Bad Guest Behavior and Disney's reactions to it...

[WDW 3]

I am always confused why families are on vacation together and then let the kids run wild. Usually preteen kids that really need a parent to keep them in check and not really being rude on purpose. In the queue for ToT there were three kids that almost knocked a mom and her daughter over trying to get to the door in the library. My daughter got there first and asked me to block the way of the kids because of what they did, so we respectfully let the woman and her daughter go before us then we went and strolled at a leisurely pace to the elevators and wouldn't you know it we got the front row and they were behind us. Screaming just to hear themselves during the ride ugh. Then they met with the adults in the party outside. These kids needed a good role model and guidance (you know, someone to say "stop screaming its annoying".

 

[mcjaco]

^It's quite simple. Do what I do now.

Turn and take flash photos of them.



Every ten seconds. :goodnevil

 

[Master Yoda]

^It's quite simple. Do what I do now.

Turn and take flash photos of them.



Every ten seconds. :goodnevil

Just make sure that you have red eye reduction on so you can get three or four flashes for the price of one.:drevil:

 

[DznyGrlSD]

^It's quite simple. Do what I do now.

Turn and take flash photos of them.



Every ten seconds. :goodnevil

Been there, done that :wave:

 

[BrerFrog]

I think a big part of it is simply stupidity of the guest. We were waiting to get onto POTC ( we were loading from the cave side, they were loading from the opposite) and I witnessed a group of Brazilian women (yes, from a tour group) change seats after the load gates had closed and the ride was in motion, one woman who was seated in the rear of the boat, actually got onto the walkway inside the load gates and ran up to sit closer to the front with the rest of her party ... like I said, while the ride was in motion. When the CM confronted them they just gave him a blank stare and one actually said 'No english.' Then they proceeded to ruin the ride for everyone else by using the strobe on their camera's through the entire ride. However one good note was that security was waiting for them when they disembarked.

I just love the behavior of some of my countrymen. :brick:

 

[slappy magoo]

I am sure there are plenty that find WDW too pricey (especialy if airfare is part of the requirement)

I will however, use another entertainment venue to illustrate my point - movies/theater.

There are two movie theaters that I frequent. One is an older one, non-3D, standard seating. One of those ones with that used to have three concession stands at one time, and now two are shuttered. It is about $12 admission to go there.

The next is a newer one (about a year old). Brand new projection, 3D capable, stadium seating that reclines with flip up armrests. It is I think $16 or $17 (I go with my kids, I forget the adult/child breakout)

The behavior of people in the more expensive theater is most assuredly much better than those in the cheaper theater. The $4 or $5 difference is not going to make or break someone. It's the impression that you are in someplace better, that makes somone behave better.

I see the same thing when going to a off-Broadway to a Broadway show. Even something like Avenue Q, which is a fun, rowdy, type musical that the crowd gets into, has a well behaved considerate audience (At least when it was on-Broadway, I haven't seen it since it left). Part of it has to do with the amount of money you paid for the ticket, and the other part has to with the atmosphere.

By making the cost cheaper (not necessarly affordable, just cheaper) and maintaining the parks to match, WDW has lost some of that atmosphere that says "I better behave while I am here because it's a nice place"

-dave

Wow. Not to get too off-topic, but when it comes to local movie theaters, I have a nearly-opposite problem. The more expensive movie theater, with the stadium seating and better audio, is located in my local mall. All the actual and wannabe gangbangers go to the mall to hang out and then go to the movies, especially on the weekends. Not to mention the uusual large groups of boorish teenagers, young'uns on dates who don't know or care to turn their phones off, people who bring babies, etc. Fights are not uncommon, and there's even the occasional gunshot. Whereas the less-expensive theater, in a standalone building next to a strip mall with few teen-friendly stores ooutside of a Kohl's, has become the haven of the older movie goers. It feels like that episode of The Simpsons where a curfew is imposed on anyone under 50 "We took back the niiiiiiight!"

Anyway, where I take umbrage with your initial post is that you seem to assume that wealth = manners. Just because people take advantage of an offer (or if that offer is the only way they can go to WDW) doesn't mean that they're the ones causing problems at WDW on any given day. Nor does being able to afford deluxe suites means that those families are better behaved than the Brady Bunch (any given episode of any given "Real Housewives" roves that some people are rotten no matter what).

I know that resort prices aren't so terribly out of line compared to hotel rooms at many other metropolitan areas. But the price of the parks, the water parks, snacks and souvenirs can really add up, to say nothing of getting there, if you need a rental car, if you plan on going anywhere BESIDES WDW...

And I know, nobody on a budget HAS to add all the incidentals to their vacation. But even a few "let's spoil ourselves" moments can add hundreds to an average family's vacation.

So I'd make the opposite argument - even with the special deals, WDW vacations are so expensive for so many people (or people make decisions that make the vacations even more expensive) that many of them feel entitled to do whatever the Hell they want. "For the money you charge, I'm sitting where I want, I'm eating fried chicken on Space Mountain, I'm not getting out of the water to ______..." And unless those people are causing a ruckus that might result in injury or death, CMs aren't gonna do much.

 

[Future Guy]

Lap bars for Splash Mountain? That's a good idea, but what about nipple shockers for the people who lift their shirts right before the camera takes the in-ride picture?

 

[pixiesteno]

I am not so sure what level of resort you stay at has to do with "bad behavior" I know that there are people who "behave badly" who stay at moderate and deluxe resorts. It comes down to the feeling of entitlement and that crosses all social-economic-education levels.
I think part of the problems is our society has become so "wired" with gadgets that people don't know how to interact with other people. For instance, I think people feel more free to be rude to someone over the phone, via e-mail, blogs, etc because they are not face-to-face with others. And they are so out of practice at appropriate interactions that they might not be aware that the rest of the world considers them extremely rude. I guess the best that we can do while we're in such a situation is to try to set the example and use common courtsies. I think the problem exsists on a wide scale, it just seems to be around every corner when you get a large number of people from all over the world in a confined space.
I observed two women being extremely rude and bullying to a CM last December over what she could and could not get for her snack/counter service credits. The poor CM was just following her guidelines and it was a situation where it was two women to one cast member holding up the line and they basically weren't going to leave the line until they got their way. One turned around to smile at me and looked for my approval after she had made one particularly snotty remark to the CM and I gave her a look of utter disapproval (you know the ones you would give a small child when they are doing something out of line ). Then a person behind me asked what the hold up was I explained that "there are some people in the world who don't think that the rules should ever apply to them and they aren't even princesses." Evidently the next guy in line was married to one of the two "charming ladies" and he pushed his way through to see if he couldn't talk to a manager. Maybe my look of disapproval might have been lost on the ladies but hubby realized that others did not appreciate his spouse's was bad behavior.

 

[sublimesting]

Lap bars for Splash Mountain? That's a good idea, but what about nipple shockers for the people who lift their shirts right before the camera takes the in-ride picture?

That's a whole other website right there!

 

[rock_doctor]

So that begs the question, would it ever be possible to go back, or are we stuck? (snip the part i don't agree with)

Too late, because it is not a perception of Disney but an overall general decay of morals and manners. I remember a news report i watched about police work in the 20s. The officer would arrest the person and then walk them to a phone to call for a car to take them back. The person would actually wait with the cop. You could not to this today. People are just different. After 911 people have changed, they overall (not everybody but a large number) have become aggressive and very ego-centric and they are raising their children to be the same. Just laugh to yourself and walk away. I always tell myself that "they will do that one too many times"...and i say this to myself at least once every day.... :shrug:

 

[disneyowf]

I am not so sure what level of resort you stay at has to do with "bad behavior" I know that there are people who "behave badly" who stay at moderate and deluxe resorts. It comes down to the feeling of entitlement and that crosses all social-economic-education levels.
I think part of the problems is our society has become so "wired" with gadgets that people don't know how to interact with other people. For instance, I think people feel more free to be rude to someone over the phone, via e-mail, blogs, etc because they are not face-to-face with others. And they are so out of practice at appropriate interactions that they might not be aware that the rest of the world considers them extremely rude. I guess the best that we can do while we're in such a situation is to try to set the example and use common courtsies. I think the problem exsists on a wide scale, it just seems to be around every corner when you get a large number of people from all over the world in a confined space.
I observed two women being extremely rude and bullying to a CM last December over what she could and could not get for her snack/counter service credits. The poor CM was just following her guidelines and it was a situation where it was two women to one cast member holding up the line and they basically weren't going to leave the line until they got their way. One turned around to smile at me and looked for my approval after she had made one particularly snotty remark to the CM and I gave her a look of utter disapproval (you know the ones you would give a small child when they are doing something out of line ). Then a person behind me asked what the hold up was I explained that "there are some people in the world who don't think that the rules should ever apply to them and they aren't even princesses." Evidently the next guy in line was married to one of the two "charming ladies" and he pushed his way through to see if he couldn't talk to a manager. Maybe my look of disapproval might have been lost on the ladies but hubby realized that others did not appreciate his spouse's was bad behavior.

Agree for sure! We have become (more than ever) an entitlement society where so many want so much immediately (the microwave mentality). The lack of common courtesy, proper morals - it's all part of the continued slide/decay in our society. I don't really know if there's a lot Disney can do about it. It's an 'attitude adjustment' that's needed, IMHO .

 

[Tiggerish]

I am not so sure what level of resort you stay at has to do with "bad behavior" I know that there are people who "behave badly" who stay at moderate and deluxe resorts. It comes down to the feeling of entitlement and that crosses all social-economic-education levels.

Agreed. Although I've observed that it is generally those who I call "children of privilege" who are the worst-behaved, no matter what age they are--it's an attitude that is rarely outgrown.

I've met people in their 40s and 50s who I classify as "children of privilege", to me it just means someone who didn't have to work very hard for whatever they've achieved, and therefore have a strong sense of entitlement.

 

[blueboxdoctor]

It's definitely a bigger issue now than 20 years ago. It's lightyears different, imo.

You should see California ... I've witnessed people (surprisingly, more often than not, it's women) threaten to punch CMs because they were instructed they can't lay on the ground (blankets and pillows) in the middle of the major walk way in front of Tom Sawyer's Island two hours before Fantasmic starts. It got progressively worse over years, and the last time I was there (about a year ago), it seems like Disney had just given up and instead roped off 40% of Frontierland as a campground, hours before the show started.

You want a great barometer to know if you're old? I can remember when people would enter a theatre (Captain EO, Muppets, Hall of Presidents, etc) and actually move to the end of the aisle as instructed over the intercom.

lol, this amuses me, espicially since a lot of people find the need to walk right into people when they have strollers and don't even bother to say sorry or excuse me, they just shove to the front cause they have something to push with. and it also makes me glad to know that the "older" (used as a relative term) "mid-age" generation is doing this, but in the same breath they find the need to say that the younger generation is the worst and they are disrespectful. oh the hypocrisy, always wonderfully hilarious :hammer:. (psst, don't think i'm saying the current generation is perfect, they're not, but i do think, or at least from what i've heard/discussed with the "mid-age" generation, we are in many ways more accepting. don't mean to offend anyone, especially on a disney forum)

 

[trr1]

Agree for sure! We have become (more than ever) an entitlement society where so many want so much immediately (the microwave mentality). The lack of common courtesy, proper morals - it's all part of the continued slide/decay in our society. I don't really know if there's a lot Disney can do about it. It's an 'attitude adjustment' that's needed, IMHO .

Many parents these days are fearful of using spanking as punishment, either because of the law or because they fear it teaches violence to their kids.
http://www.tldm.org/news6/child.discipline.htm

 

[Tom]

OK - I am going to get smacked by some of you for this, but I will throw it out there anyway.

- The (To quote 47) 'Wal*Marting" of WDW

- Discounts and promos galore. Making a trip to WDW not something extra special, but a common occurrence (Disney would rather have 50 people pay $20 each, than 5 people pay $100 each)

- The recent thread about dress code, and how some people wish for a return to the time when going to WDW was something special and you took the time to look presentable.

Take all that into account, mix in the entitlement attitude of many people today and you have a recipe for parks filled with people who see them as nothing more special than a trip to the local Great Adventure, and act accordingly.

I will continue to defend Disney and WDW when I feel they are making good decisions, but in this case you reap what you sow. Disney has sown a crop of stinkweed.
-dave

Dave....you read my mind.

Just like in the rest of society, it all comes down to "class".

I am by no means an elitist (I may work a white collar job, but I do so in a very blue collar industry, and I consider myself middle class at best). But there is truth in the "stereotypes".

When I was a kid (80s and 90s) it was a privilege to go to WDW. We were lucky to go every 2-3 years (with those being our only vacation). My mom was a mom and dad made a low-moderate income. We weren't rich, but my parents saved so that we could have the honor of going to Disney World. And when we went, we were surrounded by people who did the same thing - they earned their trip and appreciated the amount of money they spent to get there.

Now, thanks to LOTS of things (including Disney's own discounts and offers), "anyone" can go to Disney World. Again, I don't say this like I think lesser privileged people shouldn't be ALLOWED to go - just that I wish the system were still set up so that it cost enough to almost force people to appreciate what they've paid for.

Additionally, I guess I was just brought up to respect other people's property, respect the rules, respect my parents and elders, and to try not to do anything stupid. But now, there is a HUGE portion of society that isn't raised that way, nor have they ever been taught to think that way. And when it comes to people who own nothing or have nothing - they typically don't respect anybody else's stuff or rules either.

I could go on and on, but this is what it's come to. There are people who flat out don't deserve the privilege of experiencing a place like Disney World, but can "magically" afford to go anyway. They ruin it for the rest of us by vandalizing, trashing, offending, breaking rules and putting themselves and others in danger.

 

[Raven66]

I have to say that bad behavior isn't central to WDW. I work in retail and had the misfortune of working black friday. There are people that shouldn't be allowed to interact with other people on that day. :ROFLOL: There was two times that I had to actually tell people that they needed to relax that I would take care of their problem. I mean, if they could have jumped me I think they would have. The problem was that one of them was a child. He wasn't more then 12. He started yelling at me and his voice got all high pitched and he was staring me down. I told him to step back ,take a deep breath and relax. And the mother just stood there and let him do it. So the bottom line is, it happens everywhere.

 

[Tater48]

The problem was that one of them was a child. He wasn't more then 12. He started yelling at me and his voice got all high pitched and he was staring me down. I told him to step back ,take a deep breath and relax. And the mother just stood there and let him do it. So the bottom line is, it happens everywhere.

There are people out there who shouldn't be allowed to interact with other people, EVER. And I mean NEVER.
Try going to a residence after a 911 hang up call, knocking on the door and having a 10 year old open the door and ask you "what the **** do you want", and slams the door in my face, while the mother sits in the living room watching all of this because she is scared to death of this kid, and afraid to do anything to him (thank the Lord for Juvenile detentions). Kid probably hates me now, and is scarred for life, but Mom sure slept easy that night. I've seen basically the same thing happen in the World where the kids run the parents, So, no, it's not central to WDW, and Phonedave hit the nail right on the head with the word entitlement. I do not consider myself an elitist, either, but I think the way a lot of others on here do. I don't know if higher prices would draw a better crowd or not, it might make them think since they paid that much to get in then they should be entitled to more. I think right now with all of the PC going on , Disney is in a no win situation.

 

[daliseurat]

We have certainly raised a couple generations full of folks who feel entitled to do whatever they want no matter how it effects others. I think the problem stems from there not really being any real consequences for these bad actions. When I was a kid, if you were too loud in a movie theatre you were kicked out. If you threw candy, an usher would yank you out of your seat, they'd take your name, show you to the employees and BAN you from the theatre. There used to be DRESS CODES in places. If you weren't dressed appropriately, you were turned away. All this has disappeared or been reduced to allow all this behavior. I say boot people from the park for bad behavior. Hire some REAL security, big BOUNCER types to deal with the unruly.

And Dave is right on the money.

 

[Bluewaves]

I think in general people need to control their children much better and not let them run the place and spoil them rotten.

Disney security needs to step it up a bit too maybe its time to start throwing people out of the parks when they misbehave. Its a safety issue for them, and for me and for Disney and people who don't know how to follow the rules need to be shown the door.

 

[wdwaddict71]

OK - I am going to get smacked by some of you for this, but I will throw it out there anyway.

- The (To quote 47) 'Wal*Marting" of WDW

- Discounts and promos galore. Making a trip to WDW not something extra special, but a common occurrence (Disney would rather have 50 people pay $20 each, than 5 people pay $100 each)

- The recent thread about dress code, and how some people wish for a return to the time when going to WDW was something special and you took the time to look presentable.

Take all that into account, mix in the entitlement attitude of many people today and you have a recipe for parks filled with people who see them as nothing more special than a trip to the local Great Adventure, and act accordingly.

I will continue to defend Disney and WDW when I feel they are making good decisions, but in this case you reap what you sow. Disney has sown a crop of stinkweed.
-dave

I agree, although as far as dress goes, WDW patrons are doing OK..Take a look at this..http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/