How Not To Do Food & Wine Festival

Holy cow.... that is insane!

Whoa. Yeah, his career might not be over, but there will be some punishment coming, that is for sure!!

I know this has been discussed before, but I do think Disney could do a better job cutting people off who have clearly had too much. And I say this as a "Drink Around the World" veteran.

As a side note, I didn't notice anyone getting ID'd at F&W fest last week.

And thats the reason Pleasure Island went the way it did.

This will be in my report but I was not impressed with F&W. There were so many people and trying to get from point A to point B was a challenge. What I really didn't like was everything smelled like stale beer/alcohol since it was extremely warm when my friend and I were there. I probably won't do it again.

I found the evenings to be no fun either.....lunchtime was the way to go to snag a few bites.

I really, really dislike any focus on drinking associated with WDW. I am not a prude or anything, but this really feels so un Disney that I found myself leaving Epcot even during the day to escape the vibe and retreat to another park to feel like I was really at Disney.

I am not suggesting that alcohol be banned, but something has to give with what seems to be evolving at Epcot.what do guys think?

I just do not think Walt intended any of the Parks to be drinking excursions, but rather family parks.

I agree with you Disneydoc. EPCOT during the F&WF is not pretty. We are pretty much planning on only being there during the day. We do however have that 3-D desert party booked for Friday night. I will admit that is the thing I am the least looking forward to on this trip. Only because it is on Friday night. We were trying to book a signature dining experience at the Brown Derby but it was already full by the time I got through. The lady I was talking to on the phone asked me if we would be interested in the 3-D party. I accepted it and paid for it and only after I hung up realized it was on Friday night. If it is to bad, we will just leave.

I saw this and was disgusted. Why can't society get past this behavior? We respect our soldiers. The best they can do is respect the customer service people. I was so mad when I read this article.

I have been reading the food articles on this event though and they look yummy!

Let's not let an isolated incident ruin the F&W. I have been going to F&W every year for 10 years and I have never seen any incidents. Just as I have never seen any incidents at Pleasure Island.

However, I have seen fist fights over parade spots, but I don't think anyone wants to do away with The Electric Parade.

There will always be people who can't hold their liquor whether the food and wine is on or not. You can't have millions of visitors without someone occasionally behaving like an ass.

I'll just add that if WDW ever banned alcohol, I would stop going. Whenever you cater to the general public, you'll get jackasses like this guy. Navy pilot or not, the guy needs a smackdown. Hitting a woman on the head with a pipe? That's about as low as it gets.

Rest assured this dirtbag will be out of the Navy before the week is over and he will never fly again count on that.
They Navy has lost it's tolerance for dirtbags that break the law. ( EX US Navy Avionics Tech so I know they don't put up with it.)

As for F&W My GF and I loved it. we just got back 2 weeks ago and neither of us are heavy drinkers. ( 3 drinks total in a 6 day stay)
We LOVED the fact that it felt more adult than the rest of the parks in fact we spent extra time there because of that.
There is only so many screaming children I can handle. Thank goodness Epcot was more adults when we went.

We will be back next year just for F&W for sure.

We planned our trip this year during the F&W because we enjoyed it so much last year. I like to be able to try different drinks and food that I normally would never have the chance to try. On my "must have" list this year there are as many drinks as food, but we plan on spending at least 3 days there. So I would be very disappointed if the sales of alcohol ever stopped.

Agreed, and I am truly not suggesting that. I am just noting the "culture" is shifting.

Epcot is known as the alcohol park. Many guests to go to Epcot just to drink around the world. I believe uncle Walt would be upset with that. I was at MK the other day and overheard some people talking about there isn't any alcohol at MK and the one girl apologized to the guy. I was thinking, really? If you need to drink to have to a good time, Disney isn't the place for you. I think they should get tighter reins on the alcohol at Studios, Epcot and possibly Animal Kingdom.

On the article. My roommate works with one of the victims who is a manager at Epcot. The woman is on the college program. It's just sad.

We've been to F&W a few times and only twice have I seen something that made me think 'really'. But as The Colonel says you'll always get the occasion idiot. Admittedly, this guy has really let the human species down. I'm not a drinker, but I wouldn't want to ban alcohol totally, maybe Disney need to get a little tougher on their policies on stop people over indulging, like you would get in any bar around the country.

I

Agreed.

Agreed.

Also, I HIGHLY doubt he will be kicked out of the military for this nor do I think he should be. I am sure he will have serious consequences, but an assault and battery charge? Nah. What he did was wrong, but no one is perfect and people make mistakes, we all do.

Too bad he will be put out on a BCD and most likely some time in the Brig as well.
They do NOT play. you break the law in town you will get put out even for minor things.. But for ASSAULT on 3 people.
He will get Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer.
He will get Drunk and Disorderly
and he will get 3 Charges of Assault
1 charge of Assault with a Weapon.

He should have thought of his career before assaulting others with a weapon.
Good Riddance to bad scum.
Hope he enjoys his Bad Conduct Discharge and hope someone will hire him as a Criminal Scumbag that got kicked out of the US Navy.

As I said I am Ex US Navy and the UCMJ will hammer this guy. They are not hurting for recruits or officers and can afford to kick the "no loads" out.

And Thanks a ton for stirring up the anti Alcohol Debate again at EPCOT.. what a creep.

I haven't been, but this is something that we are looking forward to. I'm not a big drinker, two drinks and I would be seeing fireworks without them even starting. But one thing hubby is really looking forward to is the various beers. He loves craft beer and you don't get much opportunity to have all these choices to try. Now that being said, the intention is not to get drunk, but to enjoy some drinks.

As far as this guy, he should be ashamed of his behavior.

I agree DisneyDoc. My friend and I were really turned off by the behavior and the smell. To me there is nothing worse than smelling sour alcohol/beer.

I really think Food and Wine Festival was meant to be classy. You know, drink in moderation and enjoy the drinks, not suck them down as fast as possible to see how fast you can get drunk. I agree that Disney does need to push this more. The only park that is really associated with drinking is Epcot and that's very sad.

I've been to the F&W Fest several times, during the day and in the evening, weekdays and weekends, and have never personally witnessed any bad behavior. Obviously it happens, but in my experience it's not bad enough to keep me from going.

I agree that WDW should do a better job of keeping people who drink within reasonable consumption limits. Ideally people should do this for themselves, and most of us do, but the few who don't shouldn't be permitted to mar the fun the rest of us pay big bucks to experience.

I, for one, plan on drinking as many delicious beverages as I can handle while I'm there kid-free. But I turn into a sweet, sappy drunk, so we're all safe.

I agree with Colonel. We had a great time when we were there for the F&WF last October and I think it would be a terrible loss to get rid of it. I also think Disney would lose a large amount of clientel if they completely got rid of alcohol in the park so I think that's unrealistic. I enjoy having an adult beverage (or two or three) while on vacation and that includes being at Disney World. It's unfortunate that this type of incident occurs, but I do believe that this guy is in the minority vs. the majority.

Has anyone heard what ended up happening with this guy? Stories like this tend to fade into obscurity like a lot of news stories.