An unpleasent experience

[HouCuseChickie]

I just don't understand why so many people do nothing about it or is it too busy in the summer months to bother with it?

Sorry I just don't understand the not doing anything about it.

I don't get it either. I'd feel like a doormat if I let people cut me without at least putting up a fight. What's even the point of having a line or FastPass if we all allow the line cutters in? I understand wanting a nice peaceful vacation, but at what point did that become having a relaxing time while waiting twice as long on line b/c we're all reinforcing the behavior of the line cutters of the world???

 

[TRONorail10]

I was in line for the Safari ride in Animal Kingdom today with my friends and family, and (as some of you may know) the queue-area is pretty disorganized at times..

There was this family of 5 mexican-americans, a huge dad, his wife and 3 teenage sons.. They were line cutting all the time, and at one point the youngest son tried to cut in front of me, so i stepped in front of him blocking the way, and he said "hey!" or something, but i pretended i didnt hear it.. Then the father grapped my arm and said "Is there a problem or what?".. I didnt want any trouble so i just said "nope", and they cut right past us, while the father was grinning/laughing right at me......

*sigh*, how do you guys deal with people like that? I felt rather intimidated to be honest, and had a bad feeling afterwards :/

I am going to assume that you meant "grabbed my arm" when referring to the father confronting you... if this is the case, you should have notified a cast member immediately, which in the case of KS, there are plenty throughout the queue. I can understand letting a line cutter go and forgetting about it, but when the father had the audacity to put his hands on you, i would have gotten security involved immediately. Despite what most people want to think, Disney does place a high value on guest safety and security and they would have probably escorted that family out of the park if you would have reported the incident.

 

[yankspy]

At 16, I probably would have gotten into it with the Dad. However, now at 36 with a Wife and young Son I would let it go.

I recently had an incident with someone over a parking spot which almost got physical. In the end my 16 month old Son was crying because he was scared since Daddy was yelling so loudly. That was the worst feeling in the world.

My point is that these things can escalate quickly. (remember the incident at the Teacups) I am not sure if it is worth ruining the day and possibly the trip for my family over cutting in line. It kind of stinks because there is a big part of me that still says "but they are getting away with it". In general I try not to let line cutters and rude people bother me when I am on vacation. They really win when you allow them to rent space in your head.

 

[materbuddy]

Unfortunately the queue area fro the safari ride is large and unorganized. Cast members are always saying fill in all available space, so people think it's ok to cut in line. Most other rides have much more structured lines.

 

[XxMickeyMousexX]

You're right. I apologize. Line jumping is more important to deal with than prejudice.

then make your own "how to deal with prejudice" thread so this one can stay on topic

ironically....you "cut in" to this thread and derailed it. so this poor kid is getting "cut" all over the place :brick:

 

[Scooter]

There are a number of queue lines like The Safaris ride that are 6 people wide in spots. Soarin and Pirates quickly come to mind. Other attractions like Nemo and friends, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Winnie The Pooh only allow for 2 or 3 people to stand side by side.

I have no problem with people going by me in the wide queue lines when it's just my wife and I. They aren't really cutting if there's room for them to pass by me, they are just moving up. That said, if I were in the narrower queue lines and people tryed to shove their way past me, that's a whole differant story, but even then, taking matters into your own hands probably isn't the best way to handle the situation. Personally I just glare at them when it happens and hope that a cast member catches them at some point. When my kids were younger I always made a point of speaking up and shouting something like "Kids...now there's an example of how NOT to behave in disney World!" it let the line cutters know that we weren't happy with what they did and the people around us all seemd to get a chuckle out of it and sometime I got applause for my statement.

Bottom line is there will always be people who behave rudely no matter where you are, but unless you, or spouse, or your children are in danger of being hurt, it's not worth ruining a vacation over by getting into a fight.

 

[draybook]

Btw, I didn't see how their ethnicity was of any relevance whatsoever to your story. Just curious why you felt it was important to mention that detail. :veryconfu

As a Mexican-American myself I don't care that he mentioned that they were Mexicans. I agree, it helps with the visualization. Now I'm also Native Indian, so I'm taller than most Mexicans, at 6ft, so I don't usually have a problem with them.

I don't budge for anyone, I don't care how intimidating they are. However, as a 16 year old, the OP did the right thing by defusing the situation and standing aside.

 

[DMC-12]

Jeeze people.. lighten up on the OP.

If a group of rude Polish people, or Brazilians, or Guamanians tries to cut in front of me, your damn right I am gonna mention that to. LOL :lol:

Hell, if they had a Southern US accent, I might even throw down the term "redneck". :lol: :lookaroun

Sheesh.. everyone is so uptight and PC. Ugh. :dazzle::brick:

 

[blackthidot]

Yeah, I mean if you are not the confrontational type, or there is 4 people against one of you...Tell somebody about it. Even if you lose 30 mins out of your day or whatever...Having that get dealt with is a victory for everyone else who would have come into contact with those idiots the rest of the day. Then go get you a blank celebration button and write I got idiots kicked out the park and you can celebrate that all day.

 

[CP_alum08]

The best thing to do...

Just ignore it and enjoy yourself. Being the line police while you're on vacation is no fun if you ask me. Take the extra 20 seconds that you'll lose in line and just let it go. Save the policing for people who Disney pays to be there. I know it's hard sometimes when people are so blatantly rude, but there isn't much you can do to change that.

That's how I try to look at it anyway.

I agree. My dad always gave me the same advice growing up; be the bigger man. If there are people who choose to act in way less morally than yours you just have to let it go. Assume that they will get what's coming to them and laugh it off.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Absolutely if an adult put his hands on a kid that is a big, big no-no. He should've been reported & removed from the park. I don't fault the OP for not standing up to a large adult man. Sometimes we're faced with situations that are so shocking it's hard to know what to do.

All that said, sounds to me like the dad-person in the OP's experience was a bully. If it were my family in this situation both my husband and I would've stood firm. If someone put their hands on one of our kids then it's game on. We've encountered people like this before including at WDW. If you show that their attempts at intimidation don't work on you then their ploy has failed. Hubby stopped a line cutter guy once. Big ol' muscle-monkey type. Guy made some sort of threat about "You got a problem? We'll settle this later". Hubby didn't feed into it, put him in his place, then proceeded forward with Mr. Line-Cutter back at the start of the line where he belonged.

I agree with those who are sick of this type of behavior. If more people would stop laying down & taking it I don't think it'd be as big an issue. I believe that about a lot of things in this country....like politics.... :lookaroun but I won't go there. :lol:

I've witnessed a parent tell his teens to push past everyone when the doors from the pre-show for RnRC opened to the load area. My first priority was to pull my boys in to me to protect them because those teens were much bigger than my boys and they would've knocked them down. I managed to shove my body in between the parents & the teens and very loudly announce that the only thing worse than inconsiderate line-cutting punks is their disgusting parents who told them to do it. The dad looked at me w/a glare. I smiled. It was nice.

 

[smk]

In those wide, unstructured lines, we always stand abreast. So, if there are five of us we all stand side by side as much as possible. Not to be rude, but to stay together.

We have all gone thru the line inside the HM for instance, when you leave the stretching room and funnel into the single line. There is a lot of space to fill in and funnel down. I can't tell you the times we have been seperated there, including when we had young children in tow. Now, it doesn't matter as much because we all are adults and figure out a way to squirm around people and stick together, then it made me mad as hell to be pushed around and seperated. I always let a family with young kids stay together, even if the kids have dashed in front of me into a line. Kids are just excited and forget to make sure their parents are right behind them all the time. It is then up to the parent to say something to the kid, like wait for us all to be together before you run into a line. Usually that happens, but if the parent fails to say that? I don't let it bother me because I refuse to get into an arguement with strangers over a two foot space in a line. I did once, at the monorail, when my elderly mother was pushed. It made her uncomfortable. Now, if she is with us, we stand on either side of her, or one in front, one in back, to protect her. These are startegies we have decided on long before the trips we take, we actually forged a plan to keep ourselves and family from being pushed into a place where they feel the need to lash out.

In the safari line, it is hard to keep those people who started out behind you behind you if they want to push ahead. That is why we spread out. It doesn't always work but it beats fighting and grumbling all the way to the ride.

 

[Ziffell]

As a Mexican-American myself I don't care that he mentioned that they were Mexicans. I agree, it helps with the visualization. Now I'm also Native Indian, so I'm taller than most Mexicans, at 6ft, so I don't usually have a problem with them.

I don't budge for anyone, I don't care how intimidating they are. However, as a 16 year old, the OP did the right thing by defusing the situation and standing aside.

Your own ethnicity doesn't make your personal opinion on the matter any more valid than that of someone who is not the same ethnicity. Yet I'm sure there will be people on here who will read your post and say, "See? This person is Mexican-American and didn't have a problem with it, so clearly that makes prejudice okay."

 

[Ziffell]

The OP had no intention of "dealing" with prejudice, only line jumping.

Odds are, you are correct that there was no "intent" to be prejudice. Prejudice is driven by ignorance. Being put off by having someone point it out, or describing it is "too pc", further perpetuates that ignorance.

 

[unkadug]

Generally, people who find fault with others are covering up their own faults.

I don't see how naming a nationality is considered prejudice one way or the other.

It seems to me that people who are finding alleged prejudice are themselves hiding their own bigotry.

 

[Firepath]

So now you're saying that people of Mexican heritage all look alike?

It's truly not "paranoid." The basis of prejudice is pre-judging people based upon how they are different from you. Chances are, if you are white and the family was white, you would not have said "a family of whites." Would you have even thought to write that? If they were white, and you were white, would you ever in a MILLION years have thought to write down that they were white? Of course not, that would seem silly to you, because they fact that they were white would seem "normal" and not worth noting.

It's not paranoid at all. When I read your post, I was waiting for some part of your story to hinge on the fact that they were Mexican-American, such as them not underdstanding English, or your having difficulty understanding them due to a thick accent or whatever. And then I was disappointed when I saw nothing about your story that had anything to do with their ethnic background.

I know my writing this is going to have no real effect upon you, but I ask you to think about it.

I'm a therapist. I work with individuals and their families in their homes. I'm white. My boss is white. A few years back, I had been treating an individual for about a year, and my boss had to go to his house for a meeting. After the meeting, she congratulated me for never having mentioned to her that this client of mine was black. I'm a therapist, she's a therapist, we delve into the tiny details of people's lives. But his race was never a factor, so I never even thought to bring it up with my boss. I didn't hold back, I didn't decide NOT to share it, but it just never came up.

My thought was that he mentioned their ethnicity thinking perhaps they were from another country where perhaps they didn't know how the whole" waiting your turn in line" thing works (giving them the benefit of doubt); but when the dad spoke perfect English, it became apparent that they are just poorly mannered Americans.:shrug: Thankfully, most people are better behaved.

 

[Ziffell]

My thought was that he mentioned their ethnicity thinking perhaps they were from another country where perhaps they didn't know how the whole" waiting your turn in line" thing works (giving them the benefit of doubt); but when the dad spoke perfect English, it became apparent that they are just poorly mannered Americans.:shrug: Thankfully, most people are better behaved.

I would think he would have explained it then, if that were the case. There was no explanation as to why it was mentioned.

 

[Ziffell]

Generally, people who find fault with others are covering up their own faults.

I don't see how naming a nationality is considered prejudice one way or the other.

It seems to me that people who are finding alleged prejudice are themselves hiding their own bigotry.

I guess that means people who complain about line jumping are, themselves, line jumpers then? And people who complain about loud and obnoxious behavior in the parks are, themselves, loud and obnoxious?? :veryconfu Sorry, but I don't see the logic in your statement.

 

[lighteningqueen]

Another country or this country there is no excuse. I thank the Lord then that I was born in AMerica and we do not for the most part treat people like that no matter what their color is. At least not here in Texas. But I do have to tell a story what happened to us while we were standing in line in fronteir land for the train. There was this Black family, grandmother her son guessing and this little girl about 6 there first then we came up and then this other family white we are white as well came up Mom dad little boy 4ish and their little girl about 6. The little girls kept looking at each other and smiling and laughing and looking like they really wanted to play. The DAD if you want to call him keeps telling the girl stop doing that??? Not sure what that is. Then the A hole jerked his little girls arm and said did you hear me we do not play with people like that.. OH boy i was livid and my family tried to hold me back I could not believe this the Black dad turned around and just stared at this man He could not believe it either. Nor anyone else who saw it. I just stared and said nothing but to my family that I could not believe that someone would do that and teach their children to be prejudice like that In Disney no less. I stared and stared at him and the wife saw this that we were all looking at him. You could just feel her sinking and uneasy with it all.To this day i never forget it. All those little girls wanted to do was laugh and dance around and one jerk of a father ruined it for all. I felt for the black family so badly. They had a African accent so I am thinking that they do not do this where he was from. But he did know English and heard every word of that mans.I hope that his wife is not that way and she reamed him later on. But somehow I doubt that. I think everyday I should have said something and next time I will if I ever see this again.

 

[unkadug]

I guess that means people who complain about line jumping are, themselves, line jumpers then? And people who complain about loud and obnoxious behavior in the parks are, themselves, loud and obnoxious?? :veryconfu Sorry, but I don't see the logic in your statement.

Of course not. I didn't expect YOU to understand.