Only the Dis Community board can determine...proper drive through etiquette ;)

[gotomu212]

Thats how our Starbucks is too. The issue there is that you move through the line so quickly that you can easily have 10-15 cars in the line but you’ll be through it in 4 minutes so it tends to exceed a normal drive thru.

In general ours does the you go, I go, you go merging. So the person on the right would wait for one car on the left to go and then merge in...they wouldn’t wait for all 7 to go because by then new cars would be added.

 

[Skellingtonj]

The Starbucks drive thru by us is the worst. There is no way to know how to get in. I just go in and then get annoyed when they are too busy with the drive thru to help the customers right in front of them. The McDonald’s is the same way. It’s too small a space to have it work

 

[FlightlessDuck]

1. Don't cut in line.
2. If the line is so long you can't figure out with there line ends, it's time to go somewhere else or just walk in.

 

[anniemae]

I can't picture it. Can you find a photo?

If you drive up, the speaker is on the drivers side. How would someone drive up on the opposite side of the speaker?

 

[Shellsbutt]

If I'm understanding correctly, this is one of those stand alone coffee drive thru's? For example, Dutch Bros is like this, there is no inside and there are windows to pull up to on either side of the small building. Remember the old Fotomat kiosks? There is no designated drive thru lane, you just line up behind the car in front of you. When I go by my local Dutch Bros, the line is always backed up on both sides, almost to the entrance to the strip mall. Ridiculous, but I'm not sure what they can do about it. Honestly, people don't seem to know how to merge anymore, they are oblivious.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

I can't picture it. Can you find a photo?

If you drive up, the speaker is on the drivers side. How would someone drive up on the opposite side of the speaker?

If I'm understanding correctly, this is one of those stand alone coffee drive thru's? For example, Dutch Bros is like this, there is no inside and there are windows to pull up to on either side of the small building. Remember the old Fotomat kiosks? There is no designated drive thru lane, you just line up behind the car in front of you. When I go by my local Dutch Bros, the line is always backed up on both sides, almost to the entrance to the strip mall. Ridiculous, but I'm not sure what they can do about it. Honestly, people don't seem to know how to merge anymore, they are oblivious.

I’m not doing a very good job of explaining lol. The actual drive through is only one lane, but often the lane itself if full (it can only hold 4-5 cars) so it’s essentially the overflow line that can form to the left or right.

It almost always forms to the left. Due to the shape of the drive through, you need more room to actually be in the actual drive through when turning in from the left. So even though there’s a line of cars waiting to the left, sometimes a car will swoop into the actual drive through from the right.

 

[powellrj]

I am not sure if our McDonald is the setup that you are talking about. The entrance is at the front of the building. People come in the entrance and the line forms on the right side of the building. The problem comes because there is an exit coming in from the back of the store. There are big signs saying exit. Instead of driving to the front of the building and going in the entrance, they will go in the exit and cut in line. When they try to go in the exit, the rear of their car is sticking into the street because there isn’t enough room to enter the exit.

Add the 2 speakers that go back to a single line and you can have a huge cluster when people don’t follow the directions of the other cars.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I’m not doing a very good job of explaining lol. The actual drive through is only one lane, but often the lane itself if full (it can only hold 4-5 cars) so it’s essentially the overflow line that can form to the left or right.

It almost always forms to the left. Due to the shape of the drive through, you need more room to actually be in the actual drive through when turning in from the left. So even though there’s a line of cars waiting to the left, sometimes a car will swoop into the actual drive through from the right.

You are brave, lol. I don't have the patience for that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I’m not doing a very good job of explaining lol. The actual drive through is only one lane, but often the lane itself if full (it can only hold 4-5 cars) so it’s essentially the overflow line that can form to the left or right.

It almost always forms to the left. Due to the shape of the drive through, you need more room to actually be in the actual drive through when turning in from the left. So even though there’s a line of cars waiting to the left, sometimes a car will swoop into the actual drive through from the right.

I swear I'm thinking real hard about it but I still can't picture it in terms of the overflow line

I could be a lost cause IDK or I'm just too much of a visual person to be of much help lol

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I swear I'm thinking real hard about it but I still can't picture it in terms of the overflow line

I could be a lost cause IDK or I'm just too much of a visual person to be of much help lol

Basically one drive through that fits 5 cars. The rest of cars are in chaos off to the left, waiting for their turn to get into the 5 car lane that goes thru the drive thru.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I kind of know what you mean and it sounds like if someone takes a second to access the situation, I imagine it's clear the over flow is to the left and they should follow suit but without signs there's not much to do about it.

 

[daydream32]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...2!3m1!1s0x89b65dd9539402e5:0x66da8755fde08100

I think that is an example of what is being talked about. Turn on satellite view and zoom in on the entrance to the chick-fil-a and notice that you can approach the entrance from the left or right.

Imagine a line of cars on one side waiting to enter and a car comes from the other way.

 

[gotomu212]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...2!3m1!1s0x89b65dd9539402e5:0x66da8755fde08100

I think that is an example of what is being talked about. Turn on satellite view and zoom in on the entrance to the chick-fil-a and notice that you can approach the entrance from the left or right.

Imagine a line of cars on one side waiting to enter and a car comes from the other way.

That’s exactly how ours-the overflow cars on the left have to wait in a line on the street so they don’t block the whole street but someone approaching from the right can make the turn without blocking traffic. That’s why at ours we take turns and merge, but the person on the right doesn’t keep sitting there while the left lane gets longer and longer- nor do they go around the block to get into the left street line m

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/C...2!3m1!1s0x89b65dd9539402e5:0x66da8755fde08100

I think that is an example of what is being talked about. Zoom in on the entrance to the chick-fil-a and notice that you can approach the entrance from the left or right.

Imagine a line of cars on one side waiting to enter and a car comes from the other way.

Hmm if that's the case then my feeling is:

I'm going against the grain here but I can see why someone would go in from the right. I don't know that it's 'swooping in' perse because otherwise you're blocking traffic for both directions--the person coming from the right would have to wait until all the cars coming from the left goes in but the cars from the left are stopped waiting to turn left and the line would just keep growing.

Honestly, if that's exactly what we're talking about then that's not what happens IME generally speaking in my area. People coming from the right have the right a way. Now what I could see is taking turns where someone from the left goes then someone from the right goes and so on.

For reference this is what the above poster's map location is-


The above reminds me of this McDonald's in my area-though there is more room for cars:

The aarow represents the most used entrance

Cars coming from the right always go first with the cars coming from the left yielding to cars from the right. If both directions stopped it would completely block traffic and would be a disaster. As is when people from the left are waiting it's blocking one side of traffic and though it isn't ideal it's better than both directions. There's no swooping in at all. People from the left either yield completely to those coming from the right or they take turns.

 

[yoopermom]

Our local McDonalds remodeled and put in two drive through ordering stations that narrow to one pickup window (like most are nowadays). The first month I literally watched as at least half the drivers could not figure out how to "take turns", first from one lane, then the other. I had one driver get out and scream at me to the point that I had to roll up my window, and hold up my phone pointing to 9-1-1, although, thank God, the manager (who was watching on the security cameras, thankfully) came hustling out and escorted the guy off property. I mean WHO is in that much of a rush for their dollar soda or Big Mac?

Geez!

Terri

 

[Domo]

Hire a JCB digger and just plough your way through those queues.