Just back from WDW 01/07 to 01/14/17

weeksid

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
This is my fifth time to WDW and it was the worst trip (by far) that I have ever had at Disney. I want to preface this report by saying that ALL of the Disney staff I encountered were fantastic. In addition, the Polynesian Resort was absolutely wonderful. The weather was horrible and the crowds were much higher than expected. The primary issues were with the guests. Each time I have been to WDW, the lack of common courtesy has become worse. This time it was unbelievable. Just a few of the issues were:

1) At the hotel - Parents allowing their children to run up and down the hallways and screaming at the top of their lungs. Slamming their hotel door when leaving very early or coming back very late. Children constantly jumping in and out of the hot tub and splashing everyone in it.
2) At the parks - The number of children under six amazed me. I also saw quite a few newborns. Really?!!! I have never understood why people bring children that young when they won't remember/appreciate WDW. The number of strollers were twice as many as I have ever seen. In addition, there were numerous two-seated strollers which took up and/or blocked much of the walkways. These strollers also caused havoc when getting on the buses. Everyone had to wait while the owners of said strollers broke them down to get on the bus. In addition, approximately 70% of those with these large strollers were not in shape enough to push them 100 yards down Main Street let alone push them around all day and stand in lines for the rides. How about some common sense and go on a walking routine BEFORE you get to WDW. It would also be nice if parents would actually exert some kind of control over their children. There were multiple rides where the staff was on the loud speaker attempting to get children to not climb on the railings/rocks, etc. It would also be nice if people would actually listen. If they tell you that you can't take pictures, then put your cell phone away!!!! There were also multiple rides where the staff was on the loud speaker telling people this! Once, the staff actually stopped the ride until the idiot with the cell phone put it away. Also, do not take your stick to take "selfie" pictures. The Disney staff will confiscate them if they see them! Finally, do not stop in the middle of traffic. If you need to stop to take a picture, look at your map, etc., pull over to the side so the flow of traffic can continue.
3) On the plane - We had a child that screamed (literally) for the entire flight (which was six hours total). At the airport, the same child ran up and down the isles while the parent chased her. Every time the parent picked her up, she started screaming again. If you are going to spoil your child and let her get away with everything, STAY AT HOME!!! It is not fair to make everyone else suffer because of your brat(s).

These issues were not isolated incidents. I spoke to two other couples who had similar problems/concerns.

What is funny is that I did not encounter (or encountered very few) of these issues at either Universal Studios or Universal Islands of Adventure. These parks were wonderful. If you like Harry Potter, you will love the new Diagon Alley area.

I absolutely love Disney. I truly hope other people have a better vacation than I did this time.
 
I'm sorry you had such a horrible time because of children at Walt Disney World.

I just returned last week from WDW. I encountered several people complaining because things did not go their way. They took it out on the cast members and families around them. Usually they would be passive aggressive and make comments under their breath. One lady complained about so many strollers causing traffic jams in the crowd heading for the exit. Could it have actually been the large crowds??? Plus, if you just walk in line without trying to cut and weave in and out of traffic cutting people off, you would never actually encounter my stroller. The stroller only caused a problem for people wanting to run to an exit or attraction. Just so they could be "first".

I have always been taught to not allow other people control how I feel. I was one of those people pushing a double stroller with my twin girls. I will not apologize for doing it though.

I am returning to WDW in September with my 3 year old twins in our double stroller absolutely enjoying ourselves. Maybe they won't have direct memories of how excited they were to meet a princess or Mickey. But I will.
 
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Are you really complaining because people had children under 6 and strollers at Disney? If you don't like children, Disney probably isn't for you...

My complaint was not that there were children present. Of course, Disney is FOR children and is a wonderful place for them to visit. There were many well behaved children that were a complete joy to be around. My complaint has to do with the numerous brats I encountered whose parents refused to control and the extreme lack of common courtesy in general.
 
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I'm sorry you had such a horrible time because of children at Walt Disney World.

I just returned last week from WDW. I encountered several people complaining because things did not go their way. They took it out on the cast members and families around them. Usually they would be passive aggressive and make comments under their breath. One lady complained about so many strollers causing traffic jams in the crowd heading for the exit. Could it have actually been the large crowds??? Plus, if you just walk in line without trying to cut and weave in and out of traffic cutting people off, you would never actually encounter my stroller. The stroller only caused a problem for people wanting to run to an exit or attraction. Just so they could be "first".

I have always been taught to not allow other people control how I feel. I was one of those people pushing a double stroller with my twin girls. I will not apologize for doing it though.

I am returning to WDW in September with my 3 year old twins in our double stroller absolutely enjoying ourselves. Maybe they won't have direct memories of how excited they were to meet a princess or Mickey. But I will.
 
I absolutely understand the need for a stroller. But those with strollers need to show some kind of common courtesy as well. Many did - but there were SO MANY that did not which caused the traffic jams. Obviously, I was not the only one who thought so or you wouldn't have heard people "mutter under their breath" about them. The parks are large and in order to see them in one day, it is necessary to walk at a decent pace. It was impossible to walk other than at a snails pace given the constant stopping of these individuals. I'm sorry but I consider it extremely rude to stop in the middle of the street (stopping traffic) and expecting everyone behind you to either wait for you to continue or to go around you (hence the weaving).
 
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To add insult to injury, my credit card information was stolen while on this trip. The only place I used it was at WDW. It was linked to my Magic Band. Please be very careful with your Magic Band. If a server asks to take your band to scan it away from the table, DO NOT let them do it. This happened twice during my stay. Once was at Teppan Edo. There have been other reports on these forums of people's credit card information being stolen at Teppan Edo. Of course, I can't be 100% sure that this is where it happened. My band was never out of my sight other than the two times.
 
I just got back yesterday. US/IOA is defiantly calmer than WDW, if you visit mid-week. Most children are in school and there are not as many rides you can enjoy with babies and toddlers. At WDW, I did notice a lot of really small children and babies but for the most part, parent's had them under control. We actually encountered some really cute happy toddlers! Parents of younger children just need to realize that they are not mentally able to go for long periods of time without food or sleep! Sometimes new Mom's and Dad's push the limits. We did see a few "out of control" older children in line. We had a very cute "princess", I'd say around 6 or so, that never listened to anything her parents said. I was actually worried that she was going to get hurt. She climbed between a column and rail in the Thunder Mt. queue, and could have easily fallen to the next level.
 

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