When parents take their children to a theme park they should do it without the influence of alcohol, or the exposure to alcohol. Also, the Florida heat and alcohol is not a good combination
Which is why I sincerely hope they continue to limit the availability of alcohol in MK. But Disney makes too much money to stop selling. I used to work at a different theme park during my college years & when a parent asked me for directions to the nearest beer stand at 9am in the morning, I sent them the wrong way. Some parents/some people just won’t act responsibly
Wow. That whole Tiana's section with Nick is insane. That CM was probably fired instantly. As someone who works in attractions, that is one of the biggest safety violations I have ever heard. What an idiot that CM is. I know it was probably her first evac but I have never seen or heard of a case of anyone doing anything SO wrong. I also bet that everyone else was written up for that. Also I love Nick
I don’t take my kid to bars so, maybe the parks aren’t a place to get totally hammered? What are they going to do when a drunk driver hits someone leaving the parks? I don’t think they need to ban alcohol, but maybe take it down a notch. I was there for my annual trip last weekend. The amount of line cutters walking into the Rattatouie queue with beverages was ridiculous.
picking up my son took my entire lunch. i got 1 hour and lived 3 mins from the school and sometimes i was still late. We tried the bus but it was just as inconsistent sometimes it came at 330 sometimes 5 and the school wouldnt notify you of which AND the stop was at the neighborhood entrance.
Feels like there's so much stuff they can do with the App. Even scanning your App, Ticket or Magic Band could do a lot. For example, I know when we go to pick up our AP magnets it knows if you got one already, so you can't get extra ones. Yet you see resellers buying dozens of Figment bags when they came out that first day. Why isn't stuff like that limited for your ticket/pass? Couldn't they easily do something like that with alcohol too? X number per day or X number per hour?
Nick, love your evac story. For me, that can be the best part of a ride. I actually prefer the dark and dank underbelly evac as opposed to the clean, non descrpt drywall and lights. Im just weird like that. Grizzly River Run is the best evac I've ever experienced. I'd take it in lieu of completing the ride.
Hi, I am from the Netherlands (Europe). I think the liquor use is so much, is that liquor is hard to get outside the parks, like in the supermarket what is easy to get in europe. And if in the parks so easy to get. That's my experience. I've also only been to Walmart once, maybe I've seen it wrong 😅
Alcohol is not the inherent problem; overconsumption is. They've also drastically reduced the amount (sizes) you are able to purchase from the festival food booths. You used to be able to choose from 1 of 4 sizes of beer and a lot of the booths sold liquor pours
You can remove a lot of things from the parks and yet people would still manage to cause chaos and ruin things for other guests. It's a societal issue that is bigger than just drinking around the world at Epcot. I'd hate for Disney to take away something that is a treat for some guests just because certain individuals don't know how to behave themselves.
Is really alcohol the problem? For me no, the issue is more the person who drink way too much rather than the company that sells alcohol. I mean there are a lot of parks in Europe who serve alcohol and there's no problem despite the drinking age being 18 or even lower in certain countries. One thing Disney can implement is refuse to serve alcohol to people who are obviously drunk.
Eric- I can understand you perspective as an adult without children that people being drunk and acting crazy isn’t that big of a deal. i would have agreed as a young adult going to disney, but now that i have kids that i take to disney with me, it’s a very different situation. kids don’t understand alcohol and its effects. all they see is an adult acting scary and unpredictable. believe it or not all it takes is one instance of a toddler or young child being too close to a situation like that for it to ruin their whole day. that is all they will talk about the rest of the day, after the trip that will be one of the few things they remember. to an adult who can understand context it’s not a big deal, to a child it’s a trip ruiner. so yes, i do think it’s a bigger deal than you realize for the target demographic of disney world.
Not to get too far into the Star Wars fandom weeds, but I generally liked the third episode of the Acolyte and found the witches (conceptually) really compelling, including the controversial stuff people are mad at them being able to do, and I think the show's lead two actors are great, but overall yeah, this feels like the most "bland TV show" Disney+ Star Wars project so far. I'll see where it goes but it feels like it's messy in the overall execution and the "mystery" isn't compelling at all. I do somewhat agree with Nick that it feels too early in the storyline to show the Jedi as too-far-gone self-righteous cultists, but I think that is a story worth telling. Generally it feels like this was the wrong era to set this story in, the production value is lackluster, and the scripts needed a few more passes. I'm not on the hate train, just a bit disappointed.
I am a former cast member who worked events mostly at Epcot and I can tell you alcohol will never go away in the parks. There is an INCREDIBLY high markup for alcohol. The company will never turn back. They’ll just hire more security CMs.
Disney can profitize this problem. They can make a "drinking around the world" challenge. Like the cookie challenge the have at the holiday festivities. For $99 you get a small glass, 4to6oz, and a drinking passport. Once you hit all the spots. You return your small glass and get a "i drank around the world" pint glass. Disney makes $, people drink less and still get to drink around the world. Sounds like a win/win to me.
That's a great idea. I don't drink much, so I don't tend to drink at EPCOT since the drinks are strong and expensive. But I would absolutely love to be able to taste everything. I'd absolutely buy the drink passport with the taster glass if that was available.
The documentation idea falls on its face when other parks like in japan do not have these incidents alchol or not. It's obvious that American parks are having more guest problems than ever. People LITTERALLY go to EPCOT to get drunk because the park has become a bar crawl.
It’s not my place to push banning alcohol. (Plus, look at the prohibition era. I just don’t see banning happening.) But at the same time, those who irresponsibly drink @ WDW have ruined many of my park experiences: 1. What used to be a very cool trip around the world has now become a pub crawl. 2. One time going into a Epcot French restaurant, for which I had a reservation. The cast members would not check me in because there was a drunk in the lobby. They were waiting on security. This was preventing me from eating and it ticked me off that a drunk was a higher priority than a paying guest. 3. I have left the park before when there’ are expletives everywhere and drunken rowdiness on rides which ruins the ride experience. I go there for a family experience and when people become drunk at Disney, it is no longer a family safe experience. I am a rope drop to fireworks guest so when I have to leave the park because the park guests have become drunk then yes my experience has been cut short.
Just an idea for when News Tonight returns: Using Nick's actual talking spots, his adventure evacuating Tiana's Bayou would make an incredible cartoon.
If you rewatch the first two episodes of the acolyte after how bad the third and 4th were, the first two are just as bad. The entire show will be used as an example of what not to do in film schools from years to come. The writing, the editing and shot selections are just so head scratchingly bad, where did the nearly $200m spent on this actually go?
The cost of a Disney trip and the associated pressures of reservation, waiting in lines, mobile ordering, etc. are probably the bigger problem. People are on edge. A little alcohol mixed with getting cut off in line or finding out that NO restaurant has seating for you pushes people over the edge.
There’s a lot of pressure and stress related to a Disney vacation these days. The extreme planning that is required, Genie+, rising costs all around have the effect of putting people on edge to start. You see it (especially in Magic Kingdom) where families look miserable or incredibly stressed. Couple that with alcohol and it’s a recipe for these type of events. There’s no excuse for the behavior, but when folks are already stressed/on edge they are far more likely to over drink or act out when they do drink. I love Nick.
First, I totally agree with you about the stress. Second. wouldn't Walt be turning over in his grave to see that a trip to Disney is now a stressful event instead of entering a world of fantasy? Disney has completely lost the plot.
All of Star Wars just feels like it’s being written by people who don’t get what Star Wars is, who want to make it something else and who most likely aren’t very talented unfortunately.
The "drinking around the world" tattoos and t-shirts we all see at Epcot every day are super cringe. But the "social credit score" supervision suggested in this discussion is beyond the pale. If Disney can't train its cast members to identify guets who are overserved and devise a system to ensure they are cut off park-wide, then they need to stop serving alcohol altogether. There is no reason why anybody should ever be drunk at Epcot.
Curious that Disney knowingly makes the decision to take on the legal responsibility and liability of their drunk guests' fighting or getting into an accident. Puts a lot of pressure on the cast members to cut off overserved guests not to mention places cast members in potential danger.
Maybe they could keep the alcohol in the restaurants and beer gardens, and not at outdoor booths? Just to slow down the drinking around the world people. I haven't seen a fight, I've seen people stumbling around and spilling drinks. I don't like people spilling their beer on my shoes and I don't like the smell of stale beer baking in the sun. Maybe Disney just needs to increase the world showcase custodial staff, actually.
I haven’t been in awhile, do you think Disney is exasperating the effects of people’s drinking in the World Showcase by not providing enough seating/shade?
Another thing that you see more often - out of control screaming kids. Kids that ruin the experience for people that are spending thousands of dollars to be there. There are more let "him cry it out" type parents, permissive parents ", I don't really care if my kids ruining your day" type parents. Today's culture has a lot of differences that we all have to deal with. I think that Eric was right that things are more documented. There are also the teetotaler culture who don't want drinking at all - who thrive on these incidents. The bottom line is if you're someone who gets that drunk in Disney World anywhere including Epcot you must have a lot of money! Like everything a few bad apples may very well spoil the whole tree in this instance but I think it would be better if Disney would address it to those abusers and also then publicize that those abusers are banned for life and have a greater discourage for anyone who is contemplating getting wasted and causing problems. That being said there was just a big fight out front over a photographer line and those people weren't even in the park yet!
I have a feeling that the problem may not be people not knowing how to hold their drinks in general and more specifically that the parks can be really overstimulating and exhausting and some people get affected by that more easily when they’re drunk. I learned that from personal experience the first time I drank in the parks. I’m a lightweight who drinks rarely but when I do drink I’m usually good at knowing my limit. My first time at Oga’s I got what I would call a comfortable buzz and then walked straight to get in a 2 hour line for Slinky. At first it felt like the liquor was helping the wait but after about 20 minutes I was way more frustrated than I usually would have been. I was tired so I sat on the fence and I got mad when the CM told me to get down. I still got off the fence and wasn’t rude but I realized that it had irritated me when it usually wouldn’t. I remember thinking, “oh, THIS is why I hear those stories of drunk and belligerent park guests.” I think my real mistake was that in my half drunk state I thought getting in a 2 hour line for Slinky was a good idea 😂
OMG!! Train tracks? Glad you turned around and went back in. That’s sooooo dangerous. Major Risk Management Issues! 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
Sounds like there needs to be bouncers brought in, or ramped up security in general. Maybe have some plainclothes security people out there with their eyes and ears open.
I had family members take their family with young children to Epcot when no festivals were going on. There were so many drunk people that they won't return until Disney figures out how to fix the problem. I don't understand how or why people go to Disney to drink. It's so expensive!
But drunks are so entertaining! I would rather experience drunks than parents with screaming children, they can't control. Too bad there not a switch or a can for sale to keep those brats under control. !
The acolyte is so bad. Horrible. More of Disney trying to be "politically correct" rather than just making a good show. The director's goal is to make men uncomfortable. How about you just make a good show? I am thankful it is failing, so hopefully they wake up and make a good star wars show and movie.
The story about getting stuck backstage is kinda really cool. I’d loose it seeing all the behind the scenes stuff and also probably because you’ve been trying to leave for at least an hour lol. As for Andrew in pretty in pink (which is great smh) it’s because Molly wanted a actual, normal guy to play to love interest compared to in 16 candles where he was both SEVERAL years older and a professional model. Wanted that realism.
I wouldn’t worry about losing alcohol in the parks ESPECIALLY Epcot. Sure it may hurt their pr a little to see a drunk person at Disney on the news, but that’s nothing compared to the money they’d lose from not selling alcohol or limiting alcohol sales. My main concern is the poor cast members who have to directly deal with this, a lot of whom are young. Like that one teenage cast member that got smacked by a guest because she couldn’t let him into the grand Floridian restaurant wearing his swim wear. Admittedly I’m a bit salty because Disney would sooner take away Das for physically disabled guests than put some restrictions on how much alcohol they sell.
I just think it's an entitled mentality overall-in society-in Target-everywhere. I have noticed more fights at MK and DL than anywhere and they don't have much alcohol. I've been to many food festivals at Epcot and haven't witnessed anything ugly... But Nick is right, Disney should have the data and to keep it family friendly, if the incidents really are rising, they should implement something to protect that family vibe.
I perceive Drinking Around the World as an American culture right of passage, just like taking your kids to WDW. I have witnessed a person trying to surf a trash can and bust his head on a curb. It was scary and did impact my visit. In general the drinking impacts me. I don’t mind social drinking. I drink, responsibly, at Epcot too. The Impact is when folks have gone past the point of no return, which is most often at night. I just leave the park. I know Disney won’t ban it and in reality they cannot enforce a drink limit. They will enforce that as well as the buy two items limit. Someone else will just buy it for the drinker or the drinker will annoy the CM enough to get what they want. I liked someone else’s idea about the Drink Around the World paid passport but it doesn’t prevent more drinks. I do love the idea of a deterrent though. I think it is up to the security to be vigilant and get the too drunks out of the park safely. In all seriousness the resolution may be me leaving/taking myself out of the situation. I have seen many comments of families, with kids, leaving the park by a certain time. So those families are actively removing themselves.
I had major problems using the centralized phone system to talk to a person at actual locations. If you can't contact someone directly it makes it very hard to report escalating situations discreetly. You should be able to call locations directly and say something like. "hey there's a guy in red mickey ears coming in the door and he's mumbling violent things under his breath.
As a person who has been going to Epcot since it opened, I have noticed that drunkenness has been escalating . Traveling along the walkways dodging drunks has not been fun. My party went back to the hotel much earlier than we would have the last time we were there. So if they are losing money, they will stop it. If they make more money selling alcohol, they will not curtail drunkenness.
OMG!!! At hoop de doo A large party of very drunk cast members ruined our very expensive, long awaited experience (we were part of six, three of us under 12.) Obviously they had unlimited beer and wine, friends working as servers, etc. We later sent Disney letter, but that's my only memory of that night.
We were with our children in World showcase at around 1pm and saw two 20something men vomiting in the flowerbeds. Sadly it wasn't motion sickness from Mission Space. Alcohol isn't a problem in the resorts, DAK, MK or DHS. Disney have brought the EPCOT issues on themselves with the 'drinking around the world' for a money grab. It's a real shame.
Alcohol isn’t a problem. People who can’t handle alcohol is a problem. I wouldn’t take my kids to a night club. I don’t want my kids exposed to loud obnoxious drunk people or fights. People puking in bushes all that comes with it. It’s a family amusement park not a night club.
On average (using data from wdwpassport) Epcot sees around 27k people per day (rounding down) - even if Disney were kicking out 1300 people per day for being too drunk / belligerent, that would only account for less than 5% of guests. Realistically, they probably kick out around 100 guests which is still less than 1% - so statically speaking - it isn’t an issue. When you consider the fact the average cost of a cocktail in Epcot is $14 - Disney has literally no incentive to ban/limit drinking in the park.
I understand that drunken guests may be affecting the experience… but if drinking were eliminated, that would not only impact a significant part of the cultural experience of World Showcase but I’m sure that the profit from drinks does help fund the staffing for less lucrative parts of the experience. I think it would be more responsible to provide more opportunities to guests to imbibe their drinks in seating/shade though
I think it's a multi-tiered problem. Over consumption of alcohol can be a contributing factor. But there have been fights that haven't involved alcohol. I don't think you can implement a system to limit alcohol because some people will figure out ways around it. Additional, and maybe more visible security in the parks. If you see security, people tend to behave more appropriately. And for the alcohol, bartenders and alcohol servers need to be empowered more to refuse alcohol to somebody who is acting even minimally inappropriate. Just my opinion.
I wish the alcohol was confined in specific areas. I have had alcohol spilled on me several times while walking around Epcot. I feel awful for the kids of parents who have had too much to drink (many are drunk before lunch).
Do you think that World Showcase is encouraging/aggravating the situation, by not providing much seating/shade. Usually when people go out for drinks, they want sit, chill out & also eat some food. But World Showcase wants to keep you on your feet
They might tie drinks/drinking to magic bands, and to room key cards for those without bands. For non-resort guest, I suppose they could issue a card they need to have to get their drinks. Society today isn't society of a few decades ago and this seems to be an increasing issue. (Will refrain from saying more on that.) A number of years ago we stopped in the pub in Britain for bitters. A drunk guy stuffed a $20 in my shirt pocket. It took me a minute to pickup on the fact he wanted me to buy him another drink. In the mean time, the server noticed this and had him leave. But if these problems increase, if they aren't acting and improving them, it can affect guests and possibly attendance in an extreme case. I believe this was a contributing factor in Pleasure Island's closure.
Nick and Eric both made good points. If we're gonna limit it. Make a 2 drink a hour limit and you have scan the magic ban /app for it. Now granted I love watching dumb people do dumb things. Man I'd love a Marijuan Kiosk At epcot. The only people that would cause is long lines for snacks. Lol still taking a edible to chill while in the park and no one is the wise is fun though. I love nick. God I miss news tonight.
It all comes down to $$$. Would be interesting to find out how much money Disney makes every month on alcohol sales, especially at Epcot. If people are problematic where security is involved, it should be an automatic ban from the park.
When I think of Brat Pack I think of Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, & Ally Sheedy. I never associate Demi Moore or Rob Lowe with the brat pack.
Can’t wait for THC Mickey Gummy Kiosk!! 😂😂😂 Hope it happens before I die! If figure I have 30 years left, think it will happen by then???? Oh well, BYO Edibles!!! Who needs alcohol? Not me
Alcohol should be RESTRICTED to RESTAURANTS ONLY at any Disney with a TWO DRINK LIMIT. There has been to many issues with intoxicated guests in the parks who have had too much to drink.
