Cast members in the Disney bubble

[corrie563]

I recently got back from 8 days of Disneyland (staying at the Grand Californian Hotel).

Last year I took my non Disney husband to Disneyland for 3 days, I was worried that he would hate it, but he didn't, in fact, he loved it. So instead of taking the kids for 4 days this year, we took them for 8! And we loved that so much we have booked another kid free trip in April 19, and Tokyo Disneyland/sea in September 19, I am saying all of this to show you how much we loved it.

I want to talk about cast members, because they seem to get a bad rep on here lately, and I just wanted to give another perspective. We were at the Grand Californian for 9 days, 8 of them were park days, and we are all really in to pin trading, so we had a lot of cast member interactions. We also ate all of our meals at Disney properties or at the parks, we didnt leave the Disney bubble except to go to Universal studios.

In our experience the cast members were fantastic, both parks, all three properties, we felt so well looked after. Every pin trading castmember was so happy to talk pins with us, and ask where we were from, compliment my hair or tattoos, chat to my kids. At every dining interaction because we have food allergies the staff would really look after us, the chefs made sure we knew our options, the servers at the character meals talked characters with us, the castmembers with characters at meet and greets always asked if there was anyone we were lookng for. Every time we bought something we were greeted and served with a smile.

At the end of every day, my kids (daughter in particular) commented on how nice everyone that works here is, and she was right, in our experience.

So if you are here planning a trip, don't be put off.

 

[ParkHopper1]

That is the thing...too many people will take the time to criticize but not praise...an all aspects of life...so take complaints in any area with a grain of salt when basing your decisions on them.

 

[goooof1]

So glad to hear of your happy and magical experiences!

 

[DznyPrnces]

We were there a couple weeks ago, and we had great interactions also. A couple cast members were so above and beyond that we made sure to stop in city hall and leave compliments.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Thank you for this post and for taking the time to affirm the CMs who deserve the praise. It isn't easy working in the parks, and CMs get a surprising amount of abuse from guests on a daily basis. We have friends who are CMs who have stories to tell! (One friend recently got chewed out by a guest who was irate that Plaza Inn wasn't located in NOS -- when our friend pointed this person toward Main Street, the guest just exploded and dumped all over him. Um, that's what you get for trying to help?) There may be bad apples in the bunch (and don't hesitate to report them -- retraining can really help and management needs to know where the problems are), but there are so many great CMs out there who work really hard every day to make the magic for every guest!

 

[hootey]

Thank You for a positive post! Tired of hearing about how rude the DL CMs are . The last time one was rude to me was SEVERAL years ago(security at the Grand decided to SCREAM at me because I didn't get my room card out fast enough) (Yes. I reported them). One of the main reasons we have returned year after year to the DL Resort(yes, we call it a Resort) is the CMs. We go to DL to relax and forget the world for a few days. The CMs are a big part of that. Most of the CMs that we have had the chance to talk with really enjoy their jobs and like helping people smile.

 

[gottalovepluto]

These reports are just so important for people to see! And thanks for mentioning your pin trading going well, someone this summer previously had an very bad pin trading interaction so it’s great that people realize the bad incidents are not the norm!

 

[chickapin parterre]

...how many of us here work in a bubble.?????...it is hard....retail chains have to maintain a bubble......and I ring the Salvation Army Bell as a non- volunteer...that is really hard to be in a bubble for 8 hours, in the Oregon rain, Oregon wind, Oregon Cold.....and folks in a hurry to leave all those elements in the parking lot...they don't have time to return a smile....and then you wonder why? Make a difference, greet your next retail person with joy!!!!

 

[deedubb]

I have only had good experiences with CMs. You can praise them on twitter with #castcompliment (although this may be more of a WDW thing). I've seen first hand how difficult it can be for them to deal with some guests who are rude beyond belief. There is no way I would have the patience that many of them do.

Out of interest, how did you get 8 park days? We will be at the Grand Californian soon, also for 8 days. The most I could buy is 5 park days. Did you just buy 5, then another 3 or is there an option to buy >5 days?

 

[corrie563]

I have only had good experiences with CMs. You can praise them on twitter with #castcompliment (although this may be more of a WDW thing). I've seen first hand how difficult it can be for them to deal with some guests who are rude beyond belief. There is no way I would have the patience that many of them do.

Out of interest, how did you get 8 park days? We will be at the Grand Californian soon, also for 8 days. The most I could buy is 5 park days. Did you just buy 5, then another 3 or is there an option to buy >5 days?

There is some Australia/NZ thing (at travel agents) where you can get 10 day parkhoppers, it was way cheaper to do that than any other way.

 

[robinb]

I’m on day 2 of our DL vacation. All of the CMs have been awsome!

...how many of us here work in a bubble.?????...it is hard....retail chains have to maintain a bubble......and I ring the Salvation Army Bell as a non- volunteer...that is really hard to be in a bubble for 8 hours, in the Oregon rain, Oregon wind, Oregon Cold.....and folks in a hurry to leave all those elements in the parking lot...they don't have time to return a smile....and then you wonder why? Make a difference, greet your next retail person with joy!!!!

Sorry, Salvation Army bell ringers make me uncomfortable so I can’t greet them with joy.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

People tend to focus on the negative, it's a lot easier to criticize and more memorable than the positive for most. I'm an elected official so I might be a bit jaded

 

[norcalguy2014]

Care to elaborate as to why Salvvation Army ringers make you uncomfortable? My experience is that they simply stand off to the side unobtrusively and usually offer a friendly greeting. Difficult to see the problem with that.

 

[robinb]

Care to elaborate as to why Salvvation Army ringers make you uncomfortable? My experience is that they simply stand off to the side unobtrusively and usually offer a friendly greeting. Difficult to see the problem with that.

I find their ringing/begging anything but unobtrusive, in fact I find it pretty much loud, annoying, and in my face. Also, I don’t support them as an organization for reasons I cannot get into on the DIS. So, I keep quiet and pass them by without saying a word

 

[Catvondita]

I find their ringing/begging anything but unobtrusive, in fact I find it pretty much loud, annoying, and in my face. Also, I don’t support them as an organization for reasons I cannot get into on the DIS. So, I keep quiet and pass them by without saying a word

Not to go off topic but to go off topic, I'm from NYC and I'm used to having people on the street asking you to donate to yadda yadda so in general I get awkward around anyone asking for money cuz it's like all the time

 

[JABRacingOne]

Thank you for the positive post! It made me smile