Crowds, parents and the Magic Kingdom

[Aurora]

Sis and her 9-year-old son are at the MK today. Wait times are 35 minutes for It's a Small World, 60 minutes for Peter Pan, 30 minutes for Haunted Mansion, 20 for Pirates. In New Fantasyland, 90 minutes for Enchanted Tales with Belle.

Her text to me: "Too many sweaty, crabby people yelling at their kids."

And we wonder why CMs have meltdowns...

[SBETigg]

It's always sad to see yelling at WDW.

[BrerGnat]

As a general observation, is seems that people have forgotten what it means to be patient. And polite.

Sad.

[MissMaryPoppins]

BrerGnat, you are so right.

Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend I was at the studios with some of my family and after seeing the Osbourne lights we went into the Writer's Shop for some coffee and hot chocolate. We had just ordered and were waiting for our drinks when a woman pushed past us and went to the counter. Now, even when the parks are super, crazy busy I'm patient and never rude to anyone. But this woman not even excusing herself annoyed me and I said "wow, excuse me." and she turned around and loudly informed that she wasn't cutting the line, I guess plowing down a family to get to the front of a line doesn't mean cutting anymore, she just wanted more syrup in
her coffee and she wasn't "being rude or
anything". When we were done we were sitting outside with our drinks, planning out our next
thing when she came out of the shop and stared at me as she walked by. I guess I was supposed to
be intimidated.

My best friend, her sister, and I spent a weekend at Disney World in the spring and my friend's sister was amazed at how many angry parents we saw yelling at their kids. We started keeping count of how many we saw. It surprises me I guess because when my brother and I were growing up, our parents never got like that, no after how crowded or hot the parks were. It's a vacation and way too many people don't realize it's for relaxing.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

We were just there for 10 days, and I'll be honest, you go to 10 parks over 10 days, and there is bound to be a blow-up or two, especially when you are trying to keep 3 kids occupied during the wait times.

I know to help mitigate potential issues, with a few character exceptions, we didn't do a ride or any wait that was more than 20 minutes (oh - and other than waiting 40 minutes to get into BoG counter service). We also planned out fast passes well in advance. I also ordered 50 disney pins that we let our girls divide up before we went, then bought lanyards our first night there. Other than constantly hearing that dumb metallic "thunk" as they managed to fidget another one of their lanyard, it was a great decision. While waiting for characters they could walk up to their "minders" and look at their pins. On several occassions it kept them busy during the entire wait, sometimes too busy.

But yeah, it's unfortunate when parents totally loose sight of why they are there. A little planning and fore thought can go a long ways to avoiding the meltdowns and yelling sessions.

[mom2morgan]

My best friend, her sister, and I spent a weekend at Disney World in the spring and my friend's sister was amazed at how many angry parents we saw yelling at their kids. We started keeping count of how many we saw. It surprises me I guess because when my brother and I were growing up, our parents never got like that, no after how crowded or hot the parks were. It's a vacation and way too many people don't realize it's for relaxing.

To be fair, Disney isn't the most RELAXING holiday, especially when it is hot and crowded! But I have to confess, I had a bit of a melt-down at my kids on our last trip. I've always hated to hear parents yelling, too - but fact is, the heat and crowds were making my teens act really beastly and I had a moment of "After all the money I spent to bring you here, you should at least not whine and complain about everything!" I'm sure the people around me would have thought I was horrible, but everyone has the occasional moment, I guess :-)

[MissMaryPoppins]

To some people I guess a Disney vacation can be stressful but they're choosing to go there and it is possible to have a Disney vacation that isn't stressful.

[I LoveJack]

I've got one better. How about a complete stranger yelling at your child? This last March some rude adult yelled at my DD who is 12 because she was trying to help him play Sorcers of the Magic Kingdom by giving him some tips. She was at one portal and my other DD was at another waiting in line when she catches up to us crying because he had yelled at her. Good thing I hadn't witnessed it or it would have gotten real ugly real quick. Instead just told her to ignore him, there are @#$ even at Disney.

[bruin1344]

I hate the Disney buses because then "the sweaty, crabby people yelling at their kids" continues onto the bus

[MissMaryPoppins]

I've got one better. How about a complete stranger yelling at your child? This last March some rude adult yelled at my DD who is 12 because she was trying to help him play Sorcers of the Magic Kingdom by giving him some tips. She was at one portal and my other DD was at another waiting in line when she catches up to us crying because he had yelled at her. Good thing I hadn't witnessed it or it would have gotten real ugly real quick. Instead just told her to ignore him, there are @#$ even at Disney.

Holy cow! Your poor daughter, I feel so bad for her.

[A Big Kid]

Sis and her 9-year-old son are at the MK today. Wait times are 35 minutes for It's a Small World, 60 minutes for Peter Pan, 30 minutes for Haunted Mansion, 20 for Pirates. In New Fantasyland, 90 minutes for Enchanted Tales with Belle.

Her text to me: "Too many sweaty, crabby people yelling at their kids."

And we wonder why CMs have meltdowns...

No. What I wonder is why people keep making excuses for a once premier company.

[brad817]

Sis and her 9-year-old son are at the MK today. Wait times are 35 minutes for It's a Small World, 60 minutes for Peter Pan, 30 minutes for Haunted Mansion, 20 for Pirates. In New Fantasyland, 90 minutes for Enchanted Tales with Belle.

Her text to me: "Too many sweaty, crabby people yelling at their kids."

And we wonder why CMs have meltdowns...

Gosh, I guess we went on the right day. We just got back yesterday and went to MK on Tuesday. The lines were as short as I can ever remember. 70 minutes for Belle at max (which I don't understand). Other than that and Ariel for part of the day, I don't think anything was over 30 minutes all day, and that was Peter Pan for a very short time. I went to Space Mountain at 3pm and waited 10 minutes. Thunder Mountain, the same. There was no point in getting a FP for anything in Tomorrowland as we practically walked on to everything. Dumbo, Pooh, all short lines. The number of bodies in the park seemed like a lot, but the lines were shockingly short. We did everything we wanted and had a great time.

[Main Street Jim]

Sis and her 9-year-old son are at the MK today. Wait times are 35 minutes for It's a Small World, 60 minutes for Peter Pan, 30 minutes for Haunted Mansion, 20 for Pirates. In New Fantasyland, 90 minutes for Enchanted Tales with Belle.

Her text to me: "Too many sweaty, crabby people yelling at their kids."

And we wonder why CMs have meltdowns...

Ehh. Seems to me, normal wait times for those attractions.

[gueli]

To be fair, Disney isn't the most RELAXING holiday, especially when it is hot and crowded! But I have to confess, I had a bit of a melt-down at my kids on our last trip. I've always hated to hear parents yelling, too - but fact is, the heat and crowds were making my teens act really beastly and I had a moment of "After all the money I spent to bring you here, you should at least not whine and complain about everything!" I'm sure the people around me would have thought I was horrible, but everyone has the occasional moment, I guess :-)

We all have breakdowns here and there.
what i noticed in the past, especially the young ones, the kids were tired, the adults exhausted. thats when i notice most of the yelling...

[K8screen]

Sorry folks, but I get madder at the parents who DONT control their kids and allow them to run wild and annoy every one else, then give a helpless "what can you do?" shrug if anyone else gets annoyed (or even hurt) by them.
Yes, there are other ways than yelling, yes, planning helps, and yes we are all human, but it is up to a parent to make sure their kids are under control.

[MissMaryPoppins]

Sorry folks, but I get madder at the parents who DONT control their kids and allow them to run wild and annoy every one else, then give a helpless "what can you do?" shrug if anyone else gets annoyed (or even hurt) by them.
Yes, there are other ways than yelling, yes, planning helps, and yes we are all human, but it is up to a parent to make sure their kids are under control.

I agree with you. I'm not a fan of yelling parents but I'm less a fan of unruly kids. Especially ones with light sabers.

[Gator]

If you've got three kids at WDW for 10 days like we just did, there's gonna be some anger and yelling. It's just human nature. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just arrive for a few days every three or four months, hit just a few rides, and soak in the ambience. It's just not that way. It's all day in a bus with wings, rush to every attraction, hurry to the ADR, drag the kids all the way. Explosions are on the list with all that stuff happening.

[bruin1344]

Sorry folks, but I get madder at the parents who DONT control their kids and allow them to run wild and annoy every one else, then give a helpless "what can you do?" shrug if anyone else gets annoyed (or even hurt) by them.
Yes, there are other ways than yelling, yes, planning helps, and yes we are all human, but it is up to a parent to make sure their kids are under control.

i agree

[LostBoys]

I hate the Disney buses because then "the sweaty, crabby people yelling at their kids" continues onto the bus

There are a lot of factors involved including people of different cultures coming together (other cultures don't have the same "space bubble" Americans do and some have a different idea of deodorant),
having different ideas on minding children and after investing a considerable amount of $ everyone wants a "special" experience, factor in Americans have changed as a society and are less polite and well mannered than generations before .....

Before you disagree please allow me to share a Disney bus story from years back.
We (DW, DS & I) are on a Disney bus after park closing returning to the POR from the MK. A single mother with a very tired 4-5 year old child she is carrying gets on the bus (had seen them exiting the park). The child is passed out in her arms, she is exhausted and a bit frazzled. She walks onto a crowded bus, no one, not one able bodied young man (or woman) gets up to offer her a seat, When she finally makes it to the rear of the bus where we were seated I got up and gave her my seat. The gratitude in her face was overwhelming ... and for what, a simple gesture.

Where are manners and a simple bit of consideration? Was this woman really going to be able to hold a child while standing for a 20 minute bus ride?



p.s. While our DS may be a little bit spoiled a trip to WDW lets us realize how well behaved and mannered he is

and I am very much in the please don't expect me to mind your child camp so please take care of them, it doesn't take a village to raise your child, at least not at WDW

[rnin02]

I agree with Gator, its hard to avoid crankiness 100%. its crowded, frequently hot, it seems like a lot of park days are just go, go, go...from ADR to fastpass, etc. its hard to always manage all that with a good attitude all the time. and yes, its true, you don't have to get ADRS, ride everything, etc but on the other hand when its someone's first and probably only trip (my mom's 1st & only this time, my DS's first) you want to maximize their experience.