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drjones
02-16-2005, 11:45 AM
I took the family to Disneyland last Sunday, great trip.

One thing came to my attention on at least 3 separate occasions. First off, my mother in law bought a bunch of 2-fer tickets for us to go, not realizing that I already had an AP. I called the ticket hotline and verified that the value of the 2-fer could be added to my AP to upgrade it. No problem. Got to the park and went to the ticket booth to do so. I was then told that it could not be done. After a while longer, and a couple of supervisors later, we were told that we could add the value to the AP. The ticket booth CM's were not aware of this. Side note: All Cm's were very fiendly and courteous and I was not irate during the process, having done something similar last year.

Then for lunch, to the Village Haus we go. My mother in law loves onions on her burgers and we usually have to request them, no problem. The cashier CM said that we cannot have onions for the burgers, even if we request them. Kind of a dissappointment, but oh well...We get our order and my mother in law decides to double check and lo-and -behold, they gave us onions..

Isn't there training that CM's go through to know what can and cannot be done? It happened again throughout the day but the instances will not come to my mind, as I am writing this at work and on company time. Will ask the family for other instances.

In no way am I complaining, more like musing, because I have been to the park enough times to know what I can And Can't get away with. and I accept that. I don't want to be a nuisance, but I like my Disneyland experience to be a certain way, so I ask if certain things are still available...etc....

Losing my train of though because the phones are ringing off the hook.....

any thoughts?

sediment
02-16-2005, 11:48 AM
1. Nobody's perfect.
2. No onions on a hamburger sounds like an absurd policy, and I would have laughed and then asked to see a manager if I were in that situation.

danyoung
02-16-2005, 04:04 PM
If you compare Disney parks to any other employer with a large turnover, you might have a better sense of why every cast member doesn't know everything. I've been at this job for about 15 months, and am only just now getting really comfortable with everything that goes on. In just about any position in the parks, there is so freakin' much to learn that it's not surprising that there are gaps in their knowledge. It helps to spend time online at the Disney fan sites and forums, and come in armed with your own set of knowledge.

Esmerelda
02-16-2005, 05:40 PM
Some of the training that CMs receive is definitely...ahem...not the best. As a new CM, I found that I could ask one question to 20 people and get AT LEAST 20 answers - lol. It becomes difficult with SO MANY employees, and so many ever changing policies and lack of communication from management. like danyoung said, it took what felt like FOREVER until I was at least semi-comfortable out there answering questions for people - it was REALLY overwhelming. I'm sorry that you had a yucky experience, but, given what I've seen...it doesn't really surprise me. :rolleyes:

Austrinken
02-16-2005, 06:05 PM
I agree with what danyoung said. From an attractions point of view, I can say that we aren't usually told what's going on around the park. I had no idea that a Snow White show was coming until a few days after it started. With things changing on such a continual basis, it's not unusual to get bad info from someone who hasn't been told exactly what's going on this week vs. last week.

SoCalDude
02-16-2005, 06:29 PM
When I worked at SW we had lots and lots of memos we had to read and sign to show we read it. This way we knew what was going on if asked.

I REALLY think DL needs this system. When we went on Tuesday I asked MANY different CMs about the Mickey Celebration and got all sorts of replies (all turned out to be wrong). I understand the thing was stil new - but when I ask peopel who work in City Hall and that little info booth by the hub about simple info like this it would be very nice if they had at least an idea of what was going on. And of all the CMs I asked, only one was upfront and flat out said 'sorry, I do not know'.

DLRCM
02-16-2005, 07:20 PM
Most CMs will have their CM Reference Guide on them (I believe you have to have it on you at all times, but I could be wrong. This is what I was told when training a while ago.) That way, when a guest asks "What time does DCA close" or "When are the showtimes for Fantasmic" then we just whip it out of our pockets and look it up. That's what I do. It's fairly easy!

MrsG
02-16-2005, 07:31 PM
Most CMs will have their CM Reference Guide on them (I believe you have to have it on you at all times, but I could be wrong. This is what I was told when training a while ago.)
Just went through training and there was no mention of this guide.

Stupid_American
02-16-2005, 08:04 PM
I've learned to never act until I get the same story from at least 2 CMs! :D

Niwel
02-16-2005, 08:46 PM
When I was in attractions in 1998 every CM had our weekly guide (show hours and other park info, like where to buy sunscreen and what time Village Haus closed). When I checked in at Pinocchio's office (where we had to go before each shift to find out what rotation we were on that day) we had to sign in and read all the "new info for that day" which was kept in a large binder that we were encouraged to read whenever we could. I think occasionally they had us sign something saying we had read the info.

I was always told never say "no" ... say "I don't know, but I will find out." It depends on the dedication of the CM ... some care more than others.

Mark Goldhaber
02-16-2005, 08:49 PM
I'm sure that a contributory factor has got to be the fact that Traditions has been cut from a 5-day program to a 1-afternoon class.

drjones
02-16-2005, 09:11 PM
the wife reminded me of the 3rd instance...

She bought a commuter mug from the Market house on Main St..


She was told by the CM that morning that if she kept the receipt she could get free refills all day, just like she's done with a regular coffee purchase*

When she went back later that evening she was told by a different CM that the refill was only at time of purchase...WTH


*Some CM's in the last 3 years we have had APs stated that you could get free coffee refills anywhere in the park, some say only at the market house...
...some CM's throughout the park refill the coffee for free, others say we have to go to the market house....


....You CM's out there, what IS the policy for Coffee refills?

SCUBAbe
02-16-2005, 09:19 PM
the wife reminded me of the 3rd instance...

She bought a commuter mug from the Market house on Main St..


She was told by the CM that morning that if she kept the receipt she could get free refills all day, just like she's done with a regular coffee purchase*

When she went back later that evening she was told by a different CM that the refill was only at time of purchase...WTH


*Some CM's in the last 3 years we have had APs stated that you could get free coffee refills anywhere in the park, some say only at the market house...
...some CM's throughout the park refill the coffee for free, others say we have to go to the market house....


....You CM's out there, what IS the policy for Coffee refills?


My mother gets coffee on every visit. the markethouse has always told her the coffee is free when you buy the mug at the time of purchase. So, basically..buy a coffee mug get a free cup of coffee. They have never said anything about refills.

Esmerelda
02-16-2005, 10:49 PM
Ok, so here is how it is supposed to go, at least as far as I have been told, and I work at Market House quite a bit. There is one free cup of coffee included with the purchase of a mug. As far as I know, this is not refillable and is good only at the time of purchase and only for mugs purchased at Market House. This isn't advertised and for most people it's just a nice little surprise that they weren't expecting. Nothing can be substituted for coffee basically because everything that isn't the four flavors of coffee comes out of a machine (hot chocolate, etc.) and, well, I really don't know why that makes it special, but apparently it does ;)

As for coffee refills, we will give refills as many times as a guest wants on the day of the purchase (it's $2.50, by the way :) ) as long as they show us the receipt. It is NOT good for refills anywhere but Market House and we won't refill coffee that was bought anywhere else. You don't have to bring the cup, and you don't have to get the same kind you got the first time. Refills apply only to regular coffee (regular, decaf, french vanilla, and hazelnut) and don't apply to the cinnamon tea latte, hot chocolate, or cappucinos.

Again, this is how things seem to operate when I'm there...can't vouch for the policies other CMs mysteriously seem to use. I hope to see you all soon - remember to bring your receipts back for refills!!! :)

sdfilmcritic
02-16-2005, 11:11 PM
They must have sour onions.

Andrew
02-16-2005, 11:15 PM
Just went through training and there was no mention of this guide.
It's the folded sheet most CMs carry. It has operating hours, show schedules, attraction closures, information on special events and groups... pretty much the answer to any likely Guest question can be found in very teeny tiny print on this page. Ask your lead, I'm sure he or she has one.

I Heart Disneyland!
02-16-2005, 11:41 PM
I work for a large corporation...bank. It is SO hard to have a consistent answer for every situation. I agree with sediment, the person is human. And, if you didn't like the answer, I would have asked for a manager too. I imagine the turnover is huge at DL, as it is at the bank where I work. To get everyone to have the same, standard answer, or knowledge, is almost impossible. Sadly.

Stupid_American
02-17-2005, 05:53 AM
Ok, so here is how it is supposed to go, at least as far as I have been told, and I work at Market House quite a bit. There is one free cup of coffee included with the purchase of a mug. As far as I know, this is not refillable and is good only at the time of purchase and only for mugs purchased at Market House. .........

.........As for coffee refills, we will give refills as many times as a guest wants on the day of the purchase (it's $2.50, by the way :) ) as long as they show us the receipt. It is NOT good for refills anywhere but Market House and we won't refill coffee that was bought anywhere else. You don't have to bring the cup, and you don't have to get the same kind you got the first time. - remember to bring your receipts back for refills!!! :)

Am I confused?

bradk
02-17-2005, 06:20 AM
i think what she's saying is that you buy an empty mug and they offer to give you free coffee to fill it once. (although that sounds really strange to put it that way).

and then what they do, which they aren't necessarily supposed to do according to the book, is give free refills of coffee throughout that day only.

kbanmen
02-17-2005, 06:58 AM
Just went through training and there was no mention of this guide.

Oh really Mrs G.. they stressed this guide all throughout our trianing

bradk
02-17-2005, 07:00 AM
doesn't the necessity of the guide vary between departments?

kbanmen
02-17-2005, 07:07 AM
it probably does, I mean I work graveyard custodian (we are told to have it on hand ) but hey, I never really see any guests, sometimes when I am leaving work on my way to the shuttle I will see a guest (especially during the weekend) guess this is when I may have to use it

ChipmunkStar
02-17-2005, 07:52 AM
Re: the Magic Kingdom Cavalcade.


There really wasn't much information (and by really much, I mean absolutely none) put out regarding the Cavalcade to any other department. The only reason a few people in our department knew anything (which was still little when the Cavalcade opened) was because we were friends with the folks in the cavalcade, and they'd tell us where to stand.

Blame the people who put out NO information, not the CMs on the front line. It's really not their fault that they didn't know anything at the time.

DLRCM
02-17-2005, 11:01 AM
doesn't the necessity of the guide vary between departments?


It's just a general "resortwide" guide. I work Disneyland attractions, but there are showtimes for DCA and park closures, etc. The questions I would get at my attraction would be the same they would get over at DCA. ("When are the fireworks?" "What time does DCA close?" "When and where is the Christmas parade?" "When does Splash, Jungle, Tiki go back up?") It's all on there. I'm sure though custodial has the same ones, because they have the same questions we would. I'm not sure about other depts.- foods, merchandise, etc. But I would think they'd have the same ones. At our CM checkin point, they are there for anyone of us to grab. I haven't seen any department specific ones. I love the Reference guides...I actually find them quite handy!

Aurora
02-17-2005, 11:29 AM
They have the guides right at Harbor Point. Its up to the CMs to grab one on their way in, some just walk right past them though.