Jersey Week-Never Again!

[Disney_1derland]

Well, we have just returned from a most magical stay at WDW. We arrived on the 4th and returned last night. Overall we had a wonderful trip and I will post a trip report over on the appropriate board in the upcoming days. BUT.....I did want to post here the things that we experienced.

The parks were mobbed every day except Tuesday of our trip. It was completely crowded with 60-90 minute waits on the popular rides and 30-45 minute waits everywhere else.

Now, let me strap on my flame proof suit and preface what I'm about to say with:

I know there are many wonderful people on these boards from New Jersey. I have read their posts and have no doubt that they love the magic as much as I do, but apparently we didn't see any of these wonderful residents of New Jersey and only had interaction with their Evil counterparts.

We were the victims of 3 line hopping scams in the same day at MK. Same scenario each time. 12 year old (or therabouts) child alone in line ahead of us. Worried mom comes through and starts exclaiming loudly about how dare the child run off like that they were all scared to death and how he/she had better not do it again. Much drama was involved in all of this. She then gets in line with the child. (I was okay up to that point though I did wonder why the child was rolling their eyes at the mom while getting the lecture) Then, worried mom has to get out of line to get another child out that is waiting for her while she looks for missing kid. (again, okay so far) BUT THEN....She comes back with 3 kids and 2 adults all of whom jump into line ahead of us and then as we progress in the line more and more and more people join them.

The first time I told dh, hey, that was a line jumping scam. One of the adults heard me say it and offered to let us go ahead of them if we would not report them to the cast member. I just looked at him and said, consider this your magic for the trip, I will not report you but you should consider the fact that you are stealing the magic from little girls and that's terribly selfish. He looked stunned. But then, it happened again. The second time the guy looked straight at me and told me that if I didn't like it I shouldn't have come during Jersey Week since everyone knows the park basically belongs to residents of New Jersey during this time and they'd probably kick me out for complaining.

Thats when it occured to me that he and the group before had the same accents. OY! I NEVER would have connected it but get real! The park does not belong to you! Jersey Week is not a sanctioned event.

I did report the second guy and nothing was done. The cast member said they have no real power in those situations.

The third time I just looked at the family and said, let me guess, you're from New Jersey and they smiled and said "how'd you know?" I said well, three times today we've had people cut in line and every time they were from New Jersey and I have just been told that you own the park and I just wanted to say thanks for impacting our magical time, It's great to come here and see that some people are so special and the rest of us don't matter at all. They just stared at me and then got out of line.

Yep, I was mad, but I said it in the nicest way possible and there were other people from New Jersey in line who came to apologize to me after that. To apologize for the 3 very large familys who made their entire state look bad. I was at least touched by that.

But, it didn't even phase us, we had a great time and next time we plan a trip it will NOT be during Jersey Week.

 

[danny1649]

Glad you had magical time and sorry about line jumpers but it really does happen often and not just during Jersey week.Glad you didn't let it spoil the magic for you.

 

[laceemouse]

Lori, where are you really from, I mean besides Wonderland? I was just wandering. Sorry you had bad experiences with a few rude people. I know that you and I both realize that all folks from New Jersey are not that way, but the folks who did this to you should also realize that they are representing their state, of sorts, and bring everyone else down by their actions. If someone like you had never even met a person from New Jersey before, well it is hard to not pre-judge after that, especially after the "we own the park" comment. I am a southerner far from home. I am proud to be from the south but constantly meet people up here with misconceptions about people like me. I try very hard to set them straight, in a NICE way, and set a good example for all of my southern friends and relatives. Mostly, since I have moved around a lot, I have learned that there are very nice people, and NOT VERY NICE people everywhere that you go. I'm glad you still had a good trip. I also have the attitude that WDW is the best place on earth, and I enjoy it no matter what the weather, crowds, or other pople are like when I visit. I hope you don't get flamed too bad.....Lacee

 

[Disney_1derland]

In 30 years of Disney I have *never* experienced rampant line-jumping, but then again that may be because at DisneyLand they do NOT put up with it. If you do it and get caught then you get booted, plain and simple. It was that way my entire childhood and early adulthood.

But I guess it probably is more common than I have ever dreamed it would be. I guess that is because I would never dream of doing it myself.

I was shocked by what we saw happening, and saddened by it. But, like I said we never let it get us down, took about 12 seconds to get over it. And I'm sure line hopping is not limited to residents of one state, there most certainly are rude people everywhere.

Laceemouse,
I was born and raised in southern california but have resided in Middle Tennessee for 10+ years. It is my home of choice and I love it here!

And, early on in the OP I said we *only* experienced negative people from New Jersey. That isn't true, we did meet some very lovely people from Jersey(as well as from many other places).

Regardless, we had a blast. My children were wonderful despite having a bit of a cold and the weather was amazing with only one 1/2 day of rain.

 

[CarolA]

It is time to learn the BODY BLOCK!

You just spread your party out VERY wide and don't let them by.

If they come back to "Get the other kid" say... I am not letting you by me again your son needs to get back in line with the rest of his family!" (Hey I once body blocked senior citizens pulling this stunt and they weren't from NJ!)

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Sorry you had to deal with that.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

We also just returned from a magical trip to WDW. We were there the 7th - 13th. We did not encounter any of the problems that the OP did. Also, I believe that "Jersey week" ended the weekend of the 6th.

Sorry you had trouble with line jumpers. That is just plain rude, no matter where they are from.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I go to Disneyland multiple times a year and have had a few line jumping experiences. It can really ruin your time if you let it. Once when we were fastpassing Splash Mountain a group of boys behind us maybe 12 or 13 years old didn't think we were walking fast enough. They hopped over the railing into the regular line which was empty that far back and then hopped back over when they passed us. In this process they knocked over my daughter causing her to skin and bloody her knee. Well when we got up to the ride, there they were. I told them if they didn't apologize to my DD right away I was going to rip their ******* lips off their faces. I must have looked like a nut because they were scared! Not my usual demeanor but my daughter was bleeding! Was mostly disappointed some CM didn't see them on the camera and kick them off the ride! New Jersey is a wonderful state with a lot of wonderful people but I know experiences like yours can really ruin your perception!

 

[welovemickey]

We went during that week several years ago and actually left early due to the crowds (not the people). However, last year we went with my Sister and her family during Jersey week. For the most part we just encoutered crowds, but at one point I had two women from New Jersey reduce me to tears at Space Mountain. I don't think it's because of where they're from, but whenever I think of the incident the first thing that comes to mind is that the two women were from New Jersey. It's a shame that some people can be so proud of w here they're from (no matter where, not just Jersey), but be so incredibly mean and rude. My 13 year old son was with me during the incident and he finally said, "Can you please leave my Mom alone, you made her cry". They just laughed at him. What a shame!

Anyway, New Jersey week is just a busy week and we won't plan our vacation that week again.

 

[senecabeach]

I am soooo very sorry you had this awful experience.

Hopefully those 'pond scum"' people don't live too near me

 

[laceemouse]

Lori, you make a good point. If CMs did not put up with it no one would try it. I feel that if a CM is not comfortable telling a guest to stop doing something, they should have some type of roving security guards they could call to come and enforce the rules.

 

[Disney_1derland]

Originally posted by senecabeach
I am soooo very sorry you had this awful experience.

Hopefully those 'pond scum"' people don't live too near me

Thanks. I know they are not representatives of the entire state, I have several friends that live in different parts of NJ and they, and the people here on the Dis are a much better representation of the typical NJ residents! I hope they don't live near you either, I'd hate to see what they'd act like at home!

BTW-did you take that pic in your sig? It's gorgeous!

 

[ppony]

Lori,
I'm thoroughly impressed with your kahunas for at least saying something! if more people would, maybe fewer people would do it. Im sorry you had that happen not just once but 3 times! It's sad to see when it happens and I admit I may not have said anythng out loud. I'm proud you did!

I sometimes get pretty depressed in WDW when faced with what seems to be hoards of selfish ME ME ME ME people. No one else but ME! I hate and can't don't tolerate rudeness in my house and family and I wish others felt the same courtesies towards others. Treat others as you would want to be treated yourself right?



Take care.

 

[Poohbear123]

And encountered WAY too many RUDE people too. Don't know where they were from, but they let their kids run around, talk very loud on the bus, and wherever they were from "they had 6 inches of snow last night."---Got sick of hearing about that 3 times a day on the bus, in the parks, etc. Also, I heard there was an incident on the bus at MGM where 2 girls around 17 or so, ran in front of a line of people, and jumped on the bus.

 

[MELSMICE]

Originally posted by Poohbear123
Also, I heard there was an incident on the bus at MGM where 2 girls around 17 or so, ran in front of a line of people, and jumped on the bus.

Those were probably the same 2 girls that tried to line jump on Splash Mountain this past Thursday! We were in line & my dad had the unfortunate happen (a bird pooped on his head - yuck!!! ). Anyway, we were moving up in line, but a little distracted while my mom was cleaning it.

Well, I walk forward & there are these 2 teenage girls in front of us that I hadn't seen anywhere around. I was going to let it go but then I said "I think we were behind those people, unless, of course, you are with them". They said "oh, no, we are trying to get to someone else up there" Then they proceeded to stand there & "pretend" they were looking for someone else. You know how you can tell by what they say & their actions that someone is totally lieing about looking for someone.

They eventually "disappeared" somewhere. Like I said, I wasn't going to say anything, but then I was glad that I did. I know 2 people won't make my wait in line any longer - it wasn't too long to begin with - but it was the point of the whole thing.

Anyway - that's my story. We arrived at the end of Jersey Week but we saw some doozies at the YC pool as it was coming to a close. I'm sure not all New Jersians are like the ones we saw - thank goodness. (BTW - there are good & not so good people everywhere I'm sure! )

 

[figgy4me]

We were there during Jersey Week and the "people" were rude and constantly jumping lines. We always run in to some of this, but that week it seemed to be constant. And yes, most had a northern accent. It is a same these people feel they are better than the rest of us and do not have to wait their turn. And I will never understand why they spread all the way across the walkway and will not move over when meeting people. RUDE.........

 

[HugsForEeyore]

And encountered WAY too many RUDE people too. Don't know where they were from, but they let their kids run around, talk very loud on the bus, and wherever they were from "they had 6 inches of snow last night."---

Yeaaa! For once, it was not a rude Jerseyan! It was a rude person from some other state! NJ did not have any real snow yet - some very light snow last Friday but that was after "Jersey Week" (oh how I hate that name!) ended.

I wonder if you can block a post or put it on your ignore list??? How many "Horrible rude New Jerseyans" threads can you read in one day???

Now I remember why I stop reading the DIS in November!!!!

 

[Disney_1derland]

Originally posted by HugsForEeyore
Yeaaa! For once, it was not a rude Jerseyan! It was a rude person from some other state! NJ did not have any real snow yet - some very light snow last Friday but that was after "Jersey Week" (oh how I hate that name!) ended.

I wonder if you can block a post or put it on your ignore list??? How many "Horrible rude New Jerseyans" threads can you read in one day???

Now I remember why I stop reading the DIS in November!!!!

You can unsubscribe from any post by going into your User CP at the top of the screen I think, but I've never tried it on purpose just run into it accidentally when reading pm's.

I tried very hard not to generalize and bash the state of NJ as a whole. I, by no means, think these people are an example of the state overall, I'm sorry that it has come off this way. This was our experience and more than anything I think we would never do Jersey week again because of the crowds, not the people. Like I said, they did not ruin our time and had it not been for the one guy who actually came out and said they were from Jersey I would never have connected the two but the families did all have the same accent. I'm bad with accents so until I was actually told I would never have known they were all from NJ.

 

[tinkerb]

similar thing happened to us, but we told the pushy woman that was trying to pass us to let her family come back to join her, she really lost it...... she went into a tirade, cussing and everything.... thankfully we were able to get on the primeval whirl .......sheesh...

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Thanks for the reply, Disney_1derland! - I certainly admit there are plenty of rude Jerseyans out there, sorry you met some of them. Sorry, not just you - just some posters seem very comfortable bashing New Jersey, blaming them for every last thing. There are at least three or four threads going now. Being from Jersey, you get used to being teased and put down because of your state (most here would say it's well deserved), and here in cyberspace it's no different.

Obviously, it can get a "good" Jerseyan down in the dumps.