Kids on shoulders for shows? ARGH! What's the answer though?

[HappyHaunt]

Gosh I hope not too many people do this, or if so stand in the back. I'm only 5'2", so it wouldn't take much for a tall person to block my view. Guess we'll be trying really hard to get the rail.

 

[OregonMickeyLover]

I hear ya Happyhaunt! It would never enter mine or DH head to do this because it would block others view of the show. But as earlier posters pointed out, not everyone is as aware of their surroundings. I hope you enjoy the show and are able to see!!!

Traci

 

[dsnydaddy]

I was bitterly dissappointed with WoC. Not because of the show, I couldn't see enough of it to judge wether it was good or not. But because of the horrible viewing situation. people packed like sardines with no real rhyme or reason. We had the Preferred area and could see nothing but the backs of people and glimpses of the show from time to time. My kids could see nothing. What a waste to have spent all that money on a show that only a few can truly enjoy without obstruction. I didn't want to resort to the shoulder seating for the kids but it was the only way that they were going to see it at all. I tried to hold my kids on my side but at 6 and 9 they are much too big for that for long. (even still it was only a short time that I could stand them on my shoulders.) Stadium seating as aesthetically displeasing as it is, would have been a much better utilization of the money.

 

[OregonMickeyLover]

Steve, this is exactly what I am afraid of! We are planning on doing the dinner/viewing, but that is a lot of money to spend, only to have the view be blocked. I wish they would have either made it more sloped/terraced, or make it a seating situation like Fantasmic. It seems like such a limited amount of people will actually fit on the rails, while everyone else is struggling to see. There is no way my DH or myself can hold our 9yo DD or put her on our shoulders. I guess we are going to be spending time waiting in line in the hopes of getting a rail spot at least for her. It sounds like they still have some issues to work through, but are they? Thanks for your input!

Traci

 

[dsnydaddy]

I guess we are going to be spending time waiting in line in the hopes of getting a rail spot at least for her. It sounds like they still have some issues to work through, but are they? Thanks for your input!

Traci

Traci, That's my best recommendation. Be there early and try to snag a coveted next-to-rail location. I'm not sure that there's any real solution to the situation right now, it's a done deal. If I were king of the world I'd have bleachers on rollers that can be moved into place behind the tier'd garden area that people can be seated on during the shows and moved away and stored when not in use. A cheaper partial solution would be to rope off the first few feet of the railing areas and reserve these solely for children. (have a castmember in place to enforce the rule.) At least if my kids had seen the show I wouldn't have felt I totally wasted my money.

Not king of the world though. Not even close.

 

[DeluxePrincess]

Dh seems to always have a kid on his shoulders during a parade, but we make sure nobody is behind us when we do. We don't line up for parades or shows 2 hours beforehand so if we watch, we are usually hanging out in the back. I think it's rude to do this if you are blocking the view of another family.

 

[nunzia]

I absolutely agree that trying to hold a child for 25 min. on your hip is really hard, and so shoulders would be easier. I guess what I am thinking is, if you know you are going to have your kid on your shoulders, then it would be courteous to stand in the back, rather than block others.

I also understand not wanting a young child standing in front of someone you don't know, and being out of your sight. Also, you want to experience it with your child, and that is hard to do when they are not with you. I enjoy seeing my DD face light up when she sees something magical, and I don't want to miss those moments.

It seems that by having people stand rather than sit, they are able to fit more people in, so that is why it is standing. Again, not sure what the answer is. Just be respectful and courteous, and hopefully you are given it in return. I can say that the more I think about it, if someone in front of us has a child on their shoulders, I would feel comfortable kindly asking them to either scooch over or hold them differently.

I am glad we will be doing the Preferred Seating/Dinner, but it almost makes me more invested in our view because we will be spending extra to get it. Thanks for the input from everyone!

Traci

You do know that you will still not be sitting, right? The dinner just gets you into a decent viewing area, you still have to stand and there are still lots of people to contend with trying to be by the rail and see. You still need to get there early and find your place and stay there to see well.(buying a glass of wine before getting into the area helps with this... )

 

[bumbershoot]

My thoughts aren't WOC-specific, as we haven't seen it, but for fireworks, fantasmic, and parades.

Fantasmic! at Disneyland is not exactly a seated show either. The only seating available in chairs is through the dessert package ($59 pp). People that stake out a spot about three hours in advance can sit on the ground on the steps in the front area nearest to the water. Behind them, the rest of the guests viewing Fantasmic! must also stand.

Absolutely.

I don't want to be flamed, but by way of explanation, it is way easier to keep my girls on my shoulders for a length of time than to hold them on my hip or in my arms ...

One day, do this, and have your wife, or some shorter friends, stand behind you. If you have a much taller friend, put a daughter on his shoulders and try to see around him. Just to see what a huge figure the two of you end up making. Kids on shoulders make a shorter person's time really difficult.

Once DS got too big to be on my hip, he went to my back, like he was in a back carrier like an Ergo. Or like he's one of those funny Yoda backpacks at the parks.

Last time we did this was our last DLR trip in '09 (we didn't watch any shows at WDW, strangely, other than Illuminations which we were far too cold for and I remember nothing but being frozen) DS was so comfy back there during the fireworkds he actually fell asleep. Which then made it super-easy to take him out of the park!

 

[OregonMickeyLover]

Bumbershoot, that was my point also! When you put a child on your shoulders, you are now making it impossible to see because now you are at least two feet taller as an adult! Even though I am 5'5, if I put a child on my shoulders, I would be a 7'5 adult now which means my 6'4 husband couldn't see around you either. If you have to do this, then be courteous and stand in the very back. Otherwise, spend your time in line to get a rail spot.

Traci

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

About the kids on shoulder thing: After seeing a child fall off his fathers shoulders and just barely get caught by his Mother before he hit the pavement at WDW, I sure wish people would realize how dangerous that really is.

We are doing a preferred WOC dining package too and I'm hoping for a decent view. I know I won't be able to get the family up early enough to get the free fp ticket for WOC so this was the only way we'd be able to see it.

I'm nervous we will have paid all that money and not enjoy WOC. If that's the case, I'll be hearing about it from my husband for the rest of the trip.

Here's hoping we all get lucky and have decent views.

 

[OregonMickeyLover]

I am hoping for the same thing Connie! Ifigured we have to eat dinner regardless, so why not try and get a better view without the fast pass hastle? As for the child who almost fell, we know a family who had their son on dads shoulders in Costco, when dad tripped and fell with son hitting his head on the concrete and ended up in ICU with a brain injury. Now everytime I see it happening anywhere I cringe.

It's too bad Disney doesn't just say no kids on shoulders during the show, unless you are in the back. I am just going to do what I can to make sure we all have a good view, but with respect.

Traci

 

[PatMcDuck]

I wish they had the no kids on shoulders rule too. It is SO annoying. I would avoid the shoulder people, if I KNEW they were going to do it. But, they usually wait until the show starts, and the kids start popping up all over the place. Too late for ME to relocate in a crowd. And it is like dominoes, one does it, then the people/kids behind them can't see, so THEY do it, and it ripples across the WoC area.

I was lucky one time to have the preferred dining, and had the spot at the railing. Sorry, but no way I would have let a kid in front of me...... I was not a local (from NJ) or a season passholder, who sees the show often. I have let kids in front of me at parades, and it leads to older siblings, and Mom and Dad joining them, all moving in front of me.....

As for the potential for injury, I cringe when I see kids standing in the grocery section of grocery carts. A friend's grandson died a couple of days after a fall onto the concrete floor in a BJs (it is like Costco), he was standing in the cart, and was told to "sit down!", meaning sit all the way down, instead he perched on the edge of the basket section and tumbled backwards..... same thing could happen to a kid on shoulders. I see Dads doing this with very young kids who do not even really hold on. Scary.

 

[OregonMickeyLover]

I couldn't agree more PatMcDuck. We have also let small children stand in front of us, but it ends up being an entire family, because who wants to watch a parade or show without seeing their child's face. I know I don't! And sometimes people don't even ask if their child can stand in front of you, they just send them up there!!! If you have small kids, and you know you need a front row, then wait in line for the two hours like the rest of us! In my first post of this thread I said that I didn't know if I could confront someone who was blocking our view with a child on their shoulders, but after reading other posters input, I would have no problem. Especially if I have just spent money on the WOC dinner package.

That is so sad about the child who fell out of the grocery cart You just never know, but you have to be responsible and try and prevent the things you can prevent.

Traci

 

[lapdwife]

I wish they had the no kids on shoulders rule too. It is SO annoying. :

They do. But just look how hard it is for us to get through a crazy crowd, just as hard for a CM to go through and correct everyone, who will just put the kid back up after the CM walks away.

 

[lovebug33]

People also don't think about people in wheelchairs. Now we didn't vet fast passes until 8:50, so we might have had a bad spot to park the ecv, but with all the kids on shoulders, I had a hard time seeing the show. Here's my favorite, though. I am onlY 4 10. Most of my fifthgraders are taller than me. We were at a show once and people were pushing their children in front of me who were taller than me! Apparently, if you are an adult, you don't deserve to see!

 

[OregonMickeyLover]

Lovebug, that's crazy! Us adults would like to see the show too, and if your child happens to be taller than an adult, oh well! They need to stand behind the adult I think!

Lapdwife, very true! The CM's have a difficult job, and many of them are young adults, who I'm sure don't always get the respect they deserve from adults who are older than them.

Traci

 

[bethy]

I was bitterly dissappointed with WoC. Not because of the show, I couldn't see enough of it to judge wether it was good or not. But because of the horrible viewing situation. people packed like sardines with no real rhyme or reason. We had the Preferred area and could see nothing but the backs of people and glimpses of the show from time to time. My kids could see nothing. What a waste to have spent all that money on a show that only a few can truly enjoy without obstruction. I didn't want to resort to the shoulder seating for the kids but it was the only way that they were going to see it at all. I tried to hold my kids on my side but at 6 and 9 they are much too big for that for long. (even still it was only a short time that I could stand them on my shoulders.) Stadium seating as aesthetically displeasing as it is, would have been a much better utilization of the money.

I would pay a fairly large amount of money to guarantee that our family could see the show. But that guarantee doesn't come with the preferred viewing packages. So we're not even going to bother with those. We might not even bother trying to see the show because even if we wanted to wait hours in line, it still wouldn't guarantee a spot where we could see.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Wow, the viewing situation sounds awful. I'm really looking forward to seeing the show but I'm 6 feet and I'd hate to imagine blocking the view of people behind me. But there's no way I'm seeing anything with a kid on someone's shoulders.

When will Disney let people sit? Can't they just allow less Show Passes? It's already been a year.

 

[mrswh]

We saw WOC last August, when it was still pretty new and packed every night. After much debate, we decided against an expensive dinner package and just got FPs first thing in the morning. (We stayed at GCH and had early entry so it was a breeze getting FPs - though I will say that those non-DL guests who arrived at the gates first thing were able to get FPs relatively quickly as well.) We were among the first in line (showing up before they even really formed the lines) and easily got a railing spot. We were towards the back of the WOC viewing area (it was the blue section at the time - not sure if still the same) and had a great view. It never really got more than 3 people deep where we were, and the families that showed up just prior to show time could see just as well as we did. That said, my suggestion, if you want to make sure you get a good view, is to show up early. I mean, REALLY EARLY, and ensure yourself a spot on the railing. As far as I can tell, buying an expensive dinner (while it may be tasty) does not guarantee you a good spot - you still have to get there REALLY EARLY. (Did I mention how early you have to get there?)

I have no idea whether it is still difficult to get FPs for WOC; but if it is, here's how to cover all your bases. Assuming you have more than one night to try to watch the show . . . make a dinner package reservation (or picnic, cheaper!) for the tail end of your trip. At the beginning of your trip, try to get FPs. If it's too much work, forget it. If you do get them, show up at a time that seems reasonable to you. If you can get a good spot, great! Watch the show and cancel your dinner reservations. If it's a bust, try again later with your reservations. Just my two cents.

 

[kikiq]

Here's our experience this last Memorial Day Sunday. We were staying at the VGC, my DH was waiting to get into DCA early when the CMs started handing out WOC FPs. I told him to ask for the 2nd show blue section...because if you read HydroGuy's WOC thread, there is a spot in the upper section by the fire hydrant just as you enter. We lined up at the time on the FP and were in the first 1/3 of the line. People rushed to the front, we casually walked over to the fire hydrant area against the rail. We had a great overall view of WOC. There were several children on shoulders below us but they really didn't block any of the show. If you haven't already read that thread, it will tell you where to stand for the best view in each section.

We have also watched it from the red section behind 2 families. One had kids on their shoulders, my DH stood behind me and we moved a few inches to one side of them.