I have had the privilege of visiting Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland Paris, and I love both parks for various reasons. As I mentioned, Cast Members always play a vital role in ensuring a good experience while on site at any Disney property, whether it be a park or hotel. The Americans may be more renowned for their over friendliness compared to the French, but this really wasn't the case on our last two trips to Disneyland Paris. I would honestly say that the trip this year in particular had the best staff service I've ever had from Cast Members. There were a number of reasons for why the Cast Members were so brilliant, but I would have to say it was mostly down to their friendliness.
Phantom Manor Cast Members, love the dapper purple suit!
On trips to Walt Disney World, I've worn many different Disney t-shirts, but I've never had any Cast Members point them out or make conversation about them. On our trip to Disneyland Paris in October though, we had quite a few conversations with Cast Members about clothing. On our first and last day on the trip, I wore a Frozen t-shirt with Oaken and his saying "Yoo-hoo! Big Summer blowout!" On our first day while waiting for the Magic on Parade show to start, one of the Cast Members kept looking at me and I though to myself 'What's she looking at me for?' then all of a sudden she goes "YOO-HOO! I love your shirt!" I said thank you and couldn't stop laughing! It wasn't a bad impression from her in all fairness. A couple of other Cast Members pointed out the shirt and smiled as well as a little girl on our Eurostar train home, bless her. My other half Laura also had some interactions with Cast Members in relation to her Disney t-shirts. One Cast Member at the Pirates of the Caribbean boarding area pointed out Laura's Little Mermaid t-shirt and said how she loved the film. Another day and another Little Mermaid shirt, one Cast Member noticed the shirt, which read 'I'm a real Mermaid' and she asked Laura whether she really was. Playing along Laura said yes of course, and the Cast Member said how she loved the film too. A lot of Little Mermaid fans at Disneyland Paris it seemed!
Yoo-hoo! Have to love that shirt!
Considering the Cast Members are mostly French, their English speaking skills were mostly impeccable! I think there must have only been a couple who could only speak basic English but most of them were fluent in the language. I can't speak a lot of French but I have always said that I think it's important that us English visitors make an attempt to learn some basic French words, I mean it doesn't take much to say thank you in their own language does it! I've always found that the staff always appreciate it when you try to speak their language, even if you get it completely wrong. Some people are put off visiting Disneyland Paris by the fact that the Cast Members are French speakers, but it really isn't anything to worry about, as like I said, most are fluent in English.
Even Pirates like having their photos taken y'know!
One of the things I love most about the Cast Members are the fantastic costumes that they wear. As we all know, Disney is well known for theming, and this includes the Cast Members. All Cast Members have their own costumes depending on which land in the parks they are working at. Many of the Cast Members will wear costumes corresponding to the attractions they are working on. One such example is Pirates of the Caribbean where all the staff wear various different pirate guises. Pirates of the Caribbean is my favourite attraction in the Disneyland Park, and I think the Cast Members add to the amazing experience of the attraction. Phantom Manor is also another attraction where the Cast Members play a vital role, and oh my, they certainly look the part! Every Cast Member is made to feel equal and this is evident by their amazing costumes, even the cleaners look amazing! As I love the Cast Members so much, I asked some of them if they would mind posing for photographs, and they were all more than happy to do so. I have to say the best Cast Member was the guy at Pirates of the Caribbean who after I asked for a photo, said 'Hold on wait a second!' then took out a pistol for the photo. Loved it!
Beware of the Pirates!
It would be quite hard to say which places in the Disneyland Paris complex had the best Cast Members as there were so many, but these would be my pick of the bunch:
Hotel Santa Fe
If you haven't already read my Hotel Santa Fe trip report (http://disneyvillagefans.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/disneyland-paris-october-2015-trip.html) then I must tell you, this hotel had it all for me. I have previously stayed at the Sequoia Lodge, Newport Bay Club, and Hotel New York, so I was very excited to stay at the Hotel Santa Fe for the first time this year. It didn't disappoint! While the theming may not be as grand as some of the other hotels, it makes up for it with other things. One such thing is the brilliant Cast Members, particularly the reception staff. We didn't check into the hotel until late on our first day as we enjoyed as much as we could in the park after arriving on the Eurostar. After walking to the hotel through Disney Village and along the river, we went to the reception, and were greeted by some very lovely staff which gave us our room key card and also our suitcases as we had used the Disney Express service. Our keycard didn't work the first time, but Cast Members helped change my card straight away. The Cast Members on the reception desk were very friendly and provided exceptional service. I also met a lovely Cast Member inside the hotel's gift shop who was very friendly and talkative. The barman we met on the first night was also very friendly. I know I've used the word 'friendly' a lot in this article so far, but the Cast Members really were that friendly, and I think they deserve a lot of credit, which isn't always given.
Thunder Mountain Mercantile Building
This shop in Frontierland provided one of my favourite Cast Member experiences of the trip. When paying for my brilliant Phantom Manor t-shirt, I met a lovely French Cast Member, and sadly, I cannot remember his name. His English was pretty good although he wasn't fluent. We had a great conversation, mostly about me being from England. The Cast Member went on to say how he visited England once, staying in Hastings of all places! I know almost every Cast Member can speak English but the fact this one had stayed in England and liked our culture made it a great conversation, and a memorable one at that. Even though I make the effort to speak a little bit of French, it's nice that the Cast Members make an effort to speak English, even the ones which struggle with the language.
Disney Gallery
This has to be one of the best shops not just in the Disney Village area, but in the whole Disneyland Paris complex. Disney is of course famous for animation, so it's only natural for their to be a shop devoted to Disney art, and the Disney Gallery is just that, although it's so much better. There are so many beautiful things to buy in this shop that you could quite easily break the bank! I had quite a bit of spending money on my recent trip but I even had to limit myself in this shop. They sell so many beautiful ornaments of Disney characters, as well as some beautiful canvases. I did treat myself to a set of 12 attraction posters which I thought were an absolute bargain for 29.99 euros! I'm still deciding what I should do with them, maybe make my own Disney gallery on our bedroom wall. Aside from the beautiful things to buy, you can also use the Disney PhotoPass system there. We had a couple of PhotoPass cards which we wanted to use to print off some photos of meet and greets, so we decided to do it in the Disney Gallery. The lady who helped us was absolutely brilliant. We took our time to decide which photos we wanted and she didn't make us feel rushed or anything. She was so helpful and very pleasant. We also met a few other Cast Members in the shop, all very polite and welcoming. All the shops had lovely Cast Members, but the Disney Gallery would be my pick of the bunch.
Hunters Grill, Sequoia Lodge
We enjoyed using our Standard Half Board meal vouchers for dinner each evening and met some very lovely staff at all of the restaurants, however, the Cast Members at the Hunters Grill restaurant really stood out for me. Hunters Grill was not included in our meal plan, but we could pay the different using our vouchers, so we decided to treat ourselves on the third night. Our waiter was so polite to us and made us feel so welcome, it was just such an enjoyable experience. To be honest, Hunters Grill has the best reviews out of all the Disney hotel buffets, but I didn't think it was any better than some of the others. You could tell some of the meats and fish were much better quality though. I will be sure to write a review for the Hunters Grill, as well as everywhere else we eat.
Overall, the Cast Members were so brilliant this trip that they were probably one of the things which I most remember from the trip. We can't wait to go back to the resort and hopefully meet some of the same Cast Members! The Cast Members at Disneyland Paris really deserve a lot of praise. Thank you to each and every one of them for making our holiday so magical!
Now this guy could definitely looked the part!
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