Disney Ethics - another WWYD? Thread

[LovesTimone]

Taking a cue from another thread, I thought that I would pose some Disney-related ethical questions. Feel free to add your own. But please be respectful of one another's opinions.

Is it ethical to:

• Lie about your child's age in order to get a cheaper ticket? Or cheaper dining? Or *free* adult dining? Or to avoid paying the extra adult fee for the room? Or to be able to have a 5th person in the room without having to move up a resort level?
• Lie about your child's age What if it's a DVC villa that allows more people for DVC members but not for people staying on cash?
• To have a phantom person registered in your room in order to get more *free* dining credits? How about more than one phantom?
• Make throwaway room reservations so that you can book FP+ at 60 days out? Or using a second MDE account for your current reservation so that you can use the MBs from a previous visit to make a second set of 3 FP+ on the day of?
• Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park? If you don't agree, would it make a difference if the person doing this bought a soda at the QS location? Does it make a difference if the restaurant is crowded and the people who purchased meals there cannot find a seat?
• Cut the line to meet up with the rest of your party? Does it make a difference whether it's a group of Brazilian teenagers or a mother who took her toddler to the bathroom?
  
• Purchase one Early Bird Check In on Southwest and then save seats for the rest of your party? What if it's only one other person for whom you are saving a seat? Or two? If you're okay with saving some seats but not a lot, how many is too much?
• Save spots at Fantasmic! or a parade for members of your party that haven't arrived yet? What if it's because they were riding another attraction while you saved the spots? Is it a different answer if it's because a parent was taking a child to the restroom or dealing with some other need? What if it's because the family has a child who would become disruptive while waiting, so the parent left with them to keep them distracted until closer to show time so that they didn't negatively impact the people around them?
  
• Pool hop? Ever? Or only if you're a DVC member and only specific resort pool? What if you have friends/family staying at the resort you're hopping to?
  
• Park at DtD or a resort parking lot in order to avoid paying for parking? What if you have an ADR at the resort? Or if you're an onsite guest but that resort's lot is more convenient (i.e. CR's lot is great for getting out after Wishes or YC/BC lots are great when IllumiNations is done)? Does paying for valet parking make it okay?

Lie about your child's age - No - your the example

To have a phantom person registered in your room in order to get more *free* dining credits? - I never even thought about doing this. So.. No

Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park? I have seen whole families doing this and it never bothered me. The turn over is so fast at QS location, you are bound to find a seat in a minute or two.

Cut the line to meet up with the rest of your party? I really think that who hasn't had to do this, if you have kids you have done this. You can take them before the que but you know they are little, and it's gonna happen.

Save spots at Fantasmic! or a parade for members of your party that haven't arrived yet? - There are all kinds of what if's here, If parents are taking care of the kiddos, It really would not bother me. With that said, say someone holding a huge chunk up for a large party who wants to crowd in at the last minute yes that would bother me.

 

[Sagginit]

I don't have children that go on my trips, but I will weigh in on the line debate. I have gone younger as part of a family, and older as two adults. Time is money in Disney. Any advantage that saves you time means you may get to do more rides in a day. Some view it as, if everyone puts part of their party in line, goes to the bathroom, and comes back, the line would go into chaos just for people trying to save a 15 minute time slot for later.

This is where the ethics gets interesting. If you are not physically there, then you are not by definition in line. When you come back, you are cutting in front of other people who were not elsewhere and by definition are in line. The correct way to phrase it is really are you ok with people leaving a line, and cutting to get back in line, rather than just saying it is "rejoining". For a character this can be a big deal, as with the heat they are sometimes timed for how long they can be out. If two people do this (plus four people to the line), then who should have been the last person will now have to wait 20 minutes for Pooh to take a honey break or Marie to go get some milk. The person in line may have decided oh let's stay as we will be in the next group, but your actions just wasted their time as you were trying to save your own(how? well if they had know they were so far back they would not make it they might have left ten minutes ago). The reality is you can justify it any way you want, but don't try to pretend like what you did is different than someone else who did it (ex. I just left to take my 4 yr old to the bathroom, but those two teens who were on another ride and meet up with their parents can't do that).

 

[BagOLaughs]

I don't have children that go on my trips, but I will weigh in on the line debate. I have gone younger as part of a family, and older as two adults. Time is money in Disney. Any advantage that saves you time means you may get to do more rides in a day. Some view it as, if everyone puts part of their party in line, goes to the bathroom, and comes back, the line would go into chaos just for people trying to save a 15 minute time slot for later.

This is where the ethics gets interesting. If you are not physically there, then you are not by definition in line. When you come back, you are cutting in front of other people who were not elsewhere and by definition are in line. The correct way to phrase it is really are you ok with people leaving a line, and cutting to get back in line, rather than just saying it is "rejoining". For a character this can be a big deal, as with the heat they are sometimes timed for how long they can be out. If two people do this (plus four people to the line), then who should have been the last person will now have to wait 20 minutes for Pooh to take a honey break or Marie to go get some milk. The person in line may have decided oh let's stay as we will be in the next group, but your actions just wasted their time as you were trying to save your own(how? well if they had know they were so far back they would not make it they might have left ten minutes ago). The reality is you can justify it any way you want, but don't try to pretend like what you did is different than someone else who did it (ex. I just left to take my 4 yr old to the bathroom, but those two teens who were on another ride and meet up with their parents can't do that).

I see it as if you were in the line already and had to take a child to the bathroom then that's fine. I think this because the people behind you are not inconvenienced because when you return to the line nothing has changed.

Allowing others who were not previously in the line to "catch up" with family is unfair. As the people behind have had their queue length increased and unlike the people that joined had already been in the queue for x amount of time.

 

[AquaDame]

Taking a cue from another thread, I thought that I would pose some Disney-related ethical questions. Feel free to add your own. But please be respectful of one another's opinions.

Is it ethical to:

• Lie about your child's age in order to get a cheaper ticket? Or cheaper dining? Or *free* adult dining? Or to avoid paying the extra adult fee for the room? Or to be able to have a 5th person in the room without having to move up a resort level?
• Have more people in the room than what Disney allows? What if it's a DVC villa that allows more people for DVC members but not for people staying on cash?
• To have a phantom person registered in your room in order to get more *free* dining credits? How about more than one phantom?
• Make throwaway room reservations so that you can book FP+ at 60 days out? Or using a second MDE account for your current reservation so that you can use the MBs from a previous visit to make a second set of 3 FP+ on the day of?
• Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park? If you don't agree, would it make a difference if the person doing this bought a soda at the QS location? Does it make a difference if the restaurant is crowded and the people who purchased meals there cannot find a seat?
• Cut the line to meet up with the rest of your party? Does it make a difference whether it's a group of Brazilian teenagers or a mother who took her toddler to the bathroom?
  
• Purchase one Early Bird Check In on Southwest and then save seats for the rest of your party? What if it's only one other person for whom you are saving a seat? Or two? If you're okay with saving some seats but not a lot, how many is too much?
• Save spots at Fantasmic! or a parade for members of your party that haven't arrived yet? What if it's because they were riding another attraction while you saved the spots? Is it a different answer if it's because a parent was taking a child to the restroom or dealing with some other need? What if it's because the family has a child who would become disruptive while waiting, so the parent left with them to keep them distracted until closer to show time so that they didn't negatively impact the people around them?
  
• Pool hop? Ever? Or only if you're a DVC member and only specific resort pool? What if you have friends/family staying at the resort you're hopping to?
  
• Park at DtD or a resort parking lot in order to avoid paying for parking? What if you have an ADR at the resort? Or if you're an onsite guest but that resort's lot is more convenient (i.e. CR's lot is great for getting out after Wishes or YC/BC lots are great when IllumiNations is done)? Does paying for valet parking make it okay?

Personally I would say
1) No
2) Depends... I am not certain what the rules are on that one. If it was a max of two people for a room with two beds, well we DID pay the third person surcharge when it was us, but if the third person had been a baby or something I might not have? Maybe I would.
3) What...? Wouldn't they need a park ticket anyway? How is that savings? ;
4) I might do the first one if there was an actual issue at 30 days, but currently its just one or two things that are problematic so I am too much of a cheap skate to do it. The second thing sounds way too complicated. Don't you need to scan them into the park?
5) If the restaurant wasn't crowded I would. We eat fast but I would still move or not do it if they expressly said it was not allowed. If I bought a drink I get the table IMO there is no minimum purchase required to sit down... I would feel less bad about staying there, same as places at home that allow outside food and drink. If the place was hopping I wouldn't bring my food in, no, but I hate the fight for a table even if I /had/ bought my food there so...
6) Depends on the reasoning. Its not Mom & toddler vs. teenagers IMO, its what is going on. If those teenagers were in the bathroom then I still don't care, but what are the odds that 10 teenagers all had to hit the restroom at once and it took half an hour? My husband met up with me in line at Disneyland recently.. we'd just finished an hour wait in the hot sun for Peter Pan (not his fav mind you, lol..) and when we got to Its a Small World next (also not his favorite in the hot sun with a long line) he snapped. He HAD to get out of there once we were in line for a few minutes so I sent him to go get a frappuccino for us thinking it would be awhile. Ended up going faster than we thought so I chilled when I was almost at the end and let everyone go in front of me till he got back. We waited for the rest of the current group to get in front of us and when they cut the line over to the other side we resumed queueing behind them. I think that was an OK thing to do - I ended up "waiting" in the line much longer than everyone else did and no one had to deal with a full grown adult either having a tantrum from being overheated or fainting. I handle heat & sunshine better than he can. I wouldn't do it to go ride another ride or shop under less extreme circumstances or allow it frequently/with 12 of my best friends. But sometimes it is justified and I don't know that I am smart enough to know when that is for others.
7) I wouldn't do this. If we get early bird we all pay for it. I'm trying to think of any other scenario that might be similar to this and all I can come up with is I did purchase just ONE VIP package at our last holiday beer festival in town instead of one for both my husband and I. It allowed me to use a different queue and try beers that no one else could. I did let him sip some of my "special" beers and have the whole thing if I didn't like it, but in my mind since I didn't take more beer and just gave him what I paid for off mine it was OK to me. I did use the special queue when he wasn't getting into a line... if he was I just waited with him. He did get to munch my special cheeses too, but again, I got the same portion regardless of how much I ate of it myself.
8) This one is tricky and I think it comes down to math just like the line issue. I don't *think* anyone has issues with a parent taking a kid to go potty, or for an adult that can't stand for a long period of time. But if its ONE person with blankets taking up a huge chunk for 5 or more others? Then it gets dicey. Don't block off an entire row at Fantasmic!... Don't show up 5 minutes beforehand with a pile of family members who have no interest in the thing sitting in the best spots. I, personally, hate... HATE. H.A.T.E. that ONE person can go THREE HOURS OR MORE early and then there is nowhere to even stand up to an hour beforehand. Yes, I want to see the shows but it is simply not fair to expect people who don't get to come often to spend so much of a day just waiting around for it. "get there early" is taking on a whole new dimension lately... I can't wait that long for a ten minute show and I don't understand who the people are that can justify it.
9) Nope, they say you can't. I thought about doing it when we were staying DVC, but didn't. We wouldn't have tried to go to the pools that we were not supposed to. Pretty much any time Disney says "don't do this" I don't.
10) Uh.. no? I've used the lots when I have an ADR.. for the ADR. Then we move the car... we always stay onsite though, so we aren't charged to park anyway. For us though, $14 or whatever a day it is now is still chump change compared to what we paid to get there in the first place. We've paid up to $35 a day to park in cities before, so it doesn't feel that bad to us.

 

[KEVD]

Is it ethical to:

• Lie about your child's age in order to get a cheaper ticket? If your child is say within a year of the age cutoff, is underdeveloped and/or small for their age and doesn't meet the height requirements for a lot the rides I see no harm in it.
• Have more people in the room than what Disney allows? No
• To have a phantom person registered in your room in order to get more *free* dining credits? No
• Make throwaway room reservations so that you can book FP+ at 60 days out? No especially if it's a busy time when rooms sell out.
• Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park? No. But if you've bough a soda, yes... that makes you a paying customer and have a right to a table.
• Cut the line to meet up with the rest of your party? Nope! Never.
  
• Purchase one Early Bird Check In on Southwest and then save seats for the rest of your party? Absolutely not!
• Save spots at Fantasmic! or a parade for members of your party that haven't arrived yet? Nope! What if it's because they were riding another attraction while you saved the spots? Nope! Is it a different answer if it's because a parent was taking a child to the restroom or dealing with some other need? No, unless it was in the middle of the show. But not beforehand. Take care of those things before you go in. What if it's because the family has a child who would become disruptive while waiting, so the parent left with them to keep them distracted until closer to show time so that they didn't negatively impact the people around them? No, WDW offers accommodations for those types of situations which you can arrange for prior.
• Pool hop? No.
  
• Park at DtD or a resort parking lot in order to avoid paying for parking? What if you have an ADR at the resort? Isn't there a 2 hour limit? Or if you're an onsite guest but that resort's lot is more convenient (i.e. CR's lot is great for getting out after Wishes or YC/BC lots are great when IllumiNations is done)? Tough call. Does paying for valet parking make it okay? Yes

 

[mummabear]

Is it ethical to:

• Lie about your child's age in order to get a cheaper ticket? Or cheaper dining? Or *free* adult dining? Or to avoid paying the extra adult fee for the room? Or to be able to have a 5th person in the room without having to move up a resort level? No, a good hint your not doing something ethical is if it involves lying.
• Have more people in the room than what Disney allows? What if it's a DVC villa that allows more people for DVC members but not for people staying on cash? No, again you are lying.
• To have a phantom person registered in your room in order to get more *free* dining credits? How about more than one phantom? No,another lying.
• Make throwaway room reservations so that you can book FP+ at 60 days out? Or using a second MDE account for your current reservation so that you can use the MBs from a previous visit to make a second set of 3 FP+ on the day of? No, even more so if you are cancelling the reservation and never paying for it. Really Disney should only allow you to make FP+ bookings for the # of days you are booked for and they (and any ADR's) should be automatically cancelled if you cancel the reservation.
• Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park? If you don't agree, would it make a difference if the person doing this bought a soda at the QS location? Does it make a difference if the restaurant is crowded and the people who purchased meals there cannot find a seat? No if you haven't bought anything, the tables are for people who have purchased food. There are assigned picnic areas for people who have brought in their own food. Buying a drink makes it a flimsy ok,
• Cut the line to meet up with the rest of your party? Does it make a difference whether it's a group of Brazilian teenagers or a mother who took her toddler to the bathroom? Yes, it depends on where in the line, the reason and the number of people. A parent and child yes, a couple of friends catching up near the back of the line-not the end of the world, 15 people cutting to third in line-no.
• Purchase one Early Bird Check In on Southwest and then save seats for the rest of your party? What if it's only one other person for whom you are saving a seat? Or two? If you're okay with saving some seats but not a lot, how many is too much? Havent heard of this, but I would think no, if you pay for a perk for one person than that perk applies for one person.
• Save spots at Fantasmic! or a parade for members of your party that haven't arrived yet? What if it's because they were riding another attraction while you saved the spots? Is it a different answer if it's because a parent was taking a child to the restroom or dealing with some other need? What if it's because the family has a child who would become disruptive while waiting, so the parent left with them to keep them distracted until closer to show time so that they didn't negatively impact the people around them? Yes, but there would be some sort of line about the maximum number of people per spot holder.
• Pool hop? Ever? Or only if you're a DVC member and only specific resort pool? What if you have friends/family staying at the resort you're hopping to? No.
• Park at DtD or a resort parking lot in order to avoid paying for parking? What if you have an ADR at the resort? Or if you're an onsite guest but that resort's lot is more convenient (i.e. CR's lot is great for getting out after Wishes or YC/BC lots are great when IllumiNations is done)? Does paying for valet parking make it okay? No, DTD/resort parking is for use while at DTD/resort. If you are going to the resort than park at the resort.

Really all the what if xxxx is usually trying to justify a reason to do some that isnt really the right thing to be doing.

 

[ICF]

Is it ethical to:

• Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park? If you don't agree, would it make a difference if the person doing this bought a soda at the QS location? Does it make a difference if the restaurant is crowded and the people who purchased meals there cannot find a seat? No if you haven't bought anything, the tables are for people who have purchased food. There are assigned picnic areas for people who have brought in their own food. Buying a drink makes it a flimsy ok,

Where are the picnic areas in each park?

 

[polineedyan]

• Lie about your child's age - no
• Have more people in the room than what Disney allows? no
• To have a phantom person registered in your room in order to get more *free* dining credits? -no
• Make throwaway room reservations so that you can book FP+ at 60 days out?no
• Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park? probably,tho we dont bring food.
• Cut the line to meet up with the rest of your party? no.
• Purchase one Early Bird Check In on Southwest and then save seats for the rest of your party? no
• Save spots at Fantasmic! or a parade for members of your party that haven't arrived yet? maybe, but not for along time and I would probably secede that space if someone asked (so thats not really saving..)
• Pool hop? no
• Park at DtD or a resort parking lot in order to avoid paying for parking? not to avoid paying..but to avoid the trams-maybe...

 

[Sandy61]

Cut the line.....yes. I have never understood the problem with this. If you are a party of 4, then that is not going to change. You may have some take a minute or two to catch up or someone may go to the bathroom, but you are still a party of 4. This is not the same as people budging in line that you just happen to meet or you happen to see someone you know there. What does it matter whether they are standing there the entire time or not? I don't know anywhere i
else that this is a problem. Maybe people are just more uptight about time and money when they are at WDW.

 

[smidgy]

Cut the line.....yes. I have never understood the problem with this. If you are a party of 4, then that is not going to change. You may have some take a minute or two to catch up or someone may go to the bathroom, but you are still a party of 4. This is not the same as people budging in line that you just happen to meet or you happen to see someone you know there. What does it matter whether they are standing there the entire time or not? I don't know anywhere i
else that this is a problem. Maybe people are just more uptight about time and money when they are at WDW.

the problem is this: the number of people ENTERING the line determines the stated "stand by wait time". I should be able to have an accurate assesment of that wait time before I CHOOSE to enter that stand by line.

I have NO problem whatsoever with a family of 6 entering the stand byline... that will be reflected in the advertised standby wait time... and then one adult takes 3 of the kids out of the line to go to the bathroom, and later return. because not only does it not change MY wait time... it does not change my advertised and expected wait time!


if a few families do this, it could change the wait time by a half an hour.. might not seem like much to some... but it could make a difference to many. not only those with disabilities, but those trying to squeeze in a ride between fast passes, DAS return times, or meal ADRs

 

[rucifee]

Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park?

If you do this or if you just decide to park your family there because your poor feet hurt and your party of 6 spreads out to two tables forcing me to eat the food I just bought on a trash can because all other seating is full, I hate you.

 

[maxiesmom]

Cut the line.....yes. I have never understood the problem with this. If you are a party of 4, then that is not going to change. You may have some take a minute or two to catch up or someone may go to the bathroom, but you are still a party of 4. This is not the same as people budging in line that you just happen to meet or you happen to see someone you know there. What does it matter whether they are standing there the entire time or not? I don't know anywhere i
else that this is a problem. Maybe people are just more uptight about time and money when they are at WDW.

Apparently you have never been to Cedar Point. They take line cutting very seriously. As in even if you are in the line and need to step out for a bathroom break, you start at the end of the line. They do not tolerate people trying to jump the line AT ALL.

What does it matter if people wait their turn or not? I thought that is something we were all taught in grade school--that if you want to do something you need to wait your turn. And if there is a line, you wait in the line.

 

[GaryDis]

I've read through the entire thread, which is good both to see the variety of opinions, subtleties of ethics, and even better, learning about some of the subtleties of the various pricing plans.

I'm pretty much in the NO to everything except the QS seating question. One thing some people are missing is that most of the people saying yes to QS issue are qualifying it with if it's not crowded. If there are plenty of seats, sure, it's not breaking any posted rules, it's not impacting other guests, and it's not depriving Disney of income that their rules say they're entitled to.

Here's the flip side to the QS question: What about one person saving a table for a large group, when you're there by yourself or maybe on other person, and it's crowded enough that you can't find a table. When it's really bad, and I see someone just grab a table, I'll sit down anyway and tell them that I'll be done long before the rest of their party even gets their food (which is almost only true). But I can also see the other side, especially from the years when we went with my mother and she simply wasn't able to stand on the food lines that long.

One thing I can't emphasize enough is that when you lie about your kid's age, you're almost always teaching your kids that it's ok for them to lie to you. Think about it.

... I would more than likely lie about their age without a second thought. I'm not gonna justify it with a bunch of meaningless reasons. I'm just being honest about what I'd do.

Am I the only one to spot the irony in saying "I'm just being honest about my willingness to be dishonest".

Last point: The issue about savings spaces for parades and such is really tricky, and could be its own ethics thread. Part of it is driven by what we're used to growing up, with the result that people have strong feelings about it. There are too many variables to all agree on a simple rule. But at 5'6", I'll say that one of the most frustrating things is taking position behind someone who's savings space, only to have 6' adult or teen show up in the space in front of me and they either can't or won't sit down.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I've read through the entire thread, which is good both to see the variety of opinions, subtleties of ethics, and even better, learning about some of the subtleties of the various pricing plans.

I'm pretty much in the NO to everything except the QS seating question. One thing some people are missing is that most of the people saying yes to QS issue are qualifying it with if it's not crowded. If there are plenty of seats, sure, it's not breaking any posted rules, it's not impacting other guests, and it's not depriving Disney of income that their rules say they're entitled to.

Here's the flip side to the QS question: What about one person saving a table for a large group, when you're there by yourself or maybe on other person, and it's crowded enough that you can't find a table. When it's really bad, and I see someone just grab a table, I'll sit down anyway and tell them that I'll be done long before the rest of their party even gets their food (which is almost only true). But I can also see the other side, especially from the years when we went with my mother and she simply wasn't able to stand on the food lines that long.

One thing I can't emphasize enough is that when you lie about your kid's age, you're almost always teaching your kids that it's ok for them to lie to you. Think about it.



Am I the only one to spot the irony in saying "I'm just being honest about my willingness to be dishonest".

Last point: The issue about savings spaces for parades and such is really tricky, and could be its own ethics thread. Part of it is driven by what we're used to growing up, with the result that people have strong feelings about it. There are too many variables to all agree on a simple rule. But at 5'6", I'll say that one of the most frustrating things is taking position behind someone who's savings space, only to have 6' adult or teen show up in the space in front of me and they either can't or won't sit down.

Ironic indeed.

 

[maxiesmom]

[QUOTE="GaryDis, post: 54111801, member: 558964"

Here's the flip side to the QS question: What about one person saving a table for a large group, when you're there by yourself or maybe on other person, and it's crowded enough that you can't find a table. When it's really bad, and I see someone just grab a table, I'll sit down anyway and tell them that I'll be done long before the rest of their party even gets their food (which is almost only true). But I can also see the other side, especially from the years when we went with my mother and she simply wasn't able to stand on the food lines that long.

[/QUOTE]

What I find nice is now, when it is busy, Disney will not allow guests without food to get a table at the quick service restaurants. Only those people with food in hand are allowed to sit.

I have to be honest, if I was holding a table for someone (which I haven't felt the need to do for a long time) and you simply plunked yourself down, I would be annoyed. Hopefully you ask them if it is ok, and don't simply plop down. How do you know their family isn't 2 steps behind you with their tray?

 

[GaryDis]

What I find nice is now, when it is busy, Disney will not allow guests without food to get a table at the quick service restaurants. Only those people with food in hand are allowed to sit.

Good to know, I like it.

I have to be honest, if I was holding a table for someone (which I haven't felt the need to do for a long time) and you simply plunked yourself down, I would be annoyed. Hopefully you ask them if it is ok, and don't simply plop down. How do you know their family isn't 2 steps behind you with their tray?

I guess I wasn't clear. I was trying to say if I spotted them when they sit down and send people to the food lines, not someone who's been sitting and I don't know how long. And usually, depending on the people, I'll tell them politely that I'll be gone before their food arrives and ask if it's ok, but generally after I've put my tray down. A bit passive-aggressive, perhaps, but it cuts down on the knee-jerk reactions. And if the rest of their part shows up before I finish, I'm happy to go find another table.

My last time at a park (St. Louis Zoo, to be precise), I had to grab a 6 person table, with my food in hand, even though there were just two of us. I tried and succeeded at getting another family feel comfortable sharing the table.

 

[offwithyourhead]

• Lie about your child's age I don't think I'd do it, but it's all circumstantial. If I were able to get free adult dining for a kid who was a few months short of the 'required' age, I think that's fine. Years, no. But within a certain reasonable amount of time.
• Have more people in the room than what Disney allows? I will probably never stay onsite, but I'd say I probably wouldn't lie about how many people are in my room at any hotel. Max occupancy is max occupancy. However if I did have a baby and I brought their own bed, I probably would not consider them a 'person' since it seems occupancy is based on the number of bed-spaces in a room
• Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park? I think you should be courteous with the seating and tables you take up anywhere in a Disney park whether you bought a meal there or not. Don't linger if it's busy, eat and go. If you're not buying food from that particular place, look around to see if anywhere nearby is less busy so people who are eating from there won't have to walk so far with their trays. I brought a sub into the park and found a ledge to sit at and eat because I didn't *need* a table for that. Just be courteous, but eat wherever you want.
• Cut the line to meet up with the rest of your party? If the line cut wasn't due to laziness, I think it's fine. If people in your group don't feel like standing, that's laziness. If someone had to pee, take care of a kid, etc. then that's fine. I would never get upset at someone else for that, but I would be irritated if one person saved a spot for their whole family to cut back in.
• Save spots at Fantasmic! or a parade for members of your party that haven't arrived yet? Again, laziness is not cool, don't send one person ahead to save spots for a dozen. But with kids, people with disabilities and just sheer wait times, you need a little understanding. Sometimes people save a spot for their family while they go grab food, go to the washroom, calm a finicky child, whatever. That's okay. Just, again, have courtesy. Don't take up 15 spots, take up only what you need.

 

[dpswift]

Lol, love the personality in your post! Just wanted to mention that most of the time the resorts don't check to see if you have an ADR. I've never stayed on site, but we do eat at the resorts, and only once has it been a problem for me to drive up and park without an ADR. That was at Grand Floridian a few nights before Christmas. So because I really wanted to checkout the gingerbread house and buy cookies, we parked at poly and took a monorail over.

We drove to several ADRs on our last trip and never once did they check for our ADR.

Apparently you have never been to Cedar Point. They take line cutting very seriously. As in even if you are in the line and need to step out for a bathroom break, you start at the end of the line. They do not tolerate people trying to jump the line AT ALL.

Although I totally agree with this because sometimes time does matter. Like the time we were waiting for Snow White and a CM was about to send away a teen boy who really wanted to see her because she was afraid she would be gone before his turn. I quickly told them we were just waiting with DD and there would be time for him. I hate to compare Disney with a park that will not give you a glass of water even if you purchase a meal


Last point: The issue about savings spaces for parades and such is really tricky, and could be its own ethics thread. Part of it is driven by what we're used to growing up, with the result that people have strong feelings about it. There are too many variables to all agree on a simple rule. But at 5'6", I'll say that one of the most frustrating things is taking position behind someone who's savings space, only to have 6' adult or teen show up in the space in front of me and they either can't or won't sit down.

Try being 5' even. It is those people coming late that have made it hard to enjoy everything from parades to shows. We always arrive extremely early for shows however at the last minute someone 6' or above shows up and sits in the spot in front of me.

 

[Debbie]

• Lie about your child's age I have done that. DS turned 3 in June, I teach until the end of June, we went in the summer. (Same thing with DD a few years later)
  
• Have more people in the room than what Disney allows? Yes.
  
• To have a phantom person registered in your room in order to get more *free* dining credits? Can't imagine why anyone needs that much food. My kids hated the dining plan (too much time away from the parks), so TS and the Dining plan became a non-issue for us.
  
• Make throwaway room reservations so that you can book FP+ at 60 days out? No
• Take a seat at a QS location but eat the food that you brought into the park? No problem, as long as there is room for everyone. Of course, we tend to eat at off times, anyway, so if I did bring in food (which I don't) it would not be a problem.
  
• Cut the line to meet up with the rest of your party? Yes. The reason we would not be together would be bathroom issues or necessary snacks. (yes, snacks can be necessary!) I don't usually have a hissy fit if others do the same either. I'm on vacation, I have the time, and, hopefully, the patience to wait. (note: a tour group would be an entirely different kettle of fish)
• Purchase one Early Bird Check In on Southwest and then save seats for the rest of your party? Never thought of that. No, SW is a no saving seats airline, so you'd be taking your chances anyway.
  
• Save spots at Fantasmic! or a parade for members of your party that haven't arrived yet? No problem with this, again, within reason. We would save 3 spaces for the 5-7 of us, and then line up behind for the parades. At Fantasmic, shows (Indiana Jones etc), we have saved spots for those who had necessary pit stops to make.
  
• Pool hop? Did this when we stayed at Fort Wilderness-and hopped to Wilderness Lodge. It wasn't busy (so we weren't taking someone else's spot). At the time I didn't give it a thought (it was the year WL opened). Would I do it again? Nope, because now I get the reason for the rule. BUT I, personally, do think that there should be a better pool at FW or a reciprocal agreement with WL. FW is considered deluxe, with no deluxe pool facilities.
  
• Park at DtD or a resort parking lot in order to avoid paying for parking? Never done this, parking is planned for, and, as far as DTD is concerned, while I have all the time in the world on vacation, I'm not willing to give up that much time! (That said, I did ask to borrow my sister's AP pass for parking one trip)

 

[leebee]

This is typical throughout the hotel industry. Eighteen and older is legally able to enter into a contract, which is what you're doing by renting a hotel room. Instead of viewing it as costing an extra $10-$25 per night, consider the $100-$350+ your party saves - and the hotel loses - each night by sharing one room. Heck, some hotels upcharge for more than two people in a room, age notwithstanding.

I'm not exactly sure what you are saying here- that all adults should have to rent their own rooms? Eighteen year olds might be able to enter into a contract, but in MANY hotels you must be 21 or older to check it (or be the lead person on the reservation... obviously a 5 year old can technically "check-in" if they are with mom or dad, but one of them must be 21 or older), so it kind-of pokes holes in the thought that hotels are doing you a favor by not requiring other adults to get their own room.

Regarding the "phantom guest" for more dining credits: I think people do that so they have extra credits to do TS at the signature restaurants. If DH and I have free dining for 6 nights, that's a TS each day, or a signature for 3 days and paying OOP for the other three days. If you have a phantom guest, you pay for the phantom's 2 day ticket and get 6 additional TS dining credits, and all the credits are lumped into one pile, not assigned per person. This would allow DH and me to have 3 TS meals and 3 signature meals for the additional cost of a 2-day ticket, rather than paying OOP for extra meals, and someone would still be able to use the ticket on a future trip, as the phantom obviously wouldn't use the ticket. Now, I don't actually know if this would save money, and don't care to take the time to figure it out, but I think that's the rationale for the phantom guest.