Here Now. Is it just me or are cast members not as friendly?

[Disney Khaleesi]

Um, that would be a whole different issue.

Whoops, poor phrasing in that sentence.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Seems that was not rude, more they were following the directions given to them. Strollers are often not allowed in restaurants as they have gotten so big the last few years. Maybe cut them a little slack.

AKK

 

[Travis B]

Is there really going to be a new thread started every time a CM looks at somebody the wrong way? It really serves no purpose, and brings down the boards IMO. It's not constructive, not entertaining... what's the point?

 

[ryanogs]

If you think they aren't friendly in WDW, try going to Disneyland Paris, some of them are just plain rude! I have never had an unfriendly cast member on my trips to WDW but it seems to be commonplace in Disneyland Paris. I should point out that there are plenty of friendly cast members at DLP! The trouble with getting an unfriendly cast member at WDW is that it really stands out because the majority will bend over backwards to ensure you have a great vacation!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes, sometimes strollers aren't allowed in certain areas for various reasons. And, with sharing capabilities on cameras, phones and Memory Maker, I don't think it's unreasonable for them to ask you to use one camera. There are other people waiting to meet characters as well.

Edited to add: not getting exactly what you want doesn't equate to others being rude. Obviously, no one was there to hear the tone used. I just think it's curious that people come on here to complain about one or two CM's who may have been "rude" and don't think about the numerous CM's they encounter throughout the course of their day who actually cheerfully helped them with their vacation. How did things go with the CM's at the tapstiles, rides, bus, resorts? Sounds like if only two out of the many who actually help you through your day were "rude", you're making out pretty well.

 

[DisneyOma]

Here now and have experienced a rude CM each day, 2 days in a row. Yesterday at Pinocchio's Eatery the CM was telling us we couldn't bring the stroller in while we ate in event they needed room for wheelchairs. We were a party of 10 with an 8 month old who cannot sit in those high chairs. Excuse me, we are there now to eat. There's plenty of room, there are strollers on the patio already. Why can we not bring in the stroller? CM was rude when stating it. We were going to eat on the patio. CM finally realized we couldn't eat there unless she let the stroller in. Not like we had a toddler. Today we were in EPCOT at the Character Spot. Now we're actually from 5 different parts of NY & FL between us all. We had 3 cameras. CM said "next time, condense down to one".....seriously! !!! If he had us separate, he would have had more cameras. ..just needed to vent

Sounds like when someone tells you you can't do something, that's rude?

 

[fadedglitter]

It's Disney World and they're the ones advertising the magic - why shouldn't we expect WDW employees to be better than our local Six Flags ones?

Exactly. I find it troubling when my husband and I are commenting on how much nicer and more pleasant our experience was at Six Flags Over Texas at the beginning of November. There have been a few great and outstanding cast members and that has helped, but the negative/indifferent/pushy ones seem to greatly outnumber the the nice ones EXCEPT at AK. AK has been outstanding and far exceeded our expectations in every way -- both the cast members and the park itself. If we could spend our entire 7 days at AK, then we would be raving. As it is, we've been there 3 times (we are frequent park hoppers) and each has been fantastic. Unfortunately, our experiences elsewhere have been mostly disheartening and spirit-breaking.

 

[Julylady]

I think a lot of these issues are due to the fact that Disney is using college program students who get minimal training. Put yourself in the shoes of these young people. They are told to enforce certain rules (no strollers, one camera per group). They are immature and don't have the social skills needed to skillfully handle the situation. They are treated rudely by guests every day and put on a defensive shield. They have not developed any empathy for the situations of others due to their limited life experience.

I am not defending their behavior, just the opposite. I too have had these encounters and have not been proud of my reactions to cast members when they tell me I can't do something I want to do, especially when the rule doesn't make sense to me. I try to stop and disarm them. Smile and explain your situation calmly. Ask them for their advice on how you can achieve your goal. I find this usually stops them in their tracks.

 

[elmoandzoey]

On all our trips (which are too many to count), we've had maybe one "bad" experience with a CM.

I just want to share this little story - it's not WDW related, but it kinda fits the whole theme here. I was in my late teens and had just moved to the east coast to attend college. One night, my roommate's mother took us to Walmart to shop for some essentials. After we had gotten through check out, my roommate's mother started ranting how rude the lady at the register was and how she was going to get the manager and complain. For me, there was nothing rude whatsoever about how the cashier had handled our transaction - it was what I was I used to from home, the smiling, chatty, "please shop again at Walmart" type - but my roommate's mother insisted that the cashier was just plain rude. And why? Because she didn't say hello when it was our turn and just greeted us with a silent smile.

So I guess as many have said before - what one person thinks is rude may not be rude to another person. I would never call a person rude just because they missed to say "hello" to me but was otherwise all smiles and friendly. But then there's others who may.

I think there are two kinds of cm's. The "older" ones who have been there a while who were trained well in customer service. They go above and beyond and their main goal is for the customer to have a magical trip. They are really "into" the job and are always smiling, chatting with guests, waving to kids etc. We all have encountered these amazing cm's. Truly worth their weight in gold IMO.

Then we have what seem to be the younger cm's, not all younger ones just some. They are more like what you would find at your local mall. Kind of indifferent, kind of not willing to help unless they have to. Checking cells phones, talking to coworkers etc. Not sure if their training is different or what. I don't think they are horrible, just not quite as polished. Not what many are used to at Disney.

I don't think younger CMs have different training. I just think they lack life experience.

 

[GPC0321]

You have to understand that a rule like the "no strollers" has to remain firm, else people who push their 10 year olds around in strollers will be wheeling them into restaurants taking up huge amounts of space without any thought to the folks in wheelchairs who actually NEED the space to eat a meal. They can't say, "No strollers except for people whose children are too little to sit in high chairs." Because when folks with bigger kids in strollers come up and see a stroller in the restaurant they aren't going to understand why THAT stroller is allowed but THEIRS is not. A stroller is a stroller, regardless of the size child sitting in it. And as someone pointed out, some of these dang strollers are so gigantic these days that they do cause a lot of congestion and take up a lot of space.

So, I don't think that's rude at all. That's just a CM trying to do her job.

The camera thing isn't rude either. There are other people waiting, so three different cameras being used to get different shots is just being inconsiderate of the folks who are waiting behind you. There are ways to share pictures after the fact, no need to drag out three different cameras.

I imagine somewhere there is a message board full of CMs discussing the hundreds and hundreds of rude, entitled, spoiled, pushy, obnoxious, inconsiderate guests they have to put up with day in and day out. You know those people catch a ton of grief from dozens of guests all day long who think the entire world is supposed to revolve around them.

 

[Gracie09]

Sounds like when someone tells you you can't do something, that's rude?

Yup. You had 10 people and an infant. You couldn't take turns holding her? Yes there were some strollers there but they may have reached the point that if they had to evacuate or had a wheelchair party they would have a problem. As for multiple camera yeah if there is a long line I would consider it rude to hold it up by saying now this camera not uncle Fred's now aunt Betty's etc etc. you could easily share the pictures electronically.
Not getting your way does not mean someone was rude. It means you did not get your way. It actually sounds like you were the rude one in these cases

 

[lovethattink]

Merged both the rude cm here now threads.

 

[Burnedout]

This reminds me of one post (I don't know who posted it) that made me LOL. He (or she) said that some will defend Disney no matter what. They said that if Disney implemented a new policy of whacking every 5th guest in the knee with a lead pipe as they entered MK, some posters would blame YOU for being the 5th guest. Made me chuckle.

So accurate! I adore Disney and have been going for 40 years! I will continue to go until I can't any more. I compliment and smile and fill out cards on great cm's.

I know human nature. Been a counselor of abused people and and addicts for 30 years. If I can smile and greet and give my all to the people that walk into our facility I can expect the same of people who in general get to bring happy and deal with happy.

I sure as heck should be able to expect respectful treatment of a sweet old lady. My mom doesn't have a negative bone in her body and she sure as heck wasn't being a pest.

 

[Julylady]

Is there really going to be a new thread started every time a CM looks at somebody the wrong way? It really serves no purpose, and brings down the boards IMO. It's not constructive, not entertaining... what's the point?

I actually think these threads are helpful. I read them to get insight into what cast members do that riles people up. Now I know that we can't take a stroller into some eating establishments. And, that if we want to take pictures using several cameras, we need to split our party into separate groups. I once posted a thread about a "rude" encounter I had at the MK turnstyle entering the park. The responses to the post mostly said that the CM was just trying to explain something to me and I took it as being rude. At the time I didn't buy it, but now I do realize that I could have just thanked him for the information and went on my way. I escalated the encounter because I was in no mood to be told to do something other than what I wanted to do. My big issue last trip was that the CM wanted to seat 4 large adults into one row on Pirates. Due to reading these message boards, I was aware that that might happen. When directed to Row 1, I said calmly, "We are going to split up into 2 rows since we are bigger people." The CM just looked at me and we proceeded. (To be honest, I am an educator and have what my family calls "a teacher voice" that most CMs still recognize and respond to.)

Anyway, if you don't like these threads, just don't open them up?

 

[KateP85]

I imagine somewhere there is a message board full of CMs discussing the hundreds and hundreds of rude, entitled, spoiled, pushy, obnoxious, inconsiderate guests they have to put up with day in and day out. You know those people catch a ton of grief from dozens of guests all day long who think the entire world is supposed to revolve around them.

Trust me, these message boards exist, and what CMs put up with on a daily basis is absurd!

Here now and have experienced a rude CM each day, 2 days in a row. Yesterday at Pinocchio's Eatery the CM was telling us we couldn't bring the stroller in while we ate in event they needed room for wheelchairs. We were a party of 10 with an 8 month old who cannot sit in those high chairs. Excuse me, we are there now to eat. There's plenty of room, there are strollers on the patio already. Why can we not bring in the stroller? CM was rude when stating it. We were going to eat on the patio. CM finally realized we couldn't eat there unless she let the stroller in. Not like we had a toddler. Today we were in EPCOT at the Character Spot. Now we're actually from 5 different parts of NY & FL between us all. We had 3 cameras. CM said "next time, condense down to one".....seriously! !!! If he had us separate, he would have had more cameras. ..just needed to vent

Nope, I don't really think they were the rude ones. You were told not to bring a stroller into the restaurant (something I've been told before) and it sounds like you argued until you got your own way. Why couldn't your 8-month old sit in a high chair? Why couldn't you take turns holding him/her?

I hate the camera thing too. When I'm in line behind people with multiple cameras, I'm usually rolling my eyes. How long does it take to send a picture to someone else via text or email? Why do 3 different people need the exact same photo if one could take it and share it? It holds up a line that is probably already long.

It's Disney World and they're the ones advertising the magic - why shouldn't we expect WDW employees to be better than our local Six Flags ones?

The problem is, the ones advertising the magic are not the ones expected to provide it. Front line cast have no control over what is advertised and I can imagine how frustrating it is to watch a Disney commercial and wonder how on earth you're supposed to make that kind of magic for the guests!

 

[Lyricallie]

I believe the DCP is a major reason why disney customer service has gone down. There are still some pretty awesome CMs.

Not necessarily I was on the International College Programme back in 2012 and I have never met more hard working people than the people I worked with. On the flip side I would get frustrated when I had bussed a whole section and the FT members were swanning about. Obviously on the flip side there is some fantastic FT staff. So I respect your opinion but it isn't the experience I had.

 

[AFwifelife]

The problem is, the ones advertising the magic are not the ones expected to provide it. Front line cast have no control over what is advertised and I can imagine how frustrating it is to watch a Disney commercial and wonder how on earth you're supposed to make that kind of magic for the guests!

I agree. I do think some come to Disney expecting this amazing magical experience to justify the cost of going and get upset when things don't happen the way they read about on here.

Not everyone is going to be sprinkled with pixie dust for an upgrade to CL. Concierge isn't going to get an ADR for a filled restaurant just because it's someone's birthday/Disneymoon/anniversary. Complaining to GS does not always result in a 3 day fully paid trip to return or even a FP.

Personally, I don't think every CM saying hi to me is a requirement. Some acknowledgement at the tapstiles would be nice but I don't need to be greeted by every single CM I pass to feel like they are friendly.

 

[monkyby87]

So I guess as many have said before - what one person thinks is rude may not be rude to another person. I would never call a person rude just because they missed to say "hello" to me but was otherwise all smiles and friendly. But then there's others who may.

I 100% agree with this. There have been times where I experienced something another guest did, but it wasn't until I read about it on these boards that I realized other people considered it "rude" or something like that. I didn't think anything of it at the time. I guess I just don't let things bother me.

 

[Magpie]

Why couldn't your 8-month old sit in a high chair? Why couldn't you take turns holding him/her?

!

Most babies can sit well without support by 8 months old, but perhaps this particular 8 month old is not yet developmentally capable of sitting upright. I'm sure that's something the parents will be investigating with a doctor, if the child hasn't mastered this skill in another few weeks.

(I'm assuming no one wanted to hold the child, for whatever reason. Maybe they were all tired and hungry.)

 

[Gracie09]

Most babies can sit well without support by 8 months old, but perhaps this particular 8 month old is not yet developmentally capable of sitting upright. I'm sure that's something the parents will be investigating with a doctor, if the child hasn't mastered this skill in another few weeks.

(I'm assuming no one wanted to hold the child, for whatever reason. Maybe they were all tired and hungry.)

My dd1 did not sit until she was almost a year. Even with pt twice a week starting at 4 months. You know what I did, held her. I'm tired, I'm hungry etc etc, excuses. You're a parent, you take care of your child. By the time she was 8 months, I mastered the one-handed meal (with help cutting from my husband). Its part of the package. You get the cooing and cute stuff and the crap. You don't throw a hissy fit and be rude to a cm just doing their job. There were 10 people. If each held the child 5 minutes, everyone could eat with both hands. Its not difficult.