Line cutters

[imbelle]

Several years ago my sister and I were attending a Ride-A-Thon when two women with a passel of their kids jumped the chain at the Snow White ride to cut in front of us and we just blew it off. At the end of the night we were waiting in an extremely long line for the monorail and this same group cut in line behind us, in front of hundreds of people who were already in line. I gave them an opportunity to do the right thing by mildly pointing out that "the end of the line starts back there" and was told "Well, we have children." I pointed out that they just cut in front of plenty of other families with children and one of the women told me angrily to mind my own business. I told her that she was setting a bad example for her children and I thought she was going to punch me. At that point one of her kids said "She needs to take a chill pill, doesn't she Mom?". I said "Your mom needs to take an etiquette pill" and just turned back around. Moral of the story was that if a person's parents did not install a moral compass, you can't do it for them. These days that woman is probably wondering why her now teenage kids have no respect for her. Karma is a bee-och.

 

[LiveToTravelNicely]

Do others on this message board really feel like this is cutting? (I've always felt cutting to be no one holding a place in line and people just simply walking up.)

I think there is a vast difference between a preschooler that needs to go to the bathroom while in a 60 minute line and a group of adults/teens that send a scout to SDMT or BTMRR to stand in line only to be joined by his 10 friends later on in the process. Also, I think it has to do with attitude. You can clearly see the people that are being shady vs the ones that had a different circumstance such as the little kid that ran up to Lilo and Stitch in the post, above.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

Sometimes people think they're being "cut" when they aren't. The tapstiles at the entrance of the park, for example. Cast members will tell you repeatedly to use both tapstiles, because they want to speed up the line. But one time when I moved around a woman who was having issues with her band, in order to use the free tapstile on her other side, she got incredibly offended and yelled at me about "cutting". I just rolled my eyes and kept walking.

Similarly, people have gotten techy on occasion when I walk up to the free side of the double-sided cashes in the counter service places. Sometimes, if they seem approachable and I'm feeling generous, I'll point out that you can line up on both sides and give them the option to hop over to that side. But not always. Sometimes I like to just walk up there and park myself beside the cashier. And when they fuss, I smile benignly.

A few years ago I had this happen at pecos Bill. Long line on one side, none on the other. (And if I'm not mistaken there were signs up saying to use both sides? I can't remember) I went over to the empty side and was the next person to order. A woman on the other side flipped out on me and started screaming me and I politely told her that they use both sides. I wish the cast member had stepped in to at least mitigate the reaction from the woman. It was not a pleasant experience!

 

[amyjmcc90]

Several years ago my sister and I were attending a Ride-A-Thon when two women with a passel of their kids jumped the chain at the Snow White ride to cut in front of us and we just blew it off. At the end of the night we were waiting in an extremely long line for the monorail and this same group cut in line behind us, in front of hundreds of people who were already in line. I gave them an opportunity to do the right thing by mildly pointing out that "the end of the line starts back there" and was told "Well, we have children." I pointed out that they just cut in front of plenty of other families with children and one of the women told me angrily to mind my own business. I told her that she was setting a bad example for her children and I thought she was going to punch me. At that point one of her kids said "She needs to take a chill pill, doesn't she Mom?". I said "Your mom needs to take an etiquette pill" and just turned back around. Moral of the story was that if a person's parents did not install a moral compass, you can't do it for them. These days that woman is probably wondering why her now teenage kids have no respect for her. Karma is a bee-och.

This happened to us at IASW a few years ago. It was a mom, dad, and their 2 teenage daughters. There was a whole crowd of us walking down the chained part, and this family was apparently too lazy to walk the length of the chain to get in line properly, and thought it was ok to just scoot under the chain and get in front of us all. I couldn't help myself - I don't have much of a filter - so I said, "hey, you can't do that!" and the rude dad said that sure they could. I spouted off something about the "principle" of it all and setting a bad example for his kids but he didn't care. I wasn't really angry but more surprised that a grown adult + family would do that and think it's ok. The best part was they then had to stand in front of us for the entire 45 minute wait, with us breathing down their necks, lol.

 

[nugov2]

There is a difference between a couple of kids joining mom or dad vs 10 people, but honestly I think those situations are over exaggerated and don't happen very often. I have never witnessed that in all of my visits. I'm sure it happens, but not that often.

I also find it funny that people will bother themselves as a standing wall for an entire line wait. I'd rather have fun with my family vs concentrating on blocking a couple of people from passing by. It is very easy to slip by someone in the majority of lines unless you are actively trying to block someone. That's a waste of time and energy. Most lines you can just slip under or over and walk back to catch up with your party so those really determined will just do that.

Also nobody is afraid of your tough stares and body language if they are line jumping with 10 people. If they have the balls to do that you they don't care at all what you say or do and probably just gave them a good laugh. The only people I see that working on is a child with mom trying to rejoin the line where dad is waiting and that is silly to block them.

 

[eXo]

Seems the extremely popular opinion here is to ignore it. Yet ignoring it also encourages it.

It also seems that many folks associate confrontation with anger and even going so far as to suggest it can ruin one's vacation if you allow it.

I'm a different breed I suppose. I have no problem politely telling someone that I have a problem with their behavior. If someone is trying to pass me in line I will simply ask them where they are going. If they have some excuse like, "well, my family is up there" then it's as simple as pointing out that either their family member can come back here and join them or they can go and ask a CM to make sure it is alright. (edit: I'm not talking about a kid and their parent here - I'm referring to a large group)

I know what most of you are thinking. They are going to get pissy, try to push past, escalate, etc... They very well may, but the point is *they* are getting pissy and irritated - not me. If they get pushy or what have you, sure, I'll let them by. But I am comfortable knowing that I didn't just ignore them and let them have run of the place. In many cases they are likely to not try it again, as they don't want to deal with someone calling them out.

On the other hand, if everyone ignores them, why would they stop? Each to their own obviously. I'm not encouraging every person here to turn into a vigilante.

When I am out in public, such as the Zoo this past weekend, and a family just stops right in the middle of the walkway to have themselves a little conversation I will walk up, say excuse me, and point out that they have stopped right in the middle of the pathway and that it is now very difficult for others to get by. Maybe that makes others uncomfortable, but we have lost the art of communication if we can't approach others and say something critical without it blowing up into a full blown fight.

 

[JimmyV]

Line Cutters really, really bother me. But, no. I don't think it's line jumping at all. It's a different story if some of the party is in the bathroom and someone goes ahead to a ride and hold a space in line. That's line cutting. Everyone really should get in line together or wait outside the queue.

But this is exactly why the issue is so fuzzy. The way you lay it out, if 4 people get in a 45 minute line for PP ahead of you and two minutes later, one adult and one child leave the line to go to the restroom and then rejoin the line ahead of you upon their return, that is OK. But if the same family had only two members get in line ahead of you and the other two joined them after using the restroom, that is "cutting". However, in both circumstances, when you arrive at the loading area you are in exactly the same position, board at the same time, spent the same amount of time in line and get on the same ship. Your day has not been impacted any differently from the second scenario than by the first. So why is one way OK and the other not? Just because the family "politely" all got in line together for all of two minutes?

The truth is, the lines at WDW would not work any differently or change one's touring methods if Disney moved toward a system where one member of each party acted as a placeholder and the rest of the party joined at boarding. The big difference is that the members of the party not in line could shop, dine or rest, all to Disney's benefit. They have figured this out with Dumbo. It is the "future of amusement park lines". (Along with FP...but Dumbo allows people without FPs to get out of line as well). Problem is, most attractions don't have queue areas that allow for parties to rejoin their party. The essence of line cutting is: "Has my place in line changed?" Families who simply squeeze ahead are pushing you backward, so the answer is yes. 10 teens snaking their way up in line? Yes. A fourth person joining three already in line? This is where it gets fuzzy.

 

[imbelle]

eXo, I agree that I don't like to see people get by with bad behavior but if you are going to call it out, be prepared to deal with a possibly irrational (possibly violent) reaction from a person who obviously has no concept of the limits of acceptable behavior in the first place.

 

[Magpie]

A few years ago I had this happen at pecos Bill. Long line on one side, none on the other. (And if I'm not mistaken there were signs up saying to use both sides? I can't remember) I went over to the empty side and was the next person to order. A woman on the other side flipped out on me and started screaming me and I politely told her that they use both sides. I wish the cast member had stepped in to at least mitigate the reaction from the woman. It was not a pleasant experience!

In my experience the cast members at the cash usually just keep their heads down and try to stay out of it. I'm not sure how much authority these particular cast members have over guests - they always seem a bit more unsure of themselves, compared to the ones you see directing people at parades or running the rides.

 

[nugov2]

Seems the extremely popular opinion here is to ignore it. Yet ignoring it also encourages it.

It also seems that many folks associate confrontation with anger and even going so far as to suggest it can ruin one's vacation if you allow it.

I'm a different breed I suppose. I have no problem politely telling someone that I have a problem with their behavior. If someone is trying to pass me in line I will simply ask them where they are going. If they have some excuse like, "well, my family is up there" then it's as simple as pointing out that either their family member can come back here and join them or they can go and ask a CM to make sure it is alright.

I know what most of you are thinking. They are going to get pissy, try to push past, escalate, etc... They very well may, but the point is *they* are getting pissy and irritated - not me. If they get pushy or what have you, sure, I'll let them by. But I am comfortable knowing that I didn't just ignore them and let them have run of the place. In many cases they are likely to not try it again, as they don't want to deal with someone calling them out.

On the other hand, if everyone ignores them, why would they stop? Each to their own obviously. I'm not encouraging every person here to turn into a vigilante.

When I am out in public, such as the Zoo this past weekend, and a family just stops right in the middle of the walkway to have themselves a little conversation I will walk up, say excuse me, and point out that they have stopped right in the middle of the pathway and that it is no very difficult for others to get by. Maybe that makes others uncomfortable, but we have lost the art of communication if we can't approach others and say something critical without it blowing up into a full blown fight.

I may be in the minority, but I find the people who go around correcting other people's behavior just as bad/annoying .

People who cut or stop in the middle of the aisle fall into two categories :
1. people who are self centered and don't care and I find these people either strike back or get off on people who chastise them and will just laugh...so you are feeding the beast IMO

2. Those who are doing it because of some legit reason. They just realized they lost their phone and aren't thinking clearly and stop or child had a bathroom emergency and now you are just making them feel bad for no reason. Not all people who do something wrong are selfish and they don't need the busy body police giving them a ticket.

 

[Aggieamy5]

No, not at all, I have no problem with people/kids rejoining their parties, unless it's like a PP encountered where it's one person holding a spot for a whole bunch of late arrivals! I should have clarified, I was talking about blatant line cutters who just want to move ahead of as many people as they can. We had a couple attempt to pass us in line at PoTC a few years ago...I lost count of the number of times the woman's boobs connected with my elbow as she tried desperately to squeeze past us. They were actually talking about trying to get around us...out loud!

That's what I figured! I just wanted to be sure my definition of cutting was the same as others here. (On another Disney message board many people considered cutting to also include one parent holding a place for their child and spouse while that spouse was off getting the child a snack, trying to keep him/her entertained, etc. Their mentality was if that young child can't wait in a one to two hour line like everyone else, then that family shouldn't be in line period. I was shocked by the lack of empathy for parents with young kiddos on that board, and it was a message board for moms none-the-less!) Anyway, I too feel that one person shouldn't be holding a place for large groups nor should people obviously blatantly cut. I'm an assertive person by nature so I would probably say something, but I wouldn't push it too far to where there ended up being a huge confrontation. Luckily, we didn't encounter this type of cutting when we went last summer.

 

[GillianP1301]

Line cutters drive me crazy and I used to get really upset and not say anything and then it just stewed internally and all I ended up doing was making myself grumpy. I knew that had to stop because why let a few bad apples spoil my fun? I'm not up for confrontation, so most of the time I just let it go because the truth of the matter is, a line cutter is rude and pointing out that they are doing something wrong is not going to make any difference in changing that rude persons behaviour. If there were interested in doing the right thing, they wouldn't be cutting in the first place.

 

[clr055]

I put my hands on both railings, arrange my body so that I'm taking up the entire space, & I don't budge.

This is exactly what I would do. With a smile and a sugar sweet reminder that cutting is not allowed.

 

[disneyseniors]

I'm with eXo on this, I guess. I think if people are able to line jump with no percussions, then why not keep doing it? They just think it is okay to do this. I'm not saying have a knock down, drag out fight, but it's reasonable, IMO, to point out that line jumping is not allowed and they should wait with their multitude of "friends" in the back of the line. I spoke up last year when 2 grown ups lifted the rope and jumped in line ahead of us at TSM. There was not big line as we were using the fp lane. There were maybe 2 people behind us at that point. WHY did they feel justified to do that? So, I asked them! The big scary looking man said that "TSM broke down on them the other day, so they felt entitled to line jump today" What???? I just shook my head at that logic. Another time my grandson, husband, and I were waiting in a 60 minute line for 7dmt in the heat of the day. We finally rounded the bend of ropes and a lady about 30ish just jumped in ahead of us. I told her, thinking she didn't know it, that the line was way....back there. She just laughed like it was a big joke and stayed right there. I didn't notify the CM, just chose to let it go. However, I did have the satisfaction of letting her know that I thought it was wrong. I would do it again if I had to because I also feel that just ignoring it is part of the problem.

 

[goofypizza]

I put my hands on both railings, arrange my body so that I'm taking up the entire space, & I don't budge.

this

 

[WillAustin]

In situations like this people always discuss it like you have only two absolute choices, either completely ignore it or risk a dangerous escalating confrontation. In reality, there are many acceptable choices somewhere in between those two. Each individual will lean toward whatever makes them most comfortable.

 

[girlsmom]

I often wondered if one was in front of the line cutters he or she could invite the entire line behind the group to join them. A way to win at playing their game

HA!!! wouldn't this be fun to witness!!!!!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

This is exactly what I would do. With a smile and a sugar sweet reminder that cutting is not allowed.

I do the same thing and it is amazing how they stop in shock that I would not let them by.

I have also quite loudly informed my kids how those folks were being very rude trying to cut the line.

AKK

 

[texasroni75]

I'm a rule follower, but I'm also very non -confrontational. It is highly unlikely I will speak up about it. I will say, though, that every time the topic of line-cutters comes up in our house, my family likes to remind me of the one and only time I ever spoke up in response to a line-cutter. I was about 4 months pregnant in line for CS food, (and ravenously hungry) when a family decided to step in front of us as if we were invisible. My kids swear they saw fire coming from my eyes as I not so kindly pointed out to them where the line was. Never get between a pregnant woman and her food!

 

[Fantabulously Cherry]

It's incredibly frustrating, but I don't let it ruin my experience. I just talk to a CM and let them sort it out.