PDA

View Full Version : Line Etiquette - Smoking



Pages : [1] 2 3

Merm8fan
06-17-2004, 12:33 PM
There's not much that can dissipate the happy daze I enjoy while at DL, but I just can't stand being in line behind someone who decides to make the queue the newest smoking area. Haunted Mansion and Matterhorn are two attractions in particular that I seem to have terrible luck with this issue.

I never like to make waves, but this is one thing that I will call someone on. Any ideas on etiquette for dealing with our nicotine-deprived line neighbors without causing WWIII?

Smokers, please respond... although I know none of you Padders would fire one up in line, I would appreciate your view on how to diplomatically proceed. Thanks!

Bill Catherall
06-17-2004, 12:43 PM
Haunted Mansion and Matterhorn are two attractions in particular that I seem to have terrible luck with this issue.
That's interesting. There are smoking areas right next to both attractions. Are the people lighting up right next to you in line, or are you just smelling the smoke from the nearby smoking areas?

Personally, if someone were rude enough to light up right next to me in line I'd just tell them that they can't smoke in line and show them where the nearest smoking area is. I wouldn't care if WWIII broke out, but that's just me.

DCAWhites
06-17-2004, 12:49 PM
Well as a cast member I have to ask guests to do this several times a day, and believe it or not, more than the majority of them are very apologetic and undertanding. Some don't know there are smoking areas (someone from Nevada probably doesn't know that smoking is frowned upon in public areas in CA) and tell you "thank you" when you tell them there are smoking areas. You can always ask a cast member to ask someone to put out their cigarettes too.

Merm8fan
06-17-2004, 12:51 PM
/\ Yep, that's what makes it so frustrating. They light up right there in line.

I can imagine they think that having to go to the smoking area means they are not able to get in line sooner (epsecially Matterhorn, which has no FP) but them's the breaks.

Not to be graphic, but I politely go to the bathroom in the designated areas, delaying my line time, and I'm pretty sure that there is not even a guideline to the effect that I am not allowed to pee in line! :D

Lani
06-17-2004, 12:56 PM
I know it would sound snarky, but smoking is specifically prohibited in the queues.

The easiest way to mention something if you are a park guest, is to be polite, and say, "I'm real sorry, but I have asthma/allergies, and I can't handle cigarette smoke. I know there's a smoking area right over there. Would it be OK if you used that area instead?"

I find that the allergy angle works extremely well not only for cigarette smoke, but for perfume that's too strong, too. That way you're not saying, "Ewww, you stink!" but you put the onus on yourself and make yourself be the fall guy. "It's my fault, but please do me a favor" instead of "You're a donkey's behind for being such an arrogant pain. Put out that cancer stick or I'm calling the CMs on you."

MammaSilva
06-17-2004, 01:02 PM
Coming from someone who is currently in the process of breaking a 30 year plus 3 pack a day habit, I am with Bill, and would have been when I was still a " pre kick the habit" smoker. It's not that far to any smoker area, it's just being decent to those around you. I haven't been to the park since I quit but it's one of the things I look foward to as a reward for the rough patches... Not needing to hang out in smoker alley anymore :)

EdD
06-17-2004, 01:07 PM
As a smoker responding...

If an area is non-smoking, I do not feel I have a right to smoke in it. If it is a smoking area, I do. Catch me smoking in a non-smoking area and call me on it and I will apologize and comply (it was accidental if you catch me doing it). Do the same to me in a smoking area and I will ask you to show me a position even a contortionist cannot achieve! I also do not smoke around children, mine or otherwise. However, If I am in the "Designated Smoking Area", and you are there with your children, then it is you and not me subjecting them to my smoke, and I will puff away!

As to how to confront others on this, I have a few suggestions (ranked by order of backbone):

1. Ask them to stop, straight up!
2. Ask them to stop, someone (or you) in your group has asthma.
3. Ask them to stop, and offer them a piece of nicotine gum.
4. Ask a castmember to ask them to stop.
5. Do nothing and stew about it all day.

Having said all this, let me say that here in CA we have a huge group of anti-smoking Nazis (including the head "Meathead") that think it is their right to make everyplace on earth non-smoking, because it infringes on "their rights", no matter what the majority of other persons at the place may want. I can choose not to go to a non-smoking establishment, but they refuse to use the same logic, and have demanded the abolishion of all smoking establishments, even with well segregated areas. Just ask the small restaurant and tavern owners in this state how much the like this wonderful law. If we could only implement a non-idiot section....(sorry to digress, but this mentality really irritates me.

Bruce Bergman
06-17-2004, 01:15 PM
You have to tell them that smoking is only allowed in designated areas, and the lines for rides aren't one of them. If you are firm but polite and they decide to start WWIII over it, that's their personality showing through.

There are lots of cast members and other guests around to back you up if they get nasty back - they are 100% in the wrong on that one.

Hmmm... :rolleyes: I seem to notice that a lot of the people who get behind the wheel of a car and drive like maniacs (passing on the right, passing on the shoulder, slaloming through heavy traffic) and when walking cut in lines, rude language, etc. are also smokers. :eek: Coincidence? I don't think so.

:fez: --<< Bruce >>--

DigitalLizard
06-17-2004, 01:15 PM
There's not much that can dissipate the happy daze I enjoy while at DL, but I just can't stand being in line behind someone who decides to make the queue the newest smoking area.

I agree... the cigarettes are bad enough... but have you ever been next
to someone trying to smoke weed? Yuck!

If I hadn't wanted to lose my place in line I would've found a security CM!
(plus at the time, I would've offended my then BF and made for a really
BAD ride home, cuz to him there isn't anything wrong with any of this!)

Lani
06-17-2004, 01:51 PM
However, If I am in the "Designated Smoking Area", and you are there with your children, then it is you and not me subjecting them to my smoke, and I will puff away!EdD, I am a former smoker, and I would never tell you about your smoking habit while you are smoking in a smoking area! That's totally rude, and it's akin to telling someone they shouldn't drink... in a bar!

By the way, you'll be happy to know I have one of the few smoker's guides for Disneyland (by way of a Trip Planner article). If you're a park regular, it's not terribly new info, but you might enjoy it! (read here (http://www.mouseplanet.com/lani/tp030827lt.htm))

C.B.
06-17-2004, 02:00 PM
While it's rude and awful to subject others to unwelcome odors, this whole "ambient smoke is dangerous" issue is based on a single, thoroughly discredited study conducted many years ago, which has conveniently continued to be referred to as a genuine "established FACT" by anti-smoking advocates (according to admitted smoke-haters, such as Dr. Dean Edell and Penn Gillette, among other credible, fair-minded sources). Just because something is obnoxious, does not warrant banning it under the debatable label "health hazard", when as a result, we carelessly allow the Majority to impose their will over every American citizen. Everyone should simply be considerate and civil in these matters, and nothing more. Apparently the concept of "Liberty & Justice for All" no longer applies to those with a nicotine addiction, as the unpopular habit is now being banned not only in public places (like the entire coastline of California, for heaven's sake!), but possibly in our own PRIVATE vehicles. What has become of The Land of the Free?

And I do not disagree with anyone on the point of this thread: smoking in line is completely unacceptable!

J2TyCo
06-17-2004, 02:58 PM
we carelessly allow the Majority to impose their will over every American citizen.

Call me silly but isnt that what a Democracy is?

smoking is not just a huge pet peeve of mine it is literally dangerous to my childs health.... and I dont need numbers or studies to know this to be fact...

My childs asthma can be set off by merely sitting near someone who just had a cigarette and still has residual odor on their clothing...

and if all the businesses that are going out of business due to non smoking ordinaces, would just pay up and make completely seperate facilities with seperate ventalation then there could be a happy medium and everyone could then probably manage to "simply be considerate and civil in these matters, and nothing more "

I usually just say, "sorry smoking is not allowed in this area of the park would you mind putting it out." If WW3 breaks out.. like everyone else says its their attitude but my water bottle might slip and help extinguish the prohibited item for them..

Im kidding of course..

what really gets me though is when smokers light up IMMEDIATLY upon exiting the park...standing at the crosswalk waiting to cross.. we as non smokers who do feel violated by the offending smoke and odor have no where else we can go when this is the route for all to take...or when the smoke is right at an exit door...ect Not to mention the carelessness of the smokers hand when it comes down to their side right at face level to any of the children also walking in this cramped area..i haev actually had a smoker light up in the tram pick up area and flick their ashes right into my stroller... is it my duty to dodge their skin seering ash?

Coutesy goes both ways

EdD
06-17-2004, 03:19 PM
Call me silly but isnt that what a Democracy is?
Actually, we live in a Democratic Republic. The founding fathers purposely put guidelines in place in order to avoid "the tyranny of the masses."


and if all the businesses that are going out of business due to non smoking ordinaces, would just pay up and make completely seperate facilities with seperate ventalation then there could be a happy medium

So your logic is to let them go out of business, instead of simply allowing you the option of not patronizing them? Imposing your will on everyone, regardless of what the other patrons may desire. Tell the one room lounge owner near where I live, whose business fell off by 50% because the vast majority of his regular patrons smoke, where children are not allowed, to "just pay up." He can't. He will thank you for it.

(And to clarify, I think RUDE is RUDE! I would never smoke outside of the designated areas in DL)

I will post no more on this issue, as it is diverging from Disney, and I do not want to be accused of personal attacks by the Mods.

C.B.
06-17-2004, 03:25 PM
Quote:
"we carelessly allow the Majority to impose their will over every American citizen."
"Call me silly but isn't that what a Democracy is?"

While not disagreeing with any of the sincere concerns you've expressed, Our Democracy was designed with safeguards to protect Minorities from "the tyranny of the Masses". Otherwise, it would be perfectly acceptable to deny all rights from anyone who is not of the same race, creed, or color as the majority of our population. Shame on our school system for not making that point clear.

(whoops - I wrote this before seeing the previous post, so sorry for the redundancy)

Traci
06-17-2004, 03:38 PM
As stated in Lani's article...smoking in lines was never allowed even when you could smoke anywhere in the park.

I agree you should say something as well. (And by the way, I am a smoker)

3894
06-17-2004, 03:47 PM
My childs asthma can be set off by merely sitting near someone who just had a cigarette and still has residual odor on their clothing...



I'm sorry to hear about your child's asthma. I don't have asthma but cigarette smoke is an immediate migraine trigger for me and many others. It makes no difference if the smoke comes from a designated smoking area. It's still a trigger.

I hate cigarettes with a passion, not the people who smoke cigarettes. I want everyone to enjoy Disneyland.

But how I wish there was zero tolerance for cigarettes in all spaces frequented by the public.

sediment
06-17-2004, 03:52 PM
Smokers can live in places where people don't care about the smoke. Where everyone smokes. That's a choice.
Us non-smokin' Ca'ians have chosen this wonderful state. So butt out! (He-he. Good one!)

I wish I felt this strongly. I simply surround myself with non-smokers to form a smoke-free bubble.

Emma
06-17-2004, 08:44 PM
Disney would be putting a lot of people out if they were to completely take away designated smoking areas. I think the system they have is a fair one.

J2TyCo, I'm sorry to hear about your child's asthma.. That must make it really tough. My husband gets horrible headaches from cigarette smoke, and I know what a pain that can be. :)

adriennek
06-17-2004, 09:31 PM
Hmmm... :rolleyes: I seem to notice that a lot of the people who get behind the wheel of a car and drive like maniacs (passing on the right, passing on the shoulder, slaloming through heavy traffic) and when walking cut in lines, rude language, etc. are also smokers. :eek: Coincidence? I don't think so.

I've seen plenty of rude people in my lifetime who weren't smokers. And every smoker and former-smoker who has posted on this thread so far has expressed behaviors that were considerate to the people around them in line. In fact, I've had friends who smoke who were/are very considerate of my intense dislike and discomfort around cigarette smoke. Like others have said, I don't like cigarettes, it's not about the people using them.

I think this is a very unfair generalization.

Adrienne

WaltAddict
06-17-2004, 11:56 PM
You all do know that if Walt were still with us, that the park would probably be a smoking park, or at least wear not prohibited by law.

Just something we all could chew on.

Pirate Girl
06-18-2004, 12:23 AM
My childs asthma can be set off by merely sitting near someone who just had a cigarette and still has residual odor on their clothing...

Ditto me. I have terrible allergies and asthma. Everyone in my family does. It's a joke amongst me and my friends that I'm allegic to myself because everything sets me off. I know that this isn't anyone elses problem, so normally I move myself out of the area. However, if I am in queue or similar enclosed position, I have to call the smoker on it. It is actually a matter of life and death. I had a former roommate who smoked. She never smoked in our room or building, followed all the rules. But I still had to move out because the stale smoke in her clothes put me in the hospital.

At the risk of starting WWIII, I would just like to say: I CAN'T WAIT FOR DLR TO BE SMOKE FREE!

Pirate Girl
06-18-2004, 12:29 AM
You all do know that if Walt were still with us, that the park would probably be a smoking park, or at least wear not prohibited by law.

Just something we all could chew on.


But that was in the day before people knew that smoking causes horrible cancer. His opinion might be very different with such information at hand.

MammaSilva
06-18-2004, 05:49 AM
For anyone waiting for the day that the DLR will be 100 percent smoke free, please, don't hold your breath, even if the state managed to pass a law that said NO Smoking outside your private residence/vehicle, there are going to be people who disregard the law. As for Disney as a company, it's highly unlikely they would ever voluntarily make the entire resort smoke 'free' and enforce it. Enforcing it being the key here. If California says all public areas MUST be posted they'll post it, and they'll continue to 'enforce' the no queues, parade areas, ect. But for the most part they aren't going to risk offending out of state or out of country guests by strictly enforcing a no smoking policy. Too much of the company income comes out of tourists who come from other places pockets. Until the federal government says all of the public areas of the country are declared to be smoke free (and don't bother saying it's a wonderful idea...that's not the point of this post) Disney is going to do what it can to cater to ALL the people who they want to spend money at their parks.

DCAWhites
06-18-2004, 07:06 AM
Does anyone else agree when I say that Downtown Disney should be a non smoking area with a few designated areas? The amount of smoke there is very high and there are plenbty of areas to put in smoking areas (as in east side Ralph Brennans Jazz Kitchen, near house of blues entrance, west side of downtown disney). How do other oitdoor malls like the block or the spectrum handle this?

Tinker Bell
06-18-2004, 08:03 AM
I am a non smoker.My DH is a non-smoker.Our whole family smokes. We do not visit them because of this.They know are stand. They will come see us and they take walks when they have the need to kill themselves.My family and friends know this is how I put it.It is slow suicide. No if ands or buts about it.Yes I do know we are all dieing slowly.But why make it a painful one on purpose.I walk around all the smoking areas.I have memorized where they are and plan my walk around them to and from rides. I feel they do have right but non-smokers have higher ones only because of health.If health was not there then I would go along with places for them and places for us.I will refuse any restaurant my business if they have a smoking section.I am from GA where they say smokers on this side of the room and non on this side.It makes no sense to me smoke travels.There is no invisible wall to keep it on one side.Second hand smoke is worse then first hand.Smokers get a filter we do not.My step-mom died a view years back because of her smoking habit.My father still smokes.I am sorry I just don't get it.IMHO