Perhaps. But then, I have extended family who works at Disney. They have nothing but great things to say about working for the company. I’ve heard other reports from past cast members who report that working for Disney was a great experience.
It is Disney. The cast members do what they do, behave the way they behave, etc., because of the way Disney has set expectations, etc. It shows. If it was JUST the cast members on their own deciding to be that way, why would you not see similar behavior from other parks, etc. It is uniquely Disney.
Disney is also a company. They are there to make money. No getting around that. If they want to raise prices, they have every right to do so. I don’t have a right to go to Disney. But pricing goes up enough that people stop paying, Disney will adjust. But people keep paying because Disney keeps providing experiences unlike anywhere else in the world.
I’m terrible at small talk but once, a couple of years ago, I started talking to the parking toll attendant before heading into AK. I noticed he was from Chicago so I made a silly joke about the weather and sports teams then he gave me a special parking pass.
It was no ordinary parking pass, it was a designated parking spot just mere steps away from the entrance. Like really really absurdly close. It made my entire week. Ever since I’m even more super friendly to every CM.
Last month we were in Disney with my 14m baby. She is very very attached to her blankie. Somewhere between Disney Springs and Port Orleans we lost the precious blanket (possibly overboard on the water shuttle). I called Disney Springs and Port Orleans and sent my husband back to retrace our steps. No luck. Disney lost and found credited our account $50 to go buy her a new blanket. We were back at the hotel and they didn’t have any in the shop, and it was too late to go out and get one. I was talking to the shop about it and the next morning there was a blanket delivered to our room. So sweet! And they still gave us the $50 credit. The beloved blanket is still missed, but they did everything AND MORE to help.
In 2016, my wife and I went to WDW for our honeymoon. Wearing our “Happily Ever After” buttons garnered us a lot of congratulations and sometimes we would be chosen in line to sit at the front of rides, or whenever a CM asked for a group of two, it felt like we were always chosen.
More from our 2016 trip, is that at our fancy dinner at the California Grill, the kitchen brought us a free dessert with congratulations on it! And when we were exiting Epcot one evening to go to MK to watch the fireworks, a CM approached us and gave us free tickets to the Disney After Dark even that evening! It made our trip truly special, that we almost considered buying the DAD tickets again.
My advice, wear your buttons folks!
This last trip in February 2018, we wore our buttons, but it was often our matching shirts that garnered more attention from CM. We wore a “I love you” and “I know” shirts to HS, and everyone on Star Tours loved it, not to mention at the Launch Bay, the Stormtroopers gave me a hard time.
The Disney experience is unparalleled for sure in the theme park industry, possibly all of entertainment with customer service.
How does one come about getting these pins? Is it just a matter of letting the resort know when you check in?
When we go in 2020, it will be our 25th anniversary trip, although it will take place 3 months after our actual anniversary. Do they even have pins for such events? If nothing else, it would be a nice souvenir.
There are buttons for most any celebratory event. They are often available at resort check-in, always at guest relations inside the parks, and often at information desks/podiums around the parks.
Really, just ask your nearest cast member and they should be able to tell you the nearest place to pick some up.