Just back and holy wah did someone get over served!!!!

[xjillianpaige]

There are only about 10 people who listen to country music in Boston, so I know who they are. I'll take care of it . . .

Wasn't me! I didn't go to Countryfest or the 102.5 street party this year.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I've seen some horrible examples of people who are not able to self-regulate as far as their alcohol intake goes. It's a shame, really. Everyone suffers. ...and to be honest...this must be the most expensive "drunk" you could ever get on. The admission price (no matter how you pay for it), the price of the drink (nice for a 'treat', but I could never afford Disney's drink prices to the point that some do). You can get slammed at home or in your local pub for far less...so, what's the point? I wish that Disney would enforce good boundaries about this topic before someone gets into their car and kills someone on the way home, or hurts themselves. Just wishing...

I don't think its the most expensive drunk you can get.
I see people at concerts all the time that paid $300 for the VIP experience and then pay $20 each for one shot of rum in a small glass of coke. Just having 5 its $100+tax.
Some of these people buy 10 because 5 of them were spilled due to their own drunkenness or someone bumping them.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I've never seen anyone drunk at Disney, but I'm definitely not disputing anyone's observations.

However, Disney does just slightly more than zero to control other, sober bad guest behavior, so I'm not sure why anyone expects this to be any different. Line-cutting, scream-chanting, loudly narrating over the attraction soundtracks, parade spot crashing (and I don't mean "saved" spots, I mean pushing folks out of the way who've been waiting), repeated flash photography after warnings--these go on and on with zero CM response. I just don't see them jumping in here to decide who's had too many.

Ugh I agree about the sober bad behavior.

 

[lovin'fl]

Only read the first page and just felt the need to reply. I have been to F&W five years in a row now. We love it for the drinks ,and food, around the world but have only been pretty loopy there one night....and we behaved just fine. I will say that I have only ever seen one drunken person throwing up in the bushes at Epcot and it was in August, not F&W. Been going to Epcot since 2003....and as DVC owner we go multiple times a year. I don't recall ever seeing fighting or aggressive behavior, just the one barfing drunk person. We are empty nesters and like the world showcase at this point in our lives as we like to stroll around with a drink in hand and nibble on neat snacks and food. There are plenty other places on property for families with kids, like MK. So for the love of Pete, let us adults without kiddos have this one little sliver to enjoy. Those who do behave badly should get the boot....just like those Orlando soccer players just did.

 

[mamamelody2]

Well, my son puked in the bushes in Epcot last year.
He wasn't drunk, though.
He was only 10. Poor kid! LOL.

If I did see adults puking in the bushes, I'd be pretty unimpressed! Yuck!

 

[bdcp]

We have been going to F&W every few years since 1998, but we do go during the week since most of our trips are M-F (this year Sun-Thur) so we're not there on the weekend. We have never seen anyone that drunk. We've seen a few obviously tipsy people (giggling, etc) but never anyone really drunk or sick. We'll be back Nov 5th for 5 nights, but we're doing Epcot on the 6th (Mon) and 9th (Thurs). A couple of times we've been there on Nov 11 (Veteran's Day) which is just crazy crowded, but that's about it.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Last year during PM EMH and F&WF my sister (who is like a magnet for drunk people) was sprayed when a young man upchucked on the pavement near where we (and a lot of other people) were waiting for the barge drawbridge to come down.

 

[stinkpickle]

Which causes more puking? F&W or Mission Space

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I did my CP at Epcot last Fall. I witnessed so many awful drunk people in that time, that nothing I read about F&W surprises me anymore. They REALLY need to do a crackdown on how many drinks you can have in a day, property-wide, and that number needs to be pretty small.

Eh in a place like EPCOT I don't know how they would even begin to police that. I get your point but cutting off a customer in a bar is a lot different than a 300 acre theme park.

Drunk and rowdy behavior is one thing, but the issue truly is doing so at a theme park aimed at young children. I wouldn't want my 7 year old to see that. Less concerned about my 13 and 14 yr olds. It would make sense for Disney to create adult themed evening at Epcot during F&W where they discourage children under a certain age. Then, you can knowingly choose whether to go there w your child or not

Yeah but see WDW is not a place just for kids..it really isn't. Of course Food & Wine is aimed at adults that is for sure but Disney doesn't just say only adults at Epcot.

I don't feasibly see where they would say "adults only venue tonight folks". Besides would you want to be shut out of Epcot without the choice during your vacation because they made an adults only event? And how would they discourage younger kids if they didn't make it an adults only event? I can't even begin to imagine the backlash if Disney were somehow to say "after 4pm (random time) Epcot is a better environment for those aged 13 (random age) and up." I mean you have multiple rides that are good for the younger ones and now you're going to tell people "yeah...you probably shouldn't come at night during this time of year" The way they have it now they are likely doing the best they can with their available options while still churning a profit.

 

[Parker Clan]

We saw some girl puking in a trash can a couple summers ago at Epcot. Drinking in 100 degree weather...no thanks

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

We live in a neighborhood with a lot of bars and bar crawls. I've seen a few folks puking in the bushes at midnight, and it isn't unheard of to find puke on the sidewalk in the morning. I just try to step around the puke puddles and not let the dogs eat it on the walk. Epcot has a few rides that are kid appropriate, but with the F&W booths and easy availability of alcohol I don't really think of it as a kids' park like MK.

 

[Pooh2]

We've encountered Vomiters at Fort Wilderness after Hoop Dee Doo and Epcot.
Gross!!

 

[lovin'fl]

Eh in a place like EPCOT I don't know how they would even begin to police that. I get your point but cutting off a customer in a bar is a lot different than a 300 acre theme park.

Plus lots of folks, like myself, stay on resort and use Disney transport so imbibing is better there than at home where we have to drive to the venues. We even bought BWV DVC points so we just have a short walk back.

 

[Colleen27]

I think some like to play that they are super-drunk so they can act the fool and blame it on alcohol. As for someone puking in the bushes, I've come close at WDW and it wasn't due to alcohol.

Yep. Come on, we've all known "that guy" - if you gave him half-spoiled apple juice and called it a drink, 5 minutes later he'd be going on and on about how "wasted" he is and using it as an excuse to act the fool.

And I have, sadly, had a few incidents with the bushes, never because of alcohol. Once because I was pushing too hard and trying to deny being sick on a trip where the creeping crud took each one of us down in turn, and a couple of times on the trip when I was pregnant with our little surprise baby #3 and the line for the ladies room was longer than my morning-sick (which for me lasts all day for about 6 months) stomach could handle.

I have no issues with alcohol and I love getting a buzz on, but "drink around the world" has become a thing. My biggest concern is that rowdy drunks are going to ruin it for calm, mature imbibers like myself.

Drink around the world has always been a thing, though, and doesn't have to mean getting rowdy. We did it way back when, sharing the samples from each booth between two or three adults so we wouldn't get too buzzed too quickly to finish the loop. I'm not sure why drunks seem to be more of a problem now but if the frequency of complaints is any indication, it does seem like maybe it has gotten more common.

 

[ShadeDK]

I chalk this up as the result of bad guest behavior more than Disney alcohol policy - which is the problem: it's a lot easier to regulate policy than standards of behavior. It'd be one thing if F&W was like the French Quarter and loading guests up with $1 rail drinks and Jell-O shots. It's not - just the opposite, charging premium prices for small amounts. People still overindulge. So what's the solution? Take the "W" out of "F&W"? Zero tolerance security? Limiting the total number of drinks (I see magic band functionality - even though the limits never work)? Booth Breathalyzers (okay - now I'm being facetious)?

Even if Disney took the drastic step of taking alcohol out of the event (or Epcot as a whole - which isn't going to happen) would that really eliminate the problem guests? There's still the Boardwalk nearby and all the resort bars. Which is to say nothing of the people who smuggle alcohol into the park (some people might be shocked at just how much that occurs). I have no doubt that there are obnoxious drunks - but I wonder if many of the solutions are trying to get rid of mosquitos with elephant guns.

And while I agree that WDW is promoted and perceived as a destination for families and children, Disney isn't about to completely forget about the rest of the population and leave money on the table. Out of curiosity, I looked at the census numbers - only about 25% of US households have children 18 or under (a number that goes down to about 15% or so if you're looking at kids 13 and under). Disney isn't going to ignore that 75-85% of childless households - which include singles, childless couples, empty nesters, retirees... BTW, who does F&W mostly appeal to? Singles, childless couples, empty nesters, retirees.... Not to say families and kids shouldn't be able to enjoy F&W, too - it's a great event (one we should all enjoy without obnoxious drunks), but maybe see that this is one where the traditional Disney demographic isn't as strong (it's not Food & Fruit Juice).

 

[Oswin]

I don't think that's very fair since some of us can handle ourselves in a normal fashion and still have a few double shot drinks in a short period of time.
Its also hard to know how many drinks someone has had if they are not drinking in the same spot all day.
I do think that if someone is looking obviously buzzed and on the verge of drunk they should refuse to serve especially when its inside of a park vs like a resort pool bar.

At the Six Flags I work at now, you are allowed 6 drinks from park open (10 am) to park close (10 pm). Basically one every 2 hours if someone does want to drink all day, or they can go through all 6 at once. This goes for beer, wine and the hard liquor/mixed drinks they sell. They scan your drivers license every time you buy a drink, and it pulls up how many drinks the person has purchased that day on that ID. You can only purchase 1 drink at a time. When someone purchases their first 5, they let you know you only have one drink left that day. This system follows the guest from the Six Flags theme park to the water park which is a separate ticket entry and 2-3 miles away from the theme park. I'm all for drinking (hey, I'm 21 a girl likes to have fun at that age!) but I think like 6-8 drinks in a 12 hour operating period is pretty fair! People doing a few double shots here and there aren't the problem. It's the binge drinkers that stay trashed that are the problem.

 

[lovin'fl]

At the Six Flags I work at now, you are allowed 6 drinks from park open (10 am) to park close (10 pm). Basically one every 2 hours if someone does want to drink all day, or they can go through all 6 at once. This goes for beer, wine and the hard liquor/mixed drinks they sell. They scan your drivers license every time you buy a drink, and it pulls up how many drinks the person has purchased that day on that ID. You can only purchase 1 drink at a time. When someone purchases their first 5, they let you know you only have one drink left that day. This system follows the guest from the Six Flags theme park to the water park which is a separate ticket entry and 2-3 miles away from the theme park. I'm all for drinking (hey, I'm 21 a girl likes to have fun at that age!) but I think like 6-8 drinks in a 12 hour operating period is pretty fair! People doing a few double shots here and there aren't the problem. It's the binge drinkers that stay trashed that are the problem.

Problem is that F&W booths have drinks that are Dixie cup sized so that should not count as just 1 drink. On my recent trip, SIL and I would share a bottle of wine at dinner...which was basically two glasses each....do they scan our ID and count that as two then?

Cruise lines offer a drink package and you are allowed 15 drinks per day. And that's a lot...but again the drinker isn't driving...just like many of us at WDW. Six Flags, everyone has to drive home.

 

[amberpi]

I guess I'm weird that I don't see the big deal. Of course, I live in Chicago, and I see people puking all the time on a Friday/Saturday night. This just wouldn't phase me at all.

Same in Nashville. It wouldn't it even register for me.

Also @Queen of the WDW Scene - I totally agree with you.

 

[DekrRini]

The saddest thing I ever saw during F&W was on a hot October day, mid to late afternoon. Two young girls were basically carrying/dragging a third girl between them. They kept glancing around to see if anyone was noticing. I don't know if she was drunk or just overheated, but either way she was in very bad shape. I also hope they were resort guests. I'd hate to think any of the three were driving.

 

[amberpi]

At the Six Flags I work at now, you are allowed 6 drinks from park open (10 am) to park close (10 pm). Basically one every 2 hours if someone does want to drink all day, or they can go through all 6 at once. This goes for beer, wine and the hard liquor/mixed drinks they sell. They scan your drivers license every time you buy a drink, and it pulls up how many drinks the person has purchased that day on that ID. You can only purchase 1 drink at a time. When someone purchases their first 5, they let you know you only have one drink left that day. This system follows the guest from the Six Flags theme park to the water park which is a separate ticket entry and 2-3 miles away from the theme park. I'm all for drinking (hey, I'm 21 a girl likes to have fun at that age!) but I think like 6-8 drinks in a 12 hour operating period is pretty fair! People doing a few double shots here and there aren't the problem. It's the binge drinkers that stay trashed that are the problem.

I have had to use my passport when I didn't have a drivers license due to a brain injury. Did they scan passport ids? That's interesting.