CMs who never think about SHOW

[GuestJockey]

We have a few CMs like this, and it drives me NUTS! And our managers won't do anything about it! Some examples include;

• on a 3-guide VIP tour, 2 of us boarded our guests on Nemo while we asked the 3rd to watch the plethora of strollers and bags. When we got off the attraction, we found her SITTING IN the stroller! In costume, on stage. I wanted to die.
• One of our guides on the Walt tour will consistently makes the choice to WAIT for the Lilly Belle with her guests, even when it just left the station and that means you will be standing there at the station for 20 minutes with nothing to say and the tour will be late to their lunches.
• a CM in City Hall last night came backstage and asked me to sign a Helping Hand autograph for a child, and I did, not realizing that she was going to walk right back out and hand it to the kid as if Cinderella had just been hanging out in our back office (even though she was OUTSIDE our front door in the parade at the time.)

So I ask you, what to do about bad show when you've brought it to management's attention and they won't do anything about it?

[EeyoresButterfly]

I suppose you grit your teeth and bear it. I cannot believe that these people are plaids. I always thought you all had to go through a really stringent application/interview process to work GR. I guess it's not stringent enough.

I have seen my own fair share of CMs engaging in bad show. Some of the ones I can think of off the top of my head:

1.) I came dang close to dating this complete loser who we found out was engaged and a pathological liar (the reason I didn't date him.) A kid I worked with FLand would ask me all the time on stage what was up between us since I had kicked his friend to the curb. I finally had to yell at him on stage when he insisted that we discuss it in front of a woman with her two daughters. I told him, "This is not appropriate to talk about onstage, now please drop it!"

2.) A greeter at CP who was on her cell phone in a guest area. She was supposed to be checking in guests. I was there with a group to eat, and she gave me the nastiest look when I checked in, like how dare I interrupt her phone call. I quickly reported her to the manager.

3.) CMs chewing gum, being rude, or just not following the seven guest service guidelines or whatever they call them now.

4.) Sending out costumes that are peeling, scuffed, or just falling apart in general. I care a great deal for the quality of my costume. It's a huge part of character integrity, and just plain bad show.

[joanna71985]

I hate seeing bad show. It drives me crazy! It irks me, to no end, seeing CMs on stage using their cell phone, bad costumes (extremely baggy, not tucked correctly, ect), leaning against the rail/wall/counter, and so on.

[kurtisnelson]

I was at AK at the Yak & Yeti counter service, saw two CMs walk up, in costume, with nametags, ask if their discount there applied, get trays of food, and then walk over and sit down in the seating area to eat.

[Terrytunes]

We have one CM that is called on all the time to do guest control in the main enterance ticket booth lines. He stands there with his hands in his pockets, lets kids and adults sit on chains, lets the lines back up on one side of the booth while the other side has no guests!!! He wears his hair with spikes on top too. I really don't understand why he can still wear his hear that way. I get so irritated with him while I'm stitting in the booth watching all that is going on!!!
TT

[Ottar]

I was a show quality fascist I guess, but some people on a nearby team REALLY got on my nerves at times... They were in Fast Food and sold cold drinks and hot dogs and would constantly talk on their cell phones WHILE ATTENDING TO CUSTOMERS and even on occasion be so loud while conversating that even I - working in a nearby atraction well over 20 meters away - could hear the details of their wild parties the night before etc.

We also had a guy on a team I worked on (Steam Train) who would have an mp3 player in his breast pocket (quite visible!) and whenever he was not actually doing something with the train or the passengers he'd whip out his headphones and listen to music - in full view of everyone standing in line waiting for the train...

[SRT_GB]

Last year two CMs at Golden Horseshoe pissed me off so much with their Bad Show (BS) that not only did I complain at City Hall, I mailed in a written complaint. Here is an excerpt from my letter, minus names and physical descriptions of the CMs involved, that pretty much sums up what happened:

At approximately 10:00pm we visited the Golden Horseshoe for dinner. When we got there, a small queue was forming for the one cashier that was working. While waiting, we observed two male cast members leaning against the back counter having a conversation. One was named B[full name removed], a [physical description removed]. The other, whose name I did not catch, was [physical description removed].

The two made no effort to conceal the subject of their discussion: B’s desire to have sex with an attractive female guest who had been in the restaurant earlier that day. Between the time we began waiting in the queue and the time we ordered our food (approximately 5 minutes), the two never once looked at any guests and never left their positions leaning against the counter – they simply continued their sexually-based conversation. Without making any effort to eavesdrop, I managed to glean from their conversation that the subject female was possibly 16 years old, and heard several expletives and the words “statutory rape” uttered between B, the other male, and a third unseen male in the food preparation area.

Following this incident, my wife (also a former Disneyland Resort cast member) and I began to observe the Golden Horseshoe with our old Disney cast member mindsets. While the sexually oriented discussion between B and the other two cast members was not the last problematic incident we observed, it was by far the most egregious.

By contrast, I would like to compliment the cashier, whose name I unfortunately did not get. She was [physical description removed]. Although her service was not extraordinary, I could tell she was doing the best she could given a difficult set of circumstances, including a rude guest immediately in front of us in line. Between the time we entered the Golden Horseshoe and time we ordered, she was practically running the entire on stage area of the restaurant herself.

I would also like to compliment J[full name removed] at City Hall, who listened to our complaint without judgment. He did not respond with canned platitudes, nor did he defend the actions of those at the Golden Horseshoe.

My wife and I both know that had we been caught during our days working at Disneyland doing anything we observed at the Golden Horseshoe that night, we would have, at the minimum, been verbally reprimanded. We also agreed that having a conversation the likes of which we observed with B and the two others in plain view of guests would have gotten us terminated. We both know that working at Disneyland is not easy and goofing off is sometimes a necessary release. At the same time, however, we knew there was a line that should not be crossed in our actions towards and around guests. B and the two others crossed that line. This was not an example of the Disneyland that we enjoyed working at, and we sincerely hope that this is not what working at Disneyland has become in the time since we left.

I did get a written response from Guest Communications thanking me for my letter and telling me that my comments were forwarded to Foods management. It went on to say that what I described was not expected CM behavior, and thanked me for complimenting J at City Hall and the Golden Horseshoe cashier.

BTW where I mention that "the sexually oriented discussion between B____ and the other two cast members was not the last problematic incident we observed", I was referring to the fact that another CM walked into the Golden Horseshoe with her shirt untucked, text messaging on her cell phone, and that B____ and the other guy were goofing off while tables needed to be bussed or wiped down (yes, they were bussers).

[joanna71985]

Wow. That is horrible!!

[glendalais]

Last year two CMs at Golden Horseshoe pissed me off so much with their Bad Show (BS) that not only did I complain at City Hall, I mailed in a written complaint. Here is an excerpt from my letter, minus names and physical descriptions of the CMs involved, that pretty much sums up what happened:


I did get a written response from Guest Communications thanking me for my letter and telling me that my comments were forwarded to Foods management. It went on to say that what I described was not expected CM behavior, and thanked me for complimenting J at City Hall and the Golden Horseshoe cashier.

BTW where I mention that "the sexually oriented discussion between B____ and the other two cast members was not the last problematic incident we observed", I was referring to the fact that another CM walked into the Golden Horseshoe with her shirt untucked, text messaging on her cell phone, and that B____ and the other guy were goofing off while tables needed to be bussed or wiped down (yes, they were bussers).

Let me also take the opportunity to apologize. We have some real winners in Park Foods, cases in point:

A Foods Fantasmic! GC CM who curses on stage. In a loud voice. About the guests who are sitting maybe less than a yard away.

A Steward in my location who came on stage wearing his Hat (we wear Baseball caps) backwards, gangster-style .

Back of House CMs at another location who spent ~15 minutes talking about last night's party while the orders piled up.

CMs coming on stage in partial costume (street shirt, DLR pants).

EDIT: Oh, and the trainee who told a little girl that Mickey was actually a girl. Yea, he didn't last long.

And so many more....*sigh*

Again, I'm really sorry about that. It's not appropriate anywhere, and certainly not at Disneyland.

[CMGUY89]

Unfortunately Future World West has some losers as well.
I knew a guy who made a MAW family cry when he confiscated their wheelchair stroller.

CMs sleeping back at Video Monitor or in the tower console of Soarin' (major safety violation)

Grr.