Holding Spots in the Line. Flight of Passage, Slinky Dog Dash..

[DisneyMom93]

Is it bad to hold a spot, for my kids, in the line. We weren't able to get Fast-passes for Flight of Passage or Slinky Dog Dash. We haven't experienced either attraction before. But I don't want to force my kids, especially my 7-year old, to stand in the queue for 2-hours.

Besides rope-drop, when are the best times of the day to wait in-line for these rides?

We'll be at DHS on Tuesday, January 29 and Animal Kingdom on Wednesday, January 30.

We've been booked to go to Disney at the end of this month, but couldn't set our Fast-passes until this month. We were waiting until the Discover Disney Florida Resident Park Passes went on sale.

Nothing more frustrating than waiting for something for two hours and then having people pass you to join their family holding them spots while they rode other rides, or ate, or just sat and relaxed. Especially when you feel like you're making progress in line and then people pass you. If your child doesn't want to wait in line for a ride then maybe they shouldn't get to ride it.

If ONE 7-year-old child passed me to meet up with their parents I would be fine with it. Although I personally believe that there are hundreds of 7-year-olds waiting on line for the ride. What makes one child more special than the other? I think it teaches them entitlement. Once adults are involved it's more frustrating. I waited for Navi ride and seeing a whole family complete with trays of drinks and snacks join one family member holding a spot for them all was annoying. It's rude.

I can't stand when one family member runs ahead of their whole group to get in a line and then the family passes us by trying to meet up with the ONE member just a minute later. It's rude. Wait at the entrance for your entire family to join you. I know how I feel... I see the line and walk in and now it's longer than I knew it was when I first entered. Ugh.

I remember one father actually stepped to the side and let us all pass so he could move BACK in the line to be with his family. His kids asked him why they couldn't all just meet up with him and he explained it was rude. I thought that was refreshing. It rarely happens.

I love knowing there's a bathroom pass though! Thanks for that tip!

 

[Wubar]

I've not seen the pass in practice, but a simple way for WDW to combat this is to give each member of the party currently in line a pass that they have to produce when they go to get back in line. I'd be surprised if this wasn't already the case, because otherwise it leaves a lot of room for abuse as you mention.

I would hope that would be the case. Game the gamers!

 

[nkereina]

I agree with PPs that holding a spot in line is not permissible and people generally aren't friendly about it either. I have seen it plenty of times, where people are blatantly annoyed when this occurs. I think people are less forgiving on rides like FOP, where the wait is hours long to begin with and there's a limited number of seats per ride. If people come through to meet up with their party, that just pushes everyone that farther back making it longer for them. FOP and Slinky Dog aren't continuously loading rides like Spaceship Earth or Nemo where it might push people back another 5 seconds.

 

[skippytx]

I have heard stories of one person waiting in line and then a larger groups joining up with them. I think that is rather inconsiderate to do that.

This happened to me at SDD. A grandma ran me over (seriously pushed her stroller into the back of my legs), running towards SDD to get in line. A bit rude, but it happens in a busy park and I like to give the benefit of the doubt. The line is about 80 minutes long. Her stroller was empty though and she got in line. I have kids, I know parks are tough with little ones, no big deal, mom or dad properly have them and took them to the restroom or something. She ends up about 10 people in front of us and we're all standing there waiting. About 40 minutes into the line she starts making phone calls. Long story short about 10 more people show up, and "join" her. 4 adults and 6 kids. I felt like that really crossed a line. I just let it go though, not worth getting pissed off about and ruining my night because some people are inconsiderate.

 

[DisneyMom93]

We really like downloading and playing "heads up" in long lines like FoP. You can find a free app on your phone, and at times we've ended up making line friends as the family in front of or behind us plays along. Seven year old can definitely play and it eats up a lot of time as you guess! As mentioned, getting in line right before close works well, especially if you miss rope drop. On our 12/4 visit, we rope dropped and saw a 36 minute wait from entering the line to first holding room, and at the end of the day it bumped to 44 minutes from end of line to first holding room, but the posted wait was 120 minutes.

Just FYI to others the Disney deck in Heads Up is FREE if you download it while you're IN Disney World. I guess you have to have your location showing or on their wifi.

 

[NJlauren]

Huge pet peeve of mine!

I have a 4 year old, she hates to wait, I get it. Trust me I do. But it’s not really fair. It extends everyone else’s wait.

I have on occasion said something. Or blocked people. We go to a local park that you use tickets to ride and from 5-6 all rides are 1 ticket. After 6 they go up to regular price. At 550 some guy tried to push 4 kids in front of us, yeah I wasn’t having that. I said I’m sorry but that’s the line. He said but then we will need to use 3 tickets each. To bad, get to the back of the line, why should another family miss out cause you think you're entitled?

Other times I just stand in a way you can’t get passed me. If my 4 year old can wait so can everyone else. If I’m in a good mood I’ll sometimes just let it go. But I probably had a cocktail and am feeling good!

 

[DisneyMom93]

Am I the only one sitting in the comfort of my home 1100 miles away from DW with that "burning up" feeling reading the experiences of having entitled guests cutting the lines? It's like I'm reliving the moments.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Wow, this must be new.

I wonder of this is going to be standard protocol going forward. If so, I bet someone has already used it to take one child out of line for the "restroom", and then returned with 6 other members of their party who by MERE COINCIDENCE happened to be in the area.

Keep in mind that the ‘restroom pass’ post was from a visit almost a year and a half ago and may no longer be a current practice.

 

[Mto3]

Agree with all the previous posters, it is not ok. We waited a little over an hour for SDD with with 6 kids. We were creative and came up with games as we went through the line, planned things for the rest of the trip and then downloaded an app to get us through the final bit. It was not easy, but they agreed after it was well worth the wait. Keep in mind this is with a child that needed a DAS pass that we were not able to get yet at that point.

 

[b5sgqueen]

I had someone try this in Disneyland in the morning at Peter Pan. That is the attraction you go to there.
I was there early at rope drop and speed walked over there.
A woman took off in a run and was first in line, having left her family well behind here(I think I counted 10 in matching shirts). She then held things up, trying to move her family up to join her because they HAD to be first on. She told a girl who looked to be about 16 to just hop over the switchbacks and I stared at the girl who looked uncomfortable and said she didn't want to do that.
By this point, the woman was holding up the line and someone suggested that she hang back and wait for her party to catch up so they could ride together and she got upset and started muttering about rude people. Long story short, no one let any of her party pass, including some younger kids. That maybe wasn't fair, but she just abandoned her party and no one in line was having it.
I know the OP isn't suggesting rudeness on this level, but I hate line jumpers. Bathroom breaks? I get it. Been in line for awhile and someone needs to make a drink run? Ok, no problem. But everyone else is waiting, putting off doing other things, including lots of small children. No one gets angry with the kids playing in line(as long as they aren't actively running into you) and it's just the way WDW works.

 

[mckennarose]

Am I the only one sitting in the comfort of my home 1100 miles away from DW with that "burning up" feeling reading the experiences of having entitled guests cutting the lines? It's like I'm reliving the moments.

Me too. I'm vividly remembering the family of 9 cutting in front of us in Soarin to join their 2 family members....before the 3rd theater was built.

OP, NONE of us (or our kids) want to wait long for rides, but we do it if it's important to us. There is no preferential treatment unless you hire a plaid and skip all the lines.

We've had luck riding FOP at night with lower waits.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

This is what I was wondering about. My 3 year old is in the potty training process right now. By this summer, I'm sure he will be mostly if not fully potty trained. I certainly won't want to revert back to pull-ups by then. However, anyone that's ever potty trained a kid will know that when they need to use the bathroom you better get them to it asap, or else. So... how to handle the situation?

People leave the lines for the bathroom all the time. The people who see you leave and return shouldn’t really have an issue with it, but be prepared for looks or snide comments from the new people in line who didn’t see you leave. They don’t know if you’re honestly skipping or had to bring your child out.

Also, FWIW, I was nervous about lines and our first trip after potty training my daughter. Just make sure you take your child to the restroom before getting in a longer line. My daughter was so distracted and excited about WDW that she never told me she had to go - I had to make her go every time. We avoided needing to leave any lines because I was proactive about having her go. All kids are different, obviously, but I was really worried for nothing.

And, to the OP - no, it is not ok for someone to be a placeholder in line. I would not do this, and find it annoying and rude when others do (although I never say anything - at WDW I just try to ignore and move on). Not to mention, it’s against the rules. In our family, if you don’t wait you don’t ride. Could you imagine if every family with kids did this? Bring your kids in line like everybody else.

 

[otten]

Don't give up hope on fastpasses. We were able to get FOP for our first day around 40 days out when availability opened up one day. Check the boards for people posting about it. Also, keep an eye on park hours. If they add hours that also opens up some fastpass availability.

If your kids are old enough to ride FOP they are old enough to wait in line. Having to step out of line for a potty emergency is one thing. Standing in line for them so they don't have to is another.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

OP-
Then...don't force your kids to stand in a queue for 2 hours. Either continue to try and get a FP for both rides OR look to ride it when the wait is less (you can check wait times using the MDE app).

The answer to your particular situation doesn't lie in you waiting in line and then having your kids join you later. I'm guess though you already knew that.

Plenty of other people don't want to wait in lines but do so anyways. Or they decide it's too much and they don't join the line at all.

 

[poooh]

Am I the only one sitting in the comfort of my home 1100 miles away from DW with that "burning up" feeling reading the experiences of having entitled guests cutting the lines? It's like I'm reliving the moments.

I'm also getting that feeling! Whether I'm experiencing it myself, I watch it happen to someone else, or I even read about it, it gets me worked up. People always say "Don't let it ruin your day, it's not worth it, just ignore it" etc. but that's so hard for me! I still get angry thinking about rude guests I witnessed years ago. Maybe I need to practice meditation or something lol

 

[NJlauren]

I'm also getting that feeling! Whether I'm experiencing it myself, I watch it happen to someone else, or I even read about it, it gets me worked up. People always say "Don't let it ruin your day, it's not worth it, just ignore it" etc. but that's so hard for me! I still get angry thinking about rude guests I witnessed years ago. Maybe I need to practice meditation or something lol

Same! That’s why I just say something otherwise I hold on to it for way to long.

 

[maxiesmom]

Many if not most of the queues are hard to enter once you are out. You have to push past a bunch of people. I've done it to leave a line if I needed a bathroom break or if the line wasn't moving (hello Little Mermaid I'm looking at you), but I wouldn't push past them again to try to get to "my" spot. Once I leave the line "my" spot is gone.

 

[DisneyMom93]

Is it bad to hold a spot, for my kids, in the line. We weren't able to get Fast-passes for Flight of Passage or Slinky Dog Dash. We haven't experienced either attraction before. But I don't want to force my kids, especially my 7-year old, to stand in the queue for 2-hours.

So I guess from all our replies you can see it’s considered BAD.

I think maybe you just need to ask yourself how YOU and your children would feel if you made your 7-year-old wait two hours on the line based on all the input we gave you and while you’re on line you see other children, with or without parents, push past you and your kids after two hours without having to wait like you did.

 

[SCDizFan]

I would not have the nerve to brush past people waiting in line to join my party.

As a child, way back in 1975, I was able to wait in line for two hours with my parents.

 

[Love Tink]

I'm also getting that feeling! Whether I'm experiencing it myself, I watch it happen to someone else, or I even read about it, it gets me worked up. People always say "Don't let it ruin your day, it's not worth it, just ignore it" etc. but that's so hard for me! I still get angry thinking about rude guests I witnessed years ago. Maybe I need to practice meditation or something lol

I am getting my usual feeling from when I see a post on "line cutting," which is, "Do these people seriously get this upset about stuff like this?"

Lots of people actually DON'T see a Disney visit as a competitive sport. Some of us also are inclined to cut strangers some slack.