Jumping Lines

Personally, I try not to sweat the small stuff at Disneyland. If people cut in front of me, I try to take a breath and just ‘oh well’ the situation. Part of the reason I love our Disney trips so much is because I feel like it’s a lovely break from real world ugliness. It’s magical, happy, and family focused.

Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean rude behavior doesn’t bother me but I’ve been telling myself lately on our trips to just ignore it because when I get real annoyed it’s just ruining my moment and not really getting me anywhere. I can let myself sit in line and stew or just shake it off.

Anywhere you have crowds, it can cause some people to lose their manners.
 
CM's have no power so don't expect them to intervene. Bus stop waits are ridiculous at WDW but that's just the way it is now...how much you paid has nothing to do with anything. I have never seen anyone jumping a line just to take advantage, they are always meeting someone, so the actual real line jumpers are probably very few and far between. Maybe next time we start to get upset, we should all just take a step back and realize that it's not the end of the world.
 
Like I said earlier in the thread we were actually told (not even told- suggested to us) by a CM that it was okay for our friend to meet us in line after he ran to the restroom quick. Which seems to me there is no official policy against ‘line meeting’ which makes sense if it is commonly used as a tool for those with disabilities. In the scheme of things, if three-five people jump ahead of me what is that even gonna matter? Like an extra minute maybe? I try to be cool about things. This comes after a learned experience of spending of my first trip way back when (at least first trip as an adult) frustrated by the crowds and rudeness- I take the zen approach now. 😂
 


Only reason is a kid with a bathroom issue.

We've done this once with five kids over seven five-day trips.

I still didn't like that it happened. Yes, my son was four, yes we just asked him before we got in line, yes it was a longer line (Nemo).

My thought is that we should have left and skipped it. Not a big deal.

It's a slippery slope from anything to I'm King of the world and the sea of humanity shall part so I may walk on to any ride I wish.
 
Only reason is a kid with a bathroom issue.

We've done this once with five kids over seven five-day trips.

I still didn't like that it happened. Yes, my son was four, yes we just asked him before we got in line, yes it was a longer line (Nemo).

My thought is that we should have left and skipped it....

CMs will actually give you a bathroom pass (or whatever it's called) for these kinds of situations! We had to use these passes many, many times with youngest, and CMs were always kind and understanding,. They would help us out of the queue at a spot that wouldn't inconvenience anyone/too many people, then tell us where to meet up with the rest of our family later. Sometimes youngest would take a while, so these bathroom passes were greatly appreciated! Sounds like you're out of this phase with your kids, but hang on to this tip for when you start taking the grandkids to DLR! :)
 
Perhaps it was two VIP tours then. It was all one group, but maybe they paid for 2. I disagree that it is the same as FP. This was on Peter Pan that has no FP. Peter Pan is a slow loader so I felt it was very unfair to the huge amount of people waiting in line who have no option to avoid the line since FP is not available.

VIP tours offer this as a perk for paying $600 an hour for the tour. It is no different than a FP. So, no, don't consider it "cutting". Yes, we use VIP tours frequently. Usually when we have family we want to get rides done in a busy period. As for 15 people, that would be multiple VIP tours, as tours are limited to 10.
 


After spending a week at Disneyland I noticed that not one person said "excuse me" as they pushed through the line to meet up with their party. This is unusual to me as people are genuinely apologetic as WDW, and will say "excuse me, sorry" the whole way up the line...
I think many people get so distracted in the parks that often they just forget common courtesies and forget that they've forgotten! We've found that if we say "excuse me" in a line or when trying to return to our parade spot or whatever, other people around us will start saying it, too, like that served as a reminder. It's so easy to get swept away by all the busyness and craziness in the parks these days. (And that's not counting the people who wouldn't say it anyway -- whatever!)
My favorite "excuse me" story is when a well dressed gentleman had to cut in front of me at FFP in DCA. The line was very long, as usual, but this man was very courteous and well spoken. He said, "Excuse me," and asked if he could cut through. I smiled and replied, " No problem, Mr. Iger, any time!" :)
 
CM's have no power so don't expect them to intervene. Bus stop waits are ridiculous at WDW but that's just the way it is now...how much you paid has nothing to do with anything. I have never seen anyone jumping a line just to take advantage, they are always meeting someone, so the actual real line jumpers are probably very few and far between. Maybe next time we start to get upset, we should all just take a step back and realize that it's not the end of the world.
No, it's definitely not the end of the world and I've never let a line cutter ruin my day. But even better than the people who were cut in front of "letting it go" would be the people who think they are entitled not to wait realizing that they have no more claim to a walk-on than anyone else. I'm a little saddened that the responsibility for maintaining the societal harmony is being placed on the affected, rather than the actors. The whole world needs more courtesy. Standing in line and waiting turns (like in kindergarten!) should be an easy place to start.*

*This post is directed at my erstwhile acquaintance who cut in line because she wanted to. Not anyone with a DAS, three-year-old with a potty 'mergency, or other special circumstances.
 
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Only reason is a kid with a bathroom issue.

We've done this once with five kids over seven five-day trips.

I still didn't like that it happened. Yes, my son was four, yes we just asked him before we got in line, yes it was a longer line (Nemo).

My thought is that we should have left and skipped it. Not a big deal.

It's a slippery slope from anything to I'm King of the world and the sea of humanity shall part so I may walk on to any ride I wish.
If I see a parent with one or two kids who look like they aren't old enough to use the bathroom themselves, that's a totally different situation. Obviously, the parent has to go with the child to make sure they are safe in a big place like Disneyland and that they can actually go to the bathroom and wash up properly. These things happen, but people like this are not the problem. It's the ones who, like it's been mentioned before, jump into line with snacks in hand who look like they had a friend go up first and then they jump the line when their friend texts them they're close to boarding. Ridiculous.
 
Totally agree with this! But balancing it out with the reality that situations like this usually happen with just a few people (one parent with one or two kids or maybe one or two adults together) meeting the other parent/rest of the group. This kind of situation usually doesn't mean 5-10 or more people, holding snacks and boasting about the rides they just did, meeting up with another placeholder at the front of the line. And, sadly, it is the latter kind of group that makes things more difficult for the former kind of group.

And it's rough on the special needs kids who are waiting in line! My kid stims in line by basically bouncing back and forth. My husband and I have ways to handle it, but it basically involves sandwiching him between us and giving him enough space where he won't careen into other guests. We had a couple of groups of teens and adults cut by us on our last trip, and more than one got run into by him because we had no verbal warning they were trying to get through (no "excuse me") and they just tried to push past :rolleyes:
 
I think many people get so distracted in the parks that often they just forget common courtesies and forget that they've forgotten!

I think that happens a lot. And something else happens, too. Some people -- especially those unfamiliar with the parks -- see this happen a few times and assume it's just the way it works at Disneyland. So they decide they better get with the program, start doing what apparently is perfectly acceptable.

In fact, when I asked the original question, I knew that cutting in lines for attractions was frowned on by most guests, but I was actually surprised that people seemed to feel nearly as strongly about the turnstiles, rope drop, and saving seats for entertainment. My wife did join us late at rope drop one day, and I have saved seats at the Royal Theatre. And in both cases, I had no clue that others might be annoyed because what I was doing seemed so commonplace.

I don't know what the solution is. I don't think it's practical for Disney to try to enforce this kind of etiquette. And I think it's generally better practice for guests to be gracious rather than confrontational when you perceive that someone else is behaving poorly.

My favorite "excuse me" story is when a well dressed gentleman had to cut in front of me at FFP in DCA. The line was very long, as usual, but this man was very courteous and well spoken. He said, "Excuse me," and asked if he could cut through. I smiled and replied, " No problem, Mr. Iger, any time!" :)

Great story! I bet you got a few double-takes from people within earshot.
 
I’m with the majority in respect to opinions on “push through the line”-style cutting, Mom bringing Starbucks to the rest of the family waiting at rope drop, and bathroom breaks, especially for kids (as they often won’t say they have to go until it’s “a ‘mergency!”) But an acquaintance of mine from years past used to take her girls to Disney a couple times a year and said that she always made her husband wait in the lines and then at the last second she would drag her kids through all the people saying, “Sorry, got to meet dad. Dad, we’re coming!” She said she spent a lot of money on the vacation and wasn’t going to spend the whole time dealing with whiny, bored kids in line. I asked what about everyone else who were waiting in line and also spent a lot of money? She said, basically, that it’s not her problem. I thought that was messed up. My kid can stand with the best of them. He learned at two years old that if he wants to ride, he waits—nicely.
Karma catches up to everyone equally, I don’t let other people’s poor choices get me down. I am at Disneyland, things could definitely be worse.
 
CMs will actually give you a bathroom pass (or whatever it's called) for these kinds of situations! We had to use these passes many, many times with youngest, and CMs were always kind and understanding,. They would help us out of the queue at a spot that wouldn't inconvenience anyone/too many people, then tell us where to meet up with the rest of our family later. Sometimes youngest would take a while, so these bathroom passes were greatly appreciated! Sounds like you're out of this phase with your kids, but hang on to this tip for when you start taking the grandkids to DLR! :)
Just FYI... they did not have any sort of bathroom pass or easy way out of the line for MFSR. And yes after just going before we got in line ... my 4 year old had to go after 15 minutes in line. The very nice mom from the group standing in front of us said we could just find them and rejoin the line but by the time we got back they would have been in the inside queue so we just got back in the regular lineup and I used it as a learning experience for my little guy.
 
Maybe I'm misreading it but WonkaKid seemed to imply that people from the East Coast were (not as kind, or pushier) because they spent so much money, but I could say the same thing about "locals" at Disneyland ;-) so trying to isolate a group doesn't serve any purpose.
No, that’s definitely not what I meant. I simply cited the East Coast because visitors from there have to pay a lot (the most?) to fly to DL. People that come in for a day or two from within 100 miles (there are thousands of them) pay very little to get to the park. My experience is that the overwhelming majority of guests are polite and kind. Just as in any situation that involves people, I suspect that 10-15% of DL guests are prone to be difficult/rude/unpleasant/entitled.
 
My take on it is, if you are courteous and nice about it, it doesn't really bother me. It doesn't take any effort to say, "excuse me." Things happen. People need to use the restroom, etc. If they don't say excuse me or just push their way through, then I get irritated. Common courtesy takes zero effort.

It is when people are flat out rude, I have an issue. Unfortunately I have had two instances where other guests are beyond rude, cussing, causing a scene rude, and Disney has done NOTHING about it. People are just so unaware of others now, it is sad. I think Disney will eventually need to do more about the issue as time goes on and people get more and more blatant about it.
 
Perhaps it was two VIP tours then. It was all one group, but maybe they paid for 2. I disagree that it is the same as FP. This was on Peter Pan that has no FP. Peter Pan is a slow loader so I felt it was very unfair to the huge amount of people waiting in line who have no option to avoid the line since FP is not available.
I understand how you might feel like this, but also know, the tour guide schedules a specific time for the tour to go on Peter Pan. It isn't "Let's do it now", the guide calls the attraction and gets a return time for the attraction. It is an option Disneyland sells, similar to being able to get center seating at the fireworks show or paying for the dessert seating at WOC. If you wish to avoid standing in the line, VIP tours are available to anyone who wishes to purchase it.

Also be aware, people with disabilities but aren't in a wheelchair, also use this same side entrance. If you are in a wheelchair, you use the exit.
 
People joining others in their party I’m fine with, and parents walking kids through apologetically, I’m fine with (it’s usually pretty obvious they’re returning from bathroom break or similar). They’re courteous, apologetic and just one or two.

Blatant line jumping where adults just push in without anyone ‘saving’ the spot and then they stand there smirking, and sometimes making rude gestures is annoying.

We’ve also had people behind us in queue try to ‘rearrange’ the queue as it moved, sneaking in front of us as the queue shuffled forward. I’ve seen people do this repeatedly until they end up way ahead of where they were originally in line.

This is why I love MaxPass so much. I don’t notice this behaviour when we Fastpass our way around the park.
 
Is it okay to have stragglers in your party join you in line at the front gate before the park opens?
It doesn't bother me, but it needs to be a reasonable amount of people. If there are 3 already waiting, there better not be more than 3 joining and I would assume that there was a reason for it, such as being held up at security or Starbucks, etc.
Is it okay for Mom shop on Main Street while the rest of us line up for Rope Drop, and then have her join us a few minutes early?
I don't see what the problem is with one person joining in. I also don't see what the problem is with just joining Mom at the back of the line when she's ready.
Is it okay for some of your group to line up early for Frozen and then save seats front and center for others much further back in the line? (Isn't this exactly the same thing as holding places in any other line?)
Nope. If the group wants to sit together, they can enter together at the end of the line. That's what I always do.
Is it okay for one or two people in your party to leave the line for the bathroom and then return and join the rest of them? How about to go get churros for the group?
I'm kind of mixed about this. I don't care when someone does this ahead of me, but I would never be so rude to do that. So, yeah, it's tolerable, but at the same time, I wouldn't do it because I think it is rude.
 
We’ve also had people behind us in queue try to ‘rearrange’ the queue as it moved, sneaking in front of us as the queue shuffled forward. I’ve seen people do this repeatedly until they end up way ahead of where they were originally in line.

We've had people try this in GOTG before. They were the very last people to enter the room, then they walked around the edge all the way to the door out. The people next to us noticed them as well, so when the door opened, they stepped left so the cutters couldn't get in front of us.
 

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