Saving rows of seats for others in the Walt Disney Theater: Enough Already!!!

[kayaker35]

I would say that if someone enters the theater and takes a seat, it is their seat. If they get up to go to the bathroom or to get a snack, it would make sense that they could come back to that seat. However, if someone else comes into the theater and claims a seat for a person who has not physically taken possession of it, it's then it's a seat being saved for a party yet to arrive, and that is against Disney stated and printed policy.

It doesn't seem too much to ask for a party to arrive together at the theater to claim their seats. It only creates animosity when some people think they're "special" while the rest of us are adhering to stated and printed policy. It would be nice if CMs enforced it, but it seems they won't unless those who are being denied seats start complaining on the spot and have the CM tell the offending party that they will have to wait until their entire party arrives before they take seats if it's important that they be seated together.

 

[wdwlover25]

I like to arrive early to get a good seat. DS and I will wait approx 1/2 hour to ensure this. My type A+ DH will not wait. I agree that if you want to sit together - arrive at the theatre together. I will not save his seat because I know he's not "in the bathroom"... so he knows he may or may not sit with us. No problem.

I would guess the majority of seat savers want to have the prime seats and arrive early but then they also want their entire extended family to have prime seats as well. I will also guess many people are like my DH and have way more important things to do besides arriving early to wait for the show to start.

IMO the seat you/family (entering together) get... should correlate with the amount of effort put in.

 

[BrettW]

Like most 'rules', it comes down to what is going to please the majority of their customers.

I imagine that their concern about 'strict' enforcement is, how do you handle the 'just going to the bathroom'...or 'just going to the concession stand'...or 'just ran back to the room to get my glasses' etc. excuses. As already demonstrated a couple of pages ago, some will get irritated by being asked not to sit in any empty seat, no matter where its erstwhile occupant is, and the crew is understandably not eager to play referee over those kinds of squabbles.

I don't know why they don't bother to restrict the truly egregious seat saving, however (e.g, one or two people saving multiple seats in prime real estate).

Agreed. Easy to enforce and it will have the approval of everyone (except the seat savers).

 

[kayaker35]

I like to arrive early to get a good seat. DS and I will wait approx 1/2 hour to ensure this. My type A+ DH will not wait. I agree that if you want to sit together - arrive at the theatre together. I will not save his seat because I know he's not "in the bathroom"... so he knows he may or may not sit with us. No problem.

I would guess the majority of seat savers want to have the prime seats and arrive early but then they also want their entire extended family to have prime seats as well. I will also guess many people are like my DH and have way more important things to do besides arriving early to wait for the show to start.

IMO the seat you/family (entering together) get... should correlate with the amount of effort put in.

We also arrive early to get good seats. It's disheartening to get there and find someone standing guard over an entire row. It simply isn't fair. Those who arrive early should get the empty seats of their choosing.

This whole situation reminds me a bit of being served at the cutting counter of a fabric store, only to have the clerk receive a phone call from a customer who is calling in from home with questions and/or requests. Why should I have to wait while another customer has essentially cut in line ahead of me? If what I'm buying isn't all that essential, I just turn and walk out. If enough people did that, maybe they'd put the caller on hold instead of the customer in front of them.

It all boils down to being polite and respecting other people. Those who are saving seats are putting their (often) lazy friends or family who couldn't get themselves to the theater ahead of someone who is entitled the the seats they have on reserve.... we ALL paid for the cruise and deserve to have the same chance at the seats of our choice. It just irks me that anyone would think otherwise!

 

[castlegazer]

You know, truthfully now everyone, I for one have never seen any battles over one seat being saved - ever. I haven't cruised a million cruises, but enough, and I go to every show.

Now have you really seen a battle when someone tries to sit next to someone and they say, "I am sorry that's my husband's seat or my daughter's", etc?

Really?!

This seems to be causing a lot of "what if" anxiety that I don't think is warranted or cause for concern for any newbie cruiser reading this thread panicking about their husband and his need to go to the bathroom or grandma still walking her walker down the hall while you go in and get a seat or part of your family is being interviewed on the red carpet while the rest go in to the theater.

I stand up and declare to you all reading this who have never cruised before:

One seat saved for a member of your party will never be noticed!!!



Cruise on, people, cruise on!!!

 

[Zeppelin]

I would say that if someone enters the theater and takes a seat, it is their seat. If they get up to go to the bathroom or to get a snack, it would make sense that they could come back to that seat. However, if someone else comes into the theater and claims a seat for a person who has not physically taken possession of it, it's then it's a seat being saved for a party yet to arrive, and that is against Disney stated and printed policy.

It doesn't seem too much to ask for a party to arrive together at the theater to claim their seats. It only creates animosity when some people think they're "special" while the rest of us are adhering to stated and printed policy. It would be nice if CMs enforced it, but it seems they won't unless those who are being denied seats start complaining on the spot and have the CM tell the offending party that they will have to wait until their entire party arrives before they take seats if it's important that they be seated together.

i started the thread not about saving one or two seats for someone who came and had to go to the bathroom and is having their seat saved....it was about one person slogging to the Walt Disney Theater to save 5/6/7/8 seats for people who take their sweet time to get to the theater...and more times then not I've witnessed its kids that are saving the seats- which is awful for a variety of reasons...

i agree 100% about CM's enforcing it- when it happened to me and i wanted to complain i could not find a single CM- just waiters/waitresses....

moving forward i will notify the person they are breaking the rules and just take the seats..granted thats not for another 11 months!!

You know, truthfully now everyone, I for one have never seen any battles over one seat being saved - ever. I haven't cruised a million cruises, but enough, and I go to every show.

Now have you really seen a battle when someone tries to sit next to someone and they say, "I am sorry that's my husband's seat or my daughter's", etc?

Really?!

This seems to be causing a lot of "what if" anxiety that I don't think is warranted or cause for concern for any newbie cruiser reading this thread panicking about their husband and his need to go to the bathroom or grandma still walking her walker down the hall while you go in and get a seat or part of your family is being interviewed on the red carpet while the rest go in to the theater.

I stand up and declare to you all reading this who have never cruised before:

One seat saved for a member of your party will never be noticed!!!



Cruise on, people, cruise on!!!

again- its not about saving one seat...its about people who feel they have the right to save a row or half a row of seats for others yet to arrive...

 

[castlegazer]

i started the thread not about saving one or two seats or someone who came and had to go to the bathroom having their seat saved....it was about one person slogging to the Walt Disney Theater to save 5/6/7/8 seats for people who take their sweet a$$ time to get to the theater...and more times then not I've witnessed its kids that are saving the seats- which is awful for a variety of reasons...

i agree 100% about CM's enforcing it- when it happened to me and i wanted to complain i could not find a single CM- just waiters/waitresses....

moving forward i will notify the person they are breaking the rules and just take the seats..granted thats not for another 11 months!!




again- its not about one seat...its about people who feel they have the right to save a row or half a row of seats for others yet to arrive...

exactly and I applaud you for coming back and clarifying your original intent!

I posted to say to everyone reading who may have not cruised yet that I don't think people reading this long thread should panic as they are planning their cruise and worrying if they can get up to pee!

 

[kayaker35]

One seat saved for a member of your party will never be noticed!!!



Cruise on, people, cruise on!!!

Agreed! It's the row-savers that are the big offenders, and they should spend their time putting a fire under their family, rather than annoying others by saving a row of seats for them! That is the intent of the policy, and it should be enforced. When it isn't, it just annoys those of us who were taught that you follow the rules.

That said, it's a slippery slope. As someone else pointed out.... if saving one seat is okay, why not 2?.... 3?.... 4? What's the cut-off point?

 

[slg]

I personally don't mind if people save seats...all the seats are good, so what is the problem? This is Disney, so why shouldn't families want to sit together? I agree that it would be best if everyone went at the same time, but sometimes, things happen that stop that...if my child needs to use the bathroom do the rest of us have to sit and wait? Why? Why shouldn't 4 of us sit down and save one seat for the kid in the bathroom. Sometimes my child can take a while, especially on vacation when digestive systems are a bit out of wack.

I don't think people should get so upset about things. Yes, it is mildly annoying but there are worse things that can happen and honestly, people just want to have a good time.

I wouldn't mind at all if DCL said that families COULD save seats. We try not to do it, but occasionally it happens and we may save one or two seats.

I try not to get too frazzled when I am on vacation. Otherwise, there are a million things I would be complaining about...my pet peeve is kids in adult areas. Ah well.I'm on a ship Hurray!

 

[kayaker35]

I personally don't mind if people save seats...all the seats are good, so what is the problem? This is Disney, so why shouldn't families want to sit together? I agree that it would be best if everyone went at the same time, but sometimes, things happen that stop that...if my child needs to use the bathroom do the rest of us have to sit and wait? Why? Why shouldn't 4 of us sit down and save one seat for the kid in the bathroom. Sometimes my child can take a while, especially on vacation when digestive systems are a bit out of wack.

I don't think people should get so upset about things. Yes, it is mildly annoying but there are worse things that can happen and honestly, people just want to have a good time.

I wouldn't mind at all if DCL said that families COULD save seats. We try not to do it, but occasionally it happens and we may save one or two seats.

I try not to get too frazzled when I am on vacation. Otherwise, there are a million things I would be complaining about...my pet peeve is kids in adult areas. Ah well.I'm on a ship Hurray!

Can you imagine the chaos if everyone started saving seats? Woe to the person whose saved seats overlapped those of another.... it might be worth the price of admission, lol.

I think the point of this discussion is that there IS a policy in effect that is designed to avoid the kind of chaos I just described. There's no reason families shouldn't sit together. It's easy.... enter the theater together and take the best available seats. It doesn't seem unreasonable to expect people to do that.

Everyone on the ship is on vacation. They shouldn't have to deal with people who insist on disregarding stated and printed policy. There's no excuse for not knowing what the policy is. It's common courtesy to abide by it.

JMHO

 

[over50visits]

(10) If you are only saving one seat for someone who has not yet arrived, please see rule #1

 

[kayaker35]

Everyone has a better time when everyone follows the rules. There are always going to be people who don't like a particular policy.... because they want to ignore it. The policy is put in place because it is fair to everyone. Because someone doesn't like it doesn't mean that the policy is wrong... the person who ignores it is wrong.

I still don't understand why people think it is such a burden to have everyone come to the theater together. Get there early if you want the "prime" seats. If you can't get there early, then take the best available seats. What's the problem??

 

[jimsubry]

I was reading this thread before my cruise wondering if this kind of thing really did happen as often as everyone made out. Then while waiting for a show to start while on the cruise, I had to smile when a family in the row in front of us was sitting staggered: dad, seat, 5 y.o. boy, seat, 10 y.o. girl. They all kept nervously looking back toward the doors, right up until the show was almost ready to start. Someone came along and asked the dad if those seats were taken, to which he pretended to ignore him...until the person asked the little girl and she had to give her dad a look like, "What am I supposed to say?" But at the last moment the mom and a baby came rushing down the aisle to claim those seats. ha ha!

 

[Weedy]

For you new cruisers out there. This makes this sound like a big problem and it is not. The seat saving does happen every cruise but only in the first few center rows.

I have walked in a few minutes before a show and have been able to sit a few rows from the front but have to sit in the seats are on the right or the left not the center ones. You can walk in and sit 10 rows back with out a problem.

The floor seats are all good. Personally I don't like the balcony (Fantasy and Dream). If you sit in the first two rows (of the balcony) the rail is in your line of vision. If you sit in the "box seats" on the right and left you cannot see all the stage.

Don't let the seat hogs ruin your trip. There are lots of great seats. Just remember the seat hogs are the same people that drive slow in the left lane.

 

[kayaker35]

For you new cruisers out there. This makes this sound like a big problem and it is not. The seat saving does happen every cruise but only in the first few center rows.

I have walked in a few minutes before a show and have been able to sit a few rows from the front but have to sit in the seats are on the right or the left not the center ones. You can walk in and sit 10 rows back with out a problem.

The floor seats are all good. Personally I don't like the balcony (Fantasy and Dream). If you sit in the first two rows (of the balcony) the rail is in your line of vision. If you sit in the "box seats" on the right and left you cannot see all the stage.

Don't let the seat hogs ruin your trip. There are lots of great seats. Just remember the seat hogs are the same people that drive slow in the left lane.

I think you miss the point. There are several reminders given before the show, and the policy is printed in the Navigator. People should not be allowed to save rows. If I get to the theater and there is a center front seat available, it should be mine, not someone who was too "busy" to get to the theater in time to get the seat.

Granted, in the scheme of things this isn't a big deal, but it shows a lack of courtesy and respect for others. This is a poor example to be setting for children. When there is a stated policy, people should adhere to it.

On our last cruise there were row savers at every show. It simply isn't fair to those who get to the theater on time to have to choose another seat because of someone who chooses to ignore the policy. It's the same as cutting in line. It's rude. If your group can't come together, then work on THEM, don't take seats from others who DID come early. Let the latecomers take those other great seats you've described. As the title of the thread says.... "Enough Already!"

 

[Weedy]

wrong post sorry

 

[slg]

it is rude, but I'm not going to get too worked up about it.

There are always good seats. Personally I don 't like the front rows!

 

[kayaker35]

I didn't miss the point I was trying to assure the new cruisers that every show is not a big fight for seats. The point has been made in the last 133 post on the same topic.

There are no big fights, but there are sometimes hard feelings when people are told that seats are saved. The only reason there isn't a bigger problem is that the people who are denied their choice of seats have better manners than those who are choosing to ignore Disney policy.

It isn't a big deal.... it's just an indication of some people's bad behavior. You're right... these are the people who drive slowly in the left lane, cut othes off in traffic, cut in line at the grocery store or the bank... the special people who don't think rules apply to them. DCL would be doing a public service if they had a few CMs available to tell the row hogs that if they want to sit together they need to come with their party. If they're going to have a policy, they should enforce it. People pay a premium for a Disney cruise. They should expect to be treated equally, and not have to take the matter into their own hands when some disrespectful people decide to save an entire row for their personal VIPs.

It isn't going to spoil anyone's vacation, but it does put a sour note on it when some people choose to flout rules while the vast majority adhere to them.

JMHO

 

[kayaker35]

it is rude, but I'm not going to get too worked up about it.

There are always good seats. Personally I don 't like the front rows!

If it doesn't affect you personally,, it doesn't matter, right? The heck with the DCL policy and the kids who are disappointed because they didn't get that seat in the front row because some row hog has claimed them for people too lazy to get to the theater on time.

I give up. It's easy to see why this stuff goes on. Nobody cares... unless it affects the personally. But woe to anyone who disregards a rule that inconveniences THEM, lol

Good grief.

 

[slg]

I didn't say it didn't matter...you don't need to get hostile. I just said I'm not going to let it wreck my vacation. And I have been on 10 cruises with my 3 kids and I have never had them be upset or disappointed about seats.

I think this is a valid point, but honestly, I'm not going to get too upset about a family saving a seat for someone. If it is a row, yet it is annoying, but no more annoying than little kids running through the adult areas...I even had a family bring in their little kids to the piano bar at midnight and no one said anything! I would rather people play by the rules, there are always exceptions (such as a little kid going to the bathroom) there is no need to get upset!

There used to be a big problem with people taking photos in the theatres in the past which no longer happens! Perhaps if the CM started informing people and calling them out on the gross violations, the issue would resolve itself.

You should all write letters perhaps or talk to the cruise director directly after the show. They are always around the ship. If it doesn't upset me, I'm not going to do it, if it did I certainly would. But no need to be upset with anyone on these boards that offer an opinion.