Seven Dwarfs Loading - Bizarre Things

[BrianL]

I go solo all the time and the only ride I won't ride solo because I know they pair you up is TSMM, for some reason that ride just doesn't seem like one I'd want to ride with a stranger.

I have actually never been paird with someone on TSMM. They will always put me on alone. Actually, I think that rides more fun with someone to compete with!

 

[CAS239]

Really no different than a family entering a single rider line and getting split up, except on 7dmt you're just separated one row apart.

Disney could either fill every seat which would mean sometimes a child (or an adult) sits next to a stranger, or they leave some seats empty and make the line go slower. The latter would be the bigger issue so they fill every seat

 

[goofyernmost]

I know these lines get long and they need to move people along, etc. I get all of that, but I think Disney needs to rethink sitting people with strangers. I can see altercations and lawsuits coming out of this with just the right person. Does this kind of stuff happen frequently or did we just get "those people"?

Last time I was in Disney was right after this was built. The family went back to the hotel and I stayed for the rest of the party. I was in line for the ride and told them it was just me. I was sat with a kid about 5 years old who was scared out of his mind. I was trying to talk to him so he would not be so scared and his parents went ballistic because I am a stranger. I totally understood that. I apologized and told them I was just trying to help him not be scared. When the ride was over, we got off and right after you exit, his dad got about 6 inches from my face, dropped a 4 letter word several times and told me to find my own children to coddle.

My sister was in Disney last week (so rude, she went solo for 3 days) and had two awkward experiences on this ride. Both times while loading, she was placed on with a child she did not know.

First ride, child is about 7 - 9. Child kept turning around to see his parents in the row behind him and at some point, the child managed to hit his face on something. His mouth started bleeding. My sister had no idea what happened. She said it was after going through the mine, close to the end. Child starts crying. She looks over to ask him if he is okay and the parents from behind start yelling at my sister, "what did you do to him?" When the ride was over the mom was glaring at my sister and my sister told her she did not do anything to the boy, but he kept trying to turn around and he hurt himself. The mother was threatening to cause my sister bodily harm (whip her bottom, so to speak) and said she was going to call the cops on her. My sister asked her if she needed to use her phone. LOL Anyhow, the father pulled the mother away and that was the end of that.

Second ride, child between 10 - 12. My sister said she was talkative, lots of energy. She said the girl seemed real sweet, but after the last ordeal, she was hugging her side of the ride and not talking to her much. She said when they got off, a woman the girl called "aunt XXXX" got in my sister's face and asked her if she had something against xxxxxx people (listing an ethnicity/classification). My sister told her 'not at all' and asked the lady not to take it personal. My sister tried to explain about her experience earlier in the day and the woman was calling her some names. My sister just said, "I am sorry if I have offended you somehow, that was not my intent. Have a magical day" and she turned and walked away. This lady started following her around for about 10 minutes. My sister finally turned and looked at the woman and said, "can I help you with something?" and the other guest told her she was going to whip her (backside) and she was just trying to find the right place. My sister told her to "begone" or she will have security involved so they can escort her out of the park for harassment. The other guest got about 3 inches from my sister and said, "you better watch your back" and she walked away. A CM saw that one and asked my sister what was going on. She told the CM and said security was called in that situation, but my sister did not stick around to find out what happened. She had a ride to catch.

Wouldn't that whole problem not have existed if the parents had split up and one had the kid with them and the other parent rode with the "stranger". But, no lets blame that on Disney instead of poor parenting that allowed it to happen to begin with. Even if alone... the kid was scared by himself? But, hey lets just let him ride alone with his fears. Useless parents again blaming someone else for their failures.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

Yup. If a child younger than 7 is paired with a "stranger" (another single guest of adult age)
then the child is "riding with an adult."

But isn't part of the point of having a young child with an adult, so that the adult can help that child in case of an emergency? Maybe Disney should be telling Moms and Dads that, when they shove their child off on some unsuspecting adult.

 

[SaraVee]

I've ridden 7DMT as a solo rider. There was a father who was riding with his two children. He put the kids together in the row in front of us and then he sat next to me. All went fine, but I will say the seats on this ride are so close together that it can be a bit awkward to ride this one with a stranger.

 

[autismmom1]

We're a family of three: Me (a middle-aged woman), my husband (a middle-aged man) and 15 year-old son. My husband would always "take one for the team" on rides that required one of us to sit with a stranger, but when he was paired with a little girl, I switched places with him after we were sorted. We just felt it was awkward for a little girl to be riding with a strange man. Now we have an understanding that this is what to do when the situation arises...though my son has requested if the single rider is a good-looking teenage girl, I have to switch with HIM. Bahahaha!

 

[whiporee]

I don't think they should place strangers together at 7DMT or Splash. Those rides are too kid specific and the seats are too tight.

But if it were up to me, I'd get rid of single-rider all together. The amount of line loss wouldn't be significant, and it does create awkward situations. We're a family of five, so it's usually wife with one twin, older daughter with the other and me solo. But I'm pretty big, so whoever gets stuck with me can have an unpleasant time. Plus, if it's a young girl, I feel creepy. So I wish they'd just get rid of it all together.

 

[scrapquitler]

We travel as a family of 3, DH,myself and DS14. Now DS14 is extremely shy and would have a panic attack if he were seated next to a stranger, so he always sits with one of us, and the other parent rides solo, we usually switch who is solo. Sometimes on rides when one of us is alone, the other seat is empty, and sometimes it gets filled with a stranger. We haven't ever really thought anything of it. I have been seated next to a child, next to an adult male, and next to another female. I just usually say hello and sometimes I'll make small talk if the person talks back to me. But DH and I pretty much talk to everyone anyway. I actually don't think that a CM has ever seated a child next to my DH, but I probably just don't pay enough attention.

 

[karrit2000]

I'm usually a single rider. Worst is the dirty looks I've gotten from other guests when I'm placed to ride with their group. This usually has happened to me on Test Track. Some people don't realize that on the rides that have a single rider line that if they have an odd # or not the maximum vehicle occupancy in their group they will have strangers riding with them. I would rather not be seated with strangers but I understand why Disney does it to keep the ride queue moving along. And for some rides it's just totally unavoidable. I certainly wouldn't expect my own vehicle on Test track or my own boat on Pirates or FEA or the one in Mexico, but I don't like it when they overload the rows on the boats. On other rides sometimes it's just some CM on a power trip forcing strangers together when it isn't necessary. If they ever forced me to sit with a stranger in a Doombuggy you can be sure I'd be heading straight for guest relations. I don't think given that 7DMT is more geared for kids that they should be putting adult single riders with small children but they've been doing it that way since the ride opened. It isn't the CM's responsibility to make sure the child is with an adult known to them, that is definitely the responsibility of the child's parents or guardians. On the flip side the large groups that choose the single rider lines on rides that have them & expect to all get placed together usually get a rude awakening when the CM's tell them they can't & won't ride together.

 

[AngiTN]

That's flat out bizarre. Not only that it happens once but several times to the same family.
We go in a group of 3 often. So 1 of us does indeed in up odd man out, so to speak. Can't help it.
Guess what, DGD9, asks to be the odd one often. We let her pick and know she's perfectly safe. So she's ridden next to a stranger many times and never, not one time, has there been any type of incident. And when it's not her alone, it's DH or I. And still, no incidents, even when we've had kids seated with us.
I suspect our situation is way more common than the one your family encountered, even though it happened to your family several times.

 

[Amanda999]

... I go solo all the time and the only ride I won't ride solo because I know they pair you up is TSMM, for some reason that ride just doesn't seem like one I'd want to ride with a stranger.

Odd: I have 2 kids, and sometimes travel solo, so always ride as a solo on 7DMT and tsmm. I have never been sat with someone on tsmm. 60 or so times since it opened, always by myself.

 

[EdmondD]

One time on Everest I was single rider and got paired with an extremely attractive girl of 16, wearing not nearly enough clothing, also by herself (she had gone standby).

I was about 40 and know that this girl doesn't want me - what do the kids say these days? - creeping on her, so I smiled and we took our places and that was it.

We had a bit of a delay pulling out. Sat for a minute or two and then SHE strikes up a conversation. Very pleasant, generic stuff and she was quite the nice kid.

When the ride ends as we head out and the girl and I say farewell, the guy in front of me, about my age and who had been able to hear our entire conversation, is giving me looks of incredulity. Like, "I can't believe you were hitting on that young girl, you creep."

Oh well. Told my wife and she still makes jokes about the ride photo.

 

[FortForever]

I'm usually a single rider. Worst is the dirty looks I've gotten from other guests when I'm placed to ride with their group. This usually has happened to me on Test Track. Some people don't realize that on the rides that have a single rider line that if they have an odd # or not the maximum vehicle occupancy in their group they will have strangers riding with them.

Yep, had a family (or at least the wife/mom) extremely angry when they put me with her husband, behind her and her child. She was downright irate about it. "Where did you come from?" "Why are you sitting with my husband?" The entire ride she kept looking back and giving me the stink eye. Keep in mind, I'm an old, fat grandmother.

Kind of turned me off of doing single rider lines. I did them a lot up until that point.

 

[cel_disney]

I've ridden 7DMT as a solo rider. There was a father who was riding with his two children. He put the kids together in the row in front of us and then he sat next to me. All went fine, but I will say the seats on this ride are so close together that it can be a bit awkward to ride this one with a stranger.

I'm having a hard time with the perspective of the seats being close together - the seats on test track are even more snuggly without the curved molded space and there has been single rider inserts on that ride for years without complaints...

I think that every seat should be filled. The OPs reports are far from the norm.

(I am a mom of 7/10 year olds that have ridden alone and also I have sat with many strangers over the years! Most experiences have been very positive without many memories of awkward...I think I have more awkward memories riding in the AstroOrbiter Elevator!

 

[DisneyOma]

I know these lines get long and they need to move people along, etc. I get all of that, but I think Disney needs to rethink sitting people with strangers. I can see altercations and lawsuits coming out of this with just the right person. Does this kind of stuff happen frequently or did we just get "those people"?

Last time I was in Disney was right after this was built. The family went back to the hotel and I stayed for the rest of the party. I was in line for the ride and told them it was just me. I was sat with a kid about 5 years old who was scared out of his mind. I was trying to talk to him so he would not be so scared and his parents went ballistic because I am a stranger. I totally understood that. I apologized and told them I was just trying to help him not be scared. When the ride was over, we got off and right after you exit, his dad got about 6 inches from my face, dropped a 4 letter word several times and told me to find my own children to coddle.

My sister was in Disney last week (so rude, she went solo for 3 days) and had two awkward experiences on this ride. Both times while loading, she was placed on with a child she did not know.

First ride, child is about 7 - 9. Child kept turning around to see his parents in the row behind him and at some point, the child managed to hit his face on something. His mouth started bleeding. My sister had no idea what happened. She said it was after going through the mine, close to the end. Child starts crying. She looks over to ask him if he is okay and the parents from behind start yelling at my sister, "what did you do to him?" When the ride was over the mom was glaring at my sister and my sister told her she did not do anything to the boy, but he kept trying to turn around and he hurt himself. The mother was threatening to cause my sister bodily harm (whip her bottom, so to speak) and said she was going to call the cops on her. My sister asked her if she needed to use her phone. LOL Anyhow, the father pulled the mother away and that was the end of that.

Second ride, child between 10 - 12. My sister said she was talkative, lots of energy. She said the girl seemed real sweet, but after the last ordeal, she was hugging her side of the ride and not talking to her much. She said when they got off, a woman the girl called "aunt XXXX" got in my sister's face and asked her if she had something against xxxxxx people (listing an ethnicity/classification). My sister told her 'not at all' and asked the lady not to take it personal. My sister tried to explain about her experience earlier in the day and the woman was calling her some names. My sister just said, "I am sorry if I have offended you somehow, that was not my intent. Have a magical day" and she turned and walked away. This lady started following her around for about 10 minutes. My sister finally turned and looked at the woman and said, "can I help you with something?" and the other guest told her she was going to whip her (backside) and she was just trying to find the right place. My sister told her to "begone" or she will have security involved so they can escort her out of the park for harassment. The other guest got about 3 inches from my sister and said, "you better watch your back" and she walked away. A CM saw that one and asked my sister what was going on. She told the CM and said security was called in that situation, but my sister did not stick around to find out what happened. She had a ride to catch.

Wow, your family attracts the nutsos!

I've been on TSMM and it was fine with one exception. I'm a 40ish woman & was paired with a teenage boy. He was at WDW with his high school marching band but was on his own at HS for the morning. I always try to say hello when first seated to try to make things less awkward. He didn't say anything and didn't make eye contact so I just figured he was weirded out that he was riding with "Mom". As I exited the ride, he walked up behind me and started to tell me about his trip and his band. I kept walking and he tagged along behind me onto Star Tours on the other side of the park. Thankfully, I was sorted into another launch bay by the CM. He was probably just at loose ends being on his own but being followed by a teenage boy when you are a middle age lady is not the best. I agree that pairing single riders with strangers can be problematic. 99% of the time it's just a bit awkward but not a big deal. It's that 1% of the time that can be alarming. If you've had one of those 1% experiences, you can relate.

Sounds like he was on the autism spectrum - high functioning.

I've ridden 7DMT as a solo rider. There was a father who was riding with his two children. He put the kids together in the row in front of us and then he sat next to me. All went fine, but I will say the seats on this ride are so close together that it can be a bit awkward to ride this one with a stranger.

Yup, I've been the odd woman out, and been paired on 7DMT with a larger male. I've also asked to be seated alone, but would have had to wait until the next ride cycle, which I chose not to do.

I don't think they should place strangers together at 7DMT or Splash. Those rides are too kid specific and the seats are too tight.

But if it were up to me, I'd get rid of single-rider all together. The amount of line loss wouldn't be significant, and it does create awkward situations. We're a family of five, so it's usually wife with one twin, older daughter with the other and me solo. But I'm pretty big, so whoever gets stuck with me can have an unpleasant time. Plus, if it's a young girl, I feel creepy. So I wish they'd just get rid of it all together.

Well, you could always bring one more person along to even up your group! We've never had strangers put in the same row at Splash, BTW, except for the line jumpers who squished in with my daughter once. But that's a whole 'nother story!

 

[Tk0021]

As a father of two girls I would never let my kid ride with a stranger, but that being said,everyone is different.

What I think is strange is in the situations at least one on the parents seem over protective of their child, but yet they let them ride with a stranger.

 

[Shellyb84]

I was in line for SDMT last year and there was a family in front of me with 3 kids, all under the age where they could ride alone. The mother asked me if I'd ride with the oldest daughter (I guess I looked less threatening then who they might pair her with). I told her sure and suggested the father with one kid ride behind us and the mother with the other in front so the little girl would see both parents if she needed to and they could see her. She was a little nervous at first but I started pointing out things to her and getting excited and by the end of the ride she was laughing. They said thank you after the ride and we all went about our business. Frankly, I would have much rather been sat with her then someone else they might have put me with. I go solo all the time and the only ride I won't ride solo because I know they pair you up is TSMM, for some reason that ride just doesn't seem like one I'd want to ride with a stranger.

We're a family of 3, and whenever we ride TSMM DD sits with either me or DH, but the solo rider has never been paired with a stranger. I agree that one seems weird to ride with a stranger.

 

[mom2rtk]

What I think is strange is in the situations at least one on the parents seem over protective of their child, but yet they let them ride with a stranger.

My thought as well.

Maybe they like being offended? That's pretty common these days.

 

[Shellyb84]

OP I am sorry that you and your sister have had been in those bad situations!

As a family of 3, one of us is almost always paired with a stranger. Thankfully none of us have ever had any kind of issue. Usually, DD will ride with me or DH, but since she turned 7 occasionally she'll want to ride in the row without us, I guess to show how brave she is. She's not afraid to ride with a stranger and I've never thought anything of it either. DH and I have been paired with kids and adults. Sometimes we chat, sometimes not. It doesn't bother me to ride with whoever. I'd rather the rides run at capacity and keep the line moving.

 

[Klayfish]

We're a family of 5, so on a handful of rides, and usually on rides that seat two per row/car/whatever, whichever of us is solo gets to stay solo. Pretty rare a CM would pair us up with someone. The lone exception for us is TT. I know it happens on EE, but DW doesn't ride it, so there are just 4 of us. Sometimes my kids will go on a ride themselves and they've said that on EE and a few other rides that a single rider is put next to them. I have no problem with it, and it's never been an issue.

I haven't had any issues specifically like this, but have had some run ins with rude guests. Most recently when the dope in front of our family on NRJ was taking flash photos. It was our first time on the ride, and it was distracting, especially to my kids. I asked politely for them to stop, which they did. But when the ride was over, the husband wanted to be Mr. Tough Guy and came over to give me an attitude. That doesn't fly well with me...we exchanged a few nice greetings and went about our way.