Have you ever said anything to a guest who was behaving rudely?

[BriannaRuth]

I've been going to DL for about 20 years and have never been annoyed to the point I felt I needed to say something to a guest who was being rude. But on my most recent trip, there seemed to be more people who lacked common courtesy and thought they were the center of the universe than usual, and I ended up saying something to two different groups. Has anyone else done this? If so, how did it go?

 

[GoingSince1990]

Once on Haunted Mansion I called out “Sir, please stop texting” in my best “fake CM” voice when someone was rudely swiping away on their bright phone screen. He immediately put his phone away for the rest of the ride.

 

[bsmcneil]

Not at DL but at WDW. It's a long story but he huffed the whole time after he left. But he was berating a younger person not from the US and I couldn't watch it happen.

ETA - I was reasonably sure it wouldn't happen - but I did feel anxious about retaliation.

 

[Pluto468]

No, but there have been times when I wanted to.

 

[crystal1313]

Yes. One time a large group was cutting through the line to meet their party. They didn’t say excuse me, and rudely pushed into us and almost made my mom, who has had multiple neck surgeries, fall. I said, “you could say excuse me.” They responded by saying lots of curse words to me and giving me a death stare all through the line. (These were adults, not kids) Then the CM tried sitting us all in the same boat on Pirates. We asked to wait for another boat. It was not a fun experience.

I can’t stand it when people come through the line and don’t say anything because I’m not expecting someone to come up behind me. I have zero issues if they say excuse me.

 

[Pluto468]

Yes. One time a large group was cutting through the line to meet their party. They didn’t say excuse me, and rudely pushed into us and almost made my mom, who has had multiple neck surgeries, fall. I said, “you could say excuse me.” They responded by saying lots of curse words to me and giving me a death stare all through the line. (These were adults, not kids) Then the CM tried sitting us all in the same boat on Pirates. We asked to wait for another boat. It was not a fun experience.

I can’t stand it when people come through the line and don’t say anything because I’m not expecting someone to come up behind me. I have zero issues if they say excuse me.

How terrible! I'm glad you didn't have to share a boat with them. It does make such a difference if people are polite.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Not DL, but WDW. We made the mistake of taking a trip in late April one year and a lot of local and other schools had their grad nights going on at the parks. Many of the kids were without supervision and acting really obnoxiously. They were rocking boats and even trying to rock the monorail car we were on. Our kids were just little and looking scared, so DH told them to knock it off. There was also a lot of language and groping in lines that wasn’t family friendly. We picked our battles and let that go, but we’ve never gone back that time of year.

 

[brightlined]

I've occasionally challenged people about minor things - things that I don't think they're doing on purpose - and they're usually apologetic and accommodate. Rarely, I'll use a polite CM voice to encourage someone to do something they don't necessarily want to do, which usually works.

Having said that, during a Haunted Mansion Holiday visit last fall:

We're in the stretch room, and there's a college-age woman wearing light-up Zero ears. They're bright. Since they're on her head, I'm assuming she doesn't realize that she's blinding everybody - she may not even know that they're turned on. I try to get her attention, but she doesn't move. I assume she can't hear me, so I snap my finger behind her head. That works. I gently point out the lights on her head, and ask if she might be willing to turn them off. I'm assuming she'll give me an, "OMG, I'm so sorry, I forgot I had them on" reaction.

Nope. Her reaction, hostilely: "I'm not going to do anything for someone who snaps at me." I try to apologize and explain, but she's not having it.

We get out of the room and into the hallway - I move away from her. (A couple of families told me they were thinking the same thing and gave me credit for trying.) I eventually feel somebody grab me by the shoulder. It's apparently the woman's boyfriend. He seems nice enough - nothing especially hostile - but he challenges me as to what I said to her that offended her. I explain in full that I meant no harm, but that the lights on her ears are ruining the experience for everyone around her - it's a dark ride, after all. He seems to get it and goes back to her.

I get on the ride, and I notice in the mirrors that they're like five buggies behind me. She's got a pout on her face - and still has the ears turned on - basically ruining the ride for her boyfriend and the buggies around her.

 

[imbelle]

At a friends and family event at WDW, two women (can't call them ladies) and their children cut in front of us on a ride. We blew it off but at the end of the evening we were waiting in a really long line for the monorail and this same group cut in line behind us. I politely informed them that the end of the line was back there. Their response was "Well, we have kids". I pointed out that there were also many kids in the parties that they cut in front of and that it was a bad example to set for her own children. I was told to mind my own business and one of the kids piped up "She needs to take a chill pill, doesn't she Mom?". They were so aggressively hostile that I thought one of them was going to hit me. I just had to trust to karma at that point. If someone thinks it's ok to behave that badly (and teach their kids to behave the same way) you're not going to educate them.

 

[Dug720]

I haven't *said* anything, but I've used my "teacher look" more than once. And it works better with people in WDW and DL than it does with my class.

 

[fla4fun]

No, but there have been times when I wanted to.

Same here. I go solo most of the time, and worry about retaliation especially if it’s a group. I have notified CMs a couple of times when people were doing things that could be considered dangerous or reckless, and let them deal with it, or not, just because the situation was very concerning.

 

[Tinkaboo]

No…being an introvert with emotional and sensory issues…NEVER. Do I THINK it? Yepper, sure do. At the parks, I interact with as few people as possible, aside from CMs. I would never engage with someone for fear of what they might do or say that would trigger me. It’s flight every time.

When I go with my friend at Christmas, she’s just the opposite and wants to right every wrong she sees. When she gets too carried away, I just say “Let it go, Elsa” to remind her I don’t want to be part of her confrontation.

Frankly, the park is just a microcosm of our society…people in general have gotten so self centered, it seems they think there is no one else around. ESPECIALLY ON THE PHONE. Nothing I hate more than listening to someone’s phone conversation in public, particularly if they are loud and use a lot of profanity. I have seen a lot of that at the park and I just get away from them as quick as possible.

Worst situation I ever witnessed was a man back by Monsters Inc. who was screaming at his child, had them by the arm, shaking them, child was crying and wife looked on doing nothing. It was so upsetting and such a trigger, I turned right around and left the area before I started to cry. I could not believe anyone would behave so appallingly in public. People just don’t THINK that THEIR behavior could have consequences for anyone else.

 

[_19disnA]

Nope and don't it think it is wise to say things to others you don't know in public, regardless of where you are. You can come across as condescending and perhaps you are misinterpreting the situation. It is not my job to go around in public scolding those doing something I happen to not agree with. You have no idea how they might react and the situation could easily escalate from there. IF someone was doing something that might damage a ride (or something similar) I would be more inclined to inform one of the Disney workers who already know how to deal with such things.

 

[StarlitNight05]

At DCA we were walking past Incredicoaster (so think very wide walkways), and a woman with a stroller came directly toward DH and I, cutting across the walkway. It was almost as if she was trying to come right at us. She gets so close that she runs over my DH's foot. He exclaimed, "Ouch! You just ran my foot over!" more out of surprise than anything. Her reply was "Go f$#k yourself!" We were just stunned (and didn't say anything back to her).

Looking back on it it's kind of amusing now, but super upsetting at the time. My theory was she was having a bad night and wanted to take it out on someone. Either that or she was completely oblivious (along with being rude and crass).

 

[mom2rtk]

I said something to a guy in our Pirates boat who was using video lighting. Seriously?

 

[Tinkaboo]

At DCA we were walking past Incredicoaster (so think very wide walkways), and a woman with a stroller came directly toward DH and I, cutting across the walkway. It was almost as if she was trying to come right at us. She gets so close that she runs over my DH's foot. He exclaimed, "Ouch! You just ran my foot over!" more out of surprise than anything. Her reply was "Go f$#k yourself!" We were just stunned (and didn't say anything back to her).

Looking back on it it's kind of amusing now, but super upsetting at the time. My theory was she was having a bad night and wanted to take it out on someone. Either that or she was completely oblivious (along with being rude and crass).

YIKES! Yep, they use those strollers like a battering ram….what cracks me up is seeing these huge strollers/wagons filled with stuff and no kid in sight…kind of like homeless people with a grocery cart. Sorry about his foot….

 

[LKing]

There shouldn't be a wagon at Disneyland unless it has an orange tag on it. If it is orange tagged, there should be a child inside because it is being used as a wheelchair.

I've shushed people during shows. I've also said "geez" to CM doing crowd control (after shows, loading trams, etc.) who clearly need feedback on their aggressive, frustrated approach to directing traffic.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

More times than I care to mention and to Cast Members who didn’t handle the situation too !! Did it do any good ? Nope often lead to arguments or behavior continued - said behavior I’m not going to get into but was very inappropriate for public display

 

[disneyseniors]

I had an experience with a rude person while waiting in a very long line for the Mine Carts at the MK. This was when it first opened and the lines were horrendous. We finally got to the point where you enter the "grounds" to go into the building, and a young woman stepped right in front of us. No one else was with her. I said that the line was way back there, and she just turned and smiled at me like saying so what, you can't do anything. I was shocked that someone had the gall to jump right in at that point while the line was really long with all the people actually waiting. We didn't tell the CM when we finally went in, but I wish we would have.

Another time, on the Pirates of the Carribean (there seems to be a lot of rude people on this ride for some reason), we were the first ones in line one morning. However, a man, woman, and boy of about 8 or so, showed up behind us, and you guessed it, they were put in the boat with us. As soon as the ride started the woman got on her cell phone and talked loudly with someone about insurance options!!!!! Then her son started kicking the back of our seat! I finally had enough and turned around and gave the woman the death glare, and also her son. The husband just turned his head and tried to shrink down and ignored them. Well, it didn't have any effect on the woman or her son. I was kind of afraid to confront someone like that so I let it go. I just wish we would have said something to the CM and gotten a reride, but we just wanted to get away from there.

 

[laugard]

A wagon can also be approved if it is needed for medical equipment, even without a child inside.

I've spoken up if someone is directly affecting me, like obviously trying to cut vs. catching up with someone further ahead in line. And definitely have done the look back if someone behind me keeps bumping into me with no consideration at all. Same with someone shining a bright video light if we're in the same vehicle. But I'm also pretty careful about how much I want to say sometimes as you just don't know how people will react these days. If something severely affects my ability to ride or experience on an attraction, I can think of two times where I've explained the circumstance to a cast member and politely asked if it would be possible to ride again.

@disneyseniors I had a similar experience once with two people in our Pirates boat going on and on about insurance as well!