Those darn bubble wands

[xipotec]

The bubbles wands I saw this trip made tiny tiny bubbles. A few trips ago my DH was sitting a wheelchair under a tree and I was taking care of DGS about 30 ft away in the shade. A family had a wand blew big bubbles and it was like DH was a bubble magnet. He could have be the scrubbing bubbles guy. Again, kid in stroller, parents on phones.

The sad part about the parents on the phones is Disney is making this way….

We all know people who cannot live without checking TikTock or Instagram (or DISboards) every five minutes.

But now , if you are in the park, trying to make the most of your time, you have to be on the phone for that as well…

 

[jimim]

Ok, I turned 50 this year so bear with me and my old-man-yelling-at-cloud-rant…but I hate those bubble wands sold at the parks. I really hate bubbles being blown in my face while standing in a queue for a ride. Should I start a petition to ban them? Too far, I know and I am just standing in line now and had time so I thought I would vent a little on disboards Back to the fun and thanks for listening to my rant!

I love and hate them. they are pretty cute and i like the 4 million small bubbles they blow now but when I got my good camera out and then i get bubbles on the lens cause of the wind blowing i hate them. but in general i think they are pretty awesome. I work with 3-5 year olds so we are always using bubbles to get our kids to move in therapy. lol

 

[jimim]

We despise the bubble wands. Our main issue is my wife is carrying a camera (not just using a phone), a real camera. Every time we see bubbles I have to warn her to protect her camera lense from getting bubbles on it.

As for the fake snow, it usually doesn't bother us, but one time recently at HS while waiting in line for Fantasmic, the fake snow kicked in. We were trapped and it fell for over 20 minutes. A few minutes is more than enough, but 20 minutes!

it's all about the UV clear filters. and having extras with you do u don't have to clean if one gets dirty. cheap cheap solution.

 

[kanerf]

What we need are smart glasses that the kid can wear and then see bubbles from the wand that aren't really there.

 

[rdaky]

They're a huge money maker for Disney. They aren't going anywhere. May as well adjust your expectations.

 

[raidermatt]

*Gets on soap box*

As a proud dad of a toddler who adores her bubble wand, all the complainers gotta start acting like adults. Seeing her face light up and get excited over something so simple is worth its weight in gold. Yes, I get bubbles on my glasses but that's nothing a quick wipe of the shirt won't fix. Let the kids have their magical moments and enjoy making memories... plus they are a great distraction. If we are that uptight about things, maybe Disney (a kid centered vacation spot) isn't the right choice?

Next trip in Jan-Feb, I'm buying three bubble wants now; one for each of us. Gonna bubble up everything.

Wow. So you teach your kids all that matters is what makes them happy, regardless of the impact on anyone else. Nice. Explains a lot.

In all honesty, the bubbles are nothing that ruins my day. I realize its not really the kid's fault, its their selfish parents who have no idea how to actually be a parent.

But if an adult starts blowing bubbles in my face or on my food, well, that's an entirely different matter and the response will be quite different.

 

[raidermatt]

I love and hate them. they are pretty cute and i like the 4 million small bubbles they blow now but when I got my good camera out and then i get bubbles on the lens cause of the wind blowing i hate them. but in general i think they are pretty awesome. I work with 3-5 year olds so we are always using bubbles to get our kids to move in therapy. lol

In general I agree, they are great. My kids loved them when they were small. But there is nothing wrong with teaching the children its not appropriate to blow them on strangers. No more so than they should be shooting water pistols at random people. In a classroom situation when all are participating that is not an issue. But when out in public, its just basic courtesy.

 

[SteveH]

@raidermatt I 100% agree and thank you!

 

[raidermatt]

They're a huge money maker for Disney. They aren't going anywhere. May as well adjust your expectations.

I don't know, selfie sticks and bubble gum could be huge money makers for Disney.

I doubt anything will happen, but if enough people end up complaining it is not out of the question.

 

[robinb]

You would have hated us. We brought small bubble containers (from the Dollar Store) with us every NYE trip when my DD was little. We gave them away to parents of little kids to enjoy.

 

[lowlight]

I’ll trade you the overpriced bubble wands for grown adults zipping full speed at rope drop to beat children onto a children’s ride at a children’s amusement park.

 

[Jennasis]

The bubbles are an annoyance...but the MUSIC they make is like nails on a chalkboard.

 

[Beer Me]

Just realizing I’ve never given much thought about bubbles - except maybe a quick “oh bubbles!” goes through my mind if I see them then I don’t think about it anymore.

What is happening that people are getting bubbles in their hair, clothing, glasses, food etc.? Has anyone actually had an allergic reaction to theme park bubbles? That would be annoying but it seems like a very rare and specific situation and it doesn’t require a response from Disney, certainly not banning these toys.

I do my share of yelling at clouds but I just can’t get worked up over bubbles.

 

[jo-jo]

You would have hated us. We brought small bubble containers (from the Dollar Store) with us every NYE trip when my DD was little. We gave them away to parents of little kids to enjoy.

You mean tiny bottles with the wand you have to blow on. That’s way different than having ten million bubbles shooting out only to hit people behind you.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Just realizing I’ve never given much thought about bubbles - except maybe a quick “oh bubbles!” goes through my mind if I see them then I don’t think about it anymore.

What is happening that people are getting bubbles in their hair, clothing, glasses, food etc.?

It seems to have just gotten prevalent. Wasn't really a big enough issue to my recollection much in the past.

What is happening is that they are everywhere and being blown all over without spatial awareness. Can't say I personally got it in my food but I can see that happening. I do have glasses so I can sympathize with the issues there (I do wear my contacts at theme parks though).

I really did have a hard time moving out of the way of them in May, to some I'm sure they think "oh yeah right people just exaggerating or complaining 'bout nothing" but no I assure you it really was that bad.

Looked at our group chat we have for my DISer group and I wrote "I have figured out I'm a bubble machine magnet always behind one or next to one. At Universal it was water fan misters that I was a magnet for"

And yeah at Universal I had kids with the fan misters spray it right to me. We were on the bus one time going back to the resort and this kid did it straight at me. I don't blame the kids at all, I think that a lot of people think people are blaming the kids. Nope I blame the parents, the ones who are encouraging, the ones completely oblivious, the ones that give a young kid a fan mister on a bus full of people, etc. You're around other people, would be nice to keep that in mind with bubble makers and now that I think back fan misters too.

 

[Dulcee]

I mean, for everyone who hates them in ques, for a long wait, with small children, if it prevents a meltdown...

 

[robinb]

You mean tiny bottles with the wand you have to blow on. That’s way different than having ten million bubbles shooting out only to hit people behind you.

Yup. Those are the ones! In reality it was probably only a few dozen at the time.​

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I mean, for everyone who hates them in ques, for a long wait, with small children, if it prevents a meltdown...

So let me understand you correctly people have between being bombarded with bubbles in a queue in their face as they are standing or as they are walking through it or a meltdown by a child? There seems to be both a commonality to your statement and a problem with it. I'll let you figure out what that is

 

[LoveDaisy]

Here now I hate them. They are everywhere. Then all the kids chasing them. If you think they are gonna meltdown if they don’t get a bubble wand wait until the meltdown when they chase the bubbles and fall. I have seen 5 kids go down today chasing them.

 

[FreeTime]

I mean, for everyone who hates them in ques, for a long wait, with small children, if it prevents a meltdown...

Hmmmm…teach your children…prevent them from having a Meltdown in the first place. Wait! You give them the toy to avoid a meltdown. I see. They have you trained.