Cast Members at DLR

[norcalguy2014]

I have observed FAR more rude and "non magical" park guests than CM's over the years. Most of the CM's that I'vd encountered are personable snd courteous--and that's really all that one can realistically expect from low wage earners, many of whom spend long hours on their feet and/or in the pouring rain or seating heat. WE as guests are just as responsible for creating the "magic" by being considerate, positive, and open to all the wonderful experiences that a Disney visit offers.

 

[lcp9]

I am SURE dealing with the public at Disneyland is terrible...unfortunately, when people are paying big bucks for something, they're going to have high expectations. If I lived locally and went enough that my AP averaged out to $20/visit or whatever, and I could come ride one ride and have that be it, I would have much lower expectations. We are pretty fortunate in that we can afford to bring our kids a few times a year, but many families save for years to afford a once in a lifetime trip. So...I get it, and I would feel terrible if someone left the parks thinking it wasn't worth it, because so many times for us it HAS been worth it. FWIW I do not believe I have ever run into a less than pleasant CM, but we also try to be pleasant to them. If I have, it obviously wasn't a big enough deal that I can remember it

 

[onlyoneash]

Back when I was going to medical school, I worked as a ER registrar at night. Holy crap, talk about minimum wage and dealing with the worst side of humanity. I mean, this was most people's most stressful time in their lives and my heart ached for them ...but geez did I get peed/pooed/vomited on/gun pulled on/screamed at until I was mentally broke. I couldn't keep up with the job demands with everything else going on in my life, so I moved departments. I didn't wait until I was so jaded with my job that I was being rude back to people.

I moved to a different department until I finished school. Yes, I still got yelled at here and there, but I got through it.

So...moral of the story....MOST people are at Disneyland because they want to be and they are pleasant and paying a lot of money to be there as well.

People have bad days, including CMs. But do I feel "bad" for them to the point that I think it's ok to be rude to people (aka paying customers)? No. They may not get paid very much (which is relative), but if they can't deal with the job requirements as were explained to them upon hire, then they shouldn't take the job, or transfer elsewhere.

Sorry, there are plenty of minimum wage jobs to go around that are more difficult than a Disney CM.

 

[BadPinkTink]

@onlyoneforme on the transfer departments part. I dont know specifics but I do know that if a CM wants to transfer departments, they loose alot of privileges and benefits which they have built up in their current department. For example, say a person started working on one of the snack carts but 5 years later has had enough of being out in the sun all day every day and wants to transfer to a different department, well they start back at entry level wage and loose privileges like choosing vacation time or shift preferences.

Also many of the older CM's are afraid to leave Disney as they need the health insurance that Disney provides.

 

[onlyoneash]

Also many of the older CM's are afraid to leave Disney as they need the health insurance that Disney provides.

Health insurance is definitely one of the reasons many people stay in jobs that they do not enjoy. But on the plus side, a lot of jobs don't even offer health insurance anymore, so it's nice that Disney still does.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

I've only been twice (recently) and there's only one CM who stands out as 'not up to standard'. We were trying to find our way to the F! seating area after our F! meal at RBT and got shuttled around from one line to another because the first CM told us, "Keep moving!" after we'd asked if this was the area we were to go to. Instead of actually listening to our question, I got shouted at and then redirected three more times before ending up where we first started. If it were just me, I wouldn't have minded, but with two tired kids and an easily-irked DH to deal with too, I was ready to just scream!

Instead, I worked really hard to keep my calm and ended up continuously asking each CM we saw where we were to go for the reserved seating area as we kept getting told either to move along or go "over there". It was frustrating and DH was ready to walk out of the park without seeing the show... on our first night!

We eventually did find our proper area, but getting shunted around by CMs who didn't seem to know what was going on, other than to keep the flow of traffic going, and who didn't take the time to listen to my question, just made our first evening not a great experience.

Two nights later, though, a CM at the gate allowed DH to come back in without his ticket (which I had for FP purposes and forgot to give back to him) because he proved he'd been in the Park by showing photos on his phone from that day. It was too bad DH didn't get the name, otherwise we would have put in a compliment at City Hall.

Every other CM has been helpful and friendly. So those are pretty good odds with the amount of people working in the Parks.

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

On the whole, I've found the CMs at DLR to be amazing. Generally, the only issues I have on trips to Disneyland are with airline employees - they usually don't understand regulations concerning child seats or issues with passports from specific countries and won't bother to listen to your question because they think you're asking the same question as everyone else and will give you incorrect information.

On the whole, I have found the CMs to go above and beyond with their job descriptions. I do feel as though they're criminally underpaid, which is a shame because you can see how wonderful the long term employees are who have seniority, and I can't help but feel that Disney would benefit from making a concerted effort to ensure that being a CM is a viable, long-term career choice.

 

[Marsh215]

I'm taking my first WDW trip in March so I cannot compare yet, but I've had nothing but great interactions at DLR. For example this happened last month.

I went to the churro cart in tomorrow land, my partner and I wanted to split one, and I ordered a lightsaber churro. The CM at the cart told me that they have been discontinued. I said “ No worries I’ll have one of what you got” . I paid and as I was putting my card away the CM grabbed the churro. As I look up from my wallet she looks at me and says “you asked for two right?” and winks real obvious like. This made me so happy. I had already been feeling the magic, but this point really sold me. The CMs really are the best part of Disneyland.

I've yet to have a negative interaction at DLR and I think that the CMs are what makes the place great. I love the interactions when you go through the gates, I even had someone from my town in Northern CA and she struck up a conversation and she made the turn styles a special place. I've had great interactions with the sweeps, I had a cotton candy cart CM who was great when my credit card split in half (it was cracked already).

I agree with everyone who thinks the CMs are underpaid. If I could make a living wage as a starting CM I would likely quit my current job and go move to Anaheim and try to make a go of it. I've worked for Disney before, and was underpaid for my position then. I've found that it is common for anyone who works below the line to be underpaid by comparison to other studios.

 

[Morningsun70]

I've never been to WDW, but I did notice that between my last two trips, Oct 2011 and Feb 2016, the knowledge and helpfulness level of cast members seemed to drop noticeably. Not enough to negatively impact my vacation, but enough that I noticed when I am usually oblivious to such things. The upside was that I noticed the really great cast members even more

 

[Satchmo128]

FWIW, I went to Seattle last summer. I found people to be especially nice. I've lived in LA for the past four years (moved here from Chicago) and this isn't a city I'd call particularly friendly.

Glad to hear it! I think locals are friendlier to people who are visiting the area than to people who move here from out of state, too

 

[nervous1sttimer]

I said the exact same thing when we returned from our first DLR trip in 2014. I got flamed, of course, because this board is mainly for people who love DLR and don't like to think it could be inferior (not saying it is or isn't - but people here typically don't like even the slightest insinuation that it might lack in some ways compared to WDW).

My final takeaway was that they are two very different places and people are going to prefer one over the other for different reasons. They can both be amazing in their own ways.