Candlelight Guest Control... Yes, you have to go *all* the way around... :rolleyes:

[Alyssa3467]

After yesterday, I'm glad I'm not in Attractions or expected to assist with Guest Control on a regular basis.

Traffic was northbound on the east, southbound on the west, presumably eastbound in front of the Mickey floral arrangement, presumably with the traffic circle arrangement at the hub. Not a difficult pattern to comprehend, in my opinion, but as can be expected, many of our Guests were challenged.

Among the winners:
> One way traffic only, sir...
< You mean I have to go all the way around to get out?
> Yes
< That's ridiculous... I came all this way... :mad:
> (thinking "Against this huge crowd? Brilliant") You wouldn't go the wrong way on the freeway, would you?
< :mad: *turns around*

> *sees a group from 2-3 meters away approaching, going the wrong way, and does the traffic-cop style "Stop" gesture* One way traffic only!
< *continues to approach*
> One way traffic only please!
< *stops in front of CM and starts laughing inexplicably*
> I'm serious. You have to turn around and go the other way.

Later in the day, a Cast Member in a Guest Control costume (I was in the Main Street Small Town Stores costume) approached me from downstream (from the direction the Guests on my side were headed, and where the wrong-way Guests were coming from) and told me his Leads were getting complaints, and saying that I should use a softer voice. Well, perhaps if he was *doing his job* and enforcing one way traffic, I wouldn't have to yell so much. :mad: And for what it's worth, earlier in the day, one of the GC Leads thanked me for doing what I was doing. And I'm sure he heard the voice/volume I was using.

[hobie16]

If it was me I'd be using my drill instructor voice and dropping them for ten pushups.

[font="Verdana"]"Alllrightttt you pukes, drop and gimme ten!!"[/font]

[GuestJockey]

GC is always love-hate with me. GC CMs have SUCH a thankless job and often get complaints in the hall just for having attempted to do their jobs. That said, I've also been on GC and listened to fellow CMs talking about how much they "love guest control" because they "get to yell at the idiots" and "Nobody will ever know how to find me". and I'm sorry, but just because they're idiots doesn't mean you get to be an ass to them on stage. Come back stage later and vent? sure. But I worry that sometimes certain GC CMs forget that the guests don't UNDERSTAND and just assume they're jerks.

All that said, I Heart GC! I always go out of my way to avoid giving the concern forms to guests who have problems with GC.

[DLRFantasmic!Dan]

I love GC!! I live for GC!! It's always something different!! All complaints towards GC are thrown out, so I heard, unless, it's really rude. Hey, we are just doing our job!!

[SRT_GB]

I liked doing parade GC only because it got me out of whatever shift I had on Main Street and outside for an hour. That said, I'm glad I didn't have to do it on a continuous basis.

Alyssa - all GC CMs yell - it's the only way for them to be heard over all the commotion without having to continuously repeat themselves. I don't see how a GC CM can come up to you with a holier-than-thou attitude and tell you not to yell. Maybe someone should be telling him to use a louder voice so that the guests can actually hear.

To this day I still say that my hardest, most difficult day at Disneyland was the day of Candlelight 2003. I was working in Strollers that day and had to function as both GC (not by choice) and as a Strollers CM, throwing strollers into the Tour Guide booth area until the crowd died down so we could take them back to the shop. That whole area around the MS train station was not meant to be blocked off for an extended period of time the way it is for Candlelight.

Don't get me wrong, Candlelight is a great show. But given its nature as a show that isn't advertised to the public and not really open for all guests to watch, I just think it's better performed in a more out of the way, less high traffic area like Fantasyland Theatre.

[DisneyMom]

I agree that Candelight would be better in another area, the hub is Waaaaay
too crazy. We accidentally showed up for the Candlelight Processional last year, we really enjoyed it even standing packed in like sardines,and then afterward we were being directed in the one-way traffic, found an OPEN door in the Emporium and cut thru that way (I know, SG behavior,but I was NOT one of those complaining that the locked doors violated safety rules, blahblahblah. I know you were just trying to avoid a thousand SGs doing the same!).I get a little stressed when I'm confined, I'm sure that a lot of SGs are borderline panicked in that crowd and that is dangerous for everyone, can't think of anything more stressful for the CMs.You HAVE TO be loud in that situation.

[pattimelt]

From one of the MORNING GC cast members, who had to be there at the unGodly hour of 6am to watch some empty chairs....

WTF were they thinking to have us there at 6am to stand around and guard the empty chairs???

This had to be the dumbest thing I've ever had to do for GC since I started there!!

And just because this is SGT--how about the SG story of the day?? I had to take lunch at 930 am on Saturday morning. Ok, so that sucked, but here's the fun of the day... When I got back from lunch, I started my new rotation of the 5 GC spots on the EAST side of the flagpole. About 2 minutes into that rotation, a guest came up to me and started talking. Well, he kept talking and talking and talking, and I stood there and listened-- for 20 minutes, until I moved to the next station. Then I figured that whoever was 'behind' me in the rotation would get to talk to the guest. I figured wrong. Cast Member #2 wasn't "nice" like I am, so SG came and followed me to my 2nd stop.... and my third stop... and my 4th stop.. and when I got to the front of the stage by the centerpiece flower display, he followed me there, too!!!! When the time came for me to go on a break AGAIN, the SG actually got upset that I had to leave him!!!!!!!!! I came back from break about 15 minutes later, and the SG is nowhere to be found, thank God!! But from what I understand, he spoke to my lead about how nice I was and how kind I was to him--like the Special Event leads care??? Hello, go write up a compliment at City Hall-- I'd like that a whole lot better, now that I know your life story and that you're going to Club 33 for lunch and it cost you $525 for 4 people and how you retired from the medical company and you went from 50 vending machines to 315 of them and you live off the income from those.. UGH!!!!!!!! Yes, as you can see, I actually paid the SG some attention, and it came and bit me in the behind!!!!!!

And then I came home and my husband wondered why I was exhausted from my shift... LMAO!!

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

From one of the MORNING GC cast members, who had to be there at the unGodly hour of 6am to watch some empty chairs....

WTF were they thinking to have us there at 6am to stand around and guard the empty chairs???

This had to be the dumbest thing I've ever had to do for GC since I started there!!

And just because this is SGT--how about the SG story of the day?? I had to take lunch at 930 am on Saturday morning. Ok, so that sucked, but here's the fun of the day... When I got back from lunch, I started my new rotation of the 5 GC spots on the EAST side of the flagpole. About 2 minutes into that rotation, a guest came up to me and started talking. Well, he kept talking and talking and talking, and I stood there and listened-- for 20 minutes, until I moved to the next station. Then I figured that whoever was 'behind' me in the rotation would get to talk to the guest. I figured wrong. Cast Member #2 wasn't "nice" like I am, so SG came and followed me to my 2nd stop.... and my third stop... and my 4th stop.. and when I got to the front of the stage by the centerpiece flower display, he followed me there, too!!!! When the time came for me to go on a break AGAIN, the SG actually got upset that I had to leave him!!!!!!!!! I came back from break about 15 minutes later, and the SG is nowhere to be found, thank God!! But from what I understand, he spoke to my lead about how nice I was and how kind I was to him--like the Special Event leads care??? Hello, go write up a compliment at City Hall-- I'd like that a whole lot better, now that I know your life story and that you're going to Club 33 for lunch and it cost you $525 for 4 people and how you retired from the medical company and you went from 50 vending machines to 315 of them and you live off the income from those.. UGH!!!!!!!! Yes, as you can see, I actually paid the SG some attention, and it came and bit me in the behind!!!!!!

And then I came home and my husband wondered why I was exhausted from my shift... LMAO!!

Maybe he thought you might want some free candy from his machines after work :hysteria:

We laugh with you, not at you!!

[ktulu]

Note to self, avoid the Candlelight thingy this weekend....

Okay is it really cool?

[Alyssa3467]

GC is always love-hate with me. GC CMs have SUCH a thankless job and often get complaints in the hall just for having attempted to do their jobs. That said, I've also been on GC and listened to fellow CMs talking about how much they "love guest control" because they "get to yell at the idiots" and "Nobody will ever know how to find me". and I'm sorry, but just because they're idiots doesn't mean you get to be an ass to them on stage. Come back stage later and vent? sure. But I worry that sometimes certain GC CMs forget that the guests don't UNDERSTAND and just assume they're jerks.

All that said, I Heart GC! I always go out of my way to avoid giving the concern forms to guests who have problems with GC.

Apparently being the only person doing GC while in the Stores costume made me look authoritative, because a GC CM asked me if I was a Lead, and a Guest randomly stopped me, asked if I was a manager, and proceeded to complain about a GC CM being "an asshole" to her (for making her turn around) despite me telling her I wasn't a manager. Could also be the militaristic walk I tend to use... :p: I offered to escort her to City Hall after she told me she didn't want to wait for the GC Lead, and she wanted to "write a letter to corporate," but she turned it down.

Alyssa - all GC CMs yell - it's the only way for them to be heard over all the commotion without having to continuously repeat themselves. I don't see how a GC CM can come up to you with a holier-than-thou attitude and tell you not to yell. Maybe someone should be telling him to use a louder voice so that the guests can actually hear.

He was downstream of me, so if he was doing his job, there wouldn't've been as many people going the wrong way for me to yell at. So yeah... he's an idiot.