Concerned about F&WF behavior (LONG)

[Mikelly1221]

I'm not sure where else to post what happened, so if this isn't the right forum, please move this post.

Last night my family & I went to the F&WF at EPCOT. We went in the evening and stayed through Illuminations, so we were leaving from the UK with the herd toward the main parking lot. Around Spaceship Earth, my DH said, "Watch those two girls." These girls looked early 20's so I doubt they were underage. They were so drunk that they absolutely could not walk without hanging on each other. They tripped over a little boy walking in front of them. We were going the same direction so we watched them all the way out the main gate. We stopped because the tram was about to leave. We heard the "Driver, all clear" and the horn beep and watched the sudden lurch of the tram. It was THEN that one of the girls darted in the road RIGHT in front of the tram. If the driver hadn't been paying GOOD attention, he would have hit her. Her friend stayed on our side and talked the ear off of a lady standing next to her for the length of the tram.

After the tram passed we continued to our parking lot area, which was also their parking lot area. My DH ran across the street to a security van to tell them about the girls. We were so scared about them driving. Then, when he got back, he ran to another security van on our side of the road and told them the same thing. I was watching the girls to see where they went and they got into two DIFFERENT cars (I was hoping at least they were riding together!) The first girl left after it taking her a while to get situated in her car. The second girl (the one who almost got hit by the tram) put her car in drive and almost hit the security van stopped RIGHT IN FRONT of her. Security meanwhile, wandered all around the parking lot, even after we were standing pointing at the cars the girls were in. DH even ran up to BOTH vans and pointed them out. At one point the girl was right behind the security van!!! It was so frustrating!! The parking lot was pretty empty by then, so IMO, security failed miserably and I intend to write them a letter.

I guess I just wanted to tell everyone to be careful and alert when leaving the F&WF!! Having a good time is one thing, and I am not the alcohol police by any stretch of the imagination, but we all want to be safe!!!

 

[goofy4tink]

Thanks for being the kind of person that would take the time to call this to security's attention. Too many people would have just said it wasn't their concern. Not your fault that security couldn't do much about it.

 

[jiminyfan]

you would think that Security would be worried about the LAWSUIT if they crashed. Just imagine the publicity of a Drunk Driver killing someone and Security ignoring the earning.

If I witnessed this I too would write Disney and call them. Next time get the Security van's number and officiers name.

This is not just right.

I lost my cousin to a drunk driver when he was just 20. I have no patience for them at all.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I read through what you said and I have to tell you here, I would have done the same thing.. too bad, you did not get the name or number of the security guards who did nothing.. maybe when you write your letter, you can site exactly where you were in the parking lot, what time it was and what day... maybe then Disney can pinpoint who was working who did not do their job.. Drunk driving is something that should not be ignored.. Please write your letter...

 

[PrincessDana]

While we didn't see anyone drinking and then go to the parking lot, we saw several people who'd had too much to drink when we were at Epcot a couple of weeks ago.

There was one lady in an electric scooter type wheelchair who couldn't even drive it she was so drunk!! And the whole time we heard them talking, they were just talking about getting more to drink!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

there is not much they can do, they cannot arrest them, but, they can notify the local police.
what you did was a good thing andI commend you for taking the time and effort to alert security.

 

[jann1033]

could be this is a state/local law but locally recently a few times they have prosecuted those who provided the alcohol to obviously drunk people who then caused accidents...(I think one incidence was a bartender who served someone drunk who had a car accident and someone was killed in, another a parent was involved cause she knew the kids were drinking and someone was hurt in a pool or something, not driving in this case). since WDW is private property I wonder if the police can give out dwi s.
all the more reason to take the boats or mono. & stay off the roads!

 

[sm4987]

I hate to hear that. You did the right thing. I just pray that there was no accidents and everything went o.k.

 

[Kallison]

DH and I went to F&W Festival w/o our kids this trip. I mentioned to DH that I saw lots and lots of drunks in the parks. I'm not sure I would want my kids there at night or on a busy weekend day. We saw a lot of drunkeness, however being kidless most of it was harmless and funny to us. It surprised me how many people were pushing their stroller through those drinking lines.

 

[kylara]

Since the Disney security is not set up to detain people in their cars, the only thing they could probably do is notify OCS and give them a description on the cars and hope they could catch them on the road. Even though WDW is private property, OCS is allowed to give tickets if someone is speeding, DUI, reckless driving etc. In fact, WDW often pays to have the Sheriff's on the property.

I think in any state you can file a civil lawsuit against a company of individual serving an obviously drunk person... however, I think that you have to show reasonable cause that the person serving the drunk person knew they were drunk. That could be difficult at something like the F&WF where they person might only be at the booth for a couple of minutes.

 

[Mikelly1221]

I really appreciate the votes of confidence from you guys. I tell you it was so frustrating to watch. Especially when the security van was right in front of one of the girl's car and my DH is waving & pointing frantically and then off they go! Then my 4 year old DS wants to know "What's Daddy doing?" I told him that some people weren't being safe & Daddy was trying to help them be safe. He's big on safety, so that answer was enough!

Legally, I'm not sure what they could have done. Hopefully they did notify the sheriff's dept. I am going to write a letter-should I just address it attn: security dept. or attn: guest relations? Will the PO Box 10,000 address be fine?

 

[danny1649]

You did the right thing and you tried your best to warn Disney of a dangerous situation that's all you can do.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Good for you and your hubby, Mikelly1221. You guys did the responsible thing. Sad people have to act as such, thinking they are having a good time.

 

[Samirella]

Originally posted by Mikelly1221

I guess I just wanted to tell everyone to be careful and alert when leaving the F&WF!! Having a good time is one thing, and I am not the alcohol police by any stretch of the imagination, but we all want to be safe!!!

Its not just during the food and wine festival that people partake in a little too much alcohol. There's a well known event (at least for locals and cms) called drinking around the world. I've been working at WDW for almost ten years and this is something that has been done for anything from birthdays to random get togethers. At any rate, if you're leaving the parks in the evening, be careful.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

My last trip in Sept was the first time I ever noticed anyone at Disney drunk....We had stayed until park closed at MK, yes MK and where waiting for the boat back to WL There was a large group with small children, they had a soft cooler under one of the strollers full of beer....well not full as the men where all woozy and had been drinking for some time..one didn't want to stand in line for the boat so the others in the group just left him. He then waited until they where ready to board and pushed his way by everyone else waiting. I'm glad they didn't drive but I felt like tripping him and making him do a header into Seven Seas.

 

[PhotobearSam]

Please write the letter and be sure to add that they need to cut people off who are DRUNK!!!

Your children should not have to see drunks at the parks. I don't have kids but I don't want to be around drunk people either.

I don't have anything against a few drinks but at the parks...They should cut people off...

There is a place at WDW for drinkers...It's called PI!!!!!! If I saw an employee of WDW serving a person so drunk that they could hardly stand up...I WOULD ASK to SEE THEIR MANAGER!!!

WDW is a family place and drinking in large quantities is frowned on more and more these days...

Like I said before...I don't have anything against drinking in the parks but Disney should try to keep their reputation dirt free...

Just my 2 cents...

 

[jann1033]

I have to say I agree with photbearsam...that kind of atmosphere is why we decided against going to PI and we were considering going to F&W next year but that would ruin it for me. I don't mind moderate/responsible drinking but if those girls were that drunk I don't see how a CM could not have noticed,,,the op did and I doubt they were the only ones..maybe they need to beef up security or somehow limit consumption ( like give each person so many tickets that have to be turned in to get a drink and limit the size of samples)

 

[ILUVDXL]

It's a shame people like that have to ruin it for the rest of us. You did the right thing. We were at the F&WF 2 weeks ago and although we would arrive in EPCOT each day around 3 and leave about 6 we did run into a woman while we were waiting to see the English Invasion who was very obviously drunk. She talked our ears off and we finally politely said we had to be on our way and missed the show. Believe me this woman was no kid and should have known better.

 

[MinnieGi]

Mikelly - Thank you so much for notifying security about the situation. Thank you also for writing the letter too. I hope there were no accidents that occured b/c of their behavior and I hope security did notify the sheriff's department.

 

[dan-tot]

I thought that Disney is like a township. I would think that its security force would have some powers in this situation. Maybe they could of held the girl where she was by blocking her way and then letting the sheriff or other police come and make the arrest. Drunks are a a pain. I experienced this with my uncle and I didn't like it when my Uncle drove drunk. If those two girls were that drunk then I would have been surprised if they didn't have an accident before they got home. The parking lots alone have alot of turns and zig zags so I am pretty sure they had trouble. You did the right thing if you hadn't you would of did a what if all the rest of the trip and you wouldn't have enjoyed yourself. Good Job!


Dan-tot