Waterpark etiquette ???

[MNWDWMANIAC]

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??

yes and they also taught me not to lie

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

 

[skier_pete]

I love this thread....how does a day go by at the water parks without massive brawls amongst visitors.

Look folks...this thread is about etiquette...and you are never going to get total harmony and agreement, but let's pose a couple of questions. Understand these examples are really related, but just being used to show examples of etiquette:

1) If I am sitting at a restaurant with my family, is it OK for you to walk by my table, and take food off of my plate to eat? I'm guessing most of you would probably say No...well why not? Well, that food is in my possession, I supposed, but it is out in public, why not take it?

2) If I am at McDonald's alone with my DD5, and she needs to go to the bathroom, so I leave my Table to take her to the bathroom...tell someone on staff please don't throw away my food...what stops you from getting out of line and eating my meal that I left at the Table? Again, it's simply not acceptable behavior.

3) If I am at my resort, and I head to the pool and accidentally leave my room door ajar, does that make it OK for you to go into my room, use the bathroom, watch some TV, have a snack from the fridge? I would hope most people would agree this would be pretty rude. Bad etiquette, or is it tresspassing?

The point I am trying to make is: etiquette is not about what is legal or moral, but more what is considered generally acceptable behavior.

A lot of the agrument of why it is OK to take someones' chair that has their stuff on it is...well, people hog more chairs than they need or hog them for too long.

So, can we all agree that one piece of water park / pool etiquette is this:
"When entering the park and staking chairs, I will only stake out the minimum # of chairs that you need for your party. When I no longer need the chair, I will remove my stuff and give others access to it." Is this right? I think most would agree.

So, a second piece of etiquette, the one in contention, is: "If I place my stuff on this chair at the pool / waterpark, I should find when I return sometime later that my stuff will still be there and I will have access to the chair."

The argument I see primarily against this is that since people don't follow the first rule of etiquette - it invalidates the second rule of etiquette. But here's the thing with etiquette...following etiquette is irrelavant to whether other people follow etiquette...therefore, whether their stuff has been sitting there 5 minutes or 5 hours, if you move their stuff to take their seats, this is "bad etiquette", regardless of how their etiquette is. If someone is talking on their cell phone in the movie theatre (bad etiquette), that doesn't mean it is then OK for you to start yelling at them and throwing things (also bad etiquette).

As usual, I ramble on too long, so I'll stop here.

SkierPete

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

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

That makes sense, I can see them being happy to move towels for you.

What I'd like to really know is what response would be given by the CM when you ask them to move someones cooler or shirts etc that clearly indicate they might be back... be it 5 minutes or an hour from now.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

I love this thread....how does a day go by at the water parks without massive brawls amongst visitors.

Look folks...this thread is about etiquette...and you are never going to get total harmony and agreement, but let's pose a couple of questions. Understand these examples are really related, but just being used to show examples of etiquette:

1) If I am sitting at a restaurant with my family, is it OK for you to walk by my table, and take food off of my plate to eat? I'm guessing most of you would probably say No...well why not? Well, that food is in my possession, I supposed, but it is out in public, why not take it?

2) If I am at McDonald's alone with my DD5, and she needs to go to the bathroom, so I leave my Table to take her to the bathroom...tell someone on staff please don't throw away my food...what stops you from getting out of line and eating my meal that I left at the Table? Again, it's simply not acceptable behavior.

3) If I am at my resort, and I head to the pool and accidentally leave my room door ajar, does that make it OK for you to go into my room, use the bathroom, watch some TV, have a snack from the fridge? I would hope most people would agree this would be pretty rude. Bad etiquette, or is it tresspassing?

The point I am trying to make is: etiquette is not about what is legal or moral, but more what is considered generally acceptable behavior.

A lot of the agrument of why it is OK to take someones' chair that has their stuff on it is...well, people hog more chairs than they need or hog them for too long.

So, can we all agree that one piece of water park / pool etiquette is this:
"When entering the park and staking chairs, I will only stake out the minimum # of chairs that you need for your party. When I no longer need the chair, I will remove my stuff and give others access to it." Is this right? I think most would agree.

So, a second piece of etiquette, the one in contention, is: "If I place my stuff on this chair at the pool / waterpark, I should find when I return sometime later that my stuff will still be there and I will have access to the chair."

The argument I see primarily against this is that since people don't follow the first rule of etiquette - it invalidates the second rule of etiquette. But here's the thing with etiquette...following etiquette is irrelavant to whether other people follow etiquette...therefore, whether their stuff has been sitting there 5 minutes or 5 hours, if you move their stuff to take their seats, this is "bad etiquette", regardless of how their etiquette is. If someone is talking on their cell phone in the movie theatre (bad etiquette), that doesn't mean it is then OK for you to start yelling at them and throwing things (also bad etiquette).

As usual, I ramble on too long, so I'll stop here.

SkierPete

What I really want to know is what is the etiquette for rambling? Seems I've been doing quite a bit myself lol.

 

[MusiqChic99]

I dont think it's cool to leave your stuff in a seat that you aren't going to occupy for 45 minutes. 5 minutes to go get a drink...maybe but still not a cool idea. I would be kinda worried about leaving my stuff anywhere in the open like that. I'm surprised your stuff was only just moved.

Saying that...I dont think it's cool that someone moved your stuff either. If was there and saw tons of chairs with stuff but no people I would be discouraged but NEVER would I move the stuff.

 

[momejay]

I don't think that anyone has the right to move another's belongings. That being said, I wouldn't want a strange big wet fanny parked on my towel either. I have been known to move a towel so I can sit at the foot of a lounger to watch a child, but if the towel's owner returned I would have moved instantly. Maybe the parks should rent chairs for the day & we could put little tags on each chair in the morning?
I hate going to a water park first thing in the morning. We usually show up after lunch due to a late night in a park. We have never had a place to sit down or expected one.
My mom used a wheel chair & we had our towels hanging from it & our cooler sitting in it most of the time. We even had her personal wheelchair moved while she was getting her feet wet. (She doesn't walk very good & it took about 10-15 minutes to walk her to the water & back.) Our belongings were set down where the chair was parked, but the wheelchair was missing! I had to get a CM to help find the lost wheelchair. Noone in the area would allow her to sit down for a few minutes until her chair was found.
I don't understand why we can't all just get along?

 

[DisneyDayTripper]

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??

Yep, I know how to share...I'd gladly share with them advice on how to show up to a park early or.....continue walking until they found a spot. DW and I were at TL on a very busy day as well and were on the lazy river and saw MANY hidden spots that were out of the way where there were 20+ open seats and only 2 people in the entire area. By showing up late you for forfeit your right to complain about there not being a seat directly in front of the wave pool or in the shade (although these spots we saw were in a very shady place).

Just consider it as a great opportunity to see all of the water park as you walk around looking for a spot at 1:00 P.M.....

 

[Bullseye]

I don't know about Tour Guide Mike or RideMax, but I know the Unofficial Guide's touring plan for the water parks does NOT include repeated trips to one's locker throughout the day between rides, or finding a new chair after each ride segment
In fact, it only recommends finding chairs once - on arrival

Kaytieeldr, glad to see you've chimed in, you're usually a voice of reason on these boards.

I was actually thinking it would be total chaos by the locker area (which it normally is anyway) if everyone had to always go back to the lockers for everything they needed.

 

[VAN]

I did not read through all of the posts, just the last few. Chiming in.

Pool behavior. It is NOT okay to put towels on chairs early in the day, go to the parks, and expect your chairs to still be available when you return in the afternoon. It is okay to put your towels on chairs, take a swim, get something from the pool snack bar, and expect that your possessions will still be on the chair. In other words, if you are using the pool and/or in the pool area you should expect that your items will remain untouched. If you are sitting there, all the chairs are taken, people are still arriving looking for seating, and you notice that there has been no activity at the next chairs for a lengthy period of time - I think it is perfectly acceptable to bring this to a CM's attention. I would expect that THEY would recognize the items as "abandoned" and remove them to make room for others who ARE present at the pool.

No way would I touch someone's belongings ... they could claim something valuable was there and that I stole it!

Water Park behavior. It is perfectly acceptable to arrive early to get the seating you desire. Try to take only the seating you and your family needs (for sitting - the cooler does not need a chair). Then enjoy the park. NO ONE should touch your items! If you choose to arrive late, expect to wander the park looking for unoccupied (by someone or their possessions) chairs. As mentioned before, you may be stuck in an out-of-the-way area. You may also need to collect a chair here, a chair there, etc in order to get the number you need. This is your perogative to arrive late .... just don't expect that someone else should accomodate you by giving up their chairs or think that you can move someone's items. You chose to arrive late and those are the consequences.

Personally, we choose to arrive early and will find some chairs that are in the out of the way areas. We then go off to enjoy the rides. When I am at the chairs (reading, eating, etc), I don't particularly like to have people around me elbow-to-elbow; that is why I try to avoid the more populated sections near the wave pool.

The first time we went to TL, we arrive mid-day. No chairs. We just found a place to put our cooler, put our stuff on top, and left to enjoy a couple of rides. We did not feel bad that others didn't offer us their chairs - the park was crowded and we arrived late! As the afternoon wore on, people would leave the park and vacate their chairs.

We try to teach our children that the world does not revolve around them. I think this is a good lesson.

 

[Lexie]

For all anyone knows, someone was an ****** and put their stuff on 10 chairs and went to Epcot all day then came back to get their stuff, just because they wanted to screw with people.

 

[Bullseye]

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?

Yep, I know how to share...I'd gladly share with them advice on how to show up to a park early or.....continue walking until they found a spot. DW and I were at TL on a very busy day as well and were on the lazy river and saw MANY hidden spots that were out of the way where there were 20+ open seats and only 2 people in the entire area. By showing up late you for forfeit your right to complain about there not being a seat directly in front of the wave pool or in the shade (although these spots we saw were in a very shady place).

Just consider it as a great opportunity to see all of the water park as you walk around looking for a spot at 1:00 P.M.....

DDT, Go Man Go! How true it is!

We generally don't arrive until around noon, yet we still find seats in reasonable proximity to the prime areas, albeit they are not loungers. But then, an amazing thing happens- People decide to leave thus vacating their loungers and then we, being resourceful , grab those loungers and vacate our chairs. Then soon someone arrives and grabs those vacant chairs we were in previously. And it's all fair and harmonious.

And you're right there are always chairs in other areas of the park, by crushing gusher, there is a grove of loungers that are usually empty.

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

For all anyone knows, someone was an ****** and put their stuff on 10 chairs and went to Epcot all day then came back to get their stuff, just because they wanted to screw with people.

Sorta like taking someones stuff to lost and found and then pretending to not know anything about said stuff when they return to find their stuff missing

 

[paintnolish]

I am all for claiming chairs. I don't claim parade spots, I don't pool hop, and I don't reuse mugs. However, I do let my dcs sit at a CS table while I order. So there!

 

[MNWDWMANIAC]

I am all for claiming chairs. I don't claim parade spots, I don't pool hop, and I don't reuse mugs. However, I do let my dcs sit at a CS table while I order. So there!

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

I think people forget to be nice at Disney. Or maybe the FL heat gets to them.

While at the Hampton Inn in Daytona my daughter and I each had a beach chair. She mostly sat in the sand so I handed the chair to someone else.
Simple. Everyone happy.

 

[finnster77]

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??

..........said the grasshopper to the ant......

 

[Bullseye]

For all anyone knows, someone was an ****** and put their stuff on 10 chairs and went to Epcot all day then came back to get their stuff, just because they wanted to screw with people.

Sorta like taking someones stuff to lost and found and then pretending to not know anything about said stuff when they return to find their stuff missing

ZIIIING, Nice Retort Maniac ....because that really happens in the real world. "Honey lets go to the waterpark (thus using one of our waterpark fun admissions) and put our stuff on 10 chairs and then we'll head out to Epcot for the day because we'll be able to make some people angry by occupying those chairs. Sounds like a plan!" :

 

[Mom2PrincessK]

I would not move someone's personal items from a chair....but I think people that leave their stuff while they go to do the pool or rides are extremely rude and inconsiderate - more so than the ones that move stuff. (I personally think both actions are rude so I wouldn't do either).

You look around at any given time and half the chairs are empty - EXCEPT for the personal items "saving" the chair....why can't people use the chair when they need it, and leave it for others when they are not in it? If everyone did this there would be a chair when everyone needed it.

You are NOT renting the chair for the day (if Disney wanted you to have the chair all day they would rent them to you) and it is not your right to retain the spot if you are not using it.

It was extremely annoying at the resort pools - I would say 75% of the chairs had resort towels (not personal items) hanging on chairs on our last trip - there weren't even that many people in the pool..it was obvious people just left them on the chair. How are you to know if that is the case? Sorry - but a resort towel is not saving your chair and I would move it and sit there IF there is not an chair with nothing on it.

 

[Bullseye]

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??

..........said the grasshopper to the ant......

very cryptic oooooh but I get it the grasshopper is like Hopper who just wanted the ants to give him their waterpark chairs or he would take the waterpark chairs from them!! Am I right? Am I right?

finnster, you are wise

 

[paintnolish]

ZIIIING, Nice Retort Maniac ....because that really happens in the real world. "Honey lets go to the waterpark (thus using one of our waterpark fun admissions) and put our stuff on 10 chairs and then we'll head out to Epcot for the day because we'll be able to make some people angry by occupying those chairs. Sounds like a plan!" :

Really. Is that a huge problem? If that is someone's idea of fun (when they are spending how much on a vacation?!?), maybe they need those chairs a little more than I do!