Mild Rant: I must be getting old and impatient

[cmadara]

It isn't just in WDW (as others have posted). We were in Disneyland a couple of years ago and experienced several incidents of this. The best (or worst) was seeing Fantasmic. Unlike WDW, at DL, there is no seating or theatre for Fantasmic. It is in the middle of a lagoon and people stake out their spots hours ahead of time- making it very difficult to travel in the area. Since it was my neice's 1st time (we have been several times), I wanted to make sure she was able to see and enjoy it. So, we purchased dinner and decided to eat and camp out with many others for a good hour and 1/2 before the show started. We HAD a great view. Just as it started a very tall man with his child on his shoulders, walked right in front of us and blocked our entire view. Of course me and my big NJ mouth had to say "hey, if you wanted your kid to see the show, you should have gotten here when we did- 1 1/2 hours ago". He turned around, looked at me and said "too bad for you"!!! Well, I almost went bullistic!! Instead of saying anything though, I grabbed my DD and DN's hands and walked in front of him and stood there. Boy, could I feel daggers in my back!!
I just don't get it! People do have an idea of entitlement! WOW!!
Headed to WDW next week and hoping for few incidents of this.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

~Wow! What you experienced has nothing to do with your age or temperament, those encounters in your post are just plain rude and inconsiderate. I wonder if "slowing down" caused you to notice and/or experience more negative interactions with guests? That's a lot for one trip! I really wish the CM's would make people go to the end of the aisle. This happens all the time, I just pick a different aisle to avoid them. I have to admit, part of having a great trip is being on guard at all times and trying not to notice people. But, sometimes you can't help it and just have to make the best of a situation.

~I would be really annoyed if someone sat on my chair with my belongings! We had a poolside table, I was done swimming but I left for a minute to take a few pictures of my family playing in the pool. There were drinks on our table, I glanced to the side and saw a teenage boy hop out of the pool, walk over, pick up a drink and took a HUGE sip, then set the drink down and walked away.

 

[angelbear425]

More and more people seem to have attitude of entitlement and think "The rules don't apply to me." It aggravates me on a daily basis when I have to deal with Central Ohio traffic and all the people who feel red lights, stop signs, and turn signals don't apply to them.

I have to agree with this and it's definitely not just you getting "old", OP. I am not that old, but I was always taught common courtesy. There is a huge sense of entitlement nowadays and a huge "me" attitude. Rules don't apply to everyone, they only apply if they don't affect what you want to do. It's definitely not only at Disney, but I will say something about it. I no longer keep quiet about rude people.

Also I am very short and I hate when people come to the parades and think they can just push in front. I waited and got my spot early for a reason. If you wanted a spot in the front, then you would have arrived earlier. Not my problem.

I also found that I enter theaters after everyone else because of the stupidity of rude people.

 

[maxiesmom]

This

It's not just at Disney but pretty much everywhere these days. Standards as a whole has gone down in society allowing people to behave differently. It's all about "Me" now-a-days. Sad, really, and almost impossible to avoid.

And the really bad thing is that if you dare complain about it, you will be made to look as if you were in the wrong. It happens here on the Dis all the time! "I paid $$$ for my vacation. My kid deserves to see the fireworks. If I have to put him on my shoulders and block everyone else's view so what? You all can move!" Or the every popular "Why can't I put my child in front of you for the parade? You can still see! You are just being mean!"

You just have to ignore the rude people the best that you can. And sometimes it is not easy.

 

[ghtx]

I just got back from WDW and didn't encounter any rude people. I think on average people are just as nice as they always have been. There are some rude people, and there always have been rude people.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I hate when people stop in the middle of the seating like that. It's one of my pet peeves. When the cast members tell you to move ALL the way down, just do it! I am a small person and sometimes I am tempted to climb over those people like they're a sand pile in my way. One of these times I will do it.

That's what I do! If they want to sit down and block the aisle then they'll just have to accept the fact their feet are going to be stepped on.

 

[Magpie]

This

It's not just at Disney but pretty much everywhere these days. Standards as a whole has gone down in society allowing people to behave differently. It's all about "Me" now-a-days. Sad, really, and almost impossible to avoid.

I don't believe this, actually.

I look around and I see much less bullying in my children's schools than was in mine, when I was a kid. I don't hear as many casual racial slurs. I see teenagers who are a lot less obsessed with clothes and music than we were in the 80's and a lot better informed about the real world. I pick up the newspaper and I see people bringing issues to court that would have been brushed off when I was growing up. We don't think spousal battery is hilarious any more. We don't think drinking and driving is an amusing joke. The fact that a woman works, doesn't make her fair game to be groped and harassed and kept from advancing in her job.

I think standards have gone up. We're less tolerant of behaviour that would have been laughed off 30 years ago. People are behaving better, and people who would have once upon a time been able to do whatever they pleased thanks to their status are now being called publicly to account.

Case in point, this year some rich kids teased an elderly bus monitor and made her cry. Once upon a time they would have got off scot free because they're "good boys" from "good families". But because their cruelty was exposed on YouTube, they were punished and the bus monitor ended up with enough money to retire! (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/48764...-using-donations-fight-bullying/#.UJAc4MXA-ik)

Sometimes I think we're living in a golden age.

But if there IS an increase of rudeness at Disney, I believe it simply has to do with the increased number of people in the park. Whenever large numbers of human beings are squished into a small space together, they get cranky and some of them misbehave.

 

[FortForever]

People's manners and general courtesy is lacking everywhere, not just Disney though. Rude people teach their kids to be rude and it's a viscious cycle. I try very hard to teach my DS4 common courtesy and he's not pushy, by nature, so the poor kid is constantly shuffled to back of lines because he'll stand and wait for his turn while 90% of the other kids pass him by. It is so very tempting to teach him to do the same, but I don't want to give up that easily, as clearly many other parents have. So instead, I do try to teach him to stay alert and make sure he keeps minimal space available for some other kid to waltz in in front of him.

I agree that bad manners and selfishness is a vicious cycle. Children learn from their parents, and unfortunately, the number of people in this category is growing.

I faced the same dilemma when my kids were growing up. Because of their manners and politeness, they were somewhat penalized in situations like this. It was tempting to teach them to be pushy, rude, and only think of themselves. In the end, I'm proud of the successful, happy adults they turned out to be. I'm thankful that I didn't give into the temptation of the dark side.

Bad behavior is everywhere now. On a recent cruise with my parents, TWICE young adults (20 somethings) pushed past my dad with his walker to get into the ship elevator first. One of those times they were only going DOWN one floor. It amazed me that healthy, young adults would even use the elevator for such things when the stairs are right next to them.

It's a sad state of affairs in our society when young people push past elderly people with walkers to make sure they get on the elevator. In both instances, the young people were initially behind us but were afraid the elevator would be full and they may have to wait a minute for another. In the interest of peace and a happy vacation, we never called any of them out on it.

 

[AlohaAnnie]

I think it is lack of manners.


I have also noticed a lot of issues with people who do not speak English at Disney. I am thinking language barrier.

I have had similar problems at parades, fireworks, shows, rides. & more.

We know during every visit things like this will happen. We prepare ourselves for it & try to kill it with kindness. We do protect our parade & firework viewing area.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[ArthurFiggis]

I will freely admit that on my last trip, I entered the theater, headed down an empty row and totally stopped in the middle. Of course, it was at Country Bear Jamboree...in January...and there were around 10 people in the audience...and I still felt bad about it...

I really do think that many rude people at WDW are really just tired and a bit cranky. Or, on the other hand too excited to notice. I know that on my first day on my last trip, I had this incredible ability walk in front of cameras at just the wrong time--and I totally make a better door than a window. I tried to get some of that karma back by offering to take a picture so the photographer could be in the shot, too. That seemed to help.

Though I truthfully don't get the guy from the OP's rant about sitting on the stuff at the pool. If anything, I'm too paranoid to trust anyone else's stuff to be clean enough to sit on!

 

[kydisfan]

The parades are insane. We stake out our spot for MSEP 2 hours early (right in front of Casey's so we can just stay in the same spot for Wishes). The number of people that thought they could just jump in front of us 5 minutes before MSEP (and even while it was going on) started was INSANE. And then people would send their kids in to try and push in front of us. One even tried to sit in DD's stroller! I felt like we were at a concert with the way we had to protect our spot.

ETA: I do not feel bad at all when I tell kids to get out of my child's way. Sorry, but we got this spot so my child could see not so someone else's child could jump in at the last minute.

We try to get to the parades early also. We had a CM help us a bunch one day. Every time someone would try to get in front of my daughter she would ask them to move. It was nice to not have to worry about anyone jumping in front of my kid.

 

[DznyCrzy11]

OP, as other people have said, this is not because you are getting old or impatient. I notice what you are talking about a few times when we go. It really irritates me when I see it but I tell myself that I will not let it ruin my vacation. It seems like a vast majority lacks common curteousy.

Sent from my GalaxyS II

 

[bauer1168]

Yup, the sitting in the middle of a row is one of my biggest pet peeves at WDW, and the people who do it, if they are politely asked by a CM to move all the way down so everyone can have a seat, will storm down to guest services complaining that they were "screamed, harassed at and made to feel very embarrassed by a CM" .
It's very frustrating that some people feel as though Disney should revolve around them and no-one else. It's a shame these people don't understand that the great thing about manners is, they don't cost a penny!

 

[GillianP1301]

I will freely admit that on my last trip, I entered the theater, headed down an empty row and totally stopped in the middle. Of course, it was at Country Bear Jamboree...in January...and there were around 10 people in the audience...and I still felt bad about it...

This is totally me. Our last trip going into Muppets 3D, the theatre was not crowded at all. I start walking all the way down an empty aisle and my DH is like, ummm can't we just sit in the middle? I'm thinking no way, that's annoying, until he pointed out that there was nobody else coming in. :lol:

 

[SSR]

I kind of understand how some people who are waiting first in line feel "entitled" to sit in the middle because they were waiting the longest. Still doesn't excuse not obeying CM directives, of course.

Whenever we're first in line for shows like these, we slide to one of the sides and let others pass us. When we see a row almost half full, we sidle right in and end up in the center. It takes some planning and observation, but it's better than being first at the doors and sitting all the way on one end.

That ALL being said, I can't think of a single attraction where it makes a huge difference one way or the other (end or middle).

 

[damo]

I think that we should just stop walking over those people who stop in the middle of the row. We should all just stand there and wait, holding up the show. Eventually they will move.

 

[Cyrano]

Moving to Trip Report board

 

[DeaverTex]

We only went to a couple of shows on our one and only (so far) trip, but we learned two things.

First, that if you take a second to watch how people are filling the rows, you can figure out when you should move into a row so that you're close to the center. And you can do it without stepping in front of anyone. I'd rather sit in the aisle than cut somebody off in line.

Second, that it's both challenging and fun to free climb over the family that sits in the middle and refuses to move. I just wish I'd thought to set some pitons to help out the folks coming behind me.

 

[GraceMonica]

My family enjoys the parades but since we hate rude people, we now avoid the parades! If we're in the area when the parade is going on, we'll stop and stand in with the crowd, knowing our view might be partially blocked. But we don't mind...we don't have to deal with rude people and we still get to enjoy the parade!

Last year in Disneyland, we stood behind a small family of three. A mom, dad and small toddler. About 5 minutes before the parade started, they called everyone and their mother to come stand with them. It was very rude. I believe if you want a spot to see the parade, you better stand there with your party. They had at least 6 more people stand in with them. They could tell by our faces that we not impressed and they tried to squeeze in as much as they could. It was just utterly rude.

I usually go to Disney in January and over the years the attendance has definitely increased. Well, when we go see a show we try to get in first, so we have no one in front of us stop in the middle of the row. (We also usually have a party of 10-12, so if we hang back we could get separated which has happened before because SOMEONE decided not to move all the way down or leave a seat in between them...)

Another pet peeve is when the teenagers put their feet up on the back of our chairs or they're constantly kicking it...
(Don't get me started with how much I hate feet! Once I was on an airplane and the lady behind my took it upon herself to take off her shoes and put her nasty foot on my armrest! Ugh! That was the same flight some lady decided to stand in the isle to socialize with a man...and refused to move for someone trying to get up to the front to go to the bathroom!)

So it definitely happens everywhere!

I've gotten to the point where I wont say anything because the look on my face says it on. I can look very intimidating.

My parents always have taught us to be kind to others. "Kill them with kindness" it seems to work for the most part.

Edit: I like being first in a row because I can be first out! Plus, I don't have to sit next to a stranger! So, im ahead of a crowd and I don't have to bump elbows with someone I don't know. I don't understand why people feel the need to get the center...you're just sammiched in between a bunch of people...Ick. I wonder if these people who sit in the middle instead of going all the way down also complain about how slow the person in front of them is going? Hmm!

 

[WDmommyof4]

It isn't just you. Our last trip in January is really the only trip I noticed it on, but it got so bad that I literally took time out one night of our trip to right a post about it on my blog.

My biggest pet peeve is the parade issue. Especially now that my boys are a little older. People with little children will push them up to stand directly in front of us even though we always sit down and they could see over our head if they liked. Just because you may have a baby or a 2 year old doesn't mean that my 12 year old doesn't have just as much of a right to sit up close if we get there well ahead of time. I have actually been told that my children should let others stand in front of them because they are "little" and the parades are "meant" for them.

I should mention there have been plenty of times that I have offered to let little ones scoot in with us if they are polite and the parents didn't push them in.