Saving a spot in line ...Taboo?

[lizard1]

Generally speaking this is not OK. There's a big difference between leaving the line to take a kid to the restroom then rejoining your party and meeting someone in line while you were doing something else (another attraction, eating, etc.)

This. I understand if a little one suddenly has to use the restroom 1/2 hour into an hour long wait at TSMM. However, getting in line with a place holder, when they are participating in another activity of their choice that maybe others have opted not to do in order to ride TSMM before the crowds hit is another story. That, I would consider to be RUDE, and no different than the groups of 10 that weren't quite at the entrance when the rest of their group entered the line.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

No. This is a no, no.

 

[asmit4]

I think it really depends on the situation. A&E waits have been over 2 hours- sometimes as much as 3-4 hours. If you have experience with a 4yo- you know they aren't going to make it 4 hours without going potty.

To me- there is a difference of being in a 3 hour line- leaving quick while asking 1 in your group to hold the spot and coming right back in line in 5 minutes after using the facilities or buying a bottle of water.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Personally I don't care if this happens, but I'd be interested how those who feel it is awful feel given the recent A&E standby times of 3-4 hours? You really want to be behind a 4 year old girl and her parents for 4 hours in the summer heat, or would you prefer to be behind her Dad for 3.5 hours while her and her Mom go on rides?

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

One post and it's antagonistic? I'm thinking you like trouble.

 

[JimmyV]

Here’s a story that I think puts this all in perspective. One day while we were in line at Peter Pan, a few groups ahead of us was a mother and daughter. The father and younger son were outside the queue, as the little one decided that he didn’t want to get on a “scary Pirate Ship”. After about 20 minutes of the mother and daughter zig-zagging through the line, the little boy started to cry because he had a change of heart and now wanted to join his mommy and sister on the ride. At this point, the father sheepishly and apologetically asked the people between he and his wife if he could go under/over the ropes and chains to join the rest of his party. He did not have to cut through the entire length of the line because of the way it wound back and forth. He only needed to go through two sets of chains which meant that only three or four groups would have to make way for he and his son. Now, the crowd could have said:

1. No. You and your son can get in the back of the line and ride separately, and when your wife and daughter finish the ride, they can wait 30 minutes for you at the exit. (This is an accepted solution here on the Dis.) Or,

2. No. Your wife and daughter can let 20 minutes worth of people pass them by while they remain stationary, and that way you can catch up with them. (This is another accepted solution here on the Dis.) Or,

3. Sure. No problem. We “get it”. Slide on by. (This is a "no-no" here).


Guess which one happened. Yup. #3. Pixie dust, magic and smiles abounded. But here on the Dis, this is the exact wrong solution. Now, is there a difference between a young boy who has a change of heart and someone else who was off signing up for Jedi Training? Sure. But in order for me to know and appreciate the difference, I would have to ask questions that, frankly, are none of my business. In practice, I find that people are far more accommodating than they pretend to be here. Who wants a silly confrontation to ruin a day at Disney World?

 

[Sunday]

I will check back in at 10pm EST. I expect everyone to do their part to make this a 25 page extravaganza. Hop to.

 

[wdwrich]

Here’s a story that I think puts this all in perspective. One day while we were in line at Peter Pan, a few groups ahead of us was a mother and daughter. The father and younger son were outside the queue, as the little one decided that he didn’t want to get on a “scary Pirate Ship”. After about 20 minutes of the mother and daughter zig-zagging through the line, the little boy started to cry because he had a change of heart and now wanted to join his mommy and sister on the ride. At this point, the father sheepishly and apologetically asked the people between he and his wife if he could go under/over the ropes and chains to join the rest of his party. He did not have to cut through the entire length of the line because of the way it wound back and forth. He only needed to go through two sets of chains which meant that only three or four groups would have to make way for he and his son. Now, the crowd could have said:

1. No. You and your son can get in the back of the line and ride separately, and when your wife and daughter finish the ride, they can wait 30 minutes for you at the exit. (This is an accepted solution here on the Dis.) Or,

2. No. Your wife and daughter can let 20 minutes worth of people pass them by while they remain stationary, and that way you can catch up with them. (This is another accepted solution here on the Dis.) Or,

3. Sure. No problem. We “get it”. Slide on by. (This is a "no-no" here).


Guess which one happened. Yup. #3. Pixie dust, magic and smiles abounded. But here on the Dis, this is the exact wrong solution. Now, is there a difference between a young boy who has a change of heart and someone else who was off signing up for Jedi Training? Sure. But in order for me to know and appreciate the difference, I would have to ask questions that, frankly, are none of my business. In practice, I find that people are far more accommodating than they pretend to be here. Who wants a silly confrontation to ruin a day at Disney World?

In the situation described, I certainly agree that what happened was the correct outcome. Where I have a problem is when one person in line is "holding" a spot for a large group. That's a totally different scenario.

 

[JimmyV]

That's a totally different scenario.

I agree. But people here seem to think that we are all omnipotent and can sniff out the frauds from the people in a legitimate bind. Without that ability, judgment calls must be made. And in practice, I find that people err on the side of permissiveness and not confrontation.

 

[robinb]

Here’s a story that I think puts this all in perspective. One day while we were in line at Peter Pan, a few groups ahead of us was a mother and daughter. The father and younger son were outside the queue, as the little one decided that he didn’t want to get on a “scary Pirate Ship”. After about 20 minutes of the mother and daughter zig-zagging through the line, the little boy started to cry because he had a change of heart and now wanted to join his mommy and sister on the ride. At this point, the father sheepishly and apologetically asked the people between he and his wife if he could go under/over the ropes and chains to join the rest of his party. He did not have to cut through the entire length of the line because of the way it wound back and forth. He only needed to go through two sets of chains which meant that only three or four groups would have to make way for he and his son. Now, the crowd could have said:

1. No. You and your son can get in the back of the line and ride separately, and when your wife and daughter finish the ride, they can wait 30 minutes for you at the exit. (This is an accepted solution here on the Dis.) Or,

2. No. Your wife and daughter can let 20 minutes worth of people pass them by while they remain stationary, and that way you can catch up with them. (This is another accepted solution here on the Dis.) Or,

3. Sure. No problem. We “get it”. Slide on by. (This is a "no-no" here).


Guess which one happened. Yup. #3. Pixie dust, magic and smiles abounded. But here on the Dis, this is the exact wrong solution. Now, is there a difference between a young boy who has a change of heart and someone else who was off signing up for Jedi Training? Sure. But in order for me to know and appreciate the difference, I would have to ask questions that, frankly, are none of my business. In practice, I find that people are far more accommodating than they pretend to be here. Who wants a silly confrontation to ruin a day at Disney World?

Totally sweet story! I would smile and let the little boy and his dad in front of me too .

I guess that all the line jumpers who have pushed by me have a child who changed their mind about the ride, but frankly I think their time is simply more important than my own. I don't see the difference between people saving a spot for 1 or 20. Every person who chooses to do something else instead of entering the line with their family is putting their needs and desires before everyone else behind the "placeholder" family members. The polite thing to do is for the family to wait at the end of the line for the laggards. I guess I finally found one positive about FP+ ... no more FP runners joining their families in line .

 

[Aurora0427]

If a two year old has to get out of line with mom to use the potty so they don't pee their pants, that is totally fine. Come on people, this is Disney with little kids. However, that is about where I draw the line. My daughter has been at age 2 and 2.5, and has waited in line at every attraction. If the line is too long, we don't wait. There really aren't that many good reasons in my book for holding multiple spots in line, and it really pisses me off when 5 adults join the one adult in front of me. My suggestion to the OP would have been to sign up for JA first, then get in line as a family for TSM.

 

[Disneylover99]

Here’s a story that I think puts this all in perspective. One day while we were in line at Peter Pan, a few groups ahead of us was a mother and daughter. The father and younger son were outside the queue, as the little one decided that he didn’t want to get on a “scary Pirate Ship”. After about 20 minutes of the mother and daughter zig-zagging through the line, the little boy started to cry because he had a change of heart and now wanted to join his mommy and sister on the ride. At this point, the father sheepishly and apologetically asked the people between he and his wife if he could go under/over the ropes and chains to join the rest of his party. He did not have to cut through the entire length of the line because of the way it wound back and forth. He only needed to go through two sets of chains which meant that only three or four groups would have to make way for he and his son. Now, the crowd could have said:

1. No. You and your son can get in the back of the line and ride separately, and when your wife and daughter finish the ride, they can wait 30 minutes for you at the exit. (This is an accepted solution here on the Dis.) Or,

2. No. Your wife and daughter can let 20 minutes worth of people pass them by while they remain stationary, and that way you can catch up with them. (This is another accepted solution here on the Dis.) Or,

3. Sure. No problem. We “get it”. Slide on by. (This is a "no-no" here).


Guess which one happened. Yup. #3. Pixie dust, magic and smiles abounded. But here on the Dis, this is the exact wrong solution. Now, is there a difference between a young boy who has a change of heart and someone else who was off signing up for Jedi Training? Sure. But in order for me to know and appreciate the difference, I would have to ask questions that, frankly, are none of my business. In practice, I find that people are far more accommodating than they pretend to be here. Who wants a silly confrontation to ruin a day at Disney World?

I think that most people on the Dis would agree that 3 is the right thing to do and most people would probably not have a problem this. Circumstances changed and it was really not an issue of saving spots.

But to answer the OP's original question, the answer is still no.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Sounds to me like there are 2 different topics being discussed here. The difference between a group of people, and the example the OP asked about with it being a single family. The tsk, tsk, tsk crowd seems to be focusing more on the former rather than the topic at hand.

 

[minniemous]

Well this is what I encountered last year on Toy Story. We had no fast pass. We kept trying to go on the ride but the line was huge. At the end of night I got on the line with my daughter and waited as the ride shut down for a while and then resumed. I was on line for perhaps 50 minutes.

When I was about to make that last turn just before you head up the steps a group of teenagers came by saying excuse me. There was about 6 of them. I am not confrontational although I was inside steaming. As they passed by one stepped on my foot to boot and it really hurt!

They joined their parents right in front of me. Then proceeded to talk about their scores they just got on the ride...that is right.... they had just ridden the ride with a fast pass and were now joining these two adults which I am sure was the parents of a few of them at least.

Someone behind me did start something with them and it got very heated. They did not leave they rode the ride and that was that.

I would say like many have, unless it is a bathroom situation just do not do it. Even if people are gracious about it, the reality is they are still not happy and it is just not cool. It is not even the 1 extra minute that it takes. It is the knowledge that a person just sauntered onto the ride when you had to sit their with aching feet for almost an hour.

I have no problem with the question. That is what the purpose of all this is, I commend you for asking because you care about the correctness of the procedure !!

 

[SandiR]

As has been said, if you're a mom and kids and you're holding the line for daddy, I really don't care. One time, though, I was waiting in the blazing sun with my kids for Mad Tea Party with one guy ahead of me (and a few people ahead of him). All of a sudden, about six more guys ducked underneath and joined the one guy ahead of me. They seemed to think nothing of cutting in front of just me, but every person behind me. It annoyed me, to say the least.

 

[wdwrich]

Sounds to me like there are 2 different topics being discussed here. The difference between a group of people, and the example the OP asked about with it being a single family. The tsk, tsk, tsk crowd seems to be focusing more on the former rather than the topic at hand.

You are correct in realizing there are two different scenarios being examined here. However, your "tsk, tsk, tsk" comment is somewhat demeaning to those who believe the former issue is genuine rudeness and inconsiderate to those folks already waiting in line.

Shouldn't be too long before a moderator closes this thread.

 

[JimmyV]

Sounds to me like there are 2 different topics being discussed here. The difference between a group of people, and the example the OP asked about with it being a single family. The tsk, tsk, tsk crowd seems to be focusing more on the former rather than the topic at hand.

I think you nailed it. A family member joining another family member may be "wrong", it may be "impolite" and it may be "rude". But it doesn't ruin anyone's day and should not be the source of locked-arm confrontations, IMHO.

 

[awdwnut]

Totally sweet story! I would smile and let the little boy and his dad in front of me too .

I guess that all the line jumpers who have pushed by me have a child who changed their mind about the ride, but frankly I think their time is simply more important than my own. I don't see the difference between people saving a spot for 1 or 20. Every person who chooses to do something else instead of entering the line with their family is putting their needs and desires before everyone else behind the "placeholder" family members. The polite thing to do is for the family to wait at the end of the line for the laggards. I guess I finally found one positive about FP+ ... no more FP runners joining their families in line .

Exactly!!! While I have occasionally seen the saving a spot in line thing happen in WDW, I was rather surprised to see how common this practice is in DL. We were there for four days at the end of last month and I observed way more of this in four days at DL than I ever have on our normal 2 week WDW trips.

awdwnut

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

I think you nailed it. A family member joining another family member may be "wrong", it may be "impolite" and it may be "rude". But it doesn't ruin anyone's day and should not be the source of locked-arm confrontations, IMHO.

Exactly, I don't get is the outrage if it doesn't affect your wait time at all. You're on line for Haunted Mansion a a Dad is in front of you, 5 minutes before you get on the Mom and child joins him. They are all going to be riding in the same car and you will still get the exact same car you were going to anyway.

I struggle to see the problem.

 

[bweagle]

It happened a lot on our recent trip. The only time I was truly annoyed was in line for animation academy. We had counted the people in front of us and were going to easily make it in the next session, so we waited. Then as they started to let the line in ( we were in the 2nd wave lap desk group) a person at the front of the line waved in a group to join her. Added 9 people to the line and we were the first group "stopped" to wait for the next session.