Share your experiences about above-and-beyond service at DLR!

[wench]

Ok, I've got three....

1. In February I took my son to DLR for his 12th birthday. He was finally in charge! He got to make all the decision on what we were doing. He was thrilled at the prospect, but overwhelmed by the reality. It was crowded & he'd get upset if the waits were too long for what he wanted to do. And somehow I was supposed to magically fix the situation with making any decisions, because he was in charge. We ended up semi arguing in front of Mad Hatter. Nothing loud, but I'm sure we both looked very unhappy. Next thing you know, a CM came over offered us a ride on Alice, entering through the exit. I felt bad for the all the people waiting in line, but it totally worked to cheer my both my son & I up by the time we got off the ride.

2. On a trip earlier this year, my son built a Kylo Ren lightsaber at Star Traders. Not long after we got home, the piece which has the horizontal blades coming out of it broke. I tried & tried to fix it, but had no luck. He's got so many other lightsabers, but since this was the 1 single part that made it the Kylo Ren lightsaber, he couldn't swap it out. So, while back at Star Traders on the next trip, it occurred to me to ask if I could buy just that part individually. I was pretty sure the answer would be no & they'd tell me that I would have to bring the broken part back for an exchange. Sure enough, the CM told me that he couldn't sell us that part individually, but that he'd be more than happy to just give us one. It was such a little thing but my son was thrilled.

3. Mike who works in the bell services desk at GC. He's amazing! Back in July I went a bit overboard on souvenir shopping & needed several large boxes to ship things home. The boxes they keep at the bell services desk just weren't big enough. He looked all over the hotel for me until he was able to find something big enough for me. Since then we've been back twice & he always stops to say hi when he sees us. And of course he always offers to find me any size box we may need.

 

[Disney_Alli]

I have one. I went to DL solo for my 26th birthday. I had so much fun and loved being able to go and do whatever I wanted. I had two great experiences with Photopass CMs. The first came on my first or second morning just after I'd walked in to the park and stopped for pictures near Matterhorn. A great young CM took my picture and chatted with me a bit as I posed for pics - he asked me about my birthday (I wore a button every day I was there) and chatted a bit about why I'd come down solo. He took me around the corner to the castle and took a bunch of pics of me there too. For the rest of my trip I saw him every day and he always remembered my name (without visibly looking at my button) and that I was there solo for my birthday. (Cynically when I looked back at my Photopass pictures from that trip I saw that my DARK purple t-shirt became transparent in direct sunlight and my black bra was clearly visible through it which made me wonder if that's why he remembered me but nonetheless in the moment I thought it was so cool he remembered me) The infamous "is this why he remembered me" pic below.


The second photopass photographer took a bunch of pictures of me around the hub with all the magic shots he could do the took me to Tomorrowland where we borrowed a lightsaber and took pictures fighting Darth Vader, when he found out it was my last day in the parks he asked me to meet him back in the area in a couple of hours or so after his break and after my lunch reservation at Ariel's. When I returned to the area he took me over to Adventureland where I got a picture holding baby Simba and New Orleans Square and I got pictures with the hitchhiking ghosts, on the bridge over the pirates entrance with one of the boats passing in the background (which we had to wait for so he shot a couple of pictures for another family that asked) we swung by Pieces of Eight and borrowed a sword and I got pictures fighting Captain Hook. Finally he took me around the side of the castle and I got a picture with Prince Naveen in frog form and then we ran into a friend of his who was also a Photopass photographer - the best one according to my new friend - who took a bunch of pictures of me by the castle and one last magic shot with Tink. I'm pretty sure I got every single magic shot available during those two mini-photoshoots and spent at least an hour with him total. Not only did I end up with some great pictures of myself I actually learned a lot about posing too which came in handy for my wedding pictures this past summer (to the point where I - who has always hated having my picture taken and felt uncomfortable - was complemented several times by different photographers for being "so natural" in front of the camera) The pictures are below in reverse order.

 

[Kurtas400]

Last June while we were enjoying breakfast at Carnation Cafe..my youngest son spilt milk all over my teenage son...totally soaking his shorts...as well ruining his breakfast. Not only did the CM provide a replacement breakfast..they provided a 50 dollar voucher to be used to purchase replacement shorts... This astounded both my wife and me in that we were staying at the Disneyland Hotel and could have merely walked back to the hotel for my teenage son to change...The Cast Member wanted to provide a little pixie dust to make a morning disaster into a real nice day...kudos to Disneyland..and their customer service. We live in Michigan...and have been to both WDW and DL...we prefer DL...due to the nostalgia and closeness of the park rides. We will be back soon

 

[coaches24]

In 2012 we went down for a week starting on Memorial day. We decided to splurge and stay on sight for the first time (and only time thus far) and stayed at the PPH. We had booked a standard view room but when we mentioned to the Cm at the check in counter that we had two birthdays in the last couple weeks an a Wedding anniversary coming up she (and I asked how much it would be to upgrade to put the idea in her head) she upgraded us to a park view room on the 13th floor for free (the upgrade was free, not staying there )

Our first trip when DD was only 2 (2010) we had breakfast at the Plaza inn our first day in the parks and met several characters. Minnie took a special interest in DD and gave her lots of attention. Took her out of the high chair at one point and got her on the floor to dance. DD was mesmerized and when Minnie let go of DDs hands while dancing DD stood there frozen. It was so cute. Next day we had the passes to get in Toon town early and see the show they put on. I don't know if the Minnie in Toon town that day was the same as person as the plaza inn the day before but again Minnie got all excited to see DD and took her hand before the show and led her around Toon town showing her all the buttons to push and things like that. It made the trip very magical and DD has LOVED Disney land ever since.

Every time we go she is asking when we can go again as soon as we leave.

 

[LizzyS]

In February 2014, we went to DLR for our 5th wedding anniversary and stayed at PPH. The CM at the front desk when we were checking in gave us anniversary buttons, an autographed photo of Mickey and Minnie, and upgraded our room to the park side, though we were only on the 3rd floor. Nevertheless, I really appreciated it. Our arrival day was our actual anniversary, so we had reservations at Steakhouse 55, which we loved. When we got back from dinner, we entered our room only to find rose petals all over one of the beds, spelling out "LOVE". We were so tickled, it was very romantic. How did they know when we would be gone? We certainly enjoyed that bit of pixie dust.

 

[lovebug33]

Ours has SPD too. Did you get the disability program?

Yes we did! It's a lifesaver!

 

[lorijohnhill]

Oh, there are so many stories to tell!

We took several trips to DLR last year... In May, my daughter was wearing a Zarina the Pirate costume during our Breakfast with Minnie at the Plaza Inn. She and Peter Pan had a fabulous time chasing Captain Hook around the restaurant. It was so fun! This was the same Peter that she had had a great interaction with the day before.

Fast forward to September... My daughter is dressed head to toe in a Cheshire Cat footie Jammie costume. We are walking just past the Alice bathrooms when we see Peter Pan and Hook walking towards us. As they go by my daughter said hi. Peter stops, turns around, and says "Hey, Lexi, where is your Zarina sword?"

I was completely floored!

 

[ashley0139]

My favorite story was from this December, when I went to see the Candlelight Processional. I had been waiting with a couple other girls since 10am, and talking to the cast members. We had spots on the curb off to the right of the stage. I had really wanted to watch from a different angle, more toward the center. I asked the cast member if that would be possible since we had been waiting since 10. She kept telling us she was going to try to get us where we wanted to be.

A while later, she told us she wasn't going to be able to make it happen but we still had good spots, so we replied that it was totally fine and we knew she tried. She had the house manager of the processional come over and pull us out of our curb spots and said to the people behind us "you can fill in their spots, they won't be coming back." Then he took us over to the side and told us to come back in a couple hours and he would get us seats for the Processional! Might be the best bit of magic I've ever had. Instead of standing slightly behind the narrator off to the side, we got to sit in chairs and watch from a perfect angle. I will never forget it.

 

[Disney Lvr of Old]

In September 2013 I brought my son for his first trip. We had planned Pirate League and scouted the area the day before so we would know where to go. We introduced ourselves to "Pirate Nora" and she promised to take care of my son when we saw her in the morning. Cue the next morning; after he finished getting dressed up Nora took him straight to the Pirate Island meet and greet with Jack Sparrow and my son had a 10 minute picture taking session with Jack. Then she took us to Pirates of the Caribbean and sat in the front row with us and entertained everyone on our boat. The next morning we stopped by and brought her a few treats from the bakery to thank her for her kindness and she took us on another treasure hunt and back to POTC again. The next day was the Halloween party and since Pirate League was set up at the ranch we saw her again. She had a treasure hunt mapped out in the ranch area and the prize was several photos from the photopass photographer of Jack dressed as a pirate. It was so amazing- we still talk about her to this day and have the note she wrote to Jack framed. I made sure to send a long note to Disney to tell them how amazing she was. I have more pictures but I can only get one to upload- I wanted to show Nora!

 

[Indiana Scott]

This story is almost more X-files than anything else but:
In 2000 we took our some to the park for the first time. The park was spectacularly clean and well kept. They took a lot better care of the park back then IMO and I rather miss that - but I digress..
After getting the pop corn my son tripped over a curb on Main Street (in front of Market House) and spilled about a third of it. I felt bad because everything was so spotless and here we go and make a mess!
There were no lines so we walked into MH and ordered two coffee's. I then turned around no more than two minutes later to look at the mess we had made and it was GONE. The pop corn was cleaned up almost spooky fast.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

This one always makes me tear up. I was in line to meet Pluto in front of the Opera House. The woman in front of me had a teenage son who was severely mentally and physically disabled. He was in a wheelchair stroller with lots of Pluto decorations. Clearly, meeting Pluto was a huge deal here. The line was long, and I noticed that the whole time the son didn't speak or really move much. His mom kept checking to see if he was thirsty or hungry, but she didn't get much response. When it was finally their turn, Pluto got down low to wave at the boy, thinking he probably wasn't able to get out of the stroller alone. Suddenly, the boy lunged out of the stroller and started limping/crawling toward Pluto. Pluto met him halfway, and the boy leapt up to hug the life out of him. The handler was making signs to ask if Pluto was OK or if he needed assistance. Pluto gave the thumbs up and kept hugging the boy and making kissing noises. He spent a long time with this boy, and the mom was crying the whole time. I'm sure that if I haven't forgotten this, the mom and her son sure haven't. Kudos to the Pluto CM for really caring for this boy and his mom.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

...It's just so great to find CM's who really, truly adore their jobs, isn't it? And to peterpanandwendy, you are absolutely right ... it certainly makes the trips feel more "cost effective"!..

These stories happen every day, so please don't forget to leave a CM compliment (either at City Hall, Chamber of Commerce, or online) for the people who really make the magic happen for guests. Disney really takes these compliments seriously. And the compliments do find their way to the correct supervisor and into the CM's file.