Open letter to British Tourists at WDW...

[Night-train]

English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh people are always fun to meet

Don't forget us Northern Irish too!

 

[Girlsontour]

We love you to See you all next October!

 

[THE COLONEL]

Setting aside the current political controversies that should thankfully stay well away from these boards this thread simply underlines the very strong ties that still exist between our two countries.

On our first visit my wife was more than a little cynical about the "have a nice day" approach of Americans. It slowly dawned on her that American people genuinely did care if we as a family had a nice time whilst in their country and the attitude of staff was in marked contrast with the rather surly approach she was used to back home. I have worked for over a decade in a University with a thriving population of Us exchange students and have always been impressed with the way in which these students conduct themselves- a real credit to their families and their country and again an example some of our students would do well to follow.

The Disney experience in itself tends to promote feelings of goodwill to all men (including the English!!!- payback for an earlier joke on this thread ) but for all the magic conjured up by Disney it simply would not be half as enjoyable without the Amertican people. Experience of Disneyland Paris is to my mind the best example of this. (Wont be sorry if we never go back there!)

We cannot wait to go back and 11 months seems an awfully long way away.

 

[NotUrsula]

The "Florida accent" comment made me laugh (unless it was supposed to?) -- most Americans tend to think that Florida as a rule has no discernable local accent, since most people who live there have moved there from somewhere else in the US.

I'm first-gen American; my parents were Irish and came to the US by way of 15 yrs. mostly spent in Leeds. My accent and vocabulary revert instantly (and unconsciously) when speaking with family overseas, or, I'm afraid, when speaking with anyone Irish or English. It tends to mortify me, lest they think I'm poking fun. It happens to me often at WDW. If you find yourself speaking with a chubby middle-aged redhead who seems to become oddly less American by the moment, my apologies.

 

[Gabrielle]

Love the British too -- their courtesy personifies Disney.

 

[trypnotic]

We handed a couple of EE FP's to a British couple today as we were leaving AK -- making one country at a time realize all of us Americans aren't all that bad

It was actually just a coincidence that they were British -- felt good to do something nice!

 

[Cyrano]

What a great thread

 

[Chris and Pooh]

Hello,

I haven't posted for just over a month, but felt I just had to reply to this thread.

I always dreamed of visiting the US since I was a small child, I envied the American way of life that American citizens enjoy.
However as I grew up my experiences with some Americans tainted my view to a degree of the nation as a whole, with the loudness arrogance and insular views that some of them held, How wrong I was!!!

On visiting USA for the first time in 1996 I could not have met friendlier, polite and welcoming people. My DW, DD's and myself fell in love with the country and have now become part time Americans. We visit at every opportunity and have been 13 times.
There are a number of things that I respect and admire. Firstly how polite people generally are, if I am approached by someone it is nearly always with an opening request "Excuse me Sir", in England the equivalent would be "Oi Mate".
The percentage of people using the loo and washing their hands is so much higher in the US than in England, I don't know why, unless they are all environmentalists trying to save water due to our many water shortages.
Courtesy on the roads towards other road uses is close to non existent in the UK, people will drive so close to stop someone legitimately trying to join a line of traffic, where as in America people seem to go out of their way to let you in.
Patriotism, I remember shortly after 9/11 and the show of support for the country, in the UK it seems not to be the done thing to be seen to be patriotic even to the point of not being allowed to fly the flag in some council areas.

The list goes on and on and I do not wish to bore you, if I had any criticism at all it would be the table manners of some families who we have seen trying to grapple with the basics of the use of using a knife and fork at the same time, trying to cut food and invariably using their hands to hold the item of food whilst cutting with a knife.

We love America and its people and will continue to visit until the grim reaper decides otherwise

 

[Hixski]

Hello,

I haven't posted for just over a month, but felt I just had to reply to this thread.

I always dreamed of visiting the US since I was a small child, I envied the American way of life that American citizens enjoy.
However as I grew up my experiences with some Americans tainted my view to a degree of the nation as a whole, with the loudness arrogance and insular views that some of them held, How wrong I was!!!

On visiting USA for the first time in 1996 I could not have met friendlier, polite and welcoming people. My DW, DD's and myself fell in love with the country and have now become part time Americans. We visit at every opportunity and have been 13 times.
There are a number of things that I respect and admire. Firstly how polite people generally are, if I am approached by someone it is nearly always with an opening request "Excuse me Sir", in England the equivalent would be "Oi Mate".
The percentage of people using the loo and washing their hands is so much higher in the US than in England, I don't know why, unless they are all environmentalists trying to save water due to our many water shortages.
Courtesy on the roads towards other road uses is close to non existent in the UK, people will drive so close to stop someone legitimately trying to join a line of traffic, where as in America people seem to go out of their way to let you in.
Patriotism, I remember shortly after 9/11 and the show of support for the country, in the UK it seems not to be the done thing to be seen to be patriotic even to the point of not being allowed to fly the flag in some council areas.

The list goes on and on and I do not wish to bore you, if I had any criticism at all it would be the table manners of some families who we have seen trying to grapple with the basics of the use of using a knife and fork at the same time, trying to cut food and invariably using their hands to hold the item of food whilst cutting with a knife.

We love America and its people and will continue to visit until the grim reaper decides otherwise

Thanks for all your kind remarks. DH and I have always loved talking with anyone from the UK. Our dinner partners on the DCL last year were from Birmingham. We hung out with them all week. You are right about table manners. We think some folks table manners are atrocious too. Some people act as if they lived in a cave and have never seen utensils before.

 

[angel659]

Hi

What a lovely thread thank you op and to those who have commented.

I love going to America and hopefully one day when I am a Qualifed Nurse I can move to the states. Many people say to dh and I that we are american and not british, because we love it so much. I get excited when I phone or hear an American accent. Its lovely to hear the accent in London.

We find you all welcoming when we go to WDW. We have had some great conversations and all your children are so lovely to my children. In the UK we are reserved people, so kids speaking to each other can be hard. We had no problems at all. Many older children wanted to play with Casey.

The only problem I have is what another poster mentioned is X Box live. My dh has had so much verbal abuse from the Americans, that he is worried about moving there incase the general attitude from Americans is that they actually dont like us. Many have said we are up our own butts and say about the war etc and generally verbally abuse him. I have never met an American who has hated the english. He does worry as I want to move out there in 5 years time.

I love America and love you all. God bless America. NYC in 3 and half months

 

[TinkerbellMama]

According to her ticker , it is Thomas.

I know a bunch of Thomas's

It IS Thomas, but you would be surprised at how uncommon it is in certain areas. It hovers down around #40-50 in popularity for boys in most US States. I believe it was #36 in a recent year, which still isn't TOO popular. It peaked in the 1940s, so most people have a grandfather/father/uncle/brother named Thomas, but there aren't so many little ones around these days. Sometimes I do find it on personalized items, but sometimes I'll find Tyler, Aidan, etc. (i.e., "modern" names) and no Thomas.

 

[cabanafrau]

I posted something very similar after our August visit. It was truly a pleasure to spend our time in the "world" w/ the Brits!

 

[marivaid]

Besides, it's the Germans and the French that cause all the trouble. Have you BEEN to Disneyland Paris?

It's funny, I know I should be offended but I found your joke hilarious. We're French but stop speaking french as soon as we land in the US, and avoid french groups like the plague. A lot of our friends & family asked us why would we bother to go all the way to Florida to be at Disney when we have Disneyland Paris 45mns away.. They don't get it!

Our family looooooves the UK and used to travel there a few times a year when we were kids. We had the best time, everyone is so nice and polite, a little reserved sometimes but we always found kids to play with. We LOVED Scotland especially.
I found canadians to be sooooooo sweet too.And everyone I've ever met in Florida (10 trips in 3 years.. it's an illness,really) has been lovely. When you avoid the political ****, and respect the country you're visiting, you're sure to have a great time anywhere,IMO.

Gosh.. I need my Florida fix so bad. I've been back for 4 months and IT'S TIME TO GO ALREADY!!!

 

[wils]

What a lovely thread. Thanks guys

Our last trip was when our DD turned 2 and, of course, we did experience a few 'meltdowns'! In the UK I would have felt other people were staring disapprovingly whereas in America the smiles felt encouraging and sympathetic and, one gentleman even smiled and said to us "We've all been through this!"

In a moment of madness we booked a trip round the local malls (not to self avoid travel company 'Welcome Meetings') in the end DH went alone and got a few bargains. When he had exhausted the shops he got a coffee and found a seat to sit down in next to an older American gentleman. His neighbour said hello and they spent almost 2 hours talking which my DH really enjoyed. In the UK they probably would not have spoken.

So thanks for your welcome, your level of service and your friendliness

Hope to be back with you in 2008

 

[KevInSweden]

I'm British and my girlfriend is American (but we live in Sweden). We have been to Walt Disney World 3 times in the past 3 years and have on each occasion had many magical memories of interactions with Americans.

This time we had a wonderful encounter with a family from Virginia. At first we both had a little difficulty in understanding them properly (the accent was tough) but once we had that down we talked non-stop whilst waiting for the bus and then non-stop on the bus. We got their business card, so we will email them to wish them well too.

We also had several other magical encounters. To me these random things are an intrinsic part of the magic. I love it!

Keep spreading the joy everyone

 

[elwise1966]

The Brits I've met over the years have always been the nicest people. Yes, you all are reserved, but only at first. After that, you're the warmest and friendliest people you could ever meet.

"Cheers!" to the Brits!

And please continue to call it a "queue". I don't know why, but it sounds more correct than "line".



I was in London a few years back over Fourth of July weekend...turns out it's not that big of a holiday in England.

****Please note that the above was meant to be a little sarcastic as befitting my dry sense of humor and in no way reflects the views or opinions expressed by any other person(s), real or imaginary****

 

[Maps05]

Thank you so much. We have been 3 times now. We won't visit early Dec again cos I'm afraid Pop Warner really spoiled it for us, but we know that is a minority. We have some of those at home too. Can't wait to visit again, just love you and your wonderful country.