I am absolutely beyond annoyed. We have just returned from a 4 day trip to Disney Paris and on our last day we were walking down Main Street on our way out of the park and I turned round to see my son crying and when I asked him what happened he said that a man had burnt his hand with a cigarette I asked him who and he looked up and said he's gone, I said were you sure it was a cigarette and he said yes he felt a sting and when he looked down there was ash on his hand. About 3/4 minutes later he had a red mark and a small white blister thing there.
I went and complained in City Hall on the way out and they said that nobody should be walking around the park smoking and that there were dedicated areas for smoking so I enlightened her with the fact that we had seen lots of people walking around smoking and whilst we were queueing for the storybook boat ride a man was stopped walking over to get on the boat as he had a cigarette lit in his hand and was made to put it out, her only reply was that it is very hard to police this sort of thing, I felt like saying no its not just ban it like other countries have.
My sons hand is fine but I did wonder what if that had been a smaller child and it had been their face. The person is just very lucky that I did not see them do it or was there to see them after the fact.
I am gobsmacked that a country that has passed a law making supermarkets give edible out of date foods to homeless charities still allow smoking in a place that is jam packed full of children.
It is not difficult to police! There are plenty of staff around. Total ban on smoking. Anyone reluctant to leave the park for a cigarette will be ejected from the park! Simple. They seem to manage the ban on alcohol......
I'm so sorry for your son!
They should be a lot stricter in the parks with the smoking, it's very well to say it's only allowed in the dedicated areas but I've only seen them tell people if they were smoking in the rides :o I understand it's very hard to control, but I do wish they'd find a way...
I used to smoke myself and was always careful never to smoke near children, and if I was in the street I was really paranoid about putting my hand down with a cigarette if there was a risk of anyone (and particularly a child) getting burnt (maybe because I've also been burnt like that myself). But its shocking to see how many smokers really don't care at all about who's around. I've already gotten into arguments with people in cafes when I asked them to move so that their smoke wouldn't go straight into my daughter's face - and their reply was we're outside and I'm allowed to smoke...
Anyway, I fully agree with you.
And glad your son's OK :)
Its shocking!!
When me & my friend were there in Dec (she's a smoker) we could never find the designated areas for smokers. She didn't wanna smoke around children so we always stopped by a bin out of the way.
Not many others did this while we were there...that's all i'll say!
Hope your sons okay :)
I'm a smoker and I too would be outraged if my son was burnt! I do agree with the above post smoking areas hard to find. I think its so rude to light up in a que or in a crowd! People give all smokers a bad name, all it takes is some respect for others it's hardly difficult... I see a few people smoking In ques myself and waiting for dreams so rude. Its a persons choice to smoke and another's choice not too wound it be so hard to wait to have a cigarette in an appropriate spot? I've been smoking years and can control myself! Sorry about your son.
I'm sorry to hear your son got burnt, lucky it's not worse.
The reply you got at City Hall is frankly appalling!
They can easily ban smoking, heck in their rules they HAVE banned smoking, stating you can only smoke at designated areas. I don't care that they're hard to find, they're there and people should do the effort, end of story.
To be honest I think that CMs don't speak up easily against smokers because they fear verbal abuse (or actual abuse if you see how some sadly behave) or flat out drama from smokers.
Obviously not all smokers are horrid, many are perfectly decent human beings, but some of them are so addicted to their little death sticks they MUST have their smoke, right then and there, and will flip out like a total enranged loon at anyone pointing out they can't smoke in that area. And that's probably exactly what CMs are avoiding.
It's still inexcuseable as it's their job, but I do understand it. I just definitely don't condone it.
I think you should file a complaint with DLP's customer service department. It's not likely something will come from it, but not saying anything definitely won't help the smoking ban getting enforced.
I told a man to move away when he lit up a cigarette outside Casey's Corner as he was sat on a wall next to my one year old. He did but then proceeded to tell all of his family what I'd done. If we spot it, why don't the cast members!?
It was very common this last trip, even in queues for rides and on Molly Brown... :'(
Unfortunately, everyone knows (smokers and non smokers), that the smoking ban is not enforced at DLP.
Whether this is because cast members don't care, are oblivious to it or are too afraid to ask people to stop we don't know.
Maybe it could be brought up at some forum with management? Maybe management are afraid that enforcing it will keep visitors away?
I think they're afraid of telling people, but if you look at our uk theme parks (chessington for example) they always tell smokers to move to a smoking area and point out where they are. I must admit the areas at chessington are more obvious and easy to find.
But in saying that although many smokers including myself would and do use smoking areas within the parks many would still not listen. I still can't get over the man I see smoking in the platform as Molly brown was pulling in! Puffs of smoke covering all the people waiting its plain inconsiderate. No staff told him no.
Ive smoked for some time, I'm not proud of it it's a horrible habit. But I certainly can wait for a cigarette I don't need to light up in a que or during a parade or walk down mainstreet with one and I'd never throw on the floor either. It's a shame people can't respect DLP and the visitors. Staff should be able to say something, I guess maybe in the past they have and had abuse hurled at them... Anyone shouting abuse should be removed in my opinion. Rules are there for a reason afterall.
I _absolutely_ agree with you!
It's like you say: you can wait for your cigarette, and I know plenty of other smokers that can too.
Sadly I also know plenty of smokers that can't and will have a shit fit at worst, or resort to annoying behind the back bitching about the person that made a remark at best.
If a smoker would lit up in an area where their smoking didn't actually bother anyone AND cleaned up their buds, I wouldn't even mind so much, there are plenty of quiet spots where someone could have a smoke without being a nuissance, but sadly plenty of people smoke in queues and what not.
I also completely agree that guests that get abusive should just plain and simple get thrown out.
DLP may fear that people won't come back if they don't get to smoke, but the park would be a much better place without the aggressive smokers. And by that I mean the people that smoke in queues, act like utter douchebags when asked not to smoke around people etc. Or people that smoke in hotel rooms, that happens too, and the next guests that stay there are suddenly faced with a room reeking of smoke! (if that happened to me I'd demand a different room).
I don't mean the smoker that has found a quiet spot somewhere and isn't bothering anyone. Sure they shouldn't be doing it either, but they're not an issue as bothersome as the others.
A friend of mine has pretty bad asthma, and whenever she's in DLP and she's forced to deal with second hand smoke, she addresses a CM. When they try to fob her off, she just point blank replies "there is a no smoking rule in the park, if you don't enforce it and I develop an asthma related illness because of the smoking, i will sue DLP".
Apparently EVERY single time it causes the CM to immediately address the smoker.
So basically, they will _only_ act when you go to extremes.
Which is utterly sad in my opinion, they should be doing their job without guests prompting them with threat of lawsuits.
Maybe we should all start doing that XD
Another solution is going in the low season, then there aren't enough people in the park to get bothered by smokers :) Well you may still, but chances are much lower. The only smokers I saw were people sitting out of the way on a bench where they weren't bothering anyone.
You made some good points hildekitten about your friend with asthma ect, my son is disabled and I wouldn't dream of smoking in our home with him I go outside, same at hotels.
I don't think smoking is the only issue when considering it being a nicer place the staff don't stop que jumpers or people who shove their way to the front when your family has waited an hour plus for a spot for dreams. We've had other children literally hanging on the back of my sons wheelchair and climb on top of him before! Smoking in ques, que jumping ect all rude actions that DLP staff can't seem to manage its a shame. The amount of litter after dreams 2 weeks ago was diabolical, seriously I was utterly disgusted that people had thrown litter all round main street and central plaza! I even spoke to some cast members about it afterwards they too said it was the worst they've seen in a long time.
To sum it up guess what I'm saying is that I agree the smoking thing needs to be addressed. But it's not just the rude smokers spoiling DLP it's the lazy people throwing trash, que jumpers ect the staff should have more power to put a stop to this and yes it would be a brighter place for all visitors :)
I'm dreading this problem :-( we go in august and my son has never been around any smokers and I do not smoke and I have a bad chesty cough if around smoke so I am dreading this :-( :-( :-(
And I hope your son is ok and it didn't spoil your fun too much :-(
Don't come to Belgium then their theme parks are full of teens drinking beer and smoking in the queues...
THIS and the litter are the main reasons why I prefer to go to Disneyland California once a year instead of more trips to DLP. Honestly I think its a cultural issue. The UK, Ireland and USA are very similar in many cultural and social issues,which includes smoking. On mainland Europe attitudes towards smoking in particular and other smaller issues such as what is considered rudeness /bad manners etc are very different to UK / Ireland /USA.
As PP have said in the UK themeparks the no smoking in non smoking areas is enforced more than at Disney. This is comes right from the top senior management enforcing the no smoking rules and making sure that the front line ride and attraction staff know that this rule should be enforced no matter what.
It is the senior management at Disney who are to blame for this continued rule breaking. Why should the ride and attraction CM's enforce the no smoking rule when each tier of senior management don't care???
Also in regards to the litter and general daily cleanlinesses of DLP. This again is down to senior management and cost cutting. In Disneyland California for example, there is a separate department just for emptying bins, keeping attraction queue lines litter free, sweeping the ground etc. Each CM has a set area / rides attractions which they must keep clean throughout the day.
In DLP it is the ride / attraction CMs who are responsible for keeping their areas clean, emptying the bins etc. Is it any wonder that litter builds ups as the CMs have to load / unload people, operate the ride / attraction AND empty the bins, sweep the ground and pick up litter??
So BOTH these problems are the fault of senior management and until changes are made by senior management, unfortunately the smoking and litter will continue
I can't say that we noticed much smoking when we visited last year (maybe I'm immune?) but I do know ithe smoking ban isn't strictly enforced by the CM's
Quote from: bad-pink-tink on June 01, 2015, 02:32:37 PM
THIS and the litter are the main reasons why I prefer to go to Disneyland California once a year instead of more trips to DLP. Honestly I think its a cultural issue. The UK, Ireland and USA are very similar in many cultural and social issues,which includes smoking. On mainland Europe attitudes towards smoking in particular and other smaller issues such as what is considered rudeness /bad manners etc are very different to UK / Ireland /USA.
As PP have said in the UK themeparks the no smoking in non smoking areas is enforced more than at Disney. This is comes right from the top senior management enforcing the no smoking rules and making sure that the front line ride and attraction staff know that this rule should be enforced no matter what.
It is the senior management at Disney who are to blame for this continued rule breaking. Why should the ride and attraction CM's enforce the no smoking rule when each tier of senior management don't care???
Also in regards to the litter and general daily cleanlinesses of DLP. This again is down to senior management and cost cutting. In Disneyland California for example, there is a separate department just for emptying bins, keeping attraction queue lines litter free, sweeping the ground etc. Each CM has a set area / rides attractions which they must keep clean throughout the day.
In DLP it is the ride / attraction CMs who are responsible for keeping their areas clean, emptying the bins etc. Is it any wonder that litter builds ups as the CMs have to load / unload people, operate the ride / attraction AND empty the bins, sweep the ground and pick up litter??
So BOTH these problems are the fault of senior management and until changes are made by senior management, unfortunately the smoking and litter will continue
Yes I believe it would be senior managers that should enforce these rules, I felt very sorry for the staff collecting the amount of litter afer dreams... But they were all smiling some signing whilst doing so all in good spirits. I guess the sad fact is they're used to it? During the day I've never noticed DLP being unclean or much litter about it was just on this occasion after dreams as we waited a good 20 min until crowds left until leaving the park.
Still find it totally unacceptable they're bins everywhere there's no excuse in my opinion. I will always love DLP I've never visited California or any others as it would be too long of a journey to fly my son, so I can't compare. But it's still beautiful and despite the issues they face I will continue to visit :)
I am a smoker and I also find it disgraceful that any one would light up in the queue lines or anyway too close, me and dh always use either the smoking areas, or we stand way away from anyone else. Never would I dream of lighting up in a queue, on a ride or walking down amongst people and children. To be totally honest we hardly smoke over there during the day as we are too busy concentrating on what our kids want to do. In the evening when they are in bed we take turns to stand outside away from hotel rooms and other people.
Hope your son is ok, I too would be fuming x
Quote from: morganno on June 01, 2015, 02:32:21 PM
Don't come to Belgium then their theme parks are full of teens drinking beer and smoking in the queues...
I'm actually Belgian and living in Belgium and I have to say that I disagree with that statement.
Sure, there were some people smoking the times I went to a Belgian themepark, but the issue definitely wasn't bigger than in DLP.
I have seen people having a beer, but not to the point where they were drunk or tipsy, they were just having a beer (bare in mind that people here are allowed to legally have a beer from 16 and upwards, and places that sell beer are legally obliged to check their age, at places like themeparks they are pretty strict about this). You can see people having a beer in Disney Village, and heck, the hotel bars serve alcohol (if I'm not mistaken you can get alcohol at some places in the parks too).
But all that aside, I agree with other posters that there are many issues in DLP.
And the really sad thing is, I'm sure that everyone here on this forum that goes to DLP regularly, or has been a fair amount of times since it opened in 1992, can immediately tell several (horror) stories of things that went bad due to other guests.
Things that very likely wouldn't happen if CMs actually responded when they had to instead of suddenly feeling the need to be somewhere else when approached or witnessing it. Or fobbing off complaints with some excuse or other.
Sadly I feel that things won't change unless there's an attendance drop, and it's obviously because of these issues. DLP is very much aware that whilst people complain, the issues aren't big enough to keep most from returning, so they don't change things to make sure that the offenders also come back to spend their cash at the resort XD
Yes I have a few horror stories but then I've visited over 30 times since opening :) but I try to not let it ruin the magic or put us of returning because overall its fantastic. And as with any tourist destination you'll get a few "bad eggs" that I'm not directing at any nationality in particular, it's going to be the same wherever you travel.
I think the point is a lot of people don't expect this at a Disney park? But for me smoking is nowhere near as bad as grown adults pushing kids out of the way ect. One man on one occasion was swearing Infront of many children at a character and the cast member with him was incredibly calm and said " if you don't stop the characters will have to leave." Have to feel for the CMs some guests behaviour is terrible.
Oh gods, it is. And I do think CMs should act very strict on it, because it could really ruin someone's visit.
Mind you, adults shoving (just no, and especially not kids, you can get places without shoving!) is unacceptable. But I also think it's unacceptable to shove kids in front of adults queuing because obviously "kids first". That's a big pet peeve of mine and the reason why I only bother with roaming characters when it's a character I _really_ want to meet, or low season and there's hardly anyone else trying to meet them. As an adult, you can stand there waiting for ages and not get a chance (unless you are assertive and risk the ire of many a rude parent) because parents keep pushing their kids in in front of you.
I always feel REALLY bad for the parents and children that are trying to queue, because they're having such a hard time meeting the character trying to behave like decent human beings, while all these rude selfish people that are clearly not behaving like they supposed to are getting in in front of them.
It just gives a really crappy signal to kids I think.
This is one of the reasons why I think that all characters should have a queue. You get far less misery when people have to queue for a character than when they can just mob it.
I totally agree with you on that one id rather que for a character meet, I never even bother trying otherwise. Really ruins the atmosphere if everyone is pushing and shoving >:(
It really does!
I don't really understand why they just don't set up queues.
I remember back in the day (2007 I think it was) you had this meet and greet train type thing in the Studios, and they organised orderly roped off queues for that in just a couple of minutes.
Why not do that with "roaming" characters, or characters that will come out at certain times in certain areas that people are aware of (like the Villains behind the castle during the Halloween season); Just set up the ropes for queues a few minutes in advance and things will go a million times smoother!
The argument of "but not everyone will meet the character" is utterly invalid, because that's the case _anyway_, no matter how you set up the meet and greet.
There's often such easy sollutions to DLP problems/issues and it continues to baffle me that at DLP they don't seem to see them XD