Move a crowd of people off the street and behind a Magic Kingdom parade barrier? Maybe, but with a strong voice and a stronger attitude, that's really no big deal.
Calm a crying child before he stops the line at load? Also tricky, but a warm smile and kneeling down to a child's eye level do wonderful things.
Wiping up a "protein spill" after said child finishes that ride? Disgusting, but less so once one discovers that invaluable substance, "Vo-Ban."
No, this single most difficult thing a theme park employee has to do is...
Ask a women if she is pregnant.
If she says 'yes,' hey, not only have you done your job well, but maybe you also just prevented a horrible incident that could have compromised her pregnancy.
But if she says 'no'... oh my heaven, hell hath no fury than a woman mistaken for a pregnant one.
I'll always remember one soul-destroying exchange I witnessed at Walt Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain load platform:
"Excuse me, ma'am, but are you pregnant?"
"PREGNANT? No! What are you saying, do I look FAT?"
"Um," (awkward pause) "actually, I was saying that I thought you looked, maybe, pregnant."
At this moment, every other operator on the platform looks away, trying to shrink behind the nearest stanchion, or, ideally, into a hole in the floor.
"I AM NOT PREGNANT! Oh my God," the young woman then buries her head into the friend's chest and sobs. "they think I look fat. Let's get out of here!"
Then they cross over the train and out the station, as the poor cast member who asked her the question looks like he'd just as soon throw himself in front of said train.
Bad times, all around.
Still, you've got to ask. The consequence of letting an expectant mother on some rides can be horrific. (Insider tip: When rides bar pregnant riders, it's not just because the ride's normal operation is too rough for an expectant mother. It's because of what might happen should the attraction shut down in mid-ride. Trust me, you do not want a pregnant belly anywhere near a lap bar when a roller coaster hits a safety brake.)
I never, ever wanted to be that cast member, as humiliated asking the question as that poor woman felt having to answer it. Which is why I felt the weight of the world lift from me one day as I discovered an impromptu solution.
A maybe-pregnant, maybe-not young woman was walking down the platform at load. As she walked closer, and the moment of truth approached, I turned to the pair of teenage boys in front of me and asked, in a booming voice with a huge smile on my face...
"Are you pregnant?"
They looked at me like I was nuts. But I didn't wait for an answer. I then asked the elderly ladies behind them the same question.
"Are you pregnant?"
She just laughed. To the burly biker dudes behind them,
"Are you pregnant?"
They laughed, too, as the woman-in-question finally approached, laughing along with the rest of the platform.
"No," she said.
Soul-crushing moment averted!
I kept asking down the line for that entire train, just for appearances. That became my SOP for every potential pregnancy then on: ask *everyone* around the woman in question if they were pregnant, so that the woman would not feel singled out.
Many times, I saw a panicked look on the woman's face as I approached, and I knew that she would be answering 'yes.' When that happened, I stopped the schtick, changed to an earnest expression of concern and explained, "Oh, gosh, I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't allow expectant mothers to ride. Here, please come stand right over here," as I would help her across the train to the unload side and changed my expression to a wide smile, "and you can wait for your group while they ride."
Never failed, and no one ever complained.
Please share your incredibly awkward pregnancy-related theme park stories, in the comments.
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Of course they think you look Fat, if they are asking you if your enormous beer belly was a baby…. Maybe the woman should have simply looked in the mirror and finally stopped lying to herself…. Yes she looked FAT..
Maybe the attendant should have just given a warning to all about being pregnant on that ride and let the buyer beware … Anyway thanks for the laugh…. hahahahaha
Although it's not theme park related, I have a similar story. Me and my buddy were working at the grocery store back in the day. All of a sudden, this absolutely ancient old lady walks by. My buddy, who was (and probably is) very crass, commented on her age:
"Huh. I'd give her 2 more weeks until she expires."
The old lady, somehow managing to hear my buddy's obnoxious remark, turns around and gives us the nastiest look.
Luckily, I was quick on my toes. Picking up a bin of cottage cheese from the nearby dairy fridge, I reply,
"Yeah, I know, this humidity is murder on the milk products."
The woman's expression lightened and she went on her way. Situation averted.
I worked in store operations, and there were times when a guest would ask for a larger size. The largest size for women's in Disneyland resort apperral is xxl. Sometimes our guests would get insulted when you offer a xl or xxl even if they ask for a bigger size.
Now the problem gets even worse in Disney's California Adventure because there are no dressing rooms in the resort, so guest try on the clothes in the store. They often try on the clothes on top of the current outfit they are wearing to ensure privacy. One time, a guest tried on a xl and the shirt didnt fit. She tried to take it off, and it was an embarassing struggle. Other guests in the store started to laugh and snicker. The guest was embarassed. So, I needed to find a way to avert guests from trying on shirts that were a size smaller, and I came up with a rather....pg-13ish way, prolly not the way Disney would advice
I would always reply with a rather pg-13 answer, "Our shirts run 'smaller' than usual and they run tighter in the chest area, I suggest getting one size bigger because some guests are more 'gifted' than others...in that area of the shirt. Usually I get a small blush, but I never get a look of disgust.
I do have 2 stories 1 about overweight guests and the other involving a pregnant guest.
As some of you know the Tower used to have lap bars and didnt have any weight restrictions. Bigger guests, who we call "flyers", would get bigger airtime then skinnier guest. Of course the ones that would get the best are kids that are going on with the "flyers" in the same row. Well when they changed the lap bars to seatbelts the next day a regular annual pass "flyer" came to the ride and when she went to put on the seatbelt it wouldnt fit! She got sooooo upset that she started to scream, cuss, and yell! Luckily the cast that handled her was one of the best cm's there and did it great. I dont know what happened after put older cm's say they havent seen her sense!
Due to having seatbelts we can know allow pregnants guest to go on the Tower of course we dont suggest you do it and warn you about 100 times before you go on. Well this Latino Guest had to go to my load and she insisted she was ok and even produced a doctors note saying she was 8-9 months pregnant and was cleared to do some rides. Well I called controll and said I have a pregnant guest that wants to go on and I was putting her in. They told me if I had reservations about it they would send someone to actually send the elevator, but I told them I can handle it. So I couldnt believe I sent someone that was that pregnant! Well about an hour or 2 I was in control and heard over the nextel calling for alpha unit, quest service manager, and duty manager becuase in one of the bathrooms a Latino Guest was having contractions and the baby was on the way!
Well I do have an embarrasing moment where I was loading my platform and these couple of guest had there back turned and I asked:
" Sir How many checking in?" (Of course in my creepy, load, bellhop voice)
The turned around in a surprisingly deep voice "MA'AM" with the hands on the hip and all! Well she had a buzz cut and wearing baggy clothes.
So I responded " Does'nt matter, How many checking in?"
I think she was surprised by my answer that she told me how many in her party and went to her assigned spot and didnt hear anything from her for the rest of her show. But I was embarrassed but I didnt want to show her I was!
And you know what? I think they believed me.
Asking puts the liability on the woman to answer truthfully.
In short "Asking = CYA."
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Hawer