Help - Park rules - what they don't tell you

[ruadisneyfan2]

If you buy something from a WDW store and change your mind, you can return the item to any WDW store for a refund. This is something I found out quite by accident, and it's very helpful. I have learned to buy things I want when I see them (since I might not see the item anywhere else in the WDW stores!), but if you find something else you like better and want to return your original item, any of the stores (including your WDW hotel gift shop) will issue a refund.

My boys overheard a cashier tell me this when we were there in May. After that they would get something, then change their mind when they saw something else they wanted more. After 2 times exchanging toys, POTC guns/swords, etc. I finally had to say no more! They would play with it a little and return it at the next store! It was making us crazy!

 

[Lesley_Perschky]

I did read (on the dibb forum) that you were not allowed to wear any fcuk clothes as Disney regarded them as offensive. As for the wearing of heelys I totally agree with Disneys stand on this. Parents who buy these for their kids should be more responsible regarding there use.

 

[CleveRocks]

I have to say I really am offended by your snide remarks! First and foremost my children are NOT brats due to the fact that they wear Heelys.

I agree that owning a certain product does not make a child a brat. The way I read it, the poster was talking about wearing Heelies INSIDE WDW PARKS. I don't think that poster was putting down Heelies and the kids who wear them, it was just a matter of wearing them where they're not allowed. As you said yourself in your post,

As with all of their things they come with rules which must be followed at all times or they will have a consequence. I not only care that my children follow my rules but also the rules of anyone else they are with or anywhere else we go.

So I'm not quite sure why you were so offended. You seem to be the type of parent who respects rules, and teaches your kids to do the same.

If kids are that bothersome to you why are you going to WDW? Typically there tend to be a lot of families there. I hope all of the ones you come in contact with are as perfect as you must have been in your younger years.

A child who behaves in a certain way is not under our total control as parents. As you said, kids will be kids. But if we as parents enable them to break the rules by allowing them to wear Heelies into the parks, then we're just "asking for it," KWIM? For example, we can't prevent our kids from making funny faces, because we can't make them leave the resort room without their faces. We can only provide appropriate consequences and hope that their learning curve is as short as possible. But we CAN prevent them from wearing Heelies into the parks. We don't have to give up our control and throw our hands up and shrug and wait for their learning curve to kick in. We can tell them, "Sorry, no Heelies in the parks, Mickey says so" and not bend on that rule.

 

[CleveRocks]

WDW is fine with backpacks, etc., and fine with the fact that you can bring a 9-course meal into the parks as long as there's no glass or alcohol, and as long as you bring the food into the parks in bags small enough to (theoretically) fit into a rental lockers. Oh, which means no hard-sided coolers. Also, there IS an exception to the no glass rule, baby food jars.

Most of the time, our meals during park days aren't grand occasions to savor great dining, but rather a time to relax and recharge and refuel. Last time we went, we brown-bagged lunches twice. We got a grocery delivery to our resort room. Having ALL of our breakfasts in our room and brown-bagging a coupla lunches was a great money-saver, and also a time saver compared with waiting in lines or waiting for a waitress. We're not huge breakfast eaters, so our in-room breakfasts were comprised of stuff like cold cereal, packets of instant hot cereal (heat the water in the room's coffee maker!), bagels, fresh fruit, yogurt, etc.

 

[offtheice]

bring it with you. Chewing gum is not sold anywhere in the "World." (Too much work for maintenance.)

A please when your done with that gum , DONT THROW IT IN THE GROUND... lol

 

[Adi12982]

You can brng coolers into the water parks. The no alcohol or glass bottles rule still apply's, BUT you can bring in soda, juice, water fruit veggies and any other kind of food you want. It's nice - like going to the beach.

 

[Boston5602]

The last time we went we bought the WDW mister fans, and didn't take long to find out that we could refill them with ice and water from any of the stands that sold them. Sure helped! Though I don't know if they would let you with fans that were purchased outside the parks.
Kim

I hope you mean that the person behind the counter takes it and refills it from a clean source. The Big tubs that are filled with ice and water that the bottles sit in to be sold is not a place to fill them up from. All that ice sitting in the open with all those dirty little hands going through it ,bugs and anything else.

 

[flying_babyb]

Ty for the first aid tips. This means I wont have to lug my kit around.

 

[ducklite]

In Sept 2005 my brother was stopped at Disney Studios while he was carrying my niece on his shoulders and was told they do not allow that in the parks. They said it was dangerous. I guess it could be bad if she fell. But we had never experienced that anywhere. There quite a few dads carrying kids on their shoulders.

Lori

Interesting, when DS was young, DH carried him on his shoulders all over the parks. It was great at closing times when things were so bottlenecked and DS would have been trampled or lost. I knew that even if I got seperated from them, DH would still have DS. Nothing was ever said to us in at least four trips of doing that...if something had been we wouldn't have done it again--we're rule followers.

Anne

 

[ducklite]

How do you wear these type shoes with so many people in the park? Seems a little dangerous to me. It is hard enough to walk there as it is, let alone wear heelys.

I have been run over by a child wearing these shows in WDW with the Mom close behind. It is sad that one person has to ruin it for others.

I think the shoes are neat but just not needed in Disney. I know if I had a pair it would temp me to abuse them! LOL

A couple of weeks ago I had a kid run right into me at the MK while wearing those things. I stopped cold as I saw him approach, he ran right into me and fell backwards on his butt. I walked around him and his mother glared at me like it was MY fault? I don't think so. He was the one unable to control his forward motion, and I was under no obligation to take a step backward to get out of his way.

Disney will put a top to it once someone gets hurt and files a lawsuit. With the number of out of control kids wearing those, it's not going to be too long from now.

Anne

 

[LauraAnn630]

I continue to be surprised by all the people that have problems with children at Disney.

Kids being loud in restaurants
Kids not always listening
Kids having meltdowns

They are kids! Thats what they do.

Often you see parents that are tired. Maybe they are not controling their child as they would if they were not on a long exhausting vacation.

Ill just give them a brake and not say anything about it.

IMO MK, AK and MGM are geared for children and I FULLY expect to see TIRED children misbehaving and TIRED parents throwing up their arms!

 

[ducklite]

I continue to be surprised by all the people that have problems with children at Disney.

Kids being loud in restaurants
Kids not always listening
Kids having meltdowns

They are kids! Thats what they do.

No, actually that's NOT what kids do when they are well rested and fed, and have learned manners.

Often you see parents that are tired. Maybe they are not controling their child as they would if they were not on a long exhausting vacation.

Vacations do not have to be exhausting. Parents that allow themselves to get to that point are just stupid. We've taken my sister and her three (four now) to WDW twice. We schedule naptime every day. We schedule a "break day" in the middle of the trip. If we have a late night scheduled the night ebfore, we do'nt book an 8"00am character breakfast. We book dinners for 5:00 pm, lunches for 11:30 am, we keep the kids on schedule, and actually push everything a little early in case we have to wait. I'm not going to say a melt-down never happened, but it only happened once or twice, and it had NOTHING to do with being overtired or starving, ANd we had the courtesy to remove the child IMMEDIATELY to an area where s/he would be less likely to disturb others.

Ill just give them a brake and not say anything about it.

I refuse to condone bad parenting and ill-mannered children.

IMO MK, AK and MGM are geared for children and I FULLY expect to see TIRED children misbehaving and TIRED parents throwing up their arms!

I totally disagree. A WDW vacation is not carte blanche to behave like a little banshee and for parents to give up on parenting.

Anne

 

[Miss Jessr!ca]

In Sept 2005 my brother was stopped at Disney Studios while he was carrying my niece on his shoulders and was told they do not allow that in the parks. They said it was dangerous. I guess it could be bad if she fell. But we had never experienced that anywhere. There quite a few dads carrying kids on their shoulders.

Lori

i guess i understand that..it would be bad if someone bumped into him and she fell..
but they show that on their comercials
...weird

 

[LauraAnn630]

LOL Call me when you have your own. Kids have a way of making you look bad from time to time.

All of our vacations have been exhausting at Disney and we are not stupid people.

We are good parents. We have even taught our children not to call other people stupid or other names for that matter. Our kids are still far from little angels!

Kids are just that, kids. They will act as such.
Im not as judgemental as some people.

Im not condoning anything. I said, "I expect to see children misbehaving and parents throwing up their arms."

I do not think we should let children get away with bad behavior.
I do the very best I can and keep trying to do better.
Im not perfect. I do not know other peoples situations.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

LOL Call me when you have your own. Kids have a way of making you look bad from time to time.

All of our vacations have been exhausting at Disney and we are not stupid people.

We are good parents. We have even taught our children not to call other people stupid or other names for that matter. Our kids are still far from little angels!

Kids are just that, kids. They will act as such.
Im not as judgemental as some people.

Im not condoning anything. I said, "I expect to see children misbehaving and parents throwing up their arms."

I do not think we should let children get away with bad behavior.
I do the very best I can and keep trying to do better.
Im not perfect. I do not know other peoples situations.

FWIW, ducklite *is* a mother.

I agree with you that we don't know all people's situations, but in addition, I'm sure we've all seen (like I have) parents who obviously are acting inappropriately or allowing their children to act inappropriately. (A child stepping on strangers' feet purposefully while "Ma" and "Possibly Pa" giggle and watch, for example) I do expect to see *some* kids misbehaving but I would hope parents would handle it properly (Take the screaming kid out of Philharmagic instead of ruining the show for the other hundreds of guests).

I don't think anyone expects others to be perfect. Personally, what aggravates me the most is not imperfection, but when people don't even seem to try. Some people, unlike you, don't care about doing the best they can and trying to do better. I commend you for that. Surely you realize that some parents truly don't feel that way. They may be a small minority, but their actions do impact those around them.

Opinions are opinions. We all have opinions and judgments. I really don't like tossing around the word "judgmental" because I think evaluating situations is an extremely important part of creating our lives, identities and ethics. I do agree with the spirit of what you're saying, though - that in some situations, we should consider that there might be factors of which we might be unaware. Most parents do try their best most times and everyone makes mistakes. It's how we handle the mistakes that shows our true character. I also agree with Anne (ducklite) that parents still have to take responsibility for ensuring that their children behave - not have a couple of Mai Tais at the Tambu lounge and turn a blind eye to the fact that their five year old Jr. is running laps around the upper level of the Poly lobby as if it were a track. (I've seen this, too). No one can tell me that they've never seen an incident like this and wished that the parent would , well . . . parent.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

i guess i understand that..it would be bad if someone bumped into him and she fell..
but they show that on their comercials
...weird

When I was a CM, we were told it was okay outside, but inside or *especially* on stairs, it wasn't allowed. I don't know if it's changed though.

 

[ducklite]

LOL Call me when you have your own. Kids have a way of making you look bad from time to time.

Uh LOL on you, I AM a mother.

All of our vacations have been exhausting at Disney and we are not stupid people.

When you run yourselves--and your kids--ragged, no one is having a good time. It's better to see and do less and be able to enjoy it more, rather than trying to see and do it all when everyone is exhausted. We've taken dozens of trips to WDW, and have never run ourselves to the point of exhaustion.

We are good parents. We have even taught our children not to call other people stupid or other names for that matter. Our kids are still far from little angels!

Stupid is as stupid does. I'll leave it at that.

Kids are just that, kids. They will act as such.
Im not as judgemental as some people.

Well fed, well rested kids who have been taught manners will not act up like banshees just because they are on vacation and thier parents are "too tired" to parent. Last I knew, as a parent there is no such thing as "too tired."

Im not condoning anything. I said, "I expect to see children misbehaving and parents throwing up their arms."

Which is unacceptable. Parents do not have the "right" to simply throw up their arms. They need to first be proactive to take steps that prevent meltdowns and bad behaviour before it happens. If it does happen--and yes with toddlers, it can and does happen, then throwing up arms is still not acceptable. Taking the child away from others into a less stimulating atmosphere, even if it means leaving a park or having dinner wrapped is the only option if the child won't behave in a manner that doesn't disrupt others.

I do not think we should let children get away with bad behavior.
I do the very best I can and keep trying to do better.
Im not perfect. I do not know other peoples situations.

No one does. But I do know that just throwing parenting out the window at WDW is unacceptable. Other guests spend just as much and have a right to a good time that isn't disrupted by out of control kids and exasperated parents.

Anne

 

[Miss Jessr!ca]

hmm Ducklite
as much as it seems like you want it to..WDW
Isnt run like the school in matilda

sorry...its just not
kids are kids...and their gonna act like it sometimes

 

[ducklite]

hmm Ducklite
as much as it seems like you want it to..WDW
Isnt run like the school in matilda

sorry...its just not
kids are kids...and their gonna act like it sometimes

I realize that. But, parents must act appropriately when that happens to lessen the disruption. Throwing their hands up in the air is not an acceptable response from parents.

My son had a couple meltdowns at WDW when he was younger. He was given two choices, stop or we leave. After the second time we left a park and went back to the hotel for the day, we never had a meltdown there again. We also never pushed him--or ourselves--to the point of exhaustion or starvation. We used a little common sense. And just beause we were on vacation, didn't mean we were no longer parents responsible for our childrens behaviour.

Anne

 

[Miss Jessr!ca]

I realize that. But, parents must act appropriately when that happens to lessen the disruption. Throwing their hands up in the air is not an acceptable response from parents.

My son had a couple meltdowns at WDW when he was younger. He was given two choices, stop or we leave. After the second time we left a park and went back to the hotel for the day, we never had a meltdown there again. We also never pushed him--or ourselves--to the point of exhaustion or starvation. We used a little common sense. And just beause we were on vacation, didn't mean we were no longer parents responsible for our childrens behaviour.

Anne

i really dont think ive ever seen a starving kid at disnsey.
just because people do things differently than you doent make them bad parents.

kids dont have to be hungry or tired to make them upset.
they get upset over little things, like if dont get the toy they want, or the lines to long, the rides to scary.

their kids...simple as that