Rude Parade watchers

[tassie42]

We just got back a week or so ago April1-5 and had a great time! even better than expected but we did have one instance where someone was down right rude!

We got a spot in frontierland for the mk afternoon parade about 45 minutes before it started. Found a shady spot right up front against the rope. As the parade started this other family forced there way in next to us (I know this happens a lot) This older woman with a sweater was standing practically on top of my 2 year old!! She was hovering over her and her sweater was touching my 2 dds head!!!! My husband and I kept saying excuse me to her and even touched her and said "excuse me your sweater is on top of my daughter" but all she did was smile. Maybe she didn't understand english or was pretending not to.

THis was so anoying to me. I like my personal space but I guess there is no avoiding rude people at the parades! :

 

[Deb in IA]

That is the reason we avoid parades at WDW. The last minute people who barge in and sit on top of you are just too much for us to handle anymore.

 

[poohtown]

I hear you! The only really 'bad' memory I have from Disney is also a parade one. This young couple with a very very young baby pushed on top of us. They left the stroller behind their backs so they could get right at the rope. The part that just about killed me though was that the baby was crying (and I'm talking beet red full blown hysteria) through the whole parade. I was about to pick up the baby myself (I can only imagine what would have happened if I had done that). I just kept looking at the baby and glaring at them. I still get upset by that and to make matters worse you can hear the baby in the background of my video.

 

[Dalpal]

I have to say that there are rude people out there, but there are also really nice people.
We were at a parade with our DGDs and we were standing in front of the train station at the entrance. There was a lady in a elec. chair thing. She saw my DGDs and asked them if they wanted to sit in the front of her elec. chair. They had a front row seat and no one could push them because of her chair.
She was so nice!

 

[moinab]

In February, we staked out our spot on the train platform for Spectro 2 hours before the parade. We got the last 2 chairs available. DH and I took turns taking the kids for rides on the train, going to get food, etc. About 15 minutes before the parade, while DH was off with DS, an older woman tried to grab DH's chair. It was very obvious that I wasn't alone. When I turned around and looked at her, she told me (not asked), "You're not using this." I told her, in no uncertain terms, that, yes, we were using it. She gave me the dirtiest look and huffed back to her party. If she had just asked nicely, I probably would have given it to her. When the parade started, I did end up giving my chair to a woman near us who looked very tired. She was very grateful and kept telling me to let her know if I wanted to sit down again, but I just switched off with DH.

We also had a family who showed up at the last minute trying to shove through, until DH told them to back off after they almost knocked our 3 year old DS down.

It really sucks the magic out of it when you're in a constant battle for your 1 square foot of space.

 

[cmonroe]

Life is too short, but sometimes people are really pushy. When we watched the parade last time at MK, we too were there about 45 minutes in advance. I was with my dd dw sister and her children. The lot of us were taking up a small section from the rope to the sidewalk. About 5 - 10 minutes before the parade started, the side walk was packed. Then people started moving under the rope because the cm's require the walkways to be clear.
Next thing i know, I'm getting bumped sideways. Mind you, I'm a 240 lb guy. Not easy to move, but I consider myself patient and giving. A family next to us had more family members coming in. I moved over slightly to make as much room as I could for them. Next another couple family members came in and at this point there was no more room. They continued to try to move us over. I finally turned to them and said "I"m sorry, there is no more room over here"
We had already made room for their family members so I think they understood I was not just being a jerk.

Moral of the story: Try and bring atleast a couple of people over 200 lbs with you

 

[WIcruizer]

Two sides to this I suppose. There are those who get a spot early, but only one person stays and "saves" an area for their party- which could be 4 people or 40. I'm not so sure it's proper "parade etiquette" to reserve a spot for an entire family when they are nowhere around then show up 5 minutes before the parade starts. Not when there are people who ARE there patiently waiting. Is it fair for a family to sit 30 feet behind the rope, behind the one guy "saving" a spot for his family? Actually, I think that's pretty rude.

But there are so many rude people at WDW it's an expected part of the Magic. Right along witht eh people who smash your ankles with strollers without even acknowledging it, much less apologizing. Take it in stride. That's why we show up right before the parade starts, in back somewhere wherever we can find a spot. We've found we can still see 95% of it just fine, and don't want to waste an hour for a prime spot.

 

[moinab]

Well, I agree that it is rude for 1 person to save a large area for a big group, but that is not the same as 1 adult and one small child saving 2 seats, switching off with another adult and small child. I really don't see anything wrong with that.

 

[Kimickey]

Okay, Okay I'v got to share...

Last August while six months preg. DH, DD(5) at the time and I sat down almost two hours prior to the Share a Dream Come True Parade to ensure we got a spot in the shade by Casey's. That time of day the shade is on that side of the street for those who do not know. Anyway DH, DD and I were sitting down enjoying our ice cream and people watching. When all of a sudden we heard cursing and yelling coming from one of the tables at Casey's. So DH and I turned our heads to see what all of comotion was about. Well two women were yelling and cursing at what looked like a three year old and a six year old. DH and I just turned back around and pretended we did not hear what was going on. Well as we were sitting time is going by and people started to fill main street to get a spot. By this time people were already sitting to the left and right of DH and I. All of a sudden a boy about 15 who was with the cursing and yelling group squeezed his way in between myself and the person sitting to the left of me. I said something to him and he proceeded to sit down. I did not want to get into it with him 1. because I was pregnant and 2. It was just too darn hot to get into a confrontation with ignorant people. So I let the incident go. I then turned around the the other portion of his crew had taken chairs and pulled them up to the end of the curve to watch the parade. So then the parade starts. As the parade is going by the cursing and yelling crew were trying to basically stand in the street as the floats were going by to take pictures. The CM kept telling them to move back, because they did not want anyone to get injured. They would move but as soon as the CM left they would proceed to do it again. Well by this time one of the girls that was part of this particular crew started inching her way infront of us. I gently tapped the girl who looked about 17, on the shoulder and asked her to 1. move out of the parade route and 2. to move because she was standing her big a$$ in front of my five year old DD. To make a very long story short. The group was very rude and the 17 year old wanted to fight me because I asked her to move out of the way. DH stepped in and handled it from there. A head CM had to come around to talk to this group because they were doing other things other than what I mentioned here. Needless to say other people around us were quite annoyed by this group.

 

[WIcruizer]

Well, I agree that it is rude for 1 person to save a large area for a big group, but that is not the same as 1 adult and one small child saving 2 seats, switching off with another adult and small child. I really don't see anything wrong with that.

No, neither do I. It's similar to one person at Spectromagic trying to save half a bench, that's rude. But saving 1 or 2 spots temporarily is perfectly ok.

A head CM had to come around to talk to this group because they were doing other things other than what I mentioned here. Needless to say other people around us were quite annoyed by this group.

Your story is a perfect example of how CMs are sometimes TOO nice. People like that should be kicked out of the park. Every day at WDW I see 1 or 2 examples of people's behavior so far over the top that they really shouldn't be there ruining everyone else's experience.

Drunks at Epcot, Screaming cussers at all 4 parks, people haraasing animals at AK, I've seen it all. I would hope Disney doesn't need the money thast badly to put up with people like that.

 

[KimR]

May be a bit OT because this didn't happen at a parade, but these people were so rude, I'll tell it anyway.

We were leaving MK around 4:00 or so last week to go back to the resort to change for dinner. DH had decided earlier in the day to drive from the YC instead of taking the bus to MK (a mistake we will NEVER make again). We had just missed a tram so the 6 of us (myself, DH, 3 DDs, and DDs friend) stood in line for the next one. DH was lined up last because he had the stroller. We had to wait about 10 or 15 minutes for the tram and when it finally came, I got in with the 2-year-old, DDs friend and my 6-year-old DD. I assumed DH was behind us with my oldest and the stroller when all of a sudden I hear DH say 'umm...excuse me, I'd like to sit with my family'.

I looked around and there was an older couple sitting right next to DDs friend. They were not there when we boarded the tram, so apparently they had just arrived and pushed themselved in front of DH to get a seat. The tram was filling up fast and was about to pull away and DH did not have enough room to get in. They were not budging, so I told them in no undertain terms that we were together, had been waiting for the tram and they needed to move. Well, that mean, nasty man got up from his seat and sat in the seat in front of him (while his wife sat right where she was) and said in a very smug, nasty tone of voice 'THERE!, now what are you going to do?! Obviously, there was still not enough room for DH, DD, and the stroller.

I didn't want to make a scene with the girls there, so I just stared in shock and muttered 'unbelievable' while DH tossed me the car keys and yelled out the row where we had parked. By this time, my middle DD started crying I imagine because she thought her daddy was going to be left behind for good! Thankfully, DD was able to take the man's vacated seat and DH was able to find a spot elsewhere before the tram pulled away; otherwise, the five of us would have been sitting out by the car waiting another 15 minutes for DH to make it on the next tram! Honestly, what gets in to people?!

I cannot understand what motivates people to act that way, and moreover, why does someone with such a nasty disposition even go to a place like WDW in the first place? Wouldn't they rather go somewhere more fitting to their personality, like maybe HADES?

 

[seashoreCM]

Originally posted by poohtown
This young couple with a very very young baby pushed on top of us ... The part that just about killed me though was that the baby was crying ... [during] ... the whole parade. I was about to pick up the baby myself (I can only imagine what would have happened if I had done that). I just kept looking at the baby and glaring at them.

I would almost certainly stroke the baby's head and quite likely would have picked him up and hugged him all the while following the next paragraph.

Next time bring your brother in law to push them back off you. Or you yourself get back in front of them and when the CM comes to tell you to please get back behind the rope, tell the CM they took your place, stand where you are, and wait for the CM to shoo them away.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[goofy4tink]

Sad to say that we have had more bad parade experiences than good ones. We've had people shove past my dd and grab something a parade CM tried to give her, right past her nose. They ran off at that point. We've had people pretend they didn't speak English and then forget they 'didn't speak the language' at some point in the parade. But, we did have a nice older couple ask my dd, then 6, if she wanted to sit on the curb and watch MSEP with them. We were in the standing up row just behind them. Yes, most people try to be nice. But, it sure is nice to have my 6'4" dh along. He tends to get his point across. He has even been asked by parade control CM to stake out a spot on a corner so that no one stands there and gets in the way of the parade!!

 

[Disney Debbie]

Originally posted by WIcruizer


we show up right before the parade starts, in back somewhere wherever we can find a spot. We've found we can still see 95% of it just fine, and don't want to waste an hour for a prime spot.

We do the same thing. I'm the only one in my family that really wants to see the parades anyway! I've NEVER gotten them to sit around for more then 15 minutes for a parade - and only then when ice cream is involved!!

Luckily there's usually 2 night parades when we go and we've found we can usually just walk right up at the turn in Liberty Square and see just fine. One time we even got prime "rope" space to sit in! When DD was little we'd go a little earlier - and some nice people always offered to let her sit with/in front of them so she saw it all just fine. I always let little kids get in front of us - ESPECIALLY now that I don't have a little one of my own - I love to watch the kids as much as the parade!

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

Regarding Kimickey's story about the foul-mouthed parade watchers:

So they don't allow gum in the parks but cursing and yelling is acceptable? Those people should have been asked to leave the park.

 

[sm4987]

I have had both experiences while at WDW. Many times we have been sitting for a long time waiting for the parades to start and then all of a sudden, here comes those pushy people. It is the most annoying thing after waiting al that time to have someone else come in try to take your spot.

 

[tigger53]

we had a bad parade experience a few years back at MGM. my teenage daughter was having truoble with her legs and had been hospitalized just before our trip began so she was confined to a wheel chair for awhile. well we showed up for the parade and asked a cm where we were to go to view the parade with a wheelchair and he personally took us to the spot which happened to be in front of some people already set up. they began to complain so loudly that we were in their way and we were very rude to just show up like that. my daughter got upset because she thought we were doing something wrong, i called the cm over and asked if we were supposed to be there and he could hear the people complaining still and said very emphatically that we were to stay there as it was the designated wheelchair spot. we ended up not enjoying the parade because the people keep insulting my daughter. i tried to get them to stop but they were just downright obnoxious.

 

[crashbunny]

Unfortunately we have had so many bad experiences at the parades over the years my HD always gives me a no when i ask if we can stay for one - we have gotten run over by wheelchairs and strollers - gotten pushed all over - got fingers stepped on- had the same "pretending " not to understand that spots taken- and on and on - it's too bad that it only takes a few rude people to spoil it for those of us that absolutely love it
I watch our parade videos over and over - I just love going to WDW and everything about it! and I have to say that I try not to let anyone spoil all the magic for me- I work hard all year and save to get there - this year its just the 2 of us - so we're doing parades and everything that we love and we are not gonna let anything or anyone spoil it

 

[Kimickey]

SusieQ

So they don't allow gum in the parks but cursing and yelling is acceptable? Those people should have been asked to leave the park.

I feel the same way as you. DH and I were quite embarrassed by their behavior. I did not even finish the story because I had to leave to go home. But, DH and I we hoping and praying that they would be escorted out of the park. Unfortunately that never happened. Which was quite disappointing to us. DH and I just left after that. I was not going to entertain their ignorance any longer and DH was not up to fighting ignorant people!

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

Kimickey,

You know, it's funny... We spend our lives inside our own little circle of friends where no one is rude and everyone likes us. To encounter rude behavior in the real world is bad enough, it seems all the more disheartening when it happens at Disney. We purposely go only during low attendance times because experiences like you had would just ruin my day. Here's hoping on our next trips all the rude people have stayed home.