Parade venting

[Magpie]

Does anyone else find it really hard to see the parades from a seated position in the front row? Half the time you're staring at the wheels of the floats or up the performer's noses!

 

[Robo]

Does anyone else find it really hard to see the parades from a seated position in the front row? Half the time you're staring at the wheels of the floats or up the performer's noses!

....So, what's your point?

 

[married2mm]

....So, what's your point?

clearly that's a perfect view?!

 

[scrapquitler]

On Monday at magic kingdom and today at animal kingdom i couldn't believe the number of parents/adults that would stand in the front rows along the parade route making it very hard for kids to see. If you would sit down with your child in your lap it would be more enjoyable for everyone. Monday at magic kingdom, i was 4 deep and i sat down with my child so the people behind me could see....but nooooo.....there were these group of parents in the front that stood right behind their children. Just rude if you ask me!!!

I'd be happy to sit down on the curb, but if I do, somebody is going to have to help me get myself up off the ground afterwards, and that's not going to be a pretty sight.

Seriously though, this is why we don't usually bother with the parades. People get mad if you sit, people get mad if you stand. If you put your kid on your lap other people get mad. Some people get mad if you leave your kid in the stroller....nobody is happy unless everyone is doing what THEY expect people should do.

 

[babyrich]

You're assuming i arrived 5 minutes before parade start.....i (we) didn't.....it was around 45 minutes and it was already 4 deep, but i was calm and polite and sat down sooooo those that showed up later had a chance to see the parade. I guess I'm just too nice and think about others. If you "have" to stand....move towards the back. It just makes sense to me.....if everyone would sit in the front, stand in the back, everyone would have a decent view. To me, its not a competition thing of....i got there first i should be able to do what i want. Just my opinion.....obviously theres some that agree with me and some that don't.

but that is the point... I got to the front first, so I should be able to stand there. If the parade means that much to me that I wait 1 1/2 hours to stand in the front row, I am going to do it. If your family needs to be in front to be able to see, you need to arrive early. You cant expect thousands of people to accomodate you. You say it would be easier if the front rows just sat and I say it would be easier if you just showed up early.

I agree that sitting in the front row does not give you a good view of the parade.

 

[macadoo]

Does anyone else find it really hard to see the parades from a seated position in the front row? Half the time you're staring at the wheels of the floats or up the performer's noses!

Yes i do which is why i stand

 

[macadoo]

You're assuming i arrived 5 minutes before parade start.....i (we) didn't.....it was around 45 minutes and it was already 4 deep, but i was calm and polite and sat down sooooo those that showed up later had a chance to see the parade. I guess I'm just too nice and think about others. If you "have" to stand....move towards the back. It just makes sense to me.....if everyone would sit in the front, stand in the back, everyone would have a decent view. To me, its not a competition thing of....i got there first i should be able to do what i want. Just my opinion.....obviously theres some that agree with me and some that don't.

45 minutes is nothing when the people at the front have been waiting patiently for 90 minutes. Did you not see people starting to claim their space 90 minutes before and think if i want a good view we had better do the same? No one wants to waste their day sitting around but that's just the way it is unfortunately!

 

[WedgieSock]

The people from some places (and often countries) are simply less courteous than others.

These folks seemingly have no trouble cutting lines, leaving bags to 'reserve' places at shows, taking flash photos, and/or talking during performances.

These are often the same people who cause gratuity problems in restaurants.

Don't get me wrong, Americans are not the most polite people, but we would likely be further up on a list than many who attend Disney.

And I have to agree with the initial blogger and comment that prompted my response - all too often the most 'rude' participants at parades and those other moments I described are speaking a language other than English.

Again, don't get me wrong, language is not the issue. But some cultures are simply more or less courteous than others.

I am a Brit living in the US, I am extremely well travelled - the manners you are speaking of that I have bolded is down to the individual not the country. You just notice it more because you are in the World - I only experienced one rude family and they were American ....

Also, when it comes to gratuities please remember that in some countries (like my own) tips are not expected or necessary for the server to survive. I was totally shocked when I found out that servers get below the minimum wage over here and that they rely on tips to make up their pay packet. In the UK our servers get paid like any other job, a tip is just a bonus.

 

[Miskey]

I tried sitting in the front, with my niece in my lap (after arriving in my spot an hour early) to be nice and accommodate a late arriving family. I was rewarded by being continually whacked in the head with the rope. Couldn't scoot back any, because late arriving dad was wedged up against my back with his kids literally crawling all over me, actually trying to sit on my niece that was in my lap. And the topper? They little angels had Mickey bars, which left a gooey sticky mess all over me.

 

[dominiondad]

You're assuming i arrived 5 minutes before parade start.....i (we) didn't.....it was around 45 minutes and it was already 4 deep, but i was calm and polite and sat down sooooo those that showed up later had a chance to see the parade. I guess I'm just too nice and think about others. If you "have" to stand....move towards the back. It just makes sense to me.....if everyone would sit in the front, stand in the back, everyone would have a decent view. To me, its not a competition thing of....i got there first i should be able to do what i want. Just my opinion.....obviously theres some that agree with me and some that don't.

So because my wife has medical issues that make sitting on hard surfaces painful, you suggest she be sent to the back? I'm not sure that qualifies as "too nice". Are my kids relegated to the back as well, or do we enjoy the parade seperated? Nobody is saying it's a competion, it's simple logic. If it is extremely important to you to have a great unobstructed view of the parade, and arriving 45 minutes early put you four rows deep, then you need to be there 90 minutes early. Keep in mind while the earlybirds were saving their seats, you were at a show/ride/meal that they missed out on. I'm not sure I get your point about those who arrive first doing what they want. It appears you're advocating for a process that says those who arrive last dictate what those who arrive first do.

 

[SnapesGirl]

How fortunate we are when our biggest problem in life is whether to stand or sit for a parade!

 

[goofy4tink]

Does anyone else find it really hard to see the parades from a seated position in the front row? Half the time you're staring at the wheels of the floats or up the performer's noses!

Yep, that's my issue as well. The last time I got to the parade route early enough to get a decent spot was a few years ago. It was SpectroMagic. My dd, 17, and I got to FrontierLand about an hour prior to the start. We got to talking with a CM who was starting to put out the roping and stancions for the parade. She told us to stand in a particular spot....right where she was going to put the corner of the roping at...to allow for an exit way, to our immediate left. So, that's where we stood...for the next 45 mins. Well....others started arriving..one family put down 3 blankets to our right. Then, they left two strollers on two of the blankets and left a few people there to 'save' the spots..this was about 40 or so mins prior to the start.
Then, about 10 or 15 mins before the parade was to arrive, a family, with a sleeping child in a large stroller, came up behind us. They pushed that stroller right up against me...good thing I was standing and not sitting. So....the woman, with the actual stroller (she was with a group of about 5), starting making less than subtle comments that she couldn't see over my dd and I (dd was about 5'8'' then, my height as well). She got louder and louder...I just ignored her. She finally grabbed a passing CM and asked if she (the CM) could make it so that she and her child (still sleeping mind you) could actually see the parade. The CM asked if my dd and I could possibly sit down!! Ah, at this point, we had about 2 square feet for both of us. My old knees and hips make it hard for me to sit in that curbside position...keeping my legs out of the street!!! I told the CM that we had been specifically told to stand there, by another CM!!! She again asked if we could sit so others behind us could see. So we sat rather than cause a ruckus. Well...what did that woman do then??? She started pushing the stroller right against my back....saying to her group that her 'baby' couldn't see anything since we were still in the sight line!!! I finally turned around and told her...'I'm sorry you weren't here early enough to get this spot...but I was, and now I'm cramped and in pain. If you don't stop banging me with that stroller, I'm calling a CM to come over and deal with it!!!' She just made a face and was quiet...for a bit.

Or the time a CM put us in a specific spot in DHS...again at a corner since my dh is very tall and the CM felt that dh made a good corner point!!! So, there we stood, for about an hour. Then, about 10 mins before the parade was there, a woman and her child (about 10 or so) tried to squirm in front of us. We told her that we were there first.....she said, with highly accented English, that her child needed to be able to see the parade, so we needed to move for her!!! Ah no...that is not happening. I became planted in my spot. The CM came over to her and told her that she had to move since she was in a non-viewing space!!!

Or the mother that arrived at the Christmas parade during MVMCP about 5 mins prior to the start!!!! She had a child of about 5 or so, in a stroller and was complaining that there was no way her child would be able to see since the crowd was about 6 people deep at this point. We were in the huge area just outside the Hall of Presidents, across from LTT. A family made room for the stroller but there was no room for the mom.....she could see the stroller,and her child, at all times. But she made life miserable for all of us around her....constantly complaining that people should have moved to let her go with the stroller!!!

I could go on and on....and this is why I seldom go to any parades anymore.

 

[mom2rtk]

I am a Brit living in the US, I am extremely well travelled - the manners you are speaking of that I have bolded is down to the individual not the country. You just notice it more because you are in the World - I only experienced one rude family and they were American ....

Also, when it comes to gratuities please remember that in some countries (like my own) tips are not expected or necessary for the server to survive. I was totally shocked when I found out that servers get below the minimum wage over here and that they rely on tips to make up their pay packet. In the UK our servers get paid like any other job, a tip is just a bonus.

I think it is the job of the international traveler to know the custom where they are going, not the other way around (expecting folks here to understand it is not their custom back home).

 

[jpdeg99]

The parade threads on this board crack me up. Can't sit, can't stand, can't touch anyone who was there before you, can't put your kids on your shoulders, and on and on. Maybe it's because I grew up going to Mardi Gras parades my whole life, but I've never understood the attraction of the disney parades or mentality of the people who expect to have some sort of reserved seating/standing in a world where they don't get touched by other people in a crowd.

We've never sat and waited for a Disney parade, and have really only watched portions of any of them, but have never really had any trouble. If we can see through or over the crowd we do, if not, we don't.

But, come on, it's crowded and it's a parade. People are going to pack into small areas to see what they can.

Oh, and how about the people who block the sidewalks on main street so no one can walk by?

 

[Wendimn]

I think I will be avoiding the parades when we go there in a few weeks. Guess I am in for a rude awakening..kinda thought most people would be nice and friendly in DW

 

[JCH]

I think I will be avoiding the parades when we go there in a few weeks. Guess I am in for a rude awakening..kinda thought most people would be nice and friendly in DW

I wouldn't go that far. Generally people are nice, there are just occasions that you get rude and entitled both ways. Some people pull the "I was here first and have every right to stand here despite being seven feet tall and blocking the view of five children!!!" and others who get their right at the time the parade starts and want to squeeze their kids into the spot right in front of you, (which is honestly not a big if its just one three foot tall kid)..and then "oh my kids are there, and I need to be with them!" and suddenly you can't see. And then my new favorite "I hope you like the view on my iPad because I am going to block the parade for everyone, but you see it through my giant screen!"

However, these are extremely examples. Usually when I am at a parade, I get there 15 minutes or so beforehand and am fine. The last real parade we watched was at Star Wars Weekend. Everyone was so nice and cordial (it was super hot, so we were happy to find some shade!) and we spent time rearranging everyone so they could all see. We put all the strollers behind us, all the kids in the front, and then the adults staggered themselves, and we were all able to get a great view, no fighting, no hassle, and made new friends that we kept seeing all throughout the parks the rest of the day.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think I will be avoiding the parades when we go there in a few weeks. Guess I am in for a rude awakening..kinda thought most people would be nice and friendly in DW

Most people are nice and friendly at WDW. However, there is a line between being nice and friendly, and putting your own family out to make someone else happy.

On most occasions you simply cannot walk up to the parade route and the last minute (or last 15 minutes) and expect a good view. Wanting an unobstructed view of the parade means sacrificing ride time. Each person has to decide for themselves and their family which is most important.

And if you plan on seeing the Christmas parade, be it at a party or when they start showing it all of the time, you will need to get a spot more than 30 minutes ahead of time. And that is if you are fine seeing it over in
Frontier Land. For an unobstructed view on Main Street think more like an hour or more. If there is a parade I really want to see, I will take a peek a couple of hours ahead of time and see if spots are filling up. I've held a spot for 90 minutes before. That was on the 3rd of July.

 

[AndyFL]

How fortunate we are when our biggest problem in life is whether to stand or sit for a parade!

Isn't that the truth

I was with my 5 yr old daughter at the Beauty and the Beast play at HS, we got there late and had to sit way over on the side. I was mentally grumbling to myself and feeling bad for my daughter for not having a better view.....I then saw a family with their daughter in a wheelchair, she was obviously in pretty bad shape, they were wearing blue shirts, I looked closer because there was a white logo on the shirts and saw "Make a Wish". I quit grumbling.

 

[Melodious]

This is why we watch the parade from frontierland. We sit on the rock ledge in front of Pecos Bill. No one who comes later can stand in front of us because CMs will not let you stand there, all persons must be seated and bags must be off the ground.

Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't have told everybody that

 

[Bob NC]

Don't get me wrong, Americans are not the most polite people, but we would likely be further up on a list than many who attend Disney.

all too often the most 'rude' participants at parades and those other moments I described are speaking a language other than English.

Again, don't get me wrong, language is not the issue. But some cultures are simply more or less courteous than others.

Don't worry, we're not getting you wrong.