Got some good "jerk parents" stories?

[Now Is The Time]

Everytime I go to WDW, I never fail to see a mom or a dad act like a complete jerk to their children. I've seen some instances where I've thought to myself "Why did they even bother having kids?" and I end up feeling so sorry for the children. Look, I certainly understand that some kids are a pain and that it's normal for parents to get tired walking their kids around the park, but you have to draw the line somewhere. For me, I tend to see jerk dads more than moms. My wife and I were at Ohana earlier this year and this one dad sitting at the table next to us did nothing but growl, make mean faces, and make horrible comments to his kids - for the whole meal. The dude didn't even crack a smile. A day later we were eating at MK when one dad turned to his kids and said "you make one more sound and there will be no Disney for any of you. You wanna get in the car right now and go home? Because that's what we'll do!" Geesh.

Share your stories!

 

[westie]

I love a great Disney meltdown. Espescially by a parent. Sometimes, as a parent, kids are like corraling cats! It can get to you after a week. But, one good 'ol memory is a father with his son by the wrist and feet high off the floor being wisked out of the crystal shop in DTD."I told you not to touch anything!!!" Over and over again. CM's with dustpans and brooms working hastily and, a lone woman at the register with her purse open and nothing on the counter...I turned, looked at my kid, we rolled our eyes and kept going.

 

[amykissangel]

I HATE the parents who don't discipline their kids - not that I enjoy seeing them yelling at the kids either, don't get me wrong. But I just remember my parents as a kid...when we were ready for a tantrum or pouting or crying...

"We can handle this in two ways: You can shape up and act like a big girl and continue to have fun with the rest of the family for the day. Or Dad or I can go sit back at the hotel while you sit in the corner and then go to bed. Those are your choices." This was all said quietly, firmly, and we never had a problem.

The ones that let the kids scream and whine and beg and bite and holler and throw things and swear (yep, there was one little boy in the bathrooms at Splash that told his mother to "Shut the hell up"...he couldn't have been more than 4...) drive me nuts.

Also the Mom who, down Main Street at noon in the 90 degree heat: "I will smack you silly if you don't stop all your damn hollering - it's not that hot, and we're not eating for another hour. SO KNOCK IT OFF!" to her little girl, age 3 or 4.

 

[Heatherbell]

We were exiting the Indiana Jones show and this father and daughter were arguing about something and he hauled off and smacked her in her face. HARD! I had never seen anything like it, there was sheer anger behind that hit. Tons of people saw it and just stopped and stared in disbelief. WDW sometimes pushes people over the edge.

Slightly off topic...as a parent myself I will say (not to justify people acting like jerks or hitting their kids) that kids can be pretty miserable in WDW. We did everything right, we brought our stroller, took breaks halfway through the day....our then 2 year old was a miserable mess. A little girl who is normally very happy and never cries turned into the devil at WDW. She was cranky the whole time, crying, whining etc. She really pushed me over the edge on that trip and thank god my husband was there to seperate us, lol. I think that due to the heat, crowds etc it brings out the ugly in everyone, add into the mixture your kid being a little brat when you just spent $3000 on your magical vacation....it's a recipe for abuse. Again, I am totally NOT justifying it, and I do not think it is ok, I am just saying thats what happens. That trip we took with her was by far the most un-magical trip I have ever taken. A few years later she was fine and then the younger one was awful....but it gets better every year.

 

[Bug715]

amykissangel i agree with you. When I was younger I walked around Disney all day the same as my parents. while waiting in line I didn't cry, run from the line, or find metal objects to play with. While there in June my friend and I almost went crazy because of all the little kids who saw the rings that are used to shape the line as a fun toy. It sounded like an echoing xylaphone!! We wondered why they're parents couldn't seem to hear the same thing we heard. While we were there my aunt and uncle had many meltdowns because the kids couldn't agree on what to do or other reasons. They rode the Carrosel 4 times. I'm all for riding it once a trip but 4 times?! You can ride one at the mall...

 

[brkgnews]

Here's my tale from a few years back...

Reminds me of the morning I was at MK waiting with all the Cindy's Table early breakfast folks so I could get in early for a tour. This absolute jerk of a dad comes in with his two charming brats and a whiny mom in tow (I'm not generalizing -- these folks were really rude). They were extremly loud -- the kids were cranky -- but the dad was the worst. He was cussing at his kids (lots of little nearby ears were burning), calling them "punk" and "jerk" and other loving terms. He was, in his words, "gonna start a riot" beacuse a group of people was let in before him. That group of people was made up entirely of new CMs taking the "Traditions" class training tour. He was fighting with his wife, etc, and just basically causing a big scene. After about a half-hour of this nonsense, he finally griped that they'd better let him in soon or he'd, again, "start a riot" because it was almost time for their priority seating at Chef Mickeys.

Silence. Uncomfortable silence. Who would tell this jerk that he had screwed up?

Of the several folks around me, I was the first to speak up. "Excuse me sir... did you say you had priotiry seating at Chef Mickey's?"

"Yeah."

"Sir, Chef Mickey's is over at the Contemporary resort, not here at the Magic Kingdom."

"WHAT?"

(etc etc etc etc etc)

I told him he could take the monorail, but it might take too long. If he was late, they might just want to take the five-minute walk. He still opted for the monorail, as opposed to pushing a double stroller through the lot.

Anybody else I would have felt extremely sorry for. But this guy -- it just felt good to see the look on his face after the way he'd acted like such a jerk.

 

[DisneyGigi]

Maybe part of the problem from "Disney Meltdowns" is too much planning? In my experience with my kids (as young as 2 1/2 our first trip) the best thing is compromise, we do not stick to a strict plan when we are there and we try to do what everyone wants to do. It has always worked for us and the kids are great about it even in long lines, they are troopers.

 

[Monty]

Worst I ever saw was a father screaming at his crying 4 or 5 yo child that he had "paid $7,000 damn dollars for this damn vacation and you're gonna damn well have fun or I'll give you the whoopin' of your life!"...

Oddly enough, the kid didn't stop crying...

 

[Now Is The Time]

Ok I'm loving this so far

My worst memory was years ago.. back in the 80's when my family and I were eating at Pecos Bill's and this very large and overweight jerk dad was.. and no I'm not exagerrating... literally kicking his crying 4 or 5 year old across the floor towards the exit because the kid wouldn't stop crying. Of course being kicked repeatedly didn't stop the kids crying. It was one of the most abhorrent things I had ever seen.

 

[CuriousDeGeo]

Oh man I love these kinds of stories. I have a pretty good one from our last trip in May/June of this year. While my family and I were waiting in line for BTMRR we saw this child (or should I say heard) being hoisted by his father through the line, while screaming bloody murder that he did not want to go. He continued screaming for a good 5 minutes. I understand that sometimes kids get scared however the kid is really not the problem maker in this situation. I wag my finger at the father for forcing him to ride. If the boy really didn't want to then he shouldn't have to. It's just not healthy to force kids to do something that they truly don't want to do. Although it was a shame it does make for some of those good old fashioned Disney World stories!

 

[bobjl527]

We were exiting the Indiana Jones show and this father and daughter were arguing about something and he hauled off and smacked her in her face. HARD! I had never seen anything like it, there was sheer anger behind that hit. Tons of people saw it and just stopped and stared in disbelief. WDW sometimes pushes people over the edge.

Oh my. I was smacked plenty of times when I was a kid, but never in the face. There is a huge difference between a smack on the butt and hitting someone in the face. That is like assault. Why would you do that to a child? I just don't get it sometimes. Did anyone say anything to him?

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

One time I saw a father telling his 7 yr son to calm down and stay in line for Space Mountain. Wasn't any loudness or making a scene but I heard the son say he was a bit scared and the father said he'd be alright. It went on for most of the line.


By the way .....he LOVED IT!!!!!!:lol:


For the record if he were screaming .. this wouldn't have happened. Abit over nervousness for the first of anything is normal though. A parent SHOULD be able to make this call correctly.

 

[imagineer boy]

Just about every time I go to WDW, I always see a parent forcefully dragging them along and shouting in their face "If you don't stop misbehaving, we'll never come here again! Do you understand me?!"

No kidding folks. I see things like this just about every trip.

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

Ok I'm loving this so far

My worst memory was years ago.. back in the 80's when my family and I were eating at Pecos Bill's and this very large and overweight jerk dad was.. and no I'm not exagerrating... literally kicking his crying 4 or 5 year old across the floor towards the exit because the kid wouldn't stop crying. Of course being kicked repeatedly didn't stop the kids crying. It was one of the most abhorrent things I had ever seen.

Being one not to hold my comments in.... SOMETHING would have been said....Loudly too.

 

[Foolish1]

OK, I have 3 short stories for here.

First, I encountered a child that was terrified of going into MuppetVision. Why? Well, turns out the parents took the child into Countdown To Extinction at Animal Kingdom, and told him that it couldn't be that bad. (Child was probably around 6.) So they then reassured the boy that MuppetVision would not be as bad as CTX. The boy of course, would not believe it and threw tantrum. Personally, I side with the kid on this one.

Second, I remember trying to take a picture of the castle not far from Cosmic Ray's. I thought I had lined up what I wanted, and was about to snap the shutter. I realized it wasn't right, so I went to back up about 6 inches. Of course, before doing that, I made sure that I was clear, after all, I am a pretty tall 35 year old man. Wouldn't you know it, just as I backed up a toddler about 1 year old come running behind me. Parents were paying zero attention. Toddler falls over, and starts screaming. I, of course, feel pretty badly about this, and apologize. Parents at first acted like accosted their darling child. Eventually the dad just say to forget it. I was a bit annoyed by that. I mean, I realize some children are hard to control, but this is nuts. And then to at first blame me because they were paying zero attention?

Third, and this story bothers me greatly, I remember going into Ellen's Energy Nightmare for the pre-show. The lights had just gone down, and I am with my mother who had knee surgery recently. She is unable to sit on the floor, and all of the benches are full. So we are standing there, and a guy comes up to me/us and told us to sit down. I told him this was not possible. He was very annoyed and made some extremely rude comments about how his kids could not see. We tried to move a little, but there was only so much room. I told him that Disney usually has you stand for the pre-show anyway. That day they were not. So probably 90% or more were seated on the floor. Eventually the low-life father said he was going to follow me after the attraction and knock me down and kick the *$#1+* out of me. I kind of softly looked at his kids and said "I feel so sorry for you", and then proceeded to leave the attraction. Later I had a short talk with Guest Relations, and then followed up with a letter to WDW as well after I got home.

For the last one, I really wish I had a better idea what to do. How would anyone else have handled this? I really would have liked to have seen this family asked to leave the park, personally.

 

[mrssparrow]

Disney is extremely stressful! our DS (4) was nightmare-ish at typhoon lagoon on our last trip. We got to the park at 8 for EMH and were back in our room at 9:10. We had to use a taxi to get back to the hotel b/c it was so early and I was not waiting for a bus.

We told him this was his choice. I then left my DH and him in the room as I went then to MK. That hit home for him and then they met me at the park......he was fantastic the rest of the day and trip. We didn't have to worry about a thing.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Worst I ever saw was a father screaming at his crying 4 or 5 yo child that he had "paid $7,000 damn dollars for this damn vacation and you're gonna damn well have fun or I'll give you the whoopin' of your life!"...

Oddly enough, the kid didn't stop crying...

I Im sorry, I was having a bad day......and it was $7200 damn dollars for accuracy purposes....:lookaroun

 

[adam75081]

When we were on our trip we saw parents fiting at each other:lookaroun . They were say "Your not responsible enough!" It ended in "You incompetent!!". I would hate to be the kids in the middle of it.

 

[sophie_the_pooh]

I have a Disneyland Paris story, not WDW, but it's a good one... A couple of years ago, I saw a man who picked up his daughter (3-4 years old, I would say), lifted her up over a small fence and asked her to ______ (she was wearing a dress)!!! And she did it!!! Right in front of the castle (in DLP, there's a couple of green spaces around the castle)! I know the restrooms are hard to find in DLP, but still...:shrug:

 

[ArielWannaBe]

Sometimes Im not sure who is worse .. the kids or the parents ...

I dont have a fighting story ... but while waiting for a parade a man walk from out of the blue ... plops his pretty princess tinkerbell right on my foot ... I jump back to see what happened ... and he goes really snotty "Oh! Im sorry she isnt bothering you is she!!" ... And then walked away and left her! I mean she couldnt have been but 5! There was plenty of room around me and she was just as cute as can be ... but he "literally" sat her down on my foot!!! :brick:

Thank you for the vent