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

[peach3es]

You all are scaring me! There really are some rude people out there. I'm not even done reading through everything...maybe I should just stop now! I did want to make a comment on this post:

OK, not at WDW, but it was on our WDW trip, so can I share?

We went to Bible Land, which is in Orlando, and really pretty cool, if you are a Christian I'd totally say work it in sometime. I'm not sure I could again, but its not their fault, really. (Not the most fun for little people, by the way)

We were in a theater for a show about the tabernacle, and my then 3 yo daughter kept jumping out of her seat and I had to keep sitting her down. Well, after the show I'm kind of giving her "the talk" and this lady says, "I am sorry, it is my fault. I couldn't stop touching her hair." EGADS! DD had that flaxen blonde curly curly baby hair and bright blue eyes and is colored like a peaches-and-cream china doll. This lady, who had a very thick accent was as dark a person as I've ever seen. They did make quite a study in contrasts (I can make a joke now. DD is 9) She went on to say something about just the rarity of DD coloring where she was from and maybe she hadn't been here in the US long or something. I wasn't really listening at that point, but hustling out of there away from her. Come up in front of me and tell me my kid is beautiful, and I might not wig out about you touching her hair (happened alot really) but sneak and touch her from behind? That was creepy!

So, DH and other 2 kids are ahead, no idea what's going on other than DD getting in trouble for getting out of her seat. The indoor theater dumps into an outdoor theater. I kind of make sure we don't end up near the lady. There weren't many people there. So we are watching the show when I realize DD is kind of engaging with someone down the row. Again, typical 3 yo stuff. So I look to see who has caught her eye, and its that same lady, holding out a cookie and trying to get DD to come over. I grabbed DD up, told DH "We have to leave, NOW" in a very stern voice and just ran for the gate with him and the other kids streaming behind. Not typical of me at all of course, so he wasn't about to stop me for a long discussion. We got to the car and I told him what happened. ugh.

People have chastised me since that I didn't confront her or point her out to the staff, or whatever. And I am sure they are right. On the other hand, it was probably very innocent and just a cultural difference. But all I know is I wanted my baby out of there. My "fight or flight" instinct chose flight, and no higher order reasoning was involved.

I laughed as I read your post. It most definitely was a cultural difference. If you detected an accent, and you were at a tourist stop, there's a possibility that she was not from the US. It is nothing for me to find people here reaching out and touching my blond kids, pinching their cheeks, grabbing their hair, etc. My kids are frequently offered food by strangers (as are all children here, not just the blond ones ) and finding lots of people waving and smiling at them. Sometimes people even come up to take my little ones right out of my hands. My youngest was born here and knows nothing other than Arab culture, so she is 100% comfortable in this situation.

I guess I've forgotten how careful we are in the US. I've only been gone for 4 years, but looks like I've got a lot to relearn about parenting in the US. We'll only be there for 7 months...but I think I need a refresher course on US customs and cultural norms! If I was in your place, I wouldn't have even batted an eye. In fact, I probably would have forced my dd to take the cookie, since it would be culturally rude and offensive not to...at least where I'm living now.

 

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

That happens to both my DDs all the time, I totally know how you can feel so violated. It's great that they think they're pretty, but it still is weird. One has long, thick golden curls and the other has long, thick, wavy, white, white blonde hair. I (we really) can't stand it when people nothing and just start touching their hair. At least it has never happened in a movie theater like that, that is a bit creepy!

I can't believe people would actually think that it is OK to touch someone else's child, let alone stroke their hair That is creepy!!!!

 

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

A slap in the face is NOT spanking!!

I agree! I feel that is sooo harsh!

 

[dis75ney]

Not at WDW, but relevant nonetheless...

I had just turned 21, and my parents took me to Las Vegas as my birthday present. The week before we were to go, I came down with a nasty cold, but I was feeling better by the day before we left. The day we were to leave, however, the sinus infection from H-E-double hockey sticks hit. My parents took me to the ER to get some emergency antibiotics (a shot plus a ten day supply) in order to get me on the plane...heaven forbid their sick daughter ruins their trip!

So we get on the plane and the flight attendants are nice enough to let me have a row to myself so I could lay down and attempt to rest. My parents sit across the aisle from me. I apparently zonk out, because the next thing I know people are getting up and grabbing their things from the overhead bin. My mom tells me to stay put - we'll wait for the throng to clear out before we move.

So most of the people have already left, and my mom moves to grab my carry-on from the overhead bin. A rather big and rather drunk African-American man chooses that moment to get up and shoves my mom to try and get past her. My dad gets up from his seat and - rather politely for what just happened - asks the man to wait for just a minute while my mom gets out of the way. "There's no need for you to push my wife," that sort of thing. The other guy starts screaming to anybody who would listen that my dad had just made a racial remark about him and that my dad was getting all up in arms because the guy was black. The guy then says, "Well, if your wife would loose some weight, we could all get around her fat a**!" My mom weighed, MAYBE, 140 pounds...not fat at all! My dad didn't take too lightly to this comment and was in the aisle in a second, ready to fight this guy for insulting his wife.

At this point, I have had enough. I'm tired, I felt like crap and looked even worse, and all I wanted was to go to the hotel, slather on some Vicks VapoRub, and SLEEP. So I get up and tell my dad to sit down, saying, "It's okay, I'll handle this one." The guy looks at me like I'm crazy (I was 21 - looked 17 - and weighed maybe 105 pounds) and says, "What are you gonna do?"

I looked at him with all seriousness and say, "Sir, I am sick of your attitude. I am also extremely sick with a violent sinus infection. Now, if you do not leave my parents alone so we can get off this plane and get me to a bed as soon as humanly possible, I will blow my nose into this Kleenex and then shove it up YOUR nose." And then, to emphasize my point, I ended up sneezing into said Kleenex (completely non-intentional, but great timing) and offering it to the man, saying stuff like, "Wow, there's a lot of snot in here!" and "Come on, it's a pretty green color! It would go great with your outfit!" The man got off the plane as fast as he could, with me and my snot-filled Kleenex following him the whole way off the jetway and into the terminal. I turned around after getting into the terminal and my parents, the flight attendants, and the pilots are all laughing hysterically as they are coming off the plane.

This was pre-9/11, so I doubt I could get away with something like this again...darn...

 

[DevilDuckie]

This was pre-9/11, so I doubt I could get away with something like this again...darn...

Bioterrorism at it's most primitive!

 

[mays]

Is it me or does it seem that every year it gets a little worse?

In May 2007 my hubby and I were in line for the Nemo Show, there was a child who belonged to a family a little futher ahead in line. He was not keeping up with them and he would say words not meant for an 8/10 yr to say...

Since he was not my child I just ignored him. Not for me to get involved. The line kept moving and he just moved with us, talking really loud, repeating lines from the movie and then using the f word in ways I never heard.

The woman behind me keeps talking really loud about the child's behavior. And if it were her son she would give him a shoe in the butt.. My husband gives me the zip it look.

Finally the woman behind me pokes me really hard, and I turn around YES? What are you going to do about your child... You are a disgrace.

I said nothing at first because I was a little stunned and I was counting down from 10 not to slug her because the poke hurt.. She says to her husband see what do you expect these people have no respect no wonder their kid is that way.

I sighed and said with all do respect ma'am he is not my son.

"Oh he belongs to him pointing at my husband "well that is what is wrong today" She was wagging her finger in our face, and that the God Lord gave us much more than we could handle....

I should have walked away taken the higher road, but something in me snapped... Look this boy does not belong to us, but while we are thanking the big guy upstairs, I am glad that he made you such an ugly person that we don't have to worry about your spawn spewing such love for humanity. I guess in all of your self righteousness, you failed to realize that as I told you he is not my child, I don't know him and therefore it is not my place to do anything. Maybe next time instead of dishing out parental advice, you should stick your head in your butt, and fart when you actually have something productive that you would like to contribute to our society.

Meanwhile the boy has wandered back up to his family...We go to get out of line and the guy a few people in front of us says don't go you waited almost an hour, dont let her ruin it for you.
He is my cousin's boy and thank you most people just don't understand.

We went into the show mainly because we were almost at the door and the guy was right...

When we sat down we were in the row in front of mean lady, she was sitting with the boys family and said something about how horrible the line was, and the mom went off on her. I thought wow, good thing the mean lady got me and not that mom outside otherwise it would have been really bad...

 

[buckeyebill1995]

I have also used handicapped stalls when taking my children in with me. I never for one minute thought that these stalls were "reserved" for handicap only. It is not like a parking spot. Youre not going to get fined if you take a seat. If there is a line, whoever is next takes the next available spot and if that happens to be a handicap stall thats what you get. Of course, I wouldnt use it if there was other stalls available and didnt have a need. Am I wrong on the rules?

No, I don't think you are wrong. My understanding has always been that the handicap stall is to ensure a wheelchair bound individual has a stall they can use when it is their turn, not to eliminate them from ever having to wait in line. Those people were totally out of line to trap that poor family that way.

I had an incident happen on the 4th of July. I had twisted my knee earlier in the day and was hobbling quite a bit. We were exiting after the fireworks with the rest of the sea of humanity when this woman hits me with a stroller and runs over my foot, re-twisting my knee. If it weren't so crowded that I fell into my DH, I would have fallen to the ground. I winced in pain and kept going. I was upset she didn't even apologize, but like I said, it was a mass of people and I figured she probably didn't even realize what she'd done. Then SHE starts complaining very loudly behind me that how dare I give her a dirty look and that it was my own $#%^ fault she hit me, if I hadn't been meandering it wouldn't have happened! My DD8 was helping me walk and asked me why that woman was being so nasty so I responded in an equally loud voice that she was a grumpy person who didn't understand the difference between a dirty look and Pain and that we should feel sorry for her for being so miserable at the Happiest Place on Earth. My DD then asks me what meandering means. I laughed and told her not to worry about it, we're New Yorkers, we don't 'meander' anywhere (not really true, but by that time I was ticked). By that time we'd gotten to our bus stop and she huffed off on her way.

 

[buckeyebill1995]

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.

We've had to step over people for the shows, too, who refuse to move to the end of the row. I don't understand why they feel somehow more entitled than everyone else. Not only that, but don't they realize what they are teaching their children with such actions?! Children learn from their parents' example, regardless of whether it is a good example or a bad example.

On the flip side, I have seen such wonderful random acts of kindness in WDW that it gives me hope for humanity. Small things like someone offering to spray my daughter with their misting fan when they sprayed their own children during a hot day while waiting in line for a ride or offering to let a small child stand in front of them to have a better view of the parade. Little things that make a difference and add to the magic. I hope that my family has helped add to someone's magic as well.

 

[Finally08]

I can't believe people would actually think that it is OK to touch someone else's child, let alone stroke their hair That is creepy!!!!

Oh goodness, I guess I better chime in here. My job involves working with kids. On a daily basis I am on the floor making goofy faces, tickling and being silly to get kids to loosen up and "smile" for me. So I find myself very comfortable around them. Now I wouldn't just reach out and touch a random child, BUT if I happened to be speaking to someone (say someone in line with you or something), it would almost be second nature for me to reach out and interact with the child since it's just such a normal part of what I do.

Hopefully I've never come across as some weird creepy lady, but if I did - ah well. People have commented and touched my own dd's hair before too (natural curls and a redhead, double whammy!) and I have never been offended.
Oh I had to add - my dd was actually kissed on the forehead by some old man when she was 8 or 9 months. Now THAT stunned me a bit, and even the look on her face was one of shock - she was going through a stranger fear phase and was especially scared of men (her daddy was the only one she tolerated). But even though I was momentarily stunned - I got over it fast. We were at dh's oncologist office, so I imagined this old guy (who had tried talking to her in the waiting room before kissing her on his way out) was also a cancer patient there and was probably just wishing he had one of his own grand baby's there to play with.

 

[miprender]

In fact, I probably would have forced my dd to take the cookie, since it would be culturally rude and offensive not to...at least where I'm living now.[/QUOTE]

Maybe I am overprotective but no way do I ever let my children take food from someone. We were in a store once and this lady was eating a bag of chips or something, goes up to DD3 and offers her some. I quickly tell the lady no thankyou. I don't know this lady and I don't know where her food has been.

For all the mom knew that cookie could have been laced with something. Also, in this country there are alot of kids with allergies to eggs or peanuts or you name it.

How long have you been out of the country? Do you remember your parents going through your Halloween bag just to make sure there was nothing open or homemade that could harm you. Or maybe this is were I get my paranoid self from.....my parents.

 

[PrincessMom4]

Is it me or does it seem that every year it gets a little worse?

In May 2007 my hubby and I were in line for the Nemo Show, there was a child who belonged to a family a little futher ahead in line. He was not keeping up with them and he would say words not meant for an 8/10 yr to say...

Since he was not my child I just ignored him. Not for me to get involved. The line kept moving and he just moved with us, talking really loud, repeating lines from the movie and then using the f word in ways I never heard.

The woman behind me keeps talking really loud about the child's behavior. And if it were her son she would give him a shoe in the butt.. My husband gives me the zip it look.

Finally the woman behind me pokes me really hard, and I turn around YES? What are you going to do about your child... You are a disgrace.

I said nothing at first because I was a little stunned and I was counting down from 10 not to slug her because the poke hurt.. She says to her husband see what do you expect these people have no respect no wonder their kid is that way.

I sighed and said with all do respect ma'am he is not my son.

"Oh he belongs to him pointing at my husband "well that is what is wrong today" She was wagging her finger in our face, and that the God Lord gave us much more than we could handle....

I should have walked away taken the higher road, but something in me snapped... Look this boy does not belong to us, but while we are thanking the big guy upstairs, I am glad that he made you such an ugly person that we don't have to worry about your spawn spewing such love for humanity. I guess in all of your self righteousness, you failed to realize that as I told you he is not my child, I don't know him and therefore it is not my place to do anything. Maybe next time instead of dishing out parental advice, you should stick your head in your butt, and fart when you actually have something productive that you would like to contribute to our society.

Meanwhile the boy has wandered back up to his family...We go to get out of line and the guy a few people in front of us says don't go you waited almost an hour, dont let her ruin it for you.
He is my cousin's boy and thank you most people just don't understand.

We went into the show mainly because we were almost at the door and the guy was right...

When we sat down we were in the row in front of mean lady, she was sitting with the boys family and said something about how horrible the line was, and the mom went off on her. I thought wow, good thing the mean lady got me and not that mom outside otherwise it would have been really bad...

First of all she should ahve found out whether or not the boy was your child. Second of all, I would not be sorry for not taking crap... I hate it when mean or miserable people think they can rule the world. I am not a shy peron, but I keep my composure... there is no need to sweat the small stuff, BUT when some stranger attacks me (physically or verbally) you have crossed the line. My mother taught me..what goes around comes around.. Bad people will eventually have what is coming for them (bad luck). I've had people run into my children and I know it can happen...WDW is a busy place, but did people leave their manners at the gate check?? A simple oops, sorry or excuse me me...please or thanks would be great.

 

[peach3es]

Maybe I am overprotective but no way do I ever let my children take food from someone. We were in a store once and this lady was eating a bag of chips or something, goes up to DD3 and offers her some. I quickly tell the lady no thankyou. I don't know this lady and I don't know where her food has been.

For all the mom knew that cookie could have been laced with something. Also, in this country there are alot of kids with allergies to eggs or peanuts or you name it.

How long have you been out of the country? Do you remember your parents going through your Halloween bag just to make sure there was nothing open or homemade that could harm you. Or maybe this is were I get my paranoid self from.....my parents.

I've been living overseas for 4 years now. But no, my parents never went through my Halloween bag. We had lots of people putting in popcorn balls and candy apple type treats. Even rice krispie squares. We ate it all.

Nope, my kids take things from people all the time here. They still sell homemade items in stores here with no labels, etc. Actually, they still do that in some stores back where I'm from in central PA, too. But here, it is a normal part of life to take what is offered, even if it's shared food or homemade.

Sometimes we even share food from a common bowl using our hands instead of utensils!

Just a different way of life, I guess. Coming back to the US will pose some interesting reverse culture shock, I'm sure!
~~Carrie

 

[TKERBELL]

I laughed as I read your post. It most definitely was a cultural difference. If you detected an accent, and you were at a tourist stop, there's a possibility that she was not from the US. It is nothing for me to find people here reaching out and touching my blond kids, pinching their cheeks, grabbing their hair, etc. My kids are frequently offered food by strangers (as are all children here, not just the blond ones ) and finding lots of people waving and smiling at them. Sometimes people even come up to take my little ones right out of my hands. My youngest was born here and knows nothing other than Arab culture, so she is 100% comfortable in this situation.

I guess I've forgotten how careful we are in the US. I've only been gone for 4 years, but looks like I've got a lot to relearn about parenting in the US. We'll only be there for 7 months...but I think I need a refresher course on US customs and cultural norms! If I was in your place, I wouldn't have even batted an eye. In fact, I probably would have forced my dd to take the cookie, since it would be culturally rude and offensive not to...at least where I'm living now.

I am a redhead born into a Lebanese/Italian family - I was the only "light" hair, freckle faced easily sunburned child in my family (for the first 18 years of my life until my first cousin was born) - long story short is my maternal grandfather is Irish/Scottish, and my father is English/Welsh - I am the epitome of ressive gene!!! LOL The one dominant feathure I have is that I have brown eyes....anyway - I grew up being the child everyone was fasinated by and yes this is family (a rather large family - think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" large, which by the way I am Greek Orthodox and DH had to go through something similar for the Baptism, DH was Chrismated) - My hair was always being touched or twirled - so I understand your daughter's comfort with the culture and how fasinated they are with her -

My oldest DS is a blonde with green hazel eyes - and he has to endure the same fasination that I did as a child with my family!! It is definitly a culture thing and yes we (Americans) are VERY defensive given the amount of child abuductions, pedophiles...etc but I will never see anything wrong with anyone thinking my child is beautiful because they are different from what they are used to. I never really thought much about the touching thing - as long as I am there!!! Of course since my children were toddlers, they have never met a stranger - much like DH.....

So I have never experienced an altercation with anyone at WDW, nor have I ever seen one happen -

I am one who let someone else's child sit in front of me, I will let someone else's child get in front of me to see Mickey or any character (my children are the same way) - I am there to share the magic with my family and with others - sometimes the magic that you share is simply allowing someone to sit in front of you or giving them your balloon at the end of the day!! Karma and paying it forward -

Yes there are rude people in this world, not just at WDW, but my feeling is I can not control the actions or feeling of others, I can only control my reaction to them - sometimes you may have to keep in mind that we do not know the circumstances that brought that person to behave the way they do - but we can still control our behavior toward them -

Well I have taken up enough space!! Thanks for reading!!

Cheers!!!

 

[TKERBELL]

I've been living overseas for 4 years now. But no, my parents never went through my Halloween bag. We had lots of people putting in popcorn balls and candy apple type treats. Even rice krispie squares. We ate it all.

Nope, my kids take things from people all the time here. They still sell homemade items in stores here with no labels, etc. Actually, they still do that in some stores back where I'm from in central PA, too. But here, it is a normal part of life to take what is offered, even if it's shared food or homemade.

Sometimes we even share food from a common bowl using our hands instead of utensils!

Just a different way of life, I guess. Coming back to the US will pose some interesting reverse culture shock, I'm sure!
~~Carrie

You will do just fine - why should you have ot bend to someone else's idea of what is right or wrong -

In the end we do what we can and hope it was enough!!!

Cheers!!1

 

[mama4]

Hmm. I have to say I'm with the "uncomfortable with my children being touched by strangers" group but the type of involvement you're describing wouldn't bother me nearly as much as some others described - engaging me along with the child would probably be fine. Talking to me about the children and alternately talking to the child then maybe reaching out and touching my daughters curls or patting my son on the head (my youngest sons eyelashes are a mile long and he gets a lot of attention/comments on his eyes and then dd has ringlet curls) and this I'd be fine with because I'M involved too- but some of these incidents seem to be with the adult trying to engage the child without the parents knowledge. I'm not saying that they are TRYING to be sneaky (it's probably because of language barriers, cultural differences and such) but my god-given down to the bone mothers instinct would raise the alarms if someone was trying to engage/touch my child without my knowledge and I'd probably be firm and may even come off as rude. I remember an instance with my oldest son when he was toddler (I was married once before-very young so he was an only child and my whole world) We were at a crowded garden festival and I was waiting in line holding his hand but not looking down at him. Well, I turned around just in time to see a man standing back up after bending down near my son- when I looked at my son I saw that he was eating something. Well we didn't have anything to eat so I knew the man had given him something- I asked my son who was pretty little and checked his mouth and it was crushed ice-like a slushie or something. The man had already walked off but I knw they were selling them nearby and people were walking around with them- I didn't chase the man down but I think if it happend today I probably would have. What kept going through my mind is -I'm right here literally holding onto him and this man could have been interacting with my son for probably five minutes or so witout my knowledge- that is scary to me.

Oh goodness, I guess I better chime in here. My job involves working with kids. On a daily basis I am on the floor making goofy faces, tickling and being silly to get kids to loosen up and "smile" for me. So I find myself very comfortable around them. Now I wouldn't just reach out and touch a random child, BUT if I happened to be speaking to someone (say someone in line with you or something), it would almost be second nature for me to reach out and interact with the child since it's just such a normal part of what I do.

Hopefully I've never come across as some weird creepy lady, but if I did - ah well. People have commented and touched my own dd's hair before too (natural curls and a redhead, double whammy!) and I have never been offended.
Oh I had to add - my dd was actually kissed on the forehead by some old man when she was 8 or 9 months. Now THAT stunned me a bit, and even the look on her face was one of shock - she was going through a stranger fear phase and was especially scared of men (her daddy was the only one she tolerated). But even though I was momentarily stunned - I got over it fast. We were at dh's oncologist office, so I imagined this old guy (who had tried talking to her in the waiting room before kissing her on his way out) was also a cancer patient there and was probably just wishing he had one of his own grand baby's there to play with.

 

[natnelliesmom]

and companion bathrooms are for people who need to be transfred to go to not a private changing room to put5 little girls in princess dresses and do there hair !

Companion bathrooms are for people with companions- not just for HC people who need to be transferred from a wheelchair! Use the HC stall in the regular restroom if the companion room is busy!
My husband and I always use the companion restroom (also called a family restroom). We take the stroller and both girls in with us and we can all pee and clean up and change the girls without having to separate into two separate mens/women's rooms. It's extremely helpful and keeps the lines down in the regular restrooms as we'd be in the HC stall with a stroller and a child!
These companion rooms are there for exactly that reason- to free up the HC stalls that people use with their children! That's why the companion rooms also have changing tables!
-Sarah

 

[Disney_Angel]

I Then it happened....this complete idiot in too short running shorts steps over the front of my stroller to get closer to Devine. Yep, his acorns were in my kid's face because he could not contain himself for a minute. .

Why I could care-a-less whether folks choose to do Disney comando. I think their should be a rule if your a size ten body you should not be wearing toddler sized clothing.

It is not a magical moment when your flashing your goodies to my kiddies.

 

[Disney_Angel]

Just FYI,

Disney has a "policy" for this. We had a situation where a "person" was openly taking pictures of the children in our group. We asked them to stop. They refused and went balistic. A CM called security. Security asked what happened we explained about the pictures. Security asked to see the pictures on the camera. Confirmed they had pictures of our children. Security asked them to delete the pictures. I spoke with the Security guard who told me they are getting more of these complaints and have actually had to remove people from the park over it.

Sickening...I work in a hospital and I am not allowed to give any information out because of patient confidentiality....what about the privacy of our kids?

 

[Disney_Angel]

Actually, I think participating on the DIS is the "ultimate Sociological experiment"

!

Why just yesterday I was accused of being a rude, tacky homeschool mom full of crap who is responsible for ruining the public education system.

I just hope they have a magical day.

Oh and just so everyone knows the upcoming fisaco with the 2008 election recount...that will be my fault too!

 

[patsal]

I had an incident several years ago--after they changed the Diamond Horseshoe and put the Woody's Roundup show in there or Goofy something. You know how there are benches around the perimeter of many of the attractions to be seated while you wait especially if you are very early for the show (American Adventure, Country Bears, Hall of Presidents all come to mind)? Well, they had these in there as well. An older couple around my parents ages (early 60's) is seated. I am standing while I get my kids set up--they are seated on the floor, but I tell them that when the show starts they may have to stand to be able to see and that the show from what I knew of it would be one where they could stand and move around a bit. The man tells me I have to sit on the ground because he and his wife cannot see from the bench. Now I am not a meanie I would move from their view if it is indeed a sit down show and if I didn't want to sit I would move behind others so I didn't obstruct a view. I said nicely, but firmly that I would not be sitting to wait for the show to start. I explained that once the show started everyone would be standing. He was livid and fuming about it. He went back to his seat though and &*^%$ed up a storm just loud enough so I could hear it and so he could be obnoxious. He gets up agian and tells me to sit down. "Just about everyone else is seated on the floor are you stupoid you need to sit down." "Umm no I am not stupid, a lot of people sit down while waiting for shows and I choose not to." Again I say no. There is nothing going on in here BTW--no entertainment, nothing to see I am not blocking anything. He continues to brood. The music starts and he comes up to me, grabs my arm and tells me I must sit down now and I have to listen to him. At this point I lose it. First I tell him to take his hands off of me, I am not a child and I will not be spoken to in a nasty tone or touched by someone who has no right to lay hands on me. He is freaking out now. A CM comes over and says that I do not need to sit down and when the show starts everyone will be standing anyway because the characters come down from the stage and interact with the children and we can't have children getting stepped on. I continue to stand, he continues to brood and I am scared that he will hit me and yell more. The CM did not handle the situation well, and I see he is still ticked off. I move to the back of the show area nearer to the CM's and the door while DH stays with our kids. I'm thinking to myself if this guy touches me again I am going to press charges and I really don't care who's grandpa he is, but I do not want to cause a spectacle for my children or anyone he is with. Later in the day we see him again and he shoves his way up to me and starts swearing. Now my DH is a very quiet guy who knows I can stand up for myself and will ( I teach high risk High School students, you really can't scare me--and I am very good at deescalating situations so he usually doesnt' get involved). Well DH jumps in and says very loudly ENOUGH! You have been harassing her and we will press charges if you so much as even attempt to come near us again. The guy just puts his head down and wanders off with his wife and a few grandkids. He was jsut a bully who was used to yelling to always get his own way and I wasn't giving it to him.
I have been to WDW a lot, and have only had this one incident, but it really only takes one person to drive a stiuation to escalate to violence.