After Stolen Seats, Guest Claims Disney Crowds are Getting More Rude

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A group of people standing in front of a crowd

Credit: @3BridgesNick

While Walt Disney World and Disneyland both pride themselves on being the most perfect and special places to spend your family vacation, things cant’ always be perfect, even at the most magical place on earth.

cinderella castle 50th anniversary
Credit: Disney

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Whether it’s Splash Mountain experiencing technical difficulties or Expedition Everest closing for a refurbishment, things can’t and won’t always go to plan while at Walt Disney World. Sometimes, Guests can feel overwhelmed with an overly complicated park management app like the Disney Genie and Lightning Lane systems. Another thing you might need to prepare for is disorderly or rude crowds, as many Guests have been raising complaints on rude Guests

disney world crowds
Credit: Thrill Geek

Related: Disney Guests Angered With Others Due to the Disrespect During Shows

In a recent thread on the popular social media site Reddit, users gathered together and shared their experiences with rude or mean Guests while at Walt Disney World and the Disney Parks in general. See the full thread below:

Handling rude/mean guests at WDW?

Our group of 6 tried to be civil and nice to find seating for lunches on our disney trip but were met with instances of boomer grandmas willing to FIGHT over tables and seating at various places around the parks. At magic kingdom a lady below the people mover actually took a seat away from a family that looked like they were packing up lunch and their bags to leave the seating area and sat amongst their family waiting for them to leave for 10 minutes just to have the table next. We thought she was a part of their group so when they started standing up to head out she stayed put and ignored us when we asked if we could use or share her table. After about 5 minutes of her holding firm with a table of empty chairs to herself, a few of her kids ran over with ice creams and sat there to eat ice cream while we stood nearby eating our lunches standing.

What tactics do people usually employ to get tables for their group short of stealing chairs and forcing previous groups up from their table? Were we just naive by trying to be courteous and wait for tables to clear before asking to use them?

Handling rude/mean guests at WDW? from WaltDisneyWorld

A dining room table

The thread starts with a Guest sharing their experience of Guests being stingy with restaurant seating, with one Guest allegedly stealing a chair from a family. Quick service restaurants like Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe and Casey’s Corner in the Magic Kingdom are both insanely popular and tend to draw massive crowds, but stealing chairs is definitely not up to Disney’s standards for Guests.

Many in the comments shared similar experiences with user u/Im_Negan commenting:

Once again, it’s just entitlement.

I know it’s difficult to do this in the moment, but it’s best to take a deep breath, and ignore it.

Walk around and find a different area. During Epcot Food and Wine festival, it’s hard to find a standing table to eat. Usually I’ll find a ledge somewhere or a garbage bin

Casey's Corner Magic Kingdom
Credit: itscarolineyall Instagram

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User u/CouldntHearMyMouth asked the question we are all thinking:

Serious question that I have been wondering about ever since I bought my passes….Why won’t Disney just…idk..add a few more tables or even benches? Has it always been like this?

User u/7castforme commented about rude Guests and line cutters:

We have experienced this for the past 5 or so years and I’m just about over it. The table thing, people jumping lines, and shoving in walkways during Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, it’s too much. I rarely think about trying another WDW trip.

disney after hours crowds
Credit: Inside the Magic

Many Guests feel that theme Park crowds have changed since the COVID-19 Pandemic started. Also, a lot of Guests claim line cutting is far more prevalent as well as disorderly encounters with Cast Members.

Have you encountered rude Guests like these while at Disney World? How do you handle rude Guests and crowds while visiting the Parks? Let us know in the comments below!

Let the expert team at Academy Travel help you plan your next magical vacation to Disney World’s water parks, four theme parks — Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — and the Disney Springs shopping and dining district!

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