Single Rider Line Experience

[robinb]

We often use the single ride line and I always chat with the person I'm riding with before the ride loads so I don't surprise them. I've never encountered someone who has actively objected, although not everyone is happy riding with a stranger.

 

[Melissa Perez]

last month i was with my DH on TT (just the two of us) and we rode with a boy who couldnt be more than 6 years old, and didnt understand english. My DH ended up having to buckle him in.
I am ALL for single rider but was actually quite surprised his mom and dad were ok sending him off all on his own...

 

[Thiago Acquaviva]

We sometimes travel in 3 and we always welcome whoever are riding with us.
And when we travel in 2 and use single rider to avoid very long lines we never had problems with sharing rides with whole families.

I think attractions, rides and coasters are for fun and pleasure, you don't have to be family/friends members only to enjoy.
it doesn't make sense at all.
How rude people can be.

 

[robinb]

I noticed something interesting on our last WDW trip in January. 7DMT used to split people in even and odd parties and then combine the odd numbered parties together on the ride. They were not doing that anymore. I wonder if it's because the close quarters of the ride vehicle.

 

[DisneyOma]

Add me to the list of people who had issues with single rider on RnRC! I was with DS9 and we were using single rider. I always have him go first so the CM told him where to stand, the adult got in and pulled the move where he sat and pulled my son's seat bar down before he could climb in. My son didn't know what to do! I hollered for the CM who went over and the guy REFUSED to let my son in. I was next single rider in line so they ended up pulling my son back in line with me, and then put us together to ride on the next one with an apology for that rude guest. Unbelievable!!

Wish they had stopped the loading/launch and made the guy get off!

 

[KrazeeK120]

last month i was with my DH on TT (just the two of us) and we rode with a boy who couldnt be more than 6 years old, and didnt understand english. My DH ended up having to buckle him in.
I am ALL for single rider but was actually quite surprised his mom and dad were ok sending him off all on his own...

I’m a little surprised he got all the way through the line. The minimum age to ride alone is 7.

 

[DavidNYC]

I’m 43(m). I was a single rider once and was next to a young girl (8) on EE while her parents were behind us. Thought it was weird that one of the parents didn’t offer to sit with me, but oh well. The girl and I became instant BFF’s daring each other to keep our hands up the whole ride while she was making fun of her parents for being scared. She wouldn’t stop talking to me the entire ride. We had a great picture.

I completely get this. My daughter is 8 and several times she wanted to ride “alone” (even if she got with a single rider at the end). It makes her feel big! (And she also tends to become best friends with whoever is riding with her!) I would bet you if her parents offered to switch the daughter would have overruled them!

 

[heidijanesmith]

We travel with our DD quite a bit, which makes us a party of 3.

I am always the one who sits with the stranger and I do not mind at all. Especially if the stranger is nice or chatty or a disney nut like me.

My best single rider experiences were in line for 7DMT. Once where there was 3 of us and a group of 3 behind us. They commented on how much they like my Dooney backpack and the conversation started from there. Turns out the guy was turning 21 and just got back from Disney Shanghai. I had so much fun talking to him and going on the ride with him. The highlight of my day!

The other time, I was a single rider and started talking to a family of 3 in front of me. We had so much fun in line, that when it was time to state how many where in their party, they said 4. I was temporarily adopted into their family for the ride. We had a blast.

Some of these random interactions in line can really add to the experience, it's too bad when someone rude comes along.

 

[DavidNYC]

I just recently returned from a trip and for all of my rides as a solo traveller I had no problems at all *except* for one instance on Big Thunder and another on EE. On Big Thunder I was paired with a middle aged guy who was part of a larger party, and seemed uncomfotable with me being there (although to be fair most times I've done Big Thunder solo I get put on my own because of the size of the carriages). On EE I had the silly "pass the single rider around" situation where they near enough draw straws to decide who gets the seat with the random stranger. It was fine, but for a party of adults you'd expect a little more maturity about it all.

In both instances it wasn't a huge problem, just makes that ride a little uncomfortable.

Are you sure Big Thunder? Never seen a single rider for that and I don’t recall anyone being paired with others on rides where there’s a lot of physical contact. Most single rider lines are rides with set individual seats. Pairing strangers on big thunder is asking for trouble. The lateral forces often push you up against your seat mates. Fine for family and friends - not good for strangers.

 

[Emmafleur]

Never used single rider lines before. There are 5 of us going this time (WDW in August) so we’re bound to get split anyway when we ride pretty much anything. How much time would it save us if all five of us used single rider lines? Thanks.

 

[Satchmo128]

I've had great experiences as a single rider on EE. I usually try to chat a bit with the person I am placed with to see if they have been on the ride before, etc. The only ride I've had awkward moments on is TT when people don't realize they need to move to the middle seat and stop at the first seat when they step in.

 

[shocker]

I've done lots of single rider lines breaking me up from my kids, we'll trade standing in line together to be separate for a 3 minute ride any day when it can save us an hour of wait time.

I will say sometimes people do seemed stunned that a "stranger" is joining them in their vehicle. They thought the vehicle held 6 and since they have 5 they are going to have some "extra" room. But, this is one thing I love about Disney. They have "filling every seat" down to a science and it does wonders for increasing a rides hourly passenger capacity. Other, smaller parks are pretty terrible at it and don't even know how many vehicles they'll be loading and don't count passengers and don't know when to stop (or allow) a line to advance.

One of my favorite experiences was with a CM in the SRL for EE. I did not want my young teen daughter to be matched up with just anyone in the regular line. This CM bypassed my daughter , making matches with people behind her, until another young lady in the standby line needed a riding buddy. This CM was so careful not to put my daughter with a man and I was grateful to her for noticing and caring. The exchange was mere seconds, not minutes, and the CM was careful with each match. Sorry to the OP they had a bad experience. Most are good vibes.

 

[Ds4angels]

We meet the funniest sisters on TT. The one took DH's seatbelt by mistake and teased DS 7 at the time, she hoped she didn't get sick. We wound up riding KS later on in the week right next to them. They were such a hoot!!!
DS 11 and DD 7 did EE SRL afew.times last visit. They has matching shirts so they actually got to ride together twice. And the one time DS rode rode with someone from the Ukraine (who spoke English very well) and DS said that was his favorite ride because he made a new friend.
It's sad people can't embrace the Disney vibe. We love striking up conversation as we.stand in line and meeting new people, learning new things.

 

[chudlyfudly]

Are you sure Big Thunder? Never seen a single rider for that and I don’t recall anyone being paired with others on rides where there’s a lot of physical contact. Most single rider lines are rides with set individual seats. Pairing strangers on big thunder is asking for trouble. The lateral forces often push you up against your seat mates. Fine for family and friends - not good for strangers.

Apologies, my post wasn't well worded here; you're right in that there's no single rider line for big thunder, but as a single rider I was paired on one occasion with someone else..which you're right did seem odd to me.

 

[tjmw2727]

Apologies, my post wasn't well worded here; you're right in that there's no single rider line for big thunder, but as a single rider I was paired on one occasion with someone else..which you're right did seem odd to me.

That may have been misunderstanding, we are a party of 3 so usually my dd's ride together and I ride single. I have never been paired with someone on BTMR but occasionally someone has tried to board with me mistakenly. I have also never been paired with someone on Toy Story or 7dmt.

 

[robinb]

Apologies, my post wasn't well worded here; you're right in that there's no single rider line for big thunder, but as a single rider I was paired on one occasion with someone else..which you're right did seem odd to me.

I may have been paired with another single rider. I have a memory of holding on for dear life on Big Thunder. Our family intentionally slams into each other so if I were with them I would not hold on.

 

[FortForever]

Used single rider on EE many times, I would say 20+ and only one uncomfortable incident.

I was paired with a couple and their DD, who was about 7 or 8 years old. The mom sat in the front with the girl, I was put behind them, next to the dad. The wife was very annoyed. She had her head turned, staring at me, giving me the stink eye for the entire ride. I am an old grandmother, I would hate to see if he got seated next to some hot, young girl.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Ugh I can’t even imagine someone doing that. So sorry you experienced this. It’s so funny I had such wonderful experiences on single rider, and more often then not have sat next to wonderful families/people who don’t make it weird.

People suck sometimes.

 

[Disney_Alli]

On my sister's wedding trip I was touring with her and her new husband and was the permanent third wheel. On EE I was paired with a single rider and it was a guy about 17 with flaming red hair. As we had PP+ we have all our ride photos from that trip and we alternately nickname him my new husband and my red-headed step child. I don't think we ever even made eye contact but I laugh every time I see that picture or even think about it.

 

[DisneyOma]

One of my favorite experiences was with a CM in the SRL for EE. I did not want my young teen daughter to be matched up with just anyone in the regular line. This CM bypassed my daughter , making matches with people behind her, until another young lady in the standby line needed a riding buddy. This CM was so careful not to put my daughter with a man and I was grateful to her for noticing and caring. The exchange was mere seconds, not minutes, and the CM was careful with each match. Sorry to the OP they had a bad experience. Most are good vibes.

When you are opting to use SR, you really don't have any say on where you get to sit, except for 'no thank you' and then leave by the chicken exit or wait a ride cycle, IMO. So I'm wondering why you use single rider when you are picky about who your daughter sits with?

That may have been misunderstanding, we are a party of 3 so usually my dd's ride together and I ride single. I have never been paired with someone on BTMR but occasionally someone has tried to board with me mistakenly. I have also never been paired with someone on Toy Story or 7dmt.

I've been paired up numerous times with a stranger on 7DMT. Do they not have the odd/even lines anymore?