100% agree with the greater prevalence of rude CMs. I'm more of a WDW vet, but also have been to DL no less than 10 times over the past decade. Just returned from a holiday trip where we did 5 days in the parks, and must say the customer service issue was definitely noticeable and much more prominent than any previous trip. Other than the general lack of "pixie dust" and "magic" (which I no longer expect, to be honest), there were several incidents where the CM was being downright disrespectful and/or incompetent:
Incident #1. Indiana Jones - This is DD's first trip where she's tall enough to ride Indy and she was very excited. As the queue proceeds into the chamber where the film plays, the queue bifurcated into two. Following the ladies that were directly in front of us, I went to one side of the bifurcated line while DW and DD, being excited as they were, didnt follow and went to the other side. When I noticed, I walked back a couple of steps to them and got them to join me on my side of the line, which also happened to have way less people. The CM standing at the end of the chamber immediately proceeded to shout at us to get back to the end of the line or to get out altogether. Startled, I explained to him what just happened and that the ladies immediately in front of us were the same people we followed since entering the queue. He continued to shout "go back or get out" several times. If DD were not present, I may have gone to the back of the line so as to avoid confrontation. However, I didn't want to bring her on a "walk of shame" and basically falsely admit wrongdoing, so I offered instead to stay on our side of the queue while he lets everyone in the chamber go in front of us, just to show we were not trying to cut in line. That's exactly what happened. But after it was our turn to go, he proceeded to shout at us again, saying he gave us a chance to "go back or get out". I finally raised my voice so everyone around could hear what actually happened and how rude he was being. As an immigrant and visible minority, I have to say the repeated shouts of "get out" did strike me harder than I thought it would.
Incident #2. SWGE - Walking by the entrance to Rise of the Resistance (end of December, ride opens on Jan 17), I saw three CMs standing there not doing much, so I went up to one of them and joked that I'm here for the "soft opening". He proceeded to give me the schpeel about Jan 17 opening date, so I thanked him and clarified I was just joking. I was curious though as to whether any of them had seeing the inside of the attraction, so asked if there's been a CM preview. The lady CM gave me a curt one word answer, so I quickly proceeded to walk away as they were clearly in no mood to chat. As I was walking away, the lady gave a look to the CM next to her, and said "soft opening... psht... so stupid". This was literally within earshot, and she could've waited 5 more seconds to trash me behind my back and I wouldn't have known.
Incident #3. Bag check - This incident impacted the family in front of us at bag check a lot more than it did us. The line we were in was moving very slowly, and it became apparent why - the CM was painstakingly going through every single pack. Nonetheless, I know it's a hard and important job, and I can't fault him for being thorough. However, when the family in front of us pulled out their GoPro kit, which contained a mini-tripod (which a very short extensible portion that was no longer than 3 inches), the CM told them to leave the premises. The husband had already gone through the detectors, and came back to help the wife and both were incredulous, since mini tripods are typically allowed under park rules. The CM insisted that they leave, and only after repeated firm demands from the husband, ultimately got a supervisor involved who eventually let the family through. When it was our turn, I opened every single packing cube (which we use to compartmentalize our bags) in my bag ahead of time so he could readily inspect. After zipping them all back up and storing them back in the bag, he then asked me to open the same packing cubes again, to which I said you just inspected them. He sternly told me if he did he would remember. By this point the family behind us was incredulous as well, and I started to lose patience. He again refused to budge and ordered us to re-open the items that just checked 30 seconds ago... Security CMs have a tough job, and perhaps the guy was extra stressed out that day, but makes you wonder what type of competence screening/training are involved when they were hired.
Incident #4. Bag check (again) - Non park day, I was going into DTD by myself to grab a couple of things, with no bag. I believe there's typically a no-bag line, but didnt see one this time. But there was hardly a line up so doesn't matter anyways. I went up to the nearest check point, just after a family with stroller got into the same check point ahead of me. While the CM (call him CM#1) was getting ready to check their bags and stroller, I asked from the side if I could directly proceed to the detectors. Not sure if CM#1 didnt hear me or was ignoring me, but no response, so I looked to the next CM (CM#2) standing at the detector, who gestured for me to proceed on. But as soon as I walked toward CM#2, CM#1 yelled at me to stop and not cut in line, to which I replied I'm not trying to cut in line and honestly thought I could just go to the detectors since I had no bags. I then apologized and offered to go back to the bag check table, after the family that was being checked (or to any other check points that were literally empty at that time). CM#1 said no need, since you are already at the detectors. So I thanked him and apologized again, thinking the misunderstanding was resolved... only to have him yell again, ostensibly talking to the family, but loud enough for me to hear, basically deriding me for cutting in line. It just seems completely petty and unnecessary especially since I literally just apologized and offered to re-enter bag check.
Most of these issues started as non-issues, being simple misunderstanding or confusion that could've easily been cleared up and resolved via a quick, courteous conversation. We still enjoyed our trip and had other wonderful CM interactions, but it's issues like these that make us think twice about booking the next trip to DL.
