“It Definitely Killed the Magic”: Guest Depressed After Interaction with “Aggressive” Cast Member

A guest recently detailed a harrowing experience with a “loud” and “aggressive” Walt Disney World cast member that left her depressed.

Cast members are the heart and soul of the Disney experience—whether at the domestic Disney Parks like Disney World or Disneyland Resort, or the global theme parks like Disneyland Paris. They keep the Disney Parks running, and guests’ experiences and interactions with them are paramount to having a great time at the parks. However, recently, one fan detailed a less-than-savory experience at the Walt Disney World Resort, particularly with a cast member who was so “loud” and “aggressive” it scared and upset the guest.

Bad behavior is unfortunately common at any Disney theme park. However, most of the time, this is from guests who don’t maintain basic courtesy and decorum while enjoying their time at the Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World. However, occasionally, there are also accounts of cast members who disappoint guests or, worse, behave badly with them. This is one such story.

Disney guest u/xxcharlotteoxx shared her story of a recent Disney trip on Reddit. The user explained that they had been enjoying a meal with their partner at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The couple’s bill amounted to $133, and the couple, believing they left $160 on the table to include a tip for their server, got up to leave. However, the server came chasing after the couple to give them their change.

It became apparent during the interaction that followed that the guests had only left a $7 tip—a total of $140 rather than the $160 they thought they’d left. The Disney cast member reportedly reacted aggressively; the guest explained that the cast member said, “here take your $7. I dont want your $7,” before “shoving the money into my partner’s hand super aggressively.”

Initially, the couple didn’t understand what had happened, so they left, but were so troubled by the incident that they returned to the restaurant to ask about it. On realizing they left only a $7 tip, the couple rectified the situation, and the waiter reportedly said sorry with a simple “I apologize” rather than acknowledging his behavior.

The incident stayed with the OP, who said they left a cast compliment because they felt so bad about it. But the event has continued weighing on the OP, who explained, “His attitude has played on my mind so much over the night that im in a rather depressed mood today, its definitely killed the magic.”

Many fellow fans and guests in the comments were largely on the OP’s side. One commented, “I was a server for several years and never went after customers for under-tipping. It’s so wild to me to hear stories of servers doing that…like running after people and yelling at them is going to make things better when it’s more likely to get you fired. Smh.”

Another explained the waiter should have handled that situation with more grace, yet others believed there was no scenario in which the waiter could have demanded more money from the couple.

While the situation was rectified on the part of the server, it’s certainly unfortunate for a guest who seemed to have made an honest mistake. This said it’s important to note that this is one guest’s experience at the Disney Parks and is not reflective of all guest interactions with cast members.