Salute To Disney Cast Members

Now that we are back and have some time, I thought I write about how things could have gone wrong with our trip due to two small "incidents" or happening that occurred. The first one is due to my stupidity, while the other is the "stupidity" that could have been not so nice on the part of Disney. They both involved Cast Members who are often way smarter or more accommodating than some of the guests (like me) or Disney management.

The first occurred after we had a quick dinner at Sunshine Seasons in The Land Pavilion at Epcot. It wasn't that busy at that time (an important part of the story to keep in mind). In fact, we sat at one of the least busy section, right in front of the Jr. Chefs area. We left the place around 7:00 pm to walk around World Showcase a bit before we go to our favorite spot to to watch Illuminations that night. Since it was also an Extra Magic Hours night at Epcot, we also planned to get our wristbands. On the way to World Showcase, we spent a lovely time chatting with a Cast Member at the DVC booth. By the time we got to the wrist band distribution place, it was slightly after 7:30 pm. When I open my wallet to show them my resort key card, I realized that I didn't have my credit card that I used to pay for the meals we had at Sunshine Seasons!

It was then that I remembered that I put the card and the receipt on the tray, and accidentally placed my plate on top of them. Yes folks, when I dumped the plates and stuff into the trash receptacle, I also threw away my credit card! I had this very sinking feeling of "Oh Crap!". I got my wristbands, but decided to walk back to Sunshine Season and figure out what I could do before I call the credit card company.

By the time we got to Sunshine Season again, it was about 45 mins since we left it. I got hold of a cast member who was actually quite busy. Still, she made time for me. I told her what I happened, and where I dumped my tray and credit card. We all went to the trash can and when we looked into it, there was hardly anything in there. She said that from the look of it, it may have been emptied out recently, but she's going to get her gloves anyway and rummage through whatever's at the bottom of it.

So she came back with her gloves and started to go through the stuff at the bottom of the receptacle. Since the trash bag was clear, she thought it would be easier if she just pulled out the whole bag and we all can look at it. So here we are, among all dinners at Sunshine Season, and she's holding a trash bag high in the air and spinning it for all of us to look at. Suddenly, I spotted a red piece of plastic (it was a Disney Visa card) at the bottom of the bag and yelled "There it is!!"

Yup! We found my card! She took it out, wiped it and handed it to me. Needless to say, I thank her profusely. I told her that I know the cast members were very good at finding the impossible out of the trash (ref: the recent news of the wedding ring that was tossed accidentally that the cast members found in the dumpster), but this is ridiculous!

So thank you to Cast Member Suzanne. An e-mail to Guest Relations will be sent today to let Disney know what a wonderful thing you did for us!

The second event took place at the end of our stay. It started on May 4th, a couple of days before we left. As DVC members staying at DVC resorts, we were supposed to get free internet service starting on May 4th. This was announced in the DVC newsletter, and on the DVC website. When I connected that morning, I still got the same screen where you have to agree to the $9.95 charge/24 hours. We called the front desk asking about it, and were told that, yes, the connecting page still hasn't change, but there will be a $9.95 credit starting that date. The system still can't tell yet which room has the DVC members and which doesn't. So till they get this set up properly, they will simply refund the charges. Fair enough.

You can already see what's coming next, don't you? Well of course, when we got our room charges on the day we were checking out, the internet charges starting on May 4th did not get reversed. We called the front desk again and a pleasant cast member tried to deal with it by asking her "upper management". She came back with the response from them that said to the effect that only guest who checked in ON OR AFTER May 4th will get the free internet connection.

Before I continue on what happened with the phone call, let me tell you first of all how stupid that is:

1. Nowhere in the newsletter or the webpage (even in fine print) did it say that only DVC guests who checked in on or after May 4th will get free internet connection. All it said was that there will be free internet connection starting May 4th.

2. It makes no sense to only give out free connection to DVC guest who checked in starting May 4th. Who came out with that ridiculous idea?

3. We were already told that the charges will be reversed. Here's an important reminder to Disney and all businesses: there's no better way to infuriate your guests and customers when you CANNOT KEEP YOUR STORY STRAIGHT by giving your guests/customers conflicting information!

4. I just can't believe that, for a few measly bucks (in our case, ~$30), they were set to alienate guests who were not only big Disney fans, but who are also annual passholders and DVC members!

Now, getting back to the phone conversation, the cast member at the other end, after she told us what she had been told by "upper management", said that this policy just doesn't make any sense, and that she was going to reverse the internet charges in question. It is obvious to me that this cast member had more sense in her than her managers. It's too bad that I didn't get her name, but someone like this who can think on her own to know how to treat her guests are what made Disney magical for many of us.

In the end, both of these "incidents" had positive outcomes and didn't effect our wonderful trip. But they both could have easily spoiled it for us. So the Magic isn't ruined. We look forward to our Sept. trip for the next pin event, which will be the Pin University themed event!

Zz.