Are you really enjoying Disneyland so much?

When did going to Disneyland become a battlefield between Disney fans?

I recently visited Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room (Did you notice I used the correct name for the attraction?) with one of my grandkids. At their age, they enjoy the singing birds and flowers. However, I did not enjoy it. Thankfully, my grandkid did.

Why did I not enjoy it? Because there was a gaggle of talkative and downright rude uber-Disney fans sitting in there.

One group of them were yacking away about some misdeed they had gotten away with in line (or was it skipping the line) at the Indiana Jones Adventure. Another group was singing the tunes, but substituting different words. Finally, a third group tried to loudly teach some other Guests the words – whether they wanted them to or not. Sing along, fine. But not so loud that it is intrusive.

I tried to motion for them to quiet down, they either ignored me or made the classic Disney brush-off comment, “Have a magical day.” It was like being in the middle of a talkative battlefield.

(And I won’t even go into how you cannot hear the Ghost Host’s spiel in the stretching room of the Haunted Mansion over them anymore.)

These uber-Disney fans are getting out of hand. Steven Wilk recently wrote a column for the Disneydining.com website in which he labels these folks as “Disney addicts.” (Click here to read that column)

That seems like a good label. I have a better label for them: Disnoids. They’re everywhere at the park. Actually parks, as they are at all of them now.

Disnoids occupy the front porch on Main Street U.S.A. You know where I’m talking about, it was the entrance to a bra shop on opening day.

Disnoids have all the prime (non-reserved) spots for watching parades, fireworks or live shows – usually hours ahead of time.

When Disnoids go on attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean or the Haunted Mansion, they talk during their entire adventure – about the changes good or bad, or sometimes about other topics like politics, or where they think the best place to eat is at different times of day.

And try to get a seat at a popular bar, such as Trader Sam’s or Oga’s Cantina. Disnoids have been in their seat since the bar opened that morning and stayed in it for hours!

So, I have to ask the question Steven didn’t ask: Why do you still have to go to Disneyland?

You can sit on your own front porch. I do, it’s called “The World Famous Eades Front Porch.” (See the photo at top?)

If you’re on an attraction and talk about other things (loudly) are you really enjoying it? Do you think the people in the rows in front or behind you need to hear you talking or singing badly? If that’s all you’re going to do, do the rest of us a favor: Stay off the attraction or zip your mouth shut.

Then there’s hanging out for hour chattering away while others wait to get in one of those bars. Even then it’s hard as you know how to make a reservation, and those reservations were gone within minutes every time they became available. Frankly, if all you want to do is hang out at a bar and meet up with friends, there are plenty of others out there (many of them very nice) that would be better suited to this. I first wrote about this problem in a column for Jim Hill Media, which was originally published in 2001! (Here is the link to that column.)

From what I understand, that column stirred up a hornet’s nest of comments on his website, and spilled over to many other Disney oriented websites. Worse yet, back then people did not always use their real names.

I think it’s time for folks to recognize their problems.

You want to visit Disneyland a lot? Fine. But keep your voice down in case others want to hear the actual sound that Disney Imagineers created.

Visit the bars, but maybe don’t stay for more than an hour.

And if you want to sit on the front porch, that’s okay. I people watch too, but give up your seat after an hour or so and give others a chance!

Yes, I’m an Annual Passholder. but now that I have grandkids, I find I only want to go when they want to go, and enjoy the parks through their eyes.

So, if you’re going to Disneyland make sure you enjoy it, and not wreck it for others. Or maybe stop going for a while.