This Blanket Situation is Out of Control!!

[Gisele]

When we were there for the 24 hour day and kick-off for the 60th, the blanket thing was out of control too! We were told that if you saved a spot you could not just lay a blanket down and that your entire party had to be there, and on that day, that you couldn't lay there and sleep. But, people were doing the exact thing that the CM's said not to do and nothing much was being done about it.

It does irritate me when we do go an hour or more before an event to find a good place and then people try to squeeze in at the last minute. And this doesn't just happen at Disneyland. Our town has an annual Christmas parade at night and people bring lawn chairs and blankets at 6-7 in the morning to save a spot for the 7:00pm parade. This year there were mattresses by the curb a couple of hours before the parade started! Ridiculous!

Mattresses? Really? How in the heck do you even get that past security?

 

[707MickeyGirl]

That is so ridiculous. I'm not a parade person, but if your butt isn't there, the seat isn't saved. Seriously now, people. Disney should make that the rule.

I dislike "saving" spots with an unattended blanket as well. However, when we're at the parks, it's often just me and my DGD7, so depending on how long the wait is, sometimes she needs to go to the restroom even if we've gone before sitting down. She's too young to go alone so I have no choice but to leave our blanket unattended for a few minutes. I try to chat with the people next to us and usually they'll keep an eye on our stuff until we get back. There have been times, though, when we've been flanked by empty blankets on both sides, so for our upcoming trip I'm planning on leaving a note on our blanket if we do have to leave it for a quick restroom run. I guess my point is that there might be valid reasons why a blanket is empty for a few minutes.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I was at DL on Saturday and my husband asked me if that was even allowed because it was so out of control (11AM Main Street was already lined). I was a bit surprised to see so many unoccupied blankets. Over the summer, the CMs were pretty good about checking. If a blanket was left unoccupied for more than 15-20 minutes, they'd move the items. I understand having to leave your spot for a few minutes to use the restroom as long as you aren't leaving blankets for hours at a time.

 

[ludari]

You make a good point. There are usually rules for things like that. My brother and his wife met while attending Duke University; they met while camping out for basketball tickets. Not sure if it's done the same now, but in the early 90s there were intense rules for the process. A certain percentage of the people in your group had to be there at all times, so you couldn't get a group from your engineering classes, because you'd all have to go to class. You had to choose your group carefully!

Leaving a blanket isn't camping out, though obviously people think it is LOL.



Eh, if they are *there* it's OK.

I should have mentioned that I dislike them claiming spots with their blankets. I don't care if people stand or sit to reserve a spot.

 

[oohykitten]

how in this day and age of security issues can they even allow it to happen. In the picture on the first page backpacks just sitting there shouldnt be allowed to just "sit".

 

[justgrace]

I would have picked it up and said here ya go.

Kae

I wish I were that brave!! With my luck, security would have thrown me out of the park instead of them!

 

[justgrace]

Completely off topic, but HOW COOL! Did you get any photos? That would have been so awesome to see!

I got some photos!! I'll have to post them in a separate post when I get some down time during our vacation.

 

[blondietink]

During our 1st visit to DL this past November, I had heard about the blanket thing. I could not believe it would happen, because if somebody tried that at WDW, their blanket would have been stolen and another family would have taken the spot right then and there. No blanket saving at WDW. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised that you could actually save a spot with a blanket/jacket, etc. at DL! It did come in handy when waiting for a parade as we had 2 young adults in wheelchairs and if one needed to go to the bathroom, we could actually save a spot by asking politely from the people around us to watch our stuff. Amazing!

I was also impressed with the wheelchair seating at Fantasmic!. We were placed behind a lot of folks who were seated on the ground in front of us. Great, I thought. As soon as the show started I expected everybody to stand up and my wheelchair kids would not be able to see a thing. Surprise! Nobody stood up and the show was fabulous because we could see it! Better yet, during the finale, nobody stood up in front of us to leave early, like they do all the time at WDW!

These are just a couple of examples of what we found that DL does better than WDW. Just MHO.

 

[RKKUNK]

The mattress thing was at a Christmas parade in the town where I live. It is held on the Main St. in town, so no security to get by. I just can't believe people took mattresses and put them on the curb! Yikes!

ETA: I do wonder how the police didn't do something about it though. They are all over before and during the parade

 

[ashley0139]

I dislike "saving" spots with an unattended blanket as well. However, when we're at the parks, it's often just me and my DGD7, so depending on how long the wait is, sometimes she needs to go to the restroom even if we've gone before sitting down. She's too young to go alone so I have no choice but to leave our blanket unattended for a few minutes. I try to chat with the people next to us and usually they'll keep an eye on our stuff until we get back. There have been times, though, when we've been flanked by empty blankets on both sides, so for our upcoming trip I'm planning on leaving a note on our blanket if we do have to leave it for a quick restroom run. I guess my point is that there might be valid reasons why a blanket is empty for a few minutes.

In that case, I would definitely let a CM know that you were doing a quick bathroom run and would be right back. There are usually guest control CMs when people are waiting around for that long.

 

[akaler2010]

Not at DL or WDW, but at the town Christmas parade, I thought there was a VIP section in front of us. Turns out it was a family where three of them got there hours early and set up their OWN baby gates to block off a HUGE section around them. Their group started turning up 30 minutes before the parade until 30 minutes into the parade! They tried to shove their way through people 6 deep to get in. Finally, we started saying they'll need to wait until a break in the parade or the end. Couldn't believe their sense of entitlement.

 

[mom2rtk]

Not at DL or WDW, but at the town Christmas parade, I thought there was a VIP section in front of us. Turns out it was a family where three of them got there hours early and set up their OWN baby gates to block off a HUGE section around them. Their group started turning up 30 minutes before the parade until 30 minutes into the parade! They tried to shove their way through people 6 deep to get in. Finally, we started saying they'll need to wait until a break in the parade or the end. Couldn't believe their sense of entitlement.

That's crazy!

 

[amyg1975]

How did they get baby gates into the park? And why didn't a CM remove them? I would have said something!

 

[alvernon90]

How did they get baby gates into the park? And why didn't a CM remove them? I would have said something!

You can easily fit up to 15 baby gates in your average double wide stroller, and the bag check security won't even blink.

 

[Gisele]

Not at DL or WDW, but at the town Christmas parade, I thought there was a VIP section in front of us. Turns out it was a family where three of them got there hours early and set up their OWN baby gates to block off a HUGE section around them. Their group started turning up 30 minutes before the parade until 30 minutes into the parade! They tried to shove their way through people 6 deep to get in. Finally, we started saying they'll need to wait until a break in the parade or the end. Couldn't believe their sense of entitlement.

Hmm well doggey!, must be one heck of a hootenanny!

 

[Gisele]

You can easily fit up to 15 baby gates in your average double wide stroller, and the bag check security won't even blink.

But......... how many babies can one fit?

 

[bethwc101]

How did they get baby gates into the park? And why didn't a CM remove them? I would have said something!

Not at DL or WDW, but at the town Christmas parade...

There wasn't security it was her town parade

 

[justgrace]

Not at DL or WDW, but at the town Christmas parade, I thought there was a VIP section in front of us. Turns out it was a family where three of them got there hours early and set up their OWN baby gates to block off a HUGE section around them. Their group started turning up 30 minutes before the parade until 30 minutes into the parade! They tried to shove their way through people 6 deep to get in. Finally, we started saying they'll need to wait until a break in the parade or the end. Couldn't believe their sense of entitlement.

That's insane! Didn't security say anything? I haven't been to Disney World, but at Disneyland, there is no way anyone could get away with that. There just wouldn't be enough room to set up a whole baby gate and security would be all over it.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

The mattress thing was at a Christmas parade in the town where I live. It is held on the Main St. in town, so no security to get by. I just can't believe people took mattresses and put them on the curb! Yikes!

I just can't believe they opted to take a mattress when they could've taken the old sofa from their front porch.

 

[akaler2010]

The thing is, it wasn't even a good parade (maybe Disney just spoiled me to much). And you are right, it was NOT Disney, but our local holiday parade. I still laugh when I think of how ingenious they were...even it if was rude!