what was the best WDW guest meltdown you've observed

POLY LOVER

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I thought of another one. I was enjoying a nice dinner in the Brown Derby when I saw a disturbance at a nearby table. Seems teenage daughter was upset about something, stood up and slugged her mother really hard in the arm, and started to exit. Dad tried to intervene, and he was punched in the arm too. He then just stood aside and let her flounce out. A few minutes later Dad went outside to find her. She had apparently calmed down, and came back in, sat down, and finished the meal. Dad and Mom were so casual about all of this that I could only surmise that teenage daughter did this a lot. What a fun family. . .


Maybe its their tradition?
 

Andrew C

You know what's funny?
My personal favorite was the woman in Magic Kingdom screaming at the cast member sweeping up the sidewalk on Main Street because she had paid all this money to go to Disney World and it was raining and her vacation was ruined. Granted, it was raining very hard (there was a tropical storm that was sideswiping Orlando), but I am not really sure what the janitorial staff can do about that.

She could have received one of these....

Capture.JPG
 

GeekDad

Active Member
I thought of another one. I was enjoying a nice dinner in the Brown Derby when I saw a disturbance at a nearby table. Seems teenage daughter was upset about something, stood up and slugged her mother really hard in the arm, and started to exit. Dad tried to intervene, and he was punched in the arm too. He then just stood aside and let her flounce out. A few minutes later Dad went outside to find her. She had apparently calmed down, and came back in, sat down, and finished the meal. Dad and Mom were so casual about all of this that I could only surmise that teenage daughter did this a lot. What a fun family. . .
While I'm sure somewhat funny or odd to see there is a chance that the daughter has some kind of condition that causes her to lash out because she doesn't know how to handle the emotions. That would be my first guess anyways if the parents were so calm about it.
 
This was when our daughter had just turned 4 and somehow she met the height requirement for Splash Mountain. Well, right after we got seated, some nut case lady comes running up and points to our daughter and starts screaming about how she was shorter than her kid and how it wasn't fair that her kid wasn't allowed to go on the ride. We would have yelled back at her but we knew our child was too small so we kept quiet. I can see why she was frustrated though because the CM bumped her kid out of line at the very end of the 60 minute queue (they measure you at the beginning of the line too).
 

shipley731

Well-Known Member
Several years ago, me & DH were standing in line to check in at AKL. There was a family consisting of Grandma, Mom, & two boys that I guess were in the age range of 10-13 walk up to the desk & get in the guest services line. They seemed to be arguing when they walked up, but I wasn't really paying attention. Older boy finally pops off & tells Grandma she better give him his money or else. Grandma says no, as he had already spent all of his money for the trip. The boy then starts yelling at Grandma accusing her of lying & she better produce his money right that minute. Grandma holds firm, "No, I told you, you spent it all already." Boy then starts yelling "You better give me my f***ing money right now or I'm going to call family services and report you." At this point, the younger one starts in with the same line of crap. Went on for a good 10 minutes & the language that was being used by all four involved was definitely not family friendly. We finally got called up to the desk to check in & the poor girl behind the desk was absolutely mortified & started apologizing to us. We told her, it was ok, some people just forgot that they were in the most magical place on earth. We were trying to put her at ease that we knew none of the scene was her fault or the hotel. A manager had come out at that point & was talking to the family and they had quieted down. We had reserved a standard view room. After checking in & getting our keys & map, we get to the room & the front desk had upgraded us to a Arusha Savanna room. Best room we ever got upgraded to!
 

MississippiBelle

Well-Known Member
While in line for POTC some years ago, my family and I witnessed a young British guy (early 20s probably) throwing an absolute tantrum at his mom. Cussing her out, threatening her, the whole nine. The rest of the family just ignored him. My mom politely asked the mother if she wanted her to call the cops (while I attempted to melt into the shadows out of sheer embarrassment). It was like a light switch. The guy looked really embarrassed that someone heard him (not sure how he thought he was pulling off a subtlety) and the rest of the family just responded that he acted like that all the time and they ignored him now. I would have thought that there was something wrong with him except he went back to acting like a normal human being after my mom said something.
 

brb1006

Well-Known Member
Has anyone ever seen a guest throwing a meltdown over character meet and greets? I could imagine the Hatter and Alice's reactions to a random guests having a fit over something.
 

fireworksandfairytales

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Back when I was a cast member, I was working at Epcot strollers. Two ladies walked up and one of them immediately went over to a railing, leaned over the side and started vomiting. The other lady came up to the counter and started screaming at my co-worker and I to give her a free wheelchair because her friend was ill. It was very obvious that they were both completely wasted. It was near park closing and we gave out complimentary strollers to get to and from the parking lot anyway. We gave her a stroller and then she continued to scream at us and said she needed someone to escort them to their car. At this point my co-worker went for a manager. My manager came out and she screamed at him to have me escort her out to her car. Seeing as she was belligerent, my manager said that he would walk her out instead. They literally got twenty feet away from the counter (in the middle of Leave a Legacy) and she started screaming "I'M NOT HAPPY! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY!" at the top of her lungs. And my manager called for security to escort her out of the park. It was by far the most ridiculous guest I've ever seen.
 

FettFan

Well-Known Member
The Maury Show Newlyweds at Animal Kingdom. I've posted it in these forums before, but it always bears mention in a thread like this.

The woman, still wearing the Minnie Mouse veil hat was upset and screaming, the husband is behind her trying to calm her down....then she turns around and screams "WHY DID YOU **** HER?!" at the top of her lungs.

It was right by Pizzafari.....lots of kids around and a couple of cast members standing nearby....their mouths just DROPPED.

That's one thing that I will remember until my dying day.
 
Last edited:

insaneshadow

Active Member
I witnessed a very quiet family meltdown between a mother and daughter. I was in Frontierland around 11 p.m., just walking around, when I noticed a family stopping on the bridge in front of Splash Mountain. The mother and daughter had a quick exchange of words that didn't look bad until I saw the mom say something (I assume in Arabic), very angrily, but kept her voice down which caused her daughter to have a hurt expression on her face.

My reaction?

"Look straight ahead. Nothing to see hear. I wonder what the other parts of the park look like at this time of night."
 

matt9112

Well-Known Member
Probably one of the best ones was in Disneyland. I was walking through Fantasyland and generally toward the front of the park, and was walking behind a dad and 2 maybe 13 year old boys. The dad was non-stop berating one of the kids (I gathered that the other kid was a buddy) for ruining the trip. The dad kept going off about how he'd taken a day off work, spent all kinds of money, made plans, and now they had to leave because the son was a rude little jerk. I never did hear what the kid had done, but the dad was so over the top rant-y that it was embarrassing.

if my son (age 4) acts up in a public place (restaurant ect) we leave no yelling or anything like that i just pick him up and we go wait in the car until his mother is done.
 

SW_matt

Well-Known Member
Not at WDW as such but here goes.

I was once sat on a little bench in Thorpe Park, Surrey, England. I was just after riding the equivalent of primeval whirl (yeah I know) and I was feeling rather peaky. Its August. Its hot. Its eye waveringly dry.The rest of my band of merry adventurers had zipped off to ride "STEALTH!" (a no holds barred unadulterated purveyor of rib crushing speed and toe curling drops)however myself, feeling like I may emulate a vomit dragon any second decided to seek refuge on this wee bench in the shade whilst my travel companions went off to enjoy the next ride. All is well.

At this moment in time, I was happy, I was content. The sickness was passing and I felt refreshed and immersed in a feeling of serenity as I enjoyed the coolness and people watched, fantasising about my upcoming trip to WDW. (Sure Thorpe park is great but it doesn't have all that much on the most magical place on Earth.). Moments later a rather red faced and portly woman arrived with her equally stout upstanding young gentleman who in my opinion was around 12/13. The selfish part of me growled a little bit as I knew my little bubble had been burst and I was going to have to share my personal little space with these two fellow thrill seeking colleagues, no bother, I thought, momentarily my good friends will return and we shall continue our journey with my lunch safely secured in my stomach. I mean these people are probably just in the same boat as me, wanting a short quite moment in what was an undoubtedly frenetic and long hot day. Right? WRONG.

Minutes pass and i'm enshrouded in my fictional blanket of comfort and security believing these people are perfectly normal. Huh? Whats this? Junior appears to have eyeballed a sugared donut stand (I don't blame him Im quite fancying a bag myself and I am known to sometimes enjoy a donut every now and then- as is well known by my companions). His podgy hand rises and he grunts something in audible, evidently instructing his mother to set forth and hunt him down a bag of these sweet, sweet balls of dough. But stop, alas, this young squire has been blocked in his quest for the doctor has told him he's to cut down on his sugar intake. My awkward-o-meter wobbles, this is going in a direction I wouldn't wish on my arch enemies.

Juniors not happy with this, his badgering continues for 5-10 minutes but mummy remains upright, this woman is not for turning, in the words of baroness Thatcher. He's getting more irate. Should I move, I wonder? No. I like this bench, this is my bench. I was here first. I daren't move less my companions may not be able to find me again and I risk wandering the park like a wee lost waif. The tension cranks.

Now, as an upstanding officer of the law, I would like to consider myself fairly well hardened in my short but lively career. But the ensuing and out of nowhere tirade of shouting, swearing and foot stamping takes me by surprise. My jaw hits the floor. I couldn't have been more surprised if the easter bunny him self appeared and punched me square in the face. I couldn't want anything more than to be swallowed into the very bush behind me never to resurface again, this is awful, he's still going, and theres no sign of it stopping. Should I say something? I probably should, this is bordering on a public order offence. This kids a nutter though, he could probably take me in a fight and mummy hippo looks as if she could strip the fur of a badger at a hundred paces with just a stare. They're both bawling now. Why me? Of all the people they could have sat next to? Its my day off and everything.

I see my father returning in the distance, excellent I thought, away I go, right? WRONG. He's alone, where are the rest of them? He stops at the donut stand, looks at me enquiringly (like I said my adoration on any normal day for these donuts is well known), I shake my head, no don't do it, please sweet merciful mother of god don't do it. Oh S*it. He's done it. he's coming over, so is the smell of these donuts, he's equally surprised by the whirlwind of fury now lay next to me on this bench stamping his feet mere inches from my legs, fuelled by the smell of the donuts he's not enjoying. I can't take it anymore, we're leaving I whisper to my father and we take our spoils and run. Run with the fear of the little Tasmanian devil behind us. I would rather have been back at work.
 
Last edited:

Nick Wilde

Well-Known Member
Not at WDW as such but here goes.

I was once sat on a little bench in Thorpe Park, Surrey, England. I was just after riding the equivalent of primeval whirl (yeah I know) and I was feeling rather peaky. Its August. Its hot. Its eye waveringly dry.The rest of my band of merry adventurers had zipped off to ride "STEALTH!" (a no holds barred unadulterated purveyor of rib crushing speed and toe curling drops)however myself, feeling like I may emulate a vomit dragon any second decided to seek refuge on this wee bench in the shade whilst my travel companions went off to enjoy the next ride. All is well.

At this moment in time, I was happy, I was content. The sickness was passing and I felt refreshed and immersed in a feeling of serenity as I enjoyed the coolness and people watched, fantasising about my upcoming trip to WDW. (Sure Thorpe park is great but it doesn't have all that much on the most magical place on Earth.). Moments later a rather red faced and portly woman arrived with her equally stout upstanding young gentleman who in my opinion was around 12/13. The selfish part of me growled a little bit as I knew my little bubble had been burst and I was going to have to share my personal little space with these two fellow thrill seeking colleagues, no bother, I thought, momentarily my good friends will return and we shall continue our journey with my lunch safely secured in my stomach. I mean these people are probably just in the same boat as me, wanting a short quite moment in what was an undoubtedly frenetic and long hot day. Right? WRONG.

Minutes pass and i'm enshrouded in my fictional blanket of comfort and security believing these people are perfectly normal. Huh? Whats this? Junior appears to have eyeballed a sugared donut stand (I don't blame him Im quite fancying a bag myself and I am known to sometimes enjoy a donut every now and then- as is well known by my companions). His podgy hand rises and he grunts something in audible, evidently instructing his mother to set forth and hunt him down a bag of these sweet, sweet balls of dough. But stop, alas, this young squire has been blocked in his quest for the doctor has told him he's to cut down on his sugar intake. My awkward-o-meter wobbles, this is going in a direction I wouldn't wish on my arch enemies.

Juniors not happy with this, his badgering continues for 5-10 minutes but mummy remains upright, this woman is not for turning, in the words of baroness Thatcher. He's getting more irate. Should I move, I wonder? No. I like this bench, this is my bench. I was here first. I daren't move less my companions may not be able to find me again and I risk wandering the park like a wee lost waif. The tension cranks.

Now, as an upstanding officer of the law, I would like to consider myself fairly well hardened in my short but lively career. But the ensuing and out of nowhere tirade of shouting, swearing and foot stamping takes me by surprise. My jaw hits the floor. I couldn't have been more surprised if the easter bunny him self appeared and punched me square in the face. I couldn't want anything more than to be swallowed into the very bush behind me never to resurface again, this is awful, he's still going, and theres no sign of it stopping. Should I say something? I probably should, this is bordering on a public order offence. This kids a nutter though, he could probably take me in a fight and mummy hippo looks as if she could strip the fur of a badger at a hundred paces with just a stare. They're both bawling now. Why me? Of all the people they could have sat next to? Its my day off and everything.

I see my father returning in the distance, excellent I thought, away I go, right? WRONG. He's alone, where are the rest of them? He stops at the donut stand, looks at me enquiringly (like I said my adoration on any normal day for these donuts is well known), I shake my head, no don't do it, please sweet merciful mother of god don't do it. Oh S*it. He's done it. he's coming over, so is the smell of these donuts, he's equally surprised by the whirlwind of fury now lay next to me on this bench stamping his feet mere inches from my legs, fuelled by the smell of the donuts he's not enjoying. I can't take it anymore, were living I whisper to my father and we take our spoils and run. Run with the fear of the little Tasmanian devil behind us. I would rather have been back at work.
Write a book. Now.
 

Tres Vegas

Member
Disney Studios 2009 I'm a single dad taking my two young boys on first big vacation (WDW). The power rangers come out by honey I shrunk the kids area so we get in line and I tell my boys we might not make it the line is taking long, sure enough they call it and my boys understand (7 and 10) then all hell breaks loose behind us some Grandma with her grandson starts yelling at the cast and characters she grabs the kids arm and drags him in front of the power rangers literally blocking them with the kid from leaving like a defensive end! this kid is crying in fear or pain at this point and everyone is shocked! That kid will not have a chance
 

Rinx

Well-Known Member
Last summer on a bus from MK to Wilderness Lodge a couple (probably in their 30's were right a cross from us having it out very quietly. We were the only two parties in the bus so the awkwardness was immeasurable. The lady was crying so much she looked so hurt and was doing most of the talking. The guy was stiff faced and everything he said was in an "I don't give a crap" tone. They were very quiet I could not hear them but I'll never forget the look on the woman's face.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom