Most Common Mistakes

My friend Brad over at WDWForGrownUps forum posed an interesting question last week. He asked for the common mistakes that guests make at WDW theme parks, or any Disney theme parks, for that matter. I think this is a rather good topic for a discussion.

I can think off several off the top of my head.

The first one that comes to mind is not realizing that both sides of the cashier is opened at most counter service eating establishments. I lost count how many times I've seen long lines on one side of the cashier, while the other side often has nobody. Of course, I then walk right up to the cashier and those people in the long line either looked at me in puzzlement, or gave me a dirty look as if I'm cutting in line. I wasn't, because if I were doing that, the CM would not have taken my order! So the moral of the story in this one here is to PAY ATTENTION to what is going on. Look at other lines. If you see that lines forms on both side of other cashiers, chances are, your cashier also should have two lines. You could save yourself some unnecessary waiting.

Related to that one, the next item on the list is not paying attention to multiple queue lines in an attraction. Pirates of the Caribbean has two separate lines. If you see a large group of people going in on the left, then you should go in on the right entrance! Don't follow the crowd! Same thing with the inside queue for ToT. At some point, the queue splits into two lines. Don't follow where most the crowd went. Go in to the one that's less traveled!

And also related to the "lemmings mentality" of guests, try looking around at the lines when you get to the park's entrance. Most people tend to just go to the one that they encounter first, which is what almost everyone else is doing because people just got off the tram, bus, monorail, etc. and went through bag check. Look to the far left and far right of all the turnstiles. Chances are, there might be shorter lines (sometime non-existent lines) at other open turnstiles. Again, one can avoid unnecessary waiting in line here if one just pay a bit more attention.

So, what other common mistakes that you see guests make at the parks?

Zz.