Tips on being courteous at WDW

[Mason7AK]

I dont like it when people pushing a wheelchair expect you to move out of the way. QUOTE]

I have been reading this thread through and there are some good tips here. I just had to comment on this statement though....
I have two children who are in manual wheelchairs. We try very hard to be polite and not run over toes or cut in front of other people when we are pushing their chairs. But I cannot tell you how many times we have politely stopped behind other people in stores, lines, etc and waited patiently for them to move along so we can get by, only to have rude comments made to us about the wheelchairs. Sometimes the chairs DO need extra room to get by and/or there is a wheelchair ramp/curb that is being blocked (unintentionally)!
Another thing we encounter ALL the time, is when we are told to "follow the blue handicapped lines " to the side of theatres (like Philharmagic, Little Mermaid, Country Bears, etc)by the CM's and we can't even GET to the lines because of people standing crowded around the wheelchair door entrances. If we even TRY to get through to the proper place we get the most dirty looks and comments! My children are four and six. My DS who is 4 has Spina Bifida, but has no mental deficiencies at all, and he just doesnt understand why people are "being mean" to him. He already feels intimidated by all the adults standing way above him in his little wheelchair,most of whom don't even notice him and quite often trip all over him and his chair!
I think sometimes that people in wheelchairs must be grumpy or impatient because they do feel so invisable all the time!
Just my two cents....thanks for listening!
Angela

 

[emh1129]

There are so many good suggestions here. We recently made our first trip to the world and it was quite a reality check. We had a double umbrella stroller and there were times that it was almost impossible to get where we needed to go because people would simply step right in front of us, so I often would have to come to a complete stop and wait for a kind soul to notice us standing there.
I talked with a few other parents during our trip and they were experiencing the same thing. It's sad that there is so little courtesy left. When I would let someone go ahead of us or let them cross the 'traffic' the look on their face was pure shock, because that just doesn't seem to happen there.

The most upsetting thing, though, would have to be what we experienced as we were waiting for Wishes to begin. We were in front of Casey's near the little grass area (my 2 year old loved looking at the ducks ) and there was a family next to us- two teenage boys, one teen girl and their Dad. The boys were trying to lure the ducks over so they could beat them with their baseball caps. My husband and I were appalled. Their father saw it, but didn't care. I would have said something to them, but I don't believe they spoke any English. I did alert a security guard, though, who dealt with the issue, but I got nasty looks from those boys for a while.
It was the attitude that bothered me the most- the "I'm on vacation and everyone else can just deal with it" that attitude seemed to be so prevalent. We met some wonderful CMs, but some others just left us scratching our heads wondering "Why are they even working here if they hate it so much?"
I really tried to see the glass as half-full (and there were definitely some magical moments) but it was really sad to experience this so much on our first trip.

 

[bytheblood]

• Don't drag your children on rides or into attractions if they are scared.
• If your child is screaming in a show, take them out. If your child is upset and not enjoying it, neither is anybody else.
• When standing in line, be cautious to not ride on the back of the person in front of you.
• Smoke in the smoking areas.

 

[Miss Jessr!ca]

• When standing in line, be cautious to not ride on the back of the person in front of you.

hah omg, i know. that is soo annoying!