saving chairs at a water park

[Outdoor Girl]

There is no way I'd leave my wallet behind somewhere.  I'd put it in a ziplock and wear a small butt pack.

[Sharnita]

I'm kinda surprised by how many people seem to be paying admission to go into water parks and not spend their time in the water.

[Roe]

I'm kinda surprised by how many people seem to be paying admission to go into water parks and not spend their time in the water.

I don't think that's a fair observation.  I enjoy swimming or splashing in the water as much as anyone but I certainly couldn't do it for hours.  Whereas my children, they can stay all day long.  As a result, I'm usually the one reading on a chair after lunch until my DH and kids are ready to go. 

Does that mean I shouldn't go to water parks?  I don't think so.

[doodlemor]

For those that leave your your stuff on a chair, how would you feel/react if you came back and someone was actually sitting in "your" chair?

I'd be disturbed as my wallet would be there and I'd assume the person is up to no good.  That might not be true and if it were obvious the person was simply sitting down to take off shoes or something, that would be okay.  But at the same time, I would think to myself, "Get your own space, dude!"

I'd never, ever leave my wallet or purse unattended in public like that.

I'm glad I'm not the only one aghast at that!

Make that three.

Four.  I find this startling!  I wouldn't even leave my lunch and snacks unattended.

[MOM21SON]

I seriously doubt that the wallets are full of life savings and such. 

[NyaChan]

I seriously doubt that the wallets are full of life savings and such. 

Yeah, most people I see at water parks are in pretty revealing swim wear - not a wallet or baggie in sight, so I'd imagine a lot of people leave behind their wallets.

[Rohanna]

I leave mine in the car or in a locker- it's not perfect but it's a whole lot safer than just on a chair. I usually just bring a credit card or a few bills with me for drinks.

As for who pays for entry and then just sits: I went to two water parks this summer where I spent a fair amount of time sitting, as my husband would take our older kid while I nursed our newborn. I was not going to sit on the ground to nurse with a still slightly tender undercarriage, so yes- sometimes I moved abandoned towels. I enjoyed watching them play more than sitting around in the hotel all day by myself.

[Betelnut]

I leave mine in the car or in a locker- it's not perfect but it's a whole lot safer than just on a chair. I usually just bring a credit card or a few bills with me for drinks.

As for who pays for entry and then just sits: I went to two water parks this summer where I spent a fair amount of time sitting, as my husband would take our older kid while I nursed our newborn. I was not going to sit on the ground to nurse with a still slightly tender undercarriage, so yes- sometimes I moved abandoned towels. I enjoyed watching them play more than sitting around in the hotel all day by myself.

I don't leave it simply sitting out on the chair seat!  LOL!  It would be tucked into the carry bag that we use to carry our towels, sunscreen, pool toys, hats, clothes, etc.  That is, it is "secured away" with all the other stuff that no one has any business getting into. 

A butt pack?  How am I supposed to swim with a butt pack?  That's just ... odd.  I'm swimming/playing in the water about 90% of the time we're at the park.

Maybe next time, I WILL get a locker just for the wallet though since it would be a shame for it to get swiped.  I will still get a chair for me and my daughter though--gotta have the resting place in between trips down the lazy river!
 

[jeni]

A few months ago I was at a water park with friends, and after having fun on the slides etc we found some chairs and relaxed for a while and then decided to have a quick cool off in the pool in front of us.  When I returned to my chair there was a young girl of about 12 sitting on my towel, and she was dripping wet!!! I was so annoyed. She had also moved my hat and sunscreen. 

It wouldn't have been so bad had she bothered to move my towel, but I was very annoyed as I had to hire the towel and now it was soaking wet and I had nothing to dry myself with.  The thought of using the towel now it was all wet after she'd been on it sort of creeped me out a bit too (but maybe I'm over sensitive).  I had to ask her specifically "could I have my seat back please, you're sitting on my towel", before she would even move.

The odd thing was that there was an empty seat next to the adult she was with, she could have sat there.

I think it's probably not so bad to move towels out the way, if they are dry and the seats have been unoccupied for a while, provided that you are willing to move if people come back and ask you to.

[princessdolly]

I disagree that you should move if the person comes back. They had their chance at sitting there and they left. Then tried to pull a fast one by leaving their stuff there. Unless they just went to get something and were gone for less than 30 mins.

Chairs are not for storage. You can put your cooler, etc next to or under your seat. If you don't want to put things on the ground get a locker or pack lighter. A person has more right to the chair than your property.

If the place is crowded I would say that children shouldn't get a seat at all unless one just happens to be empty when they wander back from the pool. Not because they are 'less than' adults but that they will mostly be running around daft all day.

I also don't think it's right to say it's part of the culture of the parks. Just because lots of people have been rude for a long time doesn't mean it's ok to continue. Neither is the 'if I don't do it someone else will' excuse.

[Elfmama]

I think the behavior is so widespread that it has just become the culture of water parks. (I also agree with a PP that resorts and cruise ships operate differently because people have a room nearby to go to, the number of chairs is usually far less, and in my experience, it just isn't a universal behavior there.)

On our recent Alaska cruise, this came up.  The ship would be making a close approach to a particular glacier at a certain time.  DH wanted seats in the main viewing area, so we got there 2 hours ahead of time, just to make sure.  We sat in seats that appeared to be free, but some of the seats had magazines and stuff like that in them.  After about an hour-and-a-half, someone came up and asked me if we had reserved the seats with magazines, or were they open?  I said that no one had been in those seats since we got there, so as far as I was concerned they were available for the taking.  We had a nice conversation with them.  About 40 minutes later, the seat-savers finally came in and were rather miffed to find someone sitting in "their" seats.  They were ignored, and the husband went off to find someone in authority to remove the whole lot of us.  He did not succeed, so they must have told him "tough noogies."  They made PA grumbles for the next 20 minutes or so, but we were busy looking at the glacier!

[Rohanna]

Speaking of cruises:

http://moneyland.time.com/2012/08/02/lounge-chair-hog-controversy-cruise-line-gets-tough-on-seat-saving/

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=429807817061785&set=a.156041891105047.26437.144285012280735&type=1&theater

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/saving-seats-pool/story?id=16904431#.UHj3nlFAOSo

[SPuck]

I think the home base aspect makes some sense, only if for the home base you don't take more than three chairs. We used to go to Waterparks all the time when I was younger in groups of anywhere from six to fifteen people. Our chair space occupation (where all our stuff was) would end up being a quarter to a third the size of our group. If each individual person end up taking a chair for a day and not using it, that is rude. But if a group uses the same group of chairs intermittently that is okay in my book.

[LiveLoveLearn]

When we go to the water parks at Disney, there's a group of 6-7 of us.  We'll take 2-3 of the small chairs and use them for our stuff while we run around the parks.  We're usually only at the chairs to regroup and meetup or reapply sunscreen, so we pick the ones that will be in full sun all day that no one else wants anyway.  We also rent lockers, but realistically, you want your towels and shoes and sunscreen somewhere closer - the lockers at Disney are right by the entrances, which can be a good 10 minute walk from the slides.  I'd like to think that we aren't being rude, since shade is at a premium and we aren't trying to take it.

[Sophia]

When we go to the water parks at Disney, there's a group of 6-7 of us.  We'll take 2-3 of the small chairs and use them for our stuff while we run around the parks.  We're usually only at the chairs to regroup and meetup or reapply sunscreen, so we pick the ones that will be in full sun all day that no one else wants anyway.  We also rent lockers, but realistically, you want your towels and shoes and sunscreen somewhere closer - the lockers at Disney are right by the entrances, which can be a good 10 minute walk from the slides.  I'd like to think that we aren't being rude, since shade is at a premium and we aren't trying to take it.

My opinion is that this is the polite way to save chairs.  You found a non-prime location, and the number of chairs was <= 50% of the group size.  You had a home base without being a space hog.