Not even "The Most Magical Place on Earth" is exempt from fighting.

https://wdwnt.com/2022/07/update-guest-involved-in-magic-kingdom-brawl-reveals-story-more-footage/

They need to raise prices and stop being a budget chain. /s

A few observations:

- There are no innocent victims here.  Both sides are in the wrong.

- guest left the line to get her phone & assumed to resume her place in line.  This is line jumping.

- some understanding is needed by the family that would not let her pass & supposedly pushed her back.  It's only one guest & she was already in-line.  Is it really that big of a deal?

- All this over a forgotten phone?  You can't (or shouldn't) use it during the performance anyway.  A little communication when you were leaving the line could have solved all the problems.

- guy in green t-shirt deserves to be in jail.  Sucker punching a woman?  Special place in hell for you pal.

- the family of the line jumper waited till the end of the performance to confront the other family.  I bet they really enjoyed Mickey's PhilharMagic with this on their mind.  As they say at Disney: LET IT GO.

The answer is an absolute NO line jumping policy for any reason.  If you are caught line jumping for any reason , then you are escorted out of park with no refund.

This girl in the story may have legitimately forgotten her phone and was trying to get back to her family.  The problem is this is happening all day long, so you get to the point you do not believe "someone forgot their phone story".  I experienced this last summer at Universal . . when you wait for 1.5+hr and just see people walking past you saying they need to catch up to their family.  You just start getting more and more angry as the day goes on.  Things are going to boil over and you feel like the line jumpers are daring you to say anything.

The absolute NO line jumping policy should be very clear before either buying season passes, online or "at the gate" tickets.  NO REFUND, expelled from the park.  The only exception would be for Guest Services escorting you through line.  Go to them if you need to join family members or some other reason to be brought forward in line.  Signs should be posted in every line to report Line Jumpers and how to report them.  The TV's/monitors should have announcements of the NO Line Jumping policy.

 

The issue with line jumping is that I don’t think people even realize they are doing it sometimes. When someone leaves line to go to the bathroom and later rejoins the line or when they catch up to their family in line, I feel like the people don’t even know they are line jumping. This is a big issue at so many parks. People just don’t always understand what they are doing.

Time to bring back the "Line Jumping is not a sport at Kings Island."    I don't think there is much signage anymore.  They should also have plain clothes "ride marshalls" similiar to air marshalls on the busy days.  (I know this is a Disney story, but it is a transferrable concept)

Thinking even further....

Leaving the line and trying to reclaim your position in line is line jumping, but, this line wasn't for a ride, it was for a performance that everyone will be enjoying at the same time.  Allowing her to pass would not result in the opposing family waiting any longer.

Sometimes being so rigid in thinking clouds good judgement.

 

Add in heat wave temps and it's a recipe for short fuses. I get aggravated by the heat, simply standing in line. Honestly, I've had people cut the line on me to catch up to family and it did not bother me. Actually, I let a couple of guys come through in front of us at Carowinds so they could catch up to their friends, waiting in line for Fury. Granted, we were all in the Fast Lane, but I actually asked them if they wanted to cut us to catch up with their friends. It was a situation where we all kind of arrived at the line simultaneously and a couple of their friends arrived mere seconds later, but were separated. They thanked us. They didn't ask nor were they trying to cut in front of us.