- [Peter] People who demand the rain to be turned off,
people who blame ride operators for breakdowns,
people who tell their kids to pee in the corner,
all of these annoying guests
and more right here on "Theme Park Crazy."
(upbeat music)
Last year, we discussed 10 things not to do at a theme park.
This video was inspired by the work of YouTube user,
Sir Willow, who has repeatedly discussed
his experience as a theme park worker.
Today, we're going to do something similar
and look at some of the strange
and sometimes annoying things you may
have seen guests do at theme parks.
These will include a couple things
from my previously mentioned video
but with some added details.
Anyway, this goes out
to all of the park guests and park workers out there
who have had to deal with guests like these.
Here are the top 10 most annoying theme park guests
as voted on by the viewers.
Number 10, people who ask bone-headed questions.
Anyone who's worked in a theme park
or some kind of guest service can agree
that there is some truly bizarre questions out there.
Now, none of this applies
to simple questions like, Where's the bathroom?
Where's first aid?
or Where's this ride?
Rather, this applies to questions
that you wouldn't think are common but sadly are.
For context,
here are just a few specific examples
of questions that will leave you dumbfounded.
Let's say you're working at Magic Kingdom in Florida
and someone comes up to you
and asks, where is Harry Potter World?
The idea that someone could spend thousands
of dollars on a Disney World vacation
and just assume the wizarding world
of Harry Potter is there is just baffling.
To be clear, the wizarding world is actually
at the Universal Orlando Resort.
Then you have the parents who go up to workers
and ask, "Can you watch my kid for me
while I'm on the ride?"
The fact is that employees are not responsible
for your kids, and if you're at a park,
it's your responsibility to supervise your own child.
Finally, we have perhaps the most infamous dumb question
of all time, "What time is the 3 o'clock parade?"
Think about that question and just how dumb it is.
And yes, this question is apparently asked all the time
at Disney World.
This is the equivalent of asking what day
of the week Friday the 13th is.
The frightening part is
that a lot of people ask this in earnest
as if there's actually a parade called,
the 3 o'clock parade.
And, of course, there are people who ask this jokingly
but to those people, you have to understand
that cast members have heard this phrase so many times
that it's no longer amusing.
So even if you're not being serious,
asking this question is something you don't wanna do
because it will only annoy the employees.
Number nine, people who walk where they're not supposed to.
Let's say there's a garden with a path going around it.
Suppose there's a guest here who wants to get here.
Instead of taking the path around to get there,
they'll just go right
through the garden and stomp on the defenseless plants.
If real life was "The Happening,"
the plants would certainly get revenge on them.
Imagine how annoying it is for the gardeners
and landscapers to have people constantly stepping
on their greenery.
This also applies to the wannabe influencers who walk
into the gardens to take selfies.
Another place guests walk where they shouldn't
is the backrooms or the Employee Only areas, in general.
As much of a meme as the backrooms have become,
they're still off limits to guests.
A lot of times, employees will find guests wandering around
back there, and the guests will say something like,
oh, I was looking for Space Mountain
even though they're at Epcot.
Then there are people who go back there on purpose
for the sake of making a YouTube video or a TikTok post.
As we discussed in my previous video,
entering restricted areas will get you kicked out
of the park and possibly banned.
In this case, the clout simply isn't worth it,
and it's not worth annoying the employees
and the security guards.
Number eight,
people who demand the parks change the weather.
I can say from experience that rain
on your vacation absolutely sucks
especially with outdoor coaster heavy parks.
It could easily put a damper on your plans,
and it's perfectly normal to get annoyed
about the weather situation.
The problem is that some people have a tendency
to blame the employees for the weather.
No joke.
There are numerous stories out there
of people storming into guest services
and demanding that they do something about the weather
whether it's too hot, too cold, or raining.
One story, which I'll link in the description,
involved a guest at Disneyland going up to a cashier
and saying, quote, "I demand you turn off the rain."
The guest claimed that Disneyland
had a weather dome that the cashier was refusing to put up.
When the cashier explained that there
was, in fact, no weather dome, the customer proceeded
to curse her out, march over to guest services,
and write on the complaint
that the cashier refused to turn off the rain.
Of course, this complaint was not taken seriously
by management but the scary part is
that the manager told the cashier,
"We get that a lot around here."
Yes, there is an ongoing myth
that the Disney parks have retractable domes
to protect from inclement weather.
Disneyland is a hundred acres,
much bigger than any football stadium.
Disney may have a lot of money
but such a project would undoubtedly cost billions
or even trillions.
And why bother anyway when most of the rides are indoors?
Truthfully, as awesome as theme parks can be,
they cannot, in fact, control the weather.
Number seven, people who are rude to costume characters.
I personally have a lot of respect
for the character actors at Disney,
both the fur and face actors.
Back when I worked at a movie theater,
I had to dress up as the company's mascot
for a promotional event.
And let me tell you, I don't think I've ever sweat more
in my life than I did wearing that fur suit.
The fact that people wear these costumes
in the hot Florida sun speaks volumes
to the amount of dedication they have to their jobs,
so it's simply infuriating to hear how some
of these characters can be treated sometimes.
On a regular basis, costume characters have to deal
with being grabbed and stepped on.
And sure, small children don't really know any better
but the problem happens when parents think it's funny.
So if little Monica kicks a character
at Tomorrowland, instead of being reprimanded,
her dad will just stand there laughing
thinking it's the funniest thing ever.
In a more specific example,
I heard of one incident at Chef Mickey
where Piglet was followed
by a butter knife-wielding child
who kept saying her dad was going to turn Piglet into bacon.
And her dad was no help
as he kept calling Piglet, "Bacon" himself.
And, of course, you also have those guys who go up
to the princesses and ask them
for their phone numbers saying quote,
"What time are you off?"
These people honestly think that the princesses
are there to flirt with whoever they want.
Disney actually had to change the outfits
in some of their characters
to discourage such obnoxious behavior.
The same also went
for the loin-cloth wearing Tarzan who was removed
from the parks entirely.
Honestly, costume characters have to put up with so much BS,
they deserve all their respect in the world.
If you've worked as a character
and are watching this video, major kudos to you.
Number six, people who harshly criticize
and attack rides they haven't been on.
If you're a coaster enthusiast, you probably see this online
with every new ride announcement.
It seems like no matter what a park announces
for a new attraction,
if it's anything less than a record breaker,
it gets slammed by people.
Take Orion at Kings Island, for example.
You may be thinking, how can people be upset
over a 300-foot tall roller coaster
that's over 90-miles per hour?
Well, before it was announced,
people knew that Kings Island was building a giga,
so there was speculation go lower, beforehand.
Many suggested it would be even taller
and faster than Fury 325.
When the ride was announced, though,
it was revealed to be the tallest coaster
at the park instead of the tallest giga in the world.
If you watch the official announcement at the park,
you can actually hear collective groans
of disappointment when this was revealed.
Nevertheless,
most people still highly anticipated the coaster
as another amazing addition to the park,
but, of course, it was a bit of a different story online.
Many accused Kings Island of, quote,
"Cheaping out on the coaster
despite it costing the exact same amount as Fury 325."
The structural height of 287 feet also led people
to declare it was not a giga despite
the drop itself being 300 feet,
thus meaning the agreed upon definition.
The fact is that the park's market research determined
that going too high up
would risk alienating many potential customers.
All of this doesn't just go for Orion either though.
Back when Yukon Striker at Canada's Wonderland
was announced,
the first thing many people did was lambaste it.
Because some people online were expecting a wing coaster,
the announcement of a dive coaster was met with groans.
Also, a lot of people assumed
that the ride was going to be called Ziz
because there are two other coasters named Behemoth
and Leviathan, and it would fit into Hebrew mythology.
Truthfully, from a marketing standpoint,
a ride called Ziz isn't really that appealing
to the general public.
So, when the name Yukon Striker was announced,
a lot of people said the name sounded stupid
because it wasn't Ziz.
In addition to the vest restraints,
the second half of the layout was also criticized
for looking bland.
But all of this was gathered
from a single animated rendering that was posted online
before anybody got a chance to ride it
or before the track work was completed.
Quite frankly, it's impossible to determine how good
a ride is from the POV video.
The only way to truly review it
is to literally go out and ride it.
Bottom line, don't judge a ride from its announcement.
Number five, people who smoke in non-smoking areas.
Not much to say about this one
since it's pretty straightforward.
Needless to say,
smoking is a dangerous habit
that will literally turn your lungs
into a symbiote septic tank.
Even most smokers are well aware of this.
Meanwhile, non-smokers generally hate
the smell of cigarettes.
That's why many parks have designated smoking areas.
Even still, there are people who decide
they can just puff smoke wherever they want.
Sure, most parks are outdoors,
but it's still quite annoying to get hit
with a puff of cigarette smoke
when you're just trying to enjoy your fried Oreos.
The same goes for vaping too,
and many consider vaping outside designated areas
to be just as rude as smoking.
Some even argue that there are vape scents
that smell worse than cigarette smoke.
Vaping is also a very dangerous habit.
None of this is meant to shame people
who are vapers and smokers,
but if you're going to do either,
please do it in an area that won't bother others.
Number four, people who blame the ride ops for downtime.
If you've visited a park,
you may have experienced unscheduled downtime
which is when a ride suddenly closes
for an unspecified amount of time.
This could happen for a number of reasons.
Parts of the machine could wear out.
There could be inclement weather.
The computers could start acting weird.
The proximity sensors can be on the fritz,
among other things.
It can admittedly be frustrating
when it's a ride you really wanna get on,
but it's not something that the park can control.
Roller coasters, dark rides, flat rides
and others are complex machines,
and sometimes they need maintenance.
The issue is when you have people who go up to
the ride operators and pester them about what's wrong
with the ride and when it's going to reopen.
The truth is that ride operators typically
have no idea what's wrong with the ride.
Their job is simply to push the button to start it
and make sure that everyone is safe and secure.
The fritz, technical difficulties can encompass the number
of complex issues from mechanical to electrical.
Regrettably, people will also pester
the maintenance staff who are sent to make the repairs.
Although maintenance does know more
about how the ride works,
they're working to get the ride fixed
as quickly as possible and don't have time to chat.
Definitely the most annoying thing about this
are the guests who actually blame the ride operators
or the maintenance staff for the ride being closed.
Again, it's not their fault and ride shutdowns just happen.
Simply put, it's a risk that everyone takes
when they get in line for a ride.
Number three, people who use their phones
on roller coasters and dark rides.
Last year, we went into detail on people who insist
on taking their phones on roller coasters.
To me, these guests are more frightening than annoying
but are still annoying, nonetheless.
If that phone were to fall out of their hand,
there's a good chance that I or someone else
will get hit in the face and end up in the hospital.
I've seen how brutal the injuries are
for people who have been hit in the face with flying phones.
Fortunately, as I've said before, there are many parks
that will catch guests using their phone
through cameras on the lift hill.
They will then stop the ride on the lift hill,
confiscate the phone, and kick the guests out
at the end with the ride.
Definitely some good karma there.
Besides just roller coasters though,
there's also people who take out their phones on dark rides.
Admittedly, I have been guilty of this before
since taking footage
on dark rides typically isn't against the listed rules.
However, when you really think about it,
taking out your phone on a dark ride
is no different than taking out your phone
in a movie theater.
The bright light is extremely distracting
to the people behind you,
and it makes it much more difficult
to see the scenery in darker set pieces.
Imagine riding dinosaur
and having a phone in your face while you're trying
to see the dinosaur animatronics
that may or may not be working.
If you're going to use your phone on a dark ride
and it's not against the park's rules,
definitely turn your screen's brightness
to the lowest setting and keep it close to you.
Number two, parents who let their kids urinate
and defecate wherever.
I really wish this wasn't a thing, I really do,
but there are actually some parents out there
who are too lazy to take their kid to a bathroom.
It's not the fault of small children
that they need the facilities
at the drop of a hat.
That's pretty much guaranteed to happen,
at some point, if you're a parent waiting in line
with their kids.
What's really a problem is when parents
who don't wanna get out of line
simply instruct their children to
♪ Pee in the corner ♪
This is just unsanitary and gross.
Sir Willow also mentioned a story where
a guest came up to him at Magic Kingdom
and said, "Somebody took a dump in Ariel's Grotto."
The entire area had to be shut down
and decontaminated for over an hour,
which was a huge pain to the janitors.
It's dumbfounding that this even has to be part
of this list, but you'd be surprised how flat out stupid
some parents are.
If your kid is faced with a bathroom emergency,
let an employee know, and they may let you leave
the line and come back to where you were.
It's not a hundred percent guaranteed,
but it's definitely more preferable to the alternative.
Number one, people who cut in line.
You all saw this one coming.
I know I went into this topic at length before,
but it's really worth repeating.
I honestly can't tell you how many times I've been
to a theme park and was waiting in line
for a roller coaster
only to have four or five people waltz their way
to the front.
Whenever I say, "Hey, what are you doing?"
The response is, "Oh, our friends are up there."
I'm sorry, but this is not an excuse to cut in line.
It's understandable that big groups
sometimes split up when they all wanna do different things,
but there are plenty of people who think
that it's perfectly fine to have one person wait in line
while they get some cheese fries
or something just so that they can cut
in front of everyone else when they decide to get in line.
Just because they wanted to eat something
or ride something else doesn't mean they're entitled
to skip the line.
Even if it's only a couple of people,
I can't think of anything more annoying
than to have your time in line extended
by some random line cutters.
As mentioned before, this is not only annoying
but heavily against the rules.
If security catches someone cutting in line,
they'll kick them out and rightfully so.
There's one more note I wanna add, though.
If you see someone getting on a ride at the exit,
don't assume they're trying to cut in line.
Many parks offer assistance passes
for guess with disabilities.
Unfortunately, I have seen people
in line act like grade A jerks
whenever someone gets to go to the front
with one of these passes.
Thankfully, they usually get chewed out.
So, what are some annoying things that guests do
that get on your nerves?
Feel free to leave a comment down below.
And now, it's time for the comment shoutout program.
This is where I take five random comments
from my previous video and read them out.
These comments are from my top 20 best animatronics video.
Mr fett says, "I would love to see
more stunt tronics around the Disney parks."
Matt YT says,
"The King Kong animatronic really made the ride in Orlando.
I re-rode the ride just to get another look at it.
My wife didn't understand why I really wanted
to go back on it again so quickly.
She just didn't get it."
KSC says,
"My daughter Abby is five and is your biggest fan.
She wanted to comment that her favorite animatronic
was the Jaws Ride in Japan.
She really wants to be featured
in your comment shoutouts one day."
Thanks for watching, Abby.
X Coaster Enthusiasts says,
"Do a video of the most remote roller coasters
in the world."
And finally, AutumnRC1 says,
"The Star Wars animatronics are most impressive to me.
When I saw Kylo in person
I was speechless by how fluid the movements were."
If you wanna see your words in my next video,
leave a comment down below and it may be selected.
Please note though that inflammatory
or spam comments will not be read.
Thank you all so much.
And if you wanna support me on Patreon,
you can do so, once again, at the link in the description.
Thanks for watching, everyone.
Feel free to like, share, and subscribe.
You can follow me on social media,
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or you can check out my website at themeparkcrazy.com.
And I'm on TikTok for reasons I'll explain
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This is "Theme Park Crazy," and I'll see you all next time.
(upbeat music)