Food & Wine Sickness

[TSR6]

We were there Saturday before last and while there were plenty of drunks, I didn't see anyone getting sick.

I was standing in line in Canada though for a brew and the guy in front of me had a jersey on, he was pretty drunk ... so he asks for a beer and as he reaches for his wallet he stumbled backwards a bit and the girl working the booth immediately said "sorry sir, but we cannot serve you any more alcohol right now, can I get you a water" .... at that point, the guy turned into a real "Richard" and began berating the girl. After a few more times of her telling him no he finally got the picture and turned to walk away, as he did I seen the front of his shirt .... USA DRINKING TEAM

so he goes over to the side, takes off his "USA DRINKING TEAM" jersey and then attempts to get back in line, at that point I had to say something ... I told him that the line started back there but seeing as this lovely lady already told you that you couldn't have anymore beer I guess you will be continuing your journey ----> that way as I pointed off to the right. He looked at me as if he was going to say something but he probably realized he was drunk and that I could have flicked him in the forehead and he would have fallen over!!!

I saw those guys... they were a hoot! They were having a pretty good time when I saw them earlier in the day...

 

[Elmo9607]

Ugh, that is just so gross. Puke makes me so nervous (anxiety attacks) that I would be nervous at F&W even during the day! However, it's good to know that by avoiding the weekends you can pretty much avoid it all together.

An extension...how do people manage to get THAT drunk? It's so expensive, and most of the kiosk drinks I've had there during other times of year just aren't all that strong. You'd spend well over $100 AT LEAST. I know my roomates drank around the world when I was in the CP, they came home DRUNK. However, they admitted they skipped the beer and went for all hard stuff. Oh well, to each their own...just don't puke around me!

 

[JeRmS]

I saw those guys... they were a hoot! They were having a pretty good time when I saw them earlier in the day...

This was around ... ohhhh, I'd say 7pm when I saw them ... they must have been around the world 2-3 times because he was speaking in cursive by that time.

 

[Jestocost]

DW and I were there a few weeks ago and walked through Epcot on a Saturday. Lovely woman on the curb in the UK with her head between her knees.

We went from there out the IG and did a lap around the hotels and had to navigate around a puddle in the BC lobby that had a few CMs posted around it to make sure no one stepped in it.

I drink more than DW would like, but still haven't been in that situation in 20+ years. If the (ir)responsible parties were 20 somethings I might have some sympathy, but 40 somethings plus like our UK friend; not so much.

 

[TwoCortWort]

We are annual pass holders and decided to head over to Epcot last night with the kids to hit the Future World rides for a few hours (we live close). The reason is that just my wife and I went to the F&W festivities last week and, while crowded, was not unbearable - especially for the rides.

I know it was a Saturday evening, and the tail end of the F&W, but I was a bit surprised by all the people who were "sick" at Epcot, even in the Future World area. At one point, my wife and I noticed that for every person being "sick" a Disney custodian was standing next to them with cleaning supplies at the ready. There was an army of custodians cleaning up "messes" in various locations. I am no stranger to drinking, but had never witnessed so many uncomfortable people at the F&W festival before. Strange.

When we were there over a week ago, I was amazed at how drunk some people had gotten and it wasn't until they got sick, but they were obnoxious and rude. Epcot is where I got my hand stepped on when I was tying my shoe.

 

[savannie]

DH and I were there all day yesterday. We saw plenty of drunks, but nothing like what you described. Neither of us drank anything (DH doesn't drink at all, anyway), but no one really annoyed me more than usual. I will say that the crowd level in World Showcase kinda gave me a claustrophobic feeling. Future World was great, though. I feel like we must be completely unobservant to miss all that. Glad we didn't see it, though. Seeing vomit makes me sick--sometimes literally.

 

[parkhopping]

This thread is making me so glad I only visited F&W on weeknights. This is my first year to attend so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I encountered my fair share of drunks but nothing remotely close to this. Never saw anyone get sick. The type of behavior described here is so disgusting...and very un-Disneylike, IMO...it's a shame the festival can turn into a frat party so quickly.

Those poor CMs!

 

[MarknTara]

My wife and I just got back from our Disney vacation where we celebrated our 1 year anniversary (We went last year in November on our Honeymoon). We went to Epcot on Saturday, 10/20 and couldn't believe the size of the crowd and the amount of people who were drunk. We were operating on one hour sleep since we had landed that morning from the airplane. We're 27 and 26 years old and wanted to celebrate a bit in some of the bars but even we decided not to due to the massive crowd and the amount of drunk people plus our lack of sleep wouldn't of helped much.
We were pretty shocked seeing that many people drunk in Disney World though. I felt bad for the kids who had to see some of the crazy stuff we were seeing.

 

[fla4fun]

DH and I were there all day yesterday. We saw plenty of drunks, but nothing like what you described. Neither of us drank anything (DH doesn't drink at all, anyway), but no one really annoyed me more than usual. I will say that the crowd level in World Showcase kinda gave me a claustrophobic feeling. Future World was great, though. I feel like we must be completely unobservant to miss all that. Glad we didn't see it, though. Seeing vomit makes me sick--sometimes literally.

I have the same problem - I don't even have to see it. If I know it's there I get sick too. That's why even as a local, I would never go to F&W on a weekend. I even avoid evenings during the week. If I go at all (and the crowds and claustrophobic walkways generally make me think twice) I go to the park in the morning, and leave about 3pm.

As far as the cost, I would guess that people budget specifically for the F&W booths, so they may have $200-$300 set aside just for the event. Some people buy t-shirts, some people buy wine and beer. It would really make more sense to split up your Epcot days if you plan on hitting every booth - but people don't always use common sense at these things. I hate getting sick so much I would do anything to prevent it from happening!

 

[Bonniec]

This is so sad to hear. I know that this is an event geared more towards adults, but my boys and I are coming in toward the end. Sat. the 10th is our first night and I was going to stop by to hit a few booths in the afternoon so we didn't have to do them all on Monday. Now I am really rethinking. I don't want my boys to see a bunch of adults that don't know when to stop.

I took my 6 year old last year and won't take him back. We were there in the middle of the day and I noticed several people pretty drunk. Two adult men were in each other's face hurling F-bombs at each other.

 

[cey]

The one thing I noticed last year when I was at F&W was that the listing for alcoholic drinks almost surpassed the food offerings for almost all of the countries! Bad combo, too little food and too much alcohol! I know that WDW makes a ton of $ from alcohol during these festivals, but it is supposed to be a FAMILY experience. Maybe Disney, it is time to cut back on the "Wine" in the Food and Wine festival! A CM shouldn't have to become a caregiver when the illness is self induced......

 

[Bonniec]

Maybe Disney, it is time to cut back on the "Wine" in the Food and Wine festival! A CM shouldn't have to become a caregiver when the illness is self induced......

They will probably scrap it one day, same as Pleasure Island, since people can't control their liquor.

 

[TSR6]

This was around ... ohhhh, I'd say 7pm when I saw them ... they must have been around the world 2-3 times because he was speaking in cursive by that time.

I saw them much earlier in the day... wearing basically jerseys?

 

[blessedby3]

While we werent there over the weekend, we were in Epcot on Thursday and saw a nasty pool of vomit....ewwww.....and when we were in Mousegear staying out of the rain, a very drunk and smelly lady was quite loud cutting in line to buy a princess towel to wear outside in the rain. She was toting a hugely tall beer as well. We didnt spend much time in the countries as DH and I dont drink and arent very adventurous eaters. Thankfully we missed much of what you other posters are describing by staying in FW.
We also had a group of young guys pass our car at DTD screaming out the windows "Lovin Disney!!!!" (thats what my license plate says) The girl in the back seat leaned forward to say, sorry...he has had one too many beers in Epcot! I hope the driver hadnt been drinking, but chances are he had

 

[GAN]

It's too bad to hear these reports -I'm into having a great time and probably have a drink too many on occasion, but people puking all over the place. Sounds like they're going to need to require a drink punch card to restrict the quantity of drinks you have ....or better yet, they'll install breathalyzer stations at every drink location.

 

[Kbendig]

I was there last week and sent most of my time at the WS (for Agent P missions, not alcohol) and didn't notice anything like this. Yes, there were people who were louder and obviously drunk but not falling over being sick drunk. The only time I really noticed a lot of drunk people was during EMH's Wed night, and that's probably because the park was so empty they stood out more.

I will say though, my son and I both got very sick and vomited during the week. We were fine the next day, but the virus hit us very hard and very fast. So you could have been seeing people who were truly sick, on top of people drinking too much. Especially if they were sick and still drinking, I'd imagine it would hit much harder that way. I mean, I was at MNSSHP completely fine and the next minute the room was spinning and I was vomiting and couldn't stand. Had that happened at Epcot I could very well have just had a drink when it hit me.

Anyway, just trying to put a different perspective from what I saw and experienced. We were there Sat and I didn't see the people in jersey's, maybe they started at the other end or passed us while we were having lunch. I was VERY happy to be leaving the WS though, it got very busy very fast and I was a bit overwhelmed.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

We were in Epcot on the 20th. I had never been to Food & Wine, and we were really there for a dinner reservation and to try the new Phineas and Ferb game. I didn't see anyone puking, but it surprised us that World Showcase smelled like Bourbon Street on a busy night (think New Years Eve or a bowl game - not quite the Mardi Gras smell). Plus, every food booth line was insanely long. If we ever come back during F&W in the future, we won't be hitting Epcot on a Saturday.

 

[krohloff08]

I am not sure I could handle the F and W Festival. While I understand that not everyone encounters this, I am also one of those that will puke if I see/hear someone else doing it. That is my least favorite part of Disney...running into a pile of puke! EWWWW!!!

 

[tony67]

I go to the F&W festival for about 10 days every year.

There have been times when I have drank way too much – no doubt – but I have never gotten to the point of being sick – it is not that kind of place.

I am surprised that people can afford to get that drunk – the alcohol is way overpriced IMO – and that may be a factor in why people get so drunk.

The food itself is also a bit expensive for the portions – and I suspect many people skip the food and just drink – especially when they are in those large groups.

Then you add that to the heat - and lack of water - maybe there should be water stations – but again they want to sell you water

One way to address this – or at least try and get people to get some food into them is to offer deals with beer and mixed drinks – maybe for $1 or 2 more they get a food item with it or a water.

Also would be nice the staff were trained to not over serve people – but I do not think they are qualified bar staff

 

[MrsDuck]

We haven't experienced that at F&W but nothing suprises me these days...