To the CM's on the board: what is the one "tip" you can give us?

[SRUAlmn]

I have a question. Do CM's enjoy when people come up and start conversations or do they get to the point where they wish people would leave them alone. LOL I can just imagine one of them saying "If one more person says they have family in my hometown....." I guess you have to enjoy people to do these jobs but it has to get tiring day in and day out.

I always wonder that too. I would say it's been about 50/50 for us. We always look at nametags because DH and I have lived in 3 different states and he was a sports journalist (and is still a HUGE fan) so he knows like every random team & player under the sun. Sometimes we strike up a little chat and the CM just kinda looks at us like 'leave me alone' and then other times we get an experience like on our honeymoon when we ate at Le Cellier.

DH chatted up our server about the minor league hockey team in her province, so then she started bringing over all these servers from different provinces and they were quizzing him. It was so funny and they were LOVING it that he knew them all. They even brought us a little magical moment certificate and they all signed it with their name, province, and hockey team names.

 

[dzndft]

My style is sort-of-commando. We do a "two day on - one day off" plan. Where the first two days are go, go, go and the third day is sleep in, read by the pool, catchup on laundry, visit the other resorts, just be lazy and unwind. Let me also add that the kiddos are teenagers and are basically go, go, go to start with, but they need the time off before they crash and burn. This also lets us enjoy Disney without using a day on our pass.

 

[edk35]

We usually wind up with a few extra fastpasses. I love the reaction you get when you offer them to someone who is about to enter a long standby line. Spreading the pixie dust is a great way to end the day.

We have done this several times. We are a family of 5 so we kind of scout out a family of 5 and give them to them. They are always so happy to get them.

 

[MickeyT]

We have done this several times. We are a family of 5 so we kind of scout out a family of 5 and give them to them. They are always so happy to get them.

We did this with TSMM on our last trip. We had already rode twice and there was a 60 min standby. The look on those ladies faces was priceless as we handed over the FP's.

 

[MissRiss89]

Whenever I witness something like this, I always make a point of going up the CM or employee wherever we happen to be and say "hey, don't let them get you down. You were doing your job and what was expected of you, and you do your job well. You can't please everybody. Please don't let people like that ruin your day." Having been on the other end of that as a worker, it really helps. These kids put in long hours, don't make a ton of money and really help make everyone's vacations magical. I hate when someone rips into them for something that is out of their control.



I have a question. Do CM's enjoy when people come up and start conversations or do they get to the point where they wish people would leave them alone. LOL I can just imagine one of them saying "If one more person says they have family in my hometown....." I guess you have to enjoy people to do these jobs but it has to get tiring day in and day out.

I absolutely love it when guests come up to me and start conversation. It's the conversations that I have with guests that make my job even more special and fun. A short, sweet conversation with a guest, even just telling me they live near my hometown or know others who do, can completely turn around a long, tiring day for me. I can't speak for others, but chatting with families is definitely my favorite part of working!

 

[PeterPan09]

I absolutely love it when guests come up to me and start conversation. It's the conversations that I have with guests that make my job even more special and fun. A short, sweet conversation with a guest, even just telling me they live near my hometown or know others who do, can completely turn around a long, tiring day for me. I can't speak for others, but chatting with families is definitely my favorite part of working!

Me too! I love having guests start a conversation! Please, tell me about where you live, what you've done since you've arrived at the resort-especially where you've eaten!! Most of the time I don't get to have long chats with folks because I'm sending them off on their ride, but even a short chat makes my day!

 

[ms mouse]

Great thread and great info, thanks.

 

[MrsMinease]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this amazing thread! We leave in 3 days for our first visit to WDW and I'm in tears after reading about all of the effort that goes in to making things Magical at Disney.

Kinda makes me want to run up to the 1st CM I meet and hug them.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

When we ask you to move all the way in and fill all the available space, please do it. I know, it's probably hot and you don't want to stand next to all these random people, but its so we can make sure we get everyone in. Also, please please PLEASE move all the way down in the theaters if its a full show. Trust me, there isn't a bad seat in the theaters and we have a magical button called the show pause button. This means because you aren't moving down, the show wont start because of you. And we aren't afraid to use it.

BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!!

If you visit ANY of the "pet peeve" threads here you will quickly learn that MOST of us here on the DIS agree with you 100%!!!
AAMOF, Most of us are more than willing to step on toes of offenders who act like they don't understand just to score a seat in the middle. I'm assuming this is geared towards Philharmagic as well!
Personally, I haven't seen the CMs be assertive enough with those rude guests.
Would you like to know how to spot them before they "stake their seat dead center"? They will usually be the family pushing and prying their way rudely through the crowds to the doors, dragging the children helplessly behind.

 

[SelfEmployedDebtFree]

This is kinda OT, but we met a really nice CM at AK. He was part of the dream team. We chased him down hoping for a free prize. We talked for about 5 minutes, about how much he loved his job, and how the dream team awarded prizes and such. We didn't win anything, but he was nice, and we learnt, so it was all good. Three months later we saw him again, and again we spoke to him for about 5 minutes. He of course didn't remember us, I mean he only talks to like 10 million people a day!
Four months LATER we ran into the SAME guy a THIRD time! This time he asked "you guys come here a lot, don't you?" I said yeah, and he said "Yeah, i thought you looked familiar!" we talked for about 10 minutes that time. He told us all kinds of little tips and insider information. We just stood, smiled, and listened. Then when he was done he walked over to a vender and got our children a free Sprite each and we thanked him and were on our way.
He said he was there just for the Dream Team, and that after that he might not have a job anymore. He was really sad about it. This was nearing the very end of the "Year of a Million Dreams" promotion. I haven't seen him since, and I like to think I'd recognize him if I did. Sometimes they just need someone to talk to as much as we do.

 

[beautybelle]

bumping

 

[dovbniak]

Not a CM but a guest.

Politeness, understanding, and being genuinely happy gets CM's attention. You see it. When it can be crazy busy meeting a character, or standing in line for something, CMs usually see the polite and the patient. They make eye contact with you.

They will NOT let you down if they can help it.

We have had so many good things happen to us because CMs seek us out to do something memorable for us.

 

[seashoreCM]

deleted xx

 

[dmoore718]

This isn't a tip, but something special that happened to us in AK thanks to a special character.

My youngest daughter is in the autism spectrum and was 7 years old at the time. She is verbal and and loves characters, so before we left for Disney I had printed off a bunch of autograph pages with the characters names and cartoon pictures to help her remember who she was looking for.

So many of the characters made such a fuss over these pictures - they really seemed to enjoy the fact that we had these. This was especially true of less familiar characters such as the stepsisters, princes, and other friends of main characters. When we got to where King Louie was meeting children at AK, his handler told us that King Louie will pose for pictures, but he can not sign autographs. I think it is probably difficult for him to sign because he can't really move his fingers the way some other characters can.

My daughter was so excited to see him, she ran up to him and gave him a big hug and said, "Look King Louie I have your picture!" as she showed him the autograph picture page she had. I reminded her that King Louie wouldn't be able to sign the page, and then I stepped back to take her picture.

Louie signaled for me to stop and then tried to get the handler's attention. She did not know what he wanted, so when she came closer, he pantomimed signing the page. She said "It's ok Louie I already told them you don't sign." He kept signaling to her and then began pointing to our marker and then at his fingers. He did this several times and she said "Do you want to sign?" and he shook his head yes! She took the cap off and put the marker between his fingers like he way showing her, and sure enough he signed it for us!

I don't know if he realized my daughter has special needs, if it was because she had shown him his picture, or if he just wanted to sign because she seemed to love him so much, but he really made our day.

I LOVE this story!!! SOOO SWEET!! I'm so glad she enjoyed her time there!

 

[australiankaren]

hey

We were on the receiving end of some everest fast passes.....it was so very very hot, the DH & I had just had a fight in the car over directions [go figure], I hopped out and was walking to the AK entrance trying not to cry/ lose my cool when this young guy comes up with 2 fast passes, hands them to me with a smile & not a word and walks on.....by then my DH had caught up and I was so excited as I LOVE everest ,that our afternoon & sanity was saved by the kindness of a stranger.....

So to the guy who gave those to me, thanks and may you be repaid tenfold....

 

[roxiepenguin]

I've only made it to page 12 of this thread so far, so bear with me if this has already been posted!
(as a former CM, I had no idea about this and was let in on it by another CM)

While you're on Big Thunder, as you climb the hill that has the goat standing on the rock (chewing on dynamite?), stare at the goat as you go down and around the hill--don't look forward!!! Keeping your eyes on the goat (and yes, thus turning your head as far around as you can while riding and giggling!), makes you feel like you're going MUCH faster than you really are!

Tested and confirmed at two Disney parks so far; WDW will be added to the list in two weeks!

 

[alexi120]

Bump.

I'm embarrassed to say I read this entire thread today. Not only did it make me MORE excited (if that were possible) to go to WDW, it also restored some faith in mankind.

 

[HollyEpcot]

Oh I love this one....will use it for sure!

Will definitely use this tip! Thanks!

 

[HollyEpcot]

For those of you with young kids that you don't want to lose, and you don't want to write on then with permanent marker, check these out - I think I learned about them somewhere on these boards - www.safetytat.com - I just ordered some for ds5 for our upcoming trip, with our cellphone numbers on. Even if your kids know your numbers, they might forget them in the panic of being lost.

You can also get disposable wristbands online with your child's name & cellphone (they can also include allergy information) - try Oliverslabels.com or Mabel.ca

 

[OnlyDisney]

You can also get disposable wristbands online with your child's name & cellphone (they can also include allergy information) - try Oliverslabels.com or Mabel.ca

We ordered the wristbands from mabels labels. They're great. We used them at the state fair and plan on using them at Disney.