*Lightbulb Moment* Why people act brash at disney world! (IMO)

[DoingDisney]

I do think that paying creates an entitlement mentality. I see so many people in competition for getting the most for their buck in terms of resort, free dining, etc. - Disney has made it all about the buck.

Paying doesn't just create an entitlement "mentality" it creates an entitlement.

If I (or Disney) says, you pay me X number of dollars and I will give you Y in return. If you pay them X you are entitled to Y

And I don't think its about "perfection" per se. But its about getting what you think you are supposed to, what disney advertises and makes you think you are going to get, whether they actually say direction you will get "X" its what is implied and why they try to imply.

 

[Networth]

No offense to this professor but that theory is far from new. It has been around in some way shape or form since recorded history.

The moment monetary exchanges come in to place it changes all other variables. I have a simpler explanation on why the parks feel worse.

Entitlement, rudeness, and greed.

 

[ArwenMarie]

No offense to this professor but that theory is far from new. It has been around in some way shape or form since recorded history.

The moment monetary exchanges come in to place it changes all other variables. I have a simpler explanation on why the parks feel worse.

Entitlement, rudeness, and greed.

Who acts greedy? Disney or the customers?

 

[Virtucomp]

Disneyworld is a vacation spot where you are swept away to a magical place. The themes in the restaurants, walkways and even the bathrooms are supposed to set the park apart from many other vacation destinations. People who get this idea go to the park and make a party of it. In the days of the paper fastpass it was common for people to hand unused fast passes to other families as they were leaving the park. We would allow Disney to put on a show for us at all times.

The park is not about running from one thrill ride to another to ride as many as possible before leaving. You save time for shows, parades, and character restaurants.

Many of the people that are rude and pushy are the ones that are not used to this atmosphere. They save a lot of money and maybe never go on big vacations like this so when they finally do get to bring the family to WDW they are on a mission. How many of us have hear "I spent a lot of money to come here" when something doesn't go their way are WDW.

So the mindset of social vs business does fit into this scheme. Those families who have a Mamma bear pushing through the crowd to be in the front line for the parade would never do that back home at a church picnic. But now there is this overwhelming stress that they have to make every moment of their trip worth the money. Sadly I think people miss out on a lot of what makes Disneyworld a theme park when they skip the show part and just look for rides.

 

[Networth]

Who acts greedy? Disney or the customers?

Disney. Fine line between profit and putting the squeeze on consumers. I don't say the word greed often as a pure blooded capitalist but at the moment Disney is teetering on that line while pulling attractions but upping prices far far faster than inflation. That's coming from someone who owns 20,000 shares in The Walt Disney Company.

 

[MsMagical]

This is a really cool thread. There are lots of really sensible comments here. I think that people are much too complex to pinpoint a single reason for poor behavior. I think this thread touches on most of the reasons why you would see rude behavior in large crowds. Psychology is really interesting and I find the study of why people do what they do fascinating but it's too hard to apply one cause to all behaviors. Emotions are a fickle thing and are affected by individual life experiences. Of course we choose how to behave but a person has to be congnizant of the ability to choose before they can. Some poeple just aren't emotionally developed enough to choose a reaction outside of the dominating emotion.

To touch on the whether or not fp+ has made it better or worse, I think it depends on what "it" you are talking about. I think that it has made rope drop much easier (and safer). I think for many of us (obviously not all, there are some hardcore paper fp lovers), especially those with lots of WDW experience, it has made it more relaxing when actually in the park. There are many though who are new to the system or for whom the system gets lost in translation (non-english speaking international visitors) and this can create a lot of confusion, anxiety and, and in turn, seemingly poor behavior. Just another angle I hadn't seen mentioned yet.

A side thought on the "selling" of magic. If you are selling magic, as Disney does, then people will feel entitled to magic because they believe they paid for it (seems reasonable). I recently witnessed an exchange (online) where while at WDW, a child lost a tooth. That parent went to the concierge and asked if they did anything special for a lost tooth. It didn't appear the person was expecting anything but in a place where magic is sold, it's seems reasonable to think that they would have magic surrounding such childhood moments. Of course, there was magic given by Disney, but that online community lashed out against this poster about why would they possibly expect Disney to have pixie dust for this and why they felt entitled to being given something for free. At the time I was so disgusted at the negativity that I had to remove myself. This thread made me think about what we should reasonably expect when being sold a certain bill of goods (in this case Disney uses the "magic" to touch on our emotional side and sells us on the magical experiences they claim to provide). Also, I want to just shout out to the DIS that it is really nice to have a place where a discussion of disagreement can happen and (most of the time) the parties stay focused and try not to be really nasty.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

This thread puts the blame on the wrong end.

Disney radically forced all of us to change HOW we tour WDW. Guests used to control their time.

Not long ago, we toured on our schedule. We showed up where we wanted to eat, and ate within an hour. If we didn't want to wait, a CM pulled up a list of places with no wait. Getting normal table service was never a problem.

If we didn't feel like going to a park one day our tickets never expired. We could also always hop.Non-hopper/expiring tickets eroded our ability to have a non-park day during our vacation. At first, converting a half used ticket to no-expire was easy and not too expensive. I did it over the phone, AFTER we got home! Then it got crazy $$$. Now adding no expire is gone.

WDW switched from almost reservations to ADR's. DDP eroded the quality of WDW food, and our ability to eat in a regular restaurant on our time. Disney also no longer honors the time slot, AND added a NO show fee! We're often seated 30+min. late! (see old system above)

We had one small salvation: if a ride/monorail stopped, or we were seated late, at least WDW still honored our Fast passes, or we'd replace them the next day. Easy.

Disney now controls our time. It's just that simple.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Those families who have a Mamma [or Papa] bear pushing through the crowd to be in the front line for the parade would never do that back home at a... picnic.

The bear wouldn't do it back home because the church member would gossip.

At WDW, everyone's a stranger. No need to care about someone you'll never see again.

 

[Disneymom1126]

I think people disagree about what "brash" behavior is...I've learned to steer clear of including my opinions in those conversations on DIS because of a thread I started about something that happened during my last trip. Some of the responses were pretty rude and that some felt entitled to certain things while they were on their trip for various reasons....(it was before I knew it was a "hot button" topic!)...for references to these various reasons and peoples' feelings of entitlement you can do a search for things like "kid on shoulders," "my spot for the parade," "BOG and SDMT rides," "Disney changed the schedule," etc.

 

[JayRee]

Probably equal parts money and effort. Remember Clark W. Griswold from the first "Vacation" movie? I can't quote what he said verbatim due to Board rules, but it went something like this:

We're all going to have so much [flipping] fun, we'll need plastic surgery to remove our [gosh darn] smiles.
You'll be whistling "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah" out of your [posterior].

 

[MomForFrozenAddicts]

I agree with the theory. However, I don't agree that people behave more brash in WDW than other theme parks. Try Sesame Place on a summer weekend. Too many people in a very small theme park.

I went to WDW, US/AoA, SW and BG Tampa last summer. I personally feel people were much nicer/happier WDW. Maybe I was just lucky.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

That's true! We always meet really nice people in line, chillin under an umbrella. It's just the moving crowds that are tricky, its like swimming against a river. I'm not sure it is all that different that us all trying to get our shopping done at 5:30 at Walmart....

 

[yoopermom]

I compare a "destination" vacation to a "road trip". On a road trip, we go with absolutely very few expectations, we know that we are going to interact people in small towns going through their everyday lives, we're going to stop and eat/sleep wherever we can afford at a price point that is good for us, fun/experiences will be what we make of it. There will be no "theming", no "rides", no "being surrounded by the magic", but, OTOH, we will have no expectations of such.

I love both kinds of trips, but I know better than to expect the same from both...

Terri

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I've learned to steer clear of including my opinions in those conversations on DIS because of a thread I started about something that happened during my last trip.

Excellent points. Personally, I've been on both sides of many DIS/WDW debates. Sometimes it is a challenge to put yourself in someone else's shoes.

Many posters imagine their own personal experience, and frustration/pain they personally felt in the moment of their personal experience. They displace their frustration (to the OP) as if they were talking to the actual person (long gone) who caused the injury.

The DIS can also be an opportunity to explain how frustrating it feels to be falsely accused of causing injury, and give voice to hidden disabilities.

Each of us talks about our own personal experience as if they were the same experience, when really they are not at all the same.

 

[DoingDisney]

This thread puts the blame on the wrong end.

Disney radically forced all of us to change HOW we tour WDW. Guests used to control their time.

Not long ago, we toured on our schedule. We showed up where we wanted to eat, and ate within an hour. If we didn't want to wait, a CM pulled up a list of places with no wait. Getting normal table service was never a problem.

If we didn't feel like going to a park one day our tickets never expired. We could also always hop.Non-hopper/expiring tickets eroded our ability to have a non-park day during our vacation. At first, converting a half used ticket to no-expire was easy and not too expensive. I did it over the phone, AFTER we got home! Then it got crazy $$$. Now adding no expire is gone.

WDW switched from almost reservations to ADR's. DDP eroded the quality of WDW food, and our ability to eat in a regular restaurant on our time. Disney also no longer honors the time slot, AND added a NO show fee! We're often seated 30+min. late! (see old system above)

We had one small salvation: if a ride/monorail stopped, or we were seated late, at least WDW still honored our Fast passes, or we'd replace them the next day. Easy.

Disney now controls our time. It's just that simple.

This is a fantastic run down of the change that we have seen from a macro position, well done.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Sometimes actions are in the eye of the beholder. If a child you know is upset, you may be sympathetic to the reason your child is upset. (especially perhaps if that child has some sort of injury, trauma, or disability) Outsiders might think they are seeing a spoiled or over-stimulated child.

Then again, an outsider might also see the opposite. Perhaps the parent has been patient all day, and the child really has been unappreciative. Kids aren't always happy when parents set boundaries. The assumption that Disney is supposed to be a happy place goes both ways.

(I should add: abuse is never okay.)

Then again, outsiders almost always assume the person standing beside the child IS the parent.

 

[gschon]

The people that are rude in the parks, and rushing to the next ride, are probably the same people that go 50 in a 30 at home, just so they can win the race to the red light.

 

[Bullseye]

I don't want to buck the OPs theory, but quite often when I'm in Sam's Club or Costco I take more than one sample ...even though they're free

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Cw4d presents easy answers to easy questions.

Why do people act like X at Disney?
Because they are X.