Here's Your Sign: The Disney Saga

[Lasolimu]

To me its the CM's that give Disneyland the magic that everyone enjoys so much. Over my three day weekend I talked to TONS of CM's and everyone of them was SO nice to me, it was wonderful. You guy's ROCK! My hats off to each and every one of you.

I agree 100% on this point. Since the company likes to call it a stage I shall do the same and liken the situation unto a stage. I imagine that most of us have gone to see a play or musical some time in our lives. Now imagine that none of the cast or crew showed up to a performance; it would not be very good as you don't get to see anything because no one has turned on the lights. Of course after the CMs it goes to little kids who still look in wonder when they see some of the effects around the park. The effects don't work for me anymore because I am a stage hand and need to be able to figure out how to do things like that and most of the time I do so without thinking about it. I wish I lived cooser to ANY Disney park so I could go more often and interact with you CMs; you guys rock.

[BullFrog]

Overheard on KS..."Are those real animals?" Nope, they're animatronics that have been rain-proofed.

On Monday I was in the Smoking section on the Dock at Disneyland :dope: and I heard no fewer than three separate parties come by and ask if the Ducks were real. I started stepping up saying that they were fake. The kicker is that no one doubted me.

[tenprincess]

It was after park closing and I was covering the turnstiles when I noticed a guest and his family walking up to me trying to get in line for the attraction.

Me: I'm sorry sir, we are closed for the night.
Guest: Really, what time did you close tonight?
Me: Ten o'clock.
Guest: My watch says 9, I think you have the wrong time.
Me: Sir, I know it's past 10 because the fireworks are going off.
Guest: Are you sure they aren't at 9?
Me: Positive.
Guest: But my watch says 9.
Me: Sir, you do know that florida is in a different time zone?
Guest: huh?
Me:

[SRT_GB]

I was underneath the Main Street Railroad station in front of the Station Break shop when a guest came up to me to ask me where she can rent strollers. I told her that she had to go straight then turn right to exit the tunnel and the Stroller shop was going to be on her left side. She then left to "follow" my directions towards the Stroller shop and I followed her because I needed to go there anyways. She manages to ask two different castmembers to tell her the same direction towards the stroller shop. It amazes me that people need to ask CMs every 10 seconds Because I guess they end up forgetting.

I can't remember how many guests got lost when I gave them directions to DL Strollers from Newsstand or Guide II (the souvenir stand on the other side of the tunnel from Strollers). Or how they walked right past Strollers to Guide II and didn't notice it.

It's also surprising how many guests would get lost after I gave them clear, concise directions from a Guide stand to City Hall, Emporium, Mad Hatter, Showcase, or the ODV wagons on Town Square. Note that all of these locations are on Town Square and are visible from both Guide stands.

Speaking of not listening to directions, here's one that always happens to us at the DLH Marina Sundries shop:
Guest: Where's the restroom?
CM: BEFORE you go out that door, make a right and it's at the bottom of the staircase on your left hand side.
The guest then goes out the door, looks around, doesn't see a staircase.
Guest returns to store.
Guest: Where was that again?
CM:

[SRT_GB]

VICisGOOFY I just noticed your signature:

Guest: $19.16 for a disposable camera. Its cheaper in Wal-Mart
Me: Welcome to the World of Disney Econonmics 101

Which brings me to some nice guest-CM exchanges I've encountered in stores that sell film and sundries.

Guest: $19.38 for a disposable camera? It's like 7 bucks at [Wal-Mart, Target, Sav-on].
CM: Actually, this exact camera is about $12 at Sav-on, I saw it yesterday.
or: Well Target is a mile south, Sav-on is a mile west, and Wal-Mart is 3 miles north.

Guest: Do you carry Children's Advil?
CM: No, we only carry Children's Tylenol.
G: Well, I'm a pediatrician and I know that Children's Advil is better than Tylenol. Why don't you carry it? That's unacceptable!
CM: Well, if you're a doctor, and you know Children's Advil is better, why didn't you bring some with you?
*crickets chirping*

Guest: Do you carry Children's Tylenol?
Me: We used to, but it was recalled by the manufacturer and they haven't sent us new product yet.
Guest: Well what am I supposed to do?
Me: The Compass Bookstore kiosk in Downtown Disney does carry Children's Advil and Motrin, but all tablet forms of Children's Tylenol were recalled nationwide. Not even drugstores have them right now; they only have the liquid form.
Guest: That's stupid.
At this point I wanted to go into a lecture about how if there is a nationwide recall of anything, especially medicine, it's probably for a good reason. Instead I gave them directions to the Compass kiosk.

[hobie16]

Guest: $19.38 for a disposable camera? It's like 7 bucks at [Wal-Mart, Target, Sav-on].
CM: Actually, this exact camera is about $12 at Sav-on, I saw it yesterday.
or: Well Target is a mile south, Sav-on is a mile west, and Wal-Mart is 3 miles north.

An alternative might be to go into an economics rap. Something along the lines of, "Because Disney only has two parks in the US vs. Wal-Marts 3500 stores, we're unable to match the pricing power that Wal-Mart commands. As we expand our presence into every city, town and village nation-wide, we'll reduce our prices on (fill in the blank) accordingly.

[SoarWhoreCoCo]

Along the same lines, when someone complains that a bottle of Coke costs $2.75 and they can get it at 7-11 for less, I remind them that 7-11 dosn't have attractions, shows and parades so their operating cost is considerably lower. If that dosn't work I'll remind them that it's still cheeper then what they would pay at a movie theatre.

Polar, thats the best response I have heard yet, I am going to have to remember to use it next time I hear the $$ complaint. Thanks :D:

[MonorailBlack]

[font=Comic Sans MS][/font]How about READ the signs? I drove monorail yellow to the epcot station the other day, a guest on the train asked "Where is the Contemporary?" I explained that they would need to return to TTC to get the resort Monorail. "But they said to take this monorail." I asked if they read the signs before boarding. "No." Duh!!!

[BRWombat]

On Monday I was in the Smoking section on the Dock at Disneyland :dope: and I heard no fewer than three separate parties come by and ask if the Ducks were real. I started stepping up saying that they were fake. The kicker is that no one doubted me.

Not a SGT, more of a Disney-magic-through-a-kid's-eyes-trick -- This reminded me of when my family and I were staying at Wilderness Lodge a few years back, we had a room overlooking the otter pond on the north side. One morning we saw a rabbit hopping around under our balcony. My then-8-year-old son watched it closely for a while, and then turned to me and asked, "Is that a real rabbit or a Disney rabbit?" :)

[IndyandMarion]

Guest: Is it really a 40 minute wait?
Me: The wait system is currently facing some problems, either way, the wait is about 15 to 20 minutes.
Guest: So it's a 15 to 20 minute wait?
Me: Yeah...
Guest: Are you sure?
Me: No princess, I'm just here to randomly generate wait times for guests, here's you sign.
(Apparently she had been here to the site because)
Guest: Oh no, your CJ aren't you?
Me: You got it.