We just got back from our WDW trip. Just my hubby and i went.
I will start by saying that when our daughters were little, we did our very best to make sure they didn’t disrupt other people. If they screamed in a restaurant, we told them not to do it again. If they did it again, one of us took the child outside, even when they were infants. We didn’t let them run around in restaurants, movie theaters, etc. We didn’t let them talk out loud in movies, during stage shows, in church, … basically any time that other people need to be able to hear a speaker. The first time they were told to stop, the second time they were taken out or to the back.
(If you ask our daughters now if we were too strict, they will tell you that we were not. They will say we taught them common courtesy and they will teach their kids the same thing.)
That said, there were many rides and shows that were spoiled by young children and parents who didn’t seem to care.
We rode JC … I know it’s hokey, but that’s part of the fun! However, two little boys could NOT stay seated. Our “cruise director” had to stop the boat THREE times until the kids were seated. She would start a joke and have to stop to tell them to sit down. Since we stopped so often, the rest of the “cruise” was faster to make up the time, She didn’t get to finish many sentences/jokes. The parents (the boys probably weren’t related, based on where they were “seated” (quotes because they couldn’t STAY seated.) never told the boy near us to stay seated. They just looked out the boat an let the CM handle it.
Had it been one of our girls, the first time they stood up, we would have told them to sit down and stay down. If they stood up again, they would have had consequences … like not being able to ride the next ride. We would have put an arm or leg across them to make them stay seated. I would have been so embarrassed if a CM had to tell my child to follow the rules!
We used a FP on the ride … I probably should have complained long enough for them to let us go through the FP line again, but my hubby was DONE.
Later, we headed to the Tiki Tiki Room. A woman with a little kid sat next to me. (The child was wearing a hat and I don’t know if it was a boy or girl) We had several minutes to wait before the show. The kid started crying loudly about being hungry and not wanting to be at the show. The woman told the child to stop crying. The louder the kid cried, the louder the woman told kiddo to stop. She could have left before the show started … but she didn’t. The kid cried through most of the show and the woman was spent most of the show telling the kid to stop crying. She was as disruptive as the child.
I know we could have watched the show again, but it didn’t fit into our plan to do it again.
At Animal Kingdom, we rode the KS after lunch. There was a boy behind me who talked loudly the entire time … “what’s that?”, “where are we going?”,“why is the lady stopping?”,“what are we going to do next?”, “can we get ice cream?” I often couldn’t hear the driver’s commentary.
I completely understand that most rides are such that there is no way off once the ride starts. But I’d be a lot less annoyed if I felt like the parents were at least trying to change their children’s behavior.
At most shows, the parents can get up and take their child out or to the back.
I know that the parents paid for their ticket and should be able to enjoy themselves as much as I should be able to enjoy myself. But how can it be enjoyable when the parent KNOWS the child is misbehaving … especially when another person has to tell the child to knock it off?
I told my husband that I wish there were some group rides (like JC or KS) and shows where there was an age limit … like every sixth group all had to be over age 10 or something. Folks could wait for that ride if they chose to or ride the next one.
And I realize that, due to behavioral issues, some children may act a certain way and there isn’t anything that can be done. If a child is going to shriek if it’s dark, then taking them on dark rides or to shows where it’s dark is probably not a good idea.
Thank you for letting me get this off my chest.
But, when out in public it’s just something you have to deal with.