Now how about a lovely castmember thread?

Magpie

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 27, 2007
We've been hearing all about the rude castmembers below, and one CM commented that she rarely hears people talking about the all good castmembers they encounter. So, why don't we correct that?

Share a story about a castmember who made your day a little more magical! I don't mean necessarily castmembers who went above and beyond (though everyone loves a story like that!), even just ordinary castmember stories will do.

I'll get us started. It's hard to pick just one, but I like this one because it speaks to the professionalism of Disney castmembers in general...

Last May, not realizing it was against the rules, my husband and I thought we'd hit the jackpot in securing two little box seats to sit on and watch the parade from, in Frontierland. We sat comfortably for a few minutes, along with a whole lot of other folks just like us, and then a young lady came up to tell us that we couldn't sit on the boxes. In fact, she had to collect them all and put them away, because it wasn't safe to leave them out after all the lights were turned off. People might trip over them. She was nice enough about it, and when she noticed us looking at everyone else sitting on their boxes, she said, "Oh, don't worry, I'll get to them!"

So, she puts our boxes away, and we settled in to stand. We saw her go and speak to a gentleman and his family who are sitting on boxes eating. Then, she came back to us and said, "I'm just going to let them finish eating. But trust me, they won't be sitting when the parade comes through!"

So, we wait. The gentleman and his family eat slower and slower. The parade time is approaching fast. She goes and speaks to him again. He shakes his head and continues sitting, now just picking at his food. Some of his family are just holding their food on their laps, not even touching it. The castmember has a powwow with several other castmembers across the street. They're all staring at this one gentleman on his box, with his food, who clearly thinks he's found a loophole in the system.

Finally, the castmember approaches him, with a male castmember in tow. This time, she doesn't back down. She insists. The male castmember stands behind her with his arms crossed. Finally, the mother seems to crack. She stands up. Immediately the male castmember whisks her box away from behind her. And then in short order, all the boxes are gone, and the family is standing there, looking deeply irritated, holding their plates of food in their hands. :lmao:

I was impressed on several levels. One, she was always polite, even in the face of opposition. Two, she conferred with her coworkers, and knew when to call in back up. Three, she persisted, when it might have been easier to just let things go. And four, she knew to keep the rest of us updated, so that we wouldn't get resentful and think the other guy was "getting away with something" or that we were being unfairly picked on. Now, that's customer service!

And man, that family was just one of many irritations she and her fellow castmembers had to face that evening! When they tried to usher people across the street, keeping it clear for the parade, people kept stopping to argue with them. The parade was even visible in the distance, and we saw people ducking around the castmembers to run up the street straight at it!

My conclusion? Guests can be idiots. Castmembers are saints.

What's your story?
 
On one of my trips we were coming out of Epcot and just missed a crowded monorail. The attendant CM (a very nice older gentleman) came over and talked to us for quite some time. When the next monorail was approaching he said we deserved a treat and gave us all Monorail Co-Pilot licenses and we got to ride up front with the driver. I still have my license 15 years later. I keep it in my wallet. :goodvibes

It's hard to count the number of times a CM made a trip a bit more magical. :)
 
I've had plenty of pleasant cast member experiences. On my most recent trip I went to eat at Yak and Yeti for the 1st time and my waiter was one of the most enjoyable people I have ever met. He kept me laughing the entire time.
 
I got an AP last month & have been bummed that because of the media upgrade I could not gain access to the AP website . Well yesterday a.m. I was reading a thread I subscribe to called "AP Discount" & Houstonmama (thank you so very much) posted a contact number to call the IT Dept at Disney to set up access.

I called yesterday am & spoke with a CM named Haskle in IT who was awesome (I took phone survey & then went online & did online survey to say how great she was). It took about 35-40 mins with her having to put me on hold a lot (I did not mind one bit, lots of great Disney music!), but I now have access! She ended having to have me go through old website & then i was assigned a new code instead of one on my AP card. I now can look up AP room availability! This is so exciting !

Cm Haskle was very sweet & funny, she was joking around with me & I loved it! She seemed genuinely surprised by all of my praise, she just didnt know how happy she made me!

Fyi- In case youre having the same problem- The Disney IT contact number is (407) 939-7765.
 


The best CM interaction we ever had was at MK. My son was 5 at the time and a HUUUUUGE fan of Toy Story. We waited in line near Splash Mountain to Meet Woody and Jessie and my son was beside himself! He had the Woody styled Mickey ears on and had his autograph book. He went up to meet them when it was his turn and they made a big fuss over his ears. The CM that was there came over and asked me if I thought my son would like them to autograph his ears for him. I said that he would love it and the CM went and rustled up a sharpie and they signed his ears. Those ears are now in a trophy type case because he is SO proud of them! It was such a small thing, but it did and still does mean a lot to my son and myself!
 
Definitely soooo many awesome CM's out there, it's hard to narrow it down.

I'll go with the time we were at MK, it was myself, my Dad and my older 2 children who were probaly 4 & 5 at the time. The day was a bit cloudy here and there and looked like there might be a storm rolling in soon, we were getting ready to get in our cars at Tomorrowland Speedway when it started sprinkling but thought eh, we'll ride real quick and then head inside. :rolleyes: Dumb idea...not 30 seconds later it opened up and POURED!!! Of course there was nothing you could do but keep going until you got back to the start. Ugh! We left there and headed for Main Street to head back to the resort to change...we ducked in the stores to finish waiting it out, although we were already soaked, so it didn't really matter. DS was shivering and miserable because we were soaked all the way through, a wonderful young CM chatted him up for a bit and then insisted he needed something to wait a minute for her. She went backstage and came back with a brand new sweatshirt for him. She was wonderful and made his day as well as mine!:cloud9:
 


I don't think I have ever had a bad interaction with a CM. I do have my favorites though. And I have let Disney know about them.

We met Will a few years ago when he was in the college program. I was carrying some stuff that I just didn't want to carry anymore (seeds and stuff from the Tinkerbell table during F&G one year) and asked if I could have it sent back to our room. He learned how to do it but I noticed that he was from a college very close to my home town and we struck up conversation. A few days later we kept bumping into him at HS on his day off. We have run into him on ever trip since first meeting him. He remembers us each and every time no matter what park he was working in. Last time he danced with our new DD at the Stitch party in MK. Love Will!
 
I can think of so many great cast members that have sprinkled magic on our trips. Chef Mandy at Jiko who showed us such care that the table next to us thought we were VIPs, Gary from Indiana who skipped arm and arm down Main Street singing Gary, Indiana with me and a friend to show us the best parade viewing spot, and so many more. One has always stuck out for DH and I though and that was Leonard.

Leonard worked at AKL in 2002 with the valet and bell services. He was the first person we met when arriving for our first stay at what was to become our favorite resort. He was so sweet as he brought us inside with our luggage and I will never forget him saying "Pretty awesome, huh?" when we walked in the lobby and gasped. We saw him so many time over the trip and he always inquired how our trip was going and what we were up to that day. On the night of our V&A reservation for our anniversary dinner, he saw us come out all dolled up and requesting a cab. He took one look at us and said, "Not for my favorite couple, wait right here." Just a few minutes later he was back with the resort van and took us straight to GF. Despite seeing hundreds of people a day, he always made us feel special. He was the epitome of a wonderful cast member, and truly made our trip more memorable. I hope if he is still with the company he has been well taken care of.
 
CMs are the reason WDW has magic!

When DS was small he carried with him everywhere a teddy bear we called Beary. On a split stay we went from CSR to Poly and in getting packed up and moved Beary "hid" somewhere in the CSR room and got left behind. As soon as we realized he was missing we notified the front desk at both CSR and Poly hoping he would be found. We went on to a park after checking in to Poly and when we returned to our room we found Beary on the bed
"watching" cartoons. I'm sure his return was the collaboration of more than one CM from front desk, to mousekeeper, and perhaps luggage services. All for one little boy to sleep sound that night-thank goodness for those CMs!!!
 
Recently, an entertainment CM heard that a guest with a terminal illness, who wanted to make lasting memories for his family, would be visiting the parks. The CM purchased two autograph books for the guest's two children and filled them with autographs from the Fantasmic cast. After a Fantasmic show, the characters came out to meet the family and present the autograph books. Even though the CM had never met the family, the guest asked Minnie to relay his thanks to the CM. The CM was thrilled to be thanked and appreciated the recognition!
 
I got an AP last month & have been bummed that because of the media upgrade I could not gain access to the AP website . Well yesterday a.m. I was reading a thread I subscribe to called "AP Discount" & Houstonmama (thank you so very much) posted a contact number to call the IT Dept at Disney to set up access.

I called yesterday am & spoke with a CM named Haskle in IT who was awesome (I took phone survey & then went online & did online survey to say how great she was). It took about 35-40 mins with her having to put me on hold a lot (I did not mind one bit, lots of great Disney music!), but I now have access! She ended having to have me go through old website & then i was assigned a new code instead of one on my AP card. I now can look up AP room availability! This is so exciting !

Cm Haskle was very sweet & funny, she was joking around with me & I loved it! She seemed genuinely surprised by all of my praise, she just didnt know how happy she made me!

Fyi- In case youre having the same problem- The Disney IT contact number is (407) 939-7765.

THANK YOU!!!! :cool1:

I just called, and the wonderful gentleman on the phone was able to find a work around solution that allows me to view the current passholder offers, despite not having My Disney Experience.

:dance3::dance3::dance3:

All I have to do (for now) is log in using my username (not my e-mail, because my husband's account shares the same e-mail), click on "Update Profile", click on "Add or Renew a WDW Pass", and then on the righthand side is a little box with Donald Duck that says "Access Passholder Offers", and I'm IN!

It's a few extra steps, and he apologized for not being able to just click on "Passholder" at the top of the page, but I don't care.

I made sure to do the phone survey after and give him all "1"s. :thumbsup2

(Also, he was very concerned that I was calling long distance and might be racking up a big bill, but I was able to put his mind at ease by telling him about the 10 10 710 code that allows many Canadians to call anywhere for a flat rate of less than a dollar. Love it!)
 
Patrick, a server at Garden Grill really stood out to us earlier this month.

When we were seated, he greeted us right away and then busted out his own rendition of Be Our Guest changing up the words to let us know what would be on the menu, how the food was served, and which characters would be greeting us. Because we had been to the restaurant before, and the most recent time was just 6 months prior to this visit, he told us he wanted to keep things new and fresh for us. Along with the standard steak, fish, and turkey, he brought out all of the kid dishes, as well. We had a delightful chicken, tasty mac and cheese, and delicious sweet potato fries. Nice, huh? Patrick wasn't done, though. The table behind us was celebrating a birthday. He decided to sing a song to the little boy to celebrate his birthday. Did he sing Happy Birthday? Heck no! That's too ordinary for Patrick. He sang Never Had a Friend Like Me but again, changed up the lyrics so that he was wishing the boy a happy birthday. The table next to us was celebrating an anniversary. He sang Bella Notte to them with a few words changed up to personalize it. I was impressed... and had a challenge for him. In a rather joking manner, I told him that we were celebrating my husband's PhD and I wondered if he had a song for just such an occasion. I can barely get the words out because he starts singing Zip-a-dee-doo-dah with words changed just for my husband and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering. How does that even happen? We just sat there with our eyes wide. He was an absolutely fantastic waiter and we had to notify the manager that he had someone truly special working for him.
 
I don't have any personal stories, but I see plenty of CMs on this site helping and providing info to all of us to make sure our trips are magical.

Having said that, after reading some of the things on the DIS, it doesn't surprise me that some people find they encounter a horrible CM. Sometimes it is the CM, but sometimes that person is just hard to please :rolleyes1
 
When my 2nd son was one we arrived at wdw he and I were hit by the worst stomach bug ever. We were in fort wilderness cabins. When housekeeping came my husband explained the situation and that we had bagged up towels and sheets and and borrow some cleaning stuff. The dear dear mouse keeper came the next day bringing him a signed Mickey and friends photo, and a beanie Mickey for him and even a Donald for his non sick big brother. :)
 
I was in line at MK to meet the stepmother and sisters and I asked their handler if she knew when Rabbit would be back out. See, he had been out earlier but was taken away when I was about 5 people away. She told me to go ask the handler at the Pooh and friends line, gave me his name and said that she had sent me (sadly, I do not remember her name). I get there and the line is quite long and he tells me that Rabbit will be back out in about ten minutes and will be out for about 15-20 minutes. So I get in line and Rabbit comes back out and I inch closer and closer. A family gets in behind me and they start whining and complaining that they've done nothing so far today and that, every time they had gotten in a character line that day, the character would be taken away when they would be next. I felt bad for them, but they just kept repeating themselves over and over and it got old. I get about ten families away and I see the female handler come over and talk to her friend and then I see her point in my direction and he kind of nods. I keep inching closer and closer and then Rabbit's handler starts telling everyone that Rabbit will have to go in five minutes because he needs to make sure that Tigger is not in his gardent. The family behind me is still complaining and I make friends with the family in front of me. They told me that I would be with them if it looked like I wasn't going to make it. Finally it's the family's in front of me turn and the handler said to me, "You're going to be my last family." It was just a little bit of pixie dust, but it made my last day at Disney pretty special.
 
We lived north of the Disney area and trips back and forth to the parks were pretty routine. One morning just about everything went wrong. There had been a bad accident including fire (a tanker) that kept us from getting on the turnpike which was our usual route for most of the trip.
Then when we finally got to the park, it was so foggy the ferryboats weren't running. The back-up at the monorail was worse than I'd seen it in years. We finally got to Magic Kingdom and figured there was no sense hurrying since we were already an hour late (or more) getting there.
So we strolled through the stores along Main St., which we usually did at the end of our day.
I found a great sweatshirt and when I was at the checkout, the clerk (an older lady) asked how our day was going. Boy, did I let it out!!!! Then as she folded my shirt and bagged it, she said "That's over now." I said good, but why?? She said "Because you're in the Magic Kingdom now." And she had a beautiful smile on her face. That made my day.
:thumbsup2
 
In Disney Sea Japan the CM who played Jack Sparrow was so wonderful. My D is very shy but loves JS. He made her feel so delighted and told her he'd wait for her. :goodvibes But everyone on that trip was great.
 
I've never had a bad CM experience. I'm consistently impressed at how they can remain smiling and helpful in the face of unspeakable rudeness and entitlement that comes from some guests.

I think my favourite CM experience was at Via Napoli. Our server was doing the International Program, something that I'm interested in pursuing, so I asked him about it. He gave me really helpful, honest answers and so much encouragement. Beyond that, he was sweet and funny and a great server. His name was Francesco, and he really made my day. While I was in the bathroom at the end of the meal, he brought back the receipt to my mom after she'd paid and mentioned that he would make sure to come back before we left to say bye to me, and he made good on his word! He was awesome.
 

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