Rgonzalez79
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2010
- Messages
- 203
So the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow used to be my favorite park at the World, I loved the food, the rides were great, Illuminations was awesome, people generally weren't racing around at Magic Kingdom pace to see everything, I just enjoyed this park above the others. Until recently that is, I noticed it last year but more so now that we've come here during the summer. EPCOT has become a bit of a drunkard's paradise with no real control/oversight by CMs or managers.
I'm an adult and I can enjoy a drink or two (or three or four) and have no issues with anyone else doing the same, but there is a line between enjoying a few tasty beverages and getting wasted in a theme park full of kids. My issue comes when people are spilling over themselves or being loud and intolerable during shows or knocking over my child because they can't see where they're going, things like this.
My larger concern is that CM's seem to have no control over the problem or have just accepted it as part of the EPCOT experience.
A few "visual" aids
1) While waiting by the American pavilion for Illuminations, there are three college kids by the funnel cake stand making a bunch of noise and having a good time. I get it, it's summer and school's out and they're having a good time. Until one of the says, "I dare you!" and one of the young ladies proceeds to a full body dive into the bushes behind the railing. her friends were rolling on the floor laughing and she eventually climbs out, covered in scratches and repeatedly saying "holy ****, holy ****, that hurt" while a CM walks by and just shakes her head. This is completely acceptable behavior if I was at my neighborhood bar and we were outside getting some air, but this is not something I expect to see at a Disney Park. These folks were obviously drunk and not behaving in an acceptable manner in a park filled with children (never mind they fact that the girl could've been seriously injured), but security never came by, no senior CMs came by, nothing.
Once Illuminations got started they rolled up and proceeded to scream and yell profanities and my wife (who has a much shorter fuse than I do) turns and tells them to quiet down, there are children around. They laughed and kept yelling and I had to calm her and try to get her to ignore them because we didn't want things getting out of control. Ruined the show for us.
2) Walking through the giant store in the Japan pavilion and we get to the saki bar area. A guy my age who's clearly had too much is there with his family and he starts mocking the folks behind the register in a horrible Japanese accent. He keeps pointing and saying "how much for the happy ending!". His family is trying to get him to stop but he keeps going and says "we're just havin' fun". There are a bunch of CMs around but they go about they're business, no security comes over, nothing. The issue here is that they kept serving the guy even though he was obviously already gone. No controls in place or a lack of training on when to stop serving someone alcohol.
3) Heading towards Mexico and there's a group of about 5 college dudes walking towards us and again they're already drunk and they're pushing and shoving each other and acting like normal college kids do when they're hanging out at a bar. One of them almost bumps into my daughter and I have to push him to keep him from knocking her over. Nothing happened but we exchanged some glances, I can take care of myself but I'd have hated to have my little one have to see that it had anything escalated. Right after that, they jump to that drink stand outside and order another round of margaritas. Again, they're already drunk and belligerently pestering the server but that doesn't stop them from being served. Where is the control? We keep walking and the guys start yelling again and I share a look with the CM manning one of the merchandise stands by Africa (I think) and he says, "sun's going down, time's about right for this" as if it's expected and acceptable behavior at this point.
These are just 3 incidents that occurred, this post would get way too long if I listed every red-eyed or stumbling guest I came across. I understand that margins on alcohol sales are huge, and Disney is a corporation that has to answer to shareholders, but when is enough, enough.
The experience at EPCOT has transformed from a cultural haven where we go to get a glimpse of life on other countries and cultures outside of our own to that of "how many can I have before I hurl or pass out from the heat?". Not everyone is the same, I've seen people complete Drinks Around the World, get a buzz, and enjoy themselves without becoming a nuisance to other guests. But if this is what EPCOT is about these days, if this is what Disney is allowing the city of tomorrow to become (an outdoor bar with no means of crowd control) then....well there's not much we can do is there?
Is it just me who feels this way? Anyone else out there not enjoy this park as much as they used to because of this?
I'm an adult and I can enjoy a drink or two (or three or four) and have no issues with anyone else doing the same, but there is a line between enjoying a few tasty beverages and getting wasted in a theme park full of kids. My issue comes when people are spilling over themselves or being loud and intolerable during shows or knocking over my child because they can't see where they're going, things like this.
My larger concern is that CM's seem to have no control over the problem or have just accepted it as part of the EPCOT experience.
A few "visual" aids
1) While waiting by the American pavilion for Illuminations, there are three college kids by the funnel cake stand making a bunch of noise and having a good time. I get it, it's summer and school's out and they're having a good time. Until one of the says, "I dare you!" and one of the young ladies proceeds to a full body dive into the bushes behind the railing. her friends were rolling on the floor laughing and she eventually climbs out, covered in scratches and repeatedly saying "holy ****, holy ****, that hurt" while a CM walks by and just shakes her head. This is completely acceptable behavior if I was at my neighborhood bar and we were outside getting some air, but this is not something I expect to see at a Disney Park. These folks were obviously drunk and not behaving in an acceptable manner in a park filled with children (never mind they fact that the girl could've been seriously injured), but security never came by, no senior CMs came by, nothing.
Once Illuminations got started they rolled up and proceeded to scream and yell profanities and my wife (who has a much shorter fuse than I do) turns and tells them to quiet down, there are children around. They laughed and kept yelling and I had to calm her and try to get her to ignore them because we didn't want things getting out of control. Ruined the show for us.
2) Walking through the giant store in the Japan pavilion and we get to the saki bar area. A guy my age who's clearly had too much is there with his family and he starts mocking the folks behind the register in a horrible Japanese accent. He keeps pointing and saying "how much for the happy ending!". His family is trying to get him to stop but he keeps going and says "we're just havin' fun". There are a bunch of CMs around but they go about they're business, no security comes over, nothing. The issue here is that they kept serving the guy even though he was obviously already gone. No controls in place or a lack of training on when to stop serving someone alcohol.
3) Heading towards Mexico and there's a group of about 5 college dudes walking towards us and again they're already drunk and they're pushing and shoving each other and acting like normal college kids do when they're hanging out at a bar. One of them almost bumps into my daughter and I have to push him to keep him from knocking her over. Nothing happened but we exchanged some glances, I can take care of myself but I'd have hated to have my little one have to see that it had anything escalated. Right after that, they jump to that drink stand outside and order another round of margaritas. Again, they're already drunk and belligerently pestering the server but that doesn't stop them from being served. Where is the control? We keep walking and the guys start yelling again and I share a look with the CM manning one of the merchandise stands by Africa (I think) and he says, "sun's going down, time's about right for this" as if it's expected and acceptable behavior at this point.
These are just 3 incidents that occurred, this post would get way too long if I listed every red-eyed or stumbling guest I came across. I understand that margins on alcohol sales are huge, and Disney is a corporation that has to answer to shareholders, but when is enough, enough.
The experience at EPCOT has transformed from a cultural haven where we go to get a glimpse of life on other countries and cultures outside of our own to that of "how many can I have before I hurl or pass out from the heat?". Not everyone is the same, I've seen people complete Drinks Around the World, get a buzz, and enjoy themselves without becoming a nuisance to other guests. But if this is what EPCOT is about these days, if this is what Disney is allowing the city of tomorrow to become (an outdoor bar with no means of crowd control) then....well there's not much we can do is there?
Is it just me who feels this way? Anyone else out there not enjoy this park as much as they used to because of this?
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) There were a lot of drunk and rowdy people.
