Three's a crowd... or not?

[Lucius Best]

At 7DMT, they fill every seat, so definitely sitting next to a stranger.

They won't necessarily put you with a stranger on TSMM. Last month we had a party of 7. My niece wanted to ride with me, so my wife took one for the team and rode by herself, all alone. (We were using FP mid-afternoon, standby line was long as usual.)

In your situation, at TSMM, I can't picture a Disney CM sitting a stranger with an 8yo girl for a 5 minute ride in the dark. If worried about it, talk to the CM who seats you. Other option, your sister could always ride with both her boys in one vehicle, while you ride with your daughter.

 

[Lucius Best]

whoops

 

[subtchr]

I usually travel alone, and I have never been seated with anyone else on TSMM, probably 15-20 rides. I wouldn't mind it, I just never have. (In fact, I'd like it if it happened to be someone who knows how to maximize scores by working together on some targets! Hah!)

I never MIND being seated with anyone else, on 7DMT, or EE, or anywhere. I usually chat with even the shyest child, respecting their boundaries, of course!

 

[Lucius Best]

TSMM in Disneyland used to have a single rider line (but not FP, go figure). I was seated once with a teenager who was a TSMM expert, he showed me lots of tricks, most of which I've never been able to duplicate.

 

[YawningDodo]

Hey guys....let's remember that we don't know OPs reason for asking, only that she said thanks and that she wanted the info to "prepare" her husband. While many people, maybe most, love making new friends of strangers in line and on rides, there are some people with a social interaction issue that perhaps this is a difficult situation. Just saying from experience with a friend who has issues about being touched by a stranger, even bumped in a crowd can cause her to tense up noticeably. For her sitting on a ride with a stranger next to her is enough for her to want to get off. Soooo, we just move our group of friends around so that she always has a friend on the ride and we kinda surround her in lines and crowds.....she jokes we are her bodyguards and she feels like royalty, but in reality it is so that she can remain as comfortable as possible (being jostled by strangers too often makes her stay tense and then the "fight or flight" reaction and she desperately needs to leave, which we do for her, but obviously we want to stay as long as we can keep her going). Yes, many find her reaction "weird" and we've had some folks who don't understand make rude comments, but it's just the way she is wired.....in school her parents put her through a lot of therapy hoping she would "get over it" but all which did nothing. It's just her nature. We all have oddities whether we admit/notice them.....even Mesa Boy can whiff it once and don't we all think he's practically perfect so that weirds us out enough that there are at least 4 posts about it on this thread, lol.

NOT chastising anyone here, just hoping some of you might go "hmmm, hadn't thought of it that way".

Fair point; I think it was mostly the use of the word "forced" that rubbed me the wrong way. I always thought it was kind of selfish when people insist on keeping empty seats beside them, since it means the wait is longer for everyone behind them. One summer when I worked as a ride operator at a local amusement park one mother freaked out when a teenager who was either a single rider or a member of an odd-numbered party sat next to her preteen on a wild ride and wanted me to kick the teenager off (the mother wasn't riding, she was just watching from behind my station and fretting). Her kid was fine with it, the teen was just there to ride a fun ride and couldn't have cared less who she was next to, and the line was a solid half hour, which was pretty long for our park (also, she chose to wait until after I'd closed all the restraints to complain, meaning it would have delayed the ride considerably for me to unload anyone). It just seemed really selfish and pointless to me, and I didn't kick the teen off.

If someone has a reason not to sit next to strangers it's totally fair to prepare for that; I did mention in my previous post that I was a chicken when I was a kid. Whenever we could sit three together I was always in the middle, and when that failed I sat next to Mom (it failed pretty hard on Countdown to Extinction, when we boarded willy-nilly and I ended up in the front right seat, aka the scariest seat in the car). I kind of expect that's more or less just what one does when one is traveling in a party of two adults and one kid (or one adult, a teenager, and a kid, like we were), and if one of the adults has an issue with strangers they can just be the one to ride with kiddo all the time.

 

[jen7233]

It'll depend on the ride.

 

[scrapquitler]

You might get seated next to someone else on BTMRR also. When we went with our son (who is 12) he always opted to sit with one of us, and in the case where someone might end up seated next to a stranger, it was one of the adults, not the child.

 

[HopperFan]

I was wondering the same thing. I am traveling with my sister, her two boys 4 & 6, and my DD8. I am thinking that there may be instances where my DD will have to ride alone or next to a stranger because the boys are too young to ride alone. I don't have a problem with her being next to a stranger, but she is very shy with people she doesn't know, especially adults, and I'd like to prepare her ahead of time for those times she may not be riding next to me. I think for 7DMT she will be fine because I am in her sight, but for TSMM she might be more uncomfortable not being able to see me during the ride.

We are an odd group at times (more ways than one) and have never sat with strangers on TSMM. We go often and ride it every trip at least once. Since each "grouping" is 2 cars with 2 bench seats on each, what will happen is that a strange twosome might sit on one bench while our family sits on the other three, with one of ours holding just one person. I don't know if that makes sense but they fill the entire grouping but have never seen them mix families on one bench seat. So you would never even be able to see the stranger.

 

[HopperFan]

It'll depend on the ride.

And it may depend on time of year. We had never ever sat three at Peter Pan (all adults) and didn't even think we would fit. We were there during a busy time and the CM said "We are busy you'll have to sit together." I was caught off guard because like I said we had not sat three - but we fit and this trip we didn't have to but opted to ride together.

 

[texasroni75]

This thread reminded me of my experiences during our last trip.

It was the first time DD and I used the single rider lines to ride RNR multiple times. Nearly every time I rode, the person sitting next to me looked "shocked" that they weren't getting to sit solo in their row. Some even asked me "are you sure you're supposed to be sitting here"? I tried not to take it personally (gee am I too ugly to sit next to LOL) - but there are MANY people out there who don't know that a single rider may be put next to them!

 

[Lucius Best]

You might get seated next to someone else on BTMRR also. When we went with our son (who is 12) he always opted to sit with one of us, and in the case where someone might end up seated next to a stranger, it was one of the adults, not the child.

That's bizarre, I've never seen that at BTMRR, ridden many times as the odd man out. I would have protested if they tried to put someone next to me.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

They do have single rider lines on some. Odds are you will be able to ride together on most rides. A few rides like Expedition Everest At AK there are only 2 people per row. Splash Mountain is another and Space Mountain one person. But odds are you will be in the same car at least if not the same row.

 

[nilla]

Our daughter (8 yrs old on our last trip) and I ride RnRC single-rider all the time, to avoid the long lines. Sitting next to a stranger can be fun sometimes

 

[nilla]

That's bizarre, I've never seen that at BTMRR, ridden many times as the odd man out. I would have protested if they tried to put someone next to me.

From your signature, it looks like you go to WDW mostly during non-peak times. That could explain it.

However, it could also be that BTMRR has a single lap bar, while RnRC and EE have individual restraints.

 

[soniam]

That's bizarre, I've never seen that at BTMRR, ridden many times as the odd man out. I would have protested if they tried to put someone next to me.

I am almost always sat with someone else on BMTRR, when DS decides to ride with DH. What I don't like is if that person is much bigger than me, because then the lap bar isn't hold me in well. Luckily, it's not really that dangerous of a ride.

 

[soniam]

And it may depend on time of year. We had never ever sat three at Peter Pan (all adults) and didn't even think we would fit. We were there during a busy time and the CM said "We are busy you'll have to sit together." I was caught off guard because like I said we had not sat three - but we fit and this trip we didn't have to but opted to ride together.

We always sit 3 to a car on Peter Pan, but none of us are huge. DS is particularly small. If we were big or tall people, that could be uncomfortable.

 

[NuJoy]

We are down to being a family of three since oldest DD went to university. I am someone who has very high anxiety about being touched by strangers (especially men); but try to keep it camouflaged for the sake of my DD13 who shows signs of the same problem developing and not wanting to contribute to her justification of it. Most men have long legs that will be cramped too tight inside a ride unless they spread their legs far apart, spilling into my seat, and consequently, touching my whole leg for an entire ride. I can suck it up long enough to get through a ride; but I am conscience of it the whole time and makes the ride less enjoyable for me. To help, we have worked out a system that if it is my turn to ride alone and then discover I will be paired with a male (and it can be done quickly and with ease), my husband just switches with me so that I ride with my daughter instead. Otherwise, I do my best to appear perfectly normal and unaffected. It's only been EE, RNR, and 7DMT that it's even been something I had to consider. Never been paired with a single rider on BTMR, Splash, or TSMM.

 

[Lucius Best]

I am almost always sat with someone else on BMTRR, when DS decides to ride with DH. What I don't like is if that person is much bigger than me, because then the lap bar isn't hold me in well. Luckily, it's not really that dangerous of a ride.

That's the thing, I'm a pretty tall guy, anyone sitting next to me is going to have a lot of room under that lap bar. Then there's the possibility of sliding across the seat and slamming into someone.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

I wonder with BTMR, if may depend on who is behind you in line. I have rode it as a single in our family of 3 and had someone as a single that got on the ride before me. I guess I could have gotten in the car with them since there was a seat free but I wouldn't think of doing that.

 

[Grammy4Lizzy]

Why? I don't get what the problem is? You don't own the seat.