Inebriated guest at DCA!

[tuckere7]

Just saw a disturbing video on Fox News of and inebriated guest causing problems and being subdued in front of Tower of Terror. Although I am in favor of alcoholic beverages being served with food for those that wish to imbibe, I think the Disneyland Resort staff needs to monitor the intake of guests and cut them off when it becomes obvious the individual has had enough. I am, however, not releasing the individual from his responsibility to make informed decisions regarding his own intake of alcohol. Lets face it, if your intention is to get drunk, then go to a bar, not the Disneyland Resort! This individuals decision making process needs work and his actions were despicable. Please, no more repeats of this type of incident by anyone in the Disneyland Resort.

[Chris Lang]

Well, there's an assumption that he was somehow served alcohol at DCA, but no reason he couldn't have come into the park in that condition, or brought in his own. Belligerent behavior is more likely with alcohol involved, but it doesn't directly CAUSE the behavior. This sounds like an incident that could have happened anywhere (shopping mall, grocery store, WalMart) and just happened to occur in DCA.

[Mouseketeer1955]

For anyone that cares to watch the four minutes of video, here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0qtqsUAXBQ

EDIT: The link has been disabled. Please be advised that there is alot of profanity in this video. ~Ezra

[mrskellington]

Just watched the video right now and came here to see if there was a new announcement on here yet. I couldn't believe what I was watching. But out of curiosity, how far can a security worker go with someone who is causing a disturbance in the park?

[tuckere7]

Chris, point taken. I am not trying to lay blame on Disney. However, if the guest arrives at the park displaying signs of inebriation, he/she should be refused entry. Mrskellington, a security worker should take the minimum amount of action necessary to ensure the safety of this and other guests. Backup should be called and a security team should surround and escort the inebriated guest to whatever facility is available for this guest to regain sobriety. Minimum force should be used, but they should be prepared to escalate up to, and including, tasering the individual if the safety of other guests is threatened. This is my personal opinion.

[#1DisneyFreak]

I watched that earlier today. I honestly couldn't decide which was worse! The guy, the lady who was screaming near the camera, or the guard who kept spraying him with pepper spray, even when he was just standing there wiping his eyes. This stuff drives me NUTS! Yes, the guy needed to leave. Yes he was causing a disturbance. Then this lady comes along screaming that someone needs to help, and yet, she stands there continuing to be part of the crowd instead of going to a nearby store to alert someone. Then fueled by the crowd, the guard sprays what I would call excessive amounts of pepper spray at the guy (I probably would have tried to hit him at some point too!) and then instead of grabbing his walkie that he carries and calling for help, he let guests get involved. If crowds would just NOT be stupid, and if the guard had just stood back and called for help, I can't help but think this could have been resolved in a much less news inducing fashion. The drunk guy didn't appear to be violent until he was sprayed and people started coming at him. (unless I missed something). Yes, I know, in the moment, things happen that you can't really control, but I think all around, bad decisions were made. And now, the lawsuits come....

[MANEATINGWREATH]

I can guarantee this guy is going to sue. Yes he was arrested (there's a news article online about it) and yes he was doing something very wrong but regardless he's definitely going to go after Disney. If he got drunk off of drinks sold in DCA he'd have to have spent at least $100. If he got drunk before coming into the park then he's very good and covering up his condition (even though it didn't seem so in the video). If he brought in drinks I really don't know what to say about that. I'm wondering if this will put an end to the sale of alcoholic beverages in the park. I highly doubt it but you never know...I don't mind it being sold (I'm not 21 yet so it doesn't apply to me) but if stuff like this happens that's no bueno.

And the woman screaming in the video seems to be holding an alcoholic beverage herself so...yeah...

[disneylover]

Wow. That was shocking. The slow response of "backup" was even more surprising. I thought there were officers in plain clothes scattered throughout the park? It seemed like a really long time before anyone else got there.

I saw a couple fighting on the bridge to the pacific wharf area once. The woman got so mad at the guy, she dumped her beer all over his head. Security was there pretty darn fast. And they weren't making that big of a scene compared to this guy.

[Ezra]

I'd like to point out that we only saw part of the incident in this video. Something happened, we don't know quite what, that prompted a guest to take out a phone or camera and record this. We don't know if the security guard in the video called for backup before the video starts. We don't know if the worst behavior on the part of the guest was before this video started. We just don't know.

---

Okay, here's my impression of the video:

Some guests helped subdue this man, but for the most part, they were also behaving very badly. Most of the profanity in the video is coming from spectators. This is probably what bothers me the most about it. I find the "mob mentality" among Disneyland Resort guests disturbing.

[bodhran105]

Chris, point taken. I am not trying to lay blame on Disney. However, if the guest arrives at the park displaying signs of inebriation, he/she should be refused entry. Mrskellington, a security worker should take the minimum amount of action necessary to ensure the safety of this and other guests. Backup should be called and a security team should surround and escort the inebriated guest to whatever facility is available for this guest to regain sobriety. Minimum force should be used, but they should be prepared to escalate up to, and including, tasering the individual if the safety of other guests is threatened. This is my personal opinion.

I don't know about Disneyland's CMs or security, but in Walt Disney World it's nothing. In the parks, you are not allowed to separate a fight or stop a physical abuse on property. You can only spectate and call security. Disneyland might react faster as it's a smaller area, so there would be more guards/square foot than at Walt Disney World. There, you could see a father beating his kid and dragging him along and you cannot do anything. Guests would take matters into their own hands if they do so, but as employees you have no ability- nor allowance to do so.

Sadly I've seen it happen, but only while in a queue and didn't have a chance to do anything. Are you allowed to take action as a guest? You are on private property...

[MANEATINGWREATH]

The real thing that gets me about the whole lack of backup thing is that I see security guards almost everywhere every time I go. As a matter of fact when I went last Friday by myself two security guards dressed as cops with search dogs stared at me for about ten seconds before moving on. Not the best feeling to get at the happiest place on earth, lol. But anyways, security is definitely excellent at DLR, I honestly don't know what was going on with this situation. Whenever a simple backpack or purse is left unattended they close down that entire area of the park almost immediately and investigate. I red a post on MiceChat where someone accidentally touched the back of a girl on Tom Sawyer's Island thinking it was his sister and was followed around by the girl and security guards about a minute later. Mind you, this was on the island which seems pretty isolated from the nearest security center. Obviously not. So this Tower of Terror situation is perplexing.

[Disney50]

I always thought it was a bad idea for Disney to decide to sell booze in one of the parks .Odds are this guy was pretty close to being drunk or drunk when he got there and IF and thats a big if he got that drunk in the park then shame on the Disney and the CM's for selling this guy booze to the point to where he got that drunk. When My wife and I were married at the park 15 years ago, the options were you could have bubblie if you got married in the rose garden or the other locations outside the park... You could only have apple cider if you chose a location in the park because no booze was allowed in the park... I know alot of people think the whole booze in the park is a good idea but I for one think it was and is a bad idea and has no place in the park's themselves--- Theres plenty of places outside the parks to drink .

[Aurorasmiles]

Then fueled by the crowd, the guard sprays what I would call excessive amounts of pepper spray at the guy (I probably would have tried to hit him at some point too!) and then instead of grabbing his walkie that he carries and calling for help, he let guests get involved. If crowds would just NOT be stupid, and if the guard had just stood back and called for help, I can't help but think this could have been resolved in a much less news inducing fashion. The drunk guy didn't appear to be violent until he was sprayed and people started coming at him. (unless I missed something). Yes, I know, in the moment, things happen that you can't really control, but I think all around, bad decisions were made. And now, the lawsuits come....

I couldn't agree with you more! I'd probably would have wanted to strike back too!

As disturbing as it is to see this guest in such a state, it's hard to come to a conclusion or try to place blame. I'm not sure who said it already but it is not known what lead to this incident. I'm not saying this guest was not intoxicated. But it reminds me of a story a couple of months back about a man that was going into diabetic shock and was mistaken to be drunk. I can't imagine that he could have gotten that far in to the park without being noticed. I see security all over. If he was clearly drunk or whatever, his behavior should have been an immediate red flag that something should have been done. Overall its an unfortunate incident for all involved. I too am more upset by other guests' behavior. It seems some guests(a small number) took on a mob like mentality, especially those that held the man down. That woman screaming didn't help matters any. As one who has enjoyed an alcoholic beverage at DCA, if it results in these types of situations, which I believe are rare, I think there should just be no alcohol. Disneyland has always been great without it. DCA was too and can be!

[Jeff Baldwin]

I would like to point out that we don't know if any of the "bystanders" that helped detain him were plain clothes security personnel. Also, the way laws stipulate this situation is that you can pepper spray someone without any training, but in order to physically touch or detain someone you have to be properly trained.

[Wisher]

Saw this video yesterday morning. I personally think bad decisions were made on nearly everyone's part. Poor judgement on the security cast member's part (I understand that he was just trying to do his job, but he got carried away with the pepper spray). Obviously poor judgement on the drunk guy's part. But the people filming and shouting were just making things worse. I was more annoyed with that woman who kept shouting and the unclassy guys with her.