I Was a Disney World Cast Member. Here Are 5 Things I’m BEGGING You To Stop Doing.

It’s safe to say that we love Disney.

Our team members go to Disney World for work, we write all about Disney World, we go to Disney World in our free time, and once upon a time, we even WORKED at Disney World! That’s right, the AllEars team includes several former Cast Members, and we experienced the highs, lows, and the WEIRD things about working in the parks. Today, we’re going to be Negative Nancies and talk about the LOWS. These are things that we often encountered that really irked us. Let’s talk about it!

While, unfortunately, there are folks out there who are purposefully trying to be annoying and add some unwanted spice to a Cast Member’s day, there are some who do these things ALL the time and might not even realize that what they’re doing is annoying. No matter where you fall on that spectrum, here are five things I am BEGGING you to stop doing as a former Disney World Cast Member.

Assuming we’re being mean.

If a Cast Member is targeting YOU out of a crowd of people, they aren’t being mean. You’re doing something wrong. You’re breaking a rule, putting yourself or others in danger, or are hindering someone else’s experience, whether you realize it or not.

We aren’t being mean, we’re trying not to lose our job. Safety is the #1 priority in each of the Disney Parks, and we’d like to keep everyone safe and not lose our jobs, even if it means hurting your feelings! (And if you tell my manager/coordinator about how I yelled at you for leaving your child on your shoulders as you step onto the moving walkway, they’ll 100% back me up.)

Standing Up On Rides

See also: Stepping out of rides. This goes hand in hand with the whole safety thing. We know that getting out of the ride for a one-of-a-kind experience might sound super exciting, but HELLO? You could literally die?

Rules are in place for a reason. Please follow them. When you stand up/get out/reach out, chances are — we know about it. And then we have to do an annoying safety procedure that will probably leave you embarrassed and us a bit moody. Just don’t do it!

Forgetting To Leave Cast Compliments

Do you ever have those GREAT, deep, one-of-a-kind experiences with Cast Members? Like, you just wish that every single Cast Member could be like THEM because they’re so great? Well, let somebody know!

An easy way to do that is to leave a Cast Compliment in the Disney World app. It isn’t specified enough that this kind message doesn’t only go to the Cast Member as a friendly letter, but it’s also viewed by the employee’s leadership team. This could help them a lot with recognition within the company and even with upward mobility.

Forcing Your Children To Do Something They Don’t Wanna Do

Listen, we don’t mean forcing your child to eat a vegetable, or forcing them to wash their hands, or forcing them to sit down on a ride. That is A+ parenting, and you’re doing a good job. We just mean that maybe you SHOULDN’T drag your shaking, sobbing child onto Tower of Terror when they’re begging you not to make them ride it.

As Cast Members, we witness things like this every single day. It’s heartbreaking, and it happens with more things than just scary rides. If you wanted a vacation that prioritized ONLY the wants of mom and dad, that’s fine. But you should have left the little ones at home, you know?

Shoving cameras in our faces.

When people have good intentions with taking photos and recording us up close, they usually ask. However, when you don’t ask for our consent and are in front of us and holding a camera in our face to take photos or to record our every interaction, that’s rude!

We’ve seen too many folks that try to catch a negative experience on video just for the sake of going viral. It’s sad, but it’s true. So, when others automatically just shove a camera in our face, we’re gonna get defensive. If you just ask for permission first, chances are, we’ll be much friendlier and we’re probably going to say YES.

And there you have it! We genuinely hope that all of you are precious AllEars angels and have never done anything like this. In that case, we hope you enjoyed our horror stories! We’ll continue to keep you updated with more Disney news and even more Cast Member tips. Make sure to follow along for more!

Looking for more Cast Member stories? Click here! 

Have you ever seen anyone do these things? Let us know in the comments! 

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