OKW - nice trip - but some bad behavior

[BobH]

I sent my daughter and 5 friends to OKW. They are all 23-25 years old and had just graduated from Boston University with their Masters Degrees. They had a great trip until the last evening when they encountered and intoxicated young man on the bus back from Downtown Disney that wouldn't mind his own business. The girls attempted to avoid him but he wound up following them back to the main pool area at OKW carrying a can of beer which he proceeded to fling at one of the girls when it became apparent they wanted nothing to do with him. It sounds like security attempted to deal with it and handled it pretty well. There was some talk of possibly evicting the young man who apparently had caused other incidents that week. When my daughter told me about it I was rather suprised because I have never encountered anything like this behavior at OKW. The girls handled it well, they have all been living in Boston for the past 2 years so they are someone accustomed to the occasional person that can't behave well. I just wonder if this is unusual for OKW. I thought I was sending these young adults down to one of the more safe resorts available these days. I never expected this report from OKW.

 

[Doug Wolfe]

I suspect this was a rare incident. You have to remember, WDW is moving several million people through their property & gates every year, so I guess you are bound to run into an idiot or two. I live in a moderate size city of about 80,000 and several hundred people are arrested each year for violent crime. So, I guess when you look at Disney as having an annual population of a major city, it's suprising they don't have more problems.

Unfortunately, this is the one memory your kids will have. How was the rest of their trip and what did they think of OKW?

 

[Dreamfinder2]

Several years ago I had taken the youth group from our church to Fort Wilderness. We were camping at Creekside Meadow, the group camping area. A couple of our girls had been back at the camp one afternoon, and were headed for the comfort station (bathroom/showers) when a naked man strolled out from behind the building and leered at the girls. The girls, terrified, ran back into their bathroom and had the presence of mind to call security. The man dissapeared.

Later, when talking to Disney security, I raised much the same question as BobH. The security folks were SO apologetic, but, as they said, "We host tens of thousands of people daily. Unfortunately, we can't screen everyone who comes on property to see that they behave with dignity and respect for others."

I guess you'll find jerks anywhere in society. And I guess there's no Disney resorts that are immune.

Sounds like the young ladies handled themselves appropriately. I do hope the drunk was handled decisively.

 

[Lisa F]

Originally posted by BobH
I just wonder if this is unusual for OKW. I thought I was sending these young adults down to one of the more safe resorts available these days. I never expected this report from OKW.

Of COURSE it's unusual for OKW. It's unusual for MOST places (except maybe New Orleans and places like that). Behavior like that is not what one would expect anywhere at Disney, but unfortunately there are idiots everywhere.

Lisa

 

[BobH]

The rest of the trip the kids had was excellent. They are old enough and all work in the health field so they are mature enough to not let it bother them. I just wondered if many others experienced anything similar. I am just taking an informal poll.
Thanks to all for replying.

 

[Disneyaholic]

DH encountered something like that once, reported it to OKW security, and it was promptly handled. (Don't know exactly what they did, but either we called them or they called us and told us that they did get the guy...)

I'm wondering if maybe this young man also may have been "celebrating" the end of the school year?

 

[gmboy95]

There are people in the boston area who behave badly...this cant be!!!!! ..... Seems like this gentlemen is very brave when confronted by a group of women....i think security should have sent him on the same flight path as his beer can.

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

It's really unfortunate that this had to happen, but thank goodness the outcome was no worse. In all our trips to WDW, we've never encountered anything that upsetting. I think that it is a testament to the safety of WDW that these kinds of situations are unusual enough to be rare and very noteworthy.

As Lisa F so aptly stated, there are idiots everywhere, but I think there are fewer at WDW and OKW.

 

[KNWVIKING]

Closest we came to a situation like that was at the main hot tub at OKW. There was a group of four couples -early twenties- who obviously had been drinking quite heavily. Language was bad,very loud, but nothing threatening. It was late and no children were around so we just accepted it as something we probably had done earlier in our lives but didn't realize it.

I'm not a fan of the high prices Disney charges for everything, but I think the expense of sitting on a bar stool at Disney resorts does help to keep some of the drunkeness down. Besides, who wants to be on Space Mountain with a hang-over ? Worse yet I guess- the person sitting behind the person with the hang-over on SM.

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
Besides, who wants to be on Space Mountain with a hang-over ? Worse yet I guess- the person sitting behind the person with the hang-over on SM.

 

[DaisyDebbie]

Nice Nick

 

[PamOKW]

Nick, you've just been waiting for a chance to use that one again.

BobH, I think these incidents are not common but probably do happen. The later you are out at night and spending time at DD can increase the odds of something happening. Of course, this fellow probably would have just staggered home to bed if he were riding home with you and your wife on the bus and there would have been no incident. Being a wise guy to a group of women was too much for him to resist. I'm not saying the girls were in any way responsible or that his behavior was excused just that the circumstances raised the statistics, other circumstances nothing might have happened. Of course, drinking could have led him into other bad behavior like kicking a car, etc.

PI is great but it is also a source of much the trouble that does happen at WDW. This is my concern about making access between OKW and DD too easy. I like having a buffer that doesn't encourage too much walking between the areas at night.

This is also a reminder that WDW isn't in some bubble. We still need to keep our guard up and pay attention to what is happening. Your daughter and her friends have this as second nature living in a big city, others may want to remember to keep their radar up at WDW.

 

[CarolA]

Well, I will say that I agree that Disney prices make it hard to get drunk! Plus, Disney is not overly generous with the alchol in the drinks. (I am not convinced there is any in those drinks in Mexico LOL!)

It happens. Acutally I am bothered a lot less by drunks in Disney then an I am on my way to work. (Homeless men with little brown bags, you get the picture.).

The last time I was at OKW I went into the pool restroom about 9 pm. There were two girls who I would estimate were around 16 "changing" I assume they left their family villa dressed in a manner their parents found appropriate. They took a backpack and appeared to have changed into somewhat skimpy attire and were working on their makeup. (In typical teenage fashion, this involved putting LOTS more on. LOL!) I wondered what their parents thought they were doing.

 

[DBBN]

Originally posted by BobH

I just wondered if many others experienced anything similar. I am just taking an informal poll.

We've taken 29 trips to OKW since early 1995 for a total of 151 days. I have never witnessed inappropriate behavior such as what your daughter and her friends experienced. It's nice to see the rest of their vacation was excellent.

I've noticed boisterous guests on several occasions but we tend to be very tolerant unless foul language becomes an issue.

I almost forgot...on one trip while at South Point pool I noticed a young lady (mid 30's) sunbathing topless. Although not personally offended I found it odd that she must have viewed her behavior as reasonable.

 

[ncligs]

Originally posted by DBBN
I almost forgot...on one trip while at South Point pool I noticed a young lady (mid 30's) sunbathing topless. Although not personally offended I found it odd that she must have viewed her behavior as reasonable.

DBBN
Do you know what building you were in.........and what week it was?This way other OKW members can ask for that view

if they are down at that time of the year next year.

 

[mlshields]

Nick,

You are just too funny!

 

[KNWVIKING]

"Originally posted by DBBN
I almost forgot...on one trip while at South Point pool I noticed a young lady (mid 30's) sunbathing topless. Although not personally offended I found it odd that she must have viewed her behavior as reasonable. "

Are you sure that wasn't just Gracey in his Speedo's ??

 

[Caskbill]

About 4 years ago, my sister was at MGM on ToT. The man sitting next to her calmly pulled out a flask and poured himself a little drink in a paper cup.

That's when the elevator dropped. My sister smelled like booze the rest of the day as most of it wound up on her. She didn't even realize what he was doing until it was too late.

Now between my brother and sister's families, and our family, we've been going to Disney on a steady basis since Nov '71 (way back before I even turned 30... ) and this is the ONLY incident of any kind that I can recall.

 

[Mic]

Exactly a year ago(late May/early June 2002), my 14-year-old daughter and 3 friends, all 14-15, decided to stay at MGM a little longer than the rest of the family. I did not think twice about them taking a bus from the park to OKW at 6 pm(still light out), but it seems I should have. There was a rather crude,"older gentleman"(I think 1 friend called him "an old perv") that tried to get the girls to go to his room with him! Luckily, there was a motherly woman on the bus who realized what was going on, and told the guy to get lost. The bus driver was either unaware or did not care. I called the front desk immediately, but what could they do at that point? On our trip last week, I made a point to ride the bus from OKW to DD and 2 parks, and did not notice anything like this going on. I did notice some teenage boys riding the bus to DD at 8 pm, something I doubt I would let my girls(or boy) do because I do not think of DD as being as safe a place as the parks, and would assume that the "party" atmosphere at PI would attract a few drunks that could follow a young lady back to her room. I am glad that security was able to help your daughter and her friends.

 

[floridafam]

You have a point about people being possibly followed back to their rooms.

Last year I encountered a weirdo at WDW and my first instinct was to get back to my room as fast as I could but I didn't. I went somewhere where there was a lot of people and called my DH.

It's kind of like when you are being followed in a vehicle by someone you don't know. Most people would probably drive home and call the police when the better thing to do is drive to a police station or a public area where there are people around.

Once some weirdo knows what room someone is staying in then things could get a lot worse if they aren't kicked out of a particular resort.