Guests who Destroy the Magic

[WaltsApprentice]

As a teenager I wasn't messy, didn't litter, or anything like that. At QS restaurants I always clean up. Even at TS restaurants I pile things neatly and pick up any straw papers or empty Splenda packets off the table. When I was 16 I worked at a Burger King and I was assigned to dining room clean-up. I lived in a house w/5 kids. It was always beyond me how 2 seconds of picking up after yourselves was so hard for other people (and at the time it totally perplexed me to see adult piggies). After having that job and cleaning up after others I've always been extremely aware of what I leave behind. Now that I'm a parent it translates. The example I set now teaches my 2 kids how to be decent human beings. It's not hard to figure out if you leave a mess some poor soul (paid or not) has to come along and pick up after you. Geez, just yesterday my 12 year old son (who has just discovered that he enjoys clothes shopping) was in a hurry, saw clothes others had left in the dressing room, and said to me, "Mom, I think it's okay to leave the stuff you don't want." I corrected him right away. If we take it off the rack or off the hanger we can take a moment to put it back the way we found it. There are enough slobs for these kids working here to clean up after. They don't need another. So today when we were in the stores to grab a few more things he needed it wasn't something I had to say a word about. Between the two of us (and him with a broken wrist) we managed to go about our business without leaving any messes behind.

I agree with the OP tho. In WDW you'd think people would be more aware of their surroundings than in their everyday life. I guess it goes to show that some people truly are oblivious to their surroundings. Sadly, I don't think these people really "get" the magic as some of us do, either.

Great story thanks for sharing! I'm glad to see that teaching children what is right and isn't has not been lost completely!! The part you said, "I don't think these people really 'get' the magic as some of us do, either." this is sooo true... these are probably the same people that come and walk past the hall of presidents on their way to Big thunder, not realizing what it is..or going to DHS and walking right pass the chinese theater thinking its just a set peice. Or the same people who come to DHS looking for Shrek 3-D. But that is a whole different type of topic though:lookaroun Thanks again for sharing!

 

[figmentmom]

Unfortunately, there are rude and/or thoughtless people everywhere you go. You're not going to change them, and that's not why you're on vacation, anyway! Ignore as much as you can, and have a good time with your family.

 

[daliseurat]

We definitely have a generation of folks who don't care about things that effect anyone else. Why is this? It's because there are no consequences for their behavior. When I was a kid, if I dared to litter or not clean up something in public, I'd get a mighty smack on the back of my head from a parent and wouldn't be allowed to go out in public again for a while. And if my parents weren't there, you can bet that an employee would set me on the right track, or even a total stranger. This inconsiderate behavior was simply not tolerated at any point. And I was raised to have some respect. One of the reasons I love to go to WDW is because it is a place where things are done right. Guests behave better than they do around here. But lately I've seen teenagers just heave garbage into bushes, stick gum on fountains or anywhere else they find, and try to graffiti up stuff. My solution is very simple. I don't shake my head at it. I loudly announce what they are doing so everyone can hear and catch them. I chastise them and try to humiliate them. If a cast member is near I will try to goad them into ejected these idiots out of the park, or at least make them clean it up. I'm sure this will backfire on me a few times. But so far, I've stopped some lousy behavior, and gotten some applause for just speaking up. In my local parks a watched a group of teenagers knock over garbage cans. I ran over and made them pick up the trash. I whipped out my cell phone (an awesome weapon for getting people to snap to when you bark at them) and threatened to call the police if they didn't clean it up immediately and if I saw it again they wouldn't get a chance. I implore everyone to speak up or at least go get a castmember when you see this obnoxious behavior. If we don't start creating consequences it will just get worse.

And as a way of countering this before it happens, I go out of my way to helpful and friendly to everyone I see at WDW. And I make sure I do an superior job cleaning up my table. Because it is VERY likely that before a cast member gets to it, another tired and hungry family will want to sit down.

 

[Montyboy]

I was so mad! I mean come on everyone else was watching and all excited about their trip, it was so unnecessary. Why even come to Disney if you are just going to be a hater the whole time. I just grabbed my purse and turned to her and said "If you'll excuse me, I am going to go sit next to someone who is happy to be here and on vacation" and changed seats.

Stuff like that just kills me. Even thinking about it now gets me all 'riled up. I wish we could have pulled the bus over on the highway and left her there!

I would have been furious with her as well, but I can be prone to disproportionate responses when a complete stranger tries to engage me in conversation.

 

[mickeymaniacs]

I completely agree with everyone. It really drives me crazy to see cigarette butts everywhere and I used to smoke! I Never threw my cigarette on the ground. And you can tell in a way that people who don't pick up after themselves there probably don't do it anywhere else either. I am one of 7 kids and learned real fast that you showed respect for other people's stuff and you picked up after yourself. I think the reason why people are so disrespectful is because they didn't get taught that if you did it you got wacked. I think and I know some people would disagree that there is nothing wrong with a good old fashioned butt spanking it would definitely cure some of the attitude problems we have now a days. Ok I'll get off my soapbox now.:lol:

 

[JasonP]

That's two squirrel incidences in two posts, this could be an epidemic. Reminds me of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation


SQUIRREL...!!!

Where's Eddie, he eats these darn things for breakfast.

Oh, not any more, his doctor said they're high in cholesterol

Don't throw me down Clark!

----

You couldn't hear a dumptruck driving through a nitroglycerin plant.

 

[sknydave]

Oh I had a different kind of Magic Killer on my last trip I have to share.

I was on DME and the lady who sat next to me (a perfect stranger-- her daughter and husband sat in front of our seats) and when the video was playing which I LOVE and actually look forward to, she turned to me and said in the most snarky voice "So annoying how many times do you have to say the word magic?" and did an annoyed laugh...talking about the video.

I was so mad! I mean come on everyone else was watching and all excited about their trip, it was so unnecessary. Why even come to Disney if you are just going to be a hater the whole time. I just grabbed my purse and turned to her and said "If you'll excuse me, I am going to go sit next to someone who is happy to be here and on vacation" and changed seats.

Stuff like that just kills me. Even thinking about it now gets me all 'riled up. I wish we could have pulled the bus over on the highway and left her there!

Wow. Overreact much?

 

[sbkline]

I can agree with all of the OP's pet peeves except for one. I don't see anything wrong with feeding some scraps to the wildlife.

Obviously, I don't condone vandalism. De-facing the decor, or destroying it in any way is wrong. But I feed wild animals all the time. Not necessarily at WDW, but at home. I always throw scrap food out the back door. Either the dog eats it next time I let her out or the critters get it.

One time at Six Flags, we were eating pizza and I saw a ground squirrel or gopher or some such critter crawling around in the greenery. I tossed the crusts over there for the little guy and we all watched as he found them and began munching on them.

People who vandalize property by sticking gum on it, or willfully destroying it can't possibly mean anything good by it. They are either ignorant hicks or willful vandals. But people who toss food to the animals basically mean well. They're just trying to be be nice to the critters by giving them a little something to eat, as well as enjoying watching God's creatures as they gather after a free meal. I don't see what the big deal is. :shrug:

 

[WaltsApprentice]

I can agree with all of the OP's pet peeves except for one. I don't see anything wrong with feeding some scraps to the wildlife.

Obviously, I don't condone vandalism. De-facing the decor, or destroying it in any way is wrong. But I feed wild animals all the time. Not necessarily at WDW, but at home. I always throw scrap food out the back door. Either the dog eats it next time I let her out or the critters get it.

One time at Six Flags, we were eating pizza and I saw a ground squirrel or gopher or some such critter crawling around in the greenery. I tossed the crusts over there for the little guy and we all watched as he found them and began munching on them.

People who vandalize property by sticking gum on it, or willfully destroying it can't possibly mean anything good by it. They are either ignorant hicks or willful vandals. But people who toss food to the animals basically mean well. They're just trying to be be nice to the critters by giving them a little something to eat, as well as enjoying watching God's creatures as they gather after a free meal. I don't see what the big deal is. :shrug:

I can see your point, it is great to see animals come up to you like a pet and take food. I use to think that all the time, I use to throw my left over Mcdonalds food to the birds when on vacation. But then when I started to work at a certain location and at my job...I learned so much and how by doing that it is disturbing their natural eating habits that they will rely on humans to feed them. And many of times the animal may become agressive, even if its a duck it will snap back at little fingers that feed them. Their not Pets, their wild animals. We forget about this sometimes because of the joy of seeing them eat a french fire or a turkey leg. Also its not their natural food, it messes with their diet too, and also they could choke and die on a certain item. This also trains them to come into Human habitats... But anyway I could go on and on and on this...there are so many reasons on there for not to do it, and by me blabbing about it ...it wont change a thing. But I'm glad you agree with my other points..:wave:

Edit: I wanted to also add that one time I was at a local very small and over crowded Zoo once and there is an avary with turkeys and storkes and other big birds. They allow you to feed these birds bird food..little small pelts for 50 cents! This was before I decided not to feed wild animals.. These birds were like rapters(sp? Dinosaurs) when they heard the clicking of the bird food coming out of the machines ...they slowly started all heading in our direction...and when one of us threw the food and it landed mostly in the water...they turned to us in anger (I"M not kidding you) and saw my hand in a closed fist because I was holding my keys they thought I had more food...they started pecking my hands and cornering us off. I'm not joking you the little kids I was with started to cry. I finally found some pebbles on the ground and threw them and then we ran!! THis is why DAK doesn't do this kind of things...its scary!! Because the animals soon then start to rely on this food and they are not going to know when to stop....so I leave you with this video... its a little bit funny http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxsdIvrJMuk but so true!

 

[daliseurat]

I can agree with all of the OP's pet peeves except for one. I don't see anything wrong with feeding some scraps to the wildlife.

Obviously, I don't condone vandalism. De-facing the decor, or destroying it in any way is wrong. But I feed wild animals all the time. Not necessarily at WDW, but at home. I always throw scrap food out the back door. Either the dog eats it next time I let her out or the critters get it.

One time at Six Flags, we were eating pizza and I saw a ground squirrel or gopher or some such critter crawling around in the greenery. I tossed the crusts over there for the little guy and we all watched as he found them and began munching on them.

People who vandalize property by sticking gum on it, or willfully destroying it can't possibly mean anything good by it. They are either ignorant hicks or willful vandals. But people who toss food to the animals basically mean well. They're just trying to be be nice to the critters by giving them a little something to eat, as well as enjoying watching God's creatures as they gather after a free meal. I don't see what the big deal is. :shrug:

Well, the big deal is that a good bit of the park food is BAD for the animals. It also gets them used to coming and getting food and annoying or biting a guest. It also stops them from going after the food they would normally eat, like insects that might bother us. Also, the animals will actually stalk you for food, and again n the case of birds, do a tremendous amount of pooping on you. And it isn't just the occasional guest who does it, it's thousands of them. And, at WDW people toss turkey legs into the Rivers of America for the alligators. And there are pictures somewhere of them right up on the banks waiting for a snack. So, while tossing a little treat to the animals might seem harmless, in a theme park environment it can create a health hazard for both them and us. So it's better not to do it. Many places even forbid it by law.

 

[imagineer boy]

I was recently at Disneyland in Anaheim. I was so happy to go on the newly rennovated Haunted Mansion for the first time, but these idiots practically ruined it for me because they kept mock screaming through the WHOLE RIDE. I could barely hear Madame Leota, the music, etc. And then when the ride stopped, they cursed as loudly as they could so the whole dang mansion could hear them.

 

[sbkline]

I can see your point, it is great to see animals come up to you like a pet and take food. I use to think that all the time, I use to throw my left over Mcdonalds food to the birds when on vacation. But then when I started to work at a certain location and at my job...I learned so much and how by doing that it is disturbing their natural eating habits that they will rely on humans to feed them. And many of times the animal may become agressive, even if its a duck it will snap back at little fingers that feed them. Their not Pets, their wild animals. We forget about this sometimes because of the joy of seeing them eat a french fire or a turkey leg. Also its not their natural food, it messes with their diet too, and also they could choke and die on a certain item. This also trains them to come into Human habitats... But anyway I could go on and on and on this...there are so many reasons on there for not to do it, and by me blabbing about it ...it wont change a thing. But I'm glad you agree with my other points..:wave:

I can understand the reasons put forth not to feed the animals. You're probably right that it isn't a good idea.

But you yourself said that YOU used to do it and I'm sure you meant no harm by it. That was my whole point in objecting to throwing that in with acts of vandalism. People who throw food to animals may be ignorant of the negative things that can result, but they basically mean well. I don't think it's fair to throw them in with idiots who want to stick their gum on the Mickey statue or do other juvenille acts of vandalism. In the former case, you have a well meaning person who isn't willfully trying to hurt anyone or anything. In the latter case you have hoodlums and idiots who are intent on destroying someone else's property. The former group isn't trying to ruin anyone's magic (even if they are inadvertantly contributing to it) while the latter group seems to be trying to do just that.

Like I said, I throw food out my backdoor all the time, knowing that some kind of animal will get it, and I don't see anything wrong with that. But there aren't thousands of other people throwing food into my backyard everyday, either. LOL But, without someone else telling me, if I were to toss some food out for the animals at MK, I may not be thinking of the thousands of other people who are doing the same thing, and teaching the animals bad habits. I'm just thinking of tossing some food out to the animals so it doesn't go to waste.

 

[WaltsApprentice]

I can understand the reasons put forth not to feed the animals. You're probably right that it isn't a good idea.

But you yourself said that YOU used to do it and I'm sure you meant no harm by it. That was my whole point in objecting to throwing that in with acts of vandalism. People who throw food to animals may be ignorant of the negative things that can result, but they basically mean well. I don't think it's fair to throw them in with idiots who want to stick their gum on the Mickey statue or do other juvenille acts of vandalism. In the former case, you have a well meaning person who isn't willfully trying to hurt anyone or anything. In the latter case you have hoodlums and idiots who are intent on destroying someone else's property. The former group isn't trying to ruin anyone's magic (even if they are inadvertantly contributing to it) while the latter group seems to be trying to do just that.

There is also those acts of vandalism that people feel its okay since they are on vacation. I can see your point... but there are people that feel they can leave their trash lying around...because they think its okay and don't mean to besically mean..but just are ignorant in the fact that Am I suppose to throw this away?? Or are the Castmembers. But I understand what you mean but back to my Orginal Post... its ruing the magic by people thinking they can do anything at the parks no matter what, by messing with the norm. I wanted to enjoy my meal at Flametree BBQ but instead I had a stork trying to bother us for food because the family that had just left was just feeding it frys.. But I understand what you mean they were just trying to have fun...just like the people who break things...they were just having what they call "Fun"

EDIT: By the way look at my last post to read that story about at the local Zoo... very true story...which goes back to another poster what they said about birds that attack

 

[lilphil6487]

I wasn't at Disney World but I was at Disney's Vero Beach Resort a few years back. I was by the pool and some guy had a mickey ice cream bar in the pool. The lifeguard politely asked him to leave the pool to eat it. Im assuming he was a vacation club member as well and he started yelling at the poor girl saying "I own this place. I can do whatever I want." First of all, he doesn't actually own the hotel, and secondly, she was being polite and fired back at her. Later on i saw him drop the ice cream by accident and swim away. they had to fish it out of the pool.

 

[sbkline]

There is also those acts of vandalism that people feel its okay since they are on vacation. I can see your point... but there are people that feel they can leave their trash lying around...because they think its okay and don't mean to besically mean..but just are ignorant in the fact that Am I suppose to throw this away?? Or are the Castmembers. But I understand what you mean but back to my Orginal Post... its ruing the magic by people thinking they can do anything at the parks no matter what, by messing with the norm. I wanted to enjoy my meal at Flametree BBQ but instead I had a stork trying to bother us for food because the family that had just left was just feeding it fires.. But I understand what you mean they were just trying to have fun...just like the people who break things...they were just having what they call "Fun"

EDIT: By the way look at my last post to read that story about at the local Zoo... very true story...which goes back to another poster what they said about birds that attack

Yes, some people's idea of "fun" is to vandalize other people's property. But I still think it's unfair to compare such hooligans to well meaning people who just think they are being nice to the local wildlife. Again, the latter group genuinely means well and aren't trying to hurt anyone. The former group knows that they are destroying other people's property and willfully do it anyway because that's how they get their kicks.

 

[WaltsApprentice]

I wasn't at Disney World but I was at Disney's Vero Beach Resort a few years back. I was by the pool and some guy had a mickey ice cream bar in the pool. The lifeguard politely asked him to leave the pool to eat it. Im assuming he was a vacation club member as well and he started yelling at the poor girl saying "I own this place. I can do whatever I want." First of all, he doesn't actually own the hotel, and secondly, she was being polite and fired back at her. Later on i saw him drop the ice cream by accident and swim away. they had to fish it out of the pool.

Ewwww...thats like finding a bandaid in the pool!...I can just picture a big over weight guy all hairy in a speedo..and sunscreen on his nose doing that...ugh...gross..sorry to paint a picture! Thats the one thing with some DVC members they think they rule the world. But I'm one to talk when i was a kid with an Annual Passholder I use to act like I owned the place

 

[lilphil6487]

Hey dont generalize us DVC members, i dont think I own everything.

 

[WaltsApprentice]

Hey dont generalize us DVC members, i dont think I own everything.

Sorry I forgot to add in there...And I was thinking of doing it I just didn't...that Some DVC members...sorry for the mix up!

 

[pixel-dust]

Guests who talk thru things like Soarin' and other attractions that dont require audience participation.

Holley-Navarre Middle School Band- yeah talking to you! Thanks for screaming thru Soarin' last Sunday.

I waited 60 minutes in that line and really appreciated your groups hootin' and hollerin thru it.

 

[yankspy]

Guests who talk thru things like Soarin' and other attractions that dont require audience participation.

Holley-Navarre Middle School Band- yeah talking to you! Thanks for screaming thru Soarin' last Sunday.

I waited 60 minutes in that line and really appreciated your groups hootin' and hollerin thru it.

Hey, that was my group.