Cast Member Describes Daily Abuses From Disney Guests

Any Disney fanatics who visit the Disney Parks in Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort often will know that Guests’ bad behavior in the Disney Parks seems to be at an all time high. We have reported on multiple fights between Guests, including a particularly disturbing brawl in the Magic Kingdom that led to arrests and lifetime bans, but Disney Guests have also been more and more unkind to Disney Cast Members in recent years.

Magic Kingdom Cast Member Kearston Rachele (shown above) recently spoke about her experience as a Disney employee in a video on her personal TikTok account; Rachele has previously worked for two of Walt Disney World Resort’s other theme parks (namely EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios), but currently works at the Splash Mountain attraction in the Magic Kingdom (a water ride that will soon be leaving for good as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure takes its place).

Splash Mountain Credit: Disney

According to Kearston Rachele, “It is a lot. If you have thick skin, Disney’s great! But if you get your feelings hurt easily or if you don’t take negative criticism in the best way, or if you feed off of negative energy more than positive energy, it’s rough.”

“You can go from getting complimented on how wonderful you are doing as a Cast Member from a Guest in one second to the very next person chewing you out for something that’s out of your control,” Rachele explained. “For instance, I get yelled at on a daily basis for us having to close due to inclement weather in the area.”

Walt Disney World Cast Members Credit: Disney

Apparently, some of the other most frequent issues that this Cast Member deals with are unauthorized exits from the Splash Mountain logs (which is a problem on the Grizzly River Run ride in Disneyland, too) and hostile complaints from Guests when the ride must be closed for maintenance or evacuations.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will be replacing Splash Mountain. Credit: Disney

“It’s heavy enough having the safety of people in your hands and then having people get mad because you care about their safety, like their child not being tall enough to ride,” Rachele continued. “…Then [it’s hard] having to deal with people who are going to be feeling any emotion under the sun possible and taking it out on you, whether it’s actually your fault or not.”

Staying positive and friendly in the face of hostile, yelling Guests is a particular challenge for Cast Members in comparison to employees at any non-Disney companys, because Disney Cast Members are specifically meant to act cheerful and exemplify Disney magic at all times, no matter what situation they are in.

Remainging calm, cheerful, and upbeat despite being berated by Disney Guests in the Magic Kingdom is no easy feat, and Kearston Rachele confirmed that “it is a really, really tough job.

Despite the job’s challenges (and the fact that the TikTok video has since been deleted), Rachele said she does “really love” her job — and we know from this recent surprise that, sometimes, Cast Members do get the appreciation that they deserve!