“Top” 10 Worst Guests at Disney World
Walt Disney once said it takes “people to make the dream a reality.” He’s right. Cast Members are the magic, and even guests are integral to the experience. We all dislike huge crowds, but people breathe life into the parks. (Updated November 27, 2023.)
It’s also fair to say that Walt Disney hadn’t encountered all types of guests. Something tells me eBay pirates loading up on Loungefly and Spirit Jerseys weren’t a thing back in Walt’s day. Although he was a visionary, Walt might also have some trouble wrapping his head around TikTok dance routines. And anyone who only used rotary phones might have a tough time with iPadography and selfie sticks.
Suffice to say, the overwhelming majority of guests add a lot to the experience at Walt Disney World…but not every single guest. Some are the magic, but there are sometimes a few who detract from the magic. To that end, we’ve put a list together identifying the worst types of guests at Walt Disney World. Consider this part venting and part “cautionary tale” so you know what types of behavior to avoid.
With that said, no one is perfect 100% of the time. Not you, and certainly not me. Try as I might, I have been guilty of certain entries on this list. Perhaps it’s something in the Florida air (humidity) or water (swamp stuff).
Or maybe it’s the tremendous weight of planning and executing a “perfect” Walt Disney World vacation that has incredibly high stakes due to the monetary cost and convoluted systems and processes, glitchy apps, chaotic crowds. Even if you’re trying your best to have a great day, from time to time, that stress can overwhelm even absolute angels.
I offer this caveat because I’m not a fan of call-out culture nor do I like the idea of putting people “on blast” even if it’s in a just for fun venting post like this one that uses abstractions rather than specific instances of behavior we’ve seen recently.
So breathe a sigh of relief–you aren’t going to find a hidden-cam ‘mugshot’ from that one time, against your better judgment, you let loose and did the “pee your pants challenge” for clout at EPCOT. And who among us hasn’t climbed the Mexico pyramid?!
In short, while these types of guests do bug me (and others), I can recognize that nobody is perfect–including me–and I certainly don’t have any actual malice towards anyone who does these things. If anything, I think most of the problems lie with Walt Disney World for making a visit to the parks so stressful. But that’s another topic for another day.
Fortunately, 98% of guests on any given day are great–just happy to be at the Most Magical Place on Earth. Unfortunately, the bad often stand out more than the good, so even that 2% of guests can be annoying if you’re unlucky enough to cross paths with them.
With that out of the way, here’s our list of the worst 10 types of guests at Walt Disney World (plus plenty of bonuses)…
The Ones Who Have Never Walked in Public – America is a car culture. Most of our country is suburbia or rural, with few densely-populated and walkable downtown areas. Nowhere is that more apparent than at Walt Disney World, where many visitors encounter their first instance of bona fide urban design, and have trouble navigating it.
Ironically enough, the core problem is that they don’t observe the traditional rules of the road, which actually translate quite well to walking around public spaces. Instead, they seem to observe the Central Florida rules of the road, which (in my experience) are “anything goes!”
Zig-zagging all around, changing multiple ‘lanes’ with zero notice to take an off-ramp, swerving around without paying attention to oncoming traffic, moving exponentially slower than the speed of traffic? In the parks and on Orlando roads, it all goes! My personal “favorite” is the parties who are oblivious to crowds and, presumably, think they’re the only people at Walt Disney World. Why else would a party of 7 walk side-by-side holding hands, taking up the entire walkway so no one could pass?!
This is a great example of innocent behavior. No one walking this way is doing so to be selfish or because they’re entitled. It’s almost always because they don’t live in a city and Walt Disney World is the first quasi-urban environment they’ve visited. This probably does not rise to the level of the “worst” guest, but it does drive me crazy. (It’s mostly a “me problem,” I realize that!)
BONUS: The Mall Walkers – Turnabout is fair play, and if the above type of walkers are one of the worst guests (probably not), then so are their counterparts. And admittedly, this is me.
Not only do I always walk briskly or “with a purpose” (even when I have none), but I’ve been known to “mall walk” around World Showcase. If ever you’ve wondered why this blog sounds like it’s written by a curmudgeonly old man, it’s because I have the spirit (and interests, apparently) of one.
DOUBLE BONUS: The Road Ragers – This is a new-for-2023 addition, but one I’ve wanted to add for a while. I’ve been reluctant to do so because it’s a hot-button issue. But now that we’re parents with a stroller, I feel like I can “go there” without attacking anyone.
I’ve locked eyes with parents pushing double-wide strollers during the Magic Kingdom evening exodus. The horror and pain on their faces was way worse than anything they could ever inflict on anyone else. Same goes for guests in ECVs. Thankfully, we have never been in that position, but I cannot fathom having to navigate a scooter or stroller through the chaos, crowds and congestion. Even as a mobile adult, it’s uncomfortable. It’s gotta feel downright unsafe and scary at times with those devices.
Even in normal navigational scenarios, scooters and strollers can have a tough time because some people are not good at walking in public. See above. Random starting and stopping, blocking sidewalk access points, cutting off strollers or scooters and forcing them to stop abruptly, etc. etc. So I do have a lot of empathy for guests in these positions.
With all of that said, there are some guests with verifiable cases of road rage. If they drove on the interstate like they operate their scooters or strollers, they’d have their licenses revoked. But anything goes on the mean street of Main Street and Frontierland truly is the wild west when it comes to the rules of the road.
Some strollers are used as makeshift battering rams and certain ECVs might as well have cowcatchers or snow plows attached to deflect the guests they mow down. These ECVs can be downright dangerous–especially the third party ones that have seemingly had their speed regulators removed and could likely beat the Test Track SimCars in a street race.
It doesn’t help that it’s a vicious cycle. Parents and ECV operators get cut off or confined in crowds, putting them on the precipice of an adult meltdown, and giving them no reason to obey the rules of the road. Like a cornered cat, they go on the attack. So while I don’t love my heels being hit by these devices…I also kinda get it!
The Line Jumpers – Few things grind my gears like this, especially watching it unfold in slow motion. The first parent and child politely pass me to catch up to the rest of their family. No big deal, nature calls and kids need to use the toilet at unpredictable times. Then person 2 passes. Then 3, 4, 5, and 6. Just how large is this multigenerational party and were any of them in line in the first place?!
Cutting in line isn’t cool. It’s one thing when it’s the aforementioned bathroom break situation. That I can understand. But sending a “runner” from your party of 12 to hold a spot for the other 11 in line? Absolutely unacceptable and reflects the entitled attitude that your time (and the saving thereof) is more important than everyone else.
It defies common courtesy and fairness. Congress should pass a law that requires 51% of your party or more to be present before getting into line. Isn’t that why Walt Disney World has a Hall of Presidents in the first place? To sign stuff like that into law?!
BONUS: The DAS Abusers – There’s been an increase in abuse of Disability Access Service in the last few years, and as of Late 2023, Walt Disney World is starting to crack down on improper DAS use as a result. This is, without a doubt, one of the worst types of guest at Walt Disney World. I cannot fathom how able-bodied people justify abusing a service meant for the disabled. I am pretty far from perfect, but at least I can sleep at night.
This is also a category that only exists in the abstract. Even though we know abuse exists–Walt Disney World has said so!–we don’t see it happening on an individual level. That’s because there are myriad invisible disabilities from which other guests could suffer, and the rude words or judgmental gaze of guests ‘scanning’ a person using DAS to ‘make sure’ they really have a disability is also awful…and could itself land on this list!
Anyone using DAS out of necessity would trade places with able-bodied individuals in a second and stand in long lines if it meant not being disabled. Suffice to say, this is a bad situation with a couple types of worst guests involved, and actual disabled guests as the resulting collateral damage.
The Ones Whose “Vacation Cost A Lot” – Did you know that a trip to Walt Disney World costs a lot of money?! Some angry guests feel the need to remind others of this when their bad behavior is met with resistance, seemingly oblivious to the fact that everyone’s vacation cost a lot of money. (I guess it’s possible that they’re right, and Walt Disney World’s top demographic is lottery or giveaway winners.)
This type of guest is an interesting case study, of sorts, as they’re one of the few that actually vocalizes the sense of entitlement that is an animating feature of all the worst types of guests. This guest is vocally oblivious to other tourists also spending a lot of money to be there, whereas most of the other types act in a manner that reflects that they don’t know or care that their behavior negatively impacts others.
The Flashers – No, we’re not talking about the infamous incidents that occurred that gave Splash Mountain its R-rated nickname and made it controversial back in the day. Get your mind out of the gutter!
Rather, we’re talking about guests who use flash to take photos on dark rides or their flashlights to record videos of fireworks. Not only is this rude to other guests because your flash destroys the illusion that the Imagineers created with carefully considered show lighting, but it makes your photos look like garbage for the exact same reason. When it comes to videos of fireworks, it accomplishes absolutely nothing–the subjects are too far away (and light themselves). All it does is illuminate heads in the crowd, which probably wasn’t the goal.
This is a good example of giving other guests the benefit of the doubt. In today’s era of ubiquitous smartphones, it’s so easy for a setting to be enabled and the user not know why–or understand how to turn it off. This one is usually less about selfishness, and more about user error or confusion. (Confession time: I still remember accidentally firing my flash on Pirates of the Caribbean in 2009. It was in a boat of my photography buds, making it even more mortifying. I have since accidentally turned on my phone flashlight twice during fireworks, but immediately turned it off both times.)
The Ones Who Don’t Want To Be There, And Want Everyone To Know – Walt Disney World is not for everyone. We get it. If that wasn’t clear before, the non-stop parade of not-so-thoughtful “think pieces” about Disney Adults and Childless Millennials have made that much very clear.
For whatever reason, this has spilled over into the parks themselves, with countless badly-designed Etsy shirts that proudly proclaim the wearer does not want to be there. I will never understand this. I do things that I don’t want to do from time to time, but at least I go in with an open mind…because why not? If I’m going to be there anyway, why not make the most of it and try to expand my horizons?
I wish people would realize that vocally hating something other people enjoy, especially in that venue, is not cool, edgy, or provocative. It’s dull, dumb, and pedestrian. (This applies to places beyond Walt Disney World, with the only exception being Minute Maid Park. 😉) You spent money on a shirt advertising something you don’t like? Congratulations on the announcement that you’re bad with money, I guess.
BONUS: Other Shirts with a ‘Message’ – Fun fact about me: I have never changed my vote or views based on a bumper sticker, yard sign, or t-shirt. Come to think of it, I don’t know anyone who has. Whenever I see a political or social opinion broadcast on a t-shirt, I am annoyed and also left wondering: what’s the point?! As society has become increasingly polarized, these shirts have gotten worse–with some being hostile or implying the threat of violence towards anyone who disagrees.
It doesn’t even matter if I “agree” with the shirt. This type of attire doesn’t belong at a place that’s about fun, fantasy, and bringing people together. (Some might even say this is a good philosophy to keep in mind when discussing Disney in the comments sections of your favorite blogs!)
The Passholes – Hello, sense of self-loathing! Despite being one at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and beyond (in typical AP fashion, had to squeeze in that humblebrag before some self-deprecation!), I am aware of the fact that my people are not beloved by other guests, some Cast Members, and perhaps even the company itself.
In fairness, APs are not nearly as much of a pain in the neck at Walt Disney World as we are at Disneyland. There, we camp out for hours waiting for nighttime entertainment, snatch up all the limited edition merchandise, flaunt our knowledge, and just generally loiter about like Disneyland is an old-timey version of the Grove or Galleria. At Walt Disney World, we’re mostly harmless, just getting in long lines for Figment and Orange Bird stuff.
Perhaps our biggest offense is premature spieling, which is loudly reciting lines ever-so-slightly before the attraction narrator (so everyone knows that WE know the script!) and sharing our encyclopedic knowledge just a little to loudly while chatting with friends (so random strangers can also benefit from our expertise). We also tend to think that Walt Disney World and Disneyland would be nothing without us, and have a meltdown when the company or other guests even suggest that might not be the case.
BONUS: The Ones Who Pillage & Plunder– Even on a normal day, attempting to navigate Walt Disney World’s gift shops is an uncomfortable proposition. It’s exponentially worse when new items are released or restocked, as eBay pirates dock their ships and storm the stores. There is no merchandise–not even limited edition Figment or Country Bear collectibles–that I want badly enough to deal with this category of worst guests at Walt Disney World.
If you’ve never experienced the eBay pirates pillaging and plundering, how unpleasant it is cannot be overstated. I’d rather watch back to back showings of Beauty and the Beast: Sing-Along than visit the Emporium on those mornings. These eBay pirates are rude, aggressive, act entitled, and seemingly love to embrace their role as villains. They’re probably deserving of their own category, but this list is already at 10 entries and I assume most of these “guests” are Annual Passholders, so we’ll include them as a bonus entry here.
Bloggers, vloggers, and social media influencers also deserve our own dishonorable mention here. (Sadly.) To my fellow blogging brethren: You know what you did.
The Party Animals – We are far from teetotalers, but the drinking teams, bachelor/ette parties, and other groups in World Showcase at EPCOT sometimes can be a tad too much for a family-friendly theme park. For those of you who want to relive your glory days by attending an open air frat party, this might sound appealing. However, those days are long behind us, and we suspect many families don’t want their kids in that environment.
For what it’s worth, I don’t see party animals being an issue anywhere except EPCOT. Someone having a bit too much might happen from time to time at Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom, but it’s uncommon. By contrast, it feels like there’s a “drinking culture” represented in World Showcase, in addition to all of the global ones.
The Parents of Shoulder Kids – Rule #1 of the WDW Complaint Club™️ – It is never the child’s fault. Just as kids aren’t the ones that gave themselves participation trophies, they are not the ones that raised themselves. That applies both figuratively and, in this case, literally, over the heads of their parents.
Kids have a tough time seeing a show from the ground and parents have a difficult time holding them at normal eye level, which creates a conundrum. If you put them on your shoulders, they can see but you’re blocking the view of countless people behind you. The alternatives are them having a difficult time seeing from ground level or you struggling to hold them at eye level, but putting them on shoulders effectively says, “my child seeing the show is more important than anyone behind me seeing it.” It’s basically the non-verbal version of proclaiming, “my vacation cost a lot of money (but yours didn’t, somehow).”
The good news is that this is actually a false choice. If a parent cannot hold their kids at eye level, it’s not a matter of either them not seeing or blocking the view of people behind them. The everyone wins alternative is choosing a viewing location that is less crowded (e.g. Fantasyland or Japan) and or where there are not obstructions in front of you (e.g. on a bridge or against a railing). Both exist for the fireworks in Magic Kingdom or Harmonious in EPCOT.
The Meltdown Parents – It’s presumed that many childless adults can’t stand kids or are overly sensitive to their bad behavior. That couldn’t be further from the truth for us. (Taps sign on Rule #1.) Both of us are pretty good at filtering out crying kids, and view rambunctious behavior as a sign of excess energy that just needs to be burned off by playing. (It’s better than kids being glued to a screen!)
It’s the parental meltdowns that are the real problem. Ostensibly fully-developed adults who should be able to “use their words” to communicate and verbalize their emotions. However, adult meltdowns are all too common, with grownups becoming irrationally upset when things don’t go perfectly as planned or their efforts are under-appreciated. Often this begets the meltdown of a child who cannot do what they want, or has been forced to tour at a whirlwind pace, when really, they’d be perfectly happy to just play in a splash pad for an hour.
Lashing out at a child–especially on a trip for the kid–is never okay, and we’re not defending those who do it. BUT (you knew this was coming, right?) we have noticed a visible increase in these adult meltdowns as Walt Disney World vacations have increased in price, planning has become more convoluted and confusing, and sharing images of the ‘flawless family vacation’ on social media has become commonplace. The amount of pressure to have the perfect Walt Disney World trip is absolutely immense, and it’s easy to see how even the most level-headed parent can crack under that from time to time.
As we’ve said many times before, there is no such thing as a perfect Walt Disney World vacation. It bears repeating that you will make mistakes. Itineraries will get derailed. Dining and Genie+ plans won’t all work out. This also means that the pressure to plan a perfect trip is entirely optional, because there’s no such thing. Paradoxically, every imperfect trip can be perfect in its own way if you let it. You’ll be much better off with the memories of having a laugh at things not going smoothly than you will with the scars of screaming at your kids.
The Ones Who Never Worked a Day in Customer Service – I have seen enough and heard enough horror stories to consider Cast Members true saints and the stewards of Walt Disney’s legacy. Even with the increasingly common complaints about poor guest service, my reflexive reaction is that it’s because Cast Members have been beaten down and had their spirits crushed over the last few years. That the dynamic would improve if guests were better-behaved (part of the reason why this post exists in the first place).
I’m also very aware that I could not last a day dealing with guests. I worked in “low stakes” fast food, retail, and other customer service jobs in high school and college. The way I was treated over submarine sandwiches and supermarket stuff suggests to me that things must be much worse for Cast Members working at multi-thousand dollar vacation destinations. I was also younger, more patient, and had no good alternatives to taking the abuse. I wouldn’t stand for that same treatment today.
This is why I’ve written repeatedly that all Americans should be “required” to work for a year in a service industry so they “learn” how to treat others. For me, this doesn’t seem like something that actually requires learning–you should just know to treat others with respect because they’re your fellow humans and it’s the right thing to do. But I think a lot of people don’t realize this for whatever reason. Perhaps they consider those in customer service roles to be “beneath” them or the jobs to be “easy” because the pay is lower than their wages.
Of course, this is not true. I could never be an accountant or neurosurgeon, but I also doubt that I could be a housekeeper, janitor, or crowd control Cast Member. Not because those jobs are beneath me–all work is deserving of dignity and none of it is beneath anyone–but because it all involves incredibly grueling manual labor. I simply don’t think I could keep up day after day.
I’m know I’m rambling here, but the core point is that the worst guests who are those who are mean or rude to Cast Members. Those guests really suck. Many Americans feel that high prices buy them a certain level of entitlement or that “the customer is always right” includes the ‘right’ to be rude. Those notions are utter hogwash. Courtesy is a two-way street, and if you don’t give it, you should not expect to receive it. Rant over.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts…
Which types of Walt Disney World guests do you think are the worst ones? Think that line cutters, rude guests, inefficient walkers, parental meltdowns, passholes, or entitled vacationers are the worst? Agree or disagree with the entries on our list? Feel free to vent in the comments. You won’t change anything about how other guests behave at Walt Disney World, but at least it’s therapeutic! Hearing your feedback–even if you think that bloggers are the worst guests–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I liked when you wrote ” Both of us are pretty good at filtering out crying kids, and view rambunctious behavior as a sign of excess energy that just needs to be burned off by playing. (It’s better than kids being glued to a screen!)”
Our kids were not always perfect and I’m not just talking Disney. Then there would be other kids who were “so well behaved” but they would have their electronics and not look up.
We were out to dinner at Disney looked over at the table next to us and all 4 people were looking at their electronics (kids tablets, parents phones) they didn’t say a word!
I.am:childless by choice. My problem with what my bff a,SAHMom of 3daughters, calls “nuclear meltdown child” isn’t with the kid. Young children get over stimulated and overtired,and this causes a meltdown.. It is the parents who don’t do anything about it. They need to.assess what their offspring needs. Are they hungry? Do they need a nap? Do they need to.go.Back to.the hotel.and use the pool or find some way to b burn off excess energy. Are long waits in line getting to thm?.(This is when there needs to.be a halfway solution for families with very young kids who cannot hack being in line and doing nothing for 90minutes. Maybe one parent for 2kids in line? Gamers on their Magic band aren’t enough).
I won’t even go into a rant about those who.parent by abandonment…expecting everyone else to watch their kid while they pore over their phones.
A huge pet peeve of ours is AFTER we have tapped in to lightening Lane using Genie + others try to pass people in wider Queues. My son is legally blind and doesn’t walk as fast as some others and we have had people numerous times pass us. If it is a little kid who doesn’t know better we let it go but if someone is being impatient we will walk 4 across so they can’t cut in front of us in the line we are waiting in. We catch up to people who tapped into queue right before us when they stop near head of line so it’s not like our son walking slow is causing anyone behind us to lose “their valuable time”.
I have seen in comments people saying they get “looks” from others sometimes when using DAS but I am wondering how anyone would know you are using DAS versus Genie+ since they both tap into same lane? We use DAS and have never experienced this so I am truly interseted how others knew you were using DAS.
Last Monday at Disneyland I was in line in front of a woman and her family who completely sucked the magic out of my day. And to be honest I am still upset by her behavior! We were about 6 groups back from the front of the line for a popular ride (that amazingly was only a 30 min wait) when a member of a party about 3 groups ahead of us had a medical emergency. So the line was stopped waiting for security, EMT, etc. It then took some time for them to evaluate him of course. This women started VERY loudly complaining about how the line wasn’t moving “because of lightning lane”. I (very politely) turned around and let her know that we weren’t moving due to a medical emergency. Here I am expecting a response such as “oh no, I hope they are ok”. Nope! She starts complaining even more! Saying how there was enough room to move them aside so we could all get by! Wow! Then she got mad at a cast member ( who was just a little busy) because they refused to provide her details of what was going on with this person medically(None of our business!). She said they were rude and got paid a lot of money and shouldn’t treat her like that. It went on and on with her husband and little girls sometimes chiming in as well, for the entire 20-30 minutes we had to wait. The lack of compassion and human decency from this woman was appalling. I wanted to say something to her but my husband stopped me. I told him later I should have done it anyhow because I will forever regret not speaking up. It makes me so sad that those children are growing up thnking that behavior was ok. We all got to continue on with our day at Disney while I’m sure that other family probably did not. Fortunately he seemed to be alright but most likely they took him to the hospital to be checked out.
Needless say we ended up leaving not long after that. The whole experience just ruined my day.
And yes, cast members provide much of the magic, but it also comes from guests. Disney magic can be nothing more than small simple acts of kindness to a stranger. Handing a sticker to a child, allowing someone to go ahead of you in line, maybe allowing to child to have your front row seat so they can see a show or on a ride better. There are so many little things we could all do to “bring back the magic”. Its not all on Disney.
Here’s mine… I am going to display my English-ness here. Sometime a strollers / ECV can clip someone and its 100% an accident. Throwing a dirty look at the person you clipped / clipped you is not the way to handle that situation & potentially cause a scene when everyone is likely hot / bothered / trying to get to a reservation / dealing with thirsty or hungry kids (or parents).
Clip
‘Oh please excuse me’
‘Oh hey no problem, its crowded today isn’t it!’ or ‘oh no, my bad I was looking the other way at that awesome view across the park’.
Result – everyone gets on with their day hoping the next person is just as polite & karma gives you a little tick for the future.
This is an aside to “Shirts with a Message”. This past September, I was on a bus, riding back from HS to Sarasota Springs Resort, chatting with another couple who, like me, wore enough paraphanalia from other Disney locations to make it obvious they had visited several Disney campusses. I asked if they had been to Aulani yet (lovely resort) and they said they were planning a trip for 2024. A woman sitting next to me cut into the conversation with a 3-4 minute tirade – she was really worked up – about how the Ko Olino area where Aulani is located had been ruined by developers to attract tourists. When she finished, I reminded her that she was in Disney World for goodness sake. My comment drew a couple of guffaw, and she…blessedly…remaind silent for the rest of our ride.
Most parents with strollers aren’t a problem. But then there are the entitled parents who seem to.think that because they had a child, everyone else must give way for them. I have been in the Society for Creative Anachronism for 50years, and my husband and I call them.Chariots of WR or Battering Rams. We have joked about using the parents,in catapults launched from.Cinderella’s Castle at the parking lot. Fortunately most parents aren’t like that. We still.talk.about one adorable red haired 4 year old at a restaurant we ate in.
I had the fun of spending my 50th birthday st Tokyo.Disneyland. We went 3-4times there when my just was stationed near there in the 90s. Back then it was simply Magic Kingdom.and more compact. Bern to Rocky 3times, and Magic Kingdom.twice at Disneyworld, again in the 90s.
I.am.One of those with an invisible disability. I.was born with a scoliosis and ankles which turn essily. My back issues,were worsened by a fall which put me in a back brace.at 18,_and A year later getting hit in the back.with a field hockey stick (someone who.was even more inept at sports then me) Since then standing for any length of time is likely to.exacerbate the issues. At 74, age has not helped. I may end up in a wheelchair when we go in a couple of years.
To offer another qualified defense of the people not observing proper pedestrian etiquette, it sometimes is a necessity to change lanes and cut people off, to avoid getting separated from your group. And to be fair, walking through midtown Manhattan is a lot like walking through Main Street, U.S.A, in that you have to be sharp-elbowed if you want to get anywhere.
I’d like to nominate parents who use their children to insinuate themselves into a more favorable view of a parade or a fireworks show. As an adult, I’m happy to allow other people’s children to stand in front of me: I remember being a child at Disney World and how hard it was to get a good view of anything with all the taller people around. What I’m not so happy about is when I move aside for a child, only for their parent to move in to talk to the child or pick the child up, and seize real estate for themselves.
This is more of a grievance against Disney, but, while I’m on the subject, why don’t shows have designated rows up front for children? When you’re a child, it’s a constant issue at Disney parks and other places that stadium-style seating isn’t sufficient to guarantee a good view if an adult decides to sit down in front of you; Disney of all companies should be working on a solution to this problem. I guess the trouble with designated children’s sections is that parents are uncomfortable with separating themselves from their children for any period of time, but the children’s section could be guarded by cast members and maybe parents could check their children in and out using their magic wrist bands or something.
I have a WDW vacation coming up, and I hope I witness as few of these behaviors as possible. I don’t want to see such anti-magical moments any more than the Amish kid from Witness wanted to see what he saw before Harrison Ford shipped him off to Lancaster. Hopefully Cast Members will continue to intervene, as needed. With demand softening a bit, those sorts of appreciated mitigations matter more than ever.
I would be interested to get your thoughts on the runDisney pirates. It’s so frustrating when you are the one running the miles but you can’t buy the merchandise because so many people are hoarding piles of clothes, pins, etc. I know Disney just wants to sell merchandise but would it really be that hard to limit Expo sales to runners for the first 2 days and then open it up so runners have a fair chance?
I’d prefer that a nice haul of runDisney swag would just come with your race registration. For it to be a separate purchase that you have to fight for, against non-runners… that’s not good.
The people who think the rules do not apply to them, or just choose to disregard rules they don’t like. On my most recent trip to WDW, I witnessed guests at both Tron and Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind exiting the preshows early so they could go ahead and get in line. Cast members had to stop them and make them go back in, which interrupted the preshow experiences for others. We rode Tron multiple times, and many guests were attempting to bypass the lockers. Cast members had to tell them they wouldn’t be able to ride with the items they were attempting to take on the ride. On Living with the Land, a young man had his hand out touching everything he could, hand constantly in the water, hand touching whatever surface the boat was going by. I was surprised that we weren’t hearing the overhead notice to keep our hands in the boat at all times. It was nighttime, so maybe cast members couldn’t see it on surveillance. When we were getting to the greenhouse areas with the sand, he was clearly getting ready to run his hands all along the sand. We’ve done Behind the Seeds, so I know why they don’t want guests touching the sand. It’s also clearly stated at the beginning of the ride to keep your hands in the boat at all times to avoid being asked to leave Epcot. I went ahead and spoke up and loudly called him out, told him I was going to report him to cast members, and he stopped. He clearly knew it was wrong because he bolted when the ride was over. It was towards the end of our trip and I’d witnessed so much bad guest behavior, I’d had enough.
It’s crazy, I’ve seen all of these types of people in person over the years at DLR and WDW. The trajectory is not encouraging.
Even crazier: none of these types of people exist at Tokyo Disney Resort. One more reason to go there instead. Where Disney magic still exists, and guests are still civilized.
Long time reader -first reply. I have a high functioning autistic son (14) . REALLY wish we had known about stroller as a wheelchair when he was little. Figured out DAS when a worker suggested it as he had a panic attack at Disneyland at 7. But he feels guilty using it, and he surfs the internet. The criticism makes him feel guilty.
He has never made it to a night time show at Disney – yet he loves going. We get way less done than other families. My kid does not use his accommodations at school (he can handle AP computer science way easier than the line for ROR)
but between genie and DAS we can enjoy a day at Disney. I know people abuse it, but it is so needed for many families.
Just to be clear, people like your son absolutely SHOULD be using DAS. For guests, it can be a lifeline–the difference between enjoying a visit and not going at all. He should have no shame in using DAS, and it’s sad that he does.
The abusers are a totally different pool of people…who make DAS worse for those who legitimately need it and everyone else.
I agree that there are some people who abuse the DAS program, but there many of us who legitimately need it for a variety of reasons. I have a son with ADHD issues which makes waiting in extremely long lines a problem. I remember one time someone in the main line made a snide comment about my son not looking disabled. I very politely put him in his place by explaining that not all disabilities are visible. Granted my wife grumbled at me for telling the rude person off but I felt that I had to straighten him out.
I think the DAS Attackers should absolutely be a category. 100% not all disabilities are visible. During the period after Fast Pass was gone but before Genie Plus, I had a woman grab my arm as I was tapping for my DAS return time and demand to know how I got to “jump the line.”
You hit a lot of them right on the nose, the side by side… walkers and usually they are always walking slow:( As for strollers, I have did trips with and without them and by far the people without strollers are worse then the majority of the stroller pushers, with their erratic walking and then trying to rush in front of you etc. I also do not like line cutters but lets get this straight the line cutters ARE NOT the parent that gets out of line to take their child to the bathroom and is coming back. I have met some very rude people trying to prevent me from continuing when coming back into line. Let me add another vent. The people with the giant backpacks standing in line that leans against the rail and is literally blocking a good chunk of the opposite line. I also believe that you should walk like you drive in the US, “On the right side!”of the road:) Let’s add the family the uses the single rider line and then wants to be seated together. Unfortunately I could continue but I won’t LOL
In your ‘Walkers’ tirade, you forgot the door blocker. The ones that feel the need to stop exactly in the center of a doorway and then look around or search through their personal bag for something. You know, like changing your flat in the left lane of I-95.
Recently I was at DL while my best friend was at DW and we both were witness to especially egregious line cutting events, and we were comparing notes. The next day, we were trying rope drop RoR (I know, we didn’t listen to you), and cast members were making announcements that you had to have your whole party with you on entering the line. I made a comment to my husband about them cracking down, and I may have inadvertently terrified a random passerby – they were like, oh it’s not allowed on that ride? And I had a bit of A Tone when I immediately said it’s not EVER allowed on ANY ride. I generally try to fume quietly. Oops.
I also have a new guest nomination, a cousin of the Shoulder Parent, but worse. This is the Fireworks Filmer, who feel their phone camera’s view is more important than everyone else behind them, so hold it way above their heads. If you want to watch a moving, emotional tribute on a shaky 3-inch screen, do us all a favor and hold it directly in front of your face.
I am thrilled to hear that CMs are now cracking down on these line jumpers.
@Scarlett, YES!!!! These Fireworks Filmers are the top of my list! It’s especially ridiculous to me, because every single nighttime spectacular (and attraction, for that matter), can be found on YouTube, shot by professionals, at a better quality than 99.99% of guests would ever achieve.
Was once behind a gentleman who got so angry at a cast member when asked to scan his finger at the entrance. Because Disney was clearly trying to steal his identity and it was this cast member’s fault! LOL
Was on Haunted Mansion just a week ago when someone took a photo with flash of the floating head in the séance scene.
I do feel bad for the folks who pay a fortune to fly their entire family to Disney and feel pressure to do it ALL in one trip. I get it. I am just lucky to live 90 minutes away. Those are the adults that get testy by the end of the night.
The disneyland it’s a small world streaker would seem to be the worse.
I was recently in DL and a guest was screaming at the cast members, calling them names because the single rider line was taking longer than standby in his opinion. Since when does single rider guarantee a shorter break? He was so abusive to all of them and of course took their name and picture to complain. I felt so bad for the cast members!
He definitely falls into Tom’s “flasher” category