With one of the busiest weeks of the year at Walt Disney World fresh in our minds – and the crowded summer season knocking on our door — I’d like to discuss an issue that evokes strong feelings among visitors to Orlando’s theme parks.
Few things anger out-of-town and local guests as much as watching others cut ahead of them in a queue they have invested a significant amount of time waiting in. Most people would, of course, agree that this behavior is unacceptable. After all, it forces the honest guests to wait in line longer and, consequently, experience fewer attractions per day. However, the line is a little blurred when it comes to defining what is line jumping and what is not.
When a guest blatantly disregards the queue system or pushes his or her way to the front out of some misguided sense of entitlement, it’s pretty clear that they have line-jumped. Unfortunately, this sort of abuse is what led Walt Disney World to change the way it accommodates disabled guests. In the past, those guests and up to five other people in their parties were allowed front-of-line access at any ride at any time. Now, disabled guests are asked to use the FastPass+ system to guarantee they will not have long waits. The new system does require that disabled guests plan out their days, like others using FastPass+, and it (hopefully) slows the dishonest use of disability access.
But what about the everyday line jumping that most theme-park-goers experience?
Here is a scenario: A family wants to meet the Anna and Elsa characters from “Frozen.”� As we all know, the wait to see the sisters in the stand-by queue is anywhere from two to five hours every single day – despite their recent move to the Magic Kingdom. Most parents would agree that a wait of that length is impossible for children to endure and not a good use of the family’s time and money.
So, the parents decide that one will stay in the long line to hold their place while the other parent takes the kids out to enjoy the park in the meantime. It’s more pleasant for everyone involved, and the waiting parent is happy that his or her children are having other experiences.
My family of four used this strategy when we waited three hours to meet Jack Skellington at last year’s Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.
But some say that this is considered line jumping. They believe that if you get out of line for any reason, you lose your spot, regardless of whether the rest of your party remained in line. I had no idea!
There are so many variables that go along with guests splitting up from their parties and rejoining them in line. Families with young children may need bathroom breaks, and families with older adults may not be able to withstand the sun for long periods. Visitors also could have medical reasons that are not readily visible. In any case, I have never seen cast members intervene when guests are rejoining their parties in line.
Still, when it was brought to my attention recently that some guests consider this behavior to be cutting in line, it made me curious to know what other Walt Disney World guests think. I’d love to get a conversation started in the comments. What do you consider to be line jumping?
My thoughts are it is acceptable for one person in a group to hold the place in line as long as the rest of the group re-joining isn’t going to take extra time for those behind them (like seeing Anna & Elsa…..whole family or one person same amount of time for those behind to wait).
Rides turns into kinda a grey area. I know there are completely legitimate reasons one person would hold a spot for others. I have a very difficult time *standing* for long periods of time. I can walk practically forever but am in excruciating pain after as few as 10 minutes of standing / mostly standing. If a ride line is particularly long I’ll have my daughter wait in line while I either walk back and forth nearby or find a place to sit and wait for her to get near the front and I’ll rejoin her. So if I see 1-3 people join a person in front of us, I’ll typically give the benefit of the doubt (they’re like me and can’t stand for long periods, needed to use the bathroom, wanted to get something to eat / drink while they waited, etc). But when it’s bigger than a few people (recently at a local carnival I’d watch people yelling for / waving to / calling on the phone to friends & family to join them in a ride line….. you get a large group—at times up to 10 were joining the one who had been in line, and you’re drastically increasing the wait time for those who’ve been waiting in line. When my daughter was told she could go on one last ride for the night, I checked out the line…..based on a rough count of those in line when she got in line & the number of riders allowed, I anticipated 30 minutes before she could go…..over an hour later she was “almost at the front of the line” because of the number of people cutting in line while she waited).
It also gets to me to see groups spread out on the ride…..a group of 3 taking up 3 different cars (that can each accommodate 3-4)…..why not all get in one car and allow the extra 2 to be used by others? (I don’t necessarily expect single-riders to “have to” double / triple up with people they aren’t with, but it’d be a nice courtesy to others to stay with your group / family and allow as many on the ride at a time as can get on. If my daughter and I are on a ride that the car accommodates 4, we’ll often tell the ride operators that two more can join us).
We were last at Disney World in 2012, so it’s been a while. Several times, individuals tried pushing through the line claiming their mother was waiting for them. Too bad. So sad. They had to wait their turn. Not surprisingly, there was no mommy waiting for them at the head of the line. On the other hand, we had a large group cut in front of us claiming one family member was holding their place whilst the rest ate dinner. They were very pushy and caused us to have to wait 30-40 minutes longer. The lack of a clear policy is detrimental to the whole experience at Disney World.
So just came back from Disney. With COVID and spacing in line MANY of the lines were stretched out all over the park.
I did NOT have an issue with people catching up with their party outside. BUT once the line went past the entrance which was typically after at least a half an hour I had an issue. We waited in a hour line for Smugglers Run. When we were ALMOST at the front a woman with 2 kids pushed past us to the FRONT of the line. They never passed us the other way so it is not like they needed the bathroom, etc. I was NOT OK with it. Inside my head I want to say NO when they say excuse me.
After speaking to many Disney cast members. I finally spoke to a guest park experience manager. She told me that Disney does not have a clear policy to define line jumping. So when asked if I could just say excuse me and continue to push my way past people if that was actable. She said yes, there was nothing in the policy to prevent that. She told me they try to not make it a policy and hope that people do there own policing of the issue. The best suggestion she gave was to ask to speak to the team leader and they can try to handle the situation as best as possible. Which most likely give the people that complain a new fast pass. To me that is not solving the issue at all and is condoning the line jumping. I was very disappointed to hear how this just gets ignored. I would think at the least the people that did line jump would be removed from the line and explain they need to wait in line from start to finish.
James, I completely agree with you. If you didn’t start out standing in line in front of me, don’t expect to magically appear in front of me when the line position we’re in is near the queue’s terminus. What’s to prevent one person from saving a spot for a large family or group while everyone behind that one person assumes he’s a party of one?
Now I think it’s different if someone in the party in front of me has been trudging through the S curves of the queue and needs to take a sudden break for whatever personal reasons they need it… excuses them selves and Returns 10 to 15 minutes later no matter how much closer to the queue terminus the rest of us have progressed.
I think the whole party should be together before they wait in line. How is it not cutting the line by saying excuse me and pushes your way through others?
Would be very helpful if Disney has a clear (any) policy on this. Perhaps a cast member can ask if everyone in your party is here at the end of the line.
But then, some people are really shameless. And some are just being too nice not to challenge others when they excuse me and push their way pass.
This is not an opinion. Nice people understand having to run to the restroom or the understanding that we might not know the legitimate reason you couldn’t wait like the rest of us. Nice people understand there are obvious and necessary reasons for someone to rejoin their party in line. It is completely rude and yes, ignorant for even a small group to push through an indoor line to get to the front. If everyone did this there would be a complete traffic jam at all attractions. For those of you who think it’s okay to hold a spot for an entire family at character meet and greets confuse me. Characters are on a time schedule and even when it’s a small group cutting to the front it takes up a lot of time because it’s never one picture. Then they usually need pictures with all of them together then individuals. Then they need pictures with their phones. This type of behavior is hard to ignore because you are CUTTING in front of everyone that waited in line and we are all staring at you because you are rude and selfish. This behavior is not acceptable anywhere and it shouldn’t be at Disney. You only get away with it because of Disney Magic keeps the rest of us sane.
my thoughts are that if you have one person waiting in line and the others joining in will not take spaces away from the guests behind them, then that isn’t line jumping (for example waiting for Anna and Elsa). If it is a ride such as Toy Story Mania or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train where the people passing other people cause the others behind to have to wait longer because they take up more ride space then that is line jumping and not acceptable.
I just returned from a week at WDW. There was a particular instance while waiting for the park to open. My family of four was patiently waiting in line to simply enter the park. Once the gates opened, a party of no less than a dozen people was motioned to come up and get in line. I understand a lot of the situations where one might need to sit and wait vs standing in a queue. This time however I felt the need to speak up. (much to the dismay of my wife) The particular excuse given was. “We have a party of 19. You can’t expect us all to stay together”. My reply was that this shouldn’t be my problem and the problem of the 100 other people that were just jumped in line. Sometime I feel it’s appropriate to call these folks out on this particular behavior. Otherwise they’ll simply perpetuate the idea that it’s OK. Maybe next time they’ll stay together as a group and wait for the slowest member.
Hello Kristin!
This was a GREAT article. Some may not know, but you CAN get a bathroom pass. I did on Soarin’, a couple of years ago. At that attraction, I did make it to the loading area & the cast member let my friend wait. Loaded all the other riders and we got on when I got back. I was given a pass that looks like an old paper fast pass.
You brought up the Elsa & Ana wait time. How is it fair that the line is 2-5 hrs long and one person waits in line while everyone else is out & about. All the others on line are waiting and then a mom or dad with 3 little Princesses cut in front of everyone else? NOW the line is 10-15 min longer. It’s NEVER 1 family doing that. And why are we teaching our children that they don’t have to wait like everyone else? Some families don’t get to Disney or any park as frequently as myself or you and your family because it’s expensive, how is their time less valuable than yours? I certainly understand a bathroom break, but as I experienced WDW allows for that. But, I think it’s rude, selfish & self-centered to think it’s okay to hold a place in line or cut in front of someone else. If you don’t want to wait, get fast passes.
If someone is blatantly cutting that is one thing but if a family member holds a place for others to join it does not bother me. You never know the circumstances.
I agree that potty breaks for small children are ok, but holding places for your entire family should be considered line jumping. Once while entering BTMR, a woman pushed ahead of us and then stopped the line at least 5 times to try and wave the rest of her family through. Needless to say, people just weren’t letting them pass as easily as she had hoped, so by the time we made it to the loading platform, my patience was exhausted and I finally walked past her to queue up for boarding. She gave me the meanest look and called me a very dirty name as if I was the one who was being ignorant! BTW, everyone behind me also passed her by until she was finally reunited with the rest of her family. This also happens a lot when boarding the monorail. Any time there is enough space to squeeze by, no matter who was there first, people will inevitably try. We call them “sidellers”!
I never would have considered this line-jumping, but now that I know it is taboo I will be careful not to do it with my family! For the record, I have seen it happen (and it hasn’t bothered me), but I can’t recall ever doing it.
I do feel, however, that for exceptionally long lines for atractions geared toward young children, like the Princess meet & greets (especially Elsa and Anna), it would be acceptable for Disney to implement a “placeholder” system.
I think line jumping is getting worse at WDW. My husband and I had 3 irritating encounters on our last 3 day trip. It was all young people (age 16-19?) saying they needed to get by to catch up to family. In my opinion, Unless they can produce a potty training preschooler, they need to wait in the line like everyone else or choose a different attraction. I don’t really blame the cast members. As soon as a guest enters the queue, it would be hard to control, but it is definitely getting worse. Disney needs to come work their magic on this one.
What really frustrates me is when we have WAITED for an hour or more so we can good spot for the fireworks or parades etc. The areas are roped off and we do the right thing by saying inside the lines and at the last min. the parades starts and the cast members drop the lines and everyone comes flooding in around and in front of us. AAUUGGHHH!!!!! It’s like why did I wait in the sun for this? Do you not see us? Sad thing is they don’t care, they figure no one will say anything to them. Just frustrating sharing the world with mean, selfish, people who feel entitled for some unknown reason. Watch what you teach your children. And Betty I don’t think people have a problem letting a small child go potty. It’s if you come back with 10 of your other relatives that it is upsetting.
At the risk of sounding juvenile, I think it comes down to fairness. If I’ve stood in line for 2 hours waiting for a character, but someone else has been off experiencing attractions, and then meets up with someone in the line and only has a 10 minute wait, it’s “not fair.” That’s what bothers me about the system. Plus, there’s no real way to know for sure if the people asking to squeeze by you really are meeting up with someone, or if they’re just using it as an excuse to move up in line.
If it’s an issue of a large group wanting to ride together, then I strongly feel that whoever is farther up can wait for people to pass until the rest of their party catches up. Someone above mentioned that additional people in line really only add “one photo, or one car” but that’s not always the case. In terms of characters, that character now has 5 or 6 people to interact with rather than 1 or 2, which adds additional time, and even more if they decide they want photos of different groupings. For rides, yes some groups may only add one vehicle, but on rides like Dumbo where the ride has to finish cycling through before another group can load, it does add 5-10 minutes of wait time.
Wow, definitely a hot topic! Like many others, I can definitely see that a parent might need to take a small child to the restroom, but that is my only allowance in these situations. Toy Story is awful sometimes when it comes to people holding spots in line. On my most recent visit (early April), as we approached the ride (right at 9am) the cast members outside were announcing “do not get in the line without your whole party unless you are prepared to ride separately”. Not sure how much they can enforce this, but good to know they are aware of the issue. Not sure if my other examples are line jumping per se, but here goes. Fantasmic – if one or two are holding seats while one or two others use the restroom or get snacks, fine, no problem. We do that ourselves (we are a party of three). But one person holding seats for another 10, who come 5 minutes before the show & expect you to squeeze them in – no way. That is unfair. With Illuminations/parades – people crowding in at showtime, or pushing their kids to the front, ahead of people who have been waiting. Also not fair. I have no problem letting in one or two kids if the parents ask nicely, I can easily see over their heads. But don’t just assume you can have your kids push to the front.
Wow! I can’t believe the amount of comments for this topic! It is definitely a sensitive issue for most guests, especially repeat guests. Here are my two cents. I really don’t have an issue when it involves small kids and one parent. Usually it is pretty easy to figure out that either they were in the bathroom or the kids have a problem with long lines. (I can sympathize having been to WDW with my nephew when he was 2 and 4). I really don’t have an issue with what you described, Kristin, and I think most people in the parks wouldn’t either, especially at a M&G.
BUT…when it’s a group of adults than it can be irritating. You can’t help but wonder if they really are joining a group up ahead or not. It can really create problems. Usually if a few members of my group accidentally get ahead in the line for whatever reason, we will usually let everyone pass us until we join our friends further back in the line.
I will say the worst experience I’ve had with this was at a county fair. We joined what we thought was a short line, when suddenly up ahead two women were replaced by a group of 10 teenagers. The women stood aside and let the kids ride. Of course, suddenly our wait increased an additional 10 minutes. We saw this happen again at another ride with the same group. Apparently, the mothers would go on ahead to the next ride and hold a spot for their kids while they rode another ride, thus, enabling the kids to never stand in line. I was so surprised people didn’t come to blows over this.
I say the next topic should be Pool Hopping.
It does annoy me when people push past us in a queue (line). We experienced a large tour group when queuing for Pirates of the Caribbean. A couple of the group pushed past us – not to catch anyone up but just to get ahead. There were lots of the group coming up behind us. I am afraid the four people in my group stood shoulder to shoulder blocking their way and didn’t let the rest pass. Trouble is – it spoilt the ride for me because I was so annoyed with them. Queue areas like this one are so wide that it’s hard to stop rude people just pushing their way to the front. This year only two of us are going but at a different time of year. I am just going to try and let it not get to me if it happens then. I don’t agree with holding places for other people either and agree you either stand and wait like everyone else or don’t experience the attraction. Will stop now because otherwise this may turn into a rant!
I guess when we go next year with a young potty trained toddler, I will just carry a change of clothes with us as I am guessing we will at least one accident while in line. I guess walking thru the puddle will not bother those who do not want to let us back to join our group. Remember that is a bodily fluid coming out! Wonder what the costumes will look like after a couple of wet toddlers? Yes, you can take them just before getting in line, but 2 hours in line and toddlers definitely will need to go again.
Line jumping is a common topic between my friends and I, since we travel to parks all over the country and see it everywhere. It’s generally understood amongst the park enthusiast community that leaving the line for any reason and attempting to return to your same spot in line is considered line jumping. So is holding a spot in line for someone who will join you later.
I used to be extremely vigilant in not letting anyone cut past me for any reason, but after a confrontation that nearly led to blows, I’ve lightened up in certain situations. It just isn’t worth getting hurt over.
I’m forgiving towards parents who leave the line with a child and come back shortly afterwards due to a potty break, but that’s pretty much the only time. If it’s a group of people (usually it’s groups of teens that do this) that I have not seen “trying to get to their friends,” forget it. I put a hand on each handrail so they will hopefully get the hint without me saying anything. If they ask me to get by, I will politely tell them no, they need to wait in line like the rest of us. Usually that works.
When my daughter was younger, we found plenty of ways to distract her by playing games in line. This not only helped the time go by faster for her, but us as well, and taught her that waiting in line can be fun too! Now that’s she’s 9, we still play some of those games from time to time, but she’s learned to be patient enough to wait for something that she wants to do.
Unfortunately, yes, that is line jumping. The entire group should enter the line together. If somebody is parking a stroller or going to the restroom, the group should not enter the line until that person(s) has returned. Once in line, nobody should leave, though it’s understandable for somebody to need to leave for a bathroom break if the line is long. But not waiting simply because “it’s not a good use of our time”? No, not ok. Waiting in lines is not a good use of anyone’s time, but when we choose to go to a crowded theme park, we simply have to accept that reality.
Line jumping is mostly a minor annoyance, but I would imagine it would be incredibly frustrating to be jumped in line for a merchandise specific event where supplies are limited. One person may be the difference between being able to get what they came for or not.
Can you imagine the chaos that “placeholding” practices would cause if every family decided to use this strategy? Multitudes of folks would be trying to get back to their family members, and it would cause significant confusion as they tried to wind their way to their family members. The lines would be a mess.
I do not believe that such practices are acceptable. My litmus test for “is something fair” is to ask the following question:
What if everyone did it? What if every family in line used a placeholder?
The only way this strategy works is if the majority of folks do not do it. As for myself, if I get separated and ahead of my party member in line, I go back to them- I don’t wait for them to push their way up to me. To me, that’s fair.
Here’s something I didn’t notice other people mention yet (sorry if I missed it!)-
Wait times are calculated based on the amount of people CURRENTLY in the line. If 15 or 20 people get into line who are “placeholders” and then their families of 4-6 extra people join each of them over the course of the next hour then the posted wait times become woefully inaccurate.
This may not be something the average “place-holding” guest thinks (or cares) about, but many people plan their day around those posted wait-times. The behavior you describe messes with that system.
Quite often I have been lining up for something with one member of my family, and may need a bathroom break or am desperately thirsty (they should cancel each other out!!).
If the line is still outside and visible I will try and find my way back. Then the other member of my party will always wait outside the ‘show’ building for me to rejoin letting other parties go past.
I also often mention to the party behind me that I am just popping off for a drink, I hope they dont mind if I come back very shortly…would they like anything?
I think its a very contentious issue and can often depend on the people around you.
However I readily admit we always go during the quiet times (September) and the longest line I have had in WDW for a long time was 30 minutes.
What’s interesting to me is that I seem OK with others being a line holder for their family, but I generally won’t do it myself. Leaving for a bathroom break is OK.
It’s really simple: If your child is too young to wait in a long line, you don’t get in the line. Anything else (except for bathroom emergencies, etc.) is line jumping and unfair to everyone else in the line.
I don’t consider it line jumping for the character meet and greets because they are for small children and I wouldn’t expect little kids to be able to stand and wait for long periods of time like adults can.
What I DO consider line jumping is when you’re about an hour back in the Soarin queue and you have people that you haven’t seen for 30 minutes come thru the crowd and say that they’re joining their party “up ahead” and disappear out of sight. Really? They’re never in the fast pass section, either. That’s what turns the tempers up on our group – but then again, there’s no cast member to stop them, either.
Hi Kristen –
I enjoy your blog! In my opinion, that constitutes line cutting. Plus, again strictly an opinion, teaches children “you don’t have to wait for something you really want like everybody else because I’ll do it for you.” Kids need to understand budgeting time and that if they really want to do something, they may have to sacrifice doing something else.
Potty breaks are another matter. Kids bladders are small. Lol
I think that’s cutting in line, although I don’t find it as offensive when there are small children involved. However when it’s a large group of adults it is very annoying. On our last trip to WDW, this happened twice while we were in line for Midway Mania – which is an indoor line. There was a family ahead of us and one of the women took a toddler out of the line and came back about 5 minutes later. We didn’t have a problem letting her back in as they’d obviously had to make a potty trip. Our big issue was with a group of about 6 adults right in front of us. We’d been in line for at least 20min already and all of a sudden he’s trying to wave through another 8 or so people! My aunt doesn’t put up with that stuff and wouldn’t let them through. They ended up letting us and the couple right behind us go in front of them, but everyone else behind us let them cut in.
I see this as the same as saving seats at a theater. If the whole party is there, and a couple of people want to go get food and drinks, that’s fine. However, saving seats for people that are not at the theater yet is flat out rude. If you want to sit together, or ride an attraction together, then you should have to wait together.
I am very much a rule-follower, and would hate the idea of line jumping, no matter the scenario. However, in the case of a meet and greet, if one parent is holding the place for the rest of the family, it doesn’t change the wait time for the others in line. Since the capacity of a M&G attraction doesn’t rely on ride vehicles, the party size in front of me doesn’t matter. It would take the same amount of time for 1 person to get pictures as it would for a family of 4 (relatively speaking).
For an attraction with limited capacity (ride vehicles, theater size), I only really excuse the line jumping if it’s a single parent getting back in line with a youngster who had to use the restroom.
No one wants to wait in line and waiting is even more difficult with very young children. We will be visiting soon and I’ve already had family members offer that they will wait in the long lines for us and then we can join them with our preschooler when they get closer to the attraction/character. I think its very nice of them to offer this and will probably take them up on it if the line is outdoors and all you need to do to get in is a simple rope jump, but I’m personally uncomfortable with having to push past a lot of people in line to reach my group. I’ve done it in the past and have received a lot of dirty looks and some people who absolutely refuse to move out of the way even after we ask nicely. There really isn’t a lot of room to squeeze by in those lines anyway.
I’m all for line jumping as long as the group joining the waiting person is small and if the line is outdoors and easy to access. If its long line and inside, then its just uncomfortable for everyone.
It is either line jumping or not line jumping – the amount of people plays no part in it. If you think it is line jumping for eight people to do it, then guess what it is the same for two to do it. My feelings are if you want to do the attraction, you should be in line at all times, no holding of spots for those who choose to adventure off to other attractions
I have no issues with people holding a place in line for the rest of their family. I see this happening more often with the character meets. We have three children that have grown up enjoying Disney World and have experienced waiting in lines in pregnancy, newborns, toddlers and teens. I am here to enjoy our time at Disney I am not here to judge a father who is waiting in line for his children or even just his wife. Maybe the exception would be if a tour group were to jump in line; I have not had that occur to me. Actually tour groups could be another whole topic string…
If I’m waiting for a ride, and every single person ahead of me is holding a space for 3 additional people, it now at least doubles the wait time. Now I realize that this is slight hyperbole, but if it is OK for a couple of people to do it, then why not everyone in line?
I think this is part of the reason Disney puts the line inside. It reduces the line jumpers. I see it often at Disneyland on the Matterhorn.
I personally feel that only the person waiting in line is entitled to experience the attraction at the end of the wait time. While one person from a party may be waiting on behalf of the entire group, it is not fair to the people waiting behind that representative for 3 or 4 people to jump in. Those 3-4 people are then going to add into the wait time for said persons waiting in the line.
Use the character meets as an example. While one person may be waiting in line, others then join in and it takes said character and their handler several minutes more to get through that group. Meanwhile, only one person from that party actually waited while the rest of the group was possibly experiencing another attraction or ride. Simply not fair.
It is a touchy subject that is for sure. I don’t think it is line jumping if everyone enters together and then one parent has to run a child to the rest room and then comes right back. I also don’t mind if at the last minute a party member joins as long as it is easy to get into the line. Not the pushing ahead, or it doesn’t make the people waiting have to wait any more. So if you have 3 people and a fourth joins you and you all get inot the same car them the people behind you don’t have to wait any longer but the one person getting in line and then 10 more people show up – that is line jumoing. To me all party members should get into line together and wait together unless there is an emergency.
I think the next topic should be saving tables at counter service before you have food.
I don’t really consider that to be line jumping, especially with young children. You are still waiting for your party’s turn in line either way, if there is one of you or 4 of you. What irratates me every time we go on Soarin’ is that wide space where the interactive games are and there is no line (the line is moving), someone always walks by us faster if we are not walking fast enough. That to me is cutting. My 5 year old is slower than adults.
The other side of the coin is I cannot stand it when people don’t move up in line! The line will be one whole “corral” away and the people are chatting, not paying attention. It is my pet peeve!
My personal belief is that an entire group should stay together in line. I make an exception for a quick run to the restroom, but other than that, stay in line. I’ve even “held” a stranger’s place in line while she took her two small children to the restroom. But if I’ve stood in line for ten minutes or so and suddenly there are people that I haven’t seen before trying to join somebody else in line, I find it irritating.
I’m also curious, how does your party get back into line. Do you start at the back and say “excuse me” as you shove your way passed everybody else. It’s impossible for those those of us in line to know if you really have people waiting in line ahead, or if you are just pushing your way ahead, so you look rude to us, regardless.
If you think it’s okay for one person to stay in line while the rest of the group does other things, and then join up, where do you draw the line on number of people? I’d hate to have one of the those large tour groups pull this stunt.
I can understand where some people may say you are line jumping if you leave one person in line and 8 of you leave to come back. I however think that as long as one person is in line for the family, there shouldn’t be an issue. I have kids and I know that they do need bathroom breaks and “water” breaks etc. It is hard to keep young kids entertained for long periods of time. I have seen people pretend that they have family in the line when actually they don’t and I find that to be line jumping. If you want to explore with your kids while your husband/wife stands in line, feel free. I’d rather a happy kid when they return then a crying bored child the whole time waiting in the line.
I think it depends on how many people are coming to join you in line. For a family of 4, 3 people joining you doesn’t really make my wait much longer. For a photo, it’s still one photo; for a ride, it’s MAYBE one additional “car”. However, the issue I have had previously are the tour groups. Two people are in line, and 77 come barrelling through to join them. This is unacceptable and flat out rude! I think the biggest thing people can think about is “how would this make me feel?”…
I consider that line jumping. I do see your point that it is a waste of time for the whole family to wait in the long line together but what happens if everyone in the line did that? We have a just potty trained 3 year old so we haven’t been to the parks to experience waiting in line when he suddenly has to go but in the past we only get in line when everyone is ready to get in line. If someone is using the restroom we wait for them. If someone forgot something and goes back to get it we wait for them. It is annoying getting in line together only to have time and time again people push past us b/c they weren’t with their party originally.
I do not think “line-jumping” is as widespread in the World as local amusement parks like say Great Adventure. Those parks on popular rides have even added security to watch out for that.
I do have a problem with the keep one in line and have the others get a call when they are near the front. However I also have a caveat to that….if the line is in plain view of the outside (meaning there is not an inside queue) I have no problem. Being that most Disney lines do end up inside though that is an issue. Why should I have to wait in line with myself and my teenagers (I have a 4 and 6 year old so this is a what-if) just because they CAN handle being in a line.
You teach your children patience, let them color, them play with your phone…there are many things to do and All Ears has had articles about what to do in long lines.
So my feeling…..NO….I do not like it, again though, with a caveat.
I am fortunate enough that I get to go to Disney 4-5 times a year for the past 12 years. I have a son with Asperger’s Syndrome. But, I never once used his special needs to get a “free pass”. Why? Because I saw plenty of people who didn’t need it use them just for the benefit of jumping the lines. We learned to be efficient with the old FastPass system and only went during down times. With huge crowds, Disney would not be fun for us. Compound that with any form of line jumping, including someone holding a place, is extremely irksome. Watching tweens and teens jumping the line to meet up with a parent (who may or may not be there) is the worst. The only situation where it doesn’t bother me at all is when the child is 3 and under. I can see the “magic” in their eyes when meeting that beloved character.
Hi Kristin,
We don’t have kids, but we’ve traveled several times to WDW with our nieces and nephew (four of them all together). When there was a long line for something they were told, if this is what you want to do, you’ll have to wait in line. We waited for Rock N Roller Coaster. It stated 30 mins. but after the 30 mins. passed, they didn’t want to wait anymore, so we left the line.
If the wait is hours long, I think most folks can excuse a bathroom break because it’s a couple of minutes. However, I believe having the rest of your party go do other things for hours instead of waiting is unfair. The fact is nobody likes to wait in a long line. What if someone is traveling alone? Clearly they’d have to wait the whole time if they wanted to attend the attraction. Why is their time not as valuable?
Scott
When lines are that long, maybe Disney should implement an official “place holder” system, to designate one family member who receives some kind of pass for the rest of his/her family, who then reunite later, just to make it feel more “OK”. It has to be better than entire families with melting-down kids being unhappy in a 4-hour line. Of course, that’s what Fastpass is, essentially, so I don’t know if another system would fly.
Years ago, my DH and I were waiting in the “tunnel” in a long line under Space Mountain. A person ahead of us was motioning to other family members behind us to come and join him farther ahead in line by yelling to them, “Just say ‘excuse me'” multiple times, to instruct them on how to cut in line “courteously.” We were incensed. To this day when we stand in a Disney line, we still say that to each other: “Just say ‘excuse me,'” whenever we see someone trying to catch up with other members of their party.
One place it happens constantly is the beginning of the TSMM line. It’s completely infuriating to be officially in line and have a constant stream of people cutting past you in that initial hallway to catch up with their parties. Every time I’ve done the standby line there, I’ve exchanged knowing, frustrated looks with the other guests around me when that happens. I’m surprised it never came to fisticuffs!
If my reaction is anywhere near typical, I’d say Disney should figure out how to prevent this!
I have been trying to search for how Disney does define line jumping. I have not seen any thing official on there site. I have however found other sites that would say that any advancement in line from someone is line jumping. I had just experience something like most describe. I was in line for a star wars meet and greet. There was a man in front of me talking on the phone and telling his group that he was getting closer. Then 17 people did show up to get in his line. He then got out of line and called someone else and they told him they were like 20 minutes away for the other meet and greet and then he told his group he was going in an new line.
This did not sit well with myself or any other the other guest in line. When we got to the cast member we explained what happened. all he did was laugh it off and say, “what can you do?” This made the situation worse. It was like the cast member did not want to get involved at all. I would have liked to have security come out and explain what the line policy is. Since they were going into different lines at once to save the spot for 17 people. I asked the cast member what the line jumping policy was and he did not know. After the meet and greet was over. I went to a Guest Experience booth that was near by. I explained the situation to them. All he could say was, “sorry that happened to you”. I again asked what the policy was and he did not know either. He took down no notes and made no attempt to find out. This made me more upset. So I got back and called a customer service line and they told me to email my concern. Which I did and I got back a auto email saying we will look into the situation. That has been a full week and I did follow up again on the same email with no response. At this point I am just very frustrated as to how Disney handles any customer service. Every other time I ever had any issue with Disney they go out of the way to fix it. However, line jumping seems to be something Disney does not want to be involved in at all.