Since this seems to be a relatively polite thread about a good subject, I'm going to offer my opinion on a number of things being addressed on this thread. I rarely post, but I read a lot. I often get frustrated about some people way quick to jump to conclusions about everyone, but this thread can handle my thoughts that I normally keep to myself, hopefully.
I agree that there has to be a line of demarkation somewhere. Realistically, you have to draw the line. Would it be better to use IQ or SAT score to determine who gets into Palo or the Adult Pool area? Maybe. But age is the easiest to judge. It's not meant to say that one under 18 can not respectfully enjoy the area and all 18+ will be perfect, it just insinuates that 18 is a good age that the vast majority above will be respectful. My theory on this topic (as with anything I happen to miss on vacation) is that we'll just get to do it next time. We inadvertently tried to take our 16 year old babysitter (again who is one who could easily pass for older, looks and attitude) to Palo on our last
Disney Cruise only to be turned away. Were we mad? No. Something to do next time. It's the same at the parks. The line has to be drawn somewhere. We didn't go to Disney World this year because our oldest is just too close to the 40 inch mark to be concerned whether or not she's going to get on the Tower of Terror. Because she's a half inch short, does that immediately make it an unsafe ride for her? No. Would we fight it, probably not, since Disney usually sticks to posted policy. If they didn't we'd probably push it. The line of safety is probably more accurately far below the 40 inch line, but that's the most safe, just like 18 is the most safe age for proper behavior in the adult areas. Many 16 year olds will probably be fine, but many more 16 than 18 year olds will not.
The biggest problem with the rules on Disney Cruise and at the parks is that the people subject to the rules are likely only subject to them once a year. What I mean is that a 17 3/4 year old is on a disney cruise. She turns 18 in three months. She's close. At home in an everyday environment, that rule would be understood by the teen and parents and the difficulty observing it would be less since one could do this activity when turning 18 (or 21 in terms of drinking and going to a bar). However,
Disney vacations are not an everyday experience and not always an every year experience. The 17 1/2 year old who might not go on a Disney Cruise for another year or another five years, might think the rules should be bent just a bit because they aren't going to be on the ship when turning 18. Should the rules be bent? I don't know. But it's safer for Disney not to bend them.
My second topic is rule breakers. EVERYONE (emphasis, not screaming) is a rule breaker in my opinion at some point in their lives. Don't tell me that everyone hasn't driven 26 in a 25 or parked at a parking meter with the time expiring or even without filling the meter (OK laws vs rules but it's the same thing), but when people say they aren't rule breakers, they are lying. They are only adherent to more rules than others in their opinion. My thought on that is if Disney is strictly adherent to the rules, then so be it. If another ship is going to bend the rules some, then why not take advantage of their lax rules. Rules on paper are only worth so much. It's the actual application that's more important. A sports example, you can probably call holding on every play in the NFL if you apply the rule as it is in the rule book. However, it's not applied in paper, its applied in practice. Just like the Disney rules, however, their rules on paper tend to mirror that of what is in practice. Most ships and most places of business tend to be a little more lax on the actual practice of the rules and people tend to react accordingly. There are those people who try to push the line of demarkation even farther no matter where that line is and that is annoying, but what can you do but live your life how you want to live and have fun. Kudos to Disney for enforcing what they put in print. If more companies/places did that, life would be a lot easier rather than having to determine meaning.
My third topic is kids. I'm an odd individual. I really don't like children very much. However, I have two of my own, and I really, really like them. Do I think they are different then others? Of course, what parent doesn't think that about their child? And, in their own way, they are as are most children. My just shy of four year old has an unbelievable memory. She still tells us of experiences from Disney World on her first visit when she wasn't two yet. She can tell us what someone she met was wearing when her one and only meeting was six months ago. She remembers everything! That being said, she also can get very irrational at times. Last night, she went into a melt down when we asked her to take a shower. She wanted to take one in the morning. We told her she could as well, but she needed to take one at night, but she went into a 30 minute cry/scream session, just like most kids her age do. She went into her room and yelled at me to leave her alone, just to scream not one minute after I went away, "Daddy, I need you." Is she different than other kids her age? By all means. Can she hold her own in an adult situation? By all means. At the same time, she can also not act very well in a given situation if she's tired, hungry, thirsty, the sun is in her eyes or a whole host of other irrational excuses, just like a lot of kids her age. Would she enjoy a brunch at Palo? You better believe it? Would she behave? Chances are, yes. Should she be allowed to go? Not a chance, because she could very easily not behave. The chances of her not acting appropriately are far greater than that of an 18 year old.
Fourth topic and I'll wrap up. Who's at fault... kids or parents when you have a misbehaving/irrational child? There's no good answer. On a whole, you can't say, "kids shouldn't be allowed in X situation because they can't handle it," or that "it's the parents fault for putting the kid in X situation or for not paying attention to the child at all." Or, "the parent shouldn't leave the child with the sitter because the kid can't handle it." People are different. You never know who or what is the issue in any situation. Don't point blame if you don't know the situation. I have two fairly well behaved children. However, if my wife walks away and leaves our 15 month old in my care for even a matter of seconds, you'd think I beat this child and she turns into a demon. I can't control her at this age at all. My wife walks back in the room, and the kid turns around to an angel. She holds her an I can interact with her just like I would if she actually liked me by myself. Are we bad parents? No. Do we have bad children? No. We just have children. That's what makes them fun, you never know what you are going to get.
In summary, the majority of people are good people. There are a few bad seeds out there and they are usually the most vocal Just do your best to not let them get to you. Some people are destined to have complaints no matter what. Case in point. I went on another cruise line and posted on a different board that I had a fabulous time. Another poster stated they had a terrible experience and couldn't understand that we were on the same cruise. They were mortified that they never met their stateroom attendant, never got towel animals and the one pool of three was closed for part of one day (a port day) for painting. I never met my stateroom attendant, I never got towel animals, and I couldn't use the pool at the same time, but that didn't get to me in one bit. The responder to my post is likely one who is going to find the bad in just about everything.
Sorry for the long rant, just my thoughts. I probably will be silent again for another six or so months.
Well said.
