Rude CM's? Not Compared to This!!

[3lilprincesses]

so i keep reading all these posts about CM's, and how they just aren't that great anymore. and it seems a bit odd to me because i thought everyone at DW was so friendly! but i have only been there one time , so i thought maybe i missed something.

anyway, this week we went to our local amusement park, kennywood, for our townships "day" there. we go every year. we love it! but this year, i REALLY noticed how RUDE the employees are! i couldn't believe it. i consider pittsburgh to be a very friendly place, so it is really suprising! a good example is when oldest DD (9), won a game, the guy working it practically threw her stuffed animal at her! when a 9 year old gets upset after winning a game, you know there is something wrong!! in kiddie land the employees buckle the kids into the rides, and when they helped younger DD's almost none of them smiled. nobody told us to "have a nice day". certainly no pixie dust there!! and it's not like admission is exactly cheap!! BUT we still had a great day. i'm sure it's always been like this, but since going to DW it is more noticable to us.

so the CM's at DW may not meet everyone's expectations anymore, but i think they are awesome! i know we will really appreciate their smiles when we're there in january!!

okay, i just had to get my kennywood experience off my chest. thanks!!

 

[MNSusan]

Hey! We're going next month! DH grew up there riding all the coasters. We're going back to visit the relatives. I've never been to Kennywood so we thought we'd spend a day there. I'll give him a heads up that it might not be as friendly as he remembers.

 

[michaelwilliammidd]

Going to WDW has a tendency to bring out all the bad in other parks. I have been to a few others and always find myself kind of depressed because they are nothing like Disney and I've almost stopped going anywhere else. I still think that WDW CM are like no others, true while I am there I might encounter a not so friendly CM every now and then but that experience is usually around 1 in 100....and those aren't bad odds.

 

[AngelEyes]

Going to Disney ruined my family in regards to going to Carowinds, down in Charlotte. The people that work there don't a candle to the CM's at Disney, and while Carowinds is clean for the most part, it's filthy compared to Disney. The only other amusement park I've been to that had nice people and was spotless like Disney is Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

 

[3lilprincesses]

Hey! We're going next month! DH grew up there riding all the coasters. We're going back to visit the relatives. I've never been to Kennywood so we thought we'd spend a day there. I'll give him a heads up that it might not be as friendly as he remembers.

well, like i said, we still LOVE it! both DH and myself grew up here, and it isn't much different then when we were kids. it is a great family park. very pretty. lots of great coasters. yummy cheese fries and funnel cake! BUT of course while it isn't fair to compare it to DW, you can't help but do so. it is so much dirtier, and less friendly, but probably friendlier then others. everything is relative!

have a GREAT time!! i hope you love Kennywood. pittsburgers are very proud of it!!

 

[Harmony]

Having been to WDW three times, I can honestly say that the CM's service this year wasn't "up to par." Don't get me wrong...it wasn't bad service, just average for Disney. My cousin, who went for the 1st time, couldn't get over their awesome service.

I guess if it's your first time, you are impressed with their better than average service but if you've been there before...it's not like it used to be. JMO

 

[3lilprincesses]

Having been to WDW three times, I can honestly say that the CM's service this year wasn't "up to par." Don't get me wrong...it wasn't bad service, just average for Disney. My cousin, who went for the 1st time, couldn't get over their awesome service.

I guess if it's your first time, you are impressed with their better than average service but if you've been there before...it's not like it used to be. JMO

i agree w/ you, and in a way that's my point too. it was my first trip, so it was all great! but when i go back, i know it will still be better than where i was. like i said, it's all relative. i also think sometimes, like in my case w/ kennywood, your memories are sometime better than the reality, so when you go back, there is no way it can match up. JMO

 

[WeLoveThePoly]

I just had to say this post brought back memories! I grew up in a little town outside Pittsburgh (Oakdale) and we went to Kennywood all the time. Gosh, that was so long ago!

Debbie

 

[Marseeya]

so i keep reading all these posts about CM's, and how they just aren't that great anymore. and it seems a bit odd to me because i thought everyone at DW was so friendly! but i have only been there one time , so i thought maybe i missed something.

anyway, this week we went to our local amusement park, kennywood, for our townships "day" there. we go every year. we love it! but this year, i REALLY noticed how RUDE the employees are! i couldn't believe it. i consider pittsburgh to be a very friendly place, so it is really suprising! a good example is when oldest DD (9), won a game, the guy working it practically threw her stuffed animal at her! when a 9 year old gets upset after winning a game, you know there is something wrong!! in kiddie land the employees buckle the kids into the rides, and when they helped younger DD's almost none of them smiled. nobody told us to "have a nice day". certainly no pixie dust there!! and it's not like admission is exactly cheap!! BUT we still had a great day. i'm sure it's always been like this, but since going to DW it is more noticable to us.

so the CM's at DW may not meet everyone's expectations anymore, but i think they are awesome! i know we will really appreciate their smiles when we're there in january!!

okay, i just had to get my kennywood experience off my chest. thanks!!

We must be practically neighbors! Hubby's company has its company picnic at Kennywood every year, so we'll be going in July. Also, I've been going to Kennywood since I was a tot.

Anyway, just my two cents and take this with a grain of salt because I don't know how true this is. When I was a teenager I worked at an amusement park as a ride operator (Geauga Lake in Ohio). We interacted with the customers a bit, but no big deal or anything. The same summer I worked at Geauga Lake, I went to Kennywood and tried to engage a ride operator in conversation about the job and he pretty much blew me off. Another employee told me that they aren't permitted to talk to guests at all. So I can see if it is indeed company policy, then the ride operators really have no incentive to be friendly. Again, I don't know how true it is, it's just what I heard and it proved to be the case every time I went there. And none of that excuses the behavior of the game operator

 

[mog]

The only other amusement park I've been to that had nice people and was spotless like Disney is Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

I was just about to post this same opinion! After going to Paramount's Kings Dominion near Richmond a few times, we gave up on them and got season passes to Busch Gardens/Water Country USA. I was going to say that they come the closest to Disney of any park I've been to. Of course there is still really no comparison! But if you have to have a substitute in between Disney trips at least Busch Gardens is fairly clean and has friendly employees.

 

[monorailsilver]

Then don't go to Sesame Place either.

It did not meet my Disney standards as a clean park and Disney is not super duper clean all the time but spotless compaired to Sesame.

All the workers were kids off from school for the summer. I actually watched 3 workers goof off while they were supposed to be cleaning the bathroom.

The sad thing is, is that my 4 yo wants to go back & my 21 month old loves Elmo/melmo to him. So luckily we are going to Disney this year & we may have to bite the bullet again & go to Sesame next summer on the way to the beach in the Carolina's.

 

[tn_disney_addict]

HI!!! I grew up in West Mifflin (where Kennywood is!!!) Okay, so maybe I never 'grew up', but I lived there for a long time!!!

I can never find anyone that knows what I am talking about!!! We are going up the week of the 4th of July for my Nana's 80th bday and spending a day at Kennywood!

I can't wait!!! Potato Patch French Fries...Funnel Cake...The JackRabbit!!! I feel like a kid again just thinking about it!!!

All you pittsburghers...where do you live!?! I saw an Oakdale...I know where that is! Wow...this is fun!

 

[Madi100]

I can not go to another amusement park without comparing it to Disney. We just got back from going to Six Flags Great America in Chicago. $45 to get in for an adult. Parking was $10. Now this park has 13 roller coasters, only one could my youngest daughter could ride. Most of them my seven year old couldn't ride. The theming in parts of the park were good, while others were okay. The park was pretty clean, but not up to Disney standards. Of course, the workers weren't as friendly, and the people in the park fit under the category of "punk". I wanted to offer a few of them the use of my hotel room though so my daughter didn't receive an education she's not ready for yet.

In a moment of weakness we decided to do the character meal. We overpaid for chicken strips, hotdogs, and BBQ brisket. I am still kicking myself for paying the money for that one.

The biggest difference we noticed, though, between other parks and Disney is that Disney is for families. Six Flags and our local park here are not for families. They are for adults and kids. And, what I mean by that is that Six Flags had a great area for the kids. Two areas in fact. There were quite a few rides that they could go on in that area. And, again, Six Flags has 13 roller coasters, great for adults. But, there were very few rides that we could all go on together. We wanted to spend the day as a family, but for the most part we stood and watched our kids on the kiddie rides.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I think in any of the parks here up north (Cedar Point, Geauga Lake, Kennywood, ect....) where parks are only open seasonally, pretty much all you are going to find is kid's off school working for the summer. A friend of mine worked at one of the concession stands at Geauga Lake years ago one summer and she said they never trained in her anything except how to never give anyone extra food and to make all the portion sizes the same, she said she never heard a word about customer service or anything about being friendly to the guests. The only thing she said she was told was not to swear in front of the guests.

 

[AngelEyes]

I was just about to post this same opinion! After going to Paramount's Kings Dominion near Richmond a few times, we gave up on them and got season passes to Busch Gardens/Water Country USA. I was going to say that they come the closest to Disney of any park I've been to. Of course there is still really no comparison! But if you have to have a substitute in between Disney trips at least Busch Gardens is fairly clean and has friendly employees.

I would go beyond fairly clean and say spotless for BG. Disney still has the best employees, but IMHO BG is just as clean as Disney. It gets rated the most beautiful theme park in the country year in and year out. The way they build AROUND the trees instead of taking them down is great. You're VERY lucky to be able to go there often. We're about 5 hours away, but it's well worth the drive! I would drive that far just to go on Apollo's Chariot. Great coaster!

 

[MyGoofy26]

I can't stand to do to Kennywood anymore. Used to love going when I was little. I haven't been since summer before last and have no plans to go this summer. It seems to be going downhill quickly. Maybe I'm being too snobby, but half the time I'm afraid to touch things! LOL!! The piles and piles of gum stuck to every surface *blech* I always want to go get a picture of some of the worst areas and post it in the thread when people are talking about Splash Mountain and say, "let's just hope it doesn't get like this!!" LOL!

And it just seems that the rides are even sub-par anymore. Last time I was there they rigged the handlebar on the Exterminator so that it was covered in electrical tape instead of whatever mostplaces use on the bars. I had a big chunk of hair ripped out that got caught on a screw that was partially out. And came home with so many bruises because there is so little support. At Disney, you go on jerky rides and you're well supported and cushioned. I spent most of half the rides trying to brace myself enough that I wouldn't move in the direction of the newly formed bruises until the ride was over because I was hurting so bad, LOL!

I know that they don't have anywhere near the budget that Disney has, so maybe it's not a fair comparison. . . but having your employees go above and beyond to treat your patrons well doesn't cost extra. Having someone scrape the gum off of the surface areas of a queue can't cost that much! And if you're paying that much for a new ride to be built, just spring a lil extra for the necessary padding! LOL!

 

[BethR]

Another Pittsburgher here.

I have been going to Kennywood every year for over 25 years and I always loved the park.

But after going on my first WDW trip in 1996, I must definately say that Disney has spoiled me. Although I know that Kennywood is a smaller, seasonal park - it no longer holds the appeal for me that it once did. But we still make our annual pilgrimage there for our "school picnic." And we will be back again when our daughter marches in Fall Fantasy.

 

[Becky2005]

I can not go to another amusement park without comparing it to Disney. We just got back from going to Six Flags Great America in Chicago.

In a moment of weakness we decided to do the character meal. We overpaid for chicken strips, hotdogs, and BBQ brisket. I am still kicking myself for paying the money for that one.

I now feel ancient!!! Since when did Great America start having character meals?????????????? That is the park I went to as a teen (my first ever roller coaster was the American Eagle - thanks to my friend dragging me on that - back then it was the biggest one in the park! LOL! So much for "working up to it" like she said!). It's been ages since I've gone though.

One main reason we have never taken the kids there is they are too short! It just would be a big waste of time & money for us. We have done Santa's Village instead (free parking, let you take in your picnic baskets)...true it only has one roller coaster but the kids can pretty much ride everything and although I'm sure it's no where near Disney standards, we have never had a problem there (plus you can go on a lot of the rides with the kids - not all but a lot).

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I just had to chime in that there are some good family parks out there. We go to Story Land in NH, and it is totally geared towards children 8 & under. The rides and shows are really for kids. The park is very clean, and parking is free. The prices in the food areas are even low -- $1 for a bottle of water.

Most of the staff are from Europe -- they're young adults, but they are polite and helpful.

Now, Story Land is family owned and operated, and is certainly not as large as DW, but it is a nice place to visit for a day.

Santa's Village, also in NH, is similar, and the kids can even get free prizes for visiting 26 elves throughout the park.

I think that the parks that are geared for older kids, or run by a large conglomerate, are the ones to stay away from.

Everyone can't visit DW on a regular basis, and if you look for a smaller operation in your area, you might find a real treasure.

My ds7 will always tell you he wants to go to DW if you ask him where he'd like to go for vacation, but he also loves the two previously mentioned parks.

 

[Minky]

I was actually terrified to even TRY another park after Disney, but on our last drive down from NJ we HAD to stop at Busch Gardens Williamsburg for a nite to try the NEW AND AMAZING CURSE OF DARKASTLE (which wasnt that new or amazing, its Spider man but not as good) however the park itself was very pretty and everyone we dealt with was very nice and friendly so that was good