Are guests getting dumber?

[RebuildtheKingdom]

Although this topic could go in any of the particular park forums (DL, WDW, DLP, etc) I thought I'd throw it in here since WDW pulls in more guests per year, and thus could give a more far reaching answer.

Are guests getting dumber each year, or have they always "left their brain at the gate". Or is it simply a case of more people are "checking out" than those who used to. I'm wondering if this is a recent trend or something that has always existed.

I'd be interested in hearing from CMs with a lot of experience (10+ years) with the Mouse as well as newer CMs. I think some of the problems may be from some sort of sensory overload...but then again, there are some folks out there who are just smart enough to breathe. :D

[Sweetums]

There's always going to be the few tourists that are "dumber than dirt" no matter where they go. (Accounting for about 5% of all Disney Guests.) Whether it's Disney World or someplace else, they just don't get it. -and they never will. Hopefully they never breed, but all attempts to stop them haven't been successful.
But, consider this observation for the rest of the percentage; As the size of WDW property expands and new things are added, it's very easy for a tourist to get lost or overwhelmed by the sheer amount of entertainment possibilities. Even return guests may find themselves asking a dumb question every now and then just because they are aware that Disney World has evolved and they no longer know what to expect.
Of course, it's just a theory. TV and the internet could really be eating the world's brain cells and people are getting dumberer.

[ThenIDrifted]

I don't know about guests in general but I fear that I will be far dumber than usual on our trip, and we leave in the morning. This is because my dearest grandmother passed away last week and I am not firing on all thrusters.

Everyone told me that I should still take my daughter on this trip, which was already rescheduled once due to hurricanes and we have other family meeting us down there. I also had an undeniable sign from Grandma (long story, and I never believe that stuff, either!) that she wants me to go and remember her somehow there, as we spent a lot of time together in WDW.

So if in the next week you're asked an exceedingly dumb question by a 30-ish chick with geeky glasses rolling along in a wheelchair, please be merciful. It might be me LOL

I'll try not to do anything too worthy of mention here

~TID

[Zazu]

Are guests getting dumber each year, or have they always "left their brain at the gate".

I think the level of stupidity is holding pretty steady. This year, as in years past, roughly half the population is below average intelligence.

Two things are, I belive, increasing. One is a lack of comprehension of English. This is partly because we're seeing more guest from outside the US, but mostly because of US residents who aren't fluent. As these folks are allowed to vote, this worries me.

The other thing I see increasing is incivility. Guests seem yearly to be more and more willing to yell, threaten, or physically assault CMs. I even had an incident last year where two guests got into a fight with each other and had to be removed by Alpha Unit and OCSD.

But it's not really the violence that worries me most, it's the deliberate rudeness, the use of strollers for battering rams, the lack of a common standard of decent behavior.

I know it's not the 1950s any more, or even the 1970s. We're a more diverse society, and we're including more and more folks from other societies to join us here. Being a "melting pot" is one of the great things about America. But lately we seem not to be blending very well.

Yes, visiting a theme park is a stressful situation, if only for the stimulation of the new and strange. Disney doesn't really *want* to change that too much -- a certain amount of "glazing" I consider to be part of the goal. Yet it seems more and more to be a justification for acting in ways that would get you immediately killfiled if you tried them online.

I hope I'm wrong here. I've only worked at the park for five years, but it seems that these symptoms are being reflected outside the berm as well. Maybe it's just that I am getting older and less tolerant. Frankly, that would be preferable, but I doubt it.

There are days when I think it might be a good idea to take Jerry Pournelle's advice and require all able adults to carry firearms with them at all times when in public. This makes more sense when you recall Pournelle's Law, which is, "An armed society is a polite society... after the first six bloody months."

[TMiles]

Here is a stupid guest I had today. I drive the Monorail at The W.D.W. complex. For those of you that don't know, the north wing of the Contemporary is being leveled to make way for A 15 story vacation club building.

Well with that said, a guest, seeing the building in shambles, asked, "what happened to the building?"

I responded with the above statement. Then she said, "Are there still people in those rooms?"

So blown away with that comment, I couldn't answer, I just set there trying to keep from laughing until I reached the Magic Kingdom Station, where she got out.

Terry

[leftcoaster]

Well with that said, a guest, seeing the building in shambles, asked, "what happened to the building?"

I responded with the above statement. Then she said, "Are there still people in those rooms?"

So blown away with that comment, I couldn't answer, I just set there trying to keep from laughing until I reached the Magic Kingdom Station, where she got out.

Terry

So it is true what they say...."...no guests actually die inside any of the parks."








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They die in the resorts. :p:

[Syndrome]

I think that part of it is the two general attitudes that seem to be so prevalent today:

"It's all about ME."
"Somebody else always has to be responsible for my woes."

Kids learn that they don't have to respect authority because Mom and Dad don't want to hurt their fragile little egos. No surprise that the kid thinks he can disregard warning signs, CMs, etc., knowing that the parental units will back him up to the hilt.

And when the idiot offspring takes a header on his Heelies, it's Disney's fault for having rough pavement, and Disney should of course compensate them for the trauma.

[darph nader]

The sad part is,Syndrome is right. Don't make people feel 'bad',it might give them low self esteem. :(

[Moonliner]

The words 'dumber' and 'stupid' as used in this forum a catch-all phrases for a varirty of guest failings. Yes, some indeed would legitimately fall under the category of stupid, but others may be defined otherwise.

Clueless - these guests are so unprepared they have to be led by the hand and have everything explained to them. Good thing is they have the chance of learning and evolving into good guests.

Skeptic - these guests purposely fail to be drawn into the magic of the parks. Everything is fake. They are more concerned with maximizing there dollar spent then finding the joy of the experience.

Mugwumps - their mug may be in WDW but there wump is still in the outside world, and they bring all that baggage with them. They'll never enjoy the fantasy of the park as they won't let go of their ties to reality.

Oblivion - these guests just have no idea how what they do effects others around them. Whether in line, waiting for fireworks or eating in a restaurant, they are in a world of their own - end their children with them.

Spoiled - applies to many annual passholders, but not exclusively. They are truly legends in their own mind, and expect everyone, CM and other guest alike, to defer to their royal status.

So to answer the question "Are guests getting dumber", I would suggest that no, but the number of thes other variants - most notible the clueless and oblivions - are increasing. 'Smart' guests would be wise to learn to spot these guests, and ways to avoid them and their antics.

[Main Streeter]

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Hey left, you like thin ice don't you? :D: ;)