First Visit: Unimpressed

[cruisehopeful]

Magic is different for different people. No reason to knock someone's opinion. Who really cares what someone thinks about a park or an employee?

At any rate, I agree with @Chuck S , we are not overly friendly or chatty in southern California. I actually get annoyed when strangers talk to me too much. I expect it to happen when I am in a small mountain town or if the person doing it is from somewhere else - but, it's actually a bit creepy when someone I don't know talks to me too much. Been living in southern California for nearly 50 years now and I appreciate it when people keep their distance.

With that said, I did notice that the security people didn't call my daughter or I a princess when we visited a few weeks ago. I never cared about it before, but when we've been called a princess the last 12+ times we have gone through security and this time they didn't say that and didn't tell us to have fun or have a nice day, I noticed. Made me wonder if they quit doing it or if we just got the people in a bad mood. I can't recall any of the CMs going out of their way to be helpful or friendly that day. We had an excellent visit and it was one of the best days I've had at DL in a long time. If I needed hand holding or coddling, I probably wouldn't have had such a good day.

 

[Catvondita]

I've been to WDW several times since 2016, and DL once in 2017. My impression was that the cast at DL were more genuine, and I honestly liked that. I get the sense that WDW cast are trained to be over the top enthusiasts- as a shy person that makes me uncomfortable. I don't want "performed at". In DL the cast engaged with me in more of a person to person conversation- and I truly appreciated that. This is probably a preference thing- the "culture" of each park is unique.

If you were truly being ignored or disrespected, that's another matter, and may merit follow up. That kind of thing happens everywhere-even in WDW. Usually it's a handful of people making a whole organization look less proficient. Either way, I'm sorry you had such a negative impression.

Same! I'm from NYC so I'm very much the sterotype of "please don't try to talk to me or make small talk". A quick hello is fine and that's it. I love WDW but sometimes the CMs are over the top. I find Dl's CMs to be much more casual like "Hey. How's it going." instead of "HELLLLOOO Princess OH GOSH HOW ARE YOUUUU".

 

[ExcitedMama]

FWIW we’ve been here all week and I’ve been very impressed by the CMs. In case someone finds this thread, maybe a WDW vet who would be concerned by the DL experience, we have come with the kids several times now and this trip has been really special because of CMs. Just some quick examples, like while nearing the head of the line at Autopia my daughter asked the CM if she could have a blue car because it’s her favorite color. He watched the cars come in and he moved everyone who was already waiting down one after the cars came in so she could have blue. All the CMs have taken their time answering questions, from where to find something or someone to random kid questions. They have all been extra helpful. When asking actual advice about a strategy for something we’ve gotten great answers from CMs who weren’t even in those areas. Sure there were CMs at rope drop holding the rope that weren’t sure when Toontown opened for the day (I couldn’t remember if it was an hour after regular opening or when it first opened for the day) and they had no idea. There was a CM last night that said Fantasmic didn’t start until 9:50 when we were looking for our package section seating, and my silly husband believed him and was quite worried about the wait. But most questions can usually be found in the app and when in doubt ask another CM.

My daughter is generally always called princess in her dress up clothes but not street clothes. That makes sense to me because why risk offending someone unnecessarily. My son has never ever been called a prince. But all CMs are always great with him. He can be grumpy waiting for his sister to see characters, especially princesses, and they always go out of their way to interact with him and turn his frown upside down.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Just to clarify... I never stated that it ruined my trip. These situations were surprising and certainly made a bad impression, so I thought I'd share it with the hope that it would help to make a difference in a place we all regard as very special. If the flaws in a system are not identified, then that system fails. Apparently, many on here disagree, and that's ok. In the future, I'll be sure to only post sugary sweet positive Disney vibes.

If you had read or searched the subject you would have found there are hundreds of posts about the same issue. From what I understand there are between 20K to 27K working the park. We all have good days and bad days, I have been going since 1955 and have never had a bad day, things some times dont work my way, so that is life . Ever served in the military, things go wrong all the time, its LIFE. I personally did not care for WDW, just because it takes forever to get anything done and is very spendy, so I will stick with the park that Walt built, not what corp Disney built. We all have opinions, hope you contacted disney with names and numbers!

Jack

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I am usually a chatty/friendly person, and will strike up a conversation with anyone. Personally, my own experience on both coasts is that the CMs are friendly.

Recently, at Disneyland, I was there (4th of July) getting a pin in a shop. It was going to be a hot day, so I wore some old pants of mine that are really light-weight, but haven't worn them in years. I should have checked them, because they were threadbare, especially in the seat. I bent over in a store and felt a big rrrrrrriiiiiiippppp. Holy cow -- you know that scene in Jaws where Brody sees the shark up close for the very first time? Yeah, that was my reaction. Luckily I had an overblouse/vest that reached past my bottom on, but still was walking with my purse covering my butt (like that wouldn't look weird). I went to the clothier store and asked if they had a fitting room. Of course they don't. I bought a pair of pants (really, they're PJ sweat types), but wasn't sure of the right size. So, the CM who was helping me carried an extra pair in a different size, and followed me across the street to the RR behind Carnation Cafe to make sure that I got a pair of pants that fit. Luckily, the ones I got fit fine, and when I told her she went back to the store. She did this of her own accord and offered to go with me. You bet I went to Guest Services later and noted her name and how helpful she was for me. She saved me a lot of potential embarrassment and time by following me instead of me going back and forth to get the right pair of pants, plus she kept assuring me that no one could see anything.

I don't particularly like when the CMs call me princess, but appreciate them all the same. I figure that CMs deal with so many people, especially lately, and with the heat... that they gauge how people react to them for the most part, and act accordingly. I've been called princess at DL before and at WDW. I've gone to both parks and was not called princess by CMs, and was happy about that. I try to be even more pleasant to them because I have a feeling that they get a lot of disgruntled people who take things out on them unnecessarily, and just like us, they can have friendly interactions all day long, but it will be that one rude person that they will dwell on.

I'm sorry the OP left with a bad taste for the CM interaction at Disneyland, and think it's a good idea when we have these threads so that people who may be used to a certain type of greeting/treatment at WDW won't be so surprised to see that the culture in Southern California (more local/more frequent visitors) may be different than what they are used to in Florida (less local/less frequent visitors).

 

[Kender]

I believe firmly that often the attitude one gets is the one they give. Not always. But often. And I have found that I can sometimes turn a bad attitude I'm getting from someone around (I've had very few negative experiences with DLR CMs, but I have had them). And when I encounter a legitimate issue, I take it to City Hall and let them know the issue and how I feel the situation could have been improved.

Should say a lot about my demeanor that I (at 33 years old) get called princess quite a bit at DLR, lol! Although I'm fairly sure many CMs think I'm a teen...

I'm sorry to hear the OP had a bad experience.

 

[DLgal]

I got called princess a few times at WDW and it just made me feel really weird. I mean, I'm a 40 year old mother of teens. I'm not a princess and honestly, *HATE* the obsession with princesses and royalty and all that. I am not, nor have I ever been, a girly girl. I just smiled awkwardly and went on my way. I am so glad I never get that greeting at DL.

 

[wilsonarts]

The one time my 12 year old niece was called a princess at DL, she responded, "I'm not a princess, I'm a skater."

 

[sturner324]

I also had a bad cast member experience at Disneyland last September. We paid for max pass (which was amazing), and one ride (maybe Indiana Jones) went down and we got a notification with an “anytime” pass for various listed locations. Well, we hadn’t ridden Pirates yet and the line looked longish, so I went there because it was on the list. I asked one cast member who sort of pointed me in the direction to go around the side. She wasn’t rude, but wasn’t overly helpful. After we found the location, I showed the castmember there the pass on my phone and he made me feel like an idiot by basically saying the ride does not use fast pass/max pass, and it doesn’t need it, and this was the wheelchair entrance (or something like that). I think his intentions were to direct us elsewhere because this other line wouldn’t actually be faster than the regular line (which I get) but he was very rude and condescending. He seemed offended that I tried to use the pass there.

I wanted to say... look dude, I’m not a local, and I don’t know how this park works. I came across the country to be here, and I’m only trying to use this service that I paid for. It’s not my fault that this ride was listed as an option. Ultimately I said nothing, and left to ride at another time.

It didn’t ruin my trip, and I still love Disneyland (I’ve only been twice), but it was memorably unpleasant. If I’ve ever had a bad cast member experience at WDW, it wasn’t bad enough to remember.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I also had a bad cast member experience at Disneyland last September. We paid for max pass (which was amazing), and one ride (maybe Indiana Jones) went down and we got a notification with an “anytime” pass for various listed locations. Well, we hadn’t ridden Pirates yet and the line looked longish, so I went there because it was on the list. I asked one cast member who sort of pointed me in the direction to go around the side. She wasn’t rude, but wasn’t overly helpful. After we found the location, I showed the castmember there the pass on my phone and he made me feel like an idiot by basically saying the ride does not use fast pass/max pass, and it doesn’t need it, and this was the wheelchair entrance (or something like that). I think his intentions were to direct us elsewhere because this other line wouldn’t actually be faster than the regular line (which I get) but he was very rude and condescending. He seemed offended that I tried to use the pass there.

I wanted to say... look dude, I’m not a local, and I don’t know how this park works. I came across the country to be here, and I’m only trying to use this service that I paid for. It’s not my fault that this ride was listed as an option. Ultimately I said nothing, and left to ride at another time.

It didn’t ruin my trip, and I still love Disneyland (I’ve only been twice), but it was memorably unpleasant. If I’ve ever had a bad cast member experience at WDW, it wasn’t bad enough to remember.

That is so interesting that Pirates was listed as an attraction that you can use a Multiple Experience pass on. I wonder if it’s a glitch since they installed FP capability on that ride but they haven’t yet put it into use.

 

[sturner324]

That is so interesting that Pirates was listed as an attraction that you can use a Multiple Experience pass on. I wonder if it’s a glitch since they installed FP capability on that ride but they haven’t yet put it into use.

I think max pass was pretty new at that time, so maybe it was a glitch. I definitely understand that an IT glitch could cause confusion with cast members.

 

[DizMe]

I believe firmly that often the attitude one gets is the one they give. Not always. But often. And I have found that I can sometimes turn a bad attitude I'm getting from someone around (I've had very few negative experiences with DLR CMs, but I have had them). And when I encounter a legitimate issue, I take it to City Hall and let them know the issue and how I feel the situation could have been improved.

Should say a lot about my demeanor that I (at 33 years old) get called princess quite a bit at DLR, lol! Although I'm fairly sure many CMs think I'm a teen...

I'm sorry to hear the OP had a bad experience.

YES, YES, and YES! You just never know what's going on with people. My dh and I once went out to dinner in San Francisco at a fairly posh restaurant. We were dressed nicely but didn't realize until we were brought into the restaurant proper that most others were dressed in far better attire than our small-town 'going to dinner' clothes. We were told after walking in that there were no tables available, but when a couple came in behind us and were told it would be a short wait, my dh just stared at the host until it was discovered that there might, indeed, be a table for us. However, once seated, our waiter gave us a pretty cold welcome and wasn't at all pleasant. My dh was about to start giving everyone there a piece of his mind, but I thought about a friend of mine. She has the ability to find the key to making unhappy people happy many times. I decided to copy some of the things I'd seen her do, but only things I truly felt. I wanted to be honest about it. When our surly waiter came and filled my water glass, I asked him with a smile if people often told him how much he looked like a certain movie actor. He looked up in surprise, and I told him he had the same great mouth (which he did). He suddenly blazed a smile and confided that he'd been told that a few times. From there, we talked about various things and he was a completely different person. We actually all ended up having the best time and he spent a lot of effort to be really nice--asked about what we were doing in the city and made sure we enjoyed our meal by making it special for us. We felt like friends by the time we left, and that's so unlike me as I'm usually fairly shy and reserved with strangers. Anyway, I learned to try and project my own sense of happiness and appreciation for people's efforts, even if they don't initially come across as very interested in helping you. I'd say 90% of the time, it makes all the difference in the world. I try and remember that I don't know what is going on in that person's life at this particular moment, but it can't hurt to be kind first.

 

[skyblue17]

I was pretty weirded out when an older male CM at WDW called me princess. He wasn't even the one greeting me, he was standing behind the greeter/ticket-taker doing I don't know what. It felt a little squicky, honestly. But, like others in the thread, I'm a New Yorker and am conditioned to side-eye that kind of thing.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

YES, YES, and YES! You just never know what's going on with people. My dh and I once went out to dinner in San Francisco at a fairly posh restaurant. We were dressed nicely but didn't realize until we were brought into the restaurant proper that most others were dressed in far better attire than our small-town 'going to dinner' clothes. We were told after walking in that there were no tables available, but when a couple came in behind us and were told it would be a short wait, my dh just stared at the host until it was discovered that there might, indeed, be a table for us. However, once seated, our waiter gave us a pretty cold welcome and wasn't at all pleasant. My dh was about to start giving everyone there a piece of his mind, but I thought about a friend of mine. She has the ability to find the key to making unhappy people happy many times. I decided to copy some of the things I'd seen her do, but only things I truly felt. I wanted to be honest about it. When our surly waiter came and filled my water glass, I asked him with a smile if people often told him how much he looked like a certain movie actor. He looked up in surprise, and I told him he had the same great mouth (which he did). He suddenly blazed a smile and confided that he'd been told that a few times. From there, we talked about various things and he was a completely different person. We actually all ended up having the best time and he spent a lot of effort to be really nice--asked about what we were doing in the city and made sure we enjoyed our meal by making it special for us. We felt like friends by the time we left, and that's so unlike me as I'm usually fairly shy and reserved with strangers. Anyway, I learned to try and project my own sense of happiness and appreciation for people's efforts, even if they don't initially come across as very interested in helping you. I'd say 90% of the time, it makes all the difference in the world. I try and remember that I don't know what is going on in that person's life at this particular moment, but it can't hurt to be kind first.

This is lovely.

 

[DLgal]

I was pretty weirded out when an older male CM at WDW called me princess. He wasn't even the one greeting me, he was standing behind the greeter/ticket-taker doing I don't know what. It felt a little squicky, honestly. But, like others in the thread, I'm a New Yorker and am conditioned to side-eye that kind of thing.

LOL...I grew up in NJ. I totally relate to this.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

YES, YES, and YES! You just never know what's going on with people... Anyway, I learned to try and project my own sense of happiness and appreciation for people's efforts, even if they don't initially come across as very interested in helping you. I'd say 90% of the time, it makes all the difference in the world. I try and remember that I don't know what is going on in that person's life at this particular moment, but it can't hurt to be kind first.

Hear, hear! Especially at this time of year when so many CMs are brand new to the area, getting ready to start college, maybe starting their first "real" job, missing home, etc., I really try to be patient and friendly. Many times we've found that "aloof and unfriendly" really = "awkward and shy" and that "bad service" really = brand new on the job. A warm smile and some kind words can make all the difference by putting some magic into a CM's day.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I really haven't had any issues bad enough to comment on when it comes to CM's. It's a few of the other guests that go out of their way to be rude.
I'm hoping our last trip was the exception and that the trip coming up in a few weeks will be great.

 

[tarheelalum]

I think you are going to have more unhappy guests as Disneyland's prices constantly increase. The more people pay for something the more they expect from it.

For the most part I think the cast members do a good job but nothing out of this world. When I go to Chic Fil A or In and Out, the customer service is usually better than Disneyland and those jobs, like Disney, are low paying. But I don't expect much from Disney's employees so I'm not let down very often. I've read how some people have these wonderful experiences but I've never experienced anything like that. But that's ok because I don't expect it. As long as they are not rude to me I'm fine.

I think when people get let down it's due to unrealistic expectations. But like I said when people spend thousands of dollars on a vacation they expect a high level of service. My wife grew up going to WDW every year as a child and she did say the employees there were much more friendly. But that was 20 years ago so who knows.

 

[Kender]

I also had a bad cast member experience at Disneyland last September. We paid for max pass (which was amazing), and one ride (maybe Indiana Jones) went down and we got a notification with an “anytime” pass for various listed locations. Well, we hadn’t ridden Pirates yet and the line looked longish, so I went there because it was on the list. I asked one cast member who sort of pointed me in the direction to go around the side. She wasn’t rude, but wasn’t overly helpful. After we found the location, I showed the castmember there the pass on my phone and he made me feel like an idiot by basically saying the ride does not use fast pass/max pass, and it doesn’t need it, and this was the wheelchair entrance (or something like that). I think his intentions were to direct us elsewhere because this other line wouldn’t actually be faster than the regular line (which I get) but he was very rude and condescending. He seemed offended that I tried to use the pass there.

I wanted to say... look dude, I’m not a local, and I don’t know how this park works. I came across the country to be here, and I’m only trying to use this service that I paid for. It’s not my fault that this ride was listed as an option. Ultimately I said nothing, and left to ride at another time.

It didn’t ruin my trip, and I still love Disneyland (I’ve only been twice), but it was memorably unpleasant. If I’ve ever had a bad cast member experience at WDW, it wasn’t bad enough to remember.

There are some true "almost anything" multi experience passes. It was discussed on these boards at one point and I was super confused by them too. We're talking ones good for Peter Pan and other non FP attractions.

I've seen so many mixed reports about how they've been acquired. Mine were from the system totally messing up and not issuing me multi experiences for TSMM going down so the CM gave me the anything ones for DL (since DCA was closing). It does seem in the early days that it was not consistent, though.

I'm really sorry you had this experience . Unfortunately not every CM is fully versed on everything. I've found even City Hall CMs that all gave me entirely different and extremely conflicting answers on the same day. They all really don't get how MP works either, btw, lol.

YES, YES, and YES! You just never know what's going on with people. My dh and I once went out to dinner in San Francisco at a fairly posh restaurant. We were dressed nicely but didn't realize until we were brought into the restaurant proper that most others were dressed in far better attire than our small-town 'going to dinner' clothes. We were told after walking in that there were no tables available, but when a couple came in behind us and were told it would be a short wait, my dh just stared at the host until it was discovered that there might, indeed, be a table for us. However, once seated, our waiter gave us a pretty cold welcome and wasn't at all pleasant. My dh was about to start giving everyone there a piece of his mind, but I thought about a friend of mine. She has the ability to find the key to making unhappy people happy many times. I decided to copy some of the things I'd seen her do, but only things I truly felt. I wanted to be honest about it. When our surly waiter came and filled my water glass, I asked him with a smile if people often told him how much he looked like a certain movie actor. He looked up in surprise, and I told him he had the same great mouth (which he did). He suddenly blazed a smile and confided that he'd been told that a few times. From there, we talked about various things and he was a completely different person. We actually all ended up having the best time and he spent a lot of effort to be really nice--asked about what we were doing in the city and made sure we enjoyed our meal by making it special for us. We felt like friends by the time we left, and that's so unlike me as I'm usually fairly shy and reserved with strangers. Anyway, I learned to try and project my own sense of happiness and appreciation for people's efforts, even if they don't initially come across as very interested in helping you. I'd say 90% of the time, it makes all the difference in the world. I try and remember that I don't know what is going on in that person's life at this particular moment, but it can't hurt to be kind first.

I really love this story and totally embodies what I try to be as a person! I'm not perfect. I have my bad days. But what you did is definitely my standard goal in my life.

When I was redeeming a couple Premium vouchers, the CM at the ticket booth was one of the grumpiest ones I've ever encountered. When he questioned to himself their validity (this was after Premium went away, but the vouchers were still valid for Sig+ if you had then) and was looking them over very carefully, we asked if he also needed the receipts to help confirm anything. Snapped at us he didn't. Took me by surprise as I've never had such a crass response.

We just backed off and let him do whatever he needed to do. I did start cracking minor, safe jokes, though, and saying please and thank you every step of the way. It became my mission to get him to at least see we were good people. When I said "I really hope I get to keep my old picture!* It's too awesome to give up!", he kind of grunted and kept going... Until he pulled up my account, saw my picture, and finally smiled and was super friendly after that. Even thanked us sincerely for having our old cards ready to go.

*We let our passes lapse since we used vouchers

 

[LizzyS]

I've been to DLR multiple times and just completed a trip to WDW back in February and I've luckily yet to have a CM put me off. People have bad days sometimes and unless they were rude with a capital R, I wouldn't think much of it, tbh.

I am unaware of the prince and princess thing, however.