Saving spots in line pre park open: Acceptable?

Bobb_o

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 12, 2015
I'm making the genius decision of going on a Saturday and I just learned from TDRExplorer I should be at the gates 90-120 minutes before opening. Now I'm a crazy Disney person so that's fine for me but I am traveling with my wife and two of our friends. I can probably drag my wife with me but I don't want to "force" our friends to get there that early if they don't want to.

I'm wondering if I (and possibly my wife) line up early would it be rude and inconsiderate to let my friends join me close to park open? While I will appreciate everyone's response I'd really like if there's anyone who would have first hand knowledge/experience of this at TDR or knows of another forum/site where I could ask.

Thanks!
 
When we were there in Nov/Dec 2016, we did not see anyone joining other parties. I can't say that it didn't happen, but we did not see it happen any of our 4 days in the parks.
 
This would be considered rude & is generally not done.

An additional problem would be that your friends likely wouldn't be able to find you even if they tried. It's going to be a sea of humanity on a Saturday morning.
 
from what I understand of Japanese culture, saving a spot for your friends to join you would be seen as cutting in line. And cutting in line is extremely rude and unacceptable anywhere.
 


from what I understand of Japanese culture, saving a spot for your friends to join you would be seen as cutting in line. And cutting in line is extremely rude and unacceptable anywhere.
We are going next May and I actually really like that it's seen as rude and unacceptable.
 
This is not only rude but I doubt is even possible because they will likely not be able to get past the CMs who manage the line let alone bag check unless they are there early. Japanese are very aggressive about not allowing people to cut in line. The one thing time that saving a spot is acceptable is when waiting for shows where everyone arrives and puts their stuff down but one person remains to keep the spots. Everyone should try to be present most of the time and at the 1 hour announcement before the show starts though. After all, if people are waiting nearly 9 hours for a show, they will have to take bathroom breaks (I am not exaggerating, people who got in at 7:45 AM sat in the same spot for 4:30 PM Fashionable Easter at DisneySea).
 


This is not only rude but I doubt is even possible because they will likely not be able to get past the CMs who manage the line let alone bag check unless they are there early. Japanese are very aggressive about not allowing people to cut in line. The one thing time that saving a spot is acceptable is when waiting for shows where everyone arrives and puts their stuff down but one person remains to keep the spots. Everyone should try to be present most of the time and at the 1 hour announcement before the show starts though. After all, if people are waiting nearly 9 hours for a show, they will have to take bathroom breaks (I am not exaggerating, people who got in at 7:45 AM sat in the same spot for 4:30 PM Fashionable Easter at DisneySea).
OMG we might not be watching any shows lol
 
It's really just the stage area spots for harbor shows at DisneySea that are like that. Assuming the crowds are similar to my visit last week, you can probably get away with waiting 2 hours before the show and get a 4th row off center spot where you can still see one of the stages (there's 3 stages for harbor shows at DisneySea).

You may also win a show lottery and not have to wait much at all for some shows. If you don't win the show lottery, probably plan for something like 1 to 2 hours standby wait depending on how busy it is. Parades and Fantasmic are closer to an hour or so for a reasonable spot and 15 minutes is fine for greetings assuming you don't need to be front and center. But if it's raining, people won't have to close their umbrellas for outdoor shows so anything other than the first row will be obstructed.
 
It's really just the stage area spots for harbor shows at DisneySea that are like that. Assuming the crowds are similar to my visit last week, you can probably get away with waiting 2 hours before the show and get a 4th row off center spot where you can still see one of the stages (there's 3 stages for harbor shows at DisneySea).

You may also win a show lottery and not have to wait much at all for some shows. If you don't win the show lottery, probably plan for something like 1 to 2 hours standby wait depending on how busy it is. Parades and Fantasmic are closer to an hour or so for a reasonable spot and 15 minutes is fine for greetings assuming you don't need to be front and center. But if it's raining, people won't have to close their umbrellas for outdoor shows so anything other than the first row will be obstructed.
I honestly don’t think we will be waiting 1-2 hours for a spot. We may just skip some of the shows or see if there is anything left 30 minutes before. That’s a lot of time that could be spent somewhere else.
 
OMG we might not be watching any shows lol

Don't stress about it too much. We rarely wait for parades, but can usually find a decent viewing spot 15 minutes before they start. The first four or so rows will often sit down on the ground, so it's much easier for those standing at the back to have a decent view.

As for the shows, I *think* the first show of each day doesn't require a lottery ticket. So, if you're willing to line up ... maybe an hour before it starts (depending upon crowd levels), you should be able to see any show you want.
 

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