Stupid Guest Tricks

I could be wrong here, but almost all those answers sound like they come from people that never had any kids. If they did they would know that there is probably a lot more to the story then what they are seeing.

Kids can act like you just tore their arm off if you deny them what they want. They may have already ridden the ride 12 times but you don't know that. Still they want to ride it again. The parent says no (their right by the way) and the child has a fit. You see the fit and come up with a topic like this one.

Unless you see the entire thing or you know the back story this is a MYOB type of situation. Physical abuse, yes...that is cause for concern. What was described here...not so much.

Goofyernmost wrote:Kids can act like you just tore their arm off if you deny them what they want. They may have already ridden the ride 12 times but you don't know that. Still they want to ride it again.

I don't have kids (do cats count?) but I usually go to WDW with my 5 year old niece and my 3 year old nephew. Goofyernmost is right. The word "no", or "let's go" can trigger a screaming fit that you could hear from the top of Space Mountain or Tower of Terror. My sister has had to pick him up, drag him off the playground or ride area screaming, and wrestle him into the stroller. My niece is a little better, but not much. It's the nature of that age. In their world, that IS all there is to do for the moment.

DH and I have learned to be patient with them and realize that we're not going to get to do everything WE want to do. We save that for the day after the rest of the family leaves. We stay one day later usually, and go do all the stuff we missed.

DisneyMom wrote:Does my dragging Hubby on to Small World count as abuse? :twisted:

Only if you wake him from a sound nap mid ride.

I can see both sides, if the kid is tired the wind blowing just right could trigger a tantrum. Knowing the whole story is key, however, given the info that the parents are "trying to see everything" could mean this kid is screwed if he wants to do something twice! For us, it just depends on what we're planning to do next, not what we've *pre-planned* months in advance, but what we want to do when we get off a certain ride. Usually for us that decision comes at the exit :D: If our kids wanted to ride something again, we'll usually do it if the line is not insane.

Personally, I would love it if my kids wanted to keep riding the trains, but I'd want to geek out and ride behind different engines.

When my granddaughter was 3 or 4, we were in commando mode trying to see it all. She wanted to criss-cross MK to do her attractions and we were just not into walking for the sake of walking. She got cranky and so did Poppa. Well, I took her into the ladies room to talk to her about her attitude when I realized that Poppa was an adult and she was a child. Poppa got his lecture, too. LOL After all, Poppa and I snuck in trips without her for adult fun.

From that day forward, we all had a wonderful trip. We included granddaughter in the planning of what would be done next and each of us took a turn picking our favorite as long as she understood we had to follow the order of the map. We gave her the pen and the map and she crossed-out each attraction completed and knew when her favorites were up next. It was the most wonderful of trips. Of course, it helped that we were there for 2 weeks and knew that we'd be back again and again.

I feel sorry for both adults and children when you see the child crying. You know that they are all miserable and I refuse to play that scenario anymore.

Usually see it a couple times a day, the kid doesn't want to ride, and is crying while walking into the vehicle. I can tell in most cases if it's parents and 1 kid, they don't seem to care if the kid doesn't want to go, they both want to go on the ride together so the kid is dragged on, even though we offer a rider switch inside.

Once I saw a "mother" drag a kid who was pulling back, and he even grabbed onto the doorway cause he didn't want to go in, but the mammoth woman pulled him inside. In this case, the kid was crying, but not moving around too much, so I let it go.

If the kid is so scared they are jumping around and trying to get out of the seat belt, we have to take them out.

I have kids and honestly don't see both sides of the argument. Sorry, but I used to plan ahead and consult with the kids the rides they want to ride, and the ones they don't. We make together a plan and if they want to ride something again we compromise into doing it after we are done with everything else we wanted to do. One trip (back when I was guest) one of the kids wanted to do the carousel and the other one wanted to try splash for the first time. I rode carousel at least 12 times, it was late, the park was not busy because of the season and we would get off and go on it again. Later they rode small world for us three times.

In our home everything is about compromise and I make sure everyone had their own time to do something they like. When they were little the kids were not much into Epcot, but our compromise was that after three days of the things they wanted to do, mom and dad were going to visit the countries of Epcot. We actually had no problems in any trips in balancing the stuff we wanted to do and what they wanted to do. Yes, I'm a militant planner, but I'm not a militant enforcer of the plan I make. If you plan and balance you don't need to drag screaming kids. I'm sorry but a good majority of parents I see never consult the kids of the rides they wanted to do or where they want to go. Most of the times is about what they, the parents, want to do and not what the kid wishes to do.

Oh, and yes do not expect me to lie to your child.

The last time we were at DL my wife wanted to ride Big Thunder over and over and over again. My daughter got smart and lit out for DCA. I was stuck.

hobie16 wrote: I was stuck.

At the UVA Bar? :D: :rumncoke:


(Zazu,why is a dancing Hitler in the food and drink section?)

My impression is that the parents were not there for their child's enjoyment. Not really. They ether were there for their own enjoyment and felt they needed the excuse of doing it for the kid, or they had this weird idea that they did need to bring their kid their to be good parents, but it was dependent on how much they saw.

Last year, my extended family (That is, my mom, dad, brother, his wife, her mom and dad, my niece, and myself), went to the local amusement park. Now, I would have liked to ride some of the roller coasters and such. However, as my very young niece was with us, I knew that we would really need to check to see what she wanted to do. And you know what? I was happy to do so. So, I didn't actually go on any rides, if I remember correctly. I just had the pleasure of watching my niece of a great time riding on "Scooby Doo" on one of the little merry-go-rounds a few times, then seeing her ride a little roller coaster again and again.

As to having a plan when visiting big parks like Disney? I think it is a good idea. However, one shouldn't blindly follow them, just use them as a guide as to when would be the best times to do what.