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

[dbprimeaux]

learning....

 

[cab0ad]

Love the tips you're giving! I especially like the tips about getting dinner and eating it on the curb for parade waiting. That would make it much easier to wait! And the the tips about using the machines in the restraunts--I didn't even know those existed. Fudge samples....mmmmmmmmmmm

 

[CurtWill]

A few we learned on our last trip...
- Take a lunch with you and eat it when waiting in lines
- Take plastic bag to put your purse/backpack/camera bag/etc. in for Kali River Rapids (you will be glad you did). There is sometimes not room in the storage area in the raft and it is not waterproof.
- The bar area in the DTD House of Blues is a great place to get a seat without waiting and a great meal
- You can order food and drinks at the tables in the entrance to the Raglan Road restaurant area (just off the inside bar)
- Buy your DTD World of Disney store purchases in the Mens section, less waiting
- Sit in the back of BTMR for the best ride
- The tip about looking straight out while going down Splash Mountain is great but also try looking backwards! We did this and it is certainly a different perspective.
- Why do so few people use the back walkway between Toontown and Tomorrowland? It's also a great place to get a pic of the train.
- By unanimous family vote, the coaster to the left on Space Mountain is better.

That's all for now!
Ciao!
Curt

 

[I Believe In Magic]

Finally, be polite. Even when people are being rude just smile. You can only control your reaction, not what others do. When people push by our little guy I just smile and say excuse us, you must be in a huge hurry? They are flying by anyways so I only hear it. Try to do something nice for someone else. We find we have CS left at the end of the trip and buy a CS for the person behind us.

What a nice thing to do for a complete stranger, and you probably them feel so good. I would be shocked beyond if someone did this for my kids and I and I know it would make a wonderful impression on them, and me of course. I will do this from now on, it is a great example to set for our children. GREAT tip!!

 

[maddiesmom0116]

Not a CM but go to WDW way too often. I agree that you have to take the time to look before you leap. Watch where the people are going and go to the opposite. Look at the security line, the turnstile line, the CS line and find the opening. There is an entrance to every park for CM's and also for the guests to enter. All the way left at Epcot. It usually doesn't have a line at all.

Finally, be polite. Even when people are being rude just smile. You can only control your reaction, not what others do. When people push by our little guy I just smile and say excuse us, you must be in a huge hurry? They are flying by anyways so I only hear it. Try to do something nice for someone else. We find we have CS left at the end of the trip and buy a CS for the person behind us.

Epcot does a soft opening of F&W the day before it is published to open. Go then!

It is never perfect but close, it is great to be in Disney

We had a nice family buy our meal for us w/ left over TS credits once, so we decided to do the same when on that trip we then had 3 left over meals. We do this with any left overs we have. We are on the deluxe dining and always have 1 or 2 left overs. It really suprises people- it is spreading a little pixie dust yourself!

 

[Kelblum]

Ohh! That is so nice that you guys do that!! It makes me want to spread a little pixie dust myself!!

It's people like you both that make the world a little nicer!!!

 

[MelanieC]

I love doing stuff that spreads pixie dust. A lot of time I try to tell people something interesting they may not have known like the chocolate chip cookies on the cealing of SM or where the hidden Mickey's are. Funny though, I was by myself on Sunday 3/22 at MK and people were looking at me like I was strange. I guess when I tell people this stuff when I'm with my family, I look a lot less strange than when I'm telling them stuff while I'm by myself.

 

[Kurby]

fantastic tips - we're going in less then 3 weeks and now i have to start copying these into my blackberry for quick notes

 

[Kurby]

the tip about not asking for an upgrade doesn't always work and i guess you'll never know but for my personal experience my friend and i went to LA back in 98 and i bought my plane ticket with airmiles or air canada points or something - anyways the only seat coming back on points was in first class (ya i know - how horrible lol) well that meant that my friend and i were separated - no biggie since it was the red eye home (leaving at something like 11pm arriving around 6.30am at home)

when we got the the front of the check in line it was dinner time, super busy, and the woman had been having a lot of hummmmm demanding/rude passengers all day.

with a smile i asked how her day was going and made some comment about it soon being over and she could go out for a drink and relax. we chatted back and forth while she did her job and when i left i whispered not to forget to breath and smile and the "wonderful" passengers to which she smiled.

so my friend and i went to have dinner and forget about this lady until it came time to board. when we got up who was there taking the boarding passes. yup - the check in lady.

i laughed and said - something like - guess you won't get that drink after all.

she asked us if we would mind waiting for a minute while she took our boarding passes.

when she got back my friend had been upgraded to a first class seat beside me and she wished us a very happy flight.

blew me away actually since it was the furthest thing from my mind.

oh and as a side note - if you ever get the privilege of sitting in first class on a 6 or more hour journey make it during the day. i don't know if anything has changed but those seats were horrible to sleep in. they didn't fold down and you couldn't lift the arm rest to get comfy - and i just can't sleep sitting up. oh well

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Not a CM, but have been to WDW a lot. Please use both sides of the register at CS places. The cashier will turn to the left, then the right to take orders. Why stand in a longer line if you don't have to?

Also, when they say use all available space, they mean it. Like outside of HM pass the turnstiles. Not sure why people always assume that all attracations have to be single file lines...

SHHH... don't let anyone else on this secret. I feel like I save a lot of time doing this... it's only a couple of minutes but still, I love taking advantage of a situation while not breaking any rules just because someone wasn't paying attention.

I like the second tip too! People don't know, I'm not breaking any rules, but I am going to move all the way forward!

 

[hapandpam]

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.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Not a current CM, but crossing my fingers for the College Program starting this summer! Anyway, having been to WDW about a million times solo, my tip is to keep your ears open in the ride queues, specifically rides that need to fill x number of seats like Soarin, Space Mountain, and Tower of Terror. Often if there is an extra seat available the CM will call back "Party of one?" and sometimes "Party of two?" so that they can fill those extra seats. I've been skipped to the front many times because of this, but it can be hard to hear the CM sometimes and you may miss the announcement if you're not listening for it. But when I hear that call for "Party of one?" I always throw my hand up in the air and wave it around to alert the CM. The CM will take the first party (starting from the front of the line and working back) that fits the number of available seats.

Yep, we usually get pulled up as a party of 2 all the time...

 

[maddiesmom0116]

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.

That one is awesome too! I will have to do that my next trip also!

 

[twinmoms]

Great tips - Keep them coming!

 

[dbprimeaux]

I agree with the Fastpass...."giveaways".....On our last trip - We always had extra fastpasses (kids too short, etc...) and I always looked for a a group/family with the same amount of people as the fastpasses I had left, and I would ask if they wanted them.....I would get just as excited seeing their expressions as riding the ride!


I just hope someone(s) return the favor this trip...

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

We had a nice family buy our meal for us w/ left over TS credits once, so we decided to do the same when on that trip we then had 3 left over meals. We do this with any left overs we have. We are on the deluxe dining and always have 1 or 2 left overs. It really suprises people- it is spreading a little pixie dust yourself!

I love this idea!! What a great way to pay it forward!!! I think we'll consider this with any left over credits this year.

 

[brendaziz]

Totally agree on the spreadin the Disney love! It obviously always feels nice to do nice things
I've had FPs given to me by strangers and given them away as well.

On our last trip we booked the Fantasmic Dining Package and went to eat- went on a few rides (we had an early ADR)- but by then my kids were POOPED and were NOT gonna make it Fantasmic.
So while my hubby went w/ the kids to do stroller return I walked up by where people were beginning to line up for F! and foudn a party the same size as ours and gave em our seating tickets.
ACTUALLY i asked 2 other families first and they looked at me like a door to door salesman thought i was CRAZY.
The last family was super nice and still looked like they thought i was crazy and trying to sell em a timeshare or something
They had never heard of the package and they were like - "Wait, we have a sep. entrance and can go on rides for another hour or so b4 we have to line up?????"
I assured them I wasn't totally insane- just had cranky children that needed to go to bed and didn't want the thing to go to waste.

 

[lorli]

these are great tips and always good to hear about pixie dust being spread.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I'm not a CM, but...

Listen to what the CM is trying to tell you. They can't always be obvious about things.

We were at WL a few years ago, and I mentioned to the CM at check-in how I had been dreaming of the great Courtyard view. We had reserved a king room. At some point the CM said, "Are you SURE you want that king room? I have a lovely Courtyard Room available with 2 Queen beds."

Well, I didn't want to be any trouble, and really didn't catch what she was trying to do. OMG! WL really has some rooms with poor views.

The CM couldn't come out and say...the view in your assigned room is awful. Request something else.

Oh yeah, king rooms tend to be on the first floor because they double as Handicap Accessible. If you like porches that's good. If you like good views, its not.

 

[Disneyholic]

Not a CM or former, just read a lot. The Great Movie Ride at DS, there are 2 lines. One is against the back wall, the other starts 1 lane in from the back wall. The storyline is a little different depending on which line you get in. Try it 2 times in a row or 2 times during your trip and get a different set up. I don't know if both themes are available all the time, but I have been on both and it is interesting seeing it both ways.