Walt Disney World is a magical place and a bit part of the reason for that is the Cast Members that work there. They are always friendly and they quite often will go above and beyond the call of duty to make a guest's time in the parks as magical as possible. But please don’t confuse them trying to do a good job with them being your friend. They are not your friend.
DapperManatee is a former Cast Member at Disney World who shares lots of fun stories about his time in the parks, and one of his videos on TikTok is getting a bit more attention than usual. In this clip he talks about the way that random guests would ask him to bend rules or do other strange things, including, most bizarrely, just let them into the park for free.
@dappermanatee ♬ Funny Song - Cavendish Music
I can imagine that if you were making small talk with a Disney World cast member outside the park you might ask about them getting into the park for free. I could even see somebody trying to make a joke, that I'm sure every Cast Member has heard so often it's not funny anymore, about getting them in for free, but the way its presented here some people aren't trying to be funny. They're literally asking a stranger to get them into Disney World without a ticket.
Many Cast Members who work at Walt Disney World do so because they love the place and so they love the job, but it is still a job. And sometimes Cast Members get a lot of grief for doing the job. A Cast Member being asked for help when they’re no longer actually working is being put in sort of a tough place. They likely want to help, but they also want to go home. Let’s all agree to do them a solid and leave them alone. Ask the people still on the clock for help. Some of these Cast Members had to be snake wranglers that day. Snakes are a problem at Disney World.
It’s maybe not actually that surprising that some people would start to react to cast members like this. The fact is that Cast Members will, generally speaking, be really nice to you and will help you with whatever your problem is to the best of their ability. And Cast Members do have some limited ability to even give you free stuff if they think that’s the best way to fix a problem. But like most things, if you take advantage of Disney World’s generosity, you might lose it entirely.
Having said that, one hopes we can draw the line at asking Cast Members to literally go against the rules, right? They’re not going to do that if they like their jobs, and even if they were going to allow people to bend rules, it probably won’t be the random family on vacation that they’ve never seen before and will never see again.
If you’ve ever had a Disney World or Disneyland Cast Member do something extra special for you, and I have, then you really do come to appreciate them. The special treatment can make you feel like you’re a real VIP. But please, let’s all remember that it doesn’t mean we can ask for anything or everything. If you are offered something special, take it, and make sure the Cast Member knows how much you appreciate it, stop on your way out to tell their bosses how thankful you are.
