Pretty shocking comments from a CM at Epcot

[cissy]

I think we would all agree that one of the best parts of Disney is the amazing CM service. They are always upbeat and friendly. I am in awe of how gracious they are, even when they have to say no to someone.

Last week we had to take the girls to the First Aid station at Epcot. Judy, the CM on duty, was a delight and her care of my daughters was exceptional. My DH, however, was outside talking to a clean up CM and got an earful!!

This CM, whom I will not name here, had some derogatory remarks about females from a particular nationality and then even more hateful remarks about a certain religious group. My DH happens to be a member of that religious group but is a pretty laid back guy so he took it in stride. Then the CM said that he really hated Florida College football and THAT made DH mad cause he is a FSU grad...yes, he got more angry about the football comment than the religious one but what can I say, the man loves his Seminoles!!

Anyway, when DH told me the things the man said, I was more upset than DH. I really wanted to complain but DH talked me down and said that he did not want to spend one minute of our vacation thinking about it, much less having to explain it to anyone in front of the kids. So I let it go. But now that we are home, it really bothers me that this guy is so vocal to complete strangers about his prejudices. Thank goodness the kids were not there when he said it!!

Anyway, just wanted to get it off my chest to people who would understand how out of the norm it was!!

 

[dzorn]

If you know the CMs name and date it happened you could always e-mail Disney if it is still bothering you. Use the contact us spot on Disney site.

Denise in MI

 

[Megan_J]

I moved from the West Coast to the South about three years ago and the one thing that I have noticed is that people down here are much more open about their racism/intolerance. I have met homophobes and racists of every color and creed down here and it still gets me very angry when somebody thinks it's okay to lay that kind of vile opinion on me. I'm betting the guy you two met was within that group of people.

EDIT: I do not mean ALL Southerners. Please use some common sense.

 

[waltslostnephew]

Just a generalization, I would'nt e-mail over something like that...

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

Megan J:

Well, I am a Southerner, and while that may be your experience, I do not think it is fair to lump all of us together like that.

I do not feel that way.

 

[traylorc]

Personally if something like that is still bothering me after I have returned home from vacation, I would definitely take ten minutes to compose an e-mail to disney. Disney prides itself on its customer service, so I'm sure they would be very interested to hear your account.

 

[Megan_J]

Megan J:

Well, I am a Southerner, and while that may be your experience, I do not think it is fair to lump all of us together like that.

I do not feel that way.

I'm not saying every Southerner, of course, but racism and homophobia is way more out in the open down here than where I am from.

 

[goofyernmost]

I moved from the West Coast to the South about three years ago and the one thing that I have noticed is that people down here are much more open about their racism/intolerance. I have met homophobes and racists of every color and creed down here and it still gets me very angry when somebody thinks it's okay to lay that kind of vile opinion on me. I'm betting the guy you two met was within that group of people.

My goodness...that sounded a little intolerant.

 

[Megan_J]

My goodness...that sounded a little intolerant.

So, I'm intolerent for not liking intolerent people?

 

[Oglet]

If you hate everyone equally then your okay

 

[mr.bungle]

We were there last week too. While we didn't experience any racism etc.. from CM's we did encounter the absolute rudest CM working the front desk at our hotel. One comment she made on the phone to my wife just blew me away. I couldn't believe that it came out of the mouth of not only someone working in hospitality, but someone working in hospitality at Disney. It was completely unacceptable and I plan on emailing my experience. I have a card with a guest relations email address on it. If you'd like that email addy please feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to share it.

 

[crashbb]

My goodness...that sounded a little intolerant.

I loved the irony. Generalizing about a group of people, to say that they are the kind of people to make sweeping generalizations. I'm sure that the CM wasn't referring to ALL members of the religion either.

OP - I hope getting it off of your chest helps. I'm not sure that emailing about it, would do any good now (but it would make you feel better, I'd go ahead and do so). I hope your daughter's have recovered from whatever brought them to First Aid.

 

[luvthemouse71]

I'm from the northeast and we have racists here too...just not so vocal about it. Racism is everywhere unfortunately. Sometimes I think it's better when someone is upfront with their bigotry rather than sneaky about it. You can confront and educate easier that way..

 

[rn4val]

I would definitely let Disney know. Hopefully someone can counsel this CM on appropriate topics of conversation.

 

[JacksLilWench]

I moved from the West Coast to the South about three years ago and the one thing that I have noticed is that people down here are much more open about their racism/intolerance. I have met homophobes and racists of every color and creed down here and it still gets me very angry when somebody thinks it's okay to lay that kind of vile opinion on me. I'm betting the guy you two met was within that group of people.

EDIT: I do not mean ALL Southerners. Please use some common sense.

While I love being from and living in the south, this happens more often than some might think. And everytime it happens, I just feel really sad that we live in a world, in 2011, where we have more information available to us than ever before, and people just act so ignorant. And unfortunately, ignorance doesn't know state boundaries.

OP, If it's something that truly bothered you, you have every right to e-mail somebody and let them know that. Just because you were on vacation doesn't mean that CM should be able to say anything he wants. If he said it to your DH, he'll say it to somebody else.

 

[CopasFamily]

I would definitely notify Disney about the situation. While they cannot change the CM's personal views, they can let them know that while in uniform and on Disney property they need to act in a manner that Disney has deemed appropriate. If a CM's personal beliefs/actions compromises the well-being of a guest (mentally or physically) during a stay and beyond the stay, they need to be notified. CM's are responsible for representing Disney.


(As far as being a southerner...Yes, indeed there is racism here, BUT my husband and his family who are from the north are more vocal about any prejudice they have against someone because of race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other reason they may have.)

 

[Mickey & Minnie Mom]

...we did encounter the absolute rudest CM working the front desk at our hotel. One comment she made on the phone to my wife just blew me away. I couldn't believe that it came out of the mouth of not only someone working in hospitality, but someone working in hospitality at Disney. It was completely unacceptable and I plan on emailing my experience.

I just wanted to say if you placed a call from your room to the "front desk" of the resort, it most likely was not a CM working the front desk.

The calls you think are going to your resort's front desk are actually routed to a call center "acting" as front desk agents.

 

[Megan_J]

While I love being from and living in the south, this happens more often than some might think. And everytime it happens, I just feel really sad that we live in a world, in 2011, where we have more information available to us than ever before, and people just act so ignorant. And unfortunately, ignorance doesn't know state boundaries.

OP, If it's something that truly bothered you, you have every right to e-mail somebody and let them know that. Just because you were on vacation doesn't mean that CM should be able to say anything he wants. If he said it to your DH, he'll say it to somebody else.

I love living here because it's a beautiful part of the country and because of the cost of living. I think some residue from the segregation years is still around and passed onto some of the younger generation by some of the older folks who can't get over the fact that segregation ended. For example, I had a nine year old girl tell me that she 'didn't trust blacks'. It is very sad indeed.

 

[maxiesmom]

We were there last week too. While we didn't experience any racism etc.. from CM's we did encounter the absolute rudest CM working the front desk at our hotel. One comment she made on the phone to my wife just blew me away. I couldn't believe that it came out of the mouth of not only someone working in hospitality, but someone working in hospitality at Disney. It was completely unacceptable and I plan on emailing my experience. I have a card with a guest relations email address on it. If you'd like that email addy please feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to share it.

If you called from your room, you were not actually talking to the front desk. Those calls all go to a phone center, not really to the front desk. The only way to speak to someone at the front desk of the resort is to walk down and talk to them.

OP--Your husband needs to be the one to send an e-mail, if he thinks it is worthwhile. You were not there for the conversation, so he really needs to be the one to do it if he is still upset. However, if what really bothered him was someone not liking Florida football, then he should really let it go. You did say that is what bothered him the most, and to complain about that just seems silly to me. I mean really, how would you write that in an e-mail " I talked to a CM and he said bad things about Florida football. I insist you discipline him!"?

 

[srutko1226]

I'm looking at this situation and thinking ...if you didn't like what was being said to you by the CM..you might have said you disagreed..or you don't think you want to talk about such things because you felt it was inappropriate....or you may have told the CM that you were a pretty tolerant person but others may look to get him fired for his comments.

Are you looking to get him fired for his comments when by now it is a case of he said, she said?

I am not saying what he said was a good or just thing, but everyone of us needs to say something when it happens, not let someone else deal with it later.

Flame away.