Rude Behavior At Disney

[NJFabFour]

I also thought that this is the perfect thread to point out that 'ol problem with perspective. We were watching an old George Carlin clip the other night and he pointed out the all-too-common phenomena where we get annoyed when someone is riding our bumper as if we weren't going fast enough but yet we find ourselves just as annoyed when the driver ahead of us is going too slow and WE are the ones riding the bumper!!
It's so true about so many encounters in life . . . as a young, single person cruising the mall with your friends you were annoyed by all the strollers that got in your way. Now, as the parent pushing the stroller, you're annoyed by all the clueless single people that won't allow you to get through, right! When you're trying to take a picture, you're annoyed by people who walk right into it. When you're the one walking, you're annoyed by having to stop. Not saying one way or the other is right or wrong, just that there can be two sides to the coin!

 

[allshookup]

I think that Disney encourages the use of ECVs by some of their policies. My husband is "invisibly disabled." He can walk a golf course (and does, every day the temp goes above 40 and the snow is gone) but he cannot stand for a long time (such as in the pre-show areas). I have contacted Disney several times and asked if accommodation can be made for him to have a place to sit down until it is time to move into the attraction area and the answer I get repeatedly is "If he has stamina issues, he needs to use an ECV; the distance around the park is much greater than our queues." (Let me insert here, "Duh! Really?) They are missing the point! Walking and distance are not his problem. Standing still (especially on a slanted floor) is his problem and a simple sitting area for people like him would be such a simple solution.

And, yeah, he has endured the rude comments from people on the bus who are standing. He looks healthy but they have no idea what is going on inside his head (literally). He's a real easy-going guy but one day he did comment to a companion of a complaining lady as we disembarked, "I know your friend would have liked my seat, but had I given it to her, I most likely would have needed medics to get me off the bus and take me to the ER."

I did see once in a dining review (I contacted the webmaster and it was removed) a comment by a lady that when she came out of a restaurant the people just wouldn't get out of her way so she began deliberately banging people in the legs with her child's stroller. Seriously, why would someone be proud of that kind of behavior? I just don't get it. I raised four kids, did plenty of zoos and parks, and never felt I had a right to hit people with my stroller.

Sorry a bit but I don't know if you've seen thse stools that fold up to the size of an umbrella & would easily attach to a backpack? This is what they look like & I've seen people use them at the parades at WDW. Of course they couldn't be used right along the front of the parade route or that would be very rude, but I think it would be great if you were sitting against a wall or bush where nobody was right behind you.

 

[JLTraveling]

Love this thread! It makes me feel better about some of the obnoxious behavior I've witnessed over the years.

The one that makes me absolutely speechless, though, is when people decide to make themselves comfortable on a stranger's ECV. I often visit the parks with my dad, who has several invisible disabilities. He's not able to stand and walk all day, but needs to walk as much as possible. So he'll often park his ECV (clearly personal, not a rental) in a stroller parking area and use his cane to walk to three or four nearby attractions.

More than once, we have returned to the ECV to find a teenager or even an entire family spread out on and around the ECV -- Mom and one or two kids on the seat, another on the floor, everybody using the basket to hold purchases, snacks and drinks! Honestly people, did you think Disney just installed a comfortable movable chair for your personal convenience???

Dad's a lot nicer than I am. I always want to tell them off, but he just politely asks if they mind if he sits on his personal scooter. Reactions have varied from stunned to apologetic to annoyed.

 

[KPeveler]

what drives me crazy are people in crowds who decide to make their own "pathway" rather than using the designated walkways. I had someone damage my wheelchair and hurt my hand last time cause they were trying to LIFT a personal double jogging stroller OVER MY HEAD.

i get that not a lot of people interact with those in wheelchairs, but for some reason people at disney think its appropriate to TOUCH my wheelchair. I am not an inconvenient obstacle, and lifting things over my head, such as passing screaming children (perfect strangers) over my head is RUDE.

use the pathways people!

also, why does Disney make people tihnk they are the only ones in the whole world? i use a manual chair and i am pretty good with it, but i cannot stop on a dime. if you stop right in front of me, you're going down, no matter how fast i try to stop.

also, wheelchair viewing areas are NOT stroller parking areas!! unless you have a GAC stating your stroller is a wheelchair, then park it elsewhere.

if there is a person in a wheelchair behind you, standing up and putting your child on your shoulders means i cant see the fireworks.

if i am in front of you in a preshow (like in RnR) and I am waiting to go into the line on the other side, DO NOT hold onto the back of my chair and use that as leverage to step over my lap (giving me a face full of UH OH!)... i am not a shopping cart, i am a person, DO NOT TOUCH.

Pretty much, do not touch my wheelchair, understand I HAVE to use teh wheelchair viewing areas, i HAVE to sit in THOSE seats on the bus, I HAVE to enter a theatre first to get settled so people dont run into my chair in the dark...

i am NOT lucky i get to sit all day, i am NOT lucky i get "pushed around", i am NOT lucky i get to skip lines (i do not skip lines, and i usually wait longer), i am NOT faking just cause i can stand, and i do NOT need your advice on how better to wheel myself. (and yes, i have heard all these in disney world)

 

[luvthemouse71]

The biggest thing for me is when people who rent the strollers use them as weapons to get me to move faster by banging against my ankles / shins. When my mom was around, she moved kind of slowly due to chemo treatments and such, so we just moved to the side and let the rude ones blast by. Sometimes, I would say to Mom, "Gee, I guess we weren't fast enough for them," but loud enough so all could hear.

Another thing that gets me, although I have never had it happen to me, is when someone thinks it's funny to give the bird on rides like Splash or EE when they know the camera will take the picture. Really now, for the others on the ride, what if they wanted to see the picture?

I know, I hate when people make rude gestures on ride photos..bad enough when it's someone young..but you can make the argument that they are immature. But when the person doing it is 50? Can you say, WHITE TRASH?!

 

[disneydanni]

We just got back from a WONDERFUL trip. The big rude behavior of the week came from the Brazilian teenage tour groups. They were awful at the Studios on a Fantasmic day (already a packed day). They obviously had not enough supervision and acted like they owned the place. They elbowed my DD5 in the head when they were pushing passed and had no regard for anyone else in the park--even tiny children. Their tour guides were no better--we were leaving Fantasmic and it was a total mobscene. The tourguide decided that a good gathering place would be right by the stroller return (I think it's called Sid's?), creating an enormous bottleneck as people were trying to leave the park. TGM and the Unofficial guide should definitely take into account when the Brazilians have a holiday!

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I have a video on youtube of me complaining about people walking on the wrong side of the road.
During it I am walking down the main road of Hollywood Studios and saying "remember people, KEEP TO THE RIGHT!"

I hate it when people walk everywhere which way.
After I made the video, I realized that the people not walking on the right side of the road were from out of country [Japan..] and the left IS the right ..

 

[thatgrrl]

the rudest people i ever met were both during a trip this past november.

they both seem to follow this theme of self-righteousness and visitors forgetting that even though we are in disney, we are still humans and still make mistakes.

1. My daughter and I were standing in line to take pictures with the Cars guys at HS. I mistakenly had my stroller in line with us -- as did most people in line. Prior to a CM coming over and telling us to remove our strollers from the line -- I misjudged and accidentally hit a woman's ankle. I immediately apologized. (she was in a stroller group too). My apology was sincere and natural and she just began berating me in front of my kid. not cool. It was a mistake, an accident. Hardly criminal.

2. The next day we were in MK and returned to Peter Pan with our fastpasses. I was coming up from the Philharmonic side. and just walked right up to the CM at the FP entrance. Well --- apparently the "crowd" my mind registered on the Haunted Mansion side of the FP entrance was actually a line of sorts. Well -- you would have thought I denounce god, the United States and Walt Disney in one fell-swoop in the way I was verbally and physcially mobbed. I apologized. I expressed my innocent mistake. But the harrassment literally continued until those we offended had gotten into their ride cards. (I had graciously gone to the end of the crowd, i mean line once my horrible MISTAKE was pointed out).

I really don't get these people who come from all over the world, spend their life savings to act like the line police and decide who is morally correct. The self-righteousness is quite grotesque. I am also impressed with their ability to go on vacation and lose all their human qualities and imperfections the minute they pay the fee to park.

 

[maccagerl]

I'm sure I've encountered many rude people in my trips to WDW, but actually the one thing that stands out in my mind is how one act of kindness can spread through a whole bus!
We were standing on a jam packed bus going back to AKL from the parks. A young adult male who was sitting offered his seat to a young woman who was pregnant. Then the guy sitting next to him stood and offered his seat to another woman who was standing. And so it went as pretty much all of the males in that part of the bus started offering their seats to the women and the older adults. It was such a great feeling , you could just feel the change in mood on the bus as this kindness spread around!

 

[toocherie]

Now, if I could figure out what to do about people who I know do see me, but choose to ignore the fact and run out in front of me anyway. I'm sure it's because they know they can make it past, but I don't. I have no idea what they're doing and it startles me every time it happens. So, again I have to stop quickly and hope I don't hit them.

The only stall I can use is the handicapped one. I have a knee that doesn't bend quite the way it should and I need the railings to help me up sometimes.
I waited ten minutes for a stall one day last week. All of the other stalls were empty, but the two handicapped stalls were being used by moms with children. The one that went in just as I arrived had two little girls and a stroller. Fortunately, it wasn't an emergency so I waited. After ten minutes one of the two stalls finally opened up. It was a mom and a little girl.

Yes they can, do they? Not so much, by the time people are in those seats there are usually many people on the bus and it is not safe for the wheelchair/ecv user to load into that spot.

I know it may seem rude or annoying to people that a wheelchair/ecv to just wheel up and seem to get on the bus, what people don't remember is there are only 2 wheelchair/ecv slots. How many able bodied people can load on a bus?

My b/f has Cerebral Palsy and is in a motorized wheelchair. We hear rude comments every time in line waiting for a bus.

Why do they get on first?
Why aren't they in line with us?
It's not fair, they are getting special treatment.
Oh look another wheelchair/ecv, this will take forever to load (complete with rolling eyes).

What people don't realize is it is WDW policy to load the wheelchair/ecv's first for safety reasons.

What people don't realize is WDW policy is to tell guests with mobility issues to rent ECV's.

What people don't realize is just because someone is overweight and in an ECV doesn't mean they rented it because they are lazy. They could be on medication that made them overweight, they could be overweight because of a disease that doesn't allow them to exercise. There could be many contributing factors.

What do I think is the most rude behavior in WDW? People that think it is ok to complain and belittle others when guests are using assistive technology to enjoy their vacation.

As a stroller pusher, this goes both ways. When the stroller pusher tries to leave a little bit of space in front so not to run into the legs of people, you would not believe how many people squeeze in that space. Then turn around and glare when your stroller touches them.

I can agree with all of the foregoing. If I am going for just one day, I walk it. However, for multiple day trips I get an ECV because otherwise after one day I will spend the next day in pain and recovery. And yes, I'm overweight and I'm sure there are people who think I am just lazy. I wish they could spend the nights of sleeplessness because of pain.

I also have a handicapped card for parking because like a PP, I have knees that don't bend quite the way they should so need the ability to open the door all the way. No one has said anything to me yet, but I am waiting for the first person to question whether I "need" the handicapped parking privilege. Hopefully I will have shaved my legs that day because they will be seeing my knees with massive surgery scars on them as an answer.

But to get back to the topic at hand, I had two instances of rude behavior on a short trip to Downtown Disney in California today. I parked in the Mickey and Friends parking lot and took the tram in--I was in line for the tram and for a long while there was no one behind me. Then I noticed this older lady coming up on my left. At first she was behind me, and then inched her way up and finally was standing in front of me. Rather than say anything, I thought maybe she was with the group ahead of me and had gone to the ladies room or something. So the tram comes and she darts completely in front of me. At this point the family in front of me takes up a whole row, and this lady jumps into the next row with me at ther heels. She then turns to me and says "oh-well the people sitting on the other side of you are with me." And I sweetly and innocently said back to her "oh--I thought maybe you were with the family in the row in front of us when you went in front of me while I was standing in line." Well, there wasn't much she could say at that point--so she started a conversation. Get this, it turns out that she used to be a tour guide (a plaid) and her husband used to drive the Monorail!! Omigod--these were former CMs and she just totally line jumped. I couldn't believe it (and neither did the friends I was meeting in DTD).

Second incident was when I was leaving and again in the tram drop off area. I went to use the ladies room and as I was walking back across the drop-off esplanade I see this man gesturing to his young son--maybe 3--to go ahead and "do his business" in the bushes. I couldn't help it--as I walked past I said "for crying out loud" and he looked at me and said "can't help it--no bathrooms"---I of course was happy to share that there were indeed bathrooms--about 100 feet from where he was standing. I know that some people might think I was snarky in both instances, but my attitude is that if people don't speak up and correct wrong behavior then the culprits will just keep doing it. And I don't think it's wrong to have a thread like this. I actually have learned quite a bit of "Disney etiquette" from the Dis and threads similar to this.

 

[melancholywings]

Got more. ^^
I love disney, there are so many kind hearted people there but then there are some real eye opening moments about parts of the human race that makes you wonder how we've survived darwinism.

People who fart on the crowded bus, or at the door way of the crowded bus while it's loading. I mean seriously had I not been standing next to the back door where I could get fresh air I would have hurled. It was nasty.

People who take their full diaper babies on the bus. A baby shouldn't be sitting in it's own filth - and the rest of us don't want to smell it. Change the poor kid and take the next bus. Also don't let your kids sit in their own filth in the stoller while you roam the park, shop, and enjoy the disney magic.

And on that same vain.
People who take their hungry babies on the bus, then let them scream on the bus for the entire ride. If the baby is hungry - feed it. On the plus side there are some amazing breastfeeding mothers in the park who have discret skills that I'm envious of.

Parents who scream at their kids in public. We watched so many parents talk so horribly to their kids. Sure when kids are (and will be) naughty you have to step in - but some parents were so awful and loud you'd think their family drama was a park attraction. DD told us several times how lucky she felt that those people weren't her parents and how nice and wonderful we are to her. LOL although I'm sure if anyone evesdropped our our parenting they wouldn't get my dark sense of humor as I'm fond of telling DD if she wasn't good I'd go and check her into lost and found where Disney would force her to live our her childhood as a doll on the small world ride. DD understood the joke and even used it on me a couple times.

 

[melancholywings]

*deleted*
Double post

 

[scotas]

My biggest example of rude behavior occurred this past September. I was waiting with DH for the next bus back to POP (from DTD). There were a lot of people and we did not make it on to the first bus. I figure, no worries, we are first in line for the next bus. At some point a large group came up and starting forming their own line for the bus. A couple of people tried to point out to them where the line was (not me or DH).

When the bus pulls up, I start to climb on to the bus, only to be yanked off by a woman in the other group. Her group then proceeded to step on me to enter the bus, while DH was trying to help me up. The bus driver was actually laughing. I could not even stand up, and ended up with really severe swelling and huge bruises.

I complained about this when I finally got back to the hotel and they were nice enough to offer me a complimentary wheelchair to use to get back to my room since they can't do anything about the woman's behavior. I passed and just limped back.

 

[abarnold]

I have two so I will do two separate replies.

My first started at Animal Kingdom- well technically on the ride over to AK from SOG. As you can see I have several kids- well my two oldest were squirting water on each other from their Camelbaks- and the oldest eventually squirted his brother in a very private place- then started laughing that it looked like he peed his pants. Well the younger brother was very embarrassed- but let's face it when the oldest gets a chance to pick on the younger their going to take it- and vice versa. Well after they got off the bus my father realized that they made a small water mess and called back the oldest to help clean it up. Well on the way back to the bus some jerk (I wish I could call him another name but this is a family board) started screaming at my child about how dare he do that to his brother he then proceeded to put his hand on my child screaming in his face for like 5 minutes. DH proceeded to tell the man to please stop yelling at his child and that he would be the one to discipline him not the man.

Then the man proceeds to scream at dh stating that he shouldn't be allowed to be in the military due to the fact that he can't control his children and how dare he even think about bringing his unruly child to WDW. Then the man demanded to get dh's military information and refused to give his. So dh gave him all his info and the guy just mumbled his. He was a Major (a major something I can tell you that lol!) that was wearing nothing but Canada stuff so we kept calling him Captain Canada (we demoted him)

Oh and the worst part about it is that my oldest looked about 15-17 but he was only 11. He was in tears and was so upset that he was choking back tears. It took him half a day to get over that incident. Dh never saw him put his hand on our oldest he said if he saw that the guy would have been flat on his back- I told dh I should have pressed charges for assault- but I chose to turn the other cheek.

However karma got the best of him- he wife proceeded to chew his butt out all the way to AK- we also saw them later on during the day and his wife was still reaming him

 

[mkingdomlvr]

Have you ever witnessed Karma coming back to bite these rude offenders? We have and although I hate to admit it...it gave me a little joy.

YES! And it was so funny. We were at TSM, in the stand by line, and it was HUGE. This was a line cutting strategy that I've never seen. Two women and 3 small children-probably between 5-7. At first, we thought the kids were just being kids-standing on the middle part of the rail and sliding up past people standing in line. But, when we watched closer it was a strategy. The kids would get a ways up-then the mommies would say "I need to get up with my children!" and move past people in line. This went on for quite a while, and people started to notice. You could hear them complaining-but amazingly, the only English the women could speak was "we need to be with the children". By the time we got to the entrance, they were pretty close behind us. The CM let us through, the family behind us through and then stopped the line skippers and made them wait through a HUGE line of fast pass people!! I'm sure the CM had no idea what they had been doing, but sometimes karma does work out.

 

[natnelliesmom]

My favorites are the "walking smokers" that walk along in front of you, weaving back and forth so you can't get past. It's always these offenders who conveniently "don't speak any English"!! So explaining the no-smoking rules are pointless.


I am also completely disgusted by the dumb tourist types- yes we all know them- the Mom pushing a rented stroller filled with 6 bratty kids, Dad shuffling around with his white socks pulled up to his knees trying to read the map upside down and very loudly asking where the castle is (when they're in AK). Not to mention they are stopped right in the middle of the walkway and are completely clueless that they are blocking the flow of traffic in both directions!

I have numerous experiences with both of the above types.

-Sarah

 

[abarnold]

My second one was involving my youngest child during the story time with Belle. Even though it says no strollers allowed- we spoke to a CM because our child had his feeding pump attached to the stroller as well as his oxygen tank. They said it was just fine as long as we tried to keep the stroller out of the way. Well this crotchety old man proceeded to say extremely loudly right behind me that "some people obviously can't read because it says no strollers" I turned around and I politely told him that we had already discussed it with the CM and they said it was okay since he needed his feeding pump and oxygen. he then told me "that no one here cares about your stupid little brat and his d**n problems- if he's that sick you should have never brought him" the CM escorted him to a different area. Well dh and my father met up with the rest of us and my dad wanted to hunt him down and have a few words with him. DH was livid as well.

 

[KPeveler]

My second one was involving my youngest child during the story time with Belle. Even though it says no strollers allowed- we spoke to a CM because our child had his feeding pump attached to the stroller as well as his oxygen tank. They said it was just fine as long as we tried to keep the stroller out of the way. Well this crotchety old man proceeded to say extremely loudly right behind me that "some people obviously can't read because it says no strollers" I turned around and I politely told him that we had already discussed it with the CM and they said it was okay since he needed his feeding pump and oxygen. he then told me "that no one here cares about your stupid little brat and his d**n problems- if he's that sick you should have never brought him" the CM escorted him to a different area. Well dh and my father met up with the rest of us and my dad wanted to hunt him down and have a few words with him. DH was livid as well.

just to let you know - if you stop at City Hall you can get a card and tag which allow you to use your DS's stroller as a wheelchair, which are allowed into all lines and "story time" areas. Clearly your son is not in a stroller for your convenience, but due to medical need. Stop at guest relations next time, and a CM can help you. that way you do not need to speak to a CM at each attraction, but just show the card, and you will not be told to keep your "stroller" out of the way. You will be able to bring the stroller into shows, too, so he can stay on oxygen or feeding when needed...

 

[Suellen]

I have a few examples ~ some of you may have read these before

On Mickey's Philharmagic my aunt was holding DD on her lap and lifting her up to the same height as my aunts face... no higher I SWEAR! Some lady behind us says "I could see really good if that little f'ing baby wasn't in front of me!" I told my aunt to make sure to keep DD lower than her own face. When the show was over I told the lady I would appreciate it if she didn't swear about my child or say the f-bomb in front of my 2.5 year old. She insisted she didn't ~ but her daughter (probably my age) apologized and looked terribly embarrassed.

Same trip.... some guy at Chef Mickey's shoved my 2.5 year old down the three steps to the buffet so he could get there before her.

There was one other thing not coming to mind right this minute. I will post when I remember.

 

[abarnold]

I have a few examples ~ some of you may have read these before

On Mickey's Philharmagic my aunt was holding DD on her lap and lifting her up to the same height as my aunts face... no higher I SWEAR! Some lady behind us says "I could see really good if that little f'ing baby wasn't in front of me!" I told my aunt to make sure to keep DD lower than her own face. When the show was over I told the lady I would appreciate it if she didn't swear about my child or say the f-bomb in front of my 2.5 year old. She insisted she didn't ~ but her daughter (probably my age) apologized and looked terribly embarrassed.

Same trip.... some guy at Chef Mickey's shoved my 2.5 year old down the three steps to the buffet so he could get there before her.

There was one other thing not coming to mind right this minute. I will post when I remember.

Some people just have no class.