Poor attitude from Epcot Ticket CM

[malip]

We are AP holders and took a day trip to the "world" on Friday. While we had the usual great time, we did have an unexpected experience while trying to enter Epcot. Our youngest daughter is 2 and we usually have her in her stroller as we enter. When we got to the front of the line, the CM asked us if we had a ticket for her and we said she was only two. He then made a comment under his breath, rolled his eyes, ripped the gate open, and slammed the turnstile. I was fuming, however, I decided to let it go because my other kids were watching and I didn't feel like it was worth ruining our trip. I don't know if they are trying to crack down on people "sneaking" their 3 year olds in or what, but this was totally uncalled for. Maybe one of our CM's on the site could let us know if this is a point of emphasis now or was this CM just not filled with the magic?

[MMouse6937]

From what it sounds like on the boards here there seems to be more problems with younger children at the gates. Doesn't sound like they're asking for birth certificates yet, but it sounds like they are getting more skeptical of people. I guess there probably has been a increase in people trying to "sneak" older kids in without tickets.

Sorry you had a bad experience, hope the rest of your visit was magical!

[crazypoohbear]

That behavior was really uncalled for especially in front of the children :(
I don't understand this attitude, it's not like I was trying to pass off my 13 year old as under 3 :confused:
Maybe the cast member was just having a really bad day and you bore the brunt of it.

[katzctkpt]

I hate to hear the experience you had. Those type should say put me behind the scenes today I'm not in a magical mood.

[DNS]

I have to say first how great it was that as mad as you were, you were able to move past it for your other kids. I don't know if I could have. Good job! Obviously you had better control of your feelings than the CM did his. His behavior was unprofessional to say the least. If they are not going to go all the way and ask for a birth certificate, then they have no right to mumble in disagreement. How rude.

[Piglet822]

If the CM had issues concerning your childs age perhaps he should have called a manager over.
I work for Mears Transportation and we transport children under 3 years of age for no cost. Yes, I have come across some children that were large for their age but if the parent says the child is two, then the child is two. Of course if it's obvious the child is 6 or 7 and anyone can see that then I would refer the situation to my superiors.

[biodtl]

If they are not going to go all the way and ask for a birth certificate, then they have no right to mumble in disagreement. How rude.


Exactly - I would have no problem showing proof of age, but if they aren't asking , then don't need to be commenting or rolling their eyes.

[just2mickey]

I have not had this happen but I have gotten an ugly cast member before. I think that for the most part that people tend to base what a toddler looks like on the norm. I feel bad for people who have very tall toddlers or heavier ones. I mean I have a friend whose son is 7 months younger than my son but he looks like he is double the size. Not large in an overweight fashion, just tall and built like his football player dad. That is horrible for you as a mom and a consumer to have to deal with. Makes me want to make a copy of my son's birth certificate and shrink it in the event that it happens to me. Mean people stink.

[#1donaldfan]

Not a good way to start the day, hopefully it didn't ruin the magic for the day.....:mickey:

[Gottaluvgoof]

They are few and far between, but when I encounter a rude or unhappy CM, I love to look right at them and say, "Have A Magical Day!" ;)

[kathiep]

Glad you were able to handle this situation appropriately for the sake of your kids. I can only hope I would be able to do the same thing under the same circumstance.

I definately would have had myself or my DH break away from our group to quietly report this to a supervisor.

There's another thread right now about CM's quality going downhill. The only way we can be sure it's addressed, is if we point it out. No one should be allowed to put a damper on your magic.

[mickeys_princess_mom]

If they are not going to go all the way and ask for a birth certificate, then they have no right to mumble in disagreement. How rude.
Well said. I agree. I expect more out of Disney. We're paying increasingly higher amounts; a higher level of service is expected.

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

I've had the same problem with CMs at Epcot... we went one week before my daughter turned 3... we had already bought her pass, but were waiting until she actually turned 3 to activate it. And it was the most disappointing service I have received from Disney to date. I was so disgusted by how they treated me and my little one. There is absolutely no need for them to treat anyone like that.

[floridamom]

I can understand your frustration and also commend you on keeping your cool in front of the rest of your family. I wonder if it was the same CM we dealt with at Epcot last year when my younger daughter was 2.5 years old. The rest of us have APs and I pointed to my daughter in the stroller and said, "She's under 3." The CM gave me an incredulous look and said, "You'll need to get her a pass for next time." I replied, "Not for another 6 months when she turns 3 in October. Would you like to see her birth certificate?" Because she is older-looking (her sister is 2 years older but they get mistaken for twins on a regular basis), I did make a copy of her birth certificate to take with me--just in case. The CM then looked somewhat (though not overly) embarrassed and said, " No that's OK."

If Disney is having problems with some people cheating the system, they should take steps to address the issue without treating those with borderline-age-looking children rudely. Perhaps guests could provide a birth certificate at their hotel or ticket booth and get an under-3 child a "pass" that would be valid for free admission until the date s/he turned 3. That would remove the responsibility of making age judgment calls (or rude remarks) from the turnstile CMs.

[BelleKP]

If Disney is having problems with some people cheating the system, they should take steps to address the issue without treating those with borderline-age-looking children rudely. Perhaps guests could provide a birth certificate at their hotel or ticket booth and get an under-3 child a "pass" that would be valid for free admission until the date s/he turned 3. That would remove the responsibility of making age judgment calls (or rude remarks) from the turnstile CMs.

I actuall think this is a great idea . . . and what a cute keepsake if it's your child's first visit! :thumbsup:
Sorry you had a bad start to your day malip . . . I hope it got better! :mickey:

[BluewaterBrad]

Not a good way to start the day, hopefully it didn't ruin the magic for the day.....:mickey:

Well put. I hope the rest of your day was fun!!:mickey:

[malip]

Thanks for all the replies. The rest of the day was as magical as ever. We took in the flower and garden expo. The kids loved all the playgrounds set up around the world. Very relaxing, but very hot. Unlike the rest of the country, it looks like summer is coming early here in the sunshine state.

[joanna71985]

I'm sorry that happened to you- that was totally inappropriate.

[DestinationWDW]

I can see how this happens, I’ve been there. At the time you make your reservation the CM asks the name and age of each individual in your party. What they don’t ask is what age will you be at the time of arrival.

This happened to us when we made are reservation in January, but weren’t arriving until August. My ds at the time was 2, when we made the reservation, but actually 3 at the time of our trip. Being an honest person and having a guilty conscience I called and asked the question about age limits, my trip cost few hundred dollars more than I expected. When I asked the CM, she stated that I wasn’t lying, and there was no rule on how to determine the actual age. I think it’s more an ethical value and one more question you have to answer for at the pearly gates.

[locodemickey]

Now you've got me thinking. My daughter will be 2 years and 10 months when we go in June and she is very tall for her age. If they make any comments under their breath, etc., I would ask them to speak to their manager immediately so that I can inform him/her what one of their subordinates just did and if they condone that sort of behavior. That should not be tolerated:mad: If they don't ask for verification, they should not make people feel as though they are trying to cheat the system. I hope that I will not encounter that situation. My daughter will be in a stroller when we enter but she still looks big.

[TheMartellFamily]

I think a good idea about the under 3 pass is a good idea and then there will not be questions by anyone.

[McGoofy]

That's too bad that happened to you as you were starting your day. It hurts when you know you are an honest person who is not cheating the system, but someone is accusing you of doing so. Unfortunately, so many people probably have cheated the system to the point where they just assume that's what everybody is trying to do. When my son was 2, he was very tall for his age. We never were questioned at WDW, but I knew that "look" that we would get when we would go to food bars such as Ryans where the kids under 3 eat free. I hated that. Now my son is 9, turning 10 soon, and at Disney this is the split between child and adult prices. Last time we were there, some of the servers were surprised that we wanted a kids menu for him. I never had any ugly comments though.

I work in a newborn nursery, and we have noticed that the trend is that babies these days are just born bigger in weight and length. Recently, the ranges have even changed as to what is considered "normal" and a "large" baby. Two year olds and 3 year olds will come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. If Disney isn't going to require proof, then they need to accept the parent's word for what it is.

I agree with the poster that said there ought to be some sort of pass for the kids under 3. Then there would be no questions asked and feelings would not be hurt.

[AHOTE]

I definately would have had myself or my DH break away from our group to quietly report this to a supervisor.

:twocents: As a former customer service manager for a major retailer I have to agree. If it effects you, then it's important enough to report. Take a few minutes to collect your thoughts before going after a supervisor. You want to present the issues you are reporting in a calm and thoughtful manner. If I, as a manager, never hear of a problem then I can't interact with an associate to remedy a problem. I never went after an employee with a pre-concieved ideas or with predetermined solutions and I believe Disney management works the same way. You cannot worry about the outcome because you reported the problem. As guests, if we accept situations such as this then we only add to the issues that in turn effect our experiences at WDW.

[Hayden's Dad]

I learned last time we went to the World that if you do have any issues with a CM then one of the best places to go to is Guest Services. I have a tendency to bite my tounge and so it would naw at me and potentially ruin a wonderful vacation, but once I talked to someone I didn't think about it again I knew it was being taken care of.

The same goes for when someone goes above and beyond (and we had a lot of those :D) We would tell guest services about them as well. My wife came up with a naughty and nice list we would right down their name where they were working and the time and tell guest services and then when we got home I wrote them as well. Our nice list was considerably longer than the naughty.

[doodleboy]

This may be getting a little off topic, but I have noticed the CM's attitude slipping recently. It has been my observation that it seems to be the permanent folks more than the college interns they hire. Are they not paying enough to draw a higher quality employee? Or are they doing what the federal agency I work for is doing and only hiring part timers to avoid paying out benefits. I have noticed that has made a real difference in the quality of employee at my job.

[ValenciaCalling]

I am in no way excusing his behavior, but I don't think people realize just how poorly a lot of the cast members are treated on a daily basis, not only by the guests, but by their managers, other cast members, etc. He could have just been a jerk (which a few of them are), but I know that even as a consistently pleasant person, I found it very difficult not to get overwhelmed and frustrated in certain situations.

You have to realize these cp's and cm's are working 12-15 hour shifts in the blazing hot sun (and the freezing cold, in my case), while getting yelled at in every language imaginable for things that are completely out of their control.

Though that may be the reason for his unpleasantness, I do think his behavior was completely uncalled for.

If I could just ask everyone to please be as nice as you can to every cast member you see, and understand that there may be some things that they don't know, or have no control over. They are there to assist you, but in the words of Rodney Dangerfield, they "don't get no respect"... :blush:

[KylesMom]

Just as an FYI, this post is three years old for those of you thinking "Oh no, do I need to bring my child's birth certificate?"

There will always be a few in every field who are on a power trip. While this certainly sounds like the case for the original poster, I just wanted to bring it to light that this did not just recently happen. I think most of us on these boards appreciate what the CMs do - and running into sourpusses like this is not a common occurrence.

[Kairi_7378]

Just as an FYI, this post is three years old for those of you thinking "Oh no, do I need to bring my child's birth certificate?"

There will always be a few in every field who are on a power trip. While this certainly sounds like the case for the original poster, I just wanted to bring it to light that this did not just recently happen. I think most of us on these boards appreciate what the CMs do - and running into sourpusses like this is not a common occurrence.

Thanks for posting this, Carol... because this thread made me panic for a few minutes while I was reading it!

[kemps@wdw]

Obviously, it's NOT the "Happiest Place on Earth" or everyone. Clearly, his actions were a bit over dramatic and somewhat inappropriate. However, in his defense, I'm sure there is more and more problems with people lying about their children's ages to get them in free. (shame on them!) And it's his job to nip that in the bud.

[K8screen]

I had the opposite experience, some years back. My 10 and 11 year olds were quite small for their age, (they have certainly made up for it since!), and when I tried to buy adult passes for them the CM said "They are not more than 9" I said they both were, and she said ok for the boy, but the girl certainly isn't, I tried to argue, but I admit that I eventually gave in and bought a child pass for DD. I felt guilty, but she was one scary lady, and I felt a bit stupid arguing that I should pay more.

[EpcotChic23]

When we were down there in May, we experience many eyes rolling, nasty attitude, not wanting to help us CM. Everyone in my family noticed it. We were trying to figure out why. It's a shame:confused:

[DVC2004]

Wow, I am sorry you had that experience! I am sure it happens (where people say their child is younger than they are or whatever)- however, the attitude from staff is not appropraite whatsoever. And, why it would bother or concern this guy I have no idea. Is it taking from his pocket? Is it his job to watch the bottom line for Disney? Please don't flame me. I realize yes as employees, everyone is responsible to "watch out" for the company. But this to me is going against Disney's guest experience and customer service philosophy.

Disney makes money hand over fist, and I am not advocating here that anyone sneak anyone in or lie, but there are plenty of things Disney charges for for example a child cut off age is 9, including the dining plan. They make a great deal of money off children say ages 10-13 that don't eat adult meals yet get charged price. We paid OOP at Cape May and neither of my children (at teh time 10 and 11) ate $28 worth of food. Anyway if the 2 year old/3 year old thing is such a problem and guests can't be trusted, I am surprised they don't start charging an infant rate for kids 0-2 then.

[dnickels]

Keeping in mind that this is a resurrected thread from over three years ago, I think it's worth remembering that most of these cast members are essentially making minimum wage. I don't know of any other place in the world where we would expect someone making minimum wage with no benefits to always be smiling and willing to do so much to make our days 'magical' (and I fully realize that Disney set that bar for customer service themselves).

Remember too, that people and their actions aren't always as mean-spirited as we often choose to perceive them-
- The bus driver who groans when he gets up to help a scooter user isn't necessarily groaning because he hates his job or hates people using scooters, maybe he just groans because he has a bad back and it hurts him to move that way.
- The cast member that rolls their eyes may have just dealt with a string of argumentative guests before we arrive. We didn't see that so we just assume they're eye-rolling at us because they're mean-spirited.
- and on and on and on.

Other people, walking in their shoes and all that stuff. :twocents:

[DVC2004]

Good point. But having worked for Disney, (not in a minimum wage capacity though), I can tell you each and every cast member is trained on "on-stage" behavior and attitude. In fact, each cast member must attend a "traditions class" where you have street sweepers all the way up to executive level employees all given the same message: When you are at work, whether or not you work with guests or behind the scenes, you are on stage. You are expected to act a certain way. Yes, everyone has a bad day. But you are told to leave it at home because the guests come first.

Yes there could have been another reason for the eye rolling (three years ago, yesterday, tomorrow) but it's not professional behavior. There's many companies you can work for where the guest experience is not the main focus.

[biodtl]

I have a friend whose son has always looked older than his age (right now he's barely 14 and 6'5"). She got tired of the rude looks and questions when dealing with admission to different places (it never happened in WDW, luckily), so she finally broke down a few years ago and got him a state issued ID to carry.

[11290]

Obviously, it's NOT the "Happiest Place on Earth" or everyone. Clearly, his actions were a bit over dramatic and somewhat inappropriate. However, in his defense, I'm sure there is more and more problems with people lying about their children's ages to get them in free. (shame on them!) And it's his job to nip that in the bud.


You would not believe the size of some of the 2 year olds in FL, and it is NOT the CM's job to nip that in the bud. Sometimes when we ask the age the mother will say 2 and the child will say something to the effect that "no mommy, I'm 3".

As CM's on turnstiles we have to take the persons word for it and let them in even when it is quite obvious that they are nowhere near the 2/3 break. We can only deny entry when tickets are not coming up allowable.

[SpecJoe Magic]

I imagine that our daughter's real age will be called into question if we take her before she is 3 years old, as she is in the upper 90th pecentile in height for her age. She is only 6 months old right now so that could change but i doubt it since I am 6'8'' tall and my wife is 5'11" tall. Hopefully we will not have a negative experience with that sort of thing like you did. Surely the CMs will believe us just by looking at our heights but I wonder if it would be a good idea to take a copy of her birth certificate just in case. I commend you for keeping your cool and not letting it ruin your day.

[greengeen]

I wouldn't blame the CM at all, I would blame all the many guests who try to cheat on their kids' ages. It always creeps me out when people say "inappropriate! report them! call a supervisor!". The misbehavior is more on the part of guests than CMs, IMO. If your kid is big, bring a copy of their birth certificate. Problem solved.

[gabe1]

And the flip is Guests are not always Magical.
My DS, Parade control by Pecos, told a British gentleman he could not stand on wall. Fine.
DS returns to gentleman, Sir you can stand on the wall. DS returns a few minutes later and just looks at the gentleman with disbelief in his face, and the gentleman looks at my DS and says <snip> you have to be kidding me.

Get a few of those Guests in your day and it can drain you. As he told me the story that ended his shift, there is so little CMs can do.
Ignore the mule of a guest and the CM could get in trouble, get firm and the Guest reports the CM. :(

[disneydementia]

The few times I have dealt with a rude cast member I just make a mental note of the cm's name and report it to City Hall. Of course I turn in a lot of compliments too!

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Here's an example of someone not looking their age: when my nephew was either 14.5 or 15.5 we went to Pleasure Island and his dad and I were ordering drinks from one of the sidewalk bars. The bartender asked my nephew what he wanted and no he didn't mean soda! I just started laughing and said that he's not old enough. The bartender looked at me like he didn't believe me. I love my nephew but not enough to have let him drink at that age!
PS: he's 22 and NOW he gets carded, but not all the time.

[Main Street Jim]

It has been my observation that it seems to be the permanent folks more than the college interns they hire. Are they not paying enough to draw a higher quality employee? Or are they doing what the federal agency I work for is doing and only hiring part timers to avoid paying out benefits. I have noticed that has made a real difference in the quality of employee at my job.I worked for Disney part-time for two years, and full-time for seven. When I left, I wasn't even making $10.00 an hour. I certainly wasn't working there for the money :D But yeah...I was told once a while back, that Disney used to carefully screen their applicants, and hired one out of about every 3,000. Now they hire one out of about every 50. Some people think that because it's Disney, that the pay must be great. Once they get hired and find out that their paycheck "ain't gonna pay the bills", some of them get a lil' Grumpy :) :rotfl:

The college kids? They think it's all "party time", they don't care much for their jobs (for one, what they do at Disney may have NOTHING to do with what they're doing at school - you may be a Psych major, but you're pushing the buttons at Test Track...), and they're only here for three months at a time. They know they're gone after a short amount of time, so why "care" for the job?

Oh - and as Bill said:

If it effects you, then it's important enough to report. Take a few minutes to collect your thoughts before going after a supervisor. You want to present the issues you are reporting in a calm and thoughtful manner. I've said this time and time again. If you have a problem with a CM - or have experienced a GREAT CM - then say something to somebody about it :) They (Disney) will never *know* there's a problem with something (that they can fix) if they don't *know* there's a problem to begin with :) Oh - and if you do happen to report something, ask for a *manager*; don't talk to the coordinators (coordinators wear the peanut-butter-colored striped shorts, and khaki pants; managers are usually in street clothes). :thumbsup:

[MrPeetrie]

First off, sorry about your experience. You did well not to let it ruin your day. We just returned and encountered NOTHING like that. The CMs were all amazing and I have been intending to post a huge "THANK YOU " on this site, but haven't found the time yet. (It's forthcoming.)

We are going back next year and my DS will be 30 months old. He's smallish so it may not be an issue. But I think Disney can handle this better. When we make our reservations, they already know our family members' names from past trips. Presumably, they know our children's birth dates, as well. Perhaps, for children nearing age 3, they could give an "access card" in place of a ticket. Of course, this would only probably work for people staying on property. But I'm sure something could be handled prior to arriving at the park to eliminate these uncomfortable moments.

We flew down his past October. It was our first flight in four years. We only bought three seats and my DS 19 months sat on my wife's lap. To avoid any delays at security checkpoints, we called the airline in advance and had my son added to my wife's ticket as: infant on lap. Her boarding pass was stamped and his name was added. This made for a more quick pass through the check points. I'm sure others may not have done this, and were possibly delayed entrance. In fact, we were told Orlando Airport may deny access. Flying sure has changed.

My point here is: Disney should have a system in place similar to that where you can call and make arrangements to have an access card for those on the brink of reaching 3. When I start making my next reservations, Disney should already know my son's age and should be able to provide me with something for him at check-in. For those making a one-day trip with APs, they should be able to call in advance and have something at Customer Service waiting. That would eliminate the awkwardness. (Knowing Disney, they probably already do and I just don't know about it.)

[joanna71985]

The college kids? They think it's all "party time", they don't care much for their jobs (for one, what they do at Disney may have NOTHING to do with what they're doing at school - you may be a Psych major, but you're pushing the buttons at Test Track...), and they're only here for three months at a time. They know they're gone after a short amount of time, so why "care" for the job?

I don't really think it's fair to clump all the CPs together in one group. I can tell you that many (if not most) of the CPs are there to get experience, and like what they do. They are not there just for "party time". I did 6 CPs, and not one of them fit my major (and look at me now- I'm still at Disney, loving what I do). I know just as many FT/PT CMs that don't "care" about the job as do CPs

[Gator]

I took my son when he was 2year8months. After reading threads like this, I figured I was in for it. But thankfully it never happened to us. Maybe there's some "Disney Vigilantes" out there who think it's their personal business to make sure WDW stays profitable.

[Boost]

You have the patience of a saint; I would have called a Lead over if a CM ever slammed anything in the presence of my two year old.

[malip]

Wow, amazing how this post has resurrected itself. I have not had much time to view this site recently and pulled it up for the first time in over two weeks. Imagine my surprise to see my 3.5 year old post on the top of the list! We had many more instances of second guessing during the next several months before our daughter turned 3. Things were a lot easier once she had her own ticket. Unfortunately, we just moved out of state this past summer and our AP's expired in Sept. It was hard not to just add another year!