Just got back...line etiquette questions

[MaxPower]

It's interesting to note, that unlike everything else in the parks, Disney seems to have no official opinion on this issue. As pointed out, even the cast members have not been giving standard procedures to handle the different variations of line-cutting when they come up.

Universal has a policy, and therefore, it's clear. Perhaps, not surprisingly, Universal has A LOT more teenage park guests, and of course, the need for a policy became apparent.

I wonder what effect would be achieved if along with the "No Smoking" and "Avoid if Pregnanat" signs, some "Line Policy" signs were posted at each Disney attraction stating that all parties must enter together. At the very least, I think the guests in line would feel more confident saying " Read the sign out front; You can't cut in front of me to go meet your party up ahead."

[jrpersinger]

I have skipped line before... ooopppssss!

I was passing kidney stones. I almost passed out in line. We got to one of the castmember areas and the CM lady let me out of the line and the other lady CM even walked with me to the bathroom to make sure I didn't faint on my way. When I came out of the potty, she waved me over asked me if I was ok or if I needed first aid. I told her I was fine. Then she told me where my family was -- and took me to them.

I didn't ask my family (14 of us this time) to wait for me. And when I came out I was actually going to sit under the railway bridge and wait for them to come off. But sure enough, it was the CM who helped me skip line. She said she didn't want me to miss riding with my entire family... even if we had to go on two boats. I thought it was pretty nice of them.

I don't mind letting one or two people go to catch up with their party. The parent and the kid esp. I am a mom, I understand! The medical issues. After my kidney stone issues there and I also have M/S which makes standing for long periods really hard! Again, I understand! But I would never condone full-out families jumping line to catch up with a couple people who held their spots so they could do something else.

[MNDisney Dad]

Our family of five sometimes will get split up in line for whatever reason. We just have the group ahead wait until the group behind catches up. We do not expect the trailing group to be able to move up to the forward group. The one that bothers me the most is at Mickeys Philharmagic when people rush to get to the entrance doors first and then stop and sit in the middle of the row. I will just stop where they are and stand and wait to see if they move. If they don't, I make sure to step on all toes as I pass them to get to the end of the row. Gets their attention! Disney in 13 days!!!!!!!

[thumperbug]

Line cutters irate me. I don't keep quiet about it either. One or 2 meeting up with their party...no big deal. But I watch to make sure they are actually meeting up with someone. But I see it happens most with groups of teenagers. So rude.

My biggest line jumper complaints are the folks standing behind you....bumping into you every 5 seconds....back of neck breathers who do what they can at corners and turns to try to get around you. I do the ole...stretch the arms out both ways and block em. Or will loudly ask them to stop bumping into me.

But besides the teenagers...I hate to say that a lot of line jumpers...ok downright line cutters are folks who either don't speak english or pretend they don't speak english and kind of do what they want and make their own line or own entrance and when you try to correct them give you a smile like they don't understand you...but you know they really do. You can'te tell me that intelligent folks don't notice the orderly lines....

Serenity...its Disney. Keep in mind...what goes around comes around.

[Marilyn Michetti]

Have been a reader on this site for years and years without ever registering, but I just had to weigh in on this one.

I'm certain that more often than not, when people jump in line it is nothing more than rudeness. There can be another possibility, though.

In my family there are three people (out of our group of five) who have serious medical issues requiring them to stay out of the sun. When we are stuck in an outdoor line, they have to go sit somewhere in the shade until I reach a point in line which is out of the sun, then come join up with me. To look at them, they all appear completely healthy, so I'm sure people have been annoyed at their "line jumping."

Again, I know this is not the case for many people who cut in line. But when someone jumps ahead of me, I do try to remind myself that there's at least a possibility it's for a medical reason. It may not be the case, but it does help me keep my cool and enjoy my vacation much more!

There SHOULD be a spot where folks with serious medical issues or the elderly can wait until their family gets to the boarding area. It could be a "claim ticket" type of system, where the family members would be issued a card that would allow Grandpa to join them. It's a breeding ground for abuse, but what isn't?

[WhiteRose1]

oh Gee, what a debate!

at POC.. we were wearing mickey bride and groom ears, and the CM spotted us, and asked us to come to the front of the line...this was 5 years ago.. we had to move through the line, (maybe passed 3 groups of people?) We were just before the area were we got on a boat. We got mostly smiles but one guy gave me a dirty look.... but the CM asked us to move ahead to her....she made a big deal over us and gave us our own boat. The line was really short, and only a few people waiting...

For the person who complained about POC and bride ears...was it this issue?

Anyway, my mother has severe authritis, and only rides a few rides...last time she went was over 10 years ago....anyway, then, I was her minder, and stayed with her while my brother and dad went ahead to tell the CMs etc that we were waiting separately, usually near the line exit or handicapped entrance...no one ever gave us an issue and most of them showed us/explained the handicapped extrance or escorted us in the exit to meet up with the family...

Sorry...but I'm not going to try to abuse my mother by making her stand or move through an uncomfortable and painful situation, climb steps, etc just to appease someone who did not realize my Mother's issues...I should not have to explain to everyone in line what I'm doing.

even though we might not have been in line with you the while time..We were waiting.....just not standing in front of your group. (I am glad about that!)

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

Wow, lots of things I want to respond to here!

Rusty - your friend was fired for allowing them to cut or telling them to move to the back?

We are trained in Ad/Lib and in Entertainment that if people jump the line, let them. If we say something to them, they'll most likely go to GR and complain loud and long enough, and get a bunch of re-entrys, or they will arrange for a PRIVATE meet and greet with the characters. Which is worse for us because we are rewarding them for complaining, rewarding and encouraging them to keep doing their bad behavior. We rather have one family come up once to us and complain about the cutters and give them stuff than the cutters come up and complain and give them stuff every time, at every park.

Also, there is a limit on how many people can be with a wheelchair or GAC party. It's typically 6 people for GAC and the w/c is a judgment call. Any additional Guests with them will need an additional GAC, FP, or go through stand-by.

Which brings me to one of the GAC cards - provide a shaded area. If you have a medical need that you need to sit in a shaded area, one GAC card allows you to wait to the side while your family goes through the regular line (or FP if they have those). Once they meet up with the loader CM, they tell them they have a GAC and there is a person waiting. Then the CM will rejoin the group.

In Entertainment, we only allow one type of line-cutting officially - Make a Wish and Give Kids the World. But we take them to the front and we are supposed to ask the next group in line if they would mind us putting a guest with special needs before them. If the guest says no, we let that group go and ask the next group. Exceptions are Princesses and Mickey (usually). They have an alternate entrance.

[CaptSmee]

I think the example the OP described is definitely line-cutting and the wrong thing to do. The exception would be with a small child needing the bathroom, or perhaps special circumstances that don't seem to be the case here with your example.

We have also encountered large parties who seem to operate under the logic that one or two people can get in line early and then the rest of the party can join them. Like Marker, we don't let it bother us at WDW, but I agree that it is poor line etiquette.

This steams me when it happens, and it happens everyday there!!!

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I would hope that most people wouldn't mind Make a Wish or people with genuine medical issues...I think the big issue is what the original poster said, when one or two people hold the line and right before entry, 5 to 6 people join them...obviously, these aren't going to be people with medical issues...we had problems on our visit in 2005 with large parties carrying walkie-talkie's when one person in line at a ride or restaurant got ready to board they would call their party on their walkie talkie and they would come running and all jump in line....and a couple of times when people spoke up they acted like they were going to gang up on them so everyone just kind of let them do it...not picking on anyone but it seemed to be a lot of hispanic people doing this...it did get to be frustrating and like said before, the CM seemed afraid to say anything too...they would just look at everyone like they felt bad about it, but never stopped them....I think its awful Disney doesn't allow CM to do anything and this trip, if it happens, I will complain everytime...maybe if everyone does that management will pay attention.

[WeLuvBuzz]

FYI, the bride and groom I saw that moved ahead were clearly not asked to. The wait was about 45 minutes and every time the line moved they would cut in front of another group. I know they heard us all talking about them and it was really funny. They probably only ended up about two boats ahead, and seeing as how they were a party of two in the middle of a bunch of families it probably did not help them at all.

If a person is a single I do not have a problem as it could have been a medical issue, or something else requiring immediate attention. They are probably not going to increase anyone's wait time anyway. An elderly person or couple I can clearly see as well as a parent and a child. A group of 3 or 4 or more is just too many in my opinion and they should either wait for the rest of the party to finish the ride, ride it in separate groups, or the front group wait and let others pass.

One time I did pass people in line to meet up with my family, but I had no intention or riding the ride. They were in line for the tea cups (which make me sick). I decided I would rather wait in line and talk with my family then stand by myself, plus I decided to take a picture of them all in the cup before the ride started. I clearly told every person in line that I passed that I was not riding the ride, just going to stand with my family which I did and then walked out the exit with those departing from the previous ride.

[big blue and hairy]

The amount of people and the situation certainly makes a big difference to me. One or two people catching up with their party, come on. I've done it, and I've had people go past me, not a big deal. Whether it be a bathroom break or getting a bunch of fastpasses, really, is it ruining your experience?

[EmISeeKayEeWhy]

Both DW and DD qualify for GAC, there are only a few instances when we use them as a family (two adults, 5yo, 7yo, 16yo) and that is when it's on rides we really wish to enjoy as a family (this is mostly the rides such as PP IASW etc), other than that we split up and do, IMO, the right thing by having the healthy of us wait in lines. They are both usually on and off before we get on the ride(mainly because we take it slow and look around at the details in queue) and normally have a drink or snack waiting on us when we get off. It works out well.

[brdavis]

Hmm... it may be a dead horse, but clearly a lively topic...

There seems to be a lot of talk about "rules" or "etiquette", which I must admit is not something I've really understood well at times. Personally, I've cut in line, running through the whole entry queue on LS because the nearest bathrooms I knew about were *inside*, and the sick child by my side wasn't likely to wait for another solution. Slavishly following rules, or regulations, or guidelines, would result in many folks on this thread saying that should be strongly punished... because the underlying assumptions were certainly not visible to everyone in line, and I did not have time to explain. I've also been tremendously rude to folks once while exiting a movie, to avoid throwing up on them (later came my 1st experience with GS, and an amazingly good one at that!).

Is that the "average" thing to expect? Of course not. But the point is you don't always know the situation or assumptions in all cases, so falling back on some hard-fast set of rules doesn't work very well. In my experience.

Personally, there's a couple of things that cover this for me. From the standpoint of my family, "rude" or "wrong" line-cutters can always serves as a bad example - and do. Out loud in their hearing, well, who cares? I'm *much* more worried about the behavior of my offspring in a world full of different people (that's something I do still have some control over). From the standpoint of my family, I've asked folks if I could get by them to rejoin my party, and if they say yes graciously, I do... and if they don't, I either ride separate or my family waits. By far the most common response we as a family have is to have the "head" of the party wait for the stragglers, for three reasons: (1) we feel that's proper, (2) we're not in that much of a hurry (we're there to enjoy, not stress, ourselves... something a whole lot of adults I've seen in the parks seem to forget), and (3) because it makes other people happy, and thats kinda fun (for me at least). Note that that same point, (3), means when I see a group that is split, I will often initiate "line-jumping", asking them to go ahead of me and making it clear that I'm doing it to help them out. The looks I get (and the future behavior I may just have encouraged), FAR outweigh the few minutes longer wait I may suffer.

I'm a teacher - it's my JOB to improve other peoples behavior .

--
Brian Davis

[JavaDuck]

We were at Disney Studios in August for EMH. We had a fast pass for 12:50 am. We got in line and this family of three were trying to get in with a fast pass from Tower of Terror. He said the Tower of Terror had broke down and that they could use the fast pass at another attraction. I have no idea if the story was true, but when the same thing happened to us earlier in the day on Toy Story Mania, we were given a re-entry pass to TSM. Anyway, the CM would not let the family in. The guy complained more. A supervisor for TSM came over and still denied them entry. As we were working our way through the Fast Pass line. A new CM comes by, asking everyone to step aside so the family could be moved up in line. At first I was highly annoyed by this. Just because he complained loudly he got to jump line. Things ended up turning out nicely though. At the point where the fast pass line meets up with the normal line, the family was directed to the side that the normal line was using. A big group of us were then directed toward the fast pass side. Needless to say, we were on the ride much sooner than the annoying family. He was still complaining very loudly.

So, CMs are paying attention. They do have to deal with the "squeaky wheels", but they still are looking at the guests that are following the rules and are being polite.

[joanna71985]

I would hope that most people wouldn't mind Make a Wish or people with genuine medical issues...

Unfortunately that's not always the case. I have had several people get snarky with MAW/GKTW families at character lines. Really sad.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

I have too. They'll make those "Ugh" faces. I just wanna......be not Disney for a moment.

Maybe because I am slightly biased.....

[KT1234]

I would hope that most people wouldn't mind Make a Wish or people with genuine medical issues...I think the big issue is what the original poster said, when one or two people hold the line and right before entry, 5 to 6 people join them...obviously, these aren't going to be people with medical issues...we had problems on our visit in 2005 with large parties carrying walkie-talkie's when one person in line at a ride or restaurant got ready to board they would call their party on their walkie talkie and they would come running and all jump in line....and a couple of times when people spoke up they acted like they were going to gang up on them so everyone just kind of let them do it...not picking on anyone but it seemed to be a lot of hispanic people doing this...it did get to be frustrating and like said before, the CM seemed afraid to say anything too...they would just look at everyone like they felt bad about it, but never stopped them....I think its awful Disney doesn't allow CM to do anything and this trip, if it happens, I will complain everytime...maybe if everyone does that management will pay attention.

I totally agree with this whole post. First off, I think the majority of people (especially people that post here) would agree that if it is clear that a person has a medical issue, such as illness or a child that is sick or even having some type of melt down, them joining their party later isn't an issue. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience, Joana71985. There really are some self involved, rotten people out there and it breaks my heart that ANYONE would put a damper on the day of a child ill. I think that it would be a good idea for people that are sick, but don't appear VISABLY sick, there should be something like a wristband to identify them. I know some people might not want to feel stereotyped or might be embarrassed by this but it would definately clear up confusion and would eliminate a lot of those dirty looks and animosity they would feel. I think that a lot of people that have medical issues feel that others are not being respectful toward them and this might clear that up because these people might be ignorant to the fact that the individual is ill.

I also think that most people feel for a parent with a child that is having a melt down in the park. Most people have been there and that's embarrassing for them. Although I don't think that every whiny kid should be allowed to go do whatever he or she wants and then be allowed to join mom or dad in line at another attraction, ifa child is really melting down due to exhaustion or heat or hunger, I would gladly have them leave the line, tend to the issue and then return when the child is happy again. It makes for a better line exerience for me! For me, I deal with these issues experience by experience.

I agree with you that MY problem with line cutters is that they aren't the people I listed above. They are either teenager or...and I hate to stereotype...people that are rowdy and pretend like they don't speak english. These people seem to show blatent disregard for others in line and if they aren't cutting, they're doing something annoying and inappropriate such as swinging on ropes, standing a millimeter away from the back of you or just being loud and rowdy.

It really does make me sad that CMs can't do anything but at least now I understand. Thanks for explaining Jessica! I agree that maybe if more people spoke up, the issue could be resolved because I feel that there are more good apples out there than bad. It's a shame that people that break the rules are allowed to continue this bad behavior and that those that do have to deal with the discipline or "speaking up" issue that comes with being in line with them.

[joanna71985]

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience, Joana71985. There really are some self involved, rotten people out there and it breaks my heart that ANYONE would put a damper on the day of a child ill.

It breaks my heart everytime it happens. But I feel even worse for the family. And the last time it happened, the father of the child actually had to say something back to the jerk who said something. How heartless can someone be, that they would say something so cruel? Can't people just be thankful that they don't have to experience something like that, that they are all healthy and are able to stand in line? Who knows if that child will be able to make it back? God willing, I hope they would be able to. But you just don't know.

[lawgirl]

I agree with Marker's comments. Stupid people are everywhere!!!! I have learned over years of going to WDW that its best most of the time just to let it go (I'm an attorney, so you know its hard for me to let things go)...it usually ends up ruining my day if I get aggressive and go after the "line jumpers". My parents raised me right, and I would never intentionally jump in line. However, our society does not value respect anymore...getting ahead of everyone is valued now.

I tend to just let it go. It really doesn't slow me down much; the idiots who are doing it are just that- idiots, and they are very unlikely to change just because I call them out.

There is a point to where I do call people out...one example is a family with a child who is kicking people, or swinging obects around so as to be in people's way, or actually hitting people (and yes this has happened to me several times). I will usually say something to the parent, and perhaps even a CM. Also, if someone is harassing me or anyone else, I will report that.

[Auroring Good Time]

I didn't realize this situation bothered people so much. I have been to Disneyworld many many times and I can only recall one instance where I felt like someone was "cutting" and that was a group of about 6 teenagers who claimed they were with a group up ahead. As other people describe it, I guess I get "cut" in front of all the time, if you consider a mom with a child catching up to the dad with the other children "cutting". I personally don't. This is a family park and by that it means that there may be small children or elderly people or just family members in general who need to sit for a moment or step out of line for a moment. As a previous poster said, we don't know exactly why someone is "cutting" and we shouldn't pass judgement without knowing the facts.