Make a wish family files complaint

[lsg1]

Family who visited Walt Disney World courtesy of Make-A-Wish Foundation files complaints against theme park

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/staten_island_family_who_visit.htm

 

[Disneylover99]

Wow. I feel sorry for the CM.

 

[sets14]

Obviously, not witnessing this means the mom could be spot on or she could have taken the comment wrong. What we do know is that the policy on party nights is non-ticketed guests are not given access to rides, shops etc after 7:00 so in that, the CM was right, wish kid or not. Had it been my family, receiving a free trip, I would have shrugged it off, and enjoyed the rest of my magical trip. The mom's reaction now if just diminishing the magic every time she dwells on it.

 

[3Gsandme]

From reading the article, it really felt like this Mom was using her son to get beyond preferential treatment. I know Make A Wish kids are treated like royalty at Disney (and they should be) but using your wish kid to do something a cast member has told you that you cannot do? It feels kind of gross to me.

 

[joanchris]

Obviously, not witnessing this means the mom could be spot on or she could have taken the comment wrong. What we do know is that the policy on party nights is non-ticketed guests are not given access to rides, shops etc after 7:00 so in that, the CM was right, wish kid or not. Had it been my family, receiving a free trip, I would have shrugged it off, and enjoyed the rest of my magical trip. The mom's reaction now if just diminishing the magic every time she dwells on it.

Exactly. Just walk away.

 

[lsg1]

Obviously, not witnessing this means the mom could be spot on or she could have taken the comment wrong. What we do know is that the policy on party nights is non-ticketed guests are not given access to rides, shops etc after 7:00 so in that, the CM was right, wish kid or not. Had it been my family, receiving a free trip, I would have shrugged it off, and enjoyed the rest of my magical trip. The mom's reaction now if just diminishing the magic every time she dwells on it.

My thoughts exactly

 

[3Gsandme]

According to the article, she stood outside with the kids crying for an hour.

That's not normal.

 

[lsg1]

Also, why is this article in a local new york paper? The mother probably called the paper to tell then her story to get publicity

 

[disney david]

It dose not show when I click the link also I wouldn't trust anything g that on a local New York ewe site they love making Disney look bad. Even making things up if it a party night and you don't have ticket you can't go in after 7 even if your in the pa I they make you leave. Tray everyone across the board not just guest with disabilities or wish kids it also able bodied guest to so not sure why to complain. It not like thy let a non wish guest in they close the doors and on Main Street even if you have a ticket to the event they close to get people out and don't open the stores to around 730. They enforce it fully to everyone fairly just because your on a wish trip dose not mean they have to bend rules and let you do things other guest can't.


All this will do is hurt make a wish kids in the future

 

[Sparkly]

I can't even read the article- it doesn't show up on the page :/

 

[sharadoc]

You click on the "News" link across the top and then scroll down to find the article. That's how I got it.

Unfortunately, it seems like she was used to being treated special everywhere and just couldn't understand why that didn't happen in this case.

I guess CMs are feeling more empowered because of the GAC/DAS thing. Disability doesn't mean special treatment so that CM figured it would apply in this case.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

I can't even read the article- it doesn't show up on the page :/

Same here, I think it moved, you have to search the website to find the article. I typed in "Disney make a wish" and the article popped up. Here is the link to it to try again:

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/staten_island_family_who_visit.html

PS agreeing with everyone else, sounds like this mother is using her situation to her full advantage. That's what is great about this country, no accountability for your own actions...The store closed at 7pm..it was 7:15. She was too late end of story, but nope its this cast members fault for being insensitive. She should have stop arguing with CM and went to downtown Disney they are usually open till midnight! But then again, that would not make the paper.

 

[disney david]

Same here, I think it moved, you have to search the website to find the article. I typed in "Disney make a wish" and the article popped up. Here is the link to it to try again:

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/staten_island_family_who_visit.html

PS agreeing with everyone else, sounds like this mother is using her situation to her full advantage. That's what is great about this country, no accountability for your own actions...The store closed at 7pm..it was 7:15. She was too late end of story, but nope its this cast members fault for being insensitive. She should have stop arguing with CM and went to downtown Disney they are usually open till midnight! But then again, that would not make the paper.

Thanks the cm should of said anything ore the. Sorry the store closed because of the hollween show. And suggested she visit down town Disney or another park and that been it if they nice no matter they won't get in trouble. She lucky she was on a wish trip because if it was any other guest arguing with a cm and security had to be called they would be ringed and possible banned from Disney property no matter what the cm said. I don't think his has to d with the das issue I think it more a cm got tired of trying to explain and made a mistake not that it a excuse they still get in trouble for saying that. But after all said and done she got what she wanted it took some more time by she did get special treatment because no one else would f been able to to shop if they didn't buy tickets no matter how much they argued. Disney did want the head lines of Disney security kicks out wish family for causing a disturbance in mk. Disney will apologize and the cm will be disciplined but in the end she got to go shop make a wish is not going to fight Disney to much and they do so much for make a wish.

 

[ttintagel]

Yeah, there are definitely big holes in the narrative here. If the CM did say she was taking advantage (which, honestly, it really sounds like she was), especially if he said it in front of the kid, that wasn't a great thing to do.

On the other hand, I've worked retail, and just from the quotes from the Mom in the news story, I can EASILY imagine a situation where she might have stood there screaming, yelling, throwing a tantrum, making personal attacks against the CM, and pushing and pushing until anyone without superhuman levels of cool would lose a little bit of control. I've seen my share of customers like that; they know that employees can only take so much, and they'll either give in or snap. And if they snap, then you can either go over their heads or sue.

Sure, he could have called a manager to deal with her right away, but I've been in the MK when they're emptying out for a hard-ticket party, and it's a zoo. Back in my retail days, you'd page a manager and wait 20 minutes; half the time the customer got fed up and stormed out waiting. With the chronic understaffing levels at Disney parks, I can only imagine how hard it is to get a manager on the floor when it's not an emergency.

So, we don't know the whole story, but I find it plausible either way.

 

[livndisney]

Is there anywhere that says the CM admitting to making the comment? Did anyone outside the family hear the comment? What I am reading is the Mom was trying to use her son's Wish trip to get what she wanted. It was 7:15, the park closed to all guests without party tickets at 7:00.

 

[quigs3]

I completely agree with the previous posts. That said, when the cast member realized that she was going to make the scene that obviously ensued, why didn't they just let her do her shopping and explain they'd have to leave as soon as they were finished since they didn't have tickets to the party? I've seen many instances where CMs make exceptions, and this one seems fairly minor. It's was only 15 minutes after the cut-off, and it's not like they were going to be able to sneak on rides or anything. So they might have been able to buy some party-specific souvenirs -so what?! You have to make judgement calls all the time when you work in customer service, and I think this is one of those times. At any rate, taking this to the newspaper after all that Disney does for kids and the Make-A-Wish Foundation is preposterous!!!

 

[SueM in MN]

Obviously, not witnessing this means the mom could be spot on or she could have taken the comment wrong. What we do know is that the policy on party nights is non-ticketed guests are not given access to rides, shops etc after 7:00 so in that, the CM was right, wish kid or not. Had it been my family, receiving a free trip, I would have shrugged it off, and enjoyed the rest of my magical trip. The mom's reaction now if just diminishing the magic every time she dwells on it.

I agree with this.
We don't know what the CM said - it could have been insensitive or, it could have been an innocuous comment about being closed to everyone except party guests that the mom interpreted as insensitive.
It could have been as simple as the CM asking to see their party wristbands and when they didn't have those, a simple statement about the store being closed to guests who were not party attendees.

We don't know:
- that the CM knew it was a child on a MAW trip
- if the CM made any other suggestions for shopping - like going to Downtown Disney or going to one of the nearby resorts.
- what the mom's reaction was when they were initially denied access to the store
- what mom/family said to the CM and how the family acted

I could see possibly making an exception to go quickly in and out if they had a single item they already knew they wanted to buy (like maybe she promised the MAW child he could get on the way out). But, not to just let the family in for general shopping because they were a MAW family.
I'm pretty sure the CM could not grant an exception if they just wanted to do general shopping (who knows how long they would be in the store); another thing we don't know is whether the CM contacted a manager and was waiting for an exception from the manager before the mom stood there crying.

Also, why is this article in a local new york paper? The mother probably called the paper to tell then her story to get publicity

I would guess that is how it got there.
Interestingly, the article is mostly about how hard it is to be the child's mother, with very little about the actual incident.

 

[ljcrochet]

I agree with this.
We don't know what the CM said - it could have been insensitive or, it could have been an innocuous comment about being closed to everyone except party guests that the mom interpreted as insensitive.
It could have been as simple as the CM asking to see their party wristbands and when they didn't have those, a simple statement about the store being closed to guests who were not party attendees.

We don't know:
- that the CM knew it was a child on a MAW trip
- if the CM made any other suggestions for shopping - like going to Downtown Disney or going to one of the nearby resorts.
- what the mom's reaction was when they were initially denied access to the store
- what mom/family said to the CM and how the family acted
.

This is what the mom posted on facebook today

It was our last night there and the kids wanted to buy toys to remember the trip so we try and go into the store and the lady tells us "NO you need to go buy Halloween bands cause its past 7pm" ( by the way the bands cost $364 just to go trick or treating) so I say get the manger the manger heather comes out and says " how can I help you?" I said to her " we are here with make a wish and my son is a wish kid we understand its past 7pm (it was 7:12) but can we just go in the store to buy the kids toys? The manger turns to us and says and I quote " YOU ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE of your sons wish" now I was pissed !!!

 

[disney david]

This is what the mom posted on facebook today

Thanks for the update now it was the manager who said it not the cm either the need paper thought te cm angle was better then the manager or can she not get here story straight. If it makes it to tv will it be bob iger came and now he the one who said it. Plus 191 is a little more then a couple toys even at Disney prices.

 

[alizesmom]

One statement by the mom included "she (the CM) doesn't know what I'm going through". I do and the mom was wrong to make such a stink. The kids stood outside crying because she allowed it. Let's face it, there are people with me attitudes whether NT, disabled and even on MAW trips.