Standing in line question.

[loves to dive]

If unsure, I probably would have asked the person in front of me if this was the line. If both of us stepped out, we would then go to back of the line. I've had many situations at local events where lines are not real organised and people are milling around so you can't tell if it's a line or just people hanging around. I always just the ask are you standing in line?

 

[BrianL]

By the book, it feels like if you both stepped out of line, you should go to the back, unless you asked the person behind you or something. It's also nothing worth making any kind of big deal about at all. You got a little confused; happens all the time. It's not worth getting worked up over.

 

[Boudin]

Your situation was totally innocent and explainable, but I think you are a case of the good suffering with the bad. Line etiquette has gotten so brutal that people have gotten fed up and some of the more aggressive personalities are acting as the self appointed line police. My first several trips to WDW, I saw exactly 0 confrontations between guests. As the crowds have gotten so thick so much of the time, unfortunately this kind of thing has become a common occurrence.

 

[JimmyV]

Honestly I generally am of the opinion that if you leave the line you left your place and if you come back your now at the end. I have no idea why you would both have left. DH and I have definitely had one person go look at something or make sure we are in teh right spot without moving.

Example your at the grocery store you are in line 3 but you think line 6 may be shorter. DH would go check while I stay and then we would move if we thought it was going to be much shorter. If I left the line with my items it would make sense for the person behind me to move up and take that place.

Why would disney be different?

I don't think this is analogous at all. In your example, the person who left the line did so to scout for a shorter line, trying to gain an advantage. In the OPs situation, they were confused and trying to find the right place to be. So try this as an example:

You're at the grocery store with a full cart of groceries and you are in Line 3. You suddenly realize that you think that Line 3 might be the "10 Items or Less" line, and you get out of it to check. You are out of the line for no more than 10 seconds. Once you realize that you were right all along, you attempt to rejoin Line 3 in the place where you were before. You explain to the person behind you that you thought you were in the wrong line, but it turns out that you were in the right line all along. Does the person let you back in the line? There is no absolute answer, but if it were me, I sure as heck would let you back in. And I like to think that I live in a society where this would be the norm. What an awful world it would be if everybody said: "Sorry pal. Back of the line with you!"

 

[goofyernmost]

The People Mover had a LINE?

Surprising as it may seem, after going to WDW for 32 years, last year, for the first time ever, there was a line at People Mover. Theoretically it should always be moving, but, it does backup a little every once in a while. Once you get on the moving walkway, there is no return. If things bunch up on top it can cause quite a problem. For the first time ever there was a cast member at the bottom stopping the line until he was sure that there was room up top.

 

[kamik86]

I don't think this is analogous at all. In your example, the person who left the line did so to scout for a shorter line, trying to gain an advantage. In the OPs situation, they were confused and trying to find the right place to be. So try this as an example:

You're at the grocery store with a full cart of groceries and you are in Line 3. You suddenly realize that you think that Line 3 might be the "10 Items or Less" line, and you get out of it to check. You are out of the line for no more than 10 seconds. Once you realize that you were right all along, you attempt to rejoin Line 3 in the place where you were before. You explain to the person behind you that you thought you were in the wrong line, but it turns out that you were in the right line all along. Does the person let you back in the line? There is no absolute answer, but if it were me, I sure as heck would let you back in. And I like to think that I live in a society where this would be the norm. What an awful world it would be if everybody said: "Sorry pal. Back of the line with you!"

Still no idea why if they are unsure both people would get out of line. No matter how short of a time it was. Now yes the person probably should be nice and let them back in, especially since the person just behind them knew they were in the line. However I don't think that should be counted on and think the people that got out of line should recognize that they moved and should go to the back.

I even said I would have let them back in.

I have done the same a few other times with people that I saw push past everyone to leave a line and then try to push past to get back. Again I thought they were incredibly annoying and shouldn't be doing it but didn't stop them. However I also wouldn't fault someone especially if they joined the line after the person left if they thought they were cutting and did stop them.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

It may have been helpful to alert the person behind you as to what you were doing, or as others suggest, send one person. When two people exit the line, I'd be uncomfortable re-entering unless I had given those around me a heads up.

That said, I think the person who got mad in this particular instance needs to get a grip . There's real line drama and then there's something innocent like this.

 

[kamik86]

Surprising as it may seem, after going to WDW for 32 years, last year, for the first time ever, there was a line at People Mover. Theoretically it should always be moving, but, it does backup a little every once in a while. Once you get on the moving walkway, there is no return. If things bunch up on top it can cause quite a problem. For the first time ever there was a cast member at the bottom stopping the line until he was sure that there was room up top.

This should be the case whenever it gets busy. If you get a couple of people that are slow and let a car or two go empty or a bunch of people in a row that sit only 1 or 2 to a car this will get backed up like this.

It can actually be very dangerous if the line gets backed up and people keep trying to get in... I saw this once with an escalator at a crowded convention (a bunch of people stopped just off the escalator without any reguard for all the people still streaming down that had no where to go. Luckily those next few down were a couple of big guys that yelled and physically pushed through the group before anyone got trampled.

A few hours later then convention got smart and turned off the escalators so they had to be walked like stairs. Much safer with a crowd.

 

[dancemonkey]

If it was once I wouldn't have said anything. We had someone do this at BTMRR for FP 3 times. After time 3 of him getting back in front of us I very calmly said if you exit the line one more time you should go to the back. He would take his entire family out of line and jump under/over to the standby line because he was 100% sure the CM had put us in the wrong line and there was no way this was the FP line since it was longer. He would wait 3-4 minutes in the other line and then would see the FP line moving steadily while they stayed still and so he would hop back over. Would look at SB and think it was shorter then hop back. So he spent the entire first 10 minutes of the 20 minute wait hoping back and forth before the scanner. The wait was so long because the ride had been down and was backed up. He just couldn't believe that they had to actually wait! He wouldn't believe us that there was a whole different section of switch backs for the standby line that you can't see from where we were standing.

I find it strange that this happens a lot at Disney and no one seems to do anything. If you did this At 6 flags or Hershey you would be asked to leave the park. It's just not acceptable.

 

[JimmyV]

Still no idea why if they are unsure both people would get out of line.

That's a red herring. In many cases, (especially in a grocery store), people are alone. I can't see why the outcome of this discussion should turn on whether one person is in line or two people are in line. Indeed, if there are two people and one gets out of line and the other stays in the line, and the one who got out later seeks to re-join the line, don't we now have the same "cutting" debate? How many times has it been argued here that if one parent has to leave the line (to get a kid a drink, or take them to the bathroom), that they should re-join the line by going to the end of the line? All the people here who are arguing that having one person remain in line would have been the universally accepted solution to allowing a person back in line seem to be forgetting that a large segment of this population disagrees with that premise, and that "holding a place in line" is no better than "cutting in the line." Let's not forget all the posts that say: "Take your kid to the restroom before you get in line!" That sentiment is born out of the notion that once one leaves the line, one cannot re-join it. So, no. Having one person remain in line would not end the debate.

 

[cijay]

I would think that the people who were standing behind you could vouch that you had, indeed be standing there but "mind your business" seems to be the mantra on this board so I won't be too quick to assist in Disney lines anymore.

I would just keep one person in the line while the other go check (doesn't work for me because I'm often alone) but another thing I've noticed in Disney lines is that many couples have a very difficult time disconnecting limbs and lips for half a second.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Sorry in advance for long post-Just by seeing other threads on this and my own personal experience it seems to be that we've just gotten to the point of mistrusting anyone who gets out of a line regardless of the reason.

I feel like it's like the whole "have to be fair to everyone" speech: "If I do it for you then I have to do it for others". I think we rationalize what isn't a big deal and what isn't.

Just as an example I live in a suburb of Kansas City, KS and as the Royals had won the World Series we had a huge parade and rally in Downtown Kansas City, MO with the people in charge finally giving an estimate of 800,000 people in attendance.

Here's a pic of where most of the crowd was (and this isn't showing where all the people actually were):

Now my sister-in-law and I were sitting on a rock wall with other people in pretty much the heart of the most crowded area. A bottleneck near us had occurred and people were wanting to jump over the rock wall to get to the other side because the direction they were facing wasn't moving. In reality there was no where for those people to go to because everywhere was a crowd. However, this kind man was allowing a mother and child to climb over the rock wall where he was sitting on because they had their family on the other side in the deep mass of people waiting for them. Yeah....30 minutes later and people were still climbing over the rock wall only now they were pushing into us nearly knocking over a little girl next to me. We kept trying to cut them off for several hours from climbing over but it was mob mentality at that point. And to be honest it boiled down to one guy being nice to one family and everyone else saying "well hey he let them through why not us".

Moral of my story is while we would all like to be the really nice people sometimes there are reasons not to be. Is taking a child out of a queue to go to the bathroom as big of a deal as others joining up in line after they've gone and done other stuff? To most people no, but the issue is still the same people got out of a queue and want back in or others joining a queue. Both can create a negative experience to those around and many people on other threads have pointed out if you had to ask if it was wrong or if you did the right thing (when it comes to queue questions) you likely were in the wrong (though not all questions are of the same severity).

I'm not sure what prompted the guy to call out the OP but it could be that they had that happen to them the umpteeth time and was fed up with seeing it or it could be that they are THAT type of person. If we rarely saw people abusing the kindness of others (kindness meaning allowing a parent who had previously exited a queue to take a child to the restroom back into the queue) then there likely wouldn't be as much mistrust. Instead we see the parent situation mentioned above combined with family members off enjoying something else while only one person stands in line then when it's time the whole group joins the one person. and imagine that that family is not the only one to do so in the queue for that attraction so now we have a domino effect and now we have a mistrust of ANYONE getting out of a line regardless of the reason (and yes everyone does have a tolerance for what bother them and what doesn't).

 

[mom2rtk]

Sorry in advance for long post-Just by seeing other threads on this and my own personal experience it seems to be that we've just gotten to the point of mistrusting anyone who gets out of a line regardless of the reason.

I feel like it's like the whole "have to be fair to everyone" speech: "If I do it for you then I have to do it for others". I think we rationalize what isn't a big deal and what isn't.

Just as an example I live in a suburb of Kansas City, KS and as the Royals had won the World Series we had a huge parade and rally in Downtown Kansas City, MO with the people in charge finally giving an estimate of 800,000 people in attendance.

Here's a pic of where most of the crowd was (and this isn't showing where all the people actually were):

Now my sister-in-law and I were sitting on a rock wall with other people in pretty much the heart of the most crowded area. A bottleneck near us had occurred and people were wanting to jump over the rock wall to get to the other side because the direction they were facing wasn't moving. In reality there was no where for those people to go to because everywhere was a crowd. However, this kind man was allowing a mother and child to climb over the rock wall where he was sitting on because they had their family on the other side in the deep mass of people waiting for them. Yeah....30 minutes later and people were still climbing over the rock wall only now they were pushing into us nearly knocking over a little girl next to me. We kept trying to cut them off for several hours from climbing over but it was mob mentality at that point. And to be honest it boiled down to one guy being nice to one family and everyone else saying "well hey he let them through why not us".

Moral of my story is while we would all like to be the really nice people sometimes there are reasons not to be. Is taking a child out of a queue to go to the bathroom as big of a deal as others joining up in line after they've gone and done other stuff? To most people no, but the issue is still the same people got out of a queue and want back in or others joining a queue. Both can create a negative experience to those around and many people on other threads have pointed out if you had to ask if it was wrong or if you did the right thing (when it comes to queue questions) you likely were in the wrong (though not all questions are of the same severity).

I'm not sure what prompted the guy to call out the OP but it could be that they had that happen to them the umpteeth time and was fed up with seeing it or it could be that they are THAT type of person. If we rarely saw people abusing the kindness of others (kindness meaning allowing a parent who had previously exited a queue to take a child to the restroom back into the queue) then there likely wouldn't be as much mistrust. Instead we see the parent situation mentioned above combined with family members off enjoying something else while only one person stands in line then when it's time the whole group joins the one person. and imagine that that family is not the only one to do so in the queue for that attraction so now we have a domino effect and now we have a mistrust of ANYONE getting out of a line regardless of the reason (and yes everyone does have a tolerance for what bother them and what doesn't).

There was a lot of crazy crowd behavior there that day. I chalk it up to Royals fans not having any practice at this sort of thing for so long.

My husband and son were there and had a great view. Until the last minute when the girl in front of them held up a huge sign. And proceeded to leave it up. The entire time. If I had been there, she would have gotten a tap on the shoulder pointing out all the people behind her. But I was the chauffeur that day.

 

[Dan Murphy]

he wasn't even in the line

Hi Cindy.

He was not even in line? What was he playing, a cast member? Ridiculous.

 

[maxiesmom]

I find it strange that this happens a lot at Disney and no one seems to do anything. If you did this At 6 flags or Hershey you would be asked to leave the park. It's just not acceptable.

I think it is because there are so many families that visit WDW with small children, they would rather have people popping out of line instead of pooping in line.

 

[dancemonkey]

I think it is because there are so many families that visit WDW with small children, they would rather have people popping out of line instead of pooping in line.

I'm more talking adults. A couple stay in line and then 6 come through the line. The kid thing I totally get.

 

[Sparkly]

The People Mover had a LINE?

I waited in line for the People Mover one particularly crowded day in Feb 2012 & 2013. As in CM holding up a "People Mover line starts here!" sign line. It snaked almost all the way back to Buzz!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

There was a lot of crazy crowd behavior there that day. I chalk it up to Royals fans not having any practice at this sort of thing for so long.

My husband and son were there and had a great view. Until the last minute when the girl in front of them held up a huge sign. And proceeded to leave it up. The entire time. If I had been there, she would have gotten a tap on the shoulder pointing out all the people behind her. But I was the chauffeur that day.

Lol Yeah it was a bit crazy I mean for the most part though people were pretty well behaved aside from our issue with people. I guess what do you expect when you put that many people in a small area.

 

[grnflash]

I don't think this is analogous at all. In your example, the person who left the line did so to scout for a shorter line, trying to gain an advantage. In the OPs situation, they were confused and trying to find the right place to be. So try this as an example:

You're at the grocery store with a full cart of groceries and you are in Line 3. You suddenly realize that you think that Line 3 might be the "10 Items or Less" line, and you get out of it to check. You are out of the line for no more than 10 seconds. Once you realize that you were right all along, you attempt to rejoin Line 3 in the place where you were before. You explain to the person behind you that you thought you were in the wrong line, but it turns out that you were in the right line all along. Does the person let you back in the line? There is no absolute answer, but if it were me, I sure as heck would let you back in. And I like to think that I live in a society where this would be the norm. What an awful world it would be if everybody said: "Sorry pal. Back of the line with you!"

Without hesitation I would let the leaver back in the line, no sweat. But if I was the leaver, without hesitation I would go to the back of the line. My bad for leaving the line without doing the explaining upfront.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The line on the ground sometimes backs up a little when the speed ramp has stopped and they want to restart it. They have to hold everyone at the bottom until the ramp is clear at the top. This seems to happen a lot there. Otherwise I never see a line there.

There is often times a line now that exceeds the ramp capacity 2-3x over. But it goes really quick. Unless they stop the ride. Like they did to us a couple of weeks ago. (My first and only ride "evacuation".)

The line though is only 5-10 minutes. Yes, longer than the 0 minutes. But given the crowds, still a short wait.

To OP, that happens to me sometimes and we opt to just to to the end of the line to avoid any issues. I don't see anything wrong with what you did, though.