I think its hard to understand why children might have a need to be prioritized higher than adults until you actually have them. I certainly did not realize that before I had kids and I probably would have had the same opinion as others on this board. They are different, unlike adults, not able to rationalize, not able to understand, not able to always behave, not able to stand still despite ordering them to, they dehydrate at an incredibly higher speed than us (at that moment they need to be inside resting with a drink), don't keep their hands to themselves ... they are just different creatures. I am a very strict parent and my kids don't act like most of the other children out there that are free to run and do what they want in public places, but even I am unable to explain to my seriously tired, hot, hungry children that its not appropriate to act out and that they must wait in line quietly until a seat is available, especially when we walk in and see an empty table. I do think that children are more important than adults and I think they deserve a higher priority in places like Disneyworld!
Another off topic, but we went on a
Disney cruise some years back and our waiter messed up at dinner and we were late to get to the final night character party, and we had to run to get there. My daughter was 3 at the time and extremely excited for the character meeting, it was the biggest event of the whole cruise. They closed the line before it was over and did not allow us to get in it, and my little girl had to stand there in her Minnie Mouse outfit crying, extremely emotional that she could not go up to Mickey and Minnie while we watched all the adults up there taking their pictures with them. I'm not exaggerating in the least, it was despicable how many adults would race to the lines to jump in front of the children for the character meetings, and that night was the worst. Ever since then I'm very touchy about adults getting priority over children when it comes to Disney. I remember what Disney was like as a child and I think every child should experience that, but it seems nowadays that children are not important for Disney anymore, they make more money on the adults. I realize how many adults love it, but I don't think that the children should miss out for any Disney, so maybe that has clouded my judgment on this matter. It seems to me that allowing the people who need a table the least are getting a priority here. If its a busy time, I'd bet its mostly families as children need to eat and can't "wait" like an adult can.