what was the best WDW guest meltdown you've observed

LdyApxr

Well-Known Member
Ok, hideous Aunt story here. Me. I have been taking my son and my nieces and nephews to Disneyland for 20yrs. All ages, even my dearest monster nephew Scotty(now 27) who could test the patience of Job and never once in all of those visits(including the one with just me and 4 kids under 10 for 4 days) had I ever had to raise my voice or be one of "those" parents(you know the ones) until May 2013. We took my nephews and my son to Disneyland. My husband and I wanted to treat our nephews because my sister(who lived close to them and saw them all the time) raved about what good boys they were and how they had so little(my brother is a single parent since the youngest was 6mo old, their mom is an addict, lots of family drama). So we took our son(who was 15 at the time), and our two nephews(13 and 9 I believe) on a no expense spared trip. Flights out of Oakland(they had never been on a plane or even more than an hour from their home), Grand Californian, $50 each, 4nights, goodie bags and tshirts for the trip. You name it, we did it. The trouble started the day we arrived. The older one tried stealing from the gift shop in the GC(even with his $50 gift card that he knew he had), he then tried stealing his little brother's gift card, then my son's and that was just the beginning. I did not know he was a bully until we turned around and the youngest was not with us. Backtracking we found him sitting in the middle of the road in CA Adv. and crying because his brother had hit him. I called my brother and essentially asked him Wed, Thurs, Fri????? and his reply was "Yeah, they don't get along, Gage does that a lot" Great, something I could have been told prior to a $6300 trip. This continued with him bullying my son who although he is older, he is smaller than Satan Spawn, and eventually we found we could not take our eyes off him at any time. We even had dinner at Carthay Circle(expensive!) and he tried tripping the waiter! I took him back to the room and explained that if he pulled one more stunt, I would put him on a plane back to his dad without a second thought. Finally we decided enough was enough when our son told us that he had been being hit by Gage whenever we weren't looking. We called, paid a small fortune to change our flights and went to the airport. We are sitting in the airport and my husband hears an announcement about our flight so he went to check. He comes back and says "the flight is delayed and we will be flying out at 10:30p(instead of 8:30 as planned) and Gage jumped in my face and yelled "HA!!!!" at which point my hand flew out and slapped him so hard he fell on his butt before I even realized I had done it! I honestly have never slapped a child in my 44yrs and did not realize it until I saw him holding his cheek. He was quiet the rest of the time. We got home at 10:30pm(we managed to find an earlier flight but our luggage didn't LOL) and my older son bundled them in the car and drove them the two hours to my brother's house. After my brother forced him to apologize(and it was forced, he said "That's my apology, take it or leave it") I told my brother not to bother me any longer. Then our son said "Mom, tell Uncle not to be mad at Gage, we are home and I don't want him to be in any more triouble" My big hearted boy! So I tell my brother and suddenly he assumes all is well and says "They had a great time and I was wondering if you had any more presents for them?" Yeah, my brother is clueless too and I said "No, and there will be no presents forthcoming from us for either of them ever again" To this day, I still refuse to be around them and my brother still thinks they are angels.

So yeah, I was the bad auntie, who slapped a heathen nephew in public. The funny thing is, the attendant in the airport who saw it, actually smiled and winked at my husband and I because she had seen him acting like a heathen while we waited. I was also hoping TSA was going to tase him when he tried to run through security(he is old enough to understand the rules, knew what was expected at the airport and still tried to shove the TSA agent when she asked him to slow down and walk back through because he had alerted due to suddenly having a pocket knife that we had no idea where he got it). And no, he does not have any mental issues, other than being a heathen, a bully and a future felon I am sure. LOL
 

mf1972

Well-Known Member
Ok, hideous Aunt story here. Me. I have been taking my son and my nieces and nephews to Disneyland for 20yrs. All ages, even my dearest monster nephew Scotty(now 27) who could test the patience of Job and never once in all of those visits(including the one with just me and 4 kids under 10 for 4 days) had I ever had to raise my voice or be one of "those" parents(you know the ones) until May 2013. We took my nephews and my son to Disneyland. My husband and I wanted to treat our nephews because my sister(who lived close to them and saw them all the time) raved about what good boys they were and how they had so little(my brother is a single parent since the youngest was 6mo old, their mom is an addict, lots of family drama). So we took our son(who was 15 at the time), and our two nephews(13 and 9 I believe) on a no expense spared trip. Flights out of Oakland(they had never been on a plane or even more than an hour from their home), Grand Californian, $50 each, 4nights, goodie bags and tshirts for the trip. You name it, we did it. The trouble started the day we arrived. The older one tried stealing from the gift shop in the GC(even with his $50 gift card that he knew he had), he then tried stealing his little brother's gift card, then my son's and that was just the beginning. I did not know he was a bully until we turned around and the youngest was not with us. Backtracking we found him sitting in the middle of the road in CA Adv. and crying because his brother had hit him. I called my brother and essentially asked him Wed, Thurs, Fri????? and his reply was "Yeah, they don't get along, Gage does that a lot" Great, something I could have been told prior to a $6300 trip. This continued with him bullying my son who although he is older, he is smaller than Satan Spawn, and eventually we found we could not take our eyes off him at any time. We even had dinner at Carthay Circle(expensive!) and he tried tripping the waiter! I took him back to the room and explained that if he pulled one more stunt, I would put him on a plane back to his dad without a second thought. Finally we decided enough was enough when our son told us that he had been being hit by Gage whenever we weren't looking. We called, paid a small fortune to change our flights and went to the airport. We are sitting in the airport and my husband hears an announcement about our flight so he went to check. He comes back and says "the flight is delayed and we will be flying out at 10:30p(instead of 8:30 as planned) and Gage jumped in my face and yelled "HA!!!!" at which point my hand flew out and slapped him so hard he fell on his butt before I even realized I had done it! I honestly have never slapped a child in my 44yrs and did not realize it until I saw him holding his cheek. He was quiet the rest of the time. We got home at 10:30pm(we managed to find an earlier flight but our luggage didn't LOL) and my older son bundled them in the car and drove them the two hours to my brother's house. After my brother forced him to apologize(and it was forced, he said "That's my apology, take it or leave it") I told my brother not to bother me any longer. Then our son said "Mom, tell Uncle not to be mad at Gage, we are home and I don't want him to be in any more triouble" My big hearted boy! So I tell my brother and suddenly he assumes all is well and says "They had a great time and I was wondering if you had any more presents for them?" Yeah, my brother is clueless too and I said "No, and there will be no presents forthcoming from us for either of them ever again" To this day, I still refuse to be around them and my brother still thinks they are angels.

So yeah, I was the bad auntie, who slapped a heathen nephew in public. The funny thing is, the attendant in the airport who saw it, actually smiled and winked at my husband and I because she had seen him acting like a heathen while we waited. I was also hoping TSA was going to tase him when he tried to run through security(he is old enough to understand the rules, knew what was expected at the airport and still tried to shove the TSA agent when she asked him to slow down and walk back through because he had alerted due to suddenly having a pocket knife that we had no idea where he got it). And no, he does not have any mental issues, other than being a heathen, a bully and a future felon I am sure. LOL
wow! I don't even know what to say...
 

LdyApxr

Well-Known Member
wow! I don't even know what to say...
I'm not proud of it, but I also don't want to act like I have never had a meltdown. Like I said, I thought my nephew Scotty was a handful when I took him when he was 7 and 9(along with his brother, his sister and my own son) and Scotty is the one that we still tease about him being on TV(he is on a hunting show) and we always figured if we saw him on TV, it would be on COPS. LOL He was tame compared to this younger nephew. Now Scotty is a 27yr old man, who has several stepchildren who adore him, a hunting show and his own welding business. I'd like to think there might be hope for my younger nephew but from what I gather through the family grapevine, it doesn't look good.

I cried when I got home from that trip and told my husband "I have NEVER been one of THOSE parents in Disneyland and now I am!!" and he said "No, you are not. In 10-15 trips, you have never done that and you won't do it again because you are a good person" but I still cried.
 

mf1972

Well-Known Member
I'm not proud of it, but I also don't want to act like I have never had a meltdown. Like I said, I thought my nephew Scotty was a handful when I took him when he was 7 and 9(along with his brother, his sister and my own son) and Scotty is the one that we still tease about him being on TV(he is on a hunting show) and we always figured if we saw him on TV, it would be on COPS. LOL He was tame compared to this younger nephew. Now Scotty is a 27yr old man, who has several stepchildren who adore him, a hunting show and his own welding business. I'd like to think there might be hope for my younger nephew but from what I gather through the family grapevine, it doesn't look good.

I cried when I got home from that trip and told my husband "I have NEVER been one of THOSE parents in Disneyland and now I am!!" and he said "No, you are not. In 10-15 trips, you have never done that and you won't do it again because you are a good person" but I still cried.
I had a cousin like that growing up. always disobeying, getting in trouble, etc. thought he was going to be a lost cause.
totally different person now. became a behaved mature adult with some kids of his own. I wouldn't give up just yet. people change.
 

LdyApxr

Well-Known Member
That was my nephew Scotty. LOL He did so many things but nothing illegal, just stupid things like when he went to the river to find turtles and fell down the levee shattering his leg but refused to tell the life flight guys his name because he did not want his mom to find out he was at the river(LOL 12yr old logic!) or when he shot himself with a BB gun in the leg to try to convince my son to let him shoot him in the leg because it wouldn't hurt(it did, and he still has the BB in his leg to prove it). He was just a daredevil. Not a thief, not a bully, just a daredevil. We sometimes wondered if Scotty was going to make adulthood. LOL This one though, we moved back to the townI grew up in last year. My brother is a couple towns away, my sister is about a mile away. Riley met some kids in town and was getting to know them and while he was talking about our last trip(the bad one), one of these kids said "Does he live in **** and is his name Gage?" and Riley was afraid to admit it because he was not sure if these kids were friends of my nephews and finally he said "Yeah, he's my cousin....." at which point these kids stopped calling Riley because they had been tormented, beaten up, stolen from and gotten in trouble by Gage when they lived in the town he lives in. Riley explained that he barely knows his cousin and really only ever saw him at Christmas. This kid is like the Evil-er Eddie Haskell. Some parents think he is a great kid while their children all know better. LOL
 

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
I'm not proud of it, but I also don't want to act like I have never had a meltdown. Like I said, I thought my nephew Scotty was a handful when I took him when he was 7 and 9(along with his brother, his sister and my own son) and Scotty is the one that we still tease about him being on TV(he is on a hunting show) and we always figured if we saw him on TV, it would be on COPS. LOL He was tame compared to this younger nephew. Now Scotty is a 27yr old man, who has several stepchildren who adore him, a hunting show and his own welding business. I'd like to think there might be hope for my younger nephew but from what I gather through the family grapevine, it doesn't look good.

I cried when I got home from that trip and told my husband "I have NEVER been one of THOSE parents in Disneyland and now I am!!" and he said "No, you are not. In 10-15 trips, you have never done that and you won't do it again because you are a good person" but I still cried.

Some kids just won't learn unless they get a slap in the face. You weren't abusive, you weren't beating him, and you gave him ample opportunity warnings up to that point.
 

DMC-12

It's HarmonioUS, NOT HarmoniYOU.
I once seen a mother go nuclear over her little kid not wanting to do Alien Encounter (yeah... this was a long time ago).

TL;DR version: Little boy, maybe 7y/o if even that, did not wanna go on Alien Encounter (the kid was crying and visibly nervous and shaken). Well trashy mother of the year lost her mind and was just screaming and yelling at the poor kid, berating him even. Finally a CM came over and intervened. The CM talked the mother out of forcing the kid into the attraction. I felt so bad for that little boy.
 

wdwjmp239

Well-Known Member
I don't think I was at Hollywood Studios for more than 30 minutes on Sunday (9/6/15) before my family and I were treated to a scream fest that was unlike any scream fest I ever heard (mind you - I have a 5 year old daughter and 3 year old son). My son wanted a toy monorail car (he was set on having one - $5 - not a biggie - thank god he didn't see the full monorail set for a couple of hundred!). As my son was picking his monorail car, this girl who was probably about 6 years old wanted something "Frozen" related and her parents pretty much denied her the item. It was a piercing scream just high enough that I'm sure the frequency was just shy of shattering glass! All I have to say is that I feel sorry for those who were standing directly behind this girl. As for us, we were off to the side and about 20 feet away - so it wasn't a direct blow to the eardrums. Needless to say, they left the store and you could hear the girl's screams fade in the distance.

There were other meltdowns, but this one took the cake. :)
 

HolleBolleGijs

Well-Known Member
Honestly, and not being judgmental, but, staying offsite, I spend about the following. I'll break it down to 3 people.

Breakfast Buffet in any # of places on 192 = $9.00 (1) $27.00 (3)
Lunch in the parks (QS) = $15.00 (1) $45.00 (3)
Dinner offsite for meal and break = $30.00 (1) $90.00 (3)
Daily charge for hotel = $70.00 (1) $70.00 (3)

Total per day = $144.00

Total spent on purchases for a week = $50.00 (1) $150.00 (3)

And I get to see the same stuff in the parks as everyone else. If someone can afford to throwaway spend that much money just to say that they "did it onsite", well, I cannot relate, but, I certainly don't think it is wrong to do, just something that I would never do.
I have no desire to spend huge amounts of money for mediocre food especially if it comes with college kids in foam head wandering around. There is nothing that I have seen onsite in the line of food that I cannot get easily, without reservations and about an 8th of the cost offsite. Souvenirs of Disney I can get at Walmart or Target for a 3rd of the price. The are all stamped with the Disney label, just like onsite.

Totally agree...I know merch can be expensive, but spending $120 per person per day as G00fyDad suggested is quite ridiculous, but YMMV. Plus doing character breakfasts every day is obviously going to drive up costs. Yes, it's easy to spend $1000 per day if you're not being careful, or not paying attention, or have no spending limit. But it doesn't take much to keep spending to a minimum, even if you're staying on property.
 

JasonDeyoung

Well-Known Member
In May I was sitting at the bus stop at Contemporary waiting on the AK bus. As we were all patiently waiting, talking etc one by one we all started to notice a gentleman struggling with imho one of the strangest looking strollers I've ever seen. This thing was HUGE! The tires, no lie were a good 3" wide, it was made of what looked like steel lol. Anyways he was struggling and obv getting frustrated, started getting an attitude with his wife who tried helping so she just walked away and sat down. A few other guest asked to help and got snippy with them, even the bus driver of the just arrived bus to Epcot offered to help and he yelled at him. As that bus loaded he I guess hit the breaking point and literally picked it up over his head and screamed as he THREW it into the bushes lol we all just kinda looked around shaking our heads and snickered because after he I think realized how stupid he looked and he laughed but I mean cmon it was hilarious
 
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PhilharMagician

Well-Known Member
A family sitting in front of us in the Theater in the Wild watching Tarzan. The husband wife and teens started arguing and it got more heated until they were standing up pointing fingers and one push and the husband walked out yelling that he was going back to the hotel. About 5 minutes later as the rest of the family sat there in shock they all got up and left. This happened while the show was going on and created quite a spectacle. I did have the heart to yell at them to sit down and shut up.
 

G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
Totally agree...I know merch can be expensive, but spending $120 per person per day as G00fyDad suggested is quite ridiculous, but YMMV. Plus doing character breakfasts every day is obviously going to drive up costs. Yes, it's easy to spend $1000 per day if you're not being careful, or not paying attention, or have no spending limit. But it doesn't take much to keep spending to a minimum, even if you're staying on property.

I get what you are saying, but we save up to go to Disney with a set amount of money. I figure everything in and even have a certain amount set aside for emergencies. Us spending $120 a day is not indicative of us being wealthy or wasteful by any means. It is a set amount that my wife and I have worked very hard to save up for each trip. We go to Disney with the idea that this money is going to be spent on souvenirs.
 

Raineman

Well-Known Member
I once seen a mother go nuclear over her little kid not wanting to do Alien Encounter (yeah... this was a long time ago).

TL;DR version: Little boy, maybe 7y/o if even that, did not wanna go on Alien Encounter (the kid was crying and visibly nervous and shaken). Well trashy mother of the year lost her mind and was just screaming and yelling at the poor kid, berating him even. Finally a CM came over and intervened. The CM talked the mother out of forcing the kid into the attraction. I felt so bad for that little boy.
I bet that if she had forced her kid into AE, and he started getting scared and freaking out, she would have complained about it being too scary for kids, like so many others that forced WDW to change to SGE.
 

danyoung56

Well-Known Member
I was on another solo visit to the World and it was the night before Hurricane Floyd was predicted to hit Orlando.

I didn't know you were there then - so was I! I was working a trade show at the Orlando Convention Center, and staying at the Coronado Springs. It was my first (and so far only!) hurricane - way too much excitement!
 

RoadTrip

Member
I didn't know you were there then - so was I! I was working a trade show at the Orlando Convention Center, and staying at the Coronado Springs. It was my first (and so far only!) hurricane - way too much excitement!
My main concern was where I would stay. The night before Floyd was the last night of my Disney reservation. I was scheduled to fly home the next day. If my flight didn't get out I would have been stranded at the airport... every hotel in Orlando was totally booked. As it was, my flight was the last one out before they closed MCO. Too close for comfort!
 

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