Speaking of males in the women's restroom - Disneyland Paris

[KristaTX]

My husband and I were at Disneyland Paris in December. I've been meaning to ask about this, but forgot until today's "boys in the ladies restroom thread."

I was in one of the women's restrooms, and my husband had gone into the men's. There were lots of other women and girls in the women's room, too. The rooms were definitely marked as being for males and females just like they would be here.

As I came out of my stall and walked toward the sink area, I noticed as I passed by that someone was in the stall two doors down from mine, with the door wide open, using the toilet, standing up. I realized it was a grown man .

As I washed my hands, he came to the sink area. This was definitely a man - no doubts about it. Probably in his 40s, about 6 feet tall, facial hair. I wasn't freaked out since I was in Europe, but I was definitely surprised. I looked around to see if any other ladies had a wide-eyed look on their face, but no one did . The male/female restrooms were not connected and open to each other - I checked for that on my way out. The men's room was open for business, and not busy - I asked my husband afterwards.

I know customs are "different" in Europe, but there was a clearly marked men's and women's restroom just like the restrooms at the parks here. Disneyland Paris felt pretty much like being in a park here (except for the 4 inches of real snow on the ground and huge snowflakes falling all day ). And it wasn't like he accidentally went in there - there were tons of women he would have noticed if that were the case and no urinals.

So anyway, next time someone gets upset about a 7 year old boy being in your restroom, remind yourself never to go to Disneyland Paris . Or Paris at all for that matter.

 

[Briarmom]

I've been to Paris and Disneyland Paris dozens of times. I've never seen a man in a woman's restroom.

 

[Handbag Lady]

My husband and I were at Disneyland Paris in December. I've been meaning to ask about this, but forgot until today's "boys in the ladies restroom thread."

I was in one of the women's restrooms, and my husband had gone into the men's. There were lots of other women and girls in the women's room, too. The rooms were definitely marked as being for males and females just like they would be here.

As I came out of my stall and walked toward the sink area, I noticed as I passed by that someone was in the stall two doors down from mine, with the door wide open, using the toilet, standing up. I realized it was a grown man .

As I washed my hands, he came to the sink area. This was definitely a man - no doubts about it. Probably in his 40s, about 6 feet tall, facial hair. I wasn't freaked out since I was in Europe, but I was definitely surprised. I looked around to see if any other ladies had a wide-eyed look on their face, but no one did . The male/female restrooms were not connected and open to each other - I checked for that on my way out. The men's room was open for business, and not busy - I asked my husband afterwards.

I know customs are "different" in Europe, but there was a clearly marked men's and women's restroom just like the restrooms at the parks here. Disneyland Paris felt pretty much like being in a park here (except for the 4 inches of real snow on the ground and huge snowflakes falling all day ). And it wasn't like he accidentally went in there - there were tons of women he would have noticed if that were the case and no urinals.

So anyway, next time someone gets upset about a 7 year old boy being in your restroom, remind yourself never to go to Disneyland Paris . Or Paris at all for that matter.

I would have fainted. Then screamed. Then fainted again. (See my post in the other thread.)


Perhaps:

it really was a woman. An ugly man-looking woman
the person had a mental issue
it was a candidate for a sex-change operation (Switzerland isn't THAT far from Paris)
they lost a bet
They do serve alcohol inside of DLP, yes?

 

[KristaTX]

I've been to Paris and Disneyland Paris dozens of times. I've never seen a man in a woman's restroom.

It was definitely weird. I may have, but I don't even remember seeing any little boys in any women's restrooms in Europe like you do here in the states.

What struck me as so strange was that I hadn't noticed it as being a normal thing for all bathrooms to be considered unisex regardless of signage, but still no other women seemed to have a curious look on their face about it, let alone saying anything .

It wasn't an ugly woman. If it was a woman who was in the process of a sex change, she/he had to be almost finished with it to the point where the men's restroom would be appropriate. If it was a man undergoing a sex change, he wasn't close enough to being done with it to use the women's .

 

[pogo791]

Like Briarmom, I've been to Paris (and France in general) as well as to Paris Disneyland quite often, and I would say that this is really unusual. He was definitely where he should not have been.

But the reverse wouldn't be true. Being male, I have my own experience with the reverse situation in France: it would not be unusual at all in France for women to invade the men's room, should there be a long line in the women's room, and apparently lots of space in the men's.

 

[phred52]

Never ran into this in disneyland Paris, or anywhere except in NY state. In a public shower, no less!

We were camping, bathroom had 4 shower stalls. I have 2 dd's. They were young teens at the time. 1st shower was occupied, I get into second and lathered up. My one dd was shampooing in the 3rd shower, while youngest dd was a slow poke, had just finished undressing.

I dropped my soap, bent to grab it and happened to notice the shower next to mine was occupied by a man. I called out "time to GO"! Got some protest from them (obviously) so I used our "emergency" word as I threw my towel around myself and got us out of there. Have to say I was proud of how they scrambled and evacuated without even one further word!

We had exited and gone maybe 10 feet before they were whispering furiously, demanding to know WHAT was WRONG! My dh was waiting for us outside, shocked to see us full of soap and wearing towels. Thank goodness it was dark. I explained, then started laughing hysterically now that we were safe.

Dh was mad and waited to confront the man while we went back to campsite then on to a second bathroom to rinse & finish. Police came but the man slipped out a back door and 'got away'.

This episode taught me a couple of things....

There is a lot more safety in numbers. Imagine if one of my teens had gone in there alone! DH was outside but it didn't even enter my mind to yell, I just got us out of there....
A family "emergency" word is a GOOD thing! A wet underdressed teenage girl will not willing go outside ... unless Mom utters that magic word.
Its a powerful thing. I've never abused that word, it means instant obedience and that night was....priceless!

 

[Liberty Belle]

Never ran into this in disneyland Paris, or anywhere except in NY state. In a public shower, no less!

We were camping, bathroom had 4 shower stalls. I have 2 dd's. They were young teens at the time. 1st shower was occupied, I get into second and lathered up. My one dd was shampooing in the 3rd shower, while youngest dd was a slow poke, had just finished undressing.

I dropped my soap, bent to grab it and happened to notice the shower next to mine was occupied by a man. I called out "time to GO"! Got some protest from them (obviously) so I used our "emergency" word as I threw my towel around myself and got us out of there. Have to say I was proud of how they scrambled and evacuated without even one further word!

We had exited and gone maybe 10 feet before they were whispering furiously, demanding to know WHAT was WRONG! My dh was waiting for us outside, shocked to see us full of soap and wearing towels. Thank goodness it was dark. I explained, then started laughing hysterically now that we were safe.

Dh was mad and waited to confront the man while we went back to campsite then on to a second bathroom to rinse & finish. Police came but the man slipped out a back door and 'got away'.

This episode taught me a couple of things....

There is a lot more safety in numbers. Imagine if one of my teens had gone in there alone! DH was outside but it didn't even enter my mind to yell, I just got us out of there....
A family "emergency" word is a GOOD thing! A wet underdressed teenage girl will not willing go outside ... unless Mom utters that magic word.
Its a powerful thing. I've never abused that word, it means instant obedience and that night was....priceless!

Eww.

And that's a good idea about the emergency word. I'm going to make one up for us.

 

[emiliezola]

My family and I go into the parks one time per month--sometimes two. It is a very common occurance for men to be in the women's restrooms. Sometimes it will be fathers bringing in their daughters-- or sometimes it will be just the man. Also, we have both male and female attendants that clean the restrooms. You never know what you're going to see. My daughters are still young enough that I am always with them, but after five years of living in Paris I still don't understand this Disneyland Paris oddity. Every once in a while we run into men inside women's roadside restrooms, also. Go figure.

 

[Andy B]

I would have fainted. Then screamed. Then fainted again. (See my post in the other thread.)


Perhaps:

it really was a woman. An ugly man-looking woman
the person had a mental issue
it was a candidate for a sex-change operation (Switzerland isn't THAT far from Paris)

What has Switzerland to do with anything?

 

[Andy B]

My husband and I were at Disneyland Paris in December. I've been meaning to ask about this, but forgot until today's "boys in the ladies restroom thread."

I was in one of the women's restrooms, and my husband had gone into the men's. There were lots of other women and girls in the women's room, too. The rooms were definitely marked as being for males and females just like they would be here.

As I came out of my stall and walked toward the sink area, I noticed as I passed by that someone was in the stall two doors down from mine, with the door wide open, using the toilet, standing up. I realized it was a grown man .

As I washed my hands, he came to the sink area. This was definitely a man - no doubts about it. Probably in his 40s, about 6 feet tall, facial hair. I wasn't freaked out since I was in Europe, but I was definitely surprised. I looked around to see if any other ladies had a wide-eyed look on their face, but no one did . The male/female restrooms were not connected and open to each other - I checked for that on my way out. The men's room was open for business, and not busy - I asked my husband afterwards.

I know customs are "different" in Europe, but there was a clearly marked men's and women's restroom just like the restrooms at the parks here. Disneyland Paris felt pretty much like being in a park here (except for the 4 inches of real snow on the ground and huge snowflakes falling all day ). And it wasn't like he accidentally went in there - there were tons of women he would have noticed if that were the case and no urinals.

So anyway, next time someone gets upset about a 7 year old boy being in your restroom, remind yourself never to go to Disneyland Paris . Or Paris at all for that matter.

Please don't lump all of Europe together.

 

[KristaTX]

My family and I go into the parks one time per month--sometimes two. It is a very common occurance for men to be in the women's restrooms. Sometimes it will be fathers bringing in their daughters-- or sometimes it will be just the man. Also, we have both male and female attendants that clean the restrooms. You never know what you're going to see. My daughters are still young enough that I am always with them, but after five years of living in Paris I still don't understand this Disneyland Paris oddity. Every once in a while we run into men inside women's roadside restrooms, also. Go figure.

Thanks for posting. That is interesting that it's not completely unheard of. I didn't see any kids with this guy.

If he's going to be in the women's restroom, he could have at least closed the stall door . I don't care who the person is; I don't want to walk by and see them using the toilet. And before any DIS nitpickers come along and accuse me of this other topic of bizarre bathroom behavior - no, I don't walk by and glance through the cracks of restroom stalls. But it does catch my attention if out of my peripheral vision I see activity in a stall with the door wide open. Usually it's just a mom helping her child and there's not enough room to close the door and I think nothing of it. But this time it wasn't.

 

[BunsenH]

I'm hung up on the hand washing.....

Maybe it was a woman..............or a man who would be embarassed to be seen washing his hands in the men's room.

 

[KristaTX]

 

[Handbag Lady]

What has Switzerland to do with anything?

Eons ago, that was the only place one could get a sex-change operation. I'm so sorry for my age.

 

[bgirl29]

We had the same experience about 9 years ago but it was on our drive down to disney. I believe we were in Tennesse at a rest stop. It was a very weird feeling and I was really glad that it was a busy rest area.

 

[manning]

I don't know if this is true. I had a high school teacher who could tell some stories. This was back in 1960. She traveled overseas often,

She claimed one year while visiting Turkey the public restrooms were co-ed. A few years later she went back for a visit and noticed men/women signs on the doors. She commented on this and the guide said because of tourist complaints the signs were put up. She went into the women door and her husband went into the men's door. They met inside in the same rest room. All they did was put up the signs and added another door.

Of course there was the story about walking thru a public men's urinal on a Paris main street.

As I said, she could tell some stories.

 

[Lassie Lynne]

Well.....errors can happen. I accidentally used a men's room at an outlet mall. I had to go really really bad and just really didn't look at the sign very well and it wasn't a very busy shopping time. The bathroom was empty and I ran into the closest stall. I was coming back out to wash my hands I notice the urinals

I ran quickly out and into the ladies to wash my hands....although I did get a funny look from the man who was walking in....I just ran past him .

 

[dreamin_disney]

Never ran into this in disneyland Paris, or anywhere except in NY state. In a public shower, no less!

We were camping, bathroom had 4 shower stalls. I have 2 dd's. They were young teens at the time. 1st shower was occupied, I get into second and lathered up. My one dd was shampooing in the 3rd shower, while youngest dd was a slow poke, had just finished undressing.

I dropped my soap, bent to grab it and happened to notice the shower next to mine was occupied by a man. I called out "time to GO"! Got some protest from them (obviously) so I used our "emergency" word as I threw my towel around myself and got us out of there. Have to say I was proud of how they scrambled and evacuated without even one further word!

We had exited and gone maybe 10 feet before they were whispering furiously, demanding to know WHAT was WRONG! My dh was waiting for us outside, shocked to see us full of soap and wearing towels. Thank goodness it was dark. I explained, then started laughing hysterically now that we were safe.

Dh was mad and waited to confront the man while we went back to campsite then on to a second bathroom to rinse & finish. Police came but the man slipped out a back door and 'got away'.

This episode taught me a couple of things....

There is a lot more safety in numbers. Imagine if one of my teens had gone in there alone! DH was outside but it didn't even enter my mind to yell, I just got us out of there....
A family "emergency" word is a GOOD thing! A wet underdressed teenage girl will not willing go outside ... unless Mom utters that magic word.
Its a powerful thing. I've never abused that word, it means instant obedience and that night was....priceless!

i LIKE THE IDEA OF A CODE WORD

Well.....errors can happen. I accidentally used a men's room at an outlet mall. I had to go really really bad and just really didn't look at the sign very well and it wasn't a very busy shopping time. The bathroom was empty and I ran into the closest stall. I was coming back out to wash my hands I notice the urinals

I ran quickly out and into the ladies to wash my hands....although I did get a funny look from the man who was walking in....I just ran past him .

I walked into a coco's mens bathroom on accident. I walked in and thought wow they have urinals in a women bathroom along with toliets then i hear my dd say
"mom what are you doing your in the mens restroom!'

Thank god no one was in there because i was msack dab in the middle of it. I quickly walked out and as soon as i pushed the womens door open a man walked up and went into the mens restroom-lol!

 

[NHdisneylover]

I never saw a man without a child in the ladies' rooms at DLP, but our family did notice that any children who were being accompanied to the restroom (Which was pretty much just the under 5 set) were always taken into the correct restroom for THEIR gender, by either parent. Meaning, there were several instances of moms taking preschool aged boys into the men's room and dads taking preschool aged girls in the women's room. Also, attendants of either gender could be in either bathroom at any time.

 

[sjaakie]

I had the almost the same experience in WDW.
A grown man and a boy( around ten years) were using the ladies rooms at the Grand Floridian.
It was very strange because these rest rooms are almost empty the whole day.