but i didn't ever let myself be rude to a customer.

i was VERY pregnant with my middle DS and had an extremely rude customer. she barked orders at me over and over again about getting this and she wanted to see that. i did it all with a (faked) smile. i've never in my life wanted to go off on someone, but i did not.

Disney holds itself to a higher standard. i don't expect perfection. but if you don't want to deal with rude people, you probably shouldn't work out in the areas where you have to deal with people at all (especially at Disney).

as for characters... there is NO excuse for telling a child that it's all pretend. ever. never.

i would have absolutely reported that. and i DO send messages to Guest Services praising CMs, so i'm not one of those who only complains.

 

[matthewclabaugh]

ok so it is no secret that i kinda look like tom green... all of my relatives have said that and all of the people i know have said that... it was 2006 and we were in the magic kingdom at like 9:30 at night in a fantasyland gift shop and it had been a long day for all of us and i was just ready to go back to the hotel room... so i was just a tad frustrated already... well when i was paying for something the African american cm who was bald and looked kinda like tyrese gibson.. says to me "you know you look just like Tom Green" at that point i looked at him and said just take my money... "Tyrese" at that moment the cm says "I hate my job"

 

[GovieMom]

That's crazy. I've gotten Eeyore's autograph several times.

We also have Eeyore's autograph.