Walt Disney World Cast Members hear a lot of strange questions during the day, and for the most part they will do everything they can to help you, no matter how odd the request. Unfortunately, there are some situations where Cast Members’ hands are tied and they simply can’t do anything. Avoid uncomfortable situations and don’t ask Cast Members to do these things.
1. Supervise Your Child
Walt Disney World features ample signage reminding parents to supervise their children. However, there are still some guests who hope they can use one of Disney’s Cast Members for this job. Even if a Cast Member looks like he’s just standing around outside the attraction, he is really doing a very specific job and it cannot accommodate watching your child while you ride an attraction he’s afraid to get on, even for just a minute. “Can you watch my kid for me....” always results in a no, no matter what the end of the sentence is. Cast Members just can’t be responsible for watching over unsupervised children.
2. Ride With Your Child
This surprised me the first time I heard it too, but there are parents who will ask Cast Members to ride attractions with their children when they find out that young children can’t just ride by themselves. Once again, Cast Members have a very specific job to attend to and they can’t abandon a position to supervise children on an attraction.
3. Provide Medical Assistance
Regular Cast Members are not allowed to provide medical assistance, even when it’s something as small as putting on a band aid. Naturally this is primarily for legal concerns, but you should also consider the fact that you don’t know one Cast Member from another and have no idea what kind of experience they do or do not have with illnesses and injuries.
I’ve seen an interaction nearly come to blows because a Cast Member couldn’t provide a bandage for a child who cut his chin. The parent was furious because he felt that the Cast Member didn’t care enough to pull out the first aid kit, but the fact is that ordinary Cast Members don’t have access to these supplies and certainly can’t just dispense them.
If you do need medical assistance, a Cast Member will always be happy to call help for you, and it will reach you anywhere in the park within a few minutes. If you have a minor problem like a headache, you can get medications at First Aid.
Comments
At 9:20am the step sisters and their mother ride the carrousel every day.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but no character will ride with you on an attraction. Characters have even stricter rules than the rest of us do.
I was a cast member at Disneyworld,and we were told if we knew cpr and feel comfortable to use it we call for help first then help the guest, and if we can get to an aed, use it.
My daughter fell in EPCOT a little over a year ago when she was 4, bad cut needed stitches. I did not have a map and asked the cast member where first aide was located. They did not know nor were they allowed to call for assistance when I asked. My daughter was with me crying hysterically and bleeding. Other guests helped more than cast members. I find it easier to carry your own first aid kit from now on when I am in the parks in case anything happens. We have been lucky this was our only problem - we go a few times a year.
I find it hard to believe that the Cast Member was "not allowed to call for assistance". That's usually the first thing we do in a case like this. If the CM didn't know where First Aid was, then they SHOULD have called for assistance, either to ask another Cast Member where First Aid is located, or for medical assistance to help your daughter.