Should we Pixie Dust a cast member??

[lazy daisy]

Just Sharing
Here are my cards

sorry it's a bit blurry
phone camera


Click on the image to see larger size

Sooo cute! Great idea!!

 

[estherhead]

When we were there I video taped them saying what they loved. They loved that and we had some really special interactions with this. This isn't all I did but it is some of the interactions. I just told them to say where they are originally from and why they love working at Disney.

Castmembers say what they love

I'm not sure what I'm going to tape this year. But I really want to do it again. Any question you've always wanted to ask? You can either keep it for yourself or let me steal it.

We've also considered making our own Mickey gloves and all wear them and wave at the CMs as we walk in each morning but I'm yet to do that one.

At restaurants I show my love with my pocketbook, a nice tip is the best way of saying thank you.

And on rides if we are having a great time we include them, scream and cheer and have a fantastic time. It can't be fun to run a ride and see people with cranky faces.

Oh, and follow the rules. I break this one sometimes as I'm not good at remembering rules but whenever a CM has to tell me to not take a picture (I never can remember you can't take pictures in security ) I always feel so bad because they have to tell me and explain why. That can't be fun.

Oh, and they LOVE group shots. I like to have more than one CM in my photos. They love that. Who doesn't like getting their picture taken with their friends. And then show it to them. That's always a fun thing to do. And if they try to initiate and interaction with you, interact back. It's always lame to make a joke and have the person you are talking to pretend you don't exist.

 

[SunTravels]

On one of my family visits a few years ago in Feb it was pretty cold out one night. There was a CM standing outside of Spaceship earth who was freezing, so after we got off the ride my brother went and bought her a coffee. She was thrilled and very grateful.

 

[Dis703]

I have been trying to think of some special way to thank cast members as well. We have had some fabulous experiences the last few trips and I was thinking I'd love to be able to give a little something back. I did email guest services after our trip but would love to do more.

I read online that they can't accept anything of monetary value and that for safety reasons they will discard food. I did see some cute personalized thank you cards we might use though.

 

[Kellykins1218]

I always ask helpful or super friendly CMs to pose for a picture so I can record their name tag. After our trip, I go through them all and write a letter naming each of them and stating where we encountered them and what they did to make our vacation special. Last year, a supervisor called to personally thank me for taking the time to write and said my letter had been escalated through the ranks because it was the nicest one they had ever received. She said that she was personally going to make sure that each of the CMs I mentioned would get recognized for their outstanding service. It was cool getting a call but what made me happiest was that the awesome CMs were brought to the attention of several of the "higher-ups."

 

[katt789]

We have little "Thank You" cards to hand out to cm's that make our day special, or go out of our way, or are just awesome. We've been giving them out since Sept of last year and they really do appreciate it and seem to really like it.

We gave one to a character attedant and a few days later ran into her in the parks and she thanked us once again and said she'd put it up on her little cork board in her room. They really do appreciate the small things like that.

 

[JJ in wonderland]

Is there a good address to mail a letter like this to, I'm having troubling finding one?
Thanks!

 

[lazy daisy]

I always ask helpful or super friendly CMs to pose for a picture so I can record their name tag. After our trip, I go through them all and write a letter naming each of them and stating where we encountered them and what they did to make our vacation special. Last year, a supervisor called to personally thank me for taking the time to write and said my letter had been escalated through the ranks because it was the nicest one they had ever received. She said that she was personally going to make sure that each of the CMs I mentioned would get recognized for their outstanding service. It was cool getting a call but what made me happiest was that the awesome CMs were brought to the attention of several of the "higher-ups."

I never thought about getting a picture with the CM to get their name, I always forget the name so this is a great idea. Im going to be more attentive this time around to good service so I can comment.

 

[Ds4angels]

We like to look at their name tag and where there from. It's always fun to chat w/ someone who live in the same or a nearby state. One cast member actually camps at the same campground we do.
They all see to enjoy talking about home, when they're so far away from it

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

I love these ideas... Never thought to give them a little thank you note... But I definitely appreciate all the things the CMs do to help us guests have a more magical experience!!

 

[3happydancers]

Great thread! Love everyone's ideas! We don't leave until August but I'd love to be a part of the movement. I think this is a wonderful idea especially now that the CM's are faced with a "testing" period that is off to a rough start.

 

[nym4588]

From what I've heard, The best thing you can do is to write a letter commending the service you received. I did this for two cast members who really went above and beyond during our last trip.

 

[norrodh]

I keep reading here that the CM can't accept cash tips but that is not totally true. There are certain positions that can accept if the guests insist!! Like the bus drivers can accept if the guest totally insists they take it. The bus driver has to say No, 3x so keep insisting they take it, and they are allowed to take it!! Also the hairwrappers and facepainters or artists are all 3rd party vendors and are ALLOWED to accept cash tips and they should be tipped!! People are under a false pretense that no cast member or worker there can accept tips!! Its just not true!! I mean Disney puts 18% tip automatically for a server if you have a party over 6 people. They just don't want to make the guest feel that they have to tip for every little thing cus it does get costly. So the vendors cannot advertise that they are allowed tips but please tip them because alot of them are working out in the heat all day and work really hard - especially the hairwrappers!! I just can't believe how many people don't even offer a tip! This is coming from a former Cast Member and the mother of a hairwrapper!! Alot of misinformation on here!!

 

[wendybeth75]

Just a thought...I love Walt Disney world and the cast members have done an awesome job overall in years past that Ive been there, to make my vacation extremely enjoyable. I know the new system has to be extremely difficult for them, I would be in a bad mood if I had people screaming at me all day. I am going in May and was thinking what could I do to hand back some Pixie dust to some of the cast members...yes I know we pay a lot for this vacation but I also know working where your appreciated goes a long way to sooth ruffled feathers..Any body have trips coming up that might want to Pixie dust a cast member?? LOl, Im not sure what I could do, any ideas?

We had "Business cards" made that said something like "thank you for making our vacation so magical Cast Members like you are special" The Smith Family. We collect the names and location and time of day and email Disney to give them a compliment. Many of the cast members are not allowed to accept any "items". We did take UK candy bars (since they were in the NCAA championship) to our Concierge staff at WL-CL and they accepted them.

 

[Jannephotog]

I've also got business cards printed up saying thanks for our trip in a few weeks, too. Ten bucks online didn't seem like a bad deal to get to thank the CMs, especially since we've got some more special stuff going on during the trip.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

I keep reading here that the CM can't accept cash tips but that is not totally true. There are certain positions that can accept if the guests insist!! Like the bus drivers can accept if the guest totally insists they take it. The bus driver has to say No, 3x so keep insisting they take it, and they are allowed to take it!! Also the hairwrappers and facepainters or artists are all 3rd party vendors and are ALLOWED to accept cash tips and they should be tipped!! People are under a false pretense that no cast member or worker there can accept tips!! Its just not true!! I mean Disney puts 18% tip automatically for a server if you have a party over 6 people. They just don't want to make the guest feel that they have to tip for every little thing cus it does get costly. So the vendors cannot advertise that they are allowed tips but please tip them because alot of them are working out in the heat all day and work really hard - especially the hairwrappers!! I just can't believe how many people don't even offer a tip! This is coming from a former Cast Member and the mother of a hairwrapper!! Alot of misinformation on here!!

When I got my hair wrapped at Port Orleans, the lady said she did not work for Disney. I took the thread as meaning Disney Cast Members, not outside Vendors.

 

[Alesia]

From what I've heard, The best thing you can do is to write a letter commending the service you received. I did this for two cast members who really went above and beyond during our last trip.

Yes, Please!

As someone who works in the service industry, we want to be treated like professionals, not children.

 

[goofy4tink]

Not trying to be negative here, but other than a quick 3 min rush of 'oh, that's so nice of you' from a CM when you give them a note, sticker, or such, those things really aren't going to be of much value to a hard working CM. They can't accept gifts, basically. I would hate to put a CM in a position to have to say they can't accept something from me.

The very best thing you can do, and the one thing that is truly appreciated, is to go to Guest Services, and fill out a 'compliment' form for those CMs that you feel deserve a 'high five'. It goes in their record/file and they are mentioned during staff meetings. I have known many CMs and they all say the same thing...let GS know if you think I've done a great job! It goes toward getting a great review and a pay raise!! Just be sure you note their name!! I tend to forget to do that....now I make a point of jotting it down in my phone note section!

 

[GillianP1301]

After reading this thread, I'm going to make more of a point to take note of the name of CMs, especially those who go above and beyond. I can think of a couple of instances in the past where a follow up compliment card/letter would've been appropriate, but I never took note of their name.

I do believe that acknowledging them in writing and getting that submitted to their superiors (through guest services, sounds like the way to do it) is the best way to truly get them recognized. Given them a thank you card, although very thoughtful and I'm sure appreciated, won't go beyond the individual themselves.

 

[MannyB]

My sister is a cast member and has had to refuse tips and gift cards several times.

As mentioned the thing almost all cast members in the parks would prefer is to be hired full-time or earn favor toward being extended beyond their internship so a positive review is the best thing you can do,

Outside of that my sister once told me something that stuck with her was three instances:

-A guest's daughter made her a "thank you card" by coloring a page and the mom personalizing it with a message of appreciation.

- A family had these really nice suckers (I am guessing something like Sea's Chocolates does) and handed them to cast members as a Thank You and had a little "Thank you" ribbon tied to the stem

- She worked in Hollywood Studios at the time and has a sweet tooth... one family brought her a red velvet cupcake from Starring Rolls after she helped them with an issue. She tried to refuse it but they wouldn't take no for an answer.. she ended up splitting it with the other CM's she worked with.