Ah, that's a classic. "I'm German." - "Really? Do you speak German?" - "No." I had that every single day. Apart from that, I don't seem to remember much, just that it was deadly funny. Please, someone post more of that. We did plan to write some things down, but unfortunately, no one did. Germany specific rubbish, happening all the time and not really all that funny: "I have been to Germany." - "Really? Where are you from?" - "Do you know <insert village with 100 inhabitants that no one knows, but has a huge American airforce base>." - "No, never heard of it" - "Whaaat? You don't know Haasmugglesdorfhausen? You're not German, are you?" Everything else is beer-related, as most of the stuff exiting guest's mouths in the German pavilion was: "Do you have the Haasmugglesdorfbräu" (basically asking for some specific beer brewed by a small local brewery) - "No, I'm sorry, but we have Spaten and Löwenbräu" - "What kind of German restaurant are you? We came here because of that beer!" or "Is your beer cold?" - "Of course it is." - "I'm just asking, because you drink warm beer in Germany" - "No, we don't." - "I got served warm beer in Germany" - <thinking: "No, you didn't"> "What would you like to drink then <smile>". That's one thing that I heard a lot, and a riddle I have not fully solved. I seem to remember that the British "like their beer warm", which is probably total crap as well, but I never knew that us Germans were accused of that too. It happened too often to be normal stupidness. I read somewhere that the possible explanation might be that Americans like their beer as cold as possible (somewhere before turning to ice), whereas in Germany it's not THAT cold, but still cold. Still a wonder to me, though. or (back in the good old times when we still had Becks) "Give me a Beck" (no, Becks is a name, not a plural) "Becks is not German, it's from Holland." - "It's German, it's brewed in Germany." - "I know it's from Holland." - <showing the bottle> - <quietness> And the best thing, beer-related: All the time we got complaints that we sold Becks, which is from NORTHERN GERMANY (not Bavaria, and northern Germany is almost the Netherlands to them) and not some of the typcial Bavarian beers like Löwenbräu. Then, in a totally unexpected move of cleverness of our managers (just happened once), they dumped Becks and introduced Löwenbräu among others. German CMs rejoiced - finally they sold beers that even Germans would accept as suitable for that "Bavarian" German pavilion. Result: Just as frequently someone would complain that they travelled all the way from, say, Janesville, Wisconsin, to Florida just to have a Becks and we didn't have it anymore or that Becks would be far more typical than Löwenbräu. Not that they couldn't get their Becks in every liquor store on their way there (Löwenbräu too, by the way, but they still paid lots more to have a "real" German beer at Disneyworld ) I think the bad thing about the German pavilion was that almost everybody THOUGHT he knew everything about Germany, was German, spoke German, knew about German beer etc. Might be the same with Canada, Mexico, the UK, France and Italy. And Norway, Morocco, China and Japan get the really brutal stuff - In my case, most of the time it was more annoying than funny. And I never got the really good ones, unlike everybody else it seemed. Still, in the end I really liked that stuff - you knew what they were going to say before they opened their mouths. Come to think of it, the REALLY bad ones were real German tourists. I don't know if every country feels like that, but I always thought that our pavillion would seem totally crazy to German visitors (especially to someone from somewhere that's NOT southern Germany). Well, they obviously expected it to be that way beforehand anyway, and just came to the pavillion to see they were right. That's the German way of life. And of course, they always were right. WHY, good lord jesus, would you go and eat at your own country's restaurant, just so that you can complain all the time how bad it is and how much better it tastes back home? Some people appreciated the fact that they could finally eat something very much resembling German food on a six-week trip abroad or something, but most of the time they just said it sucked. Which it didn't in my opinion, at least not that badly. Oh well. Good times
Completely agree with some of the worst guests were tourists from our own countries. Unsure about everyone else but in the UK we had a lot of fun with spotting the 'SCUZZERS'. We always had brits coming in complaining as to why the beer was so expensive and why are we charging so much for chocolate when they could get it for less than half the price back home. Why would u voluntarily buy chocolate and beer and fish & chips and pretend ur at home??? And whats with all the football shirts? Oh well anyone who knew me out there knows im a right one to talk!!hehe Anyone else had the same situations? Dan PS COME ON ENGLAND!!HAHA
Yes, Canadians were sometimes so horrible when they came to our pavillion. Sometimes people would come from a hick town in Alberta and I ask if I new of it. Of course I didn't!! And then they'd accuse me of not being Canadian because I don't know every friggin little hut town in the largest country in the world!! Or better yet, Canadian tourists that would be downright FURIOUS with me because I didn't know ALL the hockey scores. "I'm not a hockey fan, sir" "WHAT? You're not a real Canadian then!" "Oh I'm sorry, I hadn't realized that political borders mutated our genes to created hobbies and interests. Sorry."
The best one i had was when i was working outside foods and a kid asked his mom where london was in canada? the mom got mad at him and told him london was in england not in canada. i tried not to laugh when i told the mom that her kid was right and i was from london ontario, which is in canada. i also had a guest ask me if tony blair was our president. HA number one he is a prime minister and number two he isnt canadian! sometimes it was just tooooo funny! Laters! Laura!
trouble, keep an eye on the USA, 2008 Arnie for president!!!!! i would put money on it!!! even though he is austrian if that happens then maybe tony can be the man for Canada Gareth
Well you could forgive the americans after a while, maybe because the stupidity was kinda funny. But the german tourists were the worst. You could sense them a mile away and they'd enter the pavillion with a disgraceful look on their faces "So that is supposed to be Germany?" They only saw the beer, the nutcrackers and coo-coo clocks. But the pavillion had so much more to offer and also the cast members working there were from every part of Germany! I grew up far away from all the "typical bavarian" stuff and I still didn't take any offense in the way Germany was represented. I mean you have to find a concept that works for all the tourists. And they sold some neat stuff in the shops as well. But that showed me once again why I don't like living in "real" Germany! Laterz Julia
I have a really good one for stupid questions.......... I worked in the norwegian restaurant 2000-2001. I got a party of six, and as they were about to sit down the father in the family said: "So Norway, i guess its alot like america was in the 50`s ? I was like, what the H..... are you talking about ??? I really wanted to say something back, but i calmly told him that its alot like amerika today. Just better Well i really didnt say that. But how stupid can someone be ???? I guess its just that americans dont know whats going on in the worldÂ
Geeeez....I had a blast reading all of ur stories!! I haven´t started working at Epcot yet...I will in March! Having visited the US twelve times already...I still know exactly what u guys are talking about though. An American woman once asked me if Germany was a city or a state?? Neither one...it´s a country in Europe dumbass!!! She seriously thought it was a city or state in the US...and the weirdest thing about it...she wasn´t even embarrassed about her lack of education!!!! How ignorant can one some people be??? See you guys, Stef
well, i still have the pleasure of dealing with that while i'm at work! we have tons of american guests...and oh my god!! unbelievable! but still funny!! haha later! flavour xoxo
hahaha, the memories come flooding back reading these. I always remember one day in fish hut, when i got asked "what is it liking wearing clothes for the first time?" or "i know a friend in Macclesfield, have you ever been there?" (No, but i know where it is) "He works at ..... pub, do you know it?" (Errrrrrrrrrrr no, like i said, i've never been to Macclesfield) "ah ok, his name is Peter, do you know who i mean" (I'll tell you what, yeah he's my best friend, i'll be right back) I remember Jo in merch telling me about the day she had an arguement with a lady that the 4 countries of the UK weren't actually England, Scotland, Australia & Norway!!!! and that Wales doesn't exist cos no-one would be stupid enough to name a country after an animal!!
Le Cellier used to be a "buffet" style restaraunt. Though it does sound like it's changed since then. Anyway, we got the same questions every one hears. A couple was approaching the cash to pay for their meals. It was all rang up, and the husband was handing ove the money (in US dollars) to pay. Just then his wife speaks out ... "Honey, they probably accept only Canadian money here." She was dead serious. The husband's mouth dropped open. And with a curtious smile, I closed the cash draw and replied, "Sorry sir, your wife absolutely correct. We only accept Canadian money here. In fact, all countries located around the promenade accept only their countries' courrency." The wife was speachless, and the husband slowly withdrew his hand and money. She finally studdered, "hmmmm... we ... we only ... we only have American money. Where ... Where do we, hmmm, get the currency exchanged?" I then nicely told the woman, that she'd have to go all the way back to "spaceship earth"; stand in line for approximately 1 to 2 hours. When they reached the guest service desk in there, they'd be more than willing to do the exchange for you." "And, please have your passports ready as you enter and/or exit each country", I continued. From the corner of my eye, I saw the husband struggling to keep a straight face. He caught on to very quickly. The wife was tottaly dumbfounded. Finally she looked at me and asked "are you joking". That's when I fessed up, and admitted I just having fun. The husband lost it and broke out is hysterics. They paid, and just as the husband was heading into the dinning area, he leaned over and said "thanks. She's been doing that all day long." A friend, working in the merchandise area for Canada, was asked "do you have washrooms in Canada". Or course the quest meant "Canadian Pavillion" .... but that's a whole different story.
Hey you guys.. I was just looking through these pages.. yeah, there are some memories coming up! I really think, those stupid questions are the thing I will remember the longest.. It's just amazing how the questions are almost the same in all the pavillions But I guess the worst thing for us Germans were the Hitler-Questions! Not funny at all, but the Americans seemed to think of that topic as a really funny one. I sometimes really had to hold on to myself really badly! But apart from that most of the time the stupidity was simply funny. (I got one too:"Is Europe in Germany?" ???)
Hi I'm not alumni but I'm going to work in merch on June 14th next year in UK pavillion! Just read your posts and laughed so much and its made me even more excited to be going!!! I did an exchange year in America last yr, everyday i used to get ohmigosh i lurve your accent are you from Australia? (lol hopefully i wont get that one in the UK pavillion!) I also got asked if i was from New Zealand (got free drinks from a bar tender for months under my New Zealand mistaken identity!) Sweden and German. The German was actually a mistake one of my professors made when he askedme to say BMW in full in German when we were doing a business case study. When i said i didnt know he said what kind of German are you? at the end of the class i was like erm im actually from the UK he was kindof like whatever! Though he was nice to me. One of my friends asked me one day as im english and study in Scotland what its like for me being an international student there and what language do they speak in scotland! Also used to get taxi drivers making me repeat the street name a billion times so they could hear my accent... Am sooo excited to be going to work at WDW Marie x
hey everyone, dan such a good topic!! where the hell do i start... well for those of u who dont know i am from northern ireland, so enough said here's some of the mad, stupid questions i got asked in uk merch from summer 2003 to 2004............ heres the bad ones........ - when u walk down the street do you have to dodge the bullets??? (yes of course sir, u run like mad, the IRA stands one side of the street and the UDA the other firing bullets all the time!!!) - why do u work in the UK, aren't u being a traitor to ireland? (n.ireland is part of the uk) - are you green or orange? non of your god dam business!!!! -do you eat anything else other than potatoes? (no, we live on them breakfast, lunch and dinner) as you can tell americans only see crap on tv and northern ireland really is the same as any other country in the UK!!! some of them just scared me, a women offered to pay me a great deal of money if i would come and live with them and just talk to her husband in my little irish accent... as she said he would love it.......... enough said i aint a foreplay toy!!!! she freaked me out, she was dead serious!!!! some just love the irish accent, i am on so many peoples home videos just talking coz they wanted to hear me speak, sometimes it got annoying when people wouldnt give up and kept saying.. saying say this say that and this.... give over i aint a perfroming dog!!!! well anyways there is just a few of the stupid, annoying and mad questions i got asked in my year there, but it was so much fun, so many laughs at their thickness... charlie.. xo
Aah I don't think a day went by when I didn't get asked a stupid question about something. They were building the millennium Pavillion when I was there and the UK carts were infront of all the construction. "What are they building back there?" (I will never understand why Disney did not put up a sign to explain all to guests!) We got fed up of telling them what it was really going to be so we decided to tell people they were gonna have a trampoline competition and whichever country jumped the highest would take over the new pavillion. "That would be so awesome"......... some Americans replied!!! The usual questions we used to get asked were:- "What language do u speak?" "Are you from Japan?" "Did you ever have tea with the queen?" "What food do eat in England?" "Do you have this flag (England) in any different colours?" - I sent them to the Norweigan Pavillion for the Swedish and Finnish flags!!! "Where did you learn that accent?" "Are you related to any of the Beatles?" - I am in quite a few people's photo album as niece of John Lennon Comments from the Brits abroad (another term we used to use for Scuzzers): "This doesnt look like England!" "We don't wear that at home!" "We don't call it soccer, we call it football (referring to the soccer is life t-shirts)"- are they still around? "Can't believe the price of the chocolate!" Funny observations: St Patricks Day - they all turn up in Green claiming that they are 1/16 Irish and that their grand daddy's dog is from ireland so therefore their whole family are irish. The whole concept of 4 countries in one completely baffles people, especially when they cant find the Irish flag. "Where's the other Ireland flag?" 4th July - all the Americans all become 100% American again! A year of having a laugh with the uneducated folk. We Saying that though, there was the odd American who would know more about England than us, but that was very unusual. They know more about our Royal Family than their own country. And everyone in case your wondering what time the 9pm illuminations starts, its 9pm!!!!!
The best was when they asked you for the toilets in the UK pavillion and you said with a straight face, "head for the lagoon, take a left and when you see Mary Poppins' bush, take a left". They didn't realise you were taking the piss. Oh happy days. Best one I remember someone asking me was what time was the 3pm parade in the magic Kingdom. I purposly said 4 so they'd miss it! "Preserve the magical guest experience!"
well, I love these stories!!! Best questions in the german pavillion wre about the buffet and the food on the buffet: my favourite: guest standing at the buffet, leaning over it, stuck into the dumplings "uuhhm, sorry, where's the buffet??" (actually, you're right inside the buffet..or which do you mean ???) "what is curry-ketchup?" ( curry and ketchup, mixed up together?? ) "WHY do you wear this costume??" ( :-[because Disney paid me for that??) totally serious: "I would love to go to Germany and see how it is over there, the people, the food, the land, but it's sooo saaaad that it is soooo dangerous for us to visit your country" ( why?????? did I miss something ???) Well, because Hitler wouldn't let us. He might put us in jail, or wants us dead!!" o ummm, ... what time do you live????????? :-[ ) " your are allowed to drink alcohol with 16/18??? There must be alooooooot people in Germany with alcoholic problems then ..." (...) and there were sooo many more annoying and funny questions and statements very bad question (I couldn't laugh at all ) "Why are all the children here??? Can't you do anything...??? " (like what, we catch them, put them in the oven and serve them as roast pork??? ) And still, I love the states and I miss this dumb questions... c ya Anna :-*
