Has anyone ever had an altercation with another guest and/or family while at WDW?

[Erin13178]

I can definitely understand to you all about the dd and hair issue. My dd is almost 4, bi-racial and she's got beautiful black, curly, LONG hair that is pretty much down to her butt. I have people come up all the time putting their paws all over her. I usually just move dd away from them and leave. One time I'd had enough when this one older lady came up (and yes she was American) and after she wouldn't leave my dd alone, I then started pawing her. I think it got the point across. You put your hands on my child, I'll put mine on you.

 

[2 princes 1 princess]

We were going into Muppets 3D, and some guy behind us was refusing to file all the way across. He was a very large guy and just stopped in the middle of the row and sat down, refusing to move to let anyone past. The CM is making announcement after announcement very everyone to keep moving, and motioning to this poor woman who was stuck in the row. She kept arguing with the guy that he needed to move, and he kept telling her to "f*&^ off" and calling her a "b*&^#". He was one row behind my 4 children, and we're clamping our hands over DD5's ears so she couldn't hear.

Finally the lady screams out "HE WON'T FREAKING MOVE". The CM came over and asked him to move and he refused, saying he already had his stuff sat down and his family was comfortable and wanted to be able to see the show, so she called security. They eventually asked everyone in the theater to file out back through the doors into the lobby, and 5 minutes later let us all back in and the guy and the security people were gone.

I'm glad to hear this story! I always see people doing this and the CMs never say anything! I love that they called security on that bully!

 

[Camno's Mama]

After reading all of the "touching the hair" stories, I just had to share this one.

We were in Epcot, in Germany, and I had just been in a character line with my older ds. My younger ds and DH were playing by a bench. There was an older woman from another country just kind of watching and laughing at him. (He is pretty adorable, I must say ). When I walked up, she started inching across the bench and holding out her hand to him. DH tells me that she has been trying to get ds to interact with her.

I don't really think anything of that because he's just kind of staring at her and not interested. Then her granddaughter starts laughing at somehting the old lady is saying and telling her no. This goes on for about a minute and then the woman asks if the older woman can have her picture taken with my son. Huh???

I didn't really know what to do, so I said that it would be okay. I figured that she just meant that she wanted to sit where she was...she was a few feet away on the bench, but close enough for the picture. She actually picked him up and put him in her lap!!!

I was shocked and the younger woman quickly took a picture and I just grabbed him and left. She was incredibly disappointed that I took him away. And she just kept smiling eerily at him as we walked away. It was so weird! She acted like she'd never seen a kid like him before. I think it's the blond hair blue eye thing. That's not the first time something like that has happened with my kids before, but it's the first time they've asked to take a picture!

 

[DisneyKT]

I was on the receiving line of things about 5 or 6 years ago.* At the time my son was on the mend from some significant medical issues and remained under a doctor's care.* I'll share with you that we're really lucky, today, he's a healthy 10 year old child who has fully recovered from his early medical issues.* We had come close to losing him several months before that Disney trip and we were celebrating that things were looking up while still cognizant of the fact that he had a long way to go and we wanted to take him back to Disney "just in case."* Anyway, here's what happened.We entered the bathroom (the one near Peter Pan) and the only stall open was an accessible stall.* I took my son in there because he needed lots of extra help with several medical devices that were hidden by his clothing and a bag he carried.* Anyway, we weren't in there long...just long enough to address his needs, get everything secure, wash our hands and leave.* This woman on a scooter comes over to the stall as we are leaving with her 2 daughters (both teens or older) and begins yelling at me for taking my "able bodied" son into a handicapped stall that is reserved for the use of people in a wheelchair!* She and her daughters who are yelling at us at the top of their lungs then begin to follow us out as I pushed our way through outside and then another of her relations...a man...tells my son and I that he's a police officer and that he should arrest us and throw us both in jail while the rest of the family has kinda circled around us!* Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a CM (one that tends to the restrooms) standing right there and never once did she help us, even as I was standing there yelling for someone to please help me that I was scared these people were going to hurt us and yelling for the family to leave us alone and stop threatening us.* I finally picked up my son and ran through the circle of the family to get away.* We were both terrified and kept on moving to get out of the park, and I was praying they weren't following us as they were clearly not rational people!* When we got out of the park, I sat on a bench and cried while trying to console a terrified child that thought the "police man" would take me away from him.* What's really sad is that a man in a "uniform" who was a Disney employee came up to us and my son started screaming at him "don't take my mommy."* I explained to the man what had happened and he was kind enough to get someone to escort us back to our hotel room to make sure we didn't have any problems.* For that, I am forever grateful!What I learned from my experience with my son is that not all "disabilities" are visible and I never question someone who appears to be "able bodied" who parks in a handicapped space or uses a handicapped bathroom stall.* I'm sure they have their reasons and it's up to them to make sure they are valid because I'm only responsible for my actions and the actions of my child.What I also learned is that there are people who aren't very nice everywhere you go and when you're in a bad situation, get out of it!* If no one will help, do everything you can to get away from it!Finally, the last thing I learned is that "bad" people come in all shapes, sizes and abilities and they can be anywhere so it's important to remain aware of your surroundings so you can navigate a pathway to safety.Let me also add this, I was really lucky that I was able to get away and that no one physically harmed us in any significant way.* They pushed us, yelled at us and cornered us...but we escaped!* I will tell you that we have been back to Disney several times and have met some truly wonderful people.* To this day, I'm glad my mom taught me to get away by any means possible when you find yourself in a bad situation...and I'm doing my best to teach my son that as well.For a while the "magic" of the Magic Kingdom was lost for us, but I decided about a year after this incident that the "magic" was still there and that bad people could never take it away from me or my son unless I allowed them to do so.* I also realized about this same time that the reason the CM (the restroom attendant person) didn't help was because she didn't know how to and that was OK since I really didn't either.

All I have to say is WOW what the heck is wrong with people, I wish I had been there to help you. Nothing gets on my nerves more that gang mentality. And plus do they own the bathroom stalls. Your a better person than me.

 

[LovinPooh]

It absolutely used drive me nuts when someone would touch my belly when I was pregnant. There was only 2 people that were allowed to touch it... my husband and the doctor. I would not in a million years go up to anyone and touch their belly or their child.

As far as the bathroom goes... as I have sat here thinking about it. It is just a bigger stall right? So if there is a handicapped person behind me in line and the handicapped stall opens up... does the handicapped person have to pee more than I do? Just a thought

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

It absolutely used drive me nuts when someone would touch my belly when I was pregnant. There was only 2 people that were allowed to touch it... my husband and the doctor. I would not in a million years go up to anyone and touch their belly or their child.

As far as the bathroom goes... as I have sat here thinking about it. It is just a bigger stall right? So if there is a handicapped person behind me in line and the handicapped stall opens up... does the handicapped person have to pee more than I do? Just a thought

This is only my experience...it's not that she (or he) has to pee more than you do, it's that she (or he) will have to wait until the stall that is equipped to handle her (or his) special needs becomes available. If I see a person who has an obvious mobility issue in line, I do 1) ask others if they mind if she (in my case, because I'm not in a mens room) goes ahead and 2) gently remind others that she needs a specially equipped stall because of mobility issues or other obvious needs. My experience is that most "handicapped stalls" do have a higher toilet seat, special grab bars, room to maneuver the persons chair to accomodate the transfer from wheelchair to toilet and some, though not all, have sinks inside them that are set to ADA height specifications.

In my case, our DS was not in a wheelchair but there were so many things hooked up to him that we could not handle everything in the smaller stalls and I honestly do not recall seeing a "family assist" restroom nearby. He was also having a bit of an emergency with one of his "special items" that needed to be taken care of ASAP (by the way...we were almost at the end of the Peter Pan line that we had waited in for more than an hour when the emergency arose! Poor kid never did get to ride Peter Pan that night...but we've more than made up for it now!).

I'm not criticizing anyone, I'm only explaining why I do what I do.

 

[CityGranola]

Pixie Dust - Wow, that story is just scary!!! I'm glad your son is doing well now and I really hope nothing else happens again!

As for the stalls, in Ohio, there is no LAW governing the use of the stalls. Perhaps they should make specifcally a handicapped one and just a bigger one for people with kids, stroller, etc. (I know they have family restrooms at places now too.)

 

[5 for WDW]

Our unpleasant experience happened in the airport before we left for WDW.
This was a few years ago. Our daughter was 13 months and we had purchased a seat for her and had her car seat with us for the flight.
SW still had the preboard for families at that time so we were in line to board. They made an announcement that the flight would be full.
This woman in front of us starts complaining loudly that she "Hoped they didn't think they were putting that car seat on a full airplane!!"
My husband and I just looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
We were walking down the ramp behind her and she was still ranting saying "Who do they think they are? The plane is full!!"
I was giggling to my husband that it would have been pretty funny if we were gate checking the car seat and she was complaining for nothing. (which she really was, she just didn't know it)
When we walked onto the plane I saw that the left side bulkhead seats were open so, I took the row with my daughter, her seat and my middle son. My husband and oldest son sat behind us.
When I started to buckle the car seat in I heard her again. I looked over and she was across the row in the other bulkhead seats.
She looked at me and said "I know you aren't going to put that car seat in that seat".
I replied "Yes Ma'am, I am. We bought a seat for our daughter". With the nicest smile I could muster.
She didn't understand me so she said "The plane is full, you can't put that car seat there!!". She was starting to raise her voice at that time.
I replied again, "Ma'am, we paid for a seat on this plane for our daughter, we can use her car seat and we are".
She looked at me and told me she was going to speak to a flight attendant. I told her to go ahead.
The flight attendant came over and asked "What seemed to be the problem?" I told her I did not have a problem at all except for the fact that this woman had been harassing me since Preboard. I then explained what the deal was. (The flight attendant was being very nice through this). She winked at me and went over to the woman and explained once again that we had purchased a seat and we were free to do whatever we wanted with it.
The woman STILL did not understand. The Attendant fnally walked away and I strapped my daughter in.
That woman made comments on and off the entire flight!!

When we went to walk off the plane I looked at her and just said "I am sorry you do not understand that we did nothing wrong but, I hope you have a nice day" and walked away.
I could hear her complaining to her poor husband while we were walking away about "The nerve of that woman".
I was so proud of myself that I didn't flip on that pain of a woman!! She was really obnoxious and not just before the flight, the entire flight!!

We have had our daughter in a car seat every flight since and have never had a problem.

 

[mamaLori05]

Our unpleasant experience happened in the airport before we left for WDW.
This was a few years ago. Our daughter was 13 months and we had purchased a seat for her and had her car seat with us for the flight.
SW still had the preboard for families at that time so we were in line to board. They made an announcement that the flight would be full.
This woman in front of us starts complaining loudly that she "Hoped they didn't think they were putting that car seat on a full airplane!!"
My husband and I just looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
We were walking down the ramp behind her and she was still ranting saying "Who do they think they are? The plane is full!!"
I was giggling to my husband that it would have been pretty funny if we were gate checking the car seat and she was complaining for nothing. (which she really was, she just didn't know it)
When we walked onto the plane I saw that the left side bulkhead seats were open so, I took the row with my daughter, her seat and my middle son. My husband and oldest son sat behind us.
When I started to buckle the car seat in I heard her again. I looked over and she was across the row in the other bulkhead seats.
She looked at me and said "I know you aren't going to put that car seat in that seat".
I replied "Yes Ma'am, I am. We bought a seat for our daughter". With the nicest smile I could muster.
She didn't understand me so she said "The plane is full, you can't put that car seat there!!". She was starting to raise her voice at that time.
I replied again, "Ma'am, we paid for a seat on this plane for our daughter, we can use her car seat and we are".
She looked at me and told me she was going to speak to a flight attendant. I told her to go ahead.
The flight attendant came over and asked "What seemed to be the problem?" I told her I did not have a problem at all except for the fact that this woman had been harassing me since Preboard. I then explained what the deal was. (The flight attendant was being very nice through this). She winked at me and went over to the woman and explained once again that we had purchased a seat and we were free to do whatever we wanted with it.
The woman STILL did not understand. The Attendant fnally walked away and I strapped my daughter in.
That woman made comments on and off the entire flight!!

When we went to walk off the plane I looked at her and just said "I am sorry you do not understand that we did nothing wrong but, I hope you have a nice day" and walked away.
I could hear her complaining to her poor husband while we were walking away about "The nerve of that woman".
I was so proud of myself that I didn't flip on that pain of a woman!! She was really obnoxious and not just before the flight, the entire flight!!

We have had our daughter in a car seat every flight since and have never had a problem.

I really think some people just like to cause problems!! It was like she didn't want to hear your reason! I just don't get it. If she had a seat, what was she complaining about? Maybe it's just me, but I'm usually soo excited about my own trip that I don't even notice what everyone else is doing. Some people just need to relax a little!!

 

[srwarden1928]

We were going into one of the theaters (I think it was muppets). A family of three plopped down in the middle of the row and ignored the repeated requests of the CMs to move to the end of the row. Finally the people started climbing over them. I was behind DW. She got the last empty seat on the other side of "the rude three". I insisted that "this girl is in my seat. I want to sit next to my wife." The CM made her move--I dont know where, but she didnt sit with her family. If they had followed the rules, they would have been together.

Some on the boards may not like what I did, but I felt justified.

 

[~*~Michelle~*~]

You know something...reading this thread has reminded me that I need to thank my parents for raising me well, teaching me manners, making sure that I grew up believing the cup is half-full, and giving me the skills to be a good parent to my own child!

I will also say that I still don't know the rules (or law) of the use of handicapped bathroom stalls. Common courtesy would tell me that you don't use it if a handicapped person is waiting...but I still would think that using it if you are next in line, AND there is no one waiting in a wheelchair or using another assistive device, would be appropriate. To this day, however, I won't ever use one! What's that old saying...once burned, twice shy. Yep, that's me!

If anyone does know of the rules (or if there's a law, I sure would love to know though!)

Just so you know, there are NO laws about using Handicapped stalls. The only laws pertain to parking spaces where you have to have a sign showing your handicapped. The "cop" you encountered was high. It would have been different if she had been waiting in line or something, but I gotta tell you if my 5 yo dd needs to go to the bathroom and the only available stall is a handicapped one, you better believe I'm going to use it. If I get any flack I'll tell them they can clean up the mess from her having an accident. People are really ridiculous some times.

 

[Camno's Mama]

Our unpleasant experience happened in the airport before we left for WDW.
This was a few years ago. Our daughter was 13 months and we had purchased a seat for her and had her car seat with us for the flight.
SW still had the preboard for families at that time so we were in line to board. They made an announcement that the flight would be full.
This woman in front of us starts complaining loudly that she "Hoped they didn't think they were putting that car seat on a full airplane!!"
My husband and I just looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
We were walking down the ramp behind her and she was still ranting saying "Who do they think they are? The plane is full!!"
I was giggling to my husband that it would have been pretty funny if we were gate checking the car seat and she was complaining for nothing. (which she really was, she just didn't know it)
When we walked onto the plane I saw that the left side bulkhead seats were open so, I took the row with my daughter, her seat and my middle son. My husband and oldest son sat behind us.
When I started to buckle the car seat in I heard her again. I looked over and she was across the row in the other bulkhead seats.
She looked at me and said "I know you aren't going to put that car seat in that seat".
I replied "Yes Ma'am, I am. We bought a seat for our daughter". With the nicest smile I could muster.
She didn't understand me so she said "The plane is full, you can't put that car seat there!!". She was starting to raise her voice at that time.
I replied again, "Ma'am, we paid for a seat on this plane for our daughter, we can use her car seat and we are".
She looked at me and told me she was going to speak to a flight attendant. I told her to go ahead.
The flight attendant came over and asked "What seemed to be the problem?" I told her I did not have a problem at all except for the fact that this woman had been harassing me since Preboard. I then explained what the deal was. (The flight attendant was being very nice through this). She winked at me and went over to the woman and explained once again that we had purchased a seat and we were free to do whatever we wanted with it.
The woman STILL did not understand. The Attendant fnally walked away and I strapped my daughter in.
That woman made comments on and off the entire flight!!

When we went to walk off the plane I looked at her and just said "I am sorry you do not understand that we did nothing wrong but, I hope you have a nice day" and walked away.
I could hear her complaining to her poor husband while we were walking away about "The nerve of that woman".
I was so proud of myself that I didn't flip on that pain of a woman!! She was really obnoxious and not just before the flight, the entire flight!!

We have had our daughter in a car seat every flight since and have never had a problem.

I have to say that I'm very curious why, exactly, she was so bothered. It doesn't really make sense. You said you paid for the seat, the flight attendant said you paid for the seat...why was the carseat such an issue for her?

You almost have to wonder if people feel stupid once they have things explained to them, so they just keep going with their rant rather than admit that they are wrong. I know some politicians who take a page from that book...

 

[clairemolly]

Thank you! This is what I thought and I guess what happened to the OP really steamed me because of the rude person/family with the wheel chair. Just because they have a wheel chair doesnt mean the stall is exclusively for them. It's just equipped for whomever uses it.

I haven't made it through the whole thread yet, so I apologize if someone has already brought this up. In a lot of places now the diaper changing stations are in the larger stalls, not in a separate area. I am not sure about WDW, since I have not yet been with a child in diapers (although I will in Oct.), but I frequently use the larger stall with DD5, especially when I was pregnant with DD#2...we just didn't both fit in the other one!

 

[polineedyan]

It absolutely used drive me nuts when someone would touch my belly when I was pregnant. There was only 2 people that were allowed to touch it... my husband and the doctor. I would not in a million years go up to anyone and touch their belly or their child.

As far as the bathroom goes... as I have sat here thinking about it. It is just a bigger stall right? So if there is a handicapped person behind me in line and the handicapped stall opens up... does the handicapped person have to pee more than I do? Just a thought

Agreed. Handicap accessible means just that. Not handicap exclusive. Is the same true for doors and ramps?

 

[busykate]

Three years ago, Dd (who is 23 and autistic) and I went to see Beauty and the Beast at MGM. We got there very early and got an seat in the middle foront because it's her favorite show. Just before the show started, while the opening act was on, a family came in with their 3 kids and asked us to move so they could all sit together. There was lots of open spaces left but they wanted to sit up front so they could have the best view. When I told the mother that we had gotten there early, and there were plenty of spaces left on the sides she started screaming at me about how she had three small children and we were 2 adults and we should move because the show was "for kids, not rude adults". A CM came over and told the woman that she needed to find other seats. The family sat on the side and the woman made comments throughout the show about us. One of the other ppl watching the show, who noticed that Dd was different finally said to the woman " I can see that the young lady is autistic, what's your disability?"

 

[bellebud]

w/ the bathroom stall thing - yes, the changing tables are often in the handicap stalls, so they're certainly not exclusively for someone in a wheelchair.

Other people have issues too, that aren't always visible... I know someone who had to catherize (sp?) herself to pee, and in the beginning it was hard in public places w/ all she had to carry and use. she even needed a small folding stool to put her supplies on in the stall (she had a big carry bag this was all in). Anyway, it would have been really hard in a small stall.

And what about moms w/ strollers? My double only fit in the handicap stall, so that's where I went. I certainly wasn't leaving my babies outside my stall. The handicap stall is there for a variety of purposes, one of which is a wheelchair user.

And what if someone has bad bladder control... does the person in the wheelchair a few people behind them in line get to cut in front for the handicap stall? I really wouldn't think so, unless maybe that person also has a bladder control problem... and then I don't know the right answer. There are so many other instances... the elderly person w/ the walker... it's not a "wheelchair", but they certainly need the bigger stall. What about crutches? Many, many examples...

And this is not to say we shouldn't give people w/ mobility issues preference whenever we can - they certainly have enough to deal w/ everyday, everywhere... but if someone is going to pee their pants (or worse), I would think they should be able to go in the handicap stall.

Alright, enough of that... onto my 'encounter' in WDW... SAB w/ my family and friends... my friends ds is playing w/ a toy boat then puts it down. My ds3 asks my friend if he can play w/ the boat and she says "sure you can play with the boat". A little while later, friend has moved to other side of pool, ds is still w/ me playing w/ toy boat, a stranger mom comes over to my ds and says "we're leaving now and we need our toy boat back please"... I say to her "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this was my friends toy boat - hang on one second" while I'm looking for my friend to just make sure it was/wasn't hers (I didn't want to give away my friends toy boat to a stranger). The stranger mom gets very annoyed w/ me and is making pissy noises. I quickly find my friend - nope, it's not my friends boat (I totally thought it was), so I totally apologize to woman and give her the boat immediately and explain I really thought it was my friends little boy's boat and I didn't feel like it was mine to hand over. I'm smiling, apologizing, kind of laughing at myself, and she's just pissed off. She grabs her boat from me and says "like I'd steal a toy boat!" I don't even know if I blame her - it was a weird situation and I do feel like I was sort of wrong, but not totally, knim??? My dh was like "why didn't you just give her the boat right away????", and I explained how I totally, 100% thought it was my friends ds's boat. My dh thought I was nuts. I don't know, maybe I am????

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Agreed. Handicap accessible means just that. Not handicap exclusive. Is the same true for doors and ramps?

Very good point about doors and ramps! Never thought of it from that perspective.

 

[Suzanna1973]

Oh I am soooo subscribing to this thread!!!!!!

 

[crisi]

I have to say that I'm very curious why, exactly, she was so bothered. It doesn't really make sense. You said you paid for the seat, the flight attendant said you paid for the seat...why was the carseat such an issue for her?

Maybe she had a friend bumped or who was flying standby. Had the seat been checked and the child become a "lap baby" there would have been another seat.

However, even that requires her not thinking things through, since the seat was paid for.

 

[Djr0129]

My DH and I were at WDW in Jan 08 to celebrate our 31st annv. and we had a bit of a problem with a lady in line for Soaring . The line has all the interactive games on the walls and kids like to play them. Well we were leisurely moving right along in the line for about 15 mins. and this lady (her 3 kids were with her) that was behind us (in a line that was 4 or 5 people deep across) started saying we jumped in front of her very LOUDLY. My DH and I looked at one another and I just stepped aside and told her to go ahead .....I was angry and embrassed but I told her very nicely I was sorry....but I know she was never in front of me. I'm a people watcher and never saw her in front of me. To make matters worse she kept running her mouth about it the whole time we were in line. It was very hard not to say something else to her but I didn't. She got on the ride and sat right next to me ( my 1st time on Soaring) and ruined the ride for us. I could never be that rude to some one over a RIDE!
It wasn't like she wasn't going to get there alot faster by lying about 2 older adults jumping in front of her. I never let myself sink to her level and I think that made her so mad....oh well it takes all kinds to make this World.