Post
by Cygnus » Mon Aug 14, 2006 7:06 pm
Hello fellow CMs, first post (more or less). Been reading the forum for over a year now, just felt it was about time to add my buck o'five.
I did my CP in Operations in Fantasyland at MK, which was usually a blast. Not for the work, but for the people watching, and for listening to just how stupid most can be. I get the feeling that many are just as dumb, even when they're not on vacation. Thought I'd share a few with you. . .
While running panel on the Winnie the Pooh ride in Fantasyland at MK, I had a mother lean over the front and half-whisper to me,
Mother: "I don't want to say anything out loud, but I know that this is the ride that kid died on."
Me: "Excuse me?"
Mother: "This is the ride that kid died on."
Me: Thinking to myself *who the heck died recently??? Oh yes,* "No ma'am, you're thinking of Mission: Space at Epcot. Different park."
Mother: "That's OK, I understand if you can't admit it out loud."
Nobody has ever died on Winnie the Pooh and when someone does, it will be due to their own negligence and stupidity, or natural causes.
More WtP (This time, I'm on the unload panel):
Mother: "That ride was too fast.You guys need to slow it down.Somebody speeded it up.It didn't use to be that fast.I think we should be able to go on again because it was too fast."
Me (gives her a quizzical look): "The ride only goes one speed ma'am. We have no control over it."
Mother: "Well you need to slow it down because the kids couldn't read everything when they went through it.It was too fast.We want antother ride at a slower speed."
Me: "Well ma'am, if you could see everything on the first time through, there wouldn't be any reason to ever ride it again now would there?"
Mother storms off with brood in tow, still complaining. No, I'm not going to let you ride again for a ridiculous excuse like that one. Try again later.
The rides are controlled by computers running software written by Disney Scientific Systems. Considering what the software does, it's highly secure, controlled, and pretty much NEVER changes once it gets to a workable state. To adjust the speed of the ride, I'd have to rewrite and recompile that software (first I'd have to study up on ladder logic programming and then find where the speed controls are). I kinda like my job so I'm not even going to think about doing things like that. It's one thing when a child is scared that the Barnstormer is too fast so we make a big show of putting it in 'slow mode', but this woman was just nuts.
Another situation:
While holding down the floor as greeter at the Hall of Fame in Toontown at MK, I heard one of those British soccer hooligan fathers ask his kids if they wanted to go see "Princesses, Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore, or Donald and Girl Mickey (Minnie Mouse)."
Yes, he earned the title 'British soccer hooligan'. I had a Coordinator from England that pitched a fit every time we called him 'British'. He always asserted that he was 'English'. When I asked him what the difference was, he asked me if I was a redneck. Point taken.
I think my favorite however happened last summer. . .
I had literally just clocked in and was walking over to FSky strollers down a hot, humid, nasty, sweaty, crowded street when someone came running up to me and said that there was a woman 'over there' that needed help. I looked to where the guest was pointing and sure enough, there was a seriously 'luxurious' woman (Disney euphemism for obese) with a face redder than the angry smiley :mad: . Crap, another one that doesn't understand Florida weather, or anything about the weather for that matter. Anyway, I guided her and her family (at least they were giving her a hand, I have other stories about similar situations that will make you sick) over to the bench in front of FSky, sat her down and got her a towel full of ice from the ice cream vendor there. I also asked if he would call an alpha unit and my manager. In the meantime, I was standing near them, like I'm supposed to do in these situations, keeping the crowd away, making sure she doesn't get any worse, and asking the family if they need anything until the alpha unit gets there when a guy comes up to me. . .
Guest: "Where's my stroller."
Me: "Was this a Disney stroller or your personal one?"
Guest: "One of the blue ones (park stroller)"
Me: "OK, where did you park it last?"
Guest: "It was in this lot, now it's not there any more."
Me: "Are you sure? We move the strollers around inside there pretty often to make room for new ones coming in."
Guest: "You MOVED my stroller? You can't do that!"
Me: "Two things, number one, that's Disney property and number two, if it's parked in the wrong place, I can move it, now are you sure it was in this lot?"
Guest: "Yes."
Me: "Then it probably got moved, but it would still be in there somewhere."
couple of beats
Guest (obviously expecting me to go find it for him) "Well why are you just standing there?!?"
Me: (giving him an incredulous look) "Because I've got a medical emergency here." (I'm standing over a woman whose face is so red she could attend a costume party as a devil or a tomato without the need for makeup).
Guest: "Oh. Well you shouldn't be moving people's strollers around!"
At which point I turned away from him and refused to acknowledge him any more.
