This reminds me of the oh so entertaining debate on these boards a while back about whether bubble wands are satanic torture devices or an innocent facilitator of childhood joy. The correct answer is of course both.
My kids use theirs to wake up Dad when we need to get up early for rope drop. 3/4 of our family would say it brings us joy. DH would disagree.
Last trip with physical distancing markers there were 2 sets of people that kept following us to our marker. After a few times of that I just told them to get in front of us. That actually worked well both times.
Sometimes it's my DH or kids getting too close, so I've often yelled loudly to my own kids, "Kids, give people their space!" which works wonders on the adults behind us. My kids understand the plan and are on board - they act realistically penitent.
On the having to pee while in line subject. DH and I were at DL in June and were in the line for RotR. The line was quite long. There was a woman in line with a young boy who about the time we were halfway through the queue had to go to the bathroom so bad he just couldn't hold it. So someone in line had an empty gatorade bottle and she took him over into a corner and as discreetly as possible had him go into the bottle. I thankfully had some hand wipes with me that I gave her so she could clean her hands. Nobody in line was upset or offended. In fact everyone was very understanding and supportive and helped as much as they could. Now had she let him just pee anywhere I don't think that would have been the case.
ohhhh. If we can, we try to find a CM to help us in and out of line. They've been really really helpful. We had to do that once after a 45 min wait for soarin. They had us walk back out through the FP line and then go back that way as well.
Another time ... we were in the line for FEA and had gotten ALMOST to the boarding the boats part. DD1 and I were actually just around a corner.... Well, my DD2 was only recently potty trained (2.5 or 3?) and she was joking with DH while he was holding her, and we heard, "I'm gonna pee on you!" in a laughing little voice and then totally distraught wailing seconds later, when she in fact peed on him. Like, a lot. The CM took us all out of line, had DD1 and me wait with them, while DH took DD2 through the exit and store (and was told to come back in that way) to change her. The dry clothes were back in the stroller.
That happened to us on our only FOP ride. Kid was crying before it started, it escalated when the straps came on for the banshee (totally understand how this could freak a kid out), and she cried that “I can’t catch my breath” cry the whole time. The parents were not very comforting to her afterward
Pre-pandemic, we were in line with FPs with a dad and his daughter who was probably a year younger than my DD1 (so around 7 or 8). Chatted through the line, etc. We start boarding the ride and the dad is too large to fit in the "banshee." They try every which way, and they can't get the thing to latch. He was so disappointed, and the girl was afraid to ride without him (maybe too young to ride alone, now that I think about it?) I felt SO badly for them. So I told the dad that if he was ok with it, I would be her designated adult and bring her out when the ride was done, but it would be a shame to miss out on this ride. So we moved a bit so she sat between me and DD1 and during the ride she got a little scared so I ended up holding her hand, while DD1 reassured her too. The dad was waiting in the hallway just outside, and I was so happy his daughter got to experience the ride and tell him about it.
As for confronting others ... I generally try not to, but:
1. not really a confrontation, but avoidance - a couple of years ago a big bearded guy who was loud and with a loud family in tow, starts pushing and shoving toward the front of the hub for fireworks after everyone has been waiting for a while. Stepping on people, kids, etc. We thought he was looking for someone holding space, but no - he's just pushing his way into as far as he can go to get the best view for this big, unruly group. All the people he's stepping on and pushing are crying out in pain and surprise, and as he passes them he says things like, "well get the **** out of my way, then!" He actually stops to get into shouting matches with (mostly dads) parents who call him on his behavior. Everyone quiets down as the fireworks start. When the fireworks are over, he does the same thing in reverse, shoving his way past the crowd walking toward the exit - at one point he flings his arm back as he's stopped and yelling at someone, more F bombs ... and whacks me in the chest. I yell in surprise and pain, and DH (who actually has a black belt in a martial art) pulls me along, like, let's just get outta here. The guy looks at me, and goes right back to his argument with someone else. Do people like him ever realize if they're always getting into these kind of arguments, that maybe they're the problem??
2. I was at Test Track over spring break and some youngish (no older than 14, 15) boys were wearing Disney themed tees (yay) that made drinking jokes (boo) - one was a darth Vader "drunk side" tee and one made fun of forky being "drunk". They were also talking like how they thought older guys talked, where every other word was a swear word (but still talking about Disney, lol). My kids (5, 9) were mortified. Finally, I said, "I'm not trying to keep you from having fun, and I don't want to be that cranky old lady, but could you, you know ... (jerks head conspiratorially to my kids who are standing there like
) maybe cool it w the F bombs?" They kept their distance and lowered their voices...