Heard this on the radio....

[Juls]

This morning I was listening to a local morning radio show here in Charlotte, and they had asked people to call in with stories about how they used their ethnicity to get an advantage.
Well this one caller said he was a 22 yo man and he and his parents were asian, and they went to WDW once a year, and he said that every time they went, they pretended not to speak english so they could push to the front of all the lines! He said it worked for them all the time!
I just cant believe someone would set out to do that intentionally, like they had a plan. I guess I want to believe in the good in everyone. I know I never could have thought of something like that.

 

[disneytraveler]

Theres got to be more than these Wdw travelers than just act that they cant
speak english to skip ahead. It seems the whole point for them was to skip ahead of others. I have seen people just rush ahead of others and they spoke
english.
Steve

 

[CarolA]

I don't care what language you speak. I won't let you in front of me.

I once had some Senior Citizens complain to a CM about me because I refused to let them pass. (I had already seen them do this trick in another line... they kept SHOVING folks aside saying "Senior Citizens" ) My friend asked them if they were going to die in the next 10 minutes and they said no, she then told them to WAIT! They really did go to the the CM boarding the ride and ask that we be removed from the park and told the CM why. The poor girl could barely keep a straight face as she told them no! LOL!

 

[lilyprincess]

good for you!

 

[disneylandmom2]

I have noticed the same thing several times at DL also. Indian, Mexican, it really doesn't matter the ethnicity. Why do people think they can just move ahead of everyone? Not very polite

 

[nanatink]

We were at Fantasmic a couple years ago and some foreign visitors were trying to sit in the handicapped area, but the cm informed them they could not sit there. They didn"t like it one bit. The cm was determined not to let them sit there and the foreign people were not too happy. The thing I think that gave them away is they never spoke any english and the cm figured they should at least no a little.

 

[crcormier]

That story about the "Senior Citizens" reminds me of an old Monty Python sketch about these "Hell's Grannies" who went around terrorizing the neighborhood.

 

[TSR6]

As a CM, I have had this happen to me several times. Amazingly they could only speak enough english to tell me exactly what they wanted, and when I told them why they couldn't, or that they had to wait, or what they had to do before what they wanted, suddenly they didn't speak the language. Now, I speak very LITTLE spanish, but I can usually understand some of it when I hear it.

Either way, I'm not just going to let someone slide or break the rules because of a language barrier. It's funny that once you tell someone that your going to call for a translator to walk over that they learn english fast. Had that happen on numerous occasions.

Where I worked, We had at least one spanish, portuguese, ASL and dutch speaking cast member working each night, so it wasn't hard at all to get someone to come over.

 

[RyMickey]

I'm surprised CMs would have let them get away with it. Regardless of whether they speak English, the CMs should at least be able to point and tell them where to go. I've never encountered non-English-speaking (or pretending-to-not-speak-English) people jumping in front of the line. As for those no flash-photography rules...well, that's a whole other story.

RyMickey

 

[TSR6]

Yeah, It is kind of surprising.

I know I have pulled out a map and drawn circles, question marks, and arrows for non-english speaking guests. If they could circle where they wanted to go, I could circle where they were, and arrows to where to go.

 

[GoofyBanker]

We were at Fantasmic a couple years ago and some foreign visitors were trying to sit in the handicapped area, but the cm informed them they could not sit there. They didn"t like it one bit. The cm was determined not to let them sit there and the foreign people were not too happy. The thing I think that gave them away is they never spoke any english and the cm figured they should at least no a little.

The Handicap "logo" is international, no one can use the excuse you don't know what a stick figure in a wheelchair means........give me a break!

 

[shatzjsl]

Try to trick them. If they say the don't understand English tell them their shoe is untied or something.

 

[valandemmy]

I have not been around the world.... BUT...

one thing I am sure about is a LINE of PEOPLE in America...looks, JUST LIKE A LINE OF PEOPLE In any other country...

anyone understands what a line is.... this is people using what ever they can to skip line..

HEY...im FAT...do you think people would let me skip line, if I said "excuse me..fat man comming through"

 

[kupperman]

Try to trick them. If they say the don't understand English tell them their shoe is untied or something.

Good one!

 

[ely3857]

I don't care what language you speak. I won't let you in front of me.

I once had some Senior Citizens complain to a CM about me because I refused to let them pass. (I had already seen them do this trick in another line... they kept SHOVING folks aside saying "Senior Citizens" ) My friend asked them if they were going to die in the next 10 minutes and they said no, she then told them to WAIT! They really did go to the the CM boarding the ride and ask that we be removed from the park and told the CM why. The poor girl could barely keep a straight face as she told them no! LOL!

TOO RIGHT!

I Would have responded to them in EXACTLY the same way!

I cannot stand it when people have no genuine reason for recieving special attention yet feel for some reason they deserve to do so! It is one of my biggest pet hates.



Jodie

 

[Sarahsal]

We were at Epcot this Easter, and had fastpasses for Test Track. (The standby line was 135 minutes-I personally wouldn't wait 135 minutes for any ride, but that is another thread.) Anyway, as we approach the loading area for the briefing, a man and his three sons are coming through the single rider line, but try to get into the briefing together. The CM starts explaining it to them, but they pretend they don't understand English. It all gets a bit huffy, and finally the CM lets them in the fastpass line behind us. Now I know they were pretending, because they spent the rest of the time talking to each other in perfect English about how they scammed the CM. Unbelievable.

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

TOO RIGHT!

I Would have responded to them in EXACTLY the same way!

I cannot stand it when people have no genuine reason for recieving special attention yet feel for some reason they deserve to do so! It is one of my biggest pet hates.



Jodie

My response would have been.."Being old is an honor, not an entitlement... get over it and stand in line."

 

[missypie]

You know, we're always noting that folks in other cultures don't seem to wait in line as well as Americans do, that it must be in other people's cultures to cut in lines, etc. Well, I was reading this thread at the same time DH was on the phone telling me how they've closed off the line to view the Pope. That has been a terrific example of people from Italy and lots of other countries waiting in a very long line very politely. Sorta funny, because when we were at Disneyland, the worst line jumpers we encountered were two families of Italians.

 

[maxaroni]

This just irks me to no end. As others have said, no excuse for it and scamming is just so low. What gives them the right to get ahead? I work with a woman that speaks very very little English. She basically can say: Hi, thank you, good bye. We have others that speak both English and Spanish so if need be, they can translate. Anyway, we all get by with communicating to her. We talk slower and in few words and she gets it.

The last time we were in WDW, a similar experience with Asians trying to get ahead in a line for cold drinks. I kept saying that we were ahead of them and they communicated that they didn't speak English and I said...yeah, right, you speak it and understand it. I am not one to be rude to others but I was on my last nerve.

 

[shatzjsl]

I also think that "NO", a firm look, and your head moving back and forth is understood worldwide, too.