Waterpark etiquette ???

[kaytieeldr]

They also allow coolers, including ones with wheels, noting no cooler storage is available. This would imply guest are expect to store them somewhere else.

To me, that "somewhere else" means wherever the party locates themselves for their stay. Given that even the really large, rolling coolers are permitted - are even the large lockers big enough? Seems to me the only place for these coolers IS at one's chair.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yep, end of story. If you put your stuff on the chair then its spoken for.

I remember one year we had our stuff on our chairs. The family in the chairs next to ours didn't have enough chairs for their whole group so they kept sitting on our stuff with their wet suits on. We could see them from the swimming area. So I kept running over to tell them to get off my belongings and they acted like it was no big deal. Hey I don't know you, how about keeping your cooties to yourself!!

Wait, I think I can top this.

I had arrived at Typhoon Lagoon very early one day, found a lounge chair in a shaded area, set up my "stuff", and headed off for the slides, Shark's Reef, etc.

When I got back, my chair was untouched but was now surrounded by a large group. Fine. No problem. Until they started CHANGING THE BABY'S DIAPER ON MY LOUNGE CHAIR!!!! Now, I realize I'm short and wasn't using the very foot of the chair but eewwwwwwww! Where's the 'barf' smiley when you need one?

 

[kaytieeldr]

There are ppl who get stuck standing to eat or sitting on the ground(I have been that person) while many a chair hold up a towel or a lone shoe for a length of time.

I don't have any idea about standing to eat - I would expect that there is seating in the eating areas and that this seating would be being used BY people eating, and that unfortunately sometimes, like lunch, more people choose to eat that there is seating for.

But I'm not sure I see the problem with sitting on the 'ground' at a water park. Much of it is sand, no? It's like going to the beach?

 

[kaytieeldr]

I'm actually surprised by so many responses saying chair saving is okay at the water parks, when pound for pound on the resort & cruise boards you see fairly overwhelming support of the etiquette of not chair/table hogging at pools. Curious.

Not really curious at all. When someone gets up at 6 AM on a cruise and reserves a chair (or six) on a cruise ship, they then go off and do any number of other things - back to bed, spa, gym, breakfast, activities - in other words, non-pool related actions and expect the chair to be available for them some time later in the day. Same thing when someone puts towels on some lounge chairs or all the chairs at a table at Stormalong Bay, then goes back to bed or heads over to Epcot for a few hours with the intention of returning to the Beach Club, and the pool, at 11 or 12.

It's not the same as finding a chair (or chairs, if there's more than one of you) at a water park then staying in the water park but leaving the chair to go enjoy the features OF the water park.

Does Disney genuinely not provide enough seating for the number of Guests they allow in - and this needs to include sand space, not just lounge chairs? Or do Guests only choose to walk a certain distance in a certain direction and decide "oh well, I haven't seen any empty chairs so far, I'll just usurp that one"?

 

[kaytieeldr]

Lounge chairs are for resting...I don't think your towels need to rest for an hour+ while you are off going down slides.

Lockers are for storing...that is where things you don't need during the day go.

Items left on a lounge chair unattended should be considered "lost" and turned in to guest relation's lost & found box.

If someone came up to me and questioned where there stuff was I'd just say that there wasn't anything there when I got there

Did you mean you'd say there wasn't anything there when you got back there from turning the stuff that had been there into lost & found?

 

[kaytieeldr]

How hard is it to put your stuff in a locker? Then when you want to sit, you find an available chair. When you go on a slide, you leave your chair open for others. If everyone did that, there would be plenty of chairs for you to come back to at any given moment. Then you just take your stuff back out of your locker and everyone enjoys their day.

But nope it's all about "mine mine mine" and "staking claims".

Um, well, logistically? The lockers are at the front of the park, the slides are at the back of the park, and the chairs are all around the park.

So, let's see.
Put stuff in locker.
Find chair and sit.
Give up chair to go on slide.
Leave slide, proceed to front of park (ignore stinging sensation of water in eyes).
Access locker, get towel, use towel.
Put wet (eww) towel back in locker.
Find chair and sit.
Give up chair to go in wave pool.
Swim.
Exit.
Proceed to front of park (again ignore stinging sensation...)
Access locker, get damp (ewww) towel, use towel as well as possible.
Put wetter (ugh) towel back in locker.
Find chair and sit.
Give up chair to enjoy Lazy River...

 

[torsie24]

I was kind of figuring I could do without a towel....

Until leaving time that is, I thought I'd be plenty warm enough to not mind being damp, as we're really just planning on going and doing all the slides then haeding out, surely it'll be more relaxing to lay by the AKL pool than at TL/BB....

 

[kaytieeldr]

If I were to get to Typhoon Lagoon early, and set our stuff out on a couple of chairs, then walk over to Downtown Disney for several hours with the idea we would enjoy the waterpark for the late afternoon, would that be right?

No, for two reasons.
One, you would not be IN the park, enjoying its attractions, returning to the chairs in a reasonable time - and yes, 45 minutes or an hour (sometimes more) IS reasonable).
Two, Disney provides no safe means for Guests to walk between Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

Lounge chairs are for resting...I don't think your towels need to rest for an hour+ while you are off going down slides.

Lockers are for storing...that is where things you don't need during the day go.

Items left on a lounge chair unattended should be considered "lost" and turned in to guest relation's lost & found box.

If someone came up to me and questioned where there stuff was I'd just say that there wasn't anything there when I got there

Are you saying then then the proper Etiquette in this situation is to knowingly turn the lost items in to lost and found and then lie about the fact that you did so?

 

[kaytieeldr]

No, but at the same time... the scarcity of chairs just shows

I don't believe there is a scarcity of chairs. I believe there may have been a lack of the style of chairs the usurpers desired in the area in which the OP's chairs were located - but as has been stated in other posts, Disney does provide "chair" chairs in great quantity and can truck in chairs when necessary

 

[kaytieeldr]

What exactly is the difference between someone claiming a lounge chair for the entire day, never intending to lounge in it for that time and someone who decides to claim a table in the food area even if they intend to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at it?

Well, heck - I never intend to be in my hotel room, or even at my hotel, twenty-four hours a day even though that's what I'm paying for - which makes it more comparable and relevant to the water park chair issue, given that the water park and its features are being paid in advance as well unlike a restaurant where one pays per service - but I certainly don't expect anybody else to be using my room just because I'm not in it at the moment.

 

[mattsdragon]

Um, well, logistically? The lockers are at the front of the park, the slides are at the back of the park, and the chairs are all around the park.

So, let's see.
Put stuff in locker.
Find chair and sit.
Give up chair to go on slide.
Leave slide, proceed to front of park (ignore stinging sensation of water in eyes).
Access locker, get towel, use towel.
Put wet (eww) towel back in locker.
Find chair and sit.
Give up chair to go in wave pool.
Swim.
Exit.
Proceed to front of park (again ignore stinging sensation...)
Access locker, get damp (ewww) towel, use towel as well as possible.
Put wetter (ugh) towel back in locker.
Find chair and sit.
Give up chair to enjoy Lazy River...

Drama Queen much?

As I've stated multiple times throughout this thread, I don't really have an opinion one way or another in the Great Chair Debate, other than it is ridiculously long and people seem to think they are somehow going to convince others that their belief is, in fact, the one that directly reflects Walt Disney's vision of the world.

However, this line made me spit coffee out of my mouth because it was so trifling. I had to read the rest of your other posts in order to stop the belly laughing.

If your eyes sting so badly after a trip down a waterslide, perhaps you should wear goggles, because you clearly have overly sensitive eyes. Maybe a trip to the opthamologist before visiting the parks is in order. Otherwise, gimme a break, please.

We've been to both water parks, and when we want to lounge, we go on the lazy river for a while. No chair needed. And no towel either, we air dry until it's time to change and go home.

 

[webstah]

No, for two reasons.
One, you would not be IN the park, enjoying its attractions, returning to the chairs in a reasonable time - and yes, 45 minutes or an hour (sometimes more) IS reasonable).
Two, Disney provides no safe means for Guests to walk between Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney.

But Katieelder,
How is anyone to know that the people who left their stuff in the chair didn't do just that? I have seen families walking along the road many times when on a bus to a park, so whether or not Disney provides a safe way to do it doesn't mean someone won't.
My point is that no one knows how long anyone has been away from their chair. And if they are saving the chair with a towel, which MANY people bring from the hotel instead of paying to rent one, who is to say that they just didn't leave for the day, leaving their towel behind for someone else to pick up? This behavior is something I've seen time and time again at the resort pools. People are done swimming and can't be bothered to bring their towel to the towel return bin.
We personally don't bring towels, and don't rent them.
We also don't use the chairs around the water park, other than ones near the QS joints when we eat.
When we're about done for the day, everyone gets out of the water, and dries off in the sun.
We also are there for the water park features themselves. If we want to spend a day lounging in the sun, we can walk to the resort pool quicker than we can catch a bus to a water park.

 

[sammielynn]

All of this almost makes me scared to go to the water parks.

 

[DisneyDayTripper]

All of this almost makes me scared to go to the water parks.

It's such a silly argument that we shouldn't even be having...seriously people...respect others and leave their stuff alone!

Also, the people who can't find a seat at a waterpark are most likely the same people who whine about there not being fast passes for Toy Story Mania when they stroll into the park at 1:00 o'clock...imagine that...the early bird gets the worm! Everyone knows that getting to the parks at rope drop or soon after is an added benefit because it is less crowded and what not, why would a water park be any different?

DW and I have been to the water parks several times and have never had anyone mess with our stuff. If someone had messed with our stuff like in this case I would have just found a CM and had them deal with it because I would have lost my cool with the people.

 

[Lexie]

Are you saying then then the proper Etiquette in this situation is to knowingly turn the lost items in to lost and found and then lie about the fact that you did so?

As far as I'd be able to tell someone just walked off and forgot their stuff, thus it be lost to them and found by me...from my perspective at least.

 

[Lexie]

It's such a silly argument that we shouldn't even be having...seriously people...respect others and leave their stuff alone!

Or maybe people need to learn to share...didn't your parents teach you how to do that when you were like 1 year old??

 

[Lexie]

I too enjoy debate and logic.

How about...Disney doesn't promise a chair. But Disney does commit to "magic", at least for magical gatherings (gatherings that are magical). Magic is certainly in the eye of the beholder. I (the beholder) consider having a chair for the day to be one of the most magical things that could happen at a Disney waterpark. Therefore, Disney promises me a chair and it is my duty to procure one and guard it.

Maybe the Disney Magic will just open a chair up when there are none to be found because nearly all the chairs of towels on them. I might have to assist the Magic by getting a CM to clean up all these towels so I can lay out for a 30 minute nap

 

[Lexie]

I find it interesting that everyone on here that complains about people having a sense of entitlement are the ones who believe it's ok to claim chairs as their own for the day. THAT is the sense of entitlement... not the people who just want to sit in a chair for 10 or 15 minutes and take a break.

I don't feel like it's is entitlement for me to want a chair available in the middle of the day for a 15 minute rest... I'm leaving that chair available to the other 15,000 guests to use for 9+ hours in a 10 hour stay... A screwy sense of entitlement is when someone assumes the chair is theirs and no one has the right to use it other than them.

I was brought up in a family where sharing was a good thing.

SOME ( not all ) of the people of the "get there early" and you won't have a problem line of thinking are sounding like the seagulls in Finding Nemo... "Mine, Mine, Mine"

Preach it

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

As far as I'd be able to tell someone just walked off and forgot their stuff, thus it be lost to them and found by me...from my perspective at least.

It's always nice to twist perspective to make things fit. I get that you are trying to say now that you would find their "lost stuff" But I am asking about what you said initially....

You would find the chairs with someones personal things on them, "take" those things to lost and found and then lie saying that there wasn't anything there when you got there when they came back and asked about it?

Is this some sort of they wronged you so you will wrong them etiquette?

I will quote you again in case I read it wrong.... Maybe the wink at the end is throwing my "perspective" off

Items left on a lounge chair unattended should be considered "lost" and turned in to guest relation's lost & found box.

If someone came up to me and questioned where there stuff was I'd just say that there wasn't anything there when I got there