Disarming Rude People at WDW (aka, how not to let rudeness "Harsh Your Mellow")

[minmate]

Have read a few posts lately discussing rudeness of others in WDW. Regardless of what reason they're being rude, if someone at the world personally confronts you or makes rude comments towards you - how do yo overcome it?

Do you ignore it, do you say something back? What?

I'd like to be armed with some ideas in case this happens to us... I'm not looking for ideas to escalate a confrontation -- but to DIFFUSE it!

So, let's hear it smart, kind, mellow DIS-folks!

 

[praline3001]

this is going to be another GOOD thread this evening


Actually to be honest... we just ignore rude people. It doesn't even faze us... really we just block it out!

Now rude princesses at dinner? welll..... a bit harder to ignore but I did

 

[Lynne M]

The same thing I do when I encounter rudeness anywhere in the 'real' world. Ignore it. It's not worth responding to.

Please don't feel like you have to specially prepare to handle rudeness at WDW, like you'll be assaulted by rudeness every ten feet. Sure, you'll run into the occasional ill-mannered person there, just like you would anywhere else on the planet. But by and large, you'll find that your fellow guests are happy and polite, in a good mood because they're on vacation in a fun place.

And it's extraordinarily rare to come across a rude CM. The vast majority are good people, who work like dogs for very little money, to help you enjoy your vacation. Not quite sure how they maintain their good mood, but they do.

 

[teachingmykids]

I tend to have a very smart mouth and have to be very careful. Once a woman ran into my daughter with her stroller, cutting her ankle. The woman ran off before I could say anything (fortunately). On several occasions when someone is rude I pretend to throw dust on them and say, "oooo someone needs some pixie dust..." That usually just makes them mad.
So, to answer your question..... well, I'm no help whatsoever!

 

[jacksmomma]

Generally when I encounter rudeness in the parks I simply overlook it. I find it unfortunate that people have to be rude in such an awesome place, but it happens. Now, the one exception to that is when a CM as Alice was openly rude to me in front of children I still cannot believe that happened and it was 4 years ago! I was so shocked that I did not say anything. I wish I would have said something to other CMs, but I did not.

 

[LegoMom3]

I tend to have a very smart mouth and have to be very careful. Once a woman ran into my daughter with her stroller, cutting her ankle. The woman ran off before I could say anything (fortunately). On several occasions when someone is rude I pretend to throw dust on them and say, "oooo someone needs some pixie dust..." That usually just makes them mad.
So, to answer your question..... well, I'm no help whatsoever!

OMG that is too funny!! I've gotta remember that one!

 

[valandemmy]

we haven't actually had anyone had anyone say anything to us,but when we were waiting for a parade sitting at the top of the steps, there was 2 families fighting about their spots. one lady kept looking at her daughter and saying "you can blame THOSE people for us not getting to see the parade very well" and "they are the ones that took our seats" and the other group was fighting back with them. DH and i just looked at each other cracking up. DH said really loud, "Wow, looks like someone needs some pixie dust"
i was in total disbelief that they would fight like that over something so silly in front of their children!

 

[disgram]

Actually, I like that "looks like someone need some pixie dust"! Think I will use that if we ever run into those poor people who have lost theirs!

We have been fortunate in our trips to WDW. We did have an incident when we were waiting for Mickey's Philhemagic. Four young men(?) were being quite rude and swearing with my DGDs there to hear all they had to say. I finally asked them to go ahead of us and to please remember that there are alot of children here that don't really need to hear their foul langage. They looked at me as if I had two heads but they did go ahead of us and we never heard anymore!

 

[PrincessTigerLily]

Good for you DisGram! That is always something that I would love to comment on (cursing at Disney World...shouldn't that be a given to not do???), and I like your answer! Good thread! I like the positive spin!

 

[Disney Von Drake]

It's easy to ignore rude behavior from other guests.

It's very difficult to ignore the rude behavior exhibited by some CM's.

Rudeness is often born out of ignorance.

Therefore, ignore rude guests and report rude CM's.

I should have put numbers on these like the Rusty Scupper.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Do you ignore it, do you say something back? What?

I'm from Brooklyn so I HAVE to say something back.

 

[DISPrincessMom]

Oh, I wish I could take the high road like most of you but, when I feel someone is doing injustice to me or my family...well, it's not pretty

I was waiting for Spectro one time (90 minutes! And both of my kids FIRST time seeing it), sitting on the wall in front of HOP with my stroller in front of me and saving the tiniest spot next to me for my husband and this woman just walks up about 10 minutes before the parade and takes his seat (he had taken DD4 to the bathroom). I told her very politely that I was saving the seat for my family and she said 'what family?' all snotty. OMG, I nearly lost it right there. The nice family next to me (that I had been chatting with for the past hour) were nice enough to squeeze down and make room for her on the OTHER side. And, she made some comment about how nice they were and gave me all kinds of dirty looks. I would have been happy to make room but she just waltzed in there and sat down like she owned the place. UGH!!

Hats off to all of you that keep your cool!

Cutting is the other thing that makes my blood boil and I will not hesitate to open my big mouth then either

 

[GrowingUpDisney]

Good for you DisGram! That is always something that I would love to comment on (cursing at Disney World...shouldn't that be a given to not do???), and I like your answer! Good thread! I like the positive spin!

Actually, I am of the opinion that that should be a given ANYWHERE not just in WDW. Cursing is just a sign of ignorance...

 

[EMom]

Last trip was 10 days long and all CMs were great. I was scared to death we'd get run over by an ECV, but no accidents happened. The only time I came close to "danger"....meaning there was a potential for losing my temper was when a woman purposely rammed my foot with an EMPTY stroller to get me to move over so she could get by.

Without getting into specifics and logistics, YES, I am 100% certain she did it on purpose. The crowd had sort of jammed up a bit and there was not enough room for her to get by between me and the person on the other side. To get by, she needed me to move over or for the other person to move over, but in a crowd, it's just not that easy. Not to mention, she'd only gain a few feet, because the log jam was in front of us as well.

Just before rammed my foot, I happened to turn my head and look backward and I saw her look directly down at my foot and AIM at it! She actually had to turn the stroller a bit and go out of her way to achieve this. With her eyes fixed on my foot, she turned that stroller and headed straight for my foot! This all happened within a few seconds, so I didn't have time to react. She hit my foot and luckily, I had sneakers on so it didn't hurt too much. But it did hack me off royally.

I moved over a bit and let her squeeze past. She slowly edged ahead and the devil on my shoulder was sooooo much louder than the angel on the other shoulder that as she passed, I gave her a little kick in the ankle bone. Then I assumed the face of an angel and kept walking. She never did anything, so I'm pretty sure she knew exactly what had happened. It was all very low key. DH never even realized it happened either.

I don't know if that's in the intended spirit of the thread, but it IS how I kept the rudeness from getting to ME. I'd have been chapped all day if I'd let someone get away with purposely aiming a stroller at me and hitting me with it. This way, within a few seconds I was all better. Some will say I should be ashamed.....But I'm not.

 

[Rhonna]

Generally when I encounter rudeness in the parks I simply overlook it. I find it unfortunate that people have to be rude in such an awesome place, but it happens. Now, the one exception to that is when a CM as Alice was openly rude to me in front of children I still cannot believe that happened and it was 4 years ago! I was so shocked that I did not say anything. I wish I would have said something to other CMs, but I did not.

Alice was rude to me at Disneyland several years ago. I caught on - eventually - that it might be part of her characters "attitude" - there was a comment on this particular character on the boards a long time ago and some people mentioned the same thing about Alice's character. (Just like you expect the villains to behave a certain way.)

In the movie, Alice has a bit of an attitude also. Of course, I don't know exactly what she said to you. My "Alice" was walking around with the Mad Hatter and gave me a smart remark when I asked if I could have my picture taken with them. (Basically, the answer was no and then they kept on walking and talking with each other and ignored me.) I did see them stop for a child - so maybe she is supposed to be in character for adults but softer for little kids?

It was a bit of a shock since most characters are so accomodating.

 

[tnmomof4]

I always try to overlook rudeness too. One way to diffuse rudeness is just to be really nice any way. The people that have been rude to me or my family, usually don't look like they are having a good time. They don't look happy. They don't look like they are at the best place in the world. I have said "Have a Magical Day"! a couple times when someone was being really rude. I have made myself and my kids laugh by saying that. I don't say it sarcastically, but just in a nice way. As soon as we laugh, it helps me get rid of that feeling of wanting to be defensive. But it is hard when the rudeness is directed at my kids.

I said something last year during the parade. We had been waiting for about 45 minutes. Two of my kids were sitting and two were standing behind them with me. Right when the parade was starting to pass us a lady and her two kids just pushed their way in front of us. I actually heard the lady tell her kids to just push their way through. They kicked my two kids that were sitting down. I tried politely to tell her that I didn't appreciate the way she just pushed her way in front of us and kicked my kids. One of my three year old's was actually crying because they had kicked/pushed him off the curb and into the street.

I was getting upset, but I still politely asked her to move back behind us or even beside us so my kids could see. I told her we had been waiting 45 minutes and that getting a spot early was a good idea for her to do next time. She said she never would be that stupid to wait for a parade. She said that if they had to push their way in to see the parade then that's what they were going to do. She said she paid to see the parade too. She told her kids that they were not going to move, and they didn't.

The family beside us that had been waiting the 45 minutes with us saw the whole thing. This mom also said something to this lady, but it didn't do any good. This family kindly moved over some so my kids could sit with their kids.

Usually we run into really nice and kind people at WDW.

 

[chickenskin]

We always say "looks like someone needs a nap", and we're not refering to the kids.

 

[SnwflkCts]

You know, sometimes I am so dense (pixiedust in my eyes?), that I don't even KNOW people are being rude and mean. My DH just says I am trusting ... so I guess it could be said I ignore bad behavior.

But thank goodness ... I have yet to stumble on someone being cruel to a child or animal right in front of me - I think I would be a different person then!!!

PS: I NEVER stay for the parades - these seem like a very scary time!!!!!!!!!! (not that others shouldn't but that is my aversion technique!)

 

[soccerchick]

Yes, parades can be VERY scary. When we "do" a parade, a good offense is our best defense. It becomes camp out and eat and rest time. We find a spot, on a curb, EARLY. We send DH or I to Casey's for lunch/dinner or to get a snack and drinks. Being on the curb lets us hug our spots more securely.

 

[joenan88]

I will admit I have a big NY mouth..BUT I can usually turn a bad situation around with humor..the only time my claws come out is when it involves my kiddies....hence my story..

We were in Disney a few years back my daughter was 3. She was sitting on a curb with my boys (4 and 7) and my hubby and I were right in back of them waiting for the parade to start at MGM. WELL all of a sudden a woman..about 50-60 flies through the crowd on her scooter and bumps my hubby and runs over my daughters finger...WELL I went crazy!!!!!!!!! The worst part was she didn't even apologize. A few CM's came over and took my daughter to first aid..she was fine..thank goodness..and gave us the use of fast passes for the rest of the day since we handled ourselves with class..