get out of the walkway

[cathoswolf]

why is it that no matter how many times durning a parade or fantsmic you get the guest who think they are special and stand in either the planters or in the walkway. The when you tell them to move they only go 2 feet and think that you cant see them. 8)

[tabacco]

I used to play dumb with those guests during Fantasmic!

Me: "Excuse me sir, I'm afraid this is a walkway, and it has to be kept totally clear so people can walk this way."
Guest: "Fine."
[Guest moves 10' away, still in walkway]
Me: "Excuse me sir, I'm afraid this is a walkway, and it has to be kept totally clear so people can walk this way."
Guest: "I already moved out of the way!"
Me: "Sorry sir, I'm afraid this is a walkway, and it has to be kept totally clear so people can walk this way."

I think the most I ever repeated the exact same explanation to one guest was 5 or 6 times before they finally took the hint and moved behind the ropes :)

[Freak]

I love the people who can't figure out that when you're waving your lightsaber/flashlight in a certain direction...they're supposed to walk that way. I've seen people go the entirely wrong way and then get all angry and confused when people are walking and bumping into them.

[cheshire]

or the ones that climb the trees? Had that a few times on main street. On fantasmic i've seen a few stand on the handrails like a tightrope. And when they fall they expect disney to reimburse them for their stupidity. Kinda like "Why didn't you stop me from hurting myself?" :roll:

[tabacco]

The worst is over in 'A' section with the rollaway stanchions, where people try to sit on the rope, inevitably causing one of the rollaways to fall over. *sigh*

[Griffin]

I always find it amazing how some guests come to the conclusion that the edges of planters are a suitable spot to watch Fantasmic. Specifically right off to the east side and right in front of Tower B...

In the Guest's Mind:

"Ha! Look at that! Primo seating wtih a great view! And hey, I'm only hear 15 minutes before the show starts... I feel sorry for those other suckers who've been wating here since 6... HA! I've got a better seat than them!"

Please! Everybody else and their Uncle has thought about doing that too! You're not that clever!

[cathoswolf]

i remember this one time during the 45 year parade/parade of the stars when this one lady and her whole family of 10 tried to fit into the planter right infront of the storybook exit. I walked over to them and asked them to please leave. they left but went inside the handicap area and then got thrown out of there.

[Polar33]

True story from one of those "over-crowded-under-staffed holiday periods":

"I'm sorry sir, but the top of my wagon is not a designated parade viewing area, you'll have to get down."

"But I can't see the parade!"

"This wagon is on wheels, wheels tend to roll, you will be seeing whole lot less of the parade after you fall and hurt yourself."

"Fine!"

He then goes about 20 feet away and stands on a railing using a nearby tree for support...halfway through the parade he looses his footing and falls into the planter. He then brushes himself off, glances my way to see me watching with an "I told you so" smirk, and then walks off forgeting about the parade.

[BirdMom]

I remember one "special" jerk - guest. Think I might have posted something about him before. It was during the Lion King parade - no crossovers because it was also a "street show." I was on Hub G.C. and assigned suicide bend (lucky me :roll: ) but being a good girl I was helping my fellow c.m.'s clear out the aisle before the thing started. During the lead up time there had been this Koren tourist wandering up and down the aisle eyeing the guests behind the ropes (BTW this isn't meant as a racist comment - if you worked there long enough, you learned to see the physical differences between Japanese, Chinese and Korean nationals - of course the Korean Airlines luggage tag on his camera case was a hint as well). Anyhow, the show was winding up on the end of Main Street and starting to head our way when Mr. Tourist tried to wedge himself next to the long-seated guests where the stanchion and rope cut the aisle off. Along with another c.m., I went over to him and said "I'm sorry sir, this aisle must be kept clear for emergencies and those people have been sitting here a long time. You'll have to move behind the ropes." He replies "I want to take picture!" I said, "I'm sorry, but these people planned their picture taking opportunity awhile back - it wouldn't be fair to them if I let you in here at the last minute - you'll have to move behind the ropes where there is open space." Well, he tried to wedge into some other primo spots to the consternation of the rest of the guests, so I finally got him to understand that he had to go to the back of the group. All the while he was saying "I want to take picture!" as if that would make it ok.

Twenty minutes later, the show is winding down and we are starting to take the ropes down. 95% of the time the guests followed instructions "ok, we're taking the ropes away, but please don't walk out until Simba is past that tree (pointing) - we need to keep this area clear in case there's an emergency while the show's still on" blah blah blah, everyone's staying put except Mr. Tourist. I stopped him and said "sir, I asked everyone to please stay where they were until the lion is over there (again, pointing) - this area still needs to be clear." And he shouts "but I want to take PICTURE!!!" (obviously, this incident took place before I learned about the vagueries of Korean culture). The guests still waiting for the last minute are looking back and forth between me and this crazy man and I tried to be firm explaining that everyone up front had made plans to get there as early as possible so that they could get good pictures of the parade and that it wasn't fair to expect to be allowed to just cram in there at the last minute and push up against all those people because he wanted a few pictures. Once again he shouts "I want PICTURE!!!" and as I started to walk away with the bones, I looked at a female guest, rolled my eyes and said "oh, I guess he's special!" Well, that set him off...I was in the planter with 8-foot-tall G.C. lead Steve F., and we were re-wrapping the rope bones when Mr. Tourist runs up and starts shouting "she no let me take picture - she say I special!!!" So I quickly told Steve that this guy had been trying to cram into areas where there was no room at the last minute before the parade started along with the rest. Steve straightened up to his full height, looked at the guy and said "sir, if we let anyone rush in at the last minute it wouldn't be fair to the people who waited hours for the best seats. They waited a long time to get their pictures." So the guy obviously exasperated by the concept of "fair play" starts shaking his finger at me and shouting again "she say I special!!!" and Steve looks at him and says, "well, sir, at Disneyland we think all our guests are special" before the guys stomps off towards Tomorrowland. By this time, the whole Hub G.C. crew was in there, and we were laughing at the guy - like what's he going to do? Go to City Hall and write "She said I was special!!!" OOOOOOOHHHHH, I'm scared!!! :wink:

[Freak]

You guys need to start smacking people with those lightsaber/flashlights. Just smack and poke 'em until they figure out they're not supposed to be there.

[BirdMom]

You guys need to start smacking people with those lightsaber/flashlights. Just smack and poke 'em until they figure out they're not supposed to be there.

I wish...however, then there would be an awful lot of c.m.'s serving 5 to 10 for assault and battery...

[tabacco]

Speaking of which... I was working Fantasmic! one night awhle ago and someone assaulted one of the bumblebees. Some guy apparently twisted a female CM's arm behind her back or something like that over in 'A' section at the riverbelle split. I don't want to sound authoritative because I didn't actually see it, and it was awhile ago so I've forgotten the details. I do remember the words "arm" and "twist" being used, though. I only found out about it because I was in 'D' section on gallery steps and I noticed a bunch of security people over that way, and I asked someone what was going on after the show.

[BirdMom]

someone assaulted one of the bumblebees. Some guy apparently twisted a female CM's arm behind her back or something like that over in 'A' section at the riverbelle split.

O.K. that's another thing that drove me crazy - what makes those jerks think that for the price of admission they're allowed to manhandle the c.m.'s if they think it will give them their way??? Over in Fantasyland, we had the Matterhorn cut-off ropes up for Electrical, some lady tried to roll her stroller under them and I stopped the stroller. She said she wanted to go to Main Street and I said "ma'am, you're going to have to go through the castle to get there, the parade has already started." Some guy who was apparantly part of her group then comes up and punches me in the stomach...the worst part was that the ass security guard who was right there just started laughing and did nothing about the jerk. If I'd been his wife or sister, he might have thought differently maybe (once a jerk always a jerk) but I was shocked that he didn't take care of the brute. While we had the "Esplanade" (still sounds like a Mall to me) under construction, they had several of us from the area assigned to G.C. to direct guests around the construction mess. There was some jerk who claimed his 5 year old son was lost and he knocked down one of my co-workers, a 19-year-old petite girl who was visibly pregnant. Hmmmm - my five year old trumps your embryo. I mean - they are such tough guys beating up on defenseless women who work at Disneyland. Bet they feel manly after pushing the girls around... :throw:

[Freak]

^Yah thats pretty messed up....People like that need to fall in a hole. I get shoved around alot at the DLR (I walk in a consistent straight path to whatever I go to instead of running around and flailing my arms like an idiot.). Its like, they've never heard of the words "excuse me, please." Or something....I'm a non-violent guy, especially at parks....I really try to stay as low-profile as I can there. Just saying hi to a few CM's that I see every once and a while. Try and brighten their day, because they have to put up with idiotic guests.

[goose]

Jeez! If a grown man ever hit me at work I'd smack him (not very hard, but as hard as I could) and sling every foul word I could think of at him. It would be very unDisney and I know it would cost me my job. But that would be my gut reaction. There's very little that pisses me off more than grown men roughing up defenseless women and children.

And Birdmom, that's another reason why most cm's have trouble respecting Security. They're more concerned about us parking in Katella lot and coming in as a guest (I got the third degree for that one) than violent and dangerous behavior from guests and passholes.

[Dante101]

If a guest hit me, I'd place them under citizen's arrest for assuault and battery, and tell security to call Anaheim PD. And if a guard saw the attack and did nothing, I'd sue Disneyland for harboring an unsafe working environment.

[cheshire]

My husband works security :roll: but he refuses to work parkside. He says that security use to be much better but when eisner came he changed it to more of a "guest service" role than security. I tell him all the stories of us calling security from an attraction and the lack of back up that we get. He says that downtown and hotel security have to be a little harder when it comes to disruptive guests because half of them are drunks from the lost bar or the occassional abusive husband at the hotel. In defense of some of the security, I have had some of the younger(and the occasional retired military) ones be VERY anxious to go after guests we call and complain about. But honestly, I'm sure they are very nice but what do you expect a seventy year old retired man to do to a group of teenagers?

[Dante101]

...but what do you expect a seventy year old retired man to do to a group of teenagers?
Get on his radio, call for backup, and trail them...

[BirdMom]

If a guest hit me, I'd place them under citizen's arrest for assuault and battery, and tell security to call Anaheim PD. And if a guard saw the attack and did nothing, I'd sue Disneyland for harboring an unsafe working environment.

Sometimes I think some of the things that happen depend on the area. I got smacked in the face 10 minutes before my walk time at Mansion (I was at load 2 minding my own business). I stopped the ride (which shocked the hell out of the ass), called security and had him hauled away. Once the call went out on the radio, 3 supervisors were there immediately. The senior guy, Bob R ( who is the best manager anyone could ask for) was really concerned and wanted me to go to the emergency room. I insisted on waiting in security until Anaheim P.D. could show up so the guy could be placed under citizen's arrest. Our department was behind me. The supervisors and manager on duty in security kept trying to talk me out of pressing charges. I kept getting "we'll just kick him out and ruin his day, isn't that enough?" I kept telling them NO - this guy has to learn that he can't spend $30 (or whatever it was at the time) and just punch anyone he chooses in the face (Bob was wondering if my nose was broken). It took 3 hours for Anaheim P.D. to get there (guess the Winchell's pit stop was more important). They hauled him off and I heard from legal about when the arraignment was supposed to be, etc. In between, 2 days after this jerk punched me, there he was on Pirates, with his foul-mouthed wife and kid, along with in-laws and they were all standing on the load side of the dock pointing at me and talking to each other. Some of my cast mates said I should have just walked away and made an announcement that I couldn't dispatch a boat containing someone who had assaulted me. I just glared at him as nastilly as I could. The guy was from Texas, so of course he never showed up for his court date. However, I'm comforted by knowing that there's a warrent in the state D.O.J. system for his arrest if he ever screws up in California again.

What's really pitiful was that after Bob was transferred to another department, our own managers started to try to talk c.m.'s out of pressing charges. 3 other gals that I worked with got punched/hit by idiots and all of them had managerial aspirations - the replacement supervisors hinted that it would be better for their careers if they didn't press charges against the offending guests. Does that suck or what?

[Dante101]

That does suck. And part of me wonders that maybe the cops didn't show up for 3 hours because Security didn't call them right away - perhaps hoping you'd give up and go home...

But it's nice to hear that your managment was standing behind you! :D

[wheelieman]

Man, who would have thought that getting punched out was a problem at Disneyland?! I hate men who hit women. A lot of my CM friends that I hung around were women, and if I would have seen any of them get accosted or especially punched, I would have taken the guy out right there!!!!!! I was really big, 6'5" @ 250lbs, I had lots of 20's male aggressiveness, and I would have LOVED to help take care of THAT particular problem.

BirdMom, it's good that your manager backed you up. I could not imagine being in the position of having just been punched, and then management trying to get me to forget it. AARRRGGHHH It is making me mad just thinking about this!

Dave

[Polar33]

Wow...I just realized that I have never posted the story of the death threat I received from a guest one time.

I was working on a Popcorn wagon one day before the parade and I needed to pull some more stock out of my storage bin. For those who don't know, the bins are big metal boxes separate from the popcorn wagon, and you must open the lid and prop it open in order to pull stuff out. I had gotten about half of what I needed out when I noticed that I suddenly had a line that was about 5 people deep. I figured that I would help these guests quickly and then finish getting stock, so I left the lid open. After I had helped a couple of guests I noticed there was a small girl, probably around five or six years old who was essentially playing around with items inside the bin. While still assisting the guest I was with at the time I asked her twice to stop and she either didn't hear me or decided not to listen. I quickly wrapped up with the guest I was with and went over to tell the girl to stop again. She ran off before I had the chance so I decided to close the lid and go back to my line of guests (which had grown longer by that point). I lowered the lid until it was about three or four inches from being closed and then let go, causing it to slam a little. I learned a long time ago that this was the preferred method of closing the bin as any other method can result in smashing ones fingers.

I had started to go back to help the guests that were in line when I heard a man yelling obscenities from the opposite side of the wagon (where the storage bin is) I turn to see a gentleman that I can only assume was the girl's father yelling many things intermixed with a lot of cussing. Things like "you could have fucking hurt her" "you shouldn't fucking have done that" "you didn't have to be an ass", I can't remember exactly what he said but I do remember a lot of swearing and I remember trying to get across that I nicely told her twice to stop and she was long gone when I closed the lid, but this guy didn't really want to listen so I put an end to it that I had other guests waiting and if he'd like to file a complaint he could go down to City Hall.

I went back to help the line and even though I was rather shaken up I was able to get through a number of guests before I look up and see the same guy from earlier. He stepped to the front of the line and said, "You should have fucking done that differently, if I ever see you do that again I am going to fucking kill you. Could I get two popcorns?" He handed me ten bucks and I started to put it in the drawer when I stopped and looked him in the eye and told him "No, I'm not serving anyone who makes threats on my life".

He stormed off and came across a Guest Control lead, who in turn got one of my leads out there. My lead comped him two popcorns without even hearing my side of the story. He just said that we'd talk when I got back to the office. There was no talk at the office, and the guest never left a complaint. Looking back, I don't know what pisses me off more...the ass that threatened my life or the Lead who gave free stuff to a person who wanted to kill me.

Grrr, I need to throw somthing...
:throw:
That's better.

[cheshire]

it is so frustrating that a guest can be a complete jerk and get comped stuff. They are like pets learning bad behaviors. If they are loud enough and rude enough they will get free stuff. And the reply from management is usually that repeat business is good for the company. I'm sorry but these kinds of people are NOT the kind that should be allowed at Disneyland. There are plenty of other good families that are willing to spend big money to enjoy a day at the park.

[Fritter]

Looking back, I don't know what pisses me off more...the ass that threatened my life or the Lead who gave free stuff to a person who wanted to kill me.


Dude, what the heck is up with that BS?! I don't understand that at all. I guess it's just that philosophy of "The customer is always right." right? Ya whatever. Some people need to learn how to watch their children and teach them not to touch things they're not supposed to. And the lead that did that? Ya well, I'll just to refrain from going off on that subject, I'm just going to walk away right now. :evil:

[SRT_GB]

Well Polar maybe if that guy was doing his job as a parent and watching his child that whole thing wouldn't have happened in the first place. I swear, we look out for their kids' safety and well-being and look at the thanks we get.

I once had a parent yell at me for raising my voice to tell her child to stop swinging our queue chains around. My answer: "Do you let your kids swing metal chains at each other at home?" She walked away like a snobbish little bitch.

[Freak]

God, if I worked at Disneyland, and stuff like this happened to me, I'd so be fired. I can stand like, normal name calling and retarded remarks, but when someone yells obscenities and threatens me and stuff, I'd totally go off on them. I deal with alot of crap day to day just in normal life, I don't need retard guests yelling at me too....Grrrr. I hope to god I don't get this when I work at Knotts.

[Dante101]

Looking back, I don't know what pisses me off more...the ass that threatened my life or the Lead who gave free stuff to a person who wanted to kill me.

Dude, what the heck is up with that BS?! I don't understand that at all. I guess it's just that philosophy of "The customer is always right." right?
It's the philosophy of "my lead is a spineless retard (just the way Disney likes 'em) who doesn't ever want to risk getting one single guest complaint, to somehow show management that he's the bestest lead ever... :roll:

[coffeegirl9]

Yeah, it really pisses me off to see people get what they don't deserve. I always feel like going to their place of business and acting just like they do at mine. And if any man hit me, I'd be fired on the spot, because you can bet your ass I would hit him back.

[Dante101]

You can always argue "self-defense." I mean, are we really supposed to just stand there and let a guest harm us over and over?

[VonSeegs]

Wow...I just realized that I have never posted the story of the death threat I received from a guest one time.

Aw... This makes me remember my first death threat. *sniff* Memories:

I had known Space for not even a month and I couldn't group to save my life. Well I was with another female CM that was pretty seasoned so she was handling the queue and I was dealing with the backdoors. Well the wheelchair line was up my butt but I was doing the best I could at the time. Well this one group of like 5 people were next. I had just put one wheelie on and this guy steps up with his grandma or something in the chair and stands in front of row one. I turned around and kindly asked him to step back and I would be right with him. He just looked at me and didn't move. Ooooookkkkkk. I noticed that they were from another culture so I thought perhaps maybe, just maybe, they didn't speak english all too well and hell, it was always so freakin loud in there so maybe they didn't understand me.

Smiling ('cause that's when I gave a damn) I asked them again to back up. He moved about 2 inches. I asked again. He then threw the wheelchair back (with his 104 year old grandma still in it) back behind the wall and started yelling at me, "There! Is that what you want?!" I said, "um, yah" and attempted to explain that as soon as the last wheelchair got off I would be able to put him on but he wasn't going to have it. I tried again. He was still yelling. I tried again but this time he started to come out from behind the wheelie so I just walked away and told the other grouper to deal with it. This guy I'm sure if he had the chance would have hit me.

Well the loader, Scott, saw the whole thing and he told me to switch with him because he knew I was about to freak out on the whole thing. Luckily the ride broke down (for the 7th time during my shift mind you) so I went to reset. Mike, the lead, dealt with the guy for me, called security and after I was back from the 101 told me to stay in the tower. I was fine until the security guard, the black security guard, came up to get my side of the story and he and Mike told me the guy's shouting that I'm racist. OMG! Forget it. The tears came streaming out. I was done. Apparently this guy also said that he was going to have my job and that I better be watching over my shoulder when I got to my car that night. Done. I'm done. Stick a fork in me 'cause after that I was done with the whole damn thing.

Thank someone because he was actually escorted out of the park.

And to think, 9 months later I became a lead on that thing. Huh.

[Space Man K7]

Walking from the Canoe dock to the other side of the universe, you get to see a lot of stupid poeple with strollers stop in the middle of the road... Kind of makes you think about never wanting to learn Main St. Vehicles... I'd run them down!