Just returned from the World

[EmptyCinema]

I just returned from a 4 day trip to WDW with my GF. Being summer, Guest Stupidity is running rampant. Aside from the usual crowd of heelies and clueless dolts, there were a number of other fun ones.

Boarding Buzz, the car behind us was a wheelchair vehicle... well, this SG decided that the door not being open meant he needed to release it himself and drop the ramp down and try to board a vehicle with no seats. The CMs working Buzz were yelling "no, sir, not that one" and he just ignored them... until they had to stop the entire ride. Of course he claimed "I didn't know". Yeah, the wheelchair logo on the car, the closed door, and the CMs yelling "no" weren't any clue at all. The CMs had to restrain their laughter (I could see one of them almost failing) but I couldn't help myself.

We went to see Cpt. Hook and Mr. Smee over by Pirates and while we were in line, we overheard a woman asking the character attendant when Cpt. Jack Sparrow would be greeting. The attendant replied "he only does the pirate tutorial over there" (pointing). SG asked "when does he do autographs?" and was told he did not do greetings, only the pirate tutorial. SG then asked "so he greets somewhere else?" Attendant finally gets tired of trying to answer nicely and says "Cpt. Jack does not do greetings and does not do photographs or autographs." The SG, still looking confused, finally walked away.

I do want to say that I appreciate the hard work of the 99.9% of CMs that are there. There were a ton of great ones. There were at least 2 or 3 that stand out in my mind (like the guy on TTA who didn't care if we sat there to cool off, the girl in the Emporium who was happy to talk for 15 minutes about working for Disney, and the MK bus driver who was happy to talk about MiMs, the issues with keeping the buses running on time, and was so apologetic for a delay that wasn't even his fault).

That being said, once in a while, there's that one CM that is just clueless. My GF is REALLY into meeting characters, so when there was an opportunity to meet Mickey and Minnie together next to the castle (at Sir Mickey's) with only about a 10-minute wait, we jumped at the chance. Now, I don't know how everyone feels about adults meeting characters, but ya know, we did pay admission and it was almost 1AM (not to mention that we can do a whole set of photos in the time it takes most kids to face the camera) so we should be able to meet the characters. Well, we get up to the front, take a couple of pictures, and right when my GF wanted to take a picture with just her and the mice, the attendant rolls her eyes and says "ok, next KIDS" (emphasis on kids). Before the photopass photographer can take pictures, the next family is already moving in, so we decide not to argue and just get out of the way. We go over to chip and dale (absolutely no line at all, the two of them are just playing with their attendant) and have a blast (my GF loves C&D and so we got some great pictures, no photopass though). On our way back, we see the Mickey/Minnie line again and my GF wants to try to get her photos, so we go up to the end of the line but the other character attendant tells us it is closed. I explain how we just wanted two more shots and were in line earlier and kinda got pushed out (I know, a bit annoying, but we would've left if he still said no) so he checked his watch and looked around and let us at the end. As we got back towards the front, the first attendant started staring us down. My GF got her photos, but the attendant quickly said "ok, let's go" (or something similar) as she was leaving. Personally, we found both interactions with her rude and un-disney.

Sorry to have to rant about that, but I hate that some CMs give the rest of you a bad name. CMs are what makes WDW so perfect (at least to guests) and we try not to forget that when we go.

[Syndrome]

I know what you mean about the adults sometimes getting short changed in the character photo ops. The one and only time I met Figment and Dreamfinder, I was determined to get a photo because I knew the ride was closing. That was way before photopass and there was no real control of the line. It was my turn, but kids kept literally running in front of me for several minutes, and of course the parents glare if you try to say something and ignore you. Finally Dreamfinder noticed and said, "Let the big kid get a picture!" We got it, and it is in a place of honor in a Figment frame in my front hallway.

That reminds me of another interesting interaction...we were at the Studio to get pics with Lilo and Stitch. The toddler ahead of me was scared to death of them, but as they were leaving and my turn came up, the kid got a little braver so Lilo approached her and gently tried to convince her to come closer. In the meantime, we were getting shots with Stitch, and Lilo didn't even realize it because she was so intent on luring/calming the little toddler. It was so cute! Finally she realized what was going on and hustled over while Stitch was making interesting motions at her. At least the toddler's parents got some really cute shots.

[EmptyCinema]

I love it when characters go out of their way to make kids happy. But the way I see it is this: Adults at WDW are mostly really just kids in a big body. I'm 22 and I go there to relax, have fun, and play. :) I just wonder if there are really CMs who are under the perception that WDW is only for kids. My GF and I do the best we can to make sure kids have the good time they deserve, but it should be fun for all.

[AnnF]

I understand that some do think Disney is for kids. When we were there I did notice more then BF did. I try not to take up too much time with the characters. There was one day when I was there with my dad when I met Robin Hood, King John, and Friar Tuck. Well I went to hug Robin Hood and the next thing I know Friar Tuck is marrying us. And then running away with me, while I enjoyed it, you could see the faces on other parents annoyed that they were spending time with me, but the character escort just ushered them all back together.
When I meet Chip and Dale (My favorites) one of them always seems to take me away. I met them and they had no line, Chip took me over to a table and we sat there, until I pointed out that he now had a line, and they were spending time with Dale, he waved goodbye and ran over to Dale.

sorry to hijack your thread.

[Big Wallaby]

Disney IS only for kids, but I use the term kids loosely. The kids must be between the ages of zero and 160, and they must be there to have fun.

I actually had a guest today, who I asked if they were having a great time. She responded that wasn't here to have a fun time. After a moment of staring blankly at the lady, all I could say was that if she didn't want to have fun, please go home and not have fun elsewhere. Mind you, that was AFTER the thought crossed my mind to say something to the effect, "Oh, you must be one of those liberal professors, and I use the term 'professor' loosely, who like to come here just to write bad things about Disney. I read the books you guys write for a laugh from time to time."

Please note, I am not interested in a political debate on this forum. I am just quoting my mind verbatim.

And if you see a book about the evils of Disney World, and as proof the author talks about a (stupid, fat) bus driver telling her she should not come to Disney World or something to that effect, you'll know who she's mentioning. I will be touring Disney World and autographing that page of her book when it comes out.

[Cranbiz]

And if you see a book about the evils of Disney World, and as proof the author talks about a (stupid, fat) bus driver telling her she should not come to Disney World or something to that effect, you'll know who she's mentioning

Hey, how did I get dragged into this? :D:


By the way, is this the week for SG's who can't take a joke? I was Signal 72 on three runs, 1 to ASSp, 1 to CBR and one to ASMu and I could not get even a chuckle out of anybody . I finally got on the mic to the CBR crowd and said if you can't laugh at my jokes, then it's time to go, OK everybody OUT ( I was at Martinique). That finally got a laugh. (of course, they didn't know that I was serious)

[JugglingFreak]

I finally got on the mic to the CBR crowd and said if you can't laugh at my jokes, then it's time to go, OK everybody OUT ( I was at Martinique). That finally got a laugh. (of course, they didn't know that I was serious)

That reminded me of a bus driver we had. Similar situation but his response was "Hey, you don't have to laugh at my jokes but remember, I can make this a looooong bus ride.."

I got a kick out of that one..

JF

[EmptyCinema]

Hey, how did I get dragged into this? :D:


By the way, is this the week for SG's who can't take a joke? I was Signal 72 on three runs, 1 to ASSp, 1 to CBR and one to ASMu and I could not get even a chuckle out of anybody . I finally got on the mic to the CBR crowd and said if you can't laugh at my jokes, then it's time to go, OK everybody OUT ( I was at Martinique). That finally got a laugh. (of course, they didn't know that I was serious)

Signal 72? I missed that one in the acronyms thread....

[EmptyCinema]

Disney IS only for kids, but I use the term kids loosely. The kids must be between the ages of zero and 160, and they must be there to have fun.

That's a pretty good way to look at it... Just a shame this one attendant didn't.

[crystal_crtr]

I loved the characters that we met while we were in WDW last week. My favorite was Captain Hook and Smee. My daughter had a pen that had Tinkerbell on it and Smee got the pen first to sign her book and he handed the pen back to me and shook his hand and head as if to say no and shame on you for having a Tink pen. He then pretended to throw the pen on the ground and stomped his feet. That was so funny. The photographer even got in on it and told Captain Hook "tick tock tick tock" That was the best. when we got pictures with Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore Tigger did the most lively poses. We had fun and it was because of the CMs.