Ratatouille - Single Rider's line - Paris vs. Epcot

[Karin1984]

Hi all,

I usually hang out on the Disneyland Paris board and there is a new thread about how Single Rider's line is used in Paris for the Ratatouille ride. This makes me wonder how this would have been handled in Epcot. Can anyone help me?

In short: The poster was with a group of 4 and were divided 2 by 2 over the 2 rows. A CM placed a single rider next to her.
The poster didn't want to have a single rider next to her, it was too close, left the vehicle and now doesn't want to return to Disneyland Paris ever again because of this. I do not want to diminish her feelings, but I have the feeling I am missing something here. Yes, I understand it might not be the most comfortable, there is a little barrier between seats, but still it can be close.

The cars look the same in both countries the vehicle has 2 rows of 3 people.
Am I right to assume that if she had ridden this in Epcot, the same thing would have happened?

PS: it's not really clear to me, but Ratatouille in Epcot has a single rider's line, right? When I google, I do see that there is a sign to alert that riders will be separated. The option is there, but never used? If it doesn't have a single rider's line, please humor me, how would this siutation theoretically be handled

https://www.disboards.com/threads/single-rider-line-complaint-dlp.3937411/

 

[brightlined]

Ratatouille at Epcot does not offer single rider. It's built for it - those signs were there day one - but they've never used that line. (I don't think the signage was ever installed on the front entrance.)

If they were to offer single rider - it'd theoretically work exactly like that. (That's how they do it at Test Track.)

Having said that, I dislike her snark about it. I don't think you're missing anything there. If she was that hung up on it, all she had to do was go in first and let the other member of her party sit next to the single rider. I feel like we're missing something, especially if she let that ruin her entire DLP visit.

Honestly, I don't know that I've ever heard anyone complain about the Ratatouille single-rider line at DLP like that. (Usually, people rave about it.) But it wouldn't surprise me if that's why they don't offer it at Epcot - that the rows are too cramped for an American audience.

 

[Karin1984]

all she had to do was go in first and let the other member of her party sit next to the single rider.

That was my thought as well. When she decided not to ride, she had to get up anyway to get out. It would have taken a few moments to switch with her friend/family.

I assume the poster doesn't use public transport or even a plane where the same situation can happen.

Also think this situation might occur in Paris and Anaheim with Webslingers. You sit very close to the other riders. Toy Story MidwayMania possibly?

Thanks for your insight!

 

[brightlined]

I assume the poster doesn't use public transport or even a plane where the same situation can happen.

I had that same thought - I wondered if they'd been on a public bus. Having said that, I would fully understand if someone avoided riding a public bus because it made them uncomfortable.

Also think this situation might occur in Paris and Anaheim with Webslingers. You sit very close to the other riders. Toy Story MidwayMania possibly?

Honestly, Webslingers at DCA is pretty wide. I've ridden that one a bunch as a single rider, and the four-across seating has always felt comfortable - I never felt like I was encroaching on anyone. (It reminds me of Runaway Railway.) I think the only hint of awkwardness I've felt on Webslingers was the once or twice I got put onto a ride with a young parent and a couple of young kids. (In my head, I assumed they were thinking: "who is this rando"?) But, even then, the parent explained why I was there, and it was fine.

Historically, when Toy Story Mania offered a single-rider option (which may have just been Anaheim), it was a Buddy Pass, which was technically 1 or 2 people to take up a whole seat. (They use the same thing for Monsters, Inc at DCA - they basically give that party the back row of a vehicle if it's unoccupied.) Maybe once or twice in my memory - and this would have been years ago - they put me in with another solo rider on Toy Story Mania, and it was an incredibly awkward experience that I hope will never happen again - it's not fun to play against some complete stranger. At the time, I figured it was more an untrained CM than something that was being done intentionally.

(Typically, as a solo rider, if I'm being put in a tough situation - say, on Frozen Ever After at Epcot, Navi River Journey, or something like Pirates where the seating is more nebulous - it's a CM making a questionable call. If I can catch it in advance, I'll usually try to talk to the CM to see if I can wait for the next boat, and that usually works.)

The seats on Space Mountain at Disneyland are kinda narrow - I could understand someone not being enthusiastic about having a single-rider beside them. (I'm a little on the small side, so that hasn't really been an issue for me, but it might for someone else.)

Honestly, I think the worst seating option I can think of at a Disney park was the standard operation at Splash Mountain at Disneyland - the front-to-back single seat. I kept wondering whose lap I was going to end up sitting in. I really hope those logs don't come back (for multiple reasons).

 

[walt34]

I really don't see the problem. Ratatouille has seat separators. Other rides like Runaway Railway, Big Thunder Mountain at Magic Kingdom or even Pirates do not (BTM at DL Paris does have small separators). With fast moving rides it is much more of a problem that one might be pressed against the other party than with Ratatouille, which moves quite slowly.

 

[Karin1984]

I don't remember which park it was, but at one of the Big Thunder Mountains, I was paired with a stranger. I am an average size woman, he was an tall man, meaning the shared lapbar was on his knees, but there was quite a gap between my legs and the bar. On a fast ride like BTM, that's not ideal. Almost ended up on his lap, if I remember correctly

 

[walt34]

I don't remember which park it was, but at one of the Big Thunder Mountains, I was paired with a stranger. I am an average size woman, he was an tall man, meaning the shared lapbar was on his knees, but there was quite a gap between my legs and the bar. On a fast ride like BTM, that's not ideal. Almost ended up on his lap, if I remember correctly

Exactly. This is one of the situations in which I do actually object and inform a cast member: if there is too much of a size difference which leads to the lap bar not properly securing one rider. Apart from that, me holding on to the bar on BTM is not out of fear but me trying not to crush the person sitting next to me.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Exactly. This is one of the situations in which I do actually object and inform a cast member: if there is too much of a size difference which leads to the lap bar not properly securing one rider. Apart from that, me holding on to the bar on BTM is not out of fear but me trying not to crush the person sitting next to me.

Agree. If I remember correctly, there's only a bench seat on BTM, too. I seem to remember my 12 yr-old glued to my hip during much of it - not because they were afraid, but because the seat is open and the turns of the coaster threw him right into me!! Not sure I'd want to share that experience with a stranger....

 

[jimmymc]

The one in France came first, and it has the single rider line which works the same as at Test Track or Radiator Springs Racers. I thought it was fantastic when I went to DL Paris, and I rode 3 or 4 times with less than a 5 minute wait when it was still the number 1 ride in the park. Epcot was built with a single rider line, but it's never opened. Even if I wait in the normal or LL line as a single rider, I get a whole row to myself; I'm never put with a party of two.

Grouping smaller parties together is pretty standard in all theme parks. It helps lines move faster and allows for single rider lines. And in my experience, Test Track pushes you together more than Ratatouille. Maybe OP could've asked not to be paired if it was really that much of an issue.

 

[Shughart]

I wish more rides had single rider lines at WDW

 

[DisneylandFreak2013]

This is one of the things I didn't care for much about the Paris park. I shared a bench with 3 other people on Pirates and a mom and child on Ratatouille. I was not expecting to sit so close to people on all the rides, I guess it was just a culture shock.

 

[musicguy856]

Ratatouille at Epcot no longer has dividers in the seats. There was a single rider sign when the ride opened but it was removed and they are using the entryway for a couple more LL touch points.

The past couple of times I’ve ridden that one solo I’ve had a whole row to myself.

 

[Chuckers]

I lived in the Anehiem area when TSM had a single rider line. It was the best. I left and came back a year later to find the line was removed. I went to guest services to ask why it was gone and I was told too many parents complained their kid was being sat with a stranger.
I thought, don't take away the line, tell your cast members NOT to fill a single seat with a single rider when there's a child there.
As a gay adult male, I would prefer NOT to be seated next to ANY person under 18. This is for MY protection actually. I know I wouldn't do anything, but the way some people are, they could easily try to sue me for child endangerment to get some money out of me. I have refused to be seated next to a kid on certain rides.