With so many people looking to see Disneyland's nighttime parade over the next two weeks, now's the time to pour fuel onto a flame war and bring up the topic of... parade etiquette. Nothing seems to spark conflict between theme park visitors as much as claiming spots to watch a parade. Fans who stake out a space well in advance get upset when others show up at the last minute. But trying to hold space for 10 people for hours with one person and a shopping bag is just asking for pushback from another group that sees that empty space and has all its people there. And everyone gets mad at the family that send its kids at the last second to stand in front of the waiting crowd.
So what's the right way to wait for a parade?
Let's work this one backward. Let's try to envision what a perfect parade crowd would look like, then work backward to figure out how we all can get there. Of course, we should start by noting that the people most likely to screw this up by misbehaving are those types of people because they never listen to or participate in conversations such as this. They just selfishly push ahead, doing whatever they feel like to get the best position for themselves.
So whatever we decide, it really ought to include some sort of defense against clueless, selfish people like that.
In my experience, the best parade crowds are the guests at Tokyo Disneyland. People there sit for the parades, allowing more visitors to see because the view isn't blocked by a few tall people up front. When I visited, I also saw Tokyo Disney cast members instructing people not to start claiming spaces until a designated time before the show — unlike the free-for-all in Anaheim when people start claiming spaces in the morning for highly anticipated parades.
Let's start there, then. The perfect parade crowd will sit. At least in the front. Behind them, shorter children can stand, with grown-ups standing behind them. And really tall grown-ups will defer to the crowd and claim space in the back. They can do that without being played a fool, since they know that no one taller in front of them will stand to block their view. No one, repeat, no one, places a child on his or her shoulders to see, either. And if you want to take pictures, stand in the back. Keep that camera (or phone, or, heaven forbid, tablet) no higher than your head.
Okay, that's the z dimension. Now let's talk about the x and the y. How much space do you really need around you?
The goal here is to allow the maximum number of people to enjoy a clear view of the parade. So that means everyone gets the ground space they need to sit or stand — and not a square inch more. Yeah, it's gonna be tight. But no one should have to shove a neighbor for space, either. There won't be room for your children to dance around while they watch the parade. Want to enjoy a picnic? Keep the food on your lap or in your hands.
To keep the parade crowd from obstructing other guests trying to walk through the park, park employees should prohibit people from claiming spaces until one to two hours before the parade, depending upon the crowd level in the park. Yeah, that's going to lead to an Oklahoma-style land rush, but that has one positive side effect. It will end up requiring groups to have all their members there to claim their spaces when the time comes. One person and shopping bag aren't going to be able to hold 10 feet of sidewalk space in that. Nor should they. The people who actually are willing to wait should be the ones rewarded with the most desirable places to see the parade.
Yeah, a parent might have to take a child to the restroom. The rest of the family likely can hold their claimed space for a few minutes while that happens. But no more sending all but one or two people to go ride rides instead of waiting for the show. With the wait time capped at two hours, though, on the busiest days, that shouldn't become an issue.
And when the parade is over, everyone needs to get up and be ready to go. This is the big reason why so many parks discourage sitting — the fear that seated visitors won't be able to get up in time to avoid being trampled in the rush after the parade. My solution? Run the parade at a slow walking pace, then have the final float be sloped upward, so that the floor at the back of the float rises above standing height. Send operations employees to walk alongside the float, gesturing with their arms for people to get up as the float goes by. With the back of the float elevated, no one loses their view as the people around them stand up. In fact, in order to see the back of the float, you have to get up!
If there's still no way to see the parade, even after all this... well, you missed it. Either try again for the next parade, or come earlier on another day. Not everyone gets to see everything in a park. That's just one of the realities of this business.
How do we get to this ideal situation? Well, the easiest way is to get the parks to agree to it. Cast or team members would have to have a well-defined set of parade space-saving rules to communicate with guests. Parks would need to promote their rules on their website, in blog posts, on guidemaps, and with handouts for park visitors in the first weeks after implementation.
As fans, we're stuck in a Prisoner's Dilemma situation here. There's no way for us to collectively enforce a designated waiting time, or making people sit in front, or keeping families together rather than sending children to cut in front. We can try to act responsibly as individuals and individual families, but given the enormous incentive people have to act selfishly in this situation, thinking of and acting for the greater good here only gets us shuffled to the back of the crowd, without a view. To be a perfect parade crowd, we need help from the parks that host us.
What do you think? How would you like to see the parks and their guests handle parades?
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Luckily enough people grumbled at her and she left without too much fuss
That's not much of a Prisoner's Dilemma, as we are duty bound to act ethically and do the right thing even if others do not. As Karen states above, we can publicly call out the people who act selfishly and boorishly. The people around you are more than likely to support you when you do so as they are probably thinking the same thing but don't want to "cause a scene" by saying something. The boorish are counting on our silence so say something!
My personal pet peeve are the parents who put their kids on their shoulders. It's just so rude to do this and block the people behind you. If your kid can't see then you do what I did when my kids were young: you hold them in your arms so their head is at the same height as your own head. It will give you a bit of a workout, not unduly obstruct the people behind you and your kid still gets to see the show.
Another reason the parks should not allow kids on a parent's shoulders is the liability issue. If the kid falls off and gets injured then the parent could sue the people in the vicinity for jostling and causing the fall, and the park for not having adequate measures to protect the child. So even if the parks do not care about guest sightlines, they should at least care about getting sued and ban/enforce kids on the shoulders.
1. A designated portion of the viewing area (probably about 1/3-1/2) is available by reservation only. This can either take the form of package deals or showpasses similar to what World of Color uses. For those who absolutely must see the parade, this is a good option.
2. All remaining viewing is available first come, first served, beginning 60-90 minutes before showtime. If anyone is found to be camping out before that time, they will be redirected to a proper place for relaxation and told to return when the performance begins seating.
3. Once seating begins, the parade route is filled in blocks in the direction of the performance. At any given time, only 2-3 blocks are open to guests. As one fills, cast members open the next block along the route. The show schedule will indicate the parade blocks, approximate times when each block is seated, and approximate times that the parade will arrive at each block (therefore putting an end to the "What time is the 3:00 parade?" question).
4. Within each block, guests in the first few rows will be required to sit. Everyone behind that may either sit or stand. With the exception of the back row, all guests will be asked to remove any headpieces and not raise anything above eye level (including cameras and small children).
5. Blocks will be filled to capacity and then closed to new visitors. If an entire party is not present at the time a block is closed, that party will not be able to sit together. In the event that a guest needs to leave for any reason, they may obtain a pass from a cast member that will allow a maximum of two guests to leave and re-enter the area.
6. Ten minutes before showtime, any unfilled blocks will be opened to visitors. At five minutes before the parade reaches a block, it will be closed off to prevent people trying to squeeze in while the performance is in progress.
7. At the tail end of the parade, cast members will walk along the rear of the final float instructing guests to stand and prepare to move. The rope will be 10-15 seconds behind this float in order to give everyone time to get to their feet.
It would definitely take some time to get guests used to this system, but once everyone got in the groove it would likely solve many of the problems currently present at parades.
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