Stupid Guest Tricks

This post may not win me any plaudits on this board, but I had some disappointing experiences with Disneyland CMs over the past week, and was curious whether I was just unlucky. (And I should note that these experiences were the exception - most experiences were good ones.)

• Before arriving, I booked a 5:10pm reservation at Steakhouse 55, only to be told upon arrival that they don't actually open until 5:30pm and that the operators periodically make bookings for impossible times...

• On the 12th, the train conductor announced that the park would've closing at midnight. Then she corrected herself, and said 11pm. But the closing time was actually 8pm...

• At the Halloween party on the 11th, a CM at Star Trader was nice enough to call Showcase to see if the store had an item in stock. They did. But the CM at Showcase didn't mention that they were closed...

• On the 13th, at the Fantasmic Dessert Party, we were told that we could stay to watch the fireworks. Except that there weren't any that night...

• After our World of Color dinner, the CM serving us said we should meet at the Sonoma Terrace to be seated. Not true, at least for the first show...

• Multiple problems at the GCH, but most notably, the CM who told us that a room key wasn't required to access the sixth floor Paradise View Terrace. Good thing that I didn't believe him...

Contrary to popular beliefs, Cast Members do not know it all and are not taught it all either. They have to gather whatever missing information they can on their own or be a real Disney enthusiast. If you have a new hire helping you, God help you. If you look at a Tell-A-Cast pamphlet you will see how little information a cast member has at hand to aid them.

Sadly, not every member of the cast is a star, and even those will have an off day. Sorry you met so many.

But at least they gave you bad information cheerfully; it's better than giving you bad attitude.

avengador1 wrote:If you have a new hire helping you, God help you.

And that new hire costs less per hour than the guy who's sitting on five years seniority. Along with several other reasons you might have one.

jsilvers wrote:At the Halloween party on the 11th, a CM at Star Trader was nice enough to call Showcase to see if the store had an item in stock. They did. But the CM at Showcase didn't mention that they were closed...

The Star Trader CM gave you fine G S, yet should have looked at CRG to make sure Show was open. Times changes frequently during parties, it is very difficult to keep all times in mind. T L & M S are not close area wise, well, not to guests. I work both & would "assume" Show to stay open an hour after back of park. Show may have been open when Star Trader CM called. Seems an up in the air question to me, yet I'm overly protective of my CMs. Guests are are always told to check WOD DTD for an item O S in the parks. js, check the bottom of any of your DLR receipts there is a # you can call for to order your wanted item. You will also see an Em addy which allows you stock check & to order. Think Em is http://www.disneyshopping.com
@ avengador1, we were all new @ one time. I'm still wondering why DL keeps me. ;)

Main Streeter wrote:js, check the bottom of any of your DLR receipts there is a # you can call for to order your wanted item.

I actually did find it elsewhere, so it all worked out. In the end, none of the off-kilter information caused any real problems - i.e., I did find the dining queue for WOC, managed to grab a spot on the railing, and even had some 99¢ ponchos in my pocket. (And a big thanks to all the CMs who did make the trip fun - the Happiest Haunts tour, in particular, was a blast.)

avengador1, we were all new @ one time. I'm still wondering why DL keeps me

I wouldn't hold it against them and that is the reason why. All cast members I have ever met have always tried to help us to the best of their abilities, no matter how limited those might be. ;)

The really sad part that I found when working in Monorails was the misinformation that employees in the parks had. People would leave the parks happy until they got to us and (some of us) would attempt to tactfully set the information they had been given straight. When people are told there is a Monorail straight to the Studios from MK...

Now, to be fair, I don't believe all guests who came up having been told stuff like that had actually been told anything of the sort...

Many guests think that the monorails go to most other locations on the property. I guess they don't realize it is mainly a loop around the lagoon and a loop back and forth to EPCOT. They seemed very disappointed when this was pointed out to them.

To my knowledge, if you take the resort monorail, get off at Transportation center, you can catch another monorail heading to Epcot.

What I can't figure out are the dumb guests at DL. I had no idea that there is a monorail stop next to BTRR and stops in Tomorrowland. Really? When was that built?