Saving places / re-entering the line

[LuminousAphid]

I really don't mind most inconveniences I have experienced at parks, including long lines. I willingly paid to get into the place knowing other people would do the same, so I really can't be angry about having to wait my turn.

 

The main exception to this comes when the inevitable teenager runs up to the queue and ducks under, skipping everyone who has been patiently waiting and shuffling into line right behind their friends. Whenever I have challenged any of these people, if they even stop or pay attention, they always claim, "I was waiting the whole time but I just went to the bathroom!" Rarely have I ever seen someone actually get out of line and then come back, and frankly I don't believe it most of the time. This weekend when I was at a park, I witnessed quite a few people doing this, and even when they were confronted by security it seems they were given a pass and still pushed up near the front.

 

I am sort of conflicted over this; I know there are probably many instances where a person is in line and legitimately has to use the bathroom, and in that case I would not mind. But when I am near the end of a line and see someone walk up and cut up to their friends near the front, I can't help but get a bit annoyed and think, "What a punk, I wish the park would actually eject line-cutters."

 

What is your opinion on this? Have you ever used your friends to hold your place legitimately, or illegitimately?

 

And one more important question: WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THE RESTROOM BEFORE YOU GOT IN LINE?!?!

[Superbatboy]

There's no exceptions IMO, if you get out of line you lose your place plain and simple. If your party got in line without you, too bad.

 

If the line for a ride is 2hrs, everyone boarding should wait 2hrs unless you have a disability or fast lane etc;

[DoinItForTheFame]

Yet anther reason why we book VIP Tours... So we don't have to wait in line, because little things like this annoy the hell out of me.

 

Before we discovered VIP Tours though, I will admit... I have NEVER been in line for a roller coaster, when the line was so long I randomly ended up having to go to the bathroom while waiting. I'm smart enough to go to the bathroom (or at least try to) if I even remotely feel like I'm going to have to go, BEFORE getting in line for the ride.

 

Also, I don't belive about 100% of the people who use the "OMG, I like totally like had to like go to the bathroom and I'm like trying to like catch up to like my friends" line. I personally think it should be consider line jumping and they should be kicked out of the park for it.

 

Maybe that's just me. Maybe I'm being a little to harsh... but that's how I feel.

[Suspence1127]

Funny story:

 

Laff trakk had just opened. There was a 2 hour line. You can probably see where this is going already but I'll continue.

 

I had to use the bathroom really bad after about 45 minutes of waiting. We were still in the outdoor extended queue so I got out and went to the bathroom and ran back as fast as possible. I did the "excuse me" thing AND pointed to the people I was with so that people knew I was legit. Ride op lady comes up to me and starts talking about "how she isn't going to fall for one of these again". I tell her my group is down there. She says "oh yeah what are they wearing" so I describe exactly what they were wearing. She walks down to them and confirms that I am with them. Here's the kicker though: she refuses to let me go back and claims that "it will cause the line to be longer" here is the dumb part: each car holds 4 people. We were a group of 4. So the line literally had no effect on me being their or not. Eventually after she left all the smart humans in line let me get back to my group because they weren't complete idiots. Pretty funny story.

 

That is the problem though. Some people are actually going to the bathroom and not line jumping.

[mmkaycomputer]

Not sure if I've shared this story before here, but during a hot, semi-busy Disneyland day many years ago, we got into a huge line (60-75 min) for Splash Mountain, right behind two teenage girls ... who were joined 10 minutes later by three teenage boys they knew (grrr) ... and then again 15 minutes later by another handful teenagers (!) That was all it took for one of my friends to quietly duck out of line and seek out/notify park security (yes, she had to leave and re-enter the line just an annoying bathroom user, but the party behind us who knew what was happening had no problem with that).

 

Anyway, my friend returned five minutes later and didn't say anything. When we passed the guard at the entrance of the barn portion of the queue, my friend nodded to her and the guard nodded back, unbeknownst to the rotten teenagers in front of us. I thought it was weird that the guard didn't do anything right then and there ... until we got all the way to the loading station and encountered the cast member directing people into seating rows. Before the teens could tell her how many in their group, another cast member walked over, asked the whole group to come with him, took them past the logs, and led the now-angry kids down the exit hallway.

 

Not sure if that was the proper cast-member protocol then (or is now), but it was pretty damn awesome to witness at the time.

[dippindotsguy8]

As far as I know, almost every park considers "leaving and attempting to re-enter at the same point" line jumping. The challenge is in enforcement, because they don't want to staff "line police", and then you're basically relying on one guest's claims vs. another's.

[Superbatboy]

Speaking of Hersheypark....as loud and brash as this woman was, she had a point is my hero

 

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[Jew]

I'm all for it. I wish parks would manage the process better. Putting vending machines and having vendors in the queues, then not allowing someone to leave to use the restroom in a long line creates a no win situation.

[DILinator]

Personally, I've NEVER left a line to use a restroom, in 30+ years of going to amusement parks. If I get in line, and have to go, I wait it out. I know the rules. I Can't stand those who ignore them, and push by for whatever reason: valid or not...

[azza29]

I've never had a problem with someone catching up to their group, although I'm sure plenty of people use that excuse just to cut the line. What I don't really agree with is when a group catches up to one person who's been waiting in line for them, that's a little unfair on everyone else.

 

Easiest solution is to just use whatever "skip the line" option is available, always worth the money.

[Purplepills]

It doesn't really bother me tbh if its one person. If a group of 2 or 3 push past it annoys me but then I don't ever say anything anyway. Realistically, one person pushing to see their friends is going to make NO difference to you at all. If 10 people all by themselves pushed in then I guess it could make the line longer.

 

The only place I've ever been where we've done it is Paultons Park, where Peppa Pig world is. So, its aimed at small kids, and leaving the line for the bathroom then getting back in was basically accepted by all because everyone there understood your two year old can't hold it in.

[boldikus]

Hate line jumpers. If you see its a long line, go to the bathroom first. Otherwise you should have a disability pass or flash pass. Most times its kids who are bullsh!tting. I have witnessed parents with an entire group of 7-8 kids in tow skipping an entire line. Ive also witnessed people get caught and thrown out of line. I like the idea of publicly shaming them by chanting "LINE CUTTERS! LINE CUTTERS!" People have a mob mentality most of the time and would likely join in. Can we collectively make this a thing??

[robbalvey]

There's no exceptions IMO, if you get out of line you lose your place plain and simple. If your party got in line without you, too bad. If the line for a ride is 2hrs, everyone boarding should wait 2hrs

 

This is my feeling as well. Zero tolerance. If you, your kids, or someone in your group needs to go to the bathroom, take care of business BEFORE you get in line. If some of your party didn't get in line with you, organize yourselves BEFORE you get in line. If you have a small bladder and you bought a drink while in line and then you all-of-a-sudden need to go, you're an idiot, you shouldn't have bought a drink. If you get out of line to go to the bathroom, you shouldn't be allowed to get back in line and annoy everyone else.

 

This is how it should be EVERYWHERE, not just a theme parks.

 

But again, I hate most people and this is exactly why I don't go to parks on busy days or if I have to, I always get whatever their virtual queue system is. And if a park doesn't have a virtual queue system, I don't go to that park on a busy day.

Edited October 29, 2015 by robbalvey

[PixelRush]

If a person is in a line in the first place with a group, and asks you to save their spot (while the line is still moving), that's fine. But if two or three person group leaves together, absolutely not.

[rolercstrluvr]

I absolutely cannot tolerate line jumpers at all wether they're small, big, tall, short, fat or skinny. On a normal day when it's not crowded, i'll let it slide. But if it's like memorial day weekend or 4th of July, there is no way it's gonna happen on my watch.

[michaellynn4]

Generally, I also hate line cutters. I tend to be more sympathetic to a parent with a little kid who needs to leave the line for a minute, but besides that, I don't like it.

 

I think it should be established, though, as it has in past conversations about this topic on these forums, that if you witness line cutting, the ONLY thing you should do is inform a park employee / security guard of the matter. No grabbing the rails to prevent them from passing, no loud arguments with offending parties, no chants for the purpose of public shaming, no confrontation of any kind. It is the employees' responsibility and ONLY theirs to appropriately handle the situation. Any vigilante-style efforts could cause things to unnecessarily escalate, further ruining the experience of the surrounding guests. At that point, you're no worse than the line cutters.

[Hilltopper39]

I've seen people at Disney relieve themselves in the bushes while waiting in line (they were probably foreigners with ways different than our own) so I wouldn't encourage that, but usually if it's a kid and the parent exits the line with them and they are courteous about it then it's not a big deal to me. If it's a large group re-entering the line and they're obnoxious about it and their party is no where in sight then it's a different story. If you're in line for 2 hours you can generally tell who genuinely has a reason to get out and who is just trying to make their wait shorter.

 

At Disney I have seen people exit the line with kids to use the restroom then get issued a rider swap pass so they can just wait for the rest of their party to finish then take their ride or re-join their party at the loading station which seems like a reasonable solution for certain circumstances.

[coasterbill]

I agree with the consensus that you shouldn't be allowed to return to the line once you leave no matter what. The only exception I would make is for a historically long, opening day style line that greatly exceeds anything that would ever be considered normal.

 

For example, we waited (because we're idiots) 5 hours for Safari Off Road Adventure on its opening day. Security was letting people leave and go to the bathroom in that case or bring back good for the group but they were only letting one person from each group leave at a time so they didn't go ride other rides or abuse the privilege. In that case I thought it was appropriate and a nice gesture by the park.

[DJeXeL]

If you have a small bladder and you bought a drink while in line and then you all-of-a-sudden need to go, you're an idiot, you shouldn't have bought a drink. If you get out of line to go to the bathroom, you shouldn't be allowed to get back in line and annoy everyone else.

 

[Sythe]

I think it is perfectly fine if someone goes up to every group in line and asks "my group is ahead, can I go ahead of you please?" But when people just shove ahead of me I start to get annoyed. About people having to use the bathroom, I wouldn't really blame them all that much. With a lot of queue lines that I have seen, they don't look long but then after like 30 minutes it turns out to be way longer than you thought. In that kind of situation I would be fine with someone using the bathroom and coming back.

[robbalvey]

IAt Disney I have seen people exit the line with kids to use the restroom then get issued a rider swap pass so they can just wait for the rest of their party to finish then take their ride or re-join their party at the loading station which seems like a reasonable solution for certain circumstances.

See, I even think this shouldn't be allowed. First of all, if you're a parent and you've chosen to wait in a line that is so long that your child is going to have an "emergency" and needs to run to the bathroom, you're an idiot. You either don't know your kid well enough to know their bathroom habits to know if they can withstand the length of the line, or you're making them wait some ungodly amount of time which is totally unfair to the kid. BOTH of these things can be totally avoided, especially at Disney, and if this is the case, then yes, that person is a bad parent and a complete moron. The ONLY acceptable scenario, and fair to everyone else in line to me is the entire party leaves the line, and then gets back in line and the END OF THE LINE when they are done taking care of whatever personal business they needed to attend to.

 

And the idea of creating a special service to accommodate these stupid people, is even worse. Being able to re-join your party at the loading dock is just someone abusing the FastPass system, IMO. Every single person who comes to Disney has the option to get a FastPass. If you're not smart enough to be able to get them, I don't want to then be annoyed by you later while I'm patiently waiting in line with my kid because you're kid needs to pee. Then again, I wouldn't be because I'm smart enough to not be waiting in that stand-by line!

 

I seriously cannot think of a single example where I feel it would be "ok" for someone to exit a line and come back. Simply because attraction queues are not designed with that in mind, and in order to leave and return to your place in line, you basically have to annoy every single person that is behind you... TWICE!

 

And I'm honestly a little surprised that some people here would actually tolerate this, but then again, like I said before, I hate 99.9999% of humanity so I'm not tolerant at all to someone else's stupid needs for stupid reasons that could have totally been avoided in the first place.

Edited October 29, 2015 by robbalvey

[coneyislandchris]

I tend to be more sympathetic to a parent with a little kid who needs to leave the line for a minute

 

Pff. Same thing. I was at Great Adventure this past weekend with my 4-year-old son and just before being admitted to ride Houdini he told me "Daddy, I need to go bathroom". I ask him "Can you hold it or do you need to go right now?"

 

"Right now Daddy."

 

I take him out of line and head to the nearest bathroom (which wasn't as near as I would have hoped but thankfully no incidents). When we get back to the ride, the line had more than doubled in length. We sucked it up and got back in line at the back. I wasn't about to push our way through and use him as an excuse. That's lame. Yes it means more waiting, but it's more fair for everyone, and hopefully teaches the kid to let us know about his bathroom needs BEFORE getting in line rather than at the end of it. (We'll see on that front though.)

[coneyislandchris]

Or, what Robb said above. That too.

[AirMBTB]

The kid excuse always bugs me. "My kids are up there, BUDDY!!" I usually reply with: "Well, have them come back here then." It never goes over well.

 

I called out some line jumpers in one particularly bad situation at Kings Dominion a few years ago . Afterwards, a couple adults said "thanks, you did the right thing." I replied with "why am I the only adult saying anything?" They just gave me a stupid stare. People can be so spineless.

 

The right thing to do is let staff/security know, but they aren't always available; or the line jumpers go forward so far in the queue that you lose them. The security guys at KD didn't want to do anything about this group of kids, and it got to the point where I thought I was in danger leaving the park. The security guys were mad at me! I think they were afraid of the group as well. After such a backwards and messed up situation, I think carefully if I want to say anything anymore... and it shouldn't be that way.

[Midgetman82]

I see the bathroom problem happen pretty often in at Kentucky Kingdom. Some people feel like they can jump out, use the bathroom, and hop back in with their friends who saved their spot. Only twice have I ever seen others raise hell about it, but every other time people have been okay with just one person in a group of, say, 4+ people who do it. I'm not exactly for it, because I can't see why people can't stop to take breaks in between hopping on rides.

 

I did witness a line ejection for the first time the last time I was at the park. Two teenage girls cut a huge portion of the line at T3 and thought they would get away with it. Some time passes before we're all in the station, and I spot a security guy stationed on the exit platform who waited until the queue gates opened before traversing through the line and past me to confront the girls and escort them out.