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

[MyMuse]

I didn't know that there were cards to fill out for exceptional service from CMs. I wrote up a letter and sent it via email. Will it get to the right people and more importantly, into the CM's HR records?

Should I sent the letter somewhere else?

 

[rustyp]

Wow! that's a great tip! I never would've thought to do that. We take a snapshot of our parking space sign so we don't forget where we parked and a snapshot of the kids so if we get separated they have a pic of them from that day in their clothes that they are wearing.

That is a great tip. I would have never thought about doing that. My DS is 16 and if he got lost my DW and I would probably be tempted to leave him.

 

[skier_pete]

Another tip that has helped tons of people! If you are using the photopass system, be sure to take a picture of the back of your card with your digital camera. If the photopass gets lost, you can still look at the pictures that were on it by using that number.

This is an excellent tip! We do this the old fashion way, though. We write it on a piece of paper and then leave it in our room /bag.

And Mistyt, glad you liked my post. I never understood when you see people ranting, raving, cursing and otherwise being awful human beings why they think that that will successfully get them what they want. Unless they think people will bend to their wills to make them go away. I personally would take great satisfaction in *not* giving that person what they want.

But in my experience, CMs really go all out to provide you the best service. You sometimes see posts of people complaining how the service has dropped, but I can't say we have had that experience. In the last 5 trips I can easily count on one hand the number of CMs I have met that I would deem "sub-par". And two of those would be monorail drivers we rode with...when you ride in the front of the monorail...I wondered if they took those jobs because they didn't like interacting with patrons, only to now find they are stuck in a little room with them all day.

Since it is a tip thread - here's another tip from me. If you (or your kids) are desparate to ride in the front cabin of the monorail...get on the monorail AT EPCOT at or near park opening. Generally people aren't starting from the Epcot parking lot to go to MK. We did this last trip, and there was NO wait for the front, and in fact was only about 6 people on the entire monorail. When we got to the TTC, they kicked us out of the front cabin, but we just hopped back on and rode back to Epcot. You also get some GREAT views of Epcot riding back there when the Monorail goes through the park.

SkierPete

 

[haleofafamily]

Another tip about kids getting lost - some of mine are too young to memorize our cell number so I wrote it on their arm. Sure it looked like my 2 yr old had a tattoo, but I felt better. The info was visible and didn't have to be searched for like putting it somewhere on their clothing would have been.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Amen to that. Not making the kids ride something is sometimes a struggle for me. There are many things I really believe they will like if they will just try it, but I force myself (with great and painful difficulty) to hold back from "making" them do it. As far as we go is to suggest that each kid choose one thing that is outside of their "comfort zone" to try during the trip, just one thing that makes them nervous. Sometimes they end up loving it, and sometimes they don't. I think it helps that they get to choose it, rather than having us force something upon them.

I have heard horror stories of kids being dragged through entire lines screaming and crying. Is it really worth that for anybody (not least of which for the strangers around them in line)? I know someone whose child actually tried to climb out of a ride when it was already moving, after having screamed through the whole line.

Like you said, remember who the vacation is for.

THANK YOU for mentioning that!!

DS wanted to ride Barnstormer and I wasn't sure how he'd react. I kept telling him he could back out at any time, but he rode it and loved it!

Just before that though, we happend to catch Pinocchio at the Exposition Hall where a Grandma INSISTED that her grandson meet Pinocchio... we stood in line for 20 minutes listening to him cry and grandma yelling at him for crying "you are going to meet him and you will like it! It's just Pinocchio..." My poor son kept asking what was wrong with the little boy... He couldn't figure out why the kid was so upset.

 

[DisDreaminMom]

Ditto the arm writing technique. Better yet, bring a Sharpie with your touring bag anyway. It's better to make a great tag for your rental stroller and to ID souvenirs if the kids get identical ones. If you write your last name and cell phone # on the lower inside of the kid's arms, it won't rub off as fast. I am hesitant to write a first name, because someone could read it and pretend they know the child.

Also, show your children what a Cast Member looks like. Go up to a female CM and ask them if your children can see their name tag. Tell your kids that if they get lost, they should go find a female CM with a name tag and ask for help. (Not to knock male CM's, but child security advocates recommend asking for help from a woman). I do the same thing with police officers for my kids. I've always had a great experience with CM's and police officers when I do this, as they always have something reassuring to say to the kids and it makes life easier should someone get lost. The security guards at WDW are fabulous as well. My kids will just go up to them and talk to them, now. The goal is get them to be comfortable asking for help if they ever get separated from you.

 

[mthompson22]

I bought my DS (almost 3 the first trip) a cheap Buzz watch to wear while we were at WDW. I wrote our cell phone number on the band with a Sharpie. DS knew that if he ever got separated from us, he was to show his "really cool" Buzz watch to a CM and they would help him find us. He still digs out his Buzz watch before every trip

 

[kimgof]

That is a great tip. I would have never thought about doing that. My DS is 16 and if he got lost my DW and I would probably be tempted to leave him.

My oldest DS is 14 and I can totally relate!

 

[em-o-so'smom]

 

[MaryAz]

Such a great thread. We are 27 days away from our first trip and soooo excited! Thanks so much for all the tips and stories!

 

[ckotcamp]

AMEN! Seriously, I'm so tired of people looking at me (or even complaining about me) skipping! All I'm doing is standing NEXT to you filling in the extra space.... we are all going the same place and I promise when we get into the stretching room, I'm not going to be next to you - I'll be standing by my red light hahaha

BWAHAHAHA, This is exactly what I was going to say! One time I was going through the turnstiles somewhere (I believe it was HM) and the one on the left was going really slow and the one on the right was cruising so I took my girlfriend by the hand and went to the right and got through the turnstiles at least 5 people ahead of the person who was immediately in front of me. Then once we were through there was room ALL the way up the right side almost to the door and the castmember was saying "Please fill all available space" so I walked allll the way up, as did the line of people who followed me and some lady started throwing a hissy fit yelling at all of us and the cast member saying we were cutting. It's not my fault that I followed the directions and she didn't.

Oh and PS...that red light trick...haha

Also, the line to the left for POTC is actually a lot shorter (distance wise) than the right. I paced them both out. The line on the left enters the boats from the left whereas the line to the right has to go up and over the water and down the other side to get on the boats. So that "always pick the left line" definitely works in this case.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Also, the line to the left for POTC is actually a lot shorter (distance wise) than the right. I paced them both out. The line on the left enters the boats from the left whereas the line to the right has to go up and over the water and down the other side to get on the boats. So that "always pick the left line" definitely works in this case.

We figured this out too! We always go left and walk right on with no wait. You can look across the loading area to the line of people who went to the right extending all the way up that ramp and out of sight.

 

[Shelton123]

I've felt that whenever I or my family does something for another person, we always get something back... I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but once it was kind of at night and we got FP's for Splash Mountain, and the CM at the front said it was walk on, so we got on, and so did a TON of people behind us (we barely beat about 100 people) and more people started piling in, probably because it was right before MNSSHP and they wanted to get one more ride in, plus CM said it was walk on. Anyways, we were heading over to do Space Mountain and we saw a guy who was going toward Splash so we gave him our Splash Mountain FP's. After we did that he said "oh I should give something back so here are our Space Mountain passes" and we were surprised and happy! Also, at DLR, my sister saw a little girl crying outside the store because she wanted a specific pair of Minnie ears, and I guess my sister got the last pair, so she handed it to them. Then, at the next meal we got, it was late at night in Storybook Cafe (I think that's the place) and the waitress gave us a discount, cause it was so late and we didn't get a chance to eat at the park. If you do good things, good things will happen to you! Unless you count on good things, then it won't happen :

The more thrilling seats are almost always in the back. This might be different for EE. Also, I read this on another thread, if you sit in the back on EE, during the backwards part tuck your head in. I read it feels cool, but don't do it if you throw up easily.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

With all my trips to WDW since childhood through now, I've gotten a lot of great tips from here! Please keep them coming.

Here are some tips that we've learned from our trips:
(1) Have the Photopass CMs to take as many pics as possible, even replicating some of the same shots using different CMs and/or different times of day. You'd be surprised how many great pics you end up with!

(2) If you need a break from the heat, try taking the monorail and touring resorts. They're air conditioned, the shops are less crowded and they have great places to relax. There are also a lot of great restaurants at the monorail resorts.

(3) Take time to enjoy your resort. If you pay to stay on property, get more for your money than a place to eat and sleep. Besides the pool(s), there are often other things to enjoy there.

(4) If you enjoy staying on property, be sure to visit different resorts, even those you may not think you'd go to stay. You may be pleasantly surprised by the ones you like. If you like a place, take time to talk with different CMs and if you have time, grab a bit to eat there. It helps add to what the experience might be like.

 

[sallysue66]

That is a great tip. I would have never thought about doing that. My DS is 16 and if he got lost my DW and I would probably be tempted to leave him.

I'm with ya. DS22 (living at home while he's building his house) asked what was for dinner and I told him I was not cooking, I planned to stop feeding him hoping he would stop hanging around so much!!!

 

[dredick]

Tip from an ex- CM...

Be humble. There are people at Disney from all walks of life. Some are millionaires, and some have been saving for years, and years, and years just to be able to come for a few days. Two stories I will never forget are... The Big Brothers, and Big Sisters from Toronto Canada, flew down with over a hundred disadvantaged children. They took an early morning flight, went to MK for the day, and then flew back at 11 PM at night. Those children were so sweet, and were so thankful to be there. The sponsers had been doing fundraisers for over a year for the trip. To me, it was just magical to see these kids faces that would otherwise never be able to go to Disney as a child. They were so thankful for just one day at Disney. Another late night I was chatting with this wonder guest. She told me that it was her dream to take her 8 children to Disney. She was from Alabama, they drove through the night to make it to MK for rope drop, stayed the whole day, and drove straight back to Alabama. She started crying, and told me she wished she could do more, but the one day trip cost her family over 1000 dollars, and that is all she could do. Just then her little boy walked up to her, gave her a hug, and said, "mommy, this has been the best day of my life, thank-you". It was so sweet!
quote]
Thank you so much for sharing those stories. It truly brought tears to my eyes! We have been blessed with many WDW trips, thank you for that reminder...God Bless!

 

[dredick]

There's no South Carolina?????

I have to say, being from SC..it was the 1st thing I thought before I realized what the post ment!!!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

I once picked on a Disney security guy named Chip. I asked him where Dale was. He finished looking at my bag and said, "you need to come with me." I was shocked. But he walked me over to Dale. Pretty fun stuff.

 

[tsd1202]

Ok I read the whole thread and can't figure out what the red light trick is??? Did I miss something?

 

[mickaholic4077]

I think it means that is where the door to the place where you get on the doom buggys is,but I could be wrong.