So... have you been unhappy with what you've seen at the F&W Fest??

[Scar]

... keeping less people in line at one time is a good thing. One person finds a good spot to wait, one person goes to buy the food or drink. I can't imagine the complaints or inconvenience to customers if this changed. Longer lines, longer waits.

... Not to mention I'd rather be stuck in line behind 2 drunks than 4.

[Aurora]

I'm so tired of the argument that bad behavior is acceptable because it isn't the WORST behavior. I can't tell you how many times I've heard variations of: "It's just words, my kids have heard way worse than that." So what? Why are we willing to set the bar so low?

I'm sick of it. I certainly hope that foul-mouthed, drunken behavior is enough to have someone escorted out of the park. Of course, I don't know how high Disney sets the bar anymore, either.

[Dsnygirl]

Wow! This post has gotten a lot of chatter... interesting stuff!

It won't ruin our evening if we run into anything like this, we'll just go the other way... I was just curious how prevalent crazy behavior there seems to be.

And I'd like to say hitting the F&W Fest in the afternoon would work for us, but.... we just enjoy it more in the evening... we LOVE the ambiance of Epcot & the WS at night, no matter what we're there for. (And truth be told, we usually DO hit the F&W Fest while it's still daylight... we just stay through the evening hours.... )

Thanks for all the answers, input and discussion...

[Kenny1113]

While I cant speak on drunken behavior. I can say that several years ago we went for the first time during the week. Had a great time so i went back with DH, unfortunately on a weekend day. It was sooo I will never go back on a weekend. It sounds like that is your only choice so it appears like if you stay away from evening hours it would be your best bet.
Enjoy!!!!

[GrumpySue]

Just walked over there from our room at the Boardwalk, and walked back 15 minutes later. It was mobbed and there were definately a lot of drunken folks around. I am sad to think back on how enjoyable this event used to be, we have been comin for years, they need to get it under control or something bad WILL happen.
Find a nice buzz and that's it, no need to stuble around. MODERATION PEOPLE !!!

[MrPeetrie]

Just curious...

We have friends who live close by and have been quite a few times, and who have been very disappointed by the number of drunks and inappropriate people they have encountered there, with seemingly no intervention on the part of the CM's.

I've also read a few things on here and other boards along the same lines... stumbling guests, loud/rude/obnoxious people who have obviously over-indulged... people being overtly inappropriate to other guests (who are NOT in their party) and the like.

What surprises me the most is the lack of concern on the part of CM's... I've even heard of some people saying they've seen CM's laugh and turn away, obviously unconcerned and unwilling to step in. I can understand that on the part of the young teens and college students who may be working there, but you would at least think they would go and get a manager, or someone with more experience, who would know how to kindly step in and diffuse the situation.

Dsnygirl, this is EXACTLY what we encountered this past Saturday. (Shame on us, I guess, for going to Epcot on a Saturday night during Food & Wine Festival.)

We had just taken a Friendship from Hollywood Studios and thought we'd take advantage of the extended hours at Epcot. Traveling with me was my wife, our DD8, and our19 month old. Epcot was shoulder to shoulder around the entire World Showcase. Most were intoxicated. Some VERY intoxicated, stumbling into others. Plenty of loose, inappropriate language. My daughter wanted to do the Kim Possible missions, but after one mission, I looked at my wife and we decided we needed to leave immediately. It was not a Family-Friendly crowd at all. Not Disney-like. It was more like a college town. There were very few families with strollers. Very, very few.

We left quickly and when we spoke to others ont he bus back to the Caribbean, they reiterated the same concerns about the crowd, citing it as the reason they were leaving, too.

I actually plan on contacting WDW about this and registering a complaint. I was surprised that there was NO intervention by any cast member regarding behavior. There was no attempt ANYWHERE BY ANYONE to dissuade the behavior. If a vacation resort is advertised as the ultimate family destination, then it cannot have a place where families fear the their children's well-being. That was the case Saturday.

My wife kept saying, "What did you expect? It's Saturday during Food & Wine. This is where the locals are going." But I kept saying, "Yes, but this is Disney. This shouldn't be the crowd they're catering to." Afterall, it's the families that drop $8,000 a pop on a visit.

I was highly upset. I shouldn't have to walk around a Disney Theme Park with my hands over my DD8's ears so she doesn't hear foul language!!!

[DNS]

We have not been there this year, but have been there a couple of other times and have not seen any bad behavior. People having a good time, yes, but not being disrespectful at all.

[kemps@wdw]

No. In all the years we've been going to the F&W Fest, I can honestly say that I've never seen anyone drunk and disorderly. Even on the most crowded nights, just the usual occasionally obnoxious kids and the rude adults (not drunk just rude).

[TheVBs]

We went one of the first days on our trip this year. It was a weekday and we were there mid-day to park close. It was our first F&WF and thankfully we didn't see anyone who had overindulged - at least not anyone who was obvious to us. Very family friendly crowd.

Our only unfortunate incident was when a guy was running toward the bathrooms (my guess was he was trying to hurry before Illuminations started) and DD7 stepped in his path just as he went by. Poor thing literally got run down, but thankfully wasn't hurt! This guy wasn't drunk and he immediately stopped, helped pick her up and apologized profusely. He felt so bad and looked so miserable about it that I almost felt as sorry for him as I did for her!

[captain j]

We've been to WDW almost every year since '96 when we bought the DVC membership.
The Food & Wine fest is one of the things we like to see. This year, the crows were huge, the lines were long, and we've never seen so many drunk people. There were people so drunk, they needed help walking. For us, this is not Disney Magic. Something needs to be done about the amount of alcohol being consumed by people.

[Twinsowner]

Sad....very sad. I have visited the F&W festival several times and it is one of our favorite things to do. Alcohol has no place in Disney. Walt Disney didnt sell it for a reason. The drunks do not only cause a problem in the world showcase. They migrate to other areas of the park. We enjoy having a glass of wine or margarita as much as the next folk. But I would never do so in a place with so many families and children around. The language is embarrasing and should be dealt with. I have never sued anyone nor do I agree with anyone suing Disneyworld for things that happen in the park. But just wait until one of these folks who have been drinking runs over a family or knocks down a small child and injures them. I will support their decision to sue the heck out of Disney 100 percent. Come on Disney...have some class.. keep the parks family oriented.

[Momto2Princesses&1Pirate]

We've never been to the F&W Fest but we did notice it on our trip this past June. DH and I had never seen so many obviously drunk people everywhere in WS. When DS 8 commented on some of the things he was seeing we knew it was time to leave and it was only 5 or 6 pm. Simply moving to a different area is not possible when you seem to find the same thing in each area. I wouldn't allow my kids to go hang out at a bar but yet they are exposed to some of the same things at WS........something about that just doesn't seem right.

[Dsnygirl]

Well, now that we're back from our trip, I thought I'd add what we experienced... we attended the F&W Fest on a Friday night, and a Sunday night.

Both nights, we arrived around 6pm... we found the crowds to be average, certainly no worse than we've seen on busy nights at WS.

Friday night (10/28), we encountered no rude or obviously drunk people... the lines were short, the food was EXCEPTIONAL, and we had a great time.

Sunday (10/30), it was pretty much the same... but we did go into Mexico to La Cava del Tequila, the tequila bar inside the pavillion. We found the most obnoxious group of loud, drunk & rude people "in line" there, obviously partying, yelling... not mean, but definitely out of control. The bartender was trying to tend to them, as well as the other patrons, but they pretty much demanded all of his attention as they continued doing shots. There was a man ahead of us who was not a part of it, my DH & I, and then more people behind us, all just wanting to get to the bar to order a drink. A man who worked there must have heard me say to my DH, "I just want to order my margarita!" b/c right after I said it, he motioned to me to follow him, and he took me right into room and up to the bar so I could order... I have a feeling he probably had to continue doing that for quite awhile.

But -- even though it was crazy in there, it was the only place we encountered people like this, and for that, I am grateful... it sounds like Saturdays are out of control!! Guess the next time we're there, we will NOT be hitting the F&W Fest on a Saturday!!

[Mousemates]

Glad to know this, for will simply avoid F&W weekends at Epcot...sounds like things have gotten way out of hand...kind of sad that locals have started pushing the limits of decorum and common decency.

Perhaps when people begin directly calling local law enforcement to report issues (like the kind of verbal threats and altercations that overloads of alcohol tends to generate) and you have the sheriff's department arresting folks for public drunkeness at the parks Disney will finally take action.

To me this doesn't seem like to hard of a problem to deal with....all they would likely have to do is revoke a few annual passes & ban the worst violators from the parks for a few years and word in the local community would likely get out rather quickly.

[MNNHFLTX]

I spent a lot of time in Epcot (morning, afternoon, evening, weekdays and weekends) at the end of October and I do not recall seeing anyone obviously intoxicated. It was crowded at times, with the occasional snarky person, but otherwise a pleasant atmosphere. Guess we lucked out.

[LauraByTheSea]

We were there a week ago today. I did't see anyone obviously drunk or overserved. At least no one acting like it. I am sure there is always someone at these events. It was pretty mellow. There seemed to be alot of guests from other countries there...everyone was cool.

On the other hand, we also visited Halloween Horror Nights at Universal and there were quite a few overserved people there. Loud, stumbling, bumping into people. A loud boyfriend/girlfriend fight outside the restrooms which culminated in the girl slapping the guy accross the face.

I can agree with all of that - not a single problem at F&W, but Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens was full of obnoxious drunks. Not that I my self didn't have a couple, but I would never act like a fool at a family establishment.