The Disneyland Guest Experience
More tales about cast members that warm the heart
Tuesday, August 3, 2004
by Shoshana
Lewin, editor
Winter, spring, summer or fall, cast members at Disneyland are helping
make memories for thousands of guests everyday. We hope you enjoy these
guest-perspective stories from our parks in California.
Nancy's Story
One morning at Disneyland a few years ago, when the Bank on Main Street
was still doing the annual passholder pictures, we were the first ones
in line. We handed the quiet young CM our paperwork. She looked it over
and said, very innocently and sincerely to my friend (who was born in
1957), “WOW! You're almost as old as the park is!”
My friend looked at her with shock and said, “Thanks a lot!”
I almost fell down I was laughing so hard. That poor CM was so embarrassed.
What a way to start your day (for both of them).
Brian's Story
I've been reading your stories and enjoyed them all. I have so many from
all of my visits to the various parks, but I have to tell you about one
very special experience in the summer of 2003:
I am a high school band director and our whole family is “ total
Disney.” We plan a trip to the Magic Kingdom once every couple of
years—this is in addition to regular trips with musical groups.
One of the greatest inspirations to me was my grandmother who, in my
early days of teaching when I was a single guy, would make dinner on football,
basketball or concert nights; was always in the audience; and supported
everything I did.
In 2001, I had the opportunity to open a new high school in my hometown,
but this move would take me away from my grandmother who my wife and I
cared for daily. She did not bat an eyelash about it - insisting that
I take this position and not worry about her. In the spring of 2003, at
age 95, she died. She had always cherished the times she spent with the
band students over the years (even going so far as recommending one for
a scholarship at the local Elks Lodge) and when my father gave me the
inheritance, I just had to do something with part of it to remember her
and the band experience.
I had walked through the New Century Timepieces shop on a number of occasions,
as it is considered a “rite of passage” in our family to own
your own Mickey Mouse watch. I decided on our next trip that I would look
into getting a custom Original Art watch. On our first day (of eight)
at Disneyland, I walked in and met Zie (I hope I've spelled it correctly)
and we purchased my 2-year-old son, Mark, his first Mickey watch. Then
we started talking about the original art watch.
I told Zie that I wanted Mickey from The Band Concert cartoon, but I
wanted his uniform done in the colors of my high school. The artist on
duty that evening didn't do that particular design, but expressed some
concern as to whether they could make those changes due to the fact that
this was an established cartoon. He made a quick trip over to Disneyana
and got the actual colors used. I was asked if I still wanted to go ahead
with it if they could not change the colors, but that just wouldn't have
been the same. Zie asked me to come back the next day to speak with the
artist and then I would know if it could be done and if the artist was
comfortable doing it.
The following afternoon, we again walked into the New Century Timepieces,
and Zie and David, the artist, were there waiting for us. They had checked
and found that the colors could be changed and David felt comfortable
doing it. We sat and discussed the art for the watch and how it would
eventually look. My two boys were getting a little restless with all the
time dad was spending in the watch shop, so Zie went over into the shop
next door and came back with a Nemo spinner and a little Nemo plush doll
for the boys! They were thrilled!
Even though the watch was ready a couple days later, I waited until I
knew David and Zie would be working again to go and pick it up. It was
wonderful (I have a picture of David; my oldest boy, James; and myself
with the artwork) and an emotional moment for me as David had captured
just the right pose and look for the uniform—as well as knowing what
the outdoors looked like in Bend, Oregon, and added some of those elements.
I thanked both of them over and over again.
Just before we were to leave to go home, we stopped one more time to
see Zie. The boys both hugged her and said good-bye. Zie told us that
it was families like ours that made her job worthwhile.
When I returned home, I sent a special letter to Disneyland detailing
how these two wonderful cast members had helped me create such a remarkable
memory of my grandmother. I received a wonderful written response saying
that both David and Zie would receive a copy of my letter and that their
supervisors would be notified of the great jobs they did.
Today, I only wear the watch when I am conducting—the band students
refer to it as the “lucky watch” —and it has even gone
to Japan with me for a performance there.
Thanks so much for creating this forum so we can share these special
stories!
Troy's Story
I have to relay this story of what happened on a trip to Disneyland three
years ago. We had purchased our tickets and hotel from the Disney Web
site and they had an add-on you could buy called Dine in the Magic. For
those who don't know, these are coupons that you purchase before you leave
on your trip and they are good for buying food in the park. We purchased
enough to last our whole trip and it was nice not having to take so much
cash with us.
They were great to use, including at night when we were making our way
through the Main Street stores on our way out, when we would always purchase
some caramel apples to eat on the ride back to the motel. Well this night
the CM said that they would not accept the dine coupons for the apples,
and said that they were for restaurants only. I showed them the back of
the dine cards that showed the restrictions. The CM said fine, but that
this was the standing order for Main Street shops not to accept the dine
vouchers.
I did not want anyone else to experience what I did, as it was a little
embarrassing, so I went to City Hall to let them know the problem. They
asked me to wait for a while, and they called the lead, who then called
head of services for the shops. She said she would love to talk with me
and then escorted me into the side rooms.
I told here the problem and she asked me to wait while she looked into
it. This was a high point for me as I was able to walk around these back
rooms and look at all the great memorabilia, it had some amazing things
of WaltÕs in that room, that were presented to him, and were either on
the walls, or desks. There was also some Disney art that I had never seen
before and would have loved to have gotten pictures of.
Well this nice CM came back and told me that they had corrected the problem
and that no other guest would have problems. I said thank you and was
leaving when the CM stopped me and asked how many kids I had and what
kind of candy they liked. I was on the spot and not sure what she was
getting at so I said I did not know. So she took out a pad and wrote out
a lot of information on different papers, then handed them to me. I read
that it was for free bags and boxes of candy at the same shop we were
buying the apples at. She had written it out for four free apples, four
bags of sour balls, four bags of something called bark (this was chocolate
pieces) and suckers and such.
I said that this was not required and that I just wanted to bring the
problem to their attention. She said that that was why she was doing this.
She told me that she had worked there for 18 years, and I am sure that
during that time she has heard hundreds of complaints from people who
are looking for free comps or something special. I am sure that they appreciate
it when a guest is polite and is just trying to help the system so that
they Disney image is not tarnished. When we left that night to head back
home (with enough candy to give a grade school a sugar rush) I appreciated
a little more the cast members and all they do for us, to make it a special
day for 40,000 people is hard but for the most part I applaud them all,
for making Disneyland the place I love to visit the most.
Dawn's Story
For my birthday we get a group together to go see the Haunted Mansion
Holiday, as I am a Nightmare Before Christmas fanatic. First stop
is always City Hall to get my birthday sticker so I get told “Happy
Birthday” all day long. Yes I am a big kid.
We were just getting into the boats on the Pirates of the Caribbean when
the ride got delayed. The girl at the podium noticed my birthday sticker
and decided to get the entire place to sing “Happy Birthday”
to me. I can't tell you what a kick that was. See it is the Happiest
Place on Earth. I will never forget it.
Hayley's Story
A very special Disneyland cast member helped to make our day a great
one.
My two sons, ages 7 and 9, just started pin collecting this trip. The
9-year-old collects Donald Duck pins so when he trades he generally looks
for those pins. On the other hand, my 7-year-old collects pretty much
everything. He was down to about one pin he could trade and when we went
into the park he wanted to trade with a cast member for a pin he really
liked. The problem was that the only pin he had to trade was already on
the cast member's lanyard. I am happy to report that he got the pin he
wanted and the kind cast member gave him one of the double pins so that
he ended up with more then one pin to trade. This may seem like a minor
addition to special cast member stories but it really made my son's day
and I thought that it was an extremely special thing that she did.
Chris' Story
In 2003, a friend of mine and myself were supposed to go to Disneyland
when he was on leave from the Army. But he was sent very quickly to Kuwait
in early 2003, to be part of the invasion force into Iraq. I felt very
badly that we didn't get to go to Disneyland, before he was sent off to
war. I promised him that I would go to Disneyland and buy him some things
and send them to him.
I wrote Disneyland and told them that he wanted to go visit before he
left for war, but he didn't have a chance, I gave them his Army mailing
address hoping they would do something nice for him. Disneyland wrote
me a nice letter with an autographed photo of Mickey Mouse, and told me
they did something nice for my friend in the Army.
In April of 2003, I got a call from my friend, he was calling from a
military phone from Iraq, telling me that he had received a wonderful
package from Disneyland. He was marching toward Baghdad when it was delivered
to him, and he said how happy and shocked he was to get something from
Disneyland in Iraq.
The Disneyland cast members had apparently spent their own time making
up a great care package for him, and they sent it from Disneyland. Disneyland
was also writing troops in Iraq often, sending them postcards with Disney
characters on them, he would receive several postcards a month from Disneyland,
with words of support from cast members.
So when my friend came back from Iraq in January of this year, one of
the first places he went to visit when he got leave, was Disneyland. We
spent three great days there, and he was so thankful to everyone for their
kindness.
Stephen's Story
I just wanted to share a story of a great experience at Disneyland, thanks
to some wonderful cast members.
My wife and I got married at the Disneyland Hotel, courtesy of Fairy
Tale Weddings. The ceremony was magical, including having Mickey and Minnie
in the wedding party. But the topper to the day was taking our wedding
picture in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. We paid for an add-on to the
wedding package, which allowed us and our photographer to board the Monorail
right after the ceremony, and enter the park to take the picture.
We had been warned in advance that we probably would have to take the
picture with other guests in the background, as Disneyland would not inconvenience
other guests. However, we were not prepared for the throngs of people
that had gathered around the castle for the 40th Anniversary parade, which
ended with the main characters coming through the drawbridge. Our timing
could not have been worse, as we had to wait (what seemed like) forever—on
an unusually hot October day—for the parade to end.
When the parade finally did end, and the characters had retreated through
the castle, a cast member spotted us near the front of the crowd and asked
if we were there to take our wedding picture. When we replied “yes,”
she immediately summoned some other CMs. Because the front of the drawbridge
was still roped off for the parade, she instructed the other CMs to keep
the ropes in place for just a few minutes longer. She then allowed our
photographer and us to take several photographs before finally allowing
the ropes to come down and letting the other guests through.
Thanks to those CMs, we have a beautiful wedding picture to remember
our special day. And, to top off the moment, as we were walking back to
the Monorail, we saw a little girl point to us and say to her mother,
“Look, Mom, it's Cinderella.”
The smile on my wife's face was as bright as the sun.
Thoughts, questions, or comments? Contact Shoshana here.
|
Are you a CM or a former CM? I would love to hear and share your stories! E-mail me! Stories and comments you submit become property of and may be published on this site; we normally don't publish last names of current CMs, but if you wish to remain anonymous altogether or do not want me to share your stories, please let me know when you e-mail me. — Shoshana NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in reader-contributed stories do not reflect those of Cast Place or MousePlanet. CM – Cast member; company lingo for “employee.” Empowerment Evolution – The 1995 attempt by newer park management to introduce modern accountability and market forces into the stodgy Disneyland methodology and power hierarchies. The name was meant to “empower” rank and file employees by removing layers of their management, though now there are more managers than ever. TPO – Theme Park Operations; the division of the Disneyland hierarchy that actually works in the theme park itself. TDA – Team Disney Anaheim; the name of the on-site administration building. Area manager – used to be responsible for an entire land, with all business divisions in the area reporting to him. Area supervisor – the immediate boss for location supervisors who divide up a department of intelligently grouped locations. The area supervisors in turn reported to the area manager. Nowadays all supervisors and area supervisors have been replaced by managers and assistant managers — the same idea, but smaller “business units" than a department; usually just one location in fact. RFT – “A” status; a full-time hourly employee. RPT – “B” status; an hourly employee five days a week but just not quite 40 hours usually. CR – “C” status; an hourly employee who works weekends year-round and five days a week during all school holiday periods (including summer and Christmas break). CT – a part-time hourly employee who works five days a week during all school holiday periods (including summer and Christmas break). No seniority, so shifts worked are usually quite short. Locate the employment center to fill out an application, and they will call you for an interview (dress nicely, just shy of an actual suit). Once there, follow these rules, in this order of importance: 1. Smile and be very friendly. They want outgoing people.
2. Do not let the group interview throw you off balance. They want outgoing people who can “perform” a little bit.
3. Do not worry about job (in)experience. They don't care. They want friendly people, not experienced and/or hardened people.
4. Do your best to convince them you already have a Disney attitude: you want to work with people, you're a team player, and you would consider this a dream job (however, don't overdo it on the crazy-Disney-fan side either). Strike a nice balance.
5. Did I mention the importance of a smile? 
|
