Am I getting old and cranky or.....

[buddie]

You get those CM's that treat you the way you expect from Disney, same thing. Stop by Guest Relations or send an e-mail praising said CM.

How does Disney reward the CMs that get nice letters?

[TheHD]

We have handed out wet wipes to people who have had a fight with a Mickey bar on a hot day.

That's hilarious! Great post!

[phillydan]

Low pay aside, there is just some people that can work with the public and some that can not. On my last trip, the number of excellent CM's definitely outweighed the not-so-excellent ones, but the infractions made a lasting impression.

While watching the Electric Parade, a family was split on both sides of the parade route and the Dad called the kids over to his side when there was a small gap in the parade. CM's from every direction sprung into action to pull the kids back and to keep the others from bolting. Following the incident a CM walked back to his post by me and stated directly to me "I HATE MY JOB!". I just thought: "Then why are you here?" Yes, any job can be stressful, but vent to a coworker, not to a guest. I will always remember that incident.

[dmosher]

. I think kindness works both ways.

Exactly. Try doing the same thing all day every day for people who don't pay any attention to what you are.. oh wait.. most of us do that at work everyday. Ever have someone strike up a conversation about "you" and not what you do? Or somethign as simple as a friendly and sincerey thank you makes a huge difference in someone's day.

D

[spinnerf]

Since I started the thread, thought I would comment now that my most recent Disney trip is complete. I did meet many wonderful cast members, and a few rotten. Im sure back in the 70s when I was a kid the rotten ones were there too and I was just so caught up in the magic of being at Disney that I didnt notice. Now that I want a perfect experience for my own children I notice the occsional crank pot. But in the end I could tell you many more positive stories than negative. As for low pay, if you take a job you are made aware of the salary prior to taking the job, you agreed to it, so perform as you said you would! Complaining is fine, its just not ok when you are in the hospitality industry at any capacity, to complain to guests, or to let your misery be felt by them. Thankyou to the wondeful CMs I met, and I did fill out a Good Job at guest services, and no I did not fill out any Bad Jobs!, if it exists.

[11290]

Following the incident a CM walked back to his post by me and stated directly to me "I HATE MY JOB!".

I think that you might be reading more into the comment than what was meant.

As someone who works parades, we "hate" having to see split up families not be able to get back together and we "hate" to endure the inevitable wrath from the guests (you should hear what comes out of the mouths of some of the people) when they can't cross the parade route during the parade, but, that is our job to keep all guests as safe as possible.

Safety of the guests and CM's is stressed at every parade meeting. It might surprise some of you to know, for the first night parade there may be as many as 95 or more CM's doing Parade Audience Control from Town Square to Splash. When was the last time that you could get 95 + people together and have everyone of them to be at their best.

I can tell you from my own personal experience of doing this for almost 3 years now, as a whole, guests are becoming much more demanding and in some cases just downright obnoxious to anyone and everyone around them. Couple that with a different work ethic (culture) among the younger and middle age set and life is just a bit of a different dynamic than what some of us older folks are used to.

I will say, 3 times a year we have a "new" group of College and International Program CM's come onboard and each group is "different", with some being great, some good and a small percentage just not with the program, although most of those do get purged along the way. These people are there for 3 or 4 months or so and the average guest is only there for 2 or 3 days, so it is easy for a few "bad" incidents to magnify a persons perception of what things are like.

Sorry for the long (rant) post. I love my "job" at WDW, the people I work with, including working with the CP's & IP's and feel that 95% of them are really top notch CM's which is more that I can say about the co-workers that I had for the 40+ years I toiled at a "real" job.

Just to add, I've met SO MANY great and friendly guests working both turnstiles and parades at WDW. Believe me when I say, they FAR outnumber those folks who just can't seem to find it in themselves to leave their hostility at home.

[buddie]

OP, you do sound cranky and you admitted to being old.
There is your answer.

[dmosher]

Believe me when I say, they FAR outnumber those folks who just can't seem to find it in themselves to leave their hostility at home.

... and CM's like you make going to WDW and DL a wonderful experience. Thank you for providing the amazing and cheerful service that you do!

D

[Disney Hungarian]

I have given this some thought. On my recent trip 2 weeks ago; the only CM's I encountered that didn't seem to like their jobs were at Guest Relations. In the resort and parks all seemed very happy and helpful, for the most part. What I did notice was the number of obnoxious guests in ratio to previous visits had seemed to go up. One of the reasons I do like staying at the value resorts is that a friendly chat usually starts with "so, where are you from?" As opposed to the deluxe resorts were it is typically started with, "so, what do you do?" I tend to pay attention to those mannerisms. I see it in the parks too. Some people (thankfully not the majority) have a sense of entitlement syndrome. I have wondered how CM's are able to deal with those people on a daily basis and still smile and deliver the "magic." My hat goes off to them. I do try to commend the great CM's by reporting them to Guest Relations. I would never report the odd CM having a bad day. I feel I would snap within a week. Hats off to them all.

[Main Street Jim]

How does Disney reward the CMs that get nice letters?

They usually get recognized by their leaders, the letter sometimes get read at the morning meetings, and they get a Cast-exclusive "Great Guest Service" pin (or at least, they used to; not sure if they still do)

I would never report the odd CM having a bad day.

If you don't, then the problems will get worse, or never corrected

I gotta agree with 11290. You can't get *every* CM to all smile during "work hours" at the same time. But, your *one* smile or *better* demeanor (as a CM) will make someone's trip just *that* much more magical

[buddie]

They usually get recognized by their leaders, the letter sometimes get read at the morning meetings, and they get a Cast-exclusive "Great Guest Service" pin (or at least, they used to;

Can't speak to what goes on property wide, but I think the stuff you mentioned might be a thing of the past. Other than the service awards that everyone is eligible for, I've only seen CMs get an atta boy or girl for a job well done. I think a heart felt "thank you" directly from a guest works best.

[Wolf]

Argh I want to vent about this weekend, we got on the bus after this crazy downpour on Saturday *it rained from Friday night till Sunday around noon* we were leaving AK to go back to Poly, so onto the bus we got, and this ...un-awesome woman got on there and was just like soon as she stepped onto the bus asked the driver to turn the heat on the bus, he kindly told her he couldn't because the windows would fog up. She then procedes to try to drag me and Mom into her nonsense (We were the only other people on the bus and sitting at the front to be out of the way if other people got on) so we ignore her and then she goes to the back area of the bus and rants, loudly, to her family about how "stupid" it is the driver won't turn the heat on, that shes cold...Well Duh..we have all been rained on, of course its cold. But it was much warmer on the bus than it was outside where I wish the driver would have left this troll...We always thank the drivers, monorail staffers, janitors, anyone who is awesome really we are just thankful to be there so we tend to thank everyone who makes our trip even a fraction better. So this ungrateful woman just ruffled my feathers, thankfully she got off at the first stop (Contemporary) and we didn't have to deal with her the whole way home but she never stopped ranting the whole way home...Not cool!!! The driver was a saint for not losing it, I couldn't have held it together like he did..After she got off I thanked him for picking us up and keeping the heat off so we wouldn't all die in a firey bus crash...I just don't get people being so awful but this bus driver was totally awesome, I wish I knew his name to send in a compliment to disney.