What would you have done (Man in the Women's washroom)?

[my*gracie*girl]

I don't care who is in a restroom with me. I wouldn't have done anything in this situation other than try to help him navigate through the crush of women/girls clogging up the sink area trying to check their hair/makeup. ha!

 

[beachdreamr1229]

Cleaner and safer? May I ask why?

I haven't ever been in the restrooms at Disneyland, so perhaps the men's rooms there are an exception. But, when I've taken male students into the men's restroom at the bowling alley, some malls, and some restaurants, they're seriously not as clean. There's usually a strong urine smell and more trash on the floor. Like I said though, it's not like I've personally been in every men's room everywhere, so maybe I've just had bad luck. As for safety, I think of it more as social safety. For some reason, socially constructed or not, I feel like women are more likely to be accepting of someone of an opposite gender assisting in a women's restroom than a man's. I never get dirty looks, for instance, bringing my boys into the women's room with me, but my husband has said he gets weird looks from other men when he's taken my daughter in the men's room with him on occasion.

 

[Zbugz]

The RADAR key sounds like an interesting way to enforce saving the disabled stalls for those who really need them, but then it limits the number of stalls available for "rush hour".

 

[carisa81]

The family restrooms at Disneyland are not well known so he probably felt the women's restroom was his only available option.

Where are the family restrooms??

 

[Shanti]

So I just spent the weekend at Disneyland, and on Saturday at California Adventure I saw something I was not expecting. It was quite busy at that time and there was a line up in the washroom. A few people in front of me was a man. Yes, he was definitely a man, he had a full beard, men's clothing, was very tall, etc. He was pushing a wheelchair of a girl who was maybe late teens and quite disabled. I guess he felt uncomfortable taking her in the men's washroom, so I guess he brought her in the women's.

I was not bothered at all, and I was shocked (pleasantly) to see no other women confront him. And instead, when he went to take the girl to the washroom, many women were actually helping him (holding the stall open so he could help his daughter get up, asking if he needed help lifting her etc.). Another woman walked by and said "What can I do to help, a little kindness goes a long way".

I don't think I'd ever seen this before, and like I said, I wasn't bothered at all. I had my 11 year old daughter with me and she asked why the man was there, I said to help that girl (I assume his daughter), and she wasn't bothered either.

With all these washroom debates, I was so glad to see there were no issues here. As it very easily could have gone another way. And this poor girl really needed to use the washroom and the man (I assume dad) was just trying to help.

No problem here as he had an obvious, good reason. His daughter's comfort was paramount, and while I can't speak for her, I know that I wouldn't enjoy being wheeled into a man's restroom. Glad he took such good care of her.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Where are the family restrooms??

The family restroom locations are shown on the maps (maps are old, so things are not 100% accurate):
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/media/dlr_nextgen/SiteCatalog/PDF/DisneylandParkMap_20130307.pdf
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/med...sneyCaliforniaAdventureParkMap_2011060311.pdf

DL was building a family restroom by Autopia. Don't know if it's finished yet.

 

[avalon451]

I did see a Facebook post somewhere about how it's hard for caregivers who have disabled older children or adult dependents, to find a clean, private place to change them if they wear disposable undergarments. Obviously, if your kiddo is 5'2" and 110 pounds, a "Koala Bear Kare" fold down plastic changing table won't cut it. The woman included a picture taken of her hovering over her daughter lying on a home-made plastic changing pad the size of a large towel, on the floor (yuck) of the handicap stall. I'm sure this is where Disney's family care center would be very helpful.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

In that case, the restrooms in First Aid would have been so handy. The one in DL has a small couch, so the adult child could recline on that for changing.

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

The whole bathroom debate is ridiculous. Let people pee in peace, no one cares (except for the people you read about who seem to make it their mission in life to care.)

The RADAR key sounds great. I will admit, as someone the mother of a son with a disability, often I don't want to use the family/companion restrooms in airports and other areas. The reason being that men often use them as their own private pooping salons. I mean, I get that it's cool to poop in private, but when you're waiting 15 minutes for a room, and then a solo guy wanders out, and your eyes start to water, it's just incredibly inconsiderate. At least there's some airflow in the larger washrooms.

 

[tarheelalum]

Where are the family restrooms??

I think Hungry Bar has one. Honestly I'm not sure where they are located. Disney does a poor job imho getting the word out.

 

[Malcon10t]

While I agree that the accessible stalls in the restrooms can be used by everyone, I would hope people using the accessible stall would consider what happens when a disabled person needs to use the restroom and someone is using the handicap stall to potty train or change clothing. Last summer we got to experience this as by daughter was confined to a wheelchair. I had not noticed prior to this experience just how bad the situation was in reality. Numerous times my daughters and I would head to the restroom, and while my non-disabled daughter and I would get in and do our business, my disabled daughter was often still waiting 10 mins after we were done due to a mom coaxing a toddler to use the potty or teen girls (yes, 3 of them) just kind of hanging out in there or mom having 3 kids wait in there while she used another stall (didn't want them waiting where they could cause trouble ???) I have a granddaughter and I was able to take her in a regular stall with me. If you are going to use the disabled stall, just try and hurry. While you may have 10 stalls to choose from, the disabled person often has 1.

Companion restrooms - In Disneyland -By City Hall, Aladdins Oasis, First Aid, Fantasyland Theater, Hungry Bear in Disneyland (these are the ones I can remember.) In DCA there are more - Fliks, Flo's V8, Buena Vista Street, First Aid, and Pacific Wharf.