How to deal with unruly children

[LindsayDunn228]

A little boy in a WDW restaurant kept walking around banging other people's tables with his stick, which his parents thought was cute, judging by their smiles.

I told him not to bang our table, he did, and I got up, took his hand, and led him back to his table, picked him up, sat him in his chair, and said, "Do not bang my table again!"

I never looked at the parents, so I don't know if they were angry or not. But the kid stayed at his own table after that.

Standing ovation for you!!!!!!

 

[webray]

Of course we all know that disney is a family place, inevitably there will be lots of kids, some will misbehave, that's just something you have to deal with. Most of the time you can just walk away or try and tune it out. But it there a way to deal with a situation if you are trying to enjoy a show or a meal if the child next to you is acting obnoxious or won't shut up and the parent isn't doing anything about it. I don't have kids and and I don't want to offend anyone, but I feel like there are some situations where this kind of behavior is unbearable. Any advice?

LOL, my hubby has to restrain me from choking the cr*** out of them..lol.
Unruly kids really irritate me, mostly because we never ever allowed our children to act out like that. We could take them anywhere. We used to get compliments in restaurants and such because they were so well behaved.

 

[RC Fan]

If the kid is truly in your face I think it is best to speak up. I wish I had. We were at Crystal Palace for lunch. Since it was just the two of us we had a small table with a chair on one side and a long bench on the other. There was a family with three small children about 6 feet down the bench from us. The little boy was very fidgety and worked his way down the bench to me and ended up sitting next to me for most of the meal, all the while coughing profusely in my direction, and naturally in the direction of my plate. Being a self-professed clean freak, I was very grossed out. I kept looking at the parents hoping they would get a clue, but apparently there were the sort that are happy as long as the kid isn't bugging them.

 

[kimberh]

When we go to Disney we are either a party of 9 (with 2 children) or a party of 2. On this trip we were a party of 2. We were at Bomas' with a late ressie. The tables are close together. The table beside us was a party of 3 and the child was beyond tired. It was a miserable meal for the 4 tables around them. The couple at the table to the right of us finally said, "do you remember when you had small children?" I said, " yes, I do, and I would have never booked such a late time to eat with a 18 month old." The couple took the hint and the man took the child out. I know that everyone pays good money for Disney but they really should take others into considertion. We always did and still do. On the other hand I have seen parents SCREAMING at their children, and at the MK no lest. I wanted to say, Lady you are not getting the magic at all. The poor family was so embarassed. I will not have another miserable meal like Bomas again, I decided that day that if a parent didn't have enough sense to take the child out then I would have to say something.

 

[pezpam]

When we go to Disney we are either a party of 9 (with 2 children) or a party of 2. On this trip we were a party of 2. We were at Bomas' with a late ressie. The tables are close together. The table beside us was a party of 3 and the child was beyond tired. It was a miserable meal for the 4 tables around them. The couple at the table to the right of us finally said, "do you remember when you had small children?" I said, " yes, I do, and I would have never booked such a late time to eat with a 18 month old." The couple took the hint and the man took the child out. I know that everyone pays good money for Disney but they really should take others into considertion.

Others? These people aren't considering their own child, they're sure not going to consider me. I'd consider it poor behavior on my part to keep my DD going so far past her limit that she melted down anywhere, but especially in a place where she'd be bothering everyone around her. In the long run, it has been soooo much easier to work with her schedule and have a pleasant experience. She learned how to behave and now we can go just about anywhere. Gotta love that!

 

[Accentuate+]

Sometimes I wish I was as bold as some of the respondants here but the truth of the matter is that whether it is an unruly child or an unruly adult I either:

1)Remove myself from their presence
2)Clench my jaw and bear it until I can remove myself from their presence
or
3)Share a private eye roll or chuckle with others in my party (through my clenched teeth ) until I can remove myself from their presence.

Number 3 usually works the best. If I can find some humor in it then my day goes much better, and these kinds of things often make for great stories when it's over.

If someone's about to be hurt or if it's an egregious disregard for a rule or law I might say something but for the more common irritants I'm just thankful I don't have to live with whoever it is and move along.

I get a good giggle out of the ones that think they're going to dislodge me from the spot I planted myself in a half hour ago for a parade. One of the few instances where my bulk is a help, not a hindrance. Some skinny little thing will start pushing and I just think "yeah, good luck with that".

I'd lump the cursing adults in with the yellers, the extreme perfume offenders and their conterparts the BO offenders. They're free to do all these things...but I'm free to get the heck away from them as quickly as i can.

 

[Poohgirl]

I don't know if it is because I am usually too concerned about my two boys' behavior and don't notice other children's as much, but on our last trip this feb it was just DBF and I. We were having a later diner at Artist Point 8:30ish so it wasn't too busy. There was a classy looking table of about 6 adults, a baby (1) and 2 children I would guess 3, & 5. The two children were using one empty end of the restaurant and running around the tables yelling and chasing each other. Now I understand it is difficult to keep children occupied at such a long dinner but I was WOWED. It didn't bother me so much, as my mom ears are pretty perfected and I can just about tune out anything, but the way people were staring I could tell they were waiting for the staff to do something. The worst part was one of the men from the table walked over to the children and told them to stop running, yelling etc but as soon as he turned around they started again and he did nothing... I really felt bad for everyone there (there were no other children at the time) trying to have a romantic evening out!

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Others? These people aren't considering their own child, they're sure not going to consider me. I'd consider it poor behavior on my part to keep my DD going so far past her limit that she melted down anywhere, but especially in a place where she'd be bothering everyone around her. In the long run, it has been soooo much easier to work with her schedule and have a pleasant experience. She learned how to behave and now we can go just about anywhere. Gotta love that!

I think this is one place where the ADR system is hurting families. DS (now 6 going on 7) has never been an easy child to put/keep on a schedule. Refusing to nap on the plane, getting up early because a hotel room is new and different, using up more energy than usual at the pool and therefore napping for a long time, could all throw off his schedule for days. If I was making ADR's 180 days in advance there would be no way I could predict when he'd be ready to sit and eat -- earlier than usual because Disney is so exciting he'd get hungry/tired faster? Later because he'd take a nap every day? Choose breakfast (but what if he wasn't awake yet?).

I'm not saying the parents in this story shouldn't have left with the child, but in a situation where the only way to get a good sit down meal with your child is to keep a reservation you made months ago, I can see how parents end up trying to eat at a restaurant at what turns out to be a bad time.

 

[spiceycat]

I don't know if it is because I am usually too concerned about my two boys' behavior and don't notice other children's as much, but on our last trip this feb it was just DBF and I. We were having a later diner at Artist Point 8:30ish so it wasn't too busy. There was a classy looking table of about 6 adults, a baby (1) and 2 children I would guess 3, & 5. The two children were using one empty end of the restaurant and running around the tables yelling and chasing each other. Now I understand it is difficult to keep children occupied at such a long dinner but I was WOWED. It didn't bother me so much, as my mom ears are pretty perfected and I can just about tune out anything, but the way people were staring I could tell they were waiting for the staff to do something. The worst part was one of the men from the table walked over to the children and told them to stop running, yelling etc but as soon as he turned around they started again and he did nothing... I really felt bad for everyone there (there were no other children at the time) trying to have a romantic evening out!

if they were really interested in having a romantic evening - then they would have hired a babysitter - order room service for the kids - and not try to bring them to a horrible restuarants for kids.

now I love Artist Pointe - but it is not for small children - they did away with the character breakfast here to discourage this from happening....