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View Full Version : Nitpicking or helpful?



Ghoulish Delight
07-04-2002, 08:48 AM
CP and I were at DL till closing last night. As we left and headed for the parking structure trams, we saw that they were loading at both sides of the tram stop (since it was closing and everyone was leaving). There was a CM (actually, 4 CMs. Not sure why it took 4) standing just left of the info booth holding a sign (a sign that could have stood up on its own) that pointed people to the alternate tram loading station. That was a good thing. It did its job and the alternate loading station was actually MORE crowded than the DTD side.

BUT, the sign they were using was a changeable sign. It had 2 printed signs and a spinning arrow (so it could be pointed in any necessary direciton). One sign said "Mickey and Friends Parking Structure." The other said "Timon Parking Lot." The way it was SUPPOSED to work was that when it was over by the Structre trams, the Timon sign is covered, and vice versa. But last night, they were standing in front of the Structure trams, and both signs were uncovered. So the sign basically said "Mickey and Friends Parking Structure" and "Timon Parking Lot" with an arrow toward the M&F tram!!

Now, they make a BIG stink about training the tram CMs to beat into the tram riders' heads which tram they should get back on to. Obviously, they still have a good number of people who get confused and get on the wrong tram. So it's important that Disney make it as clear as possible. This was NOT as clear as possible. CP and I walked past it, then looked at each other. We stood debating whether we'd be considered "pushy APers" if we went back and said something. We finally decided that it was WAAY to confusing for some poor tourist, so we went back and mentioned it.

All we got was one of the 4 oh so busy (busy chatting that is) CMs walked around front, looked at it, and said "Oh. Hmm. That's supposed to be covered." And went back to his chatting. We stood there, waiting for some other kind of response, or action. Instead we got looks from the CMs like WE were some kind of jerk for trying not to confuse people. No action at all. No attempt to cover it. Heck, it was a piece of paper taped to a board. They could have just torn it off and taped a new one on later. But no. They stood there with the misleading sign.

Are we wrong here? Were we the jerks?

MonorailMan
07-04-2002, 09:17 AM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight

Are we wrong here? Were we the jerks?

No, I think you tried to do the right thing, I hate CMs who get that "Your Just a Guest, So Shut Up" attitude.

Uncle Dick
07-04-2002, 12:30 PM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
Are we wrong here? Were we the jerks?
Nope. You were right to point out the mistake. Unfortunately, some CMs (even the generally good people in RT&P) just don't care one way or the other, especially if it's not a "safety" issue. I'll check the sign tonight and see if it's been fixed. :)

Now if you start talking to the Star Tours CMs about the Starspeeder "2000" sign…

BTW, it was great seeing you guys last night, if only for a fleeting moment.

Dreamstaker
07-04-2002, 12:36 PM
You were being helpful. it is a shame your helpful suggestion was ignored.

Nitpicking would be saying gee this is a tacky paper taped on sign.

(unless you started your sentence with "I am an annual passholder") :D

Cadaverous Pallor
07-04-2002, 12:45 PM
One thing that GD didn't mention is that when I went up and said "that sign can be confusing" they looked at it, said "oh, that's supposed to be covered" and one of the guys looked at me and said in the biggest BS tone, "we'll cover it." They instantly went back to their all-important discussion. As I walked away I said thank you, but I was certain that they were NOW discussing how much they hate APers. Not to mention the fact that none of those 4 CMs even so much as budged to get something to cover the sign with.

This made me really mad. What about all the poor tourists? It took us nearly 30 seconds of deciding whether or not to go back and point out the discrepancy, but my empathy towards the tourists won out. I'd rather be known as an "annoying APer" than someone who'd walk away from a bad situation and not lend a hand.

Uncle Dick
07-06-2002, 11:16 PM
During my visit today I noticed that the sign was unchanged from the condition described by GD. What I found even more interesting was the fact that it wasn't some hourly lackey standing by the sign but rather a managerial-type blithely waving guests on to their doom (if you consider riding the Mickey and Friends around in circles to be "doomful"). The sign itself is in the wrong place completely. It's "supposed" to be positioned just outside of the Disneyland exit with one arrow pointing to the right, towards Mickey and Friends, and the other pointed to the left, towards the Lion King Tram. Apparently, it's been conscripted and now serves in a mostly futile attempt to get guests over to the neglected zone 3.

Anyway, the point is, if a suit's standing there next to the admittedly confusing sign, and doesn't care, it's unlikely anything's going to get done.

Ghoulish Delight
07-06-2002, 11:32 PM
Originally posted by Uncle Dick
During my visit today I noticed that the sign was unchanged from the condition described by GD. What I found even more interesting was the fact that it wasn't some hourly lackey standing by the sign but rather a managerial-type blithely waving guests on to their doom (if you consider riding the Mickey and Friends around in circles to be "doomful"). The sign itself is in the wrong place completely. It's "supposed" to be positioned just outside of the Disneyland exit with one arrow pointing to the right, towards Mickey and Friends, and the other pointed to the left, towards the Lion King Tram. Apparently, it's been conscripted and now serves in a mostly futile attempt to get guests over to the neglected zone 3.

Anyway, the point is, if a suit's standing there next to the admittedly confusing sign, and doesn't care, it's unlikely anything's going to get done. Only one? So they've managed to train someone to hold a sign vertical on their own without three other onlookers discussing the situation? Sounds like progress to me! :rolleyes:

Yeah, it seemed to me that at least one of the 4 we saw hovering around the sign looked supervisorial. In fact, I believe it was the one which CP mentions above who looked at the sign and gave us the BS "We'll cover it" line.

Uncle Dick
07-06-2002, 11:44 PM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
Only one? So they've managed to train someone to hold a sign vertical on their own without three other onlookers discussing the situation? Sounds like progress to me! :rolleyes:
Actually, that position is only supposed to require one CM, and I don't think I've ever seen more than two CMs stationed there. Must've been a slow night…

coronamouseman
07-07-2002, 09:23 AM
Don't really want to try and defend Disney CM's who are misleading guests or are simply incompetant, but ........

Don't the tram operators with the mikes remind the passengers repeatedly that the MF tram is going to the parking structure?

And don't the operators on the Lion King Tram explicitly tell the passengers on that tram to return to the loading area they arrive at later in the day?

At some point in time, seems like common sense should enter into the equation ........

MonorailMan
07-07-2002, 10:02 AM
Originally posted by coronamouseman

At some point in time, seems like common sense should enter into the equation ........

It should, but come on, were talking about guests who ask when the 10:30 Fantasmic! is.

Guests get confused very easily when there not in there home turf. :)

mousey_girl
07-07-2002, 10:10 AM
Originally posted by coronamouseman
Don't really want to try and defend Disney CM's who are misleading guests or are simply incompetant, but ........

Don't the tram operators with the mikes remind the passengers repeatedly that the MF tram is going to the parking structure?

And don't the operators on the Lion King Tram explicitly tell the passengers on that tram to return to the loading area they arrive at later in the day?

At some point in time, seems like common sense should enter into the equation ........


Common sense tends to fly out the window after a long day in the parks. Between the heat, hauling kids, thier stuff, by the end of the day people get exhausted and brains tend to shut down.

Imagine you are new to the whole DL experience, you have 2-3 kids with you between the ages of 2 and 10. They are all tired, cranky, hungry and hot. All you want to do is get back to the car to face a longggggggggg drive home. You can't remember 10 mins ago let alone 10 hours ago. You see a a sign with a CM posted and according to the sign you are headed to the car. It is often hard to hear the tram speaker over cyring kids. You realoze that this isn't where you parked, you ask the parking CM and they say that you got on the wrong tram. But you read a sign that pointed you in this direction. You get back to the orig loading area and try to ask the CM by the sign and they roll their eyes at you.

Oh yeah, leaves a real good impression...

danyoung
07-07-2002, 12:14 PM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
Are we wrong here? Were we the jerks?

Only if you made a point of saying that you were APers, as if we have some special right to complain. Other than that, I can't see that you were anything but helpful.

It really disappoints me when cast members just don't get the whole "on stage" concept. I was being loaded on to Roger Rabbit this morning, interrupting a conversation between the girl operating the ride and the young loader lad. They were apparantly discussing getting drunk, and the merits and perils of it. Now, this wasn't a quiet side thing. She was about a foot from my left ear, hollering over to the guy closing the car door on my right. I mean, c'mon, Hello, I'M RIGHT HERE!!!!! Time for a refresher course, IMO.

Uncle Dick
07-07-2002, 11:25 PM
Originally posted by coronamouseman
Don't really want to try and defend Disney CM's who are misleading guests or are simply incompetant, but ........

Don't the tram operators with the mikes remind the passengers repeatedly that the MF tram is going to the parking structure?

And don't the operators on the Lion King Tram explicitly tell the passengers on that tram to return to the loading area they arrive at later in the day?

Well, the operators are *supposed* to, but not all of them do, especially at night when the object is to get as many people loaded onto the tram and dispatch it as quickly as possible.