Have you ever had a shock?

[MELSMICE]

My Dh and I have a theory that all the people who work at Universal are ones that got fired from Disney for not begin polite and cheerful enough!
Llagow

LOL - you're probably right!

 

[phamton]

My Dh and I have a theory that all the people who work at Universal are ones that got fired from Disney for not begin polite and cheerful enough!

Actually no. Many of the same employees you see at Universal also work at WDW part-time. Others choose to work at Universal because it pays better than Disney and has a more flexible schedule with better benefits. Plus, I personally know 2 Universal employees that were fired last month and then were hired at Disney.

I have family members that work at Universal and find this blanket statement as offensive. Years ago, we went to Universal and found many of the workers there rude. That image has change radically the last few years. Universal employees have gotten friendlier and Disney employees have gotten more grumpy.

 

[DizBelle]

I suppose it's hard to find thousands of always-cheerful employees. There's going to be one or two Grumpys in the bunch of Happys.

 

[DeterminedOne]

I was at AKL a few weeks ago in the restroom near the pool. When I went in the stall a woman was standing in front of the mirror with her children. I didn't even think about what she was doing but when I came out of the stall she was standing there buck naked and changing into her swim suit. I about fainted! I see ta ta's all the time on tv, but to see another woman's crotch. My mind almost couldn't process what I was seeing. Guess she thought it was okay since she was in the women's restroom, but YUCK! I did not want to see that.

 

[DizBelle]

Note to self: if you're going to change in the restroom, go into a STALL!

 

[LLagow]

I'm sorry- I didn't mean to offend anyone. We just had a bad experience at Universal a couple of years ago and we haven't been back since. I should know better than to make a blanket statement like than

 

[phamton]

I'm sorry- I didn't mean to offend anyone. We just had a bad experience at Universal a couple of years ago and we haven't been back since. I should know better than to make a blanket statement like than

Apology accepted. I know I probably over-reacted. Like I said, I had a bad expereince a couple of years back at Universal also. Just so you know, Universal really seems to be getting its act together and catering to the guests more. You might be pleasantly surprised. Both my teen sons work there, one at U.S and the other at IoA. They've never worked for Disney but we have APs for Disney and love it also.

Sorry for coming on so strong.

 

[Missy1961]

We need to get this to 1000 replys. I know we can!

 

[airforcewife]

wow that stupid guest tricks was so funny, I burst out laughing! I am amazed at some of this stuff!

 

[wasabi girl]

Note to self....only drink bottled water (the water fountains are NOT for drinking), always have hand sanitizer and clorox wipes, and NEVER step in any "puddles", especially if it hasn't been raining....

 

[jgates]

not that this has anything to do with shocks....and maybe Phamton can confirm? When we were at Universal, there were a few CM's in the same line as us for Mummy. One of the kids was working at a different attraction (sorry - can't remember which) and really wanted to work at Mummy. The girls were asking if he had enough points or tokens to get in. He said no - he had been late for work a couple of times and had lost points, etc. They were explaining to the 3rd or 4th kid that you start each month with a certain number of points. You get points deducted if you are late, have complaints against you etc. You can also get bonus points for certain things (I am assuming good reports from guests etc). In order to work at the Mummy you had to be top of the line and have a certain quantity of points to even be considered. Phamton, does that sound about right?

That isn't really shocking, but I thought it very interesting.

 

[phamton]

The girls were asking if he had enough points or tokens to get in. He said no - he had been late for work a couple of times and had lost points, etc. They were explaining to the 3rd or 4th kid that you start each month with a certain number of points. You get points deducted if you are late, have complaints against you etc. You can also get bonus points for certain things (I am assuming good reports from guests etc). In order to work at the Mummy you had to be top of the line and have a certain quantity of points to even be considered. Phamton, does that sound about right?

Actually, that is true. Some infractions are worth more points such as saftey violation: such as not double checking a seatbelt or letting a child on that doesn't meet the height requirements. If you lose points from a safety violation, you will be transferred off of all rides and reassigned to a non-ride like Shrek, Twister, etc. When you lose all points, you are fired or suspended for a week or so and then put on probation when you return.

Mummy does have the cream of the crop. You have to be invited to work at the Mummy. One of my sons works at the Mummy and his younger brother works at Spiderman merchandise as he just turned 16 and is too young to be a ride operator.

 

[melindaandrob]

Oh my gosh, I think the 'This is the worst day of my life' kid is my son......if it was his day got much better-a time out in MK

 

[Jillpie]

Lovin this thread!

 

[KimR]

Oh my gosh, I think the 'This is the worst day of my life' kid is my son......if it was his day got much better-a time out in MK

LOL! It's been quite a while ago - This was in late May/Early June of 2000. Could that have been him?! That would be so funny if it was!

 

[jeepgirl30]

A co worker and I had some extra time from a tradeshow we were attending so we hopped over to Epcot to check out the Test Track. We were in line behind the most annoying people. It was a dad and 2 sons I believe. I can't remember all of the kids now but the one boy was probably around 8. Totally hyper kid, but hey its Disney he is excited. This kid kept bumping into me, swinging his leg back and kicking me, elbowing me, etc. We tried to keep our distance as this kid was really beating me up! After about 20 min I finally decided he was pushing it and would say excuse me each time he hit me. His dad would see him and never said a word. We had a nice distance between us but it didn't matter, he'd use the space to walk backwards then run to his dad. As he walked backwards he smack into us. We couldn't take our eyes off him because he'd hit us.

As we got into the building he kept climbing the railings and then lounge off. One time he was airborne and yep, landed smack on me knocking us both to the ground.

His dad turned, shock his head and turned back to face infront of him. My friend finally had it and started yelling at the dad how he needed to control his BRAT! He never turned to look at either of us! Finally the kids says "oh well sorry" very flippant and so what-ish. My friend again said something to the dad and he said "he said sorry what more do you want?".

the next day I was literally covered in bruises! My shins and arms were the worst.

 

[DizBelle]

A co worker and I had some extra time from a tradeshow we were attending so we hopped over to Epcot to check out the Test Track. We were in line behind the most annoying people. It was a dad and 2 sons I believe. I can't remember all of the kids now but the one boy was probably around 8. Totally hyper kid, but hey its Disney he is excited. This kid kept bumping into me, swinging his leg back and kicking me, elbowing me, etc. We tried to keep our distance as this kid was really beating me up! After about 20 min I finally decided he was pushing it and would say excuse me each time he hit me. His dad would see him and never said a word. We had a nice distance between us but it didn't matter, he'd use the space to walk backwards then run to his dad. As he walked backwards he smack into us. We couldn't take our eyes off him because he'd hit us.

As we got into the building he kept climbing the railings and then lounge off. One time he was airborne and yep, landed smack on me knocking us both to the ground.

His dad turned, shock his head and turned back to face infront of him. My friend finally had it and started yelling at the dad how he needed to control his BRAT! He never turned to look at either of us! Finally the kids says "oh well sorry" very flippant and so what-ish. My friend again said something to the dad and he said "he said sorry what more do you want?".

the next day I was literally covered in bruises! My shins and arms were the worst.

Unbelievable. And people are surprised that there are so many bonehead adults in the world. It's because their parents raised them that way.

 

[transparant]

We had an experience last year while we were waiting in line to get on Mission Space. There were a few mentally disabled people standing in front of us. One of them (a man) started making obscene jestures to my than 10 yr. old DD. He than started moving his hips sexually and licking his lips at her. Needless to say...my whole family was mortified and my poor dd wished she could crawl under a rock! They did have chaperones with them...but they did nothing to stop him.

 

[disneymom3]

Oh my gosh, I think the 'This is the worst day of my life' kid is my son......if it was his day got much better-a time out in MK

Might have been your son, or it was my DD in disguise. She and I went on a trip by ourselves when she was almost 6 and man, she was whining most of the time we were in MK. If I didn't have self restraint, I would have been one of those parents who caused others to be shocked. She wouldn't ride on any of the rides I wanted to go on (we are talking Pooh and Buzz, here, not Alien Encounter of even Space Mtn.) and everything was a problem for her. I did at one point stop talking to her. Not very mature for a mom, but when all she would do was argue or whine, it really didn't seem worth it! So, that was my most shocking moment and it was caused by my usually very sweet tempered child!!

The other one would be that while at WDW with extended family, it was Weds and we had arrived on Sunday evening. Weds was the day to go to MK and my SIL was commenting that her 3 yo was finally getting into Disney because it was the first day she got to do any rides other than the Safari ride. This poor little girl is much younger than her siblings and had spent the previous days at other parks and not gotten to do much other than ride around in her stroller. No Beauty and the Beast, no Playhouse Disney, no Spaceship earth, nothing that she was tall enough to go on. Man, had I realized that, I would have taken her with our very preschool focused group. Poor thing--no rides until her THIRD day at WDW!

 

[momof2inPA]

Years ago, we went to Universal and found many of the workers there rude. That image has change radically the last few years. Universal employees have gotten friendlier and Disney employees have gotten more grumpy.

I'll second that. It's gotten much better, and it's much cleaner than it used to be.