Drinking topic on Podcasts

As @jcb is probably busy, I have become the most dangerous creature alive: an attorney using Google to research another state’s laws. The danger is that none of you should take this as advice, nor is it current, nor is an attorney-client relationship created by me doing this 15 seconds of research and posting it here.

Florida’s dram shop law appears to say if you serve a minor or a person you know to have a drinking problem, then you are liable for their accidents. BUT it does not attach liability to over serving an individual like you see in other states.

So if this is indeed current, Disney’s liability stops when they check ID or they don’t know “Man JJB1974 is a known alcoholic, as I can tell from his “I have an alcohol addiction“ hat, shirt and park ticket lanyard.” Maybe if you’d kicked someone out for intoxication before, that might do it. Again I’m way off in Speculation Land here.

I’ve always wondered about dram shop liability for large-attendance items. I imagine at an MLB stadium you could buy booze from like 40 different places. With 30,000 people there, how could you ever track them? This isn’t a bar or restaurant with a smaller attendance where you could recognize someone.

in short, if my Google Law Degree is correct, Disney doesn’t have a legal liability for what Pete and Co fear and thus they don’t have to act to prevent it.
 
in short, if my Google Law Degree is correct, Disney doesn’t have a legal liability for what Pete and Co fear and thus they don’t have to act to prevent it.
Even if you are correct and there is no legal liability, that does not mean that if something bad happens, Disney won't be sued and end up forced to change their policies and procedures to avoid future similar lawsuits. If a guest gets drunk in the park and plows down a group of guests in the parking lot, Disney WILL be sued. And most likely they'll end up settling with the families of those injured or killed. I think Pete's point is that it shouldn't take a tragedy like that for Disney to address this issue.
 
My wife and I stayed at AKL on September 7 for a quick Food and Wine trip. On the way home that evening, on the bus there were three really drunk people loudly cursing worse than a drunk sailor. The F bombs were flying left and right. There were children all around us and I could see parents being upset at these people.

I have no issues with people drinking. Heck, I enjoy a cocktail and wine with dinner. But for Pete’s sake, you’re at Disney. Know it’s a family place and have some class.
 
You have to take into account that the people who will drink to excess may already be drunk before they even enter the parks - Disney can't be held responsible if people do that so it's a huge grey area.

Here in Portugal, many Portuguese and Spanish take their drinks out with them rather than spend money in the "expensive tourist bars", so it's impossible to know what people have been drinking - or what volume.
 


I think the best solution is security stepping in if people appear to be wasted and causing problems.

I don’t think Disney would attempt to outright limit purchases, except maybe doing something like an across the board 2 drink at a time purchase limit for everyone. I would hate for CMs taking orders at food and wine to have to deny people and deal with drunk angry guests. I think it would need to be on security as they are more equipped to deal with that. It isn’t like a bar where the bartender cuts someone off.
 
On a wide-scale too much this and that is probably not a good solution for various reasons. I agree with a few others. The path to least resistance and probably the overall best way IMO is to just have more proactive security and watchful eyes on those who may be over imbibing.
 
For me, personally, I actually wish they'd offer smaller drinks than they do. I'm an alcohol light-weight and I never get to try very many drinks at all while we're on vacation--Epcot or not! Right now my options are sharing (But DH & I don't always want to try the same things, and even sharing full size drinks would do me in pretty quickly.) or having a little and dumping the rest, which is a bit painful considering what you pay and makes me feel even more wasteful than I already feel at Disney with all of the trash our foods & drink create in the parks.

I'm not saying to not offer the "larger" (yet still smaller than average) drinks, because that would cause a mutiny and Disney would lose money, so they'd never go for it, anyway. But offer sampling portions (besides a flight) for a somewhat reduced rate. That would let them make some money on people like me instead of the almost no money they make off me in regards to alcohol now. :)

I would be fine with trying a drink in each country if I could do so without needing someone to push me out of the park in a wheelbarrow. And maybe if they offered some smaller and *cheaper* options, others drinking around the world might decide to go for the smaller option to save money and therefore also save themselves from being one of the sloshed guests stumbling around Epcot at night. :)
 


For me, personally, I actually wish they'd offer smaller drinks than they do. I'm an alcohol light-weight and I never get to try very many drinks at all while we're on vacation--Epcot or not! Right now my options are sharing (But DH & I don't always want to try the same things, and even sharing full size drinks would do me in pretty quickly.) or having a little and dumping the rest, which is a bit painful considering what you pay and makes me feel even more wasteful than I already feel at Disney with all of the trash our foods & drink create in the parks.

I'm not saying to not offer the "larger" (yet still smaller than average) drinks, because that would cause a mutiny and Disney would lose money, so they'd never go for it, anyway. But offer sampling portions (besides a flight) for a somewhat reduced rate. That would let them make some money on people like me instead of the almost no money they make off me in regards to alcohol now. :)

I would be fine with trying a drink in each country if I could do so without needing someone to push me out of the park in a wheelbarrow. And maybe if they offered some smaller and *cheaper* options, others drinking around the world might decide to go for the smaller option to save money and therefore also save themselves from being one of the sloshed guests stumbling around Epcot at night. :)
Aren't the offerings through Food & Wine (booths at least) already on the smaller size? Aren't they like half-portioned at the booths?
 
I agree with what other people are saying, in that Disney cannot really control peoples drinking. If people want to drink in excess they'll find someway to make it work. Since there are expensive (but not outrageous compared to say going out in Philadelphia), I'll stick with whats on the meal plan and one more. Why people would drink till there falling over at Disney is beyond me. I can't imagine getting passed out drunk at Disney (got rope drop to get to).

That being said, there beverages do generally pack quite a powerful punch, so making them weaker would be a great solution. From my experience security is incredibly responsive when issues arise, so I don't get very concerned about other guests who hit the sauce too hard. I've never been to an Epcot festival, but can say I've never seen a guest getting out of control that wasn't' handled immediately. And even thats rare.
 
Even if you are correct and there is no legal liability, that does not mean that if something bad happens, Disney won't be sued and end up forced to change their policies and procedures to avoid future similar lawsuits. If a guest gets drunk in the park and plows down a group of guests in the parking lot, Disney WILL be sued. And most likely they'll end up settling with the families of those injured or killed. I think Pete's point is that it shouldn't take a tragedy like that for Disney to address this issue.

that lawsuit will be dismissed because you have to have a cause of action to proceed. I can’t sue for liability for overserving any more than I could sue you for rolling your eyes at me when I talk, if my interpretation is correct. Extreme differences, but they illustrate the point of “the law must allow a lawsuit for one to proceed.”

people are under this impression that threatening a company that you’ll sue them, or actually doing so, will scare them or make them pay up. I assure you any company with more than 100 employees is as scared of baseless lawsuits as a camel is of sand.
 
You have to take into account that the people who will drink to excess may already be drunk before they even enter the parks - Disney can't be held responsible if people do that so it's a huge grey area.

I have never seen this, but from recent vlogs I have watched apparently this is happening more frequently. I think I heard that some are "loading up" in the parking lots before park entry.
 
I just maybe I just keep to myself and my family as I’ve never noticed someone insanely drunk.

You are a grown adult I hate that people keep trying to blame disney at what point do you take some responsibility for yourself? The bartender can easily say no, and someone gets a drink for them. Personally responsibility is still a thing.
 
I just maybe I just keep to myself and my family as I’ve never noticed someone insanely drunk.

You are a grown adult I hate that people keep trying to blame disney at what point do you take some responsibility for yourself? The bartender can easily say no, and someone gets a drink for them. Personally responsibility is still a thing.

or at least it should be - to the extent to be aware of how you are impacting others. I think some people see no issue with getting hammered and it is what they want to do while there/on vacation. So they are taking personal responsibility - to get themselves personally hammered. So i think it is more that people aren't thinking about others - and so as a patron of WDW I would look to Disney to help protect myself/my family when people aren't able / willing to do that.

I do haven't really seen people super bad, even at EPCOT during F&WF - definitely seen tipsy people (saw a few really tipsy over on the boardwalk area last trip) but never like throwing up in the bushes or anything. I think the big thing is when someone is significantly negatively impacting the experience of other guests (be it aided by alcohol or not) Disney security needs to step in and guests need to believe that Disney security will do that. Also, if it means trying to structure your trip so our EPCOT days aren't the weekend evenings during F&WF, then so be it - gotta do what ya gotta do
 
I have never seen this, but from recent vlogs I have watched apparently this is happening more frequently. I think I heard that some are "loading up" in the parking lots before park entry.
When I was a dumb 18 year old my friends and I did this at our own amusement park before going in for their Halloween event; the 'ole pre-gaming it thing. No we weren't drunk, and I'm sure it helped that legally we couldn't drink it, purchase it anyways so we couldn't get more but yeah..I'm sure people do this or go to the resorts and have it with their meals then go to Epcot and get more.

I also think about all the posters who have mentioned getting a drink at every meal and I'm always thinking to myself "I enjoy a drink myself but not at every meal" and even if it's only a little at every meal people around World Showcase don't know about the drinks a person had before purchasing them at the booths nor would CMs.
 
or at least it should be - to the extent to be aware of how you are impacting others. I think some people see no issue with getting hammered and it is what they want to do while there/on vacation. So they are taking personal responsibility - to get themselves personally hammered. So i think it is more that people aren't thinking about others - and so as a patron of WDW I would look to Disney to help protect myself/my family when people aren't able / willing to do that.

I do haven't really seen people super bad, even at EPCOT during F&WF - definitely seen tipsy people (saw a few really tipsy over on the boardwalk area last trip) but never like throwing up in the bushes or anything. I think the big thing is when someone is significantly negatively impacting the experience of other guests (be it aided by alcohol or not) Disney security needs to step in and guests need to believe that Disney security will do that. Also, if it means trying to structure your trip so our EPCOT days aren't the weekend evenings during F&WF, then so be it - gotta do what ya gotta do
It also reminds me of my honeymoon. We went to Sandals in St. Lucia where they have 3 Sandals resorts. We chose the smaller and more quaint one. I prefer more privacy on my beach vacations in general so it was perfect. It was only after reading reviews did I find out that the place I wanted to stay at was more for the 40,50,60 age and up crowd. Being a mid-20s individual that didn't bother me but we did get people asking us why we were staying there as opposed to one of the other ones.

Well when we went to the others ones for dinner or lunch (as they have a stay at one play at all with Sandals) or to take a look around and enjoy some of the amenities we def. got a better appreciation for our resort we were staying at. The pools were often full of young people, loud music, wet t-shirt contests, and tons of alcohol (which is really just a thing honestly--order a coffee and they look at you like you've gone crazy lol). It just wasn't our scene. So I totally get the avoidance even though I know it is an annoyance to even think about it much less that one shouldn't feel like they should have to move their days around (but like you said you gotta do what you gotta do).
 
I truly wonder how much of an actual problem this is. I have been to several Epcot F&W festivals, Flower & Garden, etc. In all my 25 or so WDW trips, I have honestly never witnessed anyone acting like they have been over served. In addition, I visit Disneyland so often I may as well just move in, and similarly, haven't seen any overly drunk guests there, although I recognize that DL has a much larger proportion of local guests who have to drive home, so they may moderate their drinking better here. Sure, I've seen people who are clearly buzzed and having a good time, but I saw MUCH WORSE back in the day when Pleasure Island was still around. I used to see people yelling, falling down, puking in the streets drunk there every single time I went. I have never seen anything that bad inside a major Disney theme park.

If it was an actual, measurable problem, Disney would do something about it, like use a hand stamp system to keep track of drinks, and stop allowing more than 1 drink per adult with valid ID.
 

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