In case you were wondering about Security...

[iheartdisney]

they have pepper spray and aren't afraid to use it!
http://www.kfiam640.com/pages/Handel2.html?article=9783969
And bravo to fellow guests for getting this guy under control!

Warning: video contains adult language!

 

[bumbershoot]

They must be making pepper spray differently than they used to. The two times I've been around it (a ditsy friend sprayed some while we were in college, not knowing what it was, and years later I was around it while just trying to leave work and get home during the Seattle WTO riots) it messes with EVERYONE. It is pervasive and it travels, and you don't just spray it and stand there unaffected; you are crying, too.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Yeah I was thinking that too. Is it for sure pepper spray? Those guys would be coughing not laughing LOL

Whatever it was (maybe super mild?) it worked LOL

 

[disney-super-mom]

Like the lady yelled over and over again during the video....yeah, where the heck was security?

Thank goodness for the guests who stepped in and finally "secured" the guy on the ground. Otherwise that poor older security guard could have been seriously injured. (He probably did get injured, but hopefully it wasn't too serious.)

I think the guy was just a belligerent drunk, but still. Not a good scene. And he was a pretty big guy!

 

[blackjackdelta]

There are many different grades of pepper spray you can buy, from mild to blinding. Since everyone around the bad boy is smiling I doubt it was strong or not pepper spray at all.

Hope he was banned, just another jerk on the loose.

Jack

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Yeah he also got up a few times after it. If it was police grade he'd be struggling to breathe, let alone move haha

 

[Tarijeno]

I imagine this was shot on Saturday, when crowds were nuts. So security probably wasn't lax (it took 90 seconds for them to get there) but were simply spread thin.

Also, was the main girl in the video carrying a cup of beer around the park?

 

[pixiewings71]

She does have a beer.......I wasn't aware you could walk around with it but I know they sell alcohol at DCA. I've had it there before. I didn't walk with it but I had it. lol

I can't imagine.....that guy was out of control, it took forever for security to get there and yay for the guy with the spray. It was definitely a very direct stream and it did affect that jerky guy, his eyes were all swollen.

 

[Tarijeno]

I just hope it didn't ruin the magic for a lot of people. I still remember being about 8, and witnessing a drunken, knock-down drag-out fight between a married/dating couple at Knott's Berry Farm. Our family still refers to Knott's as "The Trailer Park" because of that one experience.

It's a sad time we live in when grown adults go to a kid's amusement park to get sloshed, pee all over themselves, and get pepper-sprayed. Maybe it's time to install "You must be this sober to ride" signs in front of the rides.

 

[deesquared]

I heard about this on MW last night.
Apparently, the CM in white is a Security person, but CMs are not allowed to touch guests at all. They had to wait for the on site police officer to arrive.
This is just what I heard. I don't know if it's true or not...

 

[disney-super-mom]

I imagine this was shot on Saturday, when crowds were nuts. So security probably wasn't lax (it took 90 seconds for them to get there) but were simply spread thin.

Also, was the main girl in the video carrying a cup of beer around the park?

The video is 4 minutes long and I didn't see any extra security show up until 3.5 minutes into it. And who knows how long it went on before someone decided to video record the incident.

Not that 3.5 minutes is a long time, because it's not, but it seems like it when something like that is taking place and has the potential to escalate into something much worse.

And yep, you can carry around cups of whatever alcohol they sell at DCA (beer, wine, margaritas).

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

I believe (correct me if I'm wrong tho!) you can walk around DCA with alcohol, hence the extremely bright cups? You are stopped if you try to leave DCA with it.

 

[pixiewings71]

I wasn't aware you could wander the park with a beer (or anything else), I guess I thought that you had to stay in the Wharf area or the place you got the alcohol from. I don't think I've ever seen anyone walk around DCA with a beer in their hand before. lol

 

[robinjh7]

I'm glad the white hat guy had something for subduing someone. They always seemed 'security theater' to me. More 'take the lost kid to Main Street' than 'take down the bad guy'. My dad (30-year cop in the Los Angeles Basin) says that some people are more impervious to pepper spray than others. It can only narrowly effect them, and it just makes them angry. I guess that guy was one of those people. I'd really like to know the Security guy is okay. He took some hits. The guests who stepped in deserve a medal!

Edited to add: We were there during the street party prior to "Electronica" (which name I can't currently remember). We saw two drunk gals carrying glowing drinks trying to enter the Tortilla Factory and protesting when the CM was telling them they couldn't bring their drinks inside. They were getting kind of belligerent. I took my little kids away. So I guess you can carry drinks around the park?

 

[ethanwa]

I hope this guy is banned from Disney parks for life, and if he's seen stepping foot in a park again he's arrested on site for trespassing.

Makes it a bad experience for family's with little kids who spend $1000's on vacations (taking time off work, traveling long distances, etc) to go to Disney.

 

[Tarijeno]

Has there been any confirmation on what the guy was doing before cameras rolled? Was he just drunkenly hanging around the entrance to ToT? Was he threatening other guests?

 

[larina]

I don't remember seeing anything on the pier that says you can't leave the area with your drinks. And nobody stops you from having it when you go out of the area (we left with the remainder of our margaritas after we ate).

 

[Malcon10t]

The video is 4 minutes long and I didn't see any extra security show up until 3.5 minutes into it. And who knows how long it went on before someone decided to video record the incident.

Actually, if I am not mistaken, the guy in the Laker's jersey was an undercover. He watched the situation, until it got violent, then he interceded. He had a picture of the guy for purposes, then as soon as more backup arrives, they took him down. By himself, he couldn't have taken him down. AT least 2-3 of the guys who held him were not guests, but undercovers (aka foxes.) You could tell because once suits arrived, they did have one person near move away, and you could hear one of them say something along the lines of dont let him up til John got there with the ties. (They use plastic ties in the park.) Disney would not have allowed guests to remain in a position where they could be injured once Disney suits were there to handle.

 

[Malcon10t]

I'd really like to know the Security guy is okay. He took some hits. The guests who stepped in deserve a medal!

He was taken to the hospital, treated and released. If you look at the background pics, he had a bloody nose or lip. You just see blood on his face and napkins.

 

[robinjh7]

He was taken to the hospital, treated and released. If you look at the background pics, he had a bloody nose or lip. You just see blood on his face and napkins.

Thank you. I did some googling and saw a different video from another angle and it looked like he hit his head pretty good at one point. I was worried. I love those guys. They all remind me of my father and his brothers who were all law enforcement, so I have a real soft spot for them.

Side note: We had a chat with a security officer in December who looked JUST LIKE a tourist. The only give away was the wire around his ear running to the back of his neck and down his jersey. I saw in the video the Lakers guy taking video, but I'm wondering if that was just a ruse so he could remain close to the incident. BUT the security guy had already been hit so I don't know why he didn't get involved if he was undercover and not really a regular guest? Puzzling.