Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Walt Disney World Resort Cast Members post your stupid guest tricks here. This forum is not for general Walt Disney World discussion. Please use the Break Room, for non stupid guest trick topics.
Post Reply
User avatar
BRWombat
Permanent Fixture
Permanent Fixture
Posts: 5131
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 2:00 pm
Department: Offsite Harmony
Position: Back Row Baritone
Location: Dallas area
Contact:

Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by BRWombat » Thu Jan 26, 2017 1:50 pm

On my recent WDW trip, I swore I wouldn't make copious notes and take too many pictures, like on previous excursions when I've written very detailed trip report. Instead, I chose to just enjoy my time with Mrs. Wombat, so I'm relying on memory for the most part here... but SG's tend to be very memorable. So, to the best of my recollection and for your enjoyment, here are a few SGT's (and two SCMT's) from our trip:

Inexcusable ignorance... This is sadly not one SGT, but a running theme, with too many examples to mention. Becky and I continually marveled at the comments and conversations we'd overhear that showed that an SG was absolutely clueless about this vacation they were on: "What is this Fastpass thing?" "So does the Animal park have any rides?" and in DHS, "Where is the Harry Potter stuff?" This was a regular occurrence. At first I would say to Mrs. W., "How can it be that these people travel from their homes wherever and spend all sorts of money on a Disney vacation, and not be bothered to learn anything about the place they're going to???" It was unreal. Before long, though, we'd just look at each other, roll our eyes, and continue on with our day.

Unwitting ignorance... This category of SG always cracked me up; these were the ones who supposedly knew about Disney and were overheard gleefully sharing their knowledge of the World with others in their party. It was their absolute confidence while being totally wrong that made me laugh: "Did you know that that ball has a ride in it called Starship Earth? It's a geometric sphere, too." "When is our next FastTrack?" "We could always go ride Mission: Mars." "Walt Disney had an apartment in the castle. Now you have to pay big bucks to stay there!" (I have some sympathy for these SG's, because odds are I've done this myself when I've misremembered something I thought I'd learned...)

CM moments... These guest interactions, so named because they occur when an SG mistakes me for a cast member, were not as common on this trip, probably because I'd moved my red Guest of Honor badge to my pin lanyard instead of wearing it where CM's wear their nametags, and we were also wearing special celebration buttons that CM's definitely don't. It still didn't stop it from happening entirely. In MK one day, I had two guests in a row approach me. The first very politely asked if I knew how to get to the park entrance -- definitely just one guest asking another for help -- and I pointed him in the right direction. Then a second guest, apparently seeing the first guest get info from me, approached and asked, "When is the Peter Pan ride going to be open again?" I cheerfully told her that I didn't know, but I'm sure they were working on it. She said, "Well, we really want to ride it." I promised to pass that information along.

Hey, if you're cast member, this one lady and her family really want to ride Peter Pan's Flight on Wednesday, January 11. There, I passed it along.

[to be continued...]



User avatar
BRWombat
Permanent Fixture
Permanent Fixture
Posts: 5131
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 2:00 pm
Department: Offsite Harmony
Position: Back Row Baritone
Location: Dallas area
Contact:

Re: Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by BRWombat » Thu Jan 26, 2017 1:52 pm

¿Dónde está mi dignidad? The worst SG encounter we had was on the Gran Fiesta Tour boat cruise in Epcot's Mexico pavilion. My favorite part of the ride is the early, quiet part of the ride, as we float past the Mayan temple and the volcano. Unfortunately, this was not quiet at all on our ride, as an SG seated in the row behind us was arguing belligerently with her husband about an excessive phone bill. She was the SG and not her husband, as he was trying to quiet her down, and was actively trying to engage their young daughter about what they were seeing on the ride rather than argue. But she would not let it drop.

Finally about halfway into the ride she stopped bringing up the phone bill, possibly because her husband fell asleep (or more likely, pretended to to shut her up). We know this because all of the sudden she was berating him for "falling asleep any time you sit down!" He then said, "Why does it even bother you?" And she responded -- get this: "Because it's embarrassing!"

At that point I leaned over to Becky and whispered, "More embarrassing than discussing your personal problems in public?" It may have been slightly louder than a stage whisper. Either way, we didn't hear much from them for the rest of the ride. :biggrin:

Corporate SCMT... This is a SCMT that I don't really fault the cast members involved for, since they were likely not responsible. When we visit WDW or DLR, we rarely arrive super early to stake out fireworks viewing places, because we just don't like standing around much. Consequently, we hardly ever have prime viewing spots and will enjoy the fireworks from wherever we are. This trip, though, since we were much more casual with our time, we found a spot well in advance where we could sit and wait for the two MK night shows, "Once Upon a Time" and "Wishes," to begin. It was in one of those artificial-turf areas in the expanded hub where for a while they offered FP+ viewing.

After we'd been there about half an hour, about 15 minutes before "Once Upon a Time" started, cast members descended on the area and started clearing it out -- apologetically, at least -- saying that the area (one-half of one of the two astroturf locations, but naturally the side we were on) was set aside for the paid dessert/viewing party. I'd say "reserved," but there was no signage and nothing indicating we couldn't be there. Very bad procedure to say the least. And naturally, by that time the hub was packed, and there were certainly no sitting locations left. So much for getting there early. We weren't too happy about that.

[more to come...]



User avatar
BRWombat
Permanent Fixture
Permanent Fixture
Posts: 5131
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 2:00 pm
Department: Offsite Harmony
Position: Back Row Baritone
Location: Dallas area
Contact:

Re: Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by BRWombat » Thu Jan 26, 2017 2:00 pm

Button it... This is my own SGT, though maybe a mild one. Disney has recently scaled back their free "celebrating" buttons to just four options: First Visit, Happy Birthday, Happily Ever After (which covers engagements, weddings, honeymoons, etc.), and I'm Celebrating (which is handed out for everything the first three buttons don't cover). The Guest Services CM will use a Sharpie to write any specifics (like "Just Engaged") on the face of the button if needed.

Well, I could have relied on the "Happily Ever After" button for our second honeymoon, but instead I put my photoshop skills to use and created a custom button design, that not only mimicked the look of the official buttons, but had custom text including our names and dates. Then I sent the design to a guy I found on eBay and he made it into very nice professional buttons the same size and quality of the Disney handouts.

Image

We received many positive comments and several magical moments because of the buttons... but to my surprise, what we mostly got was confusion! The cast members were geared to respond to the official buttons, but seemed to be thrown off when the button wasn't one of the usual ones. We got a lot of "Happy Birthda... oh wait, what?" (They squint at the button) "Oh, Happy Second Honeymoon!" And a lot of times they never quite figured it out before we'd passed by.

I'm not giving up on the idea of making custom buttons, but I might make the print bigger next time, and choose a color that Disney isn't using already for theirs. (Actually, I thought I might make one that just says "Free Button!" on it, just to enjoy the CM reactions!)

Button it, part two... This final SCMT involved an Epcot cast member, working a merch cart near the Mexico pavilion, who had his own unique solution to dealing with the celebration buttons -- and not just for ours, but for anyone with a celebration button. He had a stock comment that he used every time -- we passed him twice, and he said this to us both times, and we heard him say it to others, too:

"Congratulations on your button! Enjoy your day at Epcot!"

It made us feel very special, as we celebrated our button.

And that's it, unless I remember some others!



User avatar
hobie16
Permanent Fixture
Permanent Fixture
Posts: 10546
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 4:45 pm
Park: DLR
Department: Fruity Drink Land
Position: Mai Tai Face Plant
Location: 717 Miles NNW Of DLR

Re: Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by hobie16 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 3:16 pm

BRWombat wrote:(Actually, I thought I might make one that just says "Free Button!" on it, just to enjoy the CM reactions!)
How about, I Was Promised Donuts.


Image

Don't be fooled by appearances. In Hawaii, some of the most powerful people look like bums and stuntmen.
--- Matt King


Stay low and run in a zigzag pattern.

User avatar
ktulu
Permanent Fixture
Permanent Fixture
Posts: 4150
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:01 pm
Park: ktululand
Department: Custodial
Position: Janitor
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by ktulu » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:20 pm

BRWombat wrote: I'm not giving up on the idea of making custom buttons, but I might make the print bigger next time, and choose a color that Disney isn't using already for theirs. (Actually, I thought I might make one that just says "Free Button!" on it, just to enjoy the CM reactions!)
Keep the colors - text saying, "I'm not Todd!"


"People can drink coke and pepsi, but they can't pee in the street."

812114

User avatar
BRWombat
Permanent Fixture
Permanent Fixture
Posts: 5131
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 2:00 pm
Department: Offsite Harmony
Position: Back Row Baritone
Location: Dallas area
Contact:

Re: Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by BRWombat » Mon Feb 06, 2017 12:16 pm

Oh, one more thing I thought of. While not really an SGT, like the button confusion it wasn't the brightest thing I've done:

Pro Tip: While having a Mickey's laugh on my phone as my text notification sound is a wonderful Disney touch in most places -- while at WDW it wasn't really helpful. I lost track of the number of times I heard Mickey laugh in a show, or announcement, or somewhere else, and reflexively checked my phone to make sure I hadn't gotten a text! :redface:



SirWillow
Regular Guest
Regular Guest
Posts: 106
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 1:46 am
Location: Missouri

Re: Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by SirWillow » Tue Feb 07, 2017 3:52 pm

LOL I just realized reading this that we were on the same page. I actually just filmed an episode a few days ago (before I saw this) that talks about some of the dumb guests doing exactly what you wrote about in some of these. It's a couple of weeks out, but still funny as I'm reading it thinking, "That's similar to what I said!" :toastwine:



User avatar
BRWombat
Permanent Fixture
Permanent Fixture
Posts: 5131
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 2:00 pm
Department: Offsite Harmony
Position: Back Row Baritone
Location: Dallas area
Contact:

Re: Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by BRWombat » Wed Feb 08, 2017 11:24 am

SirWillow wrote:LOL I just realized reading this that we were on the same page. I actually just filmed an episode a few days ago (before I saw this) that talks about some of the dumb guests doing exactly what you wrote about in some of these. It's a couple of weeks out, but still funny as I'm reading it thinking, "That's similar to what I said!" :toastwine:
Awesome. Love your videos! Can't wait to see that one!



SirWillow
Regular Guest
Regular Guest
Posts: 106
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2003 1:46 am
Location: Missouri

Re: Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by SirWillow » Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:06 pm

BRWombat wrote:
SirWillow wrote:LOL I just realized reading this that we were on the same page. I actually just filmed an episode a few days ago (before I saw this) that talks about some of the dumb guests doing exactly what you wrote about in some of these. It's a couple of weeks out, but still funny as I'm reading it thinking, "That's similar to what I said!" :toastwine:
Awesome. Love your videos! Can't wait to see that one!
It's posted for your viewing pleasure!



User avatar
BRWombat
Permanent Fixture
Permanent Fixture
Posts: 5131
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2004 2:00 pm
Department: Offsite Harmony
Position: Back Row Baritone
Location: Dallas area
Contact:

Re: Wombat-observed SGT's - Jan 2017

Post by BRWombat » Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:03 pm

SirWillow wrote:
BRWombat wrote:
SirWillow wrote:LOL I just realized reading this that we were on the same page. I actually just filmed an episode a few days ago (before I saw this) that talks about some of the dumb guests doing exactly what you wrote about in some of these. It's a couple of weeks out, but still funny as I'm reading it thinking, "That's similar to what I said!" :toastwine:
Awesome. Love your videos! Can't wait to see that one!
It's posted for your viewing pleasure!

:thumbsup:



Post Reply