The Happiest Place on Earth has seen an uptick in violent behavior in recent years.
Whether the Disney Parks are truly more dangerous or already existing violence is amplified by guests with smartphones and instantaneous access to social media is still unknown – but it seems like a new terrifying story comes out of Disneyland Park, Disney California Adventure Park, and Downtown Disney weekly.
On Monday, a guest revealed that a child and his family were kicked out of Disneyland Resort after he attacked other Disney Park guests in an attraction line.
Reports say violence has been rising at theme parks nationwide ever since the end of COVID-19 lockdowns, and Disneyland Resort isn’t immune. Fights and rulebreaking are so commonplace at the Southern California Disney parks that the company instituted a new courtesy policy late last year, giving Disney cast members more authority to punish unruly guests.
“Please show common courtesy to fellow Guests and our Cast Members by not using profanity or engaging in unsafe, illegal, disruptive, or offensive behavior, jumping lines or saving places in lines for others,” the new rule reads. “For your safety and the safety of others, please refrain from running except in designated areas.”
But little has changed. One day after Sunday’s brawl in Fantasyland at Disneyland Park, another guest recalled being attacked by a young child with negligent parents.
“I had a family in front of me that kept getting told off because the adults were letting the kids be rude to others, kicking people, and chewing on the chains of the cue,” Reddit user u/UnravelingYarnFiend wrote.
It quickly escalated into a tantrum. Still, the parents ignored the upset child. Disney cast members had to intervene but couldn’t stop the child from attacking other guests.
“One kid threw a earing splitting tantrum, the adults ignored it, and as the CMs were coming to intervene, the kid kicked his mom, his dad, his aunt, his grandmother, then dropped down and bit my ankle,” the guest continued.
The family wasn’t apologetic, screaming as security dragged them away from the line and out of Disneyland Resort. According to the guest, their refusal to discipline their upset child led to a ban from Disney property – though it’s unknown if the ban was only for the day or permanent.
“They cussed up a storm as they were removed from the line, and led out the park,” they concluded.