Monday, July 15, 2013

No Rainchecks!

I've been starting to feel more comfortable in my Guest Relations role, and I don't feel the need to ask people for help with everything. My first few days without my trainer I was a little nervous but all the other Guest Relations CMs were more than happy to answer my questions or show me how to do something I had forgotten. There is still a lot of things to learn and everyday I encounter something that we didn't go over in training.

A few days ago was a real test of my knowledge and skills! I was working a closing shift, 3 to 9pm and it starts raining at 3pm. Typical for FL, but this was not your ordinary rain shower. This was practically a MONSOON! It was heavy downpour and thunder and lightning. Because the majority of our attractions are outdoor many had to close. Our Safari actually began to flood in some places so we needed to close that attraction too. And as if that wasn't enough, Everest was not only closed but actually had guests stuck on the ride in the pouring rain and thunder and lighting. Sounds like a great day to be at Guest Relations huh?

Many people wanted refunds for their tickets or rain checks and unfortunately that is not something Disney does, as it rains every single day in FL. We advised many guests who had Park Hoppers to visit another park as their attractions were indoors and up and running. Other guests who did not we offered to set them up with fastpasses for tomorrow to try to make up some of their lost time.

The rain did not let up until around 6:30 pm and the park was closing at 7pm. Most of the guests were understanding of the no refunds but some were very angry. I was able to help a few guests out who had only entered the park at 3pm but one man wanted a refund even though he had been in the park since 9am! He declined the fastpasses I offered him and walked away angry. I felt bad that the options I gave him were not suficent to solve his issue.

The shift went by so fast because we were so busy! We constantly had a line out the door and people were also lingering around inside the lobby to avoid the rain. Once all the guests had gone I felt pretty good about the day and while I felt a little overwhelmed I also felt that I had been well prepared!

2 comments:

  1. Hey kate,

    My name is crystal perez. It has been a dream of mine to apply for guest relations PL since I did my disney college program. I wanna to know any advice you could possible give me to apply.

    I did my disney college program in fall 2011 at world of disney in Walt DIsney World and I currently work in the disney store in new york.

    Also do you remember the description for guest relations in PL, if you do could you possibly sent it to crystalmperez4290@gmail.com or if I could sent my resume and you can tell me what I can possibly change.

    Good luck with everything !

    Thank you so much.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Crystal! I can send you the PDF file I have for the Alumni Only positions. Just keep in mind that the qualifications and positions might change for the next round of applications. In the near future I will be posting more about resumes but in the meantime I would check out my link on the sidebar for PI Application Process to learn a little more about applying for this role.

      My best advice if you want GR is to put it as your #1 role. My manager indicated to me that one of the requirements was that the person had GR as their top choice. Second, and I will talk about this more in the future is that your resume has to be tailored to the position. You need to almost use Disney words, like "Guest Service" instead of Customer Service.

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