Once again, someone had
something to say on every issue addressed in last week's column,
from emergencies at Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones to
changes with characters, security and merchandise.
First off, though, anyone up for dinner
at Club 33 with Imagineer Extraordinaire Tony Baxter?
You can join Baxter, WDI's
senior vice president of concept development, as well as
Emmy-winning production designer Bob Keene as they salute their mentor,
Dr. Maxine Merlino, former Dean of Fine Arts, California State University,
Long Beach, Thursday May 16 at Disneyland's exclusive Club 33.
Dr. Maxine Merlino
Baxter and Keene will reflect upon their
careers, and the great impact and influence Dr. Merlino has brought to
their respective work. Dr. Merlino will share with the guests highlights
of her illustrious career, from her days working with famous Hollywood
producer Preston Sturges to her career as Dean of CSULB's School of Fine
Arts.
The invite
The evening fund-raiser
includes an elegant dinner in the charming New Orleans ambiance of
the members-only club, admission to Disneyland and DCA. A silent auction
will include: Disney artwork, special art pieces by Tony, Bob and Dr.
Merlino, a Club 33 dinner package, and a round-trip ticket to New York.
There are two tiers of attendance:
$200 -All-day admission to both parks
for one day (a one-day park-hopper), wine and hors d'oeuvres reception
at the club, the presentation by Baxter and Keene, and dinner with
choice of either prime rib or rosemary chicken (vegetarian option by
request).
$250 -everything above, plus a specially
designed Club 33 logo piece created by Arribas Brothers.
The school will be opening the
Merlino Gallery, and the proceeds will help with the creation of
the new gallery. A portion of the donation will be tax deductible. For
tickets, please contact CSULB at (562) 985-4280
Okay, commercial over.
On to the letters. A Facilities crewman
wrote:
The problems at Space Mountain are a little more involved than
most cast members might realize. That support column at Space Mountain,
for example, was the direct result of the shortsighted management
practice of cutting wherever they can and the consequences be damned!
This particular support column has been a problem for a long time,
since it first was found to be bad back in the '80s. The cause is one
the engineers didn't consider at the time, which is a specific property
of all stainless steel—it shrinks every time it's heated! Over time,
the track will develop cracks, which have to be welded shut (heat). As
this repaired section shrinks, it places greater stress on the rest of
the structure (sounds like what's happened to the entire cast, but
that's another story). Eventually, all these combined stresses will
focus on the weakest point, to the point of rupture. This particular
support column is one of the longest, and thus weakest, in the entire
ride. There are no plans to improve support for this column and reduce
the frequency of necessary repairs.
From May 5th -the Cosmic Wave
fountain gets paved over
Another factor is that it was decided not to add to the welding
crew for rehab work. In the past, a full temporary crew was brought on
to work under the supervision of veteran Disney welders, enhancing the
ability to get the work done. This year, the work was passed off to the
day shift crew, who put in seven day, double shift weeks for two months
working on Space and Matterhorn because the third shift crew was given
the normal day shift work of making repairs to Guest Control queue
chains. Because the day crew was not augmented by temps, their schedules
fell behind and shortcuts were taken under pressure from management to
minimize the lateness of the downtime. The cast member's comment about
chewing gum and baling wire isn't too far off!
The crew at Splash Mountain tell me that an eight-seat log was
tested the other day in mock-up. A regular log was loaded down to 2,000
pounds to simulate eight 250-lb. adults and sent around the ride. All
the weigh (pun intended), the rollers on the bottom bounced along the
joints of the flume, which is not going to be a good thing if this is
made standard!
Work continued on Splash May 5th
Part of the reason testing took so long is that the ride system
monitors log speed, which it is programmed to keep within certain limits
by adjusting water level. This heavy log was cycled with several empty
ones, which kept triggering the adjustment of level because the empty
logs were going too slow (indicating too much water in the flume).
Before the loaded log could be sent around again, the water level had
reduced, and there wasn't enough to keep the loaded log from bouncing
its way around the ride (can you say damaged flume?).
With reduced water level, the loaded log would overspeed in the
Drop 5 runout (the last drop), going around the turn at the bottom at 20
ft./second (at least three times the desired speed!), enough to shut the
ride down, requiring a full reset. They were averaging one test per hour
for a while.
Rockwork rehab still underway on
Splash May 5th
Splash is supposed to go into full testing mode May 2, and "will
open !" in time for summer season—if the rockwork
contractors get finished!
A former ride operator
wrote:
I read your update today about the injury on Indy. I worked as a
CT (Casual Temporary) on Indy for three summers and various breaks. (I'm
a high school teacher).
I'm confused and concerned about this injury. When a cast member
adds a vehicle from the maintenance area, there are flashing lights and
horns that sound in the maintenance area. I doubt anyone could
consciously avoid knowing that there was a car about to be set in
motion. Also, there are signs all over the area that state that cars can
move without warning (even though there always is a warning backstage).
I hope that they didn't remove these safeguards.
Also, the hand-off area was always off-limits for cast members
when the ride was operating. We would have to at least put in
"station stops" or "ride entry stops" before moving
into the area. Anyone who stepped off the platform had to tag out on the
board on the left of the hand off area. This is the standard operating
procedure. The penalty for not tagging out, for any reason was
termination. They instituted this from the ride opening because during
the ride testing (before opening) they would often have people on the
track get stuck because vehicles were moving around. The tag out board
was a way to ensure that people wouldn't be on the track.
Also, there are several alarmed doors that alert the tower if they
are opened. We were to immediately issue a "ride stop" if
the door alarms were triggered. There are also about 15 video monitors
that cover every part of the ride. We were constantly looking to see
that there was no facilities or guest on the track. If we saw someone
on the track, we could issue a "emergency" or "E-stop"
(One of the few times we could hit that big red button. everyone
wanted to be the one to hit that button!)
That facilities person was VERY lucky. Those vehicles could have
caught his pants and dragged him along for the ride or broken the leg,
not just a laceration. The ride base (the part where guests sit) can
move up to 15 feet high and several feet left and right. Most of us had
been surprised by the motion of the cars at one point or another. I've
had cars rock to the left or right in the station, even though they
aren't programmed to do that. Certain vehicles had reputations for
glitches. I avoid vehicle number 6 at all costs. There is even a section
of the wall in the Rat Cave that had to replaced because a vehicle had
hopped the track at that point and knocked a hole through it. (This
happened before ride opened.)
Are the vehicles safe for guests? Yes, I would say they are. They
instituted more seat belt procedures that help to ensure safety. If cast
members pay attention, there is little that could happen to a guest. Are
they safe for cast members? Not as much. Even when powered down, those
cars scare me.
Michael revealed:
The clickers that the character wranglers carry are not as ominous
as everyone makes them out to be. It's simply that each character has a
quota of guests they must interact with. The clicker count ensures that
a character doesn't spend too much time with one guest.
I have a very good friend who is Mickey. It drives her crazy that
she is under the gun to railroad people through because there are
families that she feels deserve some extra time because of certain
situations. She gets written up if she doesn't reach her goal, even
though she wants to take the time to make some magic.
Actually, your explanation sounds more ominous
than my own conjecture! I don't like the idea of Mickey placing kids on a
quota. Sounds like the 10 items or less line at the grocery store.
A cast member
added:
About keeping track of the number of guests seeing a character, it
is supposed to end in one month (much to the relief of cast members).
Word going around, it is part of a study, with money, guests and labor
involved. But after hearing from your friend in characters getting
written up for spending extra time with a guest, I wonder…..
Reader Russ confirmed that the
DCA did, in fact, install a stamp machine, but when he saw it last
week, it was out of order. Maybe it's just being rehabbed, I suggested.
(Actually, the stamp machines are not owned or operated by Disney, but by
another organization heralded for its promptness and lightning-quick
reaction time—the U.S. Postal Service.)
As for guests being unable to find out easily
from Guest Relations were their commemorative brick is, it turns out that,
as yet, Guest Relations doesn't exactly sell the bricks. That's the job of
the merchandise department, DelivEars, which operates the 800 phone
number. Guest Relations does staff a cart between the two parks as an
aggressive way of distributing applications for bricks, but the
applications are forwarded to DelivEars. Cast members there are armed with
a radio, but no phone and no computer—so far.
Expectation is that in the near future the
cart should be equipped with a computer to enter the data on the spot,
assign the brick location and print out the Certificate of Authenticity.
Recently, a tipster noticed WDI working on some R/F transmitters out of
one of the ticket booths.
Some merchandise cast members
expressed concern that new operating procedures seem to discourage
teamwork. Not true, say managers. Named "Simba's Pride," the new
program requires the floor or "greeter" cast members to assist
guests in finding their selection and, of course, suggest additional
merchandise.
"It's nothing we weren't already doing.
We just want the greeter cast members to be more interactive, thus taking
some of the pressure off of the cashier," says a manager, while
admitting, "It sounds great on paper. I don't know how efficient it
is overall, considering our labor allowance is nowhere near what it should
be."
Speculation that cast members
will be reprimanded for assisting ("interfering with")
other cast members is "ridiculous," he explains. "We don't
want to see the floor cast members folding and stocking because they tend
to ignore the guests when they do. They are absolutely allowed to pick
something up off the ground or put something back where it belongs. They
just aren't supposed to get engrossed in a project without being asked. If
a lead feels that all of the guests in their shop or 'zone' are being
serviced or we notice that a fixture or display is in dire need of
attention, then we ask the cast member(s) to work on something and let any
other floor cast know to cover their zone."
An hourly confirmed: "From what I
understand, Simba's Pride is a very good thing. It really sounds like
they're putting the guests first. Basically, cast members just do their
normal routine on the floor (ringing, guest service, etc.). But, they have
to make sure that all the guests have been tended to before doing what's
called "task work" (i.e., taking out the trash, straightening
product, dusting, etc.). You have to get a lead or manager's permission to
do the "task work." Most of the time, they will let you do it
when there are no guests in the store.
"I think this system may work out well.
It allows cast members like me to focus more attention on the guests
rather than other things. On the other hand, no one likes an untidy store.
But, my leads are really nice about it and they know when something needs
to be cleaned up."
Management attributes cast members' fears to
their natural resistance to change. ("It's really no big deal, but
90% of the cast members HATE change and are fighting us and questioning us
every chance they get.")
Tina Calles wrote:
I was reading the various positive things people had to say about
the cast members. I wanted to share with you a story that showed a
particular cast member's attitude toward the park:
My husband and I were on Splash Mountain a couple of years ago and
the ride stopped a couple of times and we heard a voice telling some
guys in a log behind us to stop splashing—I guess they were
having a water fight along the way. When the ride was over and we were
getting off, we saw the cast member confronting these guys. He was
handing them towels and instructing THEM to wipe down the inside of the
log that they had soaked, not thinking of the riders to come after them.
Not rudely, but very firmly, the cast member said with all seriousness,
as he handed them the towels, "This is not a carnival. This is not
Six Flags. THIS…is DISNEYLAND."
We LOVED it!!! We met up with our friends later on and recounted
the story to them. For the rest of the trip anyone of us would
spontaneously repeat the words of the cast member and the rest
would join in with such enthusiasm! I think it really shows the high
esteem and respect he had. It gave me a great memory!
I'll be in Disneyland this month from the 20th-24th. Your readers'
letters that you've posted have helped me to get in the proper frame of
mind to deal with the closures and anything else that may come up: I
can't expect a flawless visit. Things do break. Don't grumble. Don't
take frustrations out on cast members—not their fault. Smile at them
first.
Thank you to everyone!
Don Shields wrote:
I was just reading your feedback section and was reading the story
about the girl who heisted a cap and after watching her all day then
security nabbed her. This is what got me thinking about what happened to
(or what didn't happen) to my family one afternoon.
My wife and now 5-year-old daughter go to Disneyland about once a
week. One afternoon a few months ago we were in the Downtown Disney
Store. My daughter was looking at these little Disney hair clips with
the Mickey Silhouette on them. They are I believe about $1 each or a
pair. Well, my daughter was tired from a day at Disneyland and after
picking up a pair asked me to hold her. While still shopping around
ourselves she fell asleep in my arms and after looking around a bit, we
didn't buy anything. We completely forgot about the hair clips until we
were near the car when they fell out of her hand. My wife and I were
surprised and felt bad but were too tired to go back. So we decided to
just deal with it the next time we went.
On our next visit we promptly went to the front desk and explained
what had happened. The lady behind the desk first said don't worry about
it. I told her that I did not want this hanging over my head or Walt
turning in his grave. It was not the amount it was the principle that
was driving me to fix this accidental wrong. She then got the manager
and she also said don't worry about it. After a few minutes of them
laughing about it. It was decided for me to go get one then ring the
charge and pay for the hair clip. I suppose one nice thing that came out
of this was that this lady took my name and number. I then received a
phone call on this and a letter of thank you.
What I guess puzzles me is not that I wanted my daughter to go to
jail or anything. However, why didn't they catch my daughter or come up
to us and say, "Excuse me, I believe your little girl has something
and forgot to pay."
Why did the cast members at first dismiss this issue? Granted it
was only a dollar. Also, it was not like she stole something. We had
every intention of paying it was just an accidental oversight since she
fell asleep. But why were they so willing to forget about it rather then
agree that, yes, I should pay for it. I wanted to teach my daughter
wrong from right even if it was an accident and not done on purpose.
Nevertheless, it was nice that when we did bring this issue to
Disneyland's attention we were somewhat rewarded for making the wrong
right. As the cast member said on the phone there are not many people
that would of come forward on such a small incident.
We love Disneyland and now DCA. My thought is Disneyland is a
magical place and in my mind it would be very hard to live with by doing
a wrong against the Happiest Place on Earth—whether it be intentional
or not.
This is probably why we have been blessed with being able to go to
Walt's apartment on two different occasion and one with Belle coming up
for a personal meet and greet. Also being able to go to Club 33 now on
three different occasions.
I just wanted to share may experience not to promote stealing but
rather to understand the mentality of some of the cast members. Also to
pass on that being honest does pay off in one way shape or form, no
matter how big or small the issue maybe.
Sal Gomez recalled:
When I read about the girl stealing a cap and followed all day
until she tried to leave, it hit home so hard I had to write:
About nine or 10 years ago I was asked to chaperone my younger
brother and a classmate of his to Disneyland for a class field trip.
These were Catholic school kids who had won a contest for a fund-raiser.
The kids all left together from their school but traveled in separate
cars. I took two, my younger brother and his friend.
We spent all day at the park and I bought these two boys just
about whatever they asked for since one was my brother and his mate was
from a very poor family. I figured if I were kind to him he might grow
up and do the same for someone less fortunate than he.
Anyway, on the way out we stopped at the Emporium just like
everyone else has done before and I said to them they could buy one item
each and then we'd be going. I notice a group of girls from their class
were running around the store but thought nothing of it. After a few
minutes they brought me their items and I paid for them. I had only two
daughters at the time so I asked them to wait for me by the door. When I
finally purchased my souvenirs I went to join my two charges at the exit
to the store. I notice three older men talking with them and both boys
seemed frightened. When I asked what was going on I was told my
brother's friend was spotted stealing Disneyland property.
We were escorted to the security office behind Great Moments with
Mr. Lincoln. I asked if my brother was also observed stealing and was
told he was not. They insisted on speaking with this boy alone and I
refused to let them. I insisted they let me talk with him first. They
agreed. He admitted he had stolen items in his clothes, but the girls I
saw in the store were the ones who had put them there. Sure enough,
there come the girls into the security office.
I'll cut the story short here, but they decided not to press
charges as long as they promised never to do it again. Next time they
would be sent to jail. The security office me a wink.
The Carrousel lost its gold top -
underneath the entire ride has been dismantled and removed, Photo taken
May 5
Alan Sadwin alerted:
The problem with security buzzers going off is old news, but
Disney is now investigating the phenomena where some cameras set them
off. I set the buzzer off while entering a store in Toontown last week.
Since I don't like doing that, I went to the nearest cast member who
asked if I had bought any pins recently (no, I hadn't bought anything at
all). She then indicated that they were having a problem with some
cameras and then asked for info on what type I was carrying (Olympus
digital) and recorded the info.
To make a long story short, it wasn't the camera this time. I had
bought a new digital chip at Office Depot the night before. The chip was
still in its original package. Apparently, Office Depot didn't clear the
sensor on the package when I bought the chip and that was why I set the
sensor off.
Anyhow, your readers might want to know that the problem may be
with their cameras, if the monitor makes embarrassing noises when they
enter or exit a shop.
Mike Nash wrote:
I am a huge fan of your column and books. I am an annual
passholder and visit the Disneyland resort about five times a year from
out of state. I had a couple of comments on some recent visits.
First, on the cast members' costumes. On my last visit in March,
in front of the Haunted Mansion there was a cast member wearing the
pants and suspenders from the Splash Mountain ride and some shirt that
didn't seem to go with any costume. He was working alongside a female
cast member in her normal Haunted Mansion costume. When I asked him
about the costume, he said that he was the lead for the Critter Country
area and didn't have to wear the costume. As I walked away, I realized
that I should have asked him why he was working the Haunted Mansion,
since it's in New Orleans Square and not Critter Country.
Next, on my previous visit I was on Indiana Jones and the ride
broke down while my vehicle was in the "snake room." They
eventually turned on the lights and some cast members brought out a
small step stool to help us out of the vehicles and walked us out of the
ride. I did think this was interesting—I have walked through the
bottom of the Matterhorn before, but I was wondering what they would
have done had there been a disabled guest on the ride. We had to cross
the track twice to get out of the ride and walk quite a ways. The cast
members also had to help us jump across the track because it was greasy
and they were afraid that we would fall.
Maybe there would have been a way to get a motorized wheelchair in
there for a disabled passenger or maybe the disabled passenger would
have had to wait until the ride was fixed.
Finally, some thoughts on merchandise at the park. I am a huge
collector of the mini-bean bags and noticed on my last visit that more
and more of the shops are replacing mini-bean bags with other junk. One
of the joys of visiting the parks for me was going from shop to shop
looking for bean bags. Hopefully this trend won't continue.
Margaret wrote:
One of the letters in your April 29 column observed that
"tantrums" and "meltdowns" occur more frequently at
Disneyland now than in the 1960s. Although I wasn't born yet in the
Sixties and I've only been to Disney World, not Disneyland, I'm sure
this is true.
But it seems to me that Disney creates exhaustion and stress (the
emotions that lead to meltdowns) by building parks that are too large to
cover in a day and then charging so much money for admission that many
families can only visit perhaps once or twice in their lives. Even those
of us who can afford to go more frequently often push ourselves and our
families to our limits to get our money's worth.
I know that prices have gone up everywhere, but Disney World
admission has doubled from $25 to almost $50 since my childhood in the
early 1980s. Spending half the average person's weekly wages to take a
family of four to an amusement park for one day is bound to create
tension for many people.
Anna also chimed in on the same subject:
A reader stated how she sees parents having meltdowns or kids
having tantrums in disturbing numbers. Well, our family has annual
passes and we go at least a couple of times a month and I don't see such
things happen that often, if ever. I know I have had my oldest (who is
almost 4) throw "tantrums." I will NOT apologize for it since
he is at the age these things happen and I will NOT apologize for having
a "meltdown" because of it when obviously you have to deal
with it. I'd bet it was even happening way back in the '60s too and that
there is probably no difference in the amount of times it happens.
No kid is perfect at any age and things like this happen. Most of
us would prefer it not to happen when we are out, BUT most people
understand these things and don't complain since they have been there at
some point or will be. I'd like to see you explain to a child they
aren't allowed to be upset or anything in Disneyland because it might
ruin someone else's time. If you want to be concerned about what is
going on with kids and parents then look at how many parents do NOT
watch their kids. I see plenty of that which is worse and an accident
waiting to happen.
As for the issue on rude cast members, I have had a lot more good
ones than bad. There was only one that should have done things different
then they had and there wasn't much I could do about it unless I wanted
to complain to people so I let it go. I understand what its like to have
to do customer service since I did for an airport shuttle. You can't
make everyone happy no matter what so you try to do the best you can in
each situation. And, yes, sometimes you realize later you could have
done something different or a little more for them but you learn from it
and hopefully next time it will be done that way then. I don't expect
cast members to treat me like a queen, but I do expect to get the same
respect and kindness that I give them also. You just can't expect to be
given something without giving yourself.
Finally, reader Vincent S. Randall
thinks he may have a solution to all that ails the parks. He wrote:
A friend asked me what I would do if I had the chance to run
Disney. Although the list would be very, very long, there was one thing
I thought of that I hope Ms. Harriss could hear about, and implement.
I think that the senior folks at TDA (Team Disney Anaheim) should
have their salaries based on weekly attendance figures at Disney. Yes, I
really believe that attendance is reflective of how people perceive the
company and word of mouth. If they were really concerned about guests,
they would seriously do things to increase attendance. But, they really
don't care. They have salaries, and they play politics all day long. So,
tell them they will get paid a sliding scale each week, based on
numbers. I'll bet we'd start seeing that old Disney Magic come back
overnight.
Also, each and every time a cast member uses profanity or is out
of line, and each time a guest complaints are duplicated, they should
have deductions from their pay. That ought to fix things at Disney real
fast.
That would be a novel approach!
For me, I don't know what would work best.
Because every time someone comes up with a formula for explaining success
(attendance numbers, gate receipts, numbers of complaints, number of
compliments, amount of attraction downtime, etc.) management will turn
attainment of those goals into a soul-less formula and sacrifice the
million other things that go into Making Magic on a daily basis.
Any one factor can be easily manipulated.
Want huge gate counts? Make admission
free.
Want huge daily gate receipts? Raise
single day admission prices and eliminate annual passes.
Want fewer complaints? Have City Hall
operate on Tiki Room hours.
Want more written compliments? Distribute
compliment cards throughout the park and encourage guests to fill them
out.
In each case, the numbers would be manipulated
to achieve the goal, but the park as a business suffers and guests'
experiences don't necessarily improve.
A mariachi entertained visitors
in Frontierland on Cinco de Mayo (May 5 for you gringos)
Here's my three-part formula:
First, encourage cast members to view
Disneyland through the guests' eyes. What would make my day? Basic safety,
cleanliness, courtesy, smiles and laughter, a wonderful show—what goes
into making those and what can I do to contribute?
Second, encourage management to view
Disneyland through both the guests' eyes (see previous paragraph) AND
through the hourly cast members' eyes. How can we help cast members to
deliver safety, cleanliness, courtesy, smiles and laughter and a wonderful
show?
And third, make as much money as possible
while working within those first two guidelines.
You can write to David atthis link..
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