I've celebrated the last three Christmases at WDW. I always do my best to thank as many Cast Members for sacrificing their holiday to make mine magical.

The last time I went to WDW, one of the CMs that I pin traded with was originally from Japan. I know a few words of Japanese, one of which is 'Thank you', and so thanked her in Japanese. She was surprised that I did that, but a happy surprise.

I love Disney Cast Members. I'm always thrilled when I interact with them, so they always receive a beaming smile and a well-deserved thank you. One of my favourite things is how often they are as enthusiastic about things as the guests are. I was buying a tiny little soft toy Goofy magnet, and when I took it to the counter the first thing the Cast member said when I put him on the counter was a delighted "aww, a little baby Goofy!"

Instant massive smile.

Looking at these comments reminds me of my many trips to Disneyland. I had numerous awesome days spent with me and my family. My aunt, uncle, and cousins lived near Disneyland and we would go on trips over there and stay at their house. I think out of the many times I went there we had only one negative experience (one of the parking tram driver was in a bad mood or something that day), but for the most part all the other 20+ times I went it was magical and great! Heck I remember when one year we went to the Indiana Jones ride and they had to shut it down while we were in line. The nearest exit door was next to us and we went out and found we were outside the park behind the scenes. It was getting dark out and we went past these bikes parked in a line. A CM was wandering around the area. My mom asked how to get back in the park and told the situation. They happily told us how to get back in the park. I have to say Disney does as much as they can for their guests. Yeah I am sure some of the CMs working there have bad days. They are only human.

We were at WDW last year for Easter, and made up a bunch of little thank you cards to give to the cast members for working on Easter so we could have a magical holiday. After only handing out a couple, we stopped because the CMs looked at us like we were crazy. We were still very appreciative of the wonderful day the CMs made possible, so thank you.

Hey!! I received one of those from a guest this summer.
I thought it was very nice and I still have it!!
I thought it was a wonderful thank you!!

I was waiting in line to ride Toads Crazy Ride (?) for the 1st time. My boys wanted to ride seperatly so they could steer by themselves. When we got to the front of the line I asked the CM "You don't really need to steer the cars do you?" She stated "Of course you do! If you didnt it would be a crazy bumpy ride. Oh and watch out for the train." Best. Ride. Ever.

When I visited EPCOT several years ago, The Seas was in the midst of its transformation. As such the manatees were not in their usual tank as it was being relined. I was so disappointed. There was a cast member who, upon hearing my dismay, took me and my mother out back "behind the scenes" to the tank where they were temporarily housed. Not only did I get to see them but we got a 10 min tour of the water treatment facilities. This is what I LOVE about Disney. Things aren't always perfect, but darn it, they try to fix any issues.

I always look for the CM name tag or even a store employee at the local supermarket. It is always good manners to use someone's name when speaking to them when ever possible. It makes the conversation more personal. And ALWAYS use eye contact. It lets them know that you are paying attention to what they are telling you.

In reply to by JOANNE TORCHIA (not verified)

Maybe I'm just weird but I HATE wearing a nametag for that reason. I don't like strangers calling me by my name before saying a single word to me. Eye contact is a must, too many people try to multitask by being glued to their phone while on vacation. I would say putting your phone down while completing your transaction would be the one thing I always appreciate.

From a former CM (cast member) - when you talk to ANY cast member, look at the name tag and call that cast member by their name. That brightens up the cast members day.

In reply to by Main Stret Magic (not verified)

As a guest, I can attest to this personally. I'm an Annual Passholder at Disneyland and on my most recent visit, there was a cast member at the gate who was looked like she was having a 'meh' day. As I always do, I greeted her with, "Hi [name], how are you?" Immediately she perked up and my friend with me said, "I think you just made [name]'s day!"

I now feel kinda bad that I forgot her name now...

From a former CM (cast member) - when you talk to ANY cast member, look at the name tag and call that cast member by their name. That brightens up the cast members day.

As a fomer cast member, I was a bus driver. About a week after training, it was during a rainstorm late in the evening i hade taken the wrong rout. I realised my error, I quickly rerouted. I got them to there correct destination, and the only one that noticed, was one who hade one to many.

The whole height thing is silly. I am sure a kid within 2in of height requirement would probably be safe but rules are rules.

In reply to by Visitor (not verified)

There always has to be someone who has to say something stupid like this person. Obviously, there are lots of intelligent people who have done their homework on what is the "minimum" height that is safe. Once that height was determined, that line is the important statement of their efforts to create a secure ride. Why does somoen have to try and question it with silly statements as this person did. I thank Disney Cast members every time I can at WDW.

In reply to by Visitor (not verified)

I used to work in an amusement park and nearly every ride had a height requirement. What most people might not be aware of is that height requirements are not just random heights made up by the park but by the park's insurance company. The insurance company will decide what the appropriate height should be for any given ride. If the park doesn't follow that rule and lets a kid get on that is too short and then that kid gets hurt on the ride, the insurance company is likely not going to pay for the medical bills. So the park might get sued for it. That's not the publicity that the park is looking for. So those heights are there for a reason.

In reply to by Visitor (not verified)

Those requirements keep people safe. The amusement park nearest to where I live had a fatality a couple years ago because someone decided to ignore those requirements.

In reply to by Visitor (not verified)

It is about how the ride is built. If Your Kid Is 2 Inches Shorter than Height requirement, they will not be secure on the safety harness meaning they could fall and hurt themselves or get thrown out the ride. So that is why cast members stress safety.

The whole height thing is silly. I am sure a kid within 2in of height requirement would probably be safe but rules are rules.

In reply to by Visitor (not verified)

Actually no. And these are FLORIDA laws, not Disney about height requirement. The height actually DOES count believe it or not, including WEIGHT!!

In reply to by Visitor (not verified)

Please, just stop....

I love going to disney!!! I am almost 40 but when i go there i become a little girl, i love the disney magic inviroment , i never have seen an empleyee with bad attitude, they are always smiling and open to help.... My last visit this year ( i have an annual pass ), i spent my birthday there and all the cast member wished me a happy birthday!! I felt so good and happy and i even receive a bithday hug from Mickey !!
I had a great birthday!!!!!

Our family has been blessed with some amazing cast members on our trips to Disney. We have a son who has Down Syndrome who we first took to Disney when he was about 5. We did the meet n greet at Mickey's circus area. The gal playing Cinderella asked his name and spoke directly to him. We were on Property for 9 days that visit. The meet n greet there was one of his favorite things so we visited it several times during our stay. Each time that gal was the character she remembered his name from that 1st visit and got down on his eye level and spoke directly to him. While that was the only time a cast member has remembered him by name we have always experienced them giving a little extra magic in their approach to him. It means so much to families like ours and to these kids where everyday things sometimes gets them down that someone took time to make that day even more special than it otherwise could have been. My hubby and I often wonder if many of these young people have a family member with special needs, are working there paying for a degree in special ed or if Disney trains their employees to do this so well it seems genuine and teaches them what to look for in kids to see if there is something as our son doesn't have the pronounced stereotypical look that many associate with DS. In fact we've even had nurses and a couple of dr s. not realize until they looked at his chart so we are amazed when cast members just know. Some think the less they have "the look" the less delayed they are but that isn't the case at all. I'm glad the cast realizes that.

It's no surprise here. There's a lot of people who walk around "self-entitled" on a regular basis. When it comes to the amount of money they spend on a trip, you sort of have to expect certain people to be EXTRA self-entitled. "They're the only ones in the park" (and) "the world spins around them". Disney has excellent customer service as well. It's simply the nature of the beast. You have to accept that certain things come with the territory and hope that the positive experiences outweigh the negatives. It's a magical place!

It's no surprise here. There's a lot of people who walk around "self-entitled" on a regular basis. When it comes to the amount of money they spend on a trip, you sort of have to expect certain people to be EXTRA self-entitled. "They're the only ones in the park" (and) "the world spins around them". Disney has excellent customer service as well. It's simply the nature of the beast. You have to accept that certain things come with the territory and hope that the positive experiences outweigh the negatives. It's a magical place!

It's no surprise here. There's a lot of people who walk around "self-entitled" on a regular basis. When it comes to the amount of money they spend on a trip, you sort of have to expect certain people to be EXTRA self-entitled. "They're the only ones in the park" (and) "the world spins around them". Disney has excellent customer service as well. It's simply the nature of the beast. You have to accept that certain things come with the territory and hope that the positive experiences outweigh the negatives. It's a magical place!

It's no surprise here. There's a lot of people who walk around "self-entitled" on a regular basis. When it comes to the amount of money they spend on a trip, you sort of have to expect certain people to be EXTRA self-entitled. "They're the only ones in the park" (and) "the world spins around them". Disney has excellent customer service as well. It's simply the nature of the beast. You have to accept that certain things come with the territory and hope that the positive experiences outweigh the negatives. It's a magical place!

I grew up with Disneyland in my backyard living in Irvine. I have never seen a cast member be unprofessional . This makes your visit so much more magical. They try their hardest to personalize your visit. I'm now living in Tx and the only thing that makes me homesick is Disney. I appeticate all the cast does to make me feel at home while we are in the part.

At WDW, I had several unpleasant experiences. One very rude vendor who didn't even want me looking at his personal pins which weren't for trade, and I told him I knew they were his, that he already told me that, I just wanted to see them quickly, as they were all over his hat. Another bad experience was a cast member harassing me because I had a bulge in my shorts (it's the way the front of them are made) and she thought I was walking around with an erection. In fact, every time I put my hand in my pocket to get something or just to freaking put it there, I always got strange stares or harassment from guests and cast members, as if I was some pervert or something. Also, Cinderella pulled me towards her when I shook her hand, and she made me fall forward and then she said very rudely to me out of character that I stepped on her dress (her fault!) and that she was going to call security on me! At Animal Kingdom, we were there at gate opening, flew straight to K. Safaris, and then tons of other people came in behind us as time went by. Finally a cast member came and made a new line next to us and told us we would have to go to the end of the line of everyone since she formed a line beside us, to which she quickly found out that there was no way in hades we were doing that when we there FIRST! The rude guests didn't want to let us in either and harassed us over and over; if we responded to them telling them just how rude and wrong they were, the cast member berated us for arguing with them. We got on the 2nd safari ride only after refusing to go to the end of dozens of people who had tried to force us out of the new line. A cast member tried to make us change seats in a couple of theatres when we got there first so the others could have our better aisle seats. We knew it was easier to get out afterwards and so we chose them, which is why we got there first, rude people! Some FL natives (actually nobody in FL is really a native-these were like witches from up north who now live in FL) kept telling my cousin and me that we shouldn't be in the Peter Pan's Flight ride because it's a children's ride; I told her I was riding everything, and they are all FAMILY RIDES! She was extremely rude and told me I should GET A JOB SO YOU CAN COME MORE OFTEN AND I told her I've worked all of my life I just choose to vacation different places, and she's like OMG YOU'RE FROM Alabama-that explains EVERYTHING! Stupid wench! I said OH SHIT on Space Mountain and was interviewed ON CAMERA about my trip by a cast member outside the ride who somehow magically knew this and berated me for doing so. When we first got to the Magic Kingdom, I had to go and pee because it was a long boat ride over from Ft. Wilderness and we had a line to get into the park, and finally when we got near any rides, before getting on, I had to whiz. You can see and hear the security guys standing overhead in their hideyholes in the bathrooms watching everyone use the stalls! After peeing, I blew my nose, then some guy complained and said that I must be playing with myself because I was taking so long and called security on me, to which I had to explain to these MORONS that I had to pee and blow my nose! I have never been so freaked out! Who in the hell do those people think they are?

In reply to by Ray (not verified)

If you had such a bad time and experience, I suggest you maybe go elsewhere for vacation. I have NEVER seen or heard a cast member do the things you describe. As for your "costume malfunction" maybe change your clothes and stop the stares. But, then again, your need something to complain about. As for Florida, there are natives to this state. But then again, you need to complain. Please choose a new place to vacation, because if I were to encounter you in the parks, I would probably let you have it, verbally.

In reply to by Ray (not verified)

Okay so I am a cast member and let me tell you, there is no way Cinderella acted like that on stage or else she would be fired. There are some cranky cast members no doubt by there are more who care about you actually having a good time there. This is all they get, is people like you all day long that just complain to them. For once just accept that your day is sucking, look past that, put a smile on, and try to have a wonderful day regardless. And for the love of all that is good be kind to the cast members. You would not believe the crap we go through with guests. I just got done with the holidays and I never got a single thank you or happy holidays. My roommate cried because the guest were so mean during the holidays. So just chill mam.

I know that it seems cheesy to say (or type) but I really look up to and appreciate the cast members for their dedication and hard work. Thank you for making Disney magical.

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