What is the etiquette re: lines?

[jbrinkm]

Our our last (and only) trip, we either didn't run into this or I can't remember - it was in 2015. How do people feel about a group/family getting into line with one person catching up in a few minutes?

Is it allowed or not allowed? Is it even possible with how the lines are set up? Is it different during Covid? Is it seen as rude?

Say one member needs a bathroom break. Can the rest of the family get in line while he/she does this?

 

[MinnieMSue]

We saw tons of this our last trip. Only time I personally got mad was when a family in front of us had 14 people join the line. That was ridiculous. I think it happens a lot more because of the outside lines. I never saw it so much in the past. Personally I feel the whole family should get in line at once but the employees didn’t seem to care about people going over and under the ropes.

 

[FCDub]

Emergency bathroom breaks for children are one thing, but all adults should get in a line and wait.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I use a majority rule:
-If 6 people are joining 2 in line, you should go to the end.
-If 2 people are joining the 6 already in the line, it's cool.

This is a sliding scale by how hard it is to join the line as well. Squeezing by people in the cattle pens is a much bigger deal than joining the FOP line when it's by Festival of the Lion King.

 

[jenjersnap]

I don’t want people squeezing past me in my personal space to catch up. I think it pretty rude not to maintain social distancing. If one or two of you are able to rejoin your party without doing that, for example, when it is still outside or by waiting until your group is at a chain on the perimeter that is fine.

 

[Cheburashka]

Our our last (and only) trip, we either didn't run into this or I can't remember - it was in 2015. How do people feel about a group/family getting into line with one person catching up in a few minutes?

It's a bit rude (just wait a minute for that person to catch up, if you're genuinely concerned about being polite) but no one will raise an eyebrow at that at WDW. Lines are sometimes so long that people often have to take bathroom breaks & reenter, and no one cares about that. Now, if you turn it around and have one person holding the line and the rest of the family cutting in, you will annoy the people behind you, but again, they'll very likely be too polite to say anything.

 

[SarahC97]

I personally don't think it's cool. Your entire party should enter the line together. Bathroom breaks for kids while you're in line, fine -- it happens and it's understandable. But you shouldn't get in line until everyone can, especially parties of adults.

 

[Ismo]

I fully support people joining a line later because someone needed a bathroom break, especially if the line is really long. But I hate when a large group of people cuts in line to join 1 person. It’s obvious that they used someone to hold their spot so they could go do other things. This happens A LOT in Disneyland since most of the lines are outdoors. It’s really frustrating.

 

[Ismo]

I should also clarify, that by bathroom break, I mean that someone was in the line then needed to use the bathroom. Not that part of the party needs to use to the bathroom so they agree to split up and half of the party gets in line and holds their place. That’s not okay. The whole party should join the line together.

 

[ajgardner]

I think it depends. Family joins line and 5 minutes later another member joins, no big deal. A couple people join line and then 3 others come 20+ minutes later, annoying. One person joins line and then 3+ people come pop in 20+ minutes later, rude There are tons of scenarios- but basically, if a person is obviously just holding a space so everyone else in the party can do what they want and use it as their own version of fast pass, that’s not cool.
Leaving the line for a bathroom break and rejoining would typically be fine, in my opinion.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

It the line is outside , beyond the queue and you don’t have to squeeze passed people to get to you group, fine. But with COVID, don’t be squeezing passed everyone to catch up to your group.

 

[lilmc]

Personally I don’t care what happens in an outdoor queue. An indoor queue and squeezing past should be limited to one person on an oops or a parent/child bathroom situation.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

Things happen so I’m usually understanding as I hope others would be of me, but as others have said, having several people join one or two is rude. No one ever really knows what’s going on with that group so I give the benefit of the doubt mostly.

 

[Timandalicia]

Our our last (and only) trip, we either didn't run into this or I can't remember - it was in 2015. How do people feel about a group/family getting into line with one person catching up in a few minutes?

Is it allowed or not allowed? Is it even possible with how the lines are set up? Is it different during Covid? Is it seen as rude?

Say one member needs a bathroom break. Can the rest of the family get in line while he/she does this?

This thread has the potential to get ugly. So, please allow me to go first. jk.

This thread will however, turn into a complaining session about cutters so allow me to address your question before it gets lost in the posts .

I think it’s all circumstantial, and most people trust that whoever is cutting into the line has a legitimate reason. You are already trying to make sense of what is legit, and I think that is all you really need to do.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Rude when others join line after they have been riding another ride. Small kids needing restroom ok. Best if all wait to get in at once.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

It's entitled, and entitlement is why proper courtesy and appropriate social behavior are going down the toilet.

(Stepping out for a bathroom break in a long line is fine, that is obviously different than holding the place of someone who was off doing other fun things).

 

[jbrinkm]

I wanted to hear some opinions before sharing why I was asking...

I have a chronic bladder condition. Travel and dehydration have high potential to lead to flares, which lead to a bit more time in the restroom. I would hate to constantly make my family wait for me but I also really hope that I don't end up missing everything, especially having the experiences together with them. I would NOT squeeze past people in an indoor/tight situation during covid! Nobody, including me, would want that type of close contact with strangers right now. But I was hoping that maybe for rides that had really long, outdoor lines, it might not be considered too bad if my family went ahead if I get delayed and I could join them a few minutes later. Three of them in line, one of me possibly joining (under circumstances that allow). Also, I'm not sure that taking my group from 3 people to 4 people changes wait time at all for the other people in line, except maybe single riders which don't exist right now anyway. My condition is NOT something I want to be blurting out to a crowd of people to explain why I'm "cutting" so there won't be any way for people around to know why I'm joining my family late. Just wanted to get a sense from the group if it was highly, highly frowned upon or even not possible to do in many cases, or if people were pretty understanding.

 

[BeBopaSaurus]

I really like what they’re doing at 7DMT right now. While the queue is out around the “mountain”, it’s no big deal if someone joins the line. But once you get to the “real” stand-by entrance, a CM asks if everyone in your party is present, and if not, you’re asked to wait at that spot for them. That way, no one is pushing through the indoor tight queue. I wish they would do this for all the rides.

 

[jbrinkm]

It's entitled, and entitlement is why proper courtesy and appropriate social behavior are going down the toilet.

Off topic: I agree! I spent a good deal of my evening today complaining to my husband about the joggers in the bike lane when I was trying to go for a bike ride. They just felt entitled to be there, blocking all of the bikes, with their headphones on and totally oblivious! There was a really nice foot path right next to the bike lane but for some reason, the joggers, AND some walkers just preferred to be in the bike lane. I couldn't stand it!! I kept getting pushed into fast, dangerous traffic to go around them.

Back on topic: Under normal circumstances, I would never consider splitting up to get in line. I'm just dreading/anticipating that there may be some issues with my condition and trying to figure out if I'm just going to have to miss everything because of it.

 

[Heather07438]

Etiquette is all about people feeling comfortable sharing a society together. Think about table manners... they help make everyone more comfortable while eating together. It’s being civilized. What if every party got on lines even when people with them needed to stop to buy something or restroom, etc. It would get uncomfortable, especially in the virus age if catching up meant squeezing thru people’s personal space.

Meet near the ride and go in together. Now I sound like somebody’s Dad, lol. Sorry.