Cast member attitude.

disneyboundteacher

Disneyboundteacher
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
just got back from a week trip on Oct 14. I have been going to WDW 2 or 3 times a year for about 16 years. I have to say I have noticed the decline of cast member attitude and knowledge for the past 4-5 years. This trip was took the cake. So much that we have decided to do a cruise and maybe other destinations this coming year. I had to practically beg for bell services to take us and our bags to our room at SSR. Mind you that it was 9:30 at night and not busy. Our luggage was late from the airport...I know that's normal. 16 hours late! I had to call and then the bellman said yeah, there here. I said can you bring them to my room? He actually sighed & said o.k.

Second. We were at MNSSHP on Pirates. My brother and I were at the front of our party in line. The chains were set for a long wait line and they decided to changed the line in between my husband and I. I turn around and he's not there. We come the opposite loading side and our party is on a boat in 2 boats in front. I tell the cast member you separated our party moving the chain. I was not yelling, mad or wanting to demand I ride with them. I just wanted them to be aware. The girl, said" you'll get off at the same place, now get on the boat!" I was floored!

Third and final. These are the big three of numerous experiences. We had seen the Craig and Ryno video about the corn dogs, but I couldn't remember where. I stopped to ask 3 cast members, standing and talking in frontier land. He said "ewwwwww, I'm a vegetarian I don't know!" The 2 girls laughed and said they don't know either and turned back to their conversation. I can't believe he said I don't know and didn't say let me find out.

I wanted to go off, but by Sil just grabbed my arm and said come on. Has anyone else noticed the decline?
 
It's a fact that guests that return often to WDW over time WILL see the decline in many things including the cast member attitude. Sad but true. One factor is that the front line cast members at WDW could possibly be the worst job in central Florida; these cast members are not paid well, their hours are bad, they are treated really bad by their managers, it's simply a really bad place to work! Is this an excuse? No, but it is a factor for why we see the decline in cast member attitude.
 
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I agree it's difficult putting up with people that thing they are entitled, but being rude is not o.k. I did contact Disney after I got home, but no response of course. I should have there, but I don't want to cause someone a job. I blame management. Training and supervision produce customer service. If cast members know that customer contact is important, supervised, rewarded and there are consequences for performance, employee behavior changes.
 


I blame it on the scaling back of Traditions course that all new cms must take (at least I assume they still have to take it). I was told a couple of years ago that it had been trimmed back from a week to a day. Fewer and fewer cms seem to appreciate or understand the devotion to customer service that Walt Disney wanted in his parks. Don't give up hope, however. There are still many dedicated and caring cms scattered throughout the parks.
 
Just returned from my week at Disney yesterday, and I can add to the OP's sentiment. We're at the MNSSHP standing in the trick or treat line. It's overcrowded and chaotic. We get to the front of the line where the CM is standing at a large barrel of candy either handing it out or letting kids reach in and grab one. My little 6 year old is kind of overwhelmed and freezes at the front of the line for about 5 seconds when CM asks if he wants any candy. He's trying to speak but she barks over him, 'do you want any candy, or not', rolls her eyes, clearly annoyed and complains something I couldn't quite hear in the chaos to the other CM. My husband pulls my son out of line candyless at this point because of the pushing and chaos. It was really unpleasant, but more importantly, unnecessary. My last day at Yacht Club, the bell services person is clearly annoyed that I want to put a bag into my stored luggage that is going on the bus to the airport. She is almost rude enough that I'm about to ask her why - but just short of it, so she can deny it if I report it. I've got about five more of these, and I'm not being over-critical. These kinds of things had never happened on previous trips. Not going back anytime soon for this reason, as well as for the crowd levels at the parks.
 
I so don’t want to agree with OP but sadly I have also seen the decline in CM’s behavior. What I see so much now is CM’s discussing personal things and totally ignoring The guests and complete apathy on the part of some. You can tell they would rather be anywhere else than their job. I still see great acts of kindness and happiness among the majority of the CM’s so this keeps us coming back!
 


Agree with all of this. We are just heading back home from a 4 night stay. Just wow. What in the world is going on.
 
I’ll be honest... on our trip in January one of the biggest surprises was how unfriendly a huge amount of cast members were.

I remember one of our first encounters was with a grumpy CM in the Pop food court the day we arrived. My son just looked at me hurt, expecting friendly and wonderful staff at Disney, and this was his first experience.

There were great CMs too, but a lot were just ordinary, in my opinion...not unlike I would find at other amusement parks.
 
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Returned last week, agree 100%. My sister in law actually had her cell phone stolen, the thief was right there and the cast member told us we had to go to city hall and fill out a report. They would not even call security for us. I also noticed the properties seemed to be in disrepair, lights blown/missing, paint peeling, etc. This was my third trip, my spouses 4th and my in laws first. My sister in law wanted to know why we liked Disney so much and we had to tell her, this was not the Disney we knew. Really sad as we will not be going back again.
 

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