Line etiquette

[Adam&Alex's Mom]

OK... so I know the obvious... don't cut!! My question is what is considered cutting? We have two 4yo boys and wonder would it be considered cutting if say my husband was in line and the boys and I joined him after taking a potty break.... or snack break. Would people get upset if we joined up with him?

I just want to make sure we have a good time... and having a line of people mad at me and kids wouldn't fit the bill.

 

[dizzyami]

I don't know the exact answer to your question - and know that I have seen some pretty heated sides to this discussion...what I would suggest to you is to avoid the lines. Since you are staying the DLH, you will get EE every day that it is offered (show your charge slip at the gate). I STRONGLY suggest getting to the lines 30-45 minutes early, and being first through the gate. Then you can hit all of the fantasy land rides without any wait. Utilize fast pass on all rides that are available, and again minimize the bulk of the wait. Remember too that you can get baby swap passes on any rides that your sons are too short to ride, that way the others in your group can if they want to. I don't know how some will react if it is one person and you add three more....but my number one suggestion is to use all the tips to minimize the lines in the first place.

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

IMO anyone headed into DLR should be prepared ahead of time for standing in lines. It's part of life at DL. However, every single adult that steps a foot onto DLR grounds should also realize that it is very hard for young kids to contain their excitement and stand still for up to 45 minutes or longer waiting. Personally if the Dad was holding a place in line for a family of 4 and later joined by his wife and children I wouldn't be offended or put off. Kids need potty breaks, snacks, and even simple distractions. So IMO, anyone who has the gall to be upset at you for having your husband wait in line really shouldn't be in Disneyland to begin with.

That being said, it is a very different story when 1 adult is holding a place in line for a large group, or even for 3 or 4 other adults. Really I think it comes down to the size and age of your group.

When we were there in June we occasionally got split up by a few hundred feet and so half of our family would be in one spot in line and the rest a dozen people back. We always stood off to the side and allowed the guests in between us to pass to regroup. We never cut people off or pushed by them stating that we were catching up to the rest of our group. But we had 4 adults and 2 children in our group.

Also if you do have your husband hold a place in line, try to regroup at the easiest spot to rejoin him. My big pet peeve (even bigger than line cutting) is when people push their way through a line to meet their party when they could have simply waited for the line to snake around and met them by ducking under a rope without forcing their way past anyone.

 

[DLR29]

Seriously, yes I think you would be cutting and I would not like it. Especially if it was 1 adult saving a place for 3 other people. I can understand saving a place for 1 person, because letting 1 person in, won't affect the line, whereas, letting in 3 people could take up 1 extra car/vehicle, and therefore, not allow 1 party to ride when they should have.

I think that if you get to the gates early, you can get all of the rides that you want to do early without long lines (Peter Pan, Dumbo, Alice, Gadget's Go Coaster). Some rides that you will want to do have FP and allow you to do other things before riding instead of standing in line (Buzz, Autopia, Roger Rabbit-disconnected from the system which means you can get a FP for it anytime). Anything else that your boys will want to ride other than the above mentioned, will most likely have lines less than 25-30 minutes, unless they want to do the major attractions, which I doubt at age 4.

 

[we3disneygo]

we were there the first of June and had a party of 11 cut in front of us to ride with their party??? it was a teacher and a bunch of high school kids??????come on?? the next night it was a family of adults with 2 little kids 7 people squeezing by everyone else in line and then they had enough nerve to turn around any say do you have a problem??? to us? we ignored them and they waited for us after the ride??? we talked to a CM who could have cared less.....very disappointed after you follow the rules and your own kids.....I just kept telling my dd that I was proud of her for not being rude, by day 2 we were sadly done with being at Disneyland......rude and pushy people with not anyone to enforce the rules.....

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i wouldnt let 7 ppl go in frount of me. but a mom or a dad with up to three kids.. i mean come on if we were waiting two hours for nemo and my 5year old needed to go bath room well then no one better ***** when i stay in line and my fionce takes him to the bath room or what not..jesse if ppl do get pissed about that they shouldnt be in disney land like another poster said.

Also my dads legs are bad even worse then me, if he is sitting down some where and waiting i would let him in frount of me too. it depends on diffrent siguations. older ppl have problems..and kids cant hold it also if you told kids to hold it and they did they could hurt them selfs.

No it is not cutting

 

[Lori00789]

I think if someone needs to use the bathroom let them go and join you in line. If your husband runs to get a snack or beverage and joins you in line that is OK. I don't like to let those types of things bother me but for the most part I think if people want to ride a ride they should be waiting in line. If your kids are not interested in waiting in any more lines maybe it is time to take a break from the park and go back to the hotel for a swim, or let them play.

 

[XTinabell]

The trouble with line cutting is at what point does it get extreme and what are the people in line supposed to say. In your situation I would NOT have a problem with it. If a mom and her children joined the rest of their party I wouldn't care. It's when a group of adults, or as an above poster stated a group of teenagers cuts in line that I have a problem.

The only problem with having a problem is I never know how to stop it. If I see line cutters I can say you're not getting past me, but that doesn't necessarily stop them, they usually ignore you and duck under ropes and what not. Anyone have experience with stopping line cutters??

 

[joeysmommy]

If it's little ones joining the group after a potty break that's fine, as others have stated large groups of adults/teens really irk me.

My tactic is a little passive aggressive.
I tell my 3 and 5yr old that the person cutting in line's behavior is not accepatable and blah..blah..blah..also my kids get a little lesson in manners.
It has worked in the past..a little guilt goes a long way.

I feel bad enough cutting in with my 3 yr old..I usually offer an explanation to those around us in line, "sorry, he had to go". I would never jump the line with adults, I would call me DH and tell him to step aside so we can catch up.
So those people cutting know it is extremely rude, they just don't care.

I don't know that I would confront the line cutters and get my blood pressure up..not to mention putting a damper on our "Happiest Place on Earth mood".
Altho, if looks could kill a lot of people who line jump would be dead by now..I can shoot some serious daggers.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

humm i stioped a line cutter when we went to see santa.. I got there hour befor it opened. we were first in line. but this lady felt like she was mor importion and tryed to start a line on the other side. but i had asked an elf where to stand befor i sat down waiting for santa (it was in a mall and the floor was carpted. The elf lady was nice and told the other lady after 10 ppl were behind me..that I was right and the line was started where i was.. I had been relly nice she just seemed in such a bad mood. But in dl ive never had a problem that i can rember

 

[stampinshauna]

Joining your group after going to the bathroom isn't a big deal, but I've heard of some parents who have the dad wait in line while the mom takes the kids on another ride and then joins them. I would not consider that okay.

 

[Albort]

Joining your group after going to the bathroom isn't a big deal, but I've heard of some parents who have the dad wait in line while the mom takes the kids on another ride and then joins them. I would not consider that okay.

I agree... if you start in with your entire party, i think its fine to to cut in line... tell them if they complained, they can either let you cut back in because they needed a potty break or walk in pee in line.

JUST a potty break, sheeesh!

 

[2SillyBirds]

I probably wouldn't mind a mom with a smallcutting in line because it is difficult for little ones to hold it. However, you kind of know how long the line is going to take and maybe should discuss if anyone needs a potty break before you get in it. I don't think getting out of line to get snack and drinks is necessary - I haven't heard of any one dying of hunger or dehydration in 1 hour. Line cutting is one of my biggest pet peeves along with people crowding you in line - give me my space

 

[sasha]

No, I would not consider that line cutting at all. Maybe it's because I have two small children (2 & 4) so I can relate. While I wouldn't consider going on rides with my girls while DH stood in line, I would probably stand off to the side to let them run around a little since it's hard for them to stay still for too long. I'm pretty sure that people in line around us would thank us because they wouldn't want to stand in line with my 2yo .

Honestly we've never encountered this before because we usually avoid long lines. Although Nemo will be another story for our September trip, but we've already got a plan for that .

 

[lulubelle]

I agree that one adult and one child cutting in to be with their family is ok. Anything more than that is considered cutting by me. Recently we were in line for Peter Pan (you know how slow that one moves ) and two women and one child were in front of us. After 20 minutes of waiting they are yelling to a group of people "come join us, hurry up, get in line!". The woman turns to me and says "our cousins just got off of Dumbo and we are holding their place" and two grown women and two children proceded to get in front of us. I didn't say anything but wanted to say NO, it is not alright and if they want to ride they can wait from the back of the line, just like we did. It is hard because you don't know what to say and for me, I don't want to get all upset and have it ruin MY day - KWIM? So I let it go, but just the fact that I remember this incident from three months ago shows that it makes me mad.

 

[CalGal]

I agree that Disneyland is no place to get upset, and I certainly don't get upset when one person or mom and kid are catching up with their party. But my opinion of proper etiquette is to plan potty breaks and snack breaks before getting in the lines whenever possible. So I don't really think it's cool for Dad to get in line while mom takes the kids to the bathroom, to get a snack, or to ride another ride. There are two reasons for this. First, it's a little inconvienient for everyone to have to move aside while Mom come through the line with the two kids. Secondly, I often make my decision as to whether to get into a line based upon its length. If lots of Dads are holding places for their family of four, then what looked like a 10 minute wait turns into a 30 minute line. That's just my opinion.

(I was a bit surprised to hear that CMs were said to be encouraging "line cutting" for Nemo)

That being said, there are certainly unexpected cases especially with longer lines and younger kids. These should be isolated and entirely acceptable. I also have a somewhat different opinion about staking out a spot for parades and shows, especially if the holder of the spot is spread out so it's fairly apparent how much space is being held. I figure the time waiting for parades or Fantasmic is a great time for a snack.

 

[Jennifer03]

The only time I get annoyed is when I see a group of teens cutting in line to meet up with with their friends, or adults (without children) cutting to meet up with other adults. It doesn't bother me when I see a parent with their child cutting in line to meet up with someone. I understand that many young children do not have the patience to wait in a long line and need breaks.

 

[kiwitravel]

I don't have a problem with holding places for young children who do have shorter attention spans, need potty breaks etc, or the odd person needing to do something and have others hold their place. It never spoiled my day seeing others take advantage, as "what could I do"? But what did used to rile me were the ones that pushed through a line to catch up with their group.... I did not let them pass unless they were a parent with young child, when people asked to go through I simply said no, that perhaps their group ahead should be coming back to them. When we held a place for one of our party we always stopped at the point in the line when we would have to push through people to catch up if we went further.

 

[DisneyfeverTN]

I think that everyone should start out in a line. If a child has to go potty, it doesn't bother me at all for an adult and child to step out of line for a few minutes. It also wouldn't bother me if the small children were standing near the line because they couldn't stand still.

What would bother most is a group of teenagers or adults cutting in line. I also don't think it's fair if one parent takes children on a ride while the other parent waits in a different line to be joined by the children later. Every time I have gone with small children we have all waited in line. But small children catching up to an adult in line would bother me the least of all.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

ok ive seen the group of teens. if i saw this and there were no small kids or adults and this was just teens or group of friends and one was in line and say 3 or 4 other teens run over to get in line.. at that time id stand up and say no lines back there and point to back. if they didnt go id tell a cm..becouse yes with small kids id never say no or older person who cant stand to long (sorry since ive seen it first hand with my steap dsdad and me when i had my foot injery) I do understand sitting at a close place to wait for family to get closer.) But teens NO. wait for each other.