What was the biggest Disney meltdown you've witnessed?

[toonaspie]

I wouldn't call this the biggest but it is the weirdest...

I was resort hopping AKL and a mom was mad at her kid about something. The kid thought he could win back the mom's favor by screaming "BUT I LOVE YOU!" several times over but clearly the mom wasn't buying it.

Another time I was in DHS I think and a parent got mad at their kid for tripping and spilling their popcorn bucket and then crying about it. Seemed like a very minor thing to get mad about anyway.

 

[minijeanie]

I'm afraid that the largest melt down I ever witnessed was made by my own DD. She's an only child and we brought her cousin with us that that trip. My DD was jealous of the attention her cousin was getting and my niece, being a middle child, was very good at pushing her buttons. My DD had her epic meltdown at MGM Studios. I eventually picked her up bodily and carried her out of the park to the bus and then back to the resort. We were exiting the park to the horrified looks of a pregnant woman and her mother. I believe I may have mumbled, "Just you wait!" on my way past them.

I like your honesty.. All our kids have had meltdowns - either at Dis or somewhere else.. but you handled it perfectly - touche to you

 

[minijeanie]

ok my best is not at the parks but on the plane home at the baggage claim.... little boy i would say between 2 and 3 years old was swinging his star wars sword at his sister who was about year older than him. His mom took it away then gave it back, then took it away. This went on for about 5 minutes. Mom eventually forced him to sit in stroller with strap on. He screamed at the top of his lungs "Get me out of here" for the entire time we were waiting for luggage.. And trust me this was 45 minutes.
Mom proceeded to talk to her friend the entire tine and ignoring him. His sister moved away from the brother and chatted with her friends.. Neither dad or mom gave into him. I was totally amazed at how long this little boy could scream without anyone paying any attention to him.
Luckily for me, 45 minutes later i got my bag... Other people in airport were shaking heads etc.. Personally I don't know what else that mom could do
Just glad it wasn't me

 

[nikkislaght]

I've witnessed a few, some ladies cursing loudly at each other at DL and a kid yelling "I wanna go Home" on the monorail, but my personal story involves my sister as a teenager. It was our first park day and we wanted to hit the ground running...but wait! My sister MUST go through her 3 hour shower/leg shaving routine. Well, she should've gotten up earlier, because the rest of the family just wasn't having it. This became a point of contention, with my sister finally declaring that she will just have to wear pants. In Orlando. In June.

So she did just that and she didn't speak with us for the entire ride over to MK, the walk up Main Street, through the castle and in the line for 20,000 Leagues. But, you know, something happened after that which is what I remember most about all of it. She came off the ride smiling, and laughing, and loving the day despite all the drama. The magic seeped in thankfully. The next day she got up very early to do whatever it is girls do that takes so dang long and we had an incident free trip after that.

I would have left her behind . !! wouldn't have been the first time I have told family, I'm leaving and do just that,, if they with me , good.. if not .. meet me somewhere or don't come at all. !! not missing out on my Disney fix for hairy legs. !!

 

[nikkislaght]

The "day 3 curse" is definitely real!

This is why we have a day off at this point.. sleep in, time at the pool.. do some window shopping.. go to dinner and have an early night

 

[Embraer]

Our youngest had a melt down on a resort bus from MK to SSR one late night. The driver wouldn't allow him on the bus strapped in (stupid policy) and once on we had to deal with some 3 year old rage beast who for the whole ride shouted at the top of his lungs that he wanted to get off whilst trying to climb over both myself and the missus as we stood/sat on the floor at the front. Once the doors opened he obviously wouldn't get off so we and his older brother started walking away shouting "bye" over our shoulders (much to the older sibling's delight). At this point it was like some sort of switch was flicked and he was back to normal as if nothing had happened. If it hadn't been so surreal I'd have been p£ssing myself laughing as we say on this side of the pond!

 

[goofyernmost]

ok my best is not at the parks but on the plane home at the baggage claim.... little boy i would say between 2 and 3 years old was swinging his star wars sword at his sister who was about year older than him. His mom took it away then gave it back, then took it away. This went on for about 5 minutes. Mom eventually forced him to sit in stroller with strap on. He screamed at the top of his lungs "Get me out of here" for the entire time we were waiting for luggage.. And trust me this was 45 minutes.
Mom proceeded to talk to her friend the entire tine and ignoring him. His sister moved away from the brother and chatted with her friends.. Neither dad or mom gave into him. I was totally amazed at how long this little boy could scream without anyone paying any attention to him.
Luckily for me, 45 minutes later i got my bag... Other people in airport were shaking heads etc.. Personally I don't know what else that mom could do
Just glad it wasn't me

It is tough, but, they did exactly what I would have done. No one should be feeding the kid any idea that being a tiny jerk gets any rewards. They can last a long time, and that is because it probably worked at one time or the other. Most people, although annoyed by the noise do not want the parent to give in because they know that it will only mean that it will happen again.

I had that happen years ago when I was doing some last minute Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. A very tired looking young lady had her son, I'd say about 4 years old literally screaming because his mother wouldn't buy him a toy. The day before Christmas. She kept telling him that tomorrow is Christmas and she wasn't buying him a toy and he just kept screaming. She was so embarrassed, you could tell. Well, she got to the register after a good half hour of it and only had a few minutes to being home free and she just gave up and bought him the toy he wanted. He, of course, immediately shut up and they left. Every person and I mean every person still there were just shaking there heads and saying out loud, "if she had just waited 2 more minutes we would have cheered her." Annoying yes, but, more annoying was the fact that she gave in. You just know that the next time they were in a store, the same stuff was going to happen again.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Most people, although annoyed by the noise do not want the parent to give in because they know that it will only mean that it will happen again.

I can tell you without a doubt I personally would want that parent to attempt something to make the kid be quiet and no I'm not advocating for "just give in and give the kid what they want to make the noise stop".

Most people nowadays at least are used to seeing inattentive parenting (ignore because something else like being on your cell phone or talking with whoever you are with is more important for example) not the whole "ignore behavior so as to not give the child the attention they want" parenting.

There is a difference with telling your child that their screaming won't get them what they want versus outright ignoring them completely..especially in an airport for 45 mins...while their child just continues to scream and scream and scream.

Believe me I was a very stubborn child but my parents would have given me a talkin' not ignoring me completely and in my personal case ignoring me completely would have just made me act out more and with more force to get my parent's attention if they weren't paying attention to me at all.

 

[Kindermouse]

I just caused my very own scene on Friday at ToT in Disneyland. Fast passes had been down all week with waits ranging between 60-120 minutes. I had been down to the Tower everyday for 5 days trying to check for fast passes or a manageable line since I was the only adult with 3 kids and 2 of them are terrified of the ride and won't ride it. This was our last chance to ever ride it since the Disneyland ToT is being replaced by a Guardians of the Galaxy ride in January. well it was our last day of our trip and I told the kids they were going to have to wait in line with me for 75 minutes. The 2 little one freaked out and started crying. I drug them into the line and kept repeating that I wouldn't make them ride it but that I was going to ride the ride and they would just have to wait. people were looking at me like I was a monster or something. After about 2 minutes it finally sunk in that they WOULD get to skip out on the scary stuff and they stopped but I was not a happy campy camper about the unnecessary meltdown.

 

[goofyernmost]

I can tell you without a doubt I personally would want that parent to attempt something to make the kid be quiet and no I'm not advocating for "just give in and give the kid what they want to make the noise stop".

Most people nowadays at least are used to seeing inattentive parenting (ignore because something else like being on your cell phone or talking with whoever you are with is more important for example) not the whole "ignore behavior so as to not give the child the attention they want" parenting.

There is a difference with telling your child that their screaming won't get them what they want versus outright ignoring them completely..especially in an airport for 45 mins...while their child just continues to scream and scream and scream.

Believe me I was a very stubborn child but my parents would have given me a talkin' not ignoring me completely and in my personal case ignoring me completely would have just made me act out more and with more force to get my parent's attention if they weren't paying attention to me at all.

Can't say I agree completely. You are correct that you tell the child that screaming will not get them anything. You can also tell them why and if they don't accept that then the only option is to ignore. If it is done the right way the first time, there usually isn't a very long wait for it to stop. If worked in the past then it can go on for quite awhile, but, it must be stopped somewhere and if that means that some people are a little annoyed at the noise or mistakenly interpret parenting as always make them happy, then it just continues and continues. I know that all of us in the store that day would have paid her cash to leave without making that little twerp happy. This was not a case of ignoring it was a case of a spoiled kid making an intense effort to get what he wanted and a mother that stuck to her guns until the guilt feeling that she was experiencing got the best of her. She didn't really give into the kid, she gave into what she thought the other people in the store were thinking. She was dead wrong, we were her cheer leaders.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Can't say I agree completely. You are correct that you tell the child that screaming will not get them anything. You can also tell them why and if they don't accept that then the only option is to ignore. If it is done the right way the first time, there usually isn't a very long wait for it to stop. If worked in the past then it can go on for quite awhile, but, it must be stopped somewhere and if that means that some people are a little annoyed at the noise or mistakenly interpret parenting as always make them happy, then it just continues and continues. I know that all of us in the store that day would have paid her cash to leave without making that little twerp happy. This was not a case of ignoring it was a case of a spoiled kid making an intense effort to get what he wanted and a mother that stuck to her guns until the guilt feeling that she was experiencing got the best of her. She didn't really give into the kid, she gave into what she thought the other people in the store were thinking. She was dead wrong, we were her cheer leaders.

It's perfectly fine to not agree on it for sure.

In the original person's quote though they said the child screamed for 45 mins when the parent ignored the child. I'm sorry but ignoring the child for that long obviously didn't work. It just made the behavior continue. A few mins sure..45..eh no. Imagine that happening in a restaurant? I'm betting that many patrons would turn their attention to the parent(s) some might even say something. My experience is not going to be the same as others for sure but I've never seen praises from people in places like a restaurant where the child is screaming and screaming and screaming and the parent is ignoring. The fact that the original person's story took place in an airport at least in my opinion doesn't change my viewpoint on it.

In your example I understand the social pressure that mom had but at the same time it's likely she exhibits this behavior at home too away from social pressures. The child may tire the mom out like that everywhere knowing that the mom will eventually give in (ever seen the Family Guy episode where Stewie is like Mom, mommy, mom, mom, mommy, etc and Lois just suddenly screams at Stewie?..that's kinda what it reminds me of). Just my opinion here, I'm not so sure it's just easily explained away by it being in public though yes for sure you may be more aware of what your child's behavior is.

 

[Charade67]

This first one isn't really a meltdown. On our first family trip to WDW we were riding the shuttle back to our hotel from one of the parks. We noticed a lady sitting alone at the back of the bus silently crying. I wish I had been brave enough to speak to her and see if she needed anything.

My family and I were near the end of a long line to see The Lion King. Just as the CM cut off the line and man and little boy approached. The man wanted to bypass the line and enter the show. The CM explained that the show was already at capacity. The man got angry, said he had to take his son to the bathroom and that his wife and daughter were waiting for them inside. The CM still wouldn't let him in. He was still yelling at the CM as were were entering the theater.

When our daughter was 7 we decided to surprise her with her first trip to Disney. I woke her up early the day we were leaving and told her the news. I should have known this would be a bad idea because she does not react well to unexpected change. (She would later be diagnosed with high functioning ASD.) She also neglected to tell us that she wasn't feeling well. Our first day in the parks she wanted to see Lightning McQueen. We arrived at the last scheduled time only to discover that the line had been closed. She went into full meltdown. Suddenly, a CM appeared, talked to her, managed to calm her down, and gave her a Minnie Mouse pin. Thanks to that CM we were able to get through the rest of the day. The following day my daughter had a mini meltdown after breakfast at the Tusker House. I told my husband to stay and enjoy the park. I took my daughter back to our room where we both took much needed naps. We later rejoined my husband at AK and had no more problems for the rest of that vacation.

 

[goofyernmost]

It's perfectly fine to not agree on it for sure.

In the original person's quote though they said the child screamed for 45 mins when the parent ignored the child. I'm sorry but ignoring the child for that long obviously didn't work. It just made the behavior continue. A few mins sure..45..eh no. Imagine that happening in a restaurant? I'm betting that many patrons would turn their attention to the parent(s) some might even say something. My experience is not going to be the same as others for sure but I've never seen praises from people in places like a restaurant where the child is screaming and screaming and screaming and the parent is ignoring. The fact that the original person's story took place in an airport at least in my opinion doesn't change my viewpoint on it.

In your example I understand the social pressure that mom had but at the same time it's likely she exhibits this behavior at home too away from social pressures. The child may tire the mom out like that everywhere knowing that the mom will eventually give in (ever seen the Family Guy episode where Stewie is like Mom, mommy, mom, mom, mommy, etc and Lois just suddenly screams at Stewie?..that's kinda what it reminds me of). Just my opinion here, I'm not so sure it's just easily explained away by it being in public though yes for sure you may be more aware of what your child's behavior is.

I'm not going to go on about this, but, seriously it depends on how "ignore" is used. If it is as you apparently think it is and that they were oblivious to the kid screaming because they were otherwise occupied, then I would agree. However, having been in this situation more then once as my children were growing, ignore means that you allow it to happen without reacting because you understand that this is a battle for control. If you give in, which this would be after you said no and given the reason why, you will be giving in forever and the child will be a very disliked young person because his parents didn't teach him how to act in situations such as this. As I said, it's in the definition of the word "ignore". There is more then one way to interpret that. You have chosen to interpret it as a parental fail because they were uncaring and acting as if the child didn't exist. You see that in restaurants when the parents just allow the kids to do whatever they want. Ignore in this sense means, go ahead and have your little tantrum. I am not going to react to it in your favor because what you are asking for is not acceptable. There is a big difference between the two things. When they decide to behave themselves they will go back to being a family unit.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't mean to belabor the subject here either.

it depends on how "ignore" is used. If it is as you apparently think it is and that they were oblivious to the kid screaming because they were otherwise occupied, then I would agree. However, having been in this situation more then once as my children were growing, ignore means that you allow it to happen without reacting because you understand that this is a battle for control.

I do agree that there is two ways of ignore. To your second point ignore to prove your point as a parent is awesome to an extent. But there is a point where it can become too much given your surroundings.

If you give in, which this would be after you said no and given the reason why, you will be giving in forever and the child will be a very disliked young person because his parents didn't teach him how to act in situations such as this.

Well I do agree that if you give in to your child all the time when they are young you are more likely to do it when they are older. But no I don't agree with "the child will be a very disliked young person". There are many people in this world that get their way all the time but are not disliked by those around them; many times it's because of how that person goes about getting their way.

As I said, it's in the definition of the word "ignore". There is more then one way to interpret that. You have chosen to interpret it as a parental fail because they were uncaring and acting as if the child didn't exist. You see that in restaurants when the parents just allow the kids to do whatever they want. Ignore in this sense means, go ahead and have your little tantrum. I am not going to react to it in your favor because what you are asking for is not acceptable.

I see it actually in both situations in public. There are obviously parents who ignore because other things are important and then there are parents who are showing they are the boss not their child and thus do not give the child the attention they want. In both cases though there comes a point where enough is enough.

No one regardless of your parenting style should have to listen to a child scream for 45 mins without a parent attempting to do something. That could mean taking the child away from the luggage claim for a time to give them another talking to if ignoring them didn't work after a bit. Your luggage doesn't need to be picked up the second it goes on the carousel. In a restaurant no one should have to listen to a child screaming and screaming for a prolonged period of time-next time a child does that around you take a look at the other patrons and I'm sure you'll find at least some glaring at the parent wishing they would get the child under control or take them out of the restaurant for a moment.

There is a big difference between the two things. When they decide to behave themselves they will go back to being a family unit.

But not being a familly unit, in your sentence, doesn't mean let the child make everyone else around them suffer for a prolonged period of time and like I said that sometimes can lead to worse behavior as they try harder and harder to get their parent's attention.

A parent can/should teach your child to think of others too and their experiences and how their behavior can negatively affect others. My parents did not hesitate to take me out of that restaurant, out of that store, just out of the situation if need be and give me a talking to. But honestly we'll just agree to disagree here no worries .

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When our daughter was 7 we decided to surprise her with her first trip to Disney. I woke her up early the day we were leaving and told her the news. I should have known this would be a bad idea because she does not react well to unexpected change. (She would later be diagnosed with high functioning ASD.) She also neglected to tell us that she wasn't feeling well. Our first day in the parks she wanted to see Lightning McQueen. We arrived at the last scheduled time only to discover that the line had been closed. She went into full meltdown. Suddenly, a CM appeared, talked to her, managed to calm her down, and gave her a Minnie Mouse pin. Thanks to that CM we were able to get through the rest of the day. The following day my daughter had a mini meltdown after breakfast at the Tusker House. I told my husband to stay and enjoy the park. I took my daughter back to our room where we both took much needed naps. We later rejoined my husband at AK and had no more problems for the rest of that vacation.

Aww I'm so glad that CM decided to come over and try to calm her down and that it worked. And to top it off give her some pixie dust with a pin . If I had seen that it would have def. made my day seeing a child go from upset to happy.

I'm glad you had a good rest of the trip though

 

[Charade67]

We made a return trip when my daughter was 10. (She's almost 16 now.) Even though it wasn't as important this time, we made a point of making sure we got her picture with Lightning McQueen this time.

 

[JRennie]

This didn't happen at Disney but at Universal. So outside of the mummy ride they have lockers that you can use that are programmed to open to a fingerprint. So, the guest chooses which finger to use. A lady got off of the ride and couldn't remember which hand and finger she had used and was unable to get her locker open. So she proceeded to swear and yell at the employee there, who politely suggested she try each finger. Well this woman refused to do this, demanded to speak to a manager and after she finally got into her locker she stood outside them and told everyone how "useless and unhelpful" the employee was. I was shocked, never in my life have my husband and I seen someone act like this. I felt so bad for the employee.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Me, at F&W when the person before me got the last bourbon beer.

MG

 

[Wishingspell]

Well, the biggest meltdown I have ever witnessed was my dear mother in 2004 at universal studios. A few factors that led to it:

1. Day 5 or 6 of a parks open to parks close trip
2. It was a typical afternoon thunderstorm in Florida
3. She was hungry
4. She doesn't like that park very much and only rides a couple attractions

Well, it started raining and we were under the shelter in the arcade and my dad had had enough and decided we were leaving the park (he was also hungry). So, we leave the overhang where there's a huge crowd of people escaping the rain and we hear my mother crying and screaming behind us stomping through the rain "I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS!!!" Each word emphasized with a stomp. I immediately start laughing cuz I'm 16 and this is hysterical.

THEN, we make it to the moving escalators from city walk and my dad, brother and I decide to take the opposite way (like walking on a treadmill) to work our calves (we were all 3 into fitness at the time). My mother unknowingly joins us (she was falling behind) and gets even more angry that she's going the wrong way. Instead of turning around and taking the other, her short little legs barely make any room and it's like a hamster on a treadmill while she's yelling at us. And all three of us bust out laughing. I don't remember what happened after that, I assume we ate dinner and went to bed, but to this day we still yell "I DONT WANT TO DO THIS!!" When it starts raining anywhere we are and mom is in the vicinity. Mom gets a good chuckle out of it too

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Several years ago I was in line to check in at OKW. Older Man and Woman are at the counter talking with CM.

The next thing we know the man is SCREAMING at the CM that he wants room XXX, that's "HIS ROOM" and they should throw the people they have in the room out... He goes on to claim that Disney had no right to allow anyone in "his room" CM tries to deal with the situation... manager shows up. Idiot guest then screams "if you don't give me MY ROOM, I am going to come over this counter and break you legs". He then lunges to try to reach over and grab the CM. Manager says something and the next thing we know all of us are being quickly escorted out of the lobby area and taken to the restaurant where we are given a soft drink with apologies. Local cops show up. We are let back in the lobby.

As I leave to go to my room I see the jerk in the back of a squad car and overhear a manager telling the woman that "DVC management will contact you tomorrow regarding your membership". I figured there must have been more 'scenes' when the police showed up.