Smoking locations updated at the Magic Kingdom

BrittanyRose428Sep 21, 2018

Oh boy here we go. Alcohol and smoking are not really comparable, not sure why comparing them is a theme of this thread but yea.. they're not. Someone having a drink next to you will not have any effect on you, but someone having a cigarette next to you = secondhand smoke. My parents smoke like crazy and have for my entire life. I have really bad asthma, and while I haven't officially been diagnosed it sounds like from what other people have mentioned in this thread I'm probably allergic as well. Because of my personal experiences growing up surrounded by smoke while dealing with asthma/allergies, I have very little sympathy for smokers. I'm sorry, and I don't mean to sound harsh, but I'm just being honest here. The smoking sections in WDW never really bother me until I'm on vacation with my parents. It's much better now as an adult because I obviously don't need to stand there with them (though it's still incredibly annoying to have to constantly stop what we're doing so they can smoke). What concerns me in WDW is kids who are forced into smoking sections with their parents, because that was me as a child and quite frankly it sucks. (Heck that's still me as an adult when my parents smoke with me in the car despite my asking them not to). I don't really know what the solution to that is, as all I can think of would be to add a small play area or something to the end of a smoking section but that also seems kind of ridiculous. I just feel for those kids who are stuck by their parents side on vacation being forced to deal with the smoke.

Chef MickeySep 20, 2018

No, you're missing the point. I'm not comparing Disney to just random places with alcohol problems. To me, Disney is its own entity...completely on a different level. They can afford to make these decisions because they don't rely on the alcohol revenue and have much larger exposure than your random establishment. Something bad like the alligator incident happening at Disney is national news. This risk is greater with non regulated alcohol availability. To me, Disney is in position to make a greater statement that their parks are set up for minimum exposure to nonsense. Sure, there is a need for security sans alcohol, but that's exactly my point. People act stupid sober and some people will act even more stupid with the alcohol. I already said keep it in the restaurants, but let's not have hard liquor available at stands across DHS at 2pm. If you like it...that's fine. It's not like they are going to take my suggestion...they'll only do it when/if they are forced to by an incident involving it. And LOL, I'm not naive. I know a lot about what goes on off-stage and even on-stage. I know several people who have worked at the company, in parks. That's not the point. I'm about as socially liberal as you can be and pretty much nothing would surprise me. At Disney, things are different. The alternate reality they very carefully create is protected in many ways. I think this route would protect it even better.

BigThunderMattSep 20, 2018

You're missing the point. Disney has those same problems. Security is just good enough that you don't see it. Disney is not some perfect little wonderland. Sans alcohol people still fight, people still get rowdy, people still get in trouble with security. The level of wholesomeness you seem to think the place has is all an elaborate facade to get rubes to spend more money. If someone stumbling around a little tipsy after a few drinks gets your panties in a bind you'd have a straight up heart attack if you heard the content of most backstage conversations that cast members have.

PatchesleeSep 20, 2018

There's Disney characters that drink and smoke.

peter11435Sep 20, 2018

There are 6 Disney theme parks in North America. 4 of them have always sold alcohol.

Chef MickeySep 20, 2018

Nothing. That’s not our issue.

Chef MickeySep 20, 2018

Those places aren’t Disney and have plenty of the problems I discussed.

LensmanSep 20, 2018

What's unwholesome/immoral about a beer or wine with your meal?

BigThunderMattSep 20, 2018

So is taking your family to the zoo. Or a baseball game. Or a movie. Or bowling. Or to the roller-rink (are these even still a thing?). Or Cedar Point. Or Dave & Busters. Basically as long as you're taking them anywhere that isn't a strip club, an R-rated movie or something else considered "unwholesome", you've met that wholesomeness quota. And all of those places I listed serve alcohol. Wholesomeness has nothing to do with it. They're businesses, they exist to make money, and alcohol makes money. It's that simple.

Chef MickeySep 20, 2018

It’s wholesome entertainment above all else.

BigThunderMattSep 20, 2018

Again you keep saying family park. Yes, families go, but they don't cater exclusively to families. Also, alcohol has been served prominently at WDW since practically its inception. You think in that time they've never had an unruly guest? When I worked at TTC we had a drunk guy go into the companion restroom, strip naked, and make a nest for himself out of toilet paper so he could pretend he was a bird. Security was there in minutes to escort him off property. These things happen but clearly they happen infrequently enough and impact so few guests that the pros outweigh the cons. The whole situation with the alligator is a poor analogy and was a response by Disney to a situation that could have been outright avoided had they been more proactive and less concerned about some kind of illusion of safety. If some guy gets drunk and streaks through World Showcase no one is gonna die and any children exposed to it will think nothing of it 2 hours later despite what the stodgy "won't somebody PLEASE think of the children" folks might say. If you choose not to imbibe, don't imbibe. But don't sit up there on your pedestal and think less of everyone else who chooses to do so while they enjoy their time at WDW. MK and Disneyland were both outliers in the dry park business. There are loads of "family-oriented" venues that serve alcohol and have for decades, including regional amusement parks. If you think they've never had an unruly guest because of alcohol you're straight up lying to yourself. They just deal with that person and move on because the money the alcohol makes is definitely not peanuts and it isn't worth the loss of revenue to avoid having to call security on a few people.

gljvdSep 20, 2018

I was fine with it banned from magic kingdom , don't mind if its at Hollywood and epcot

The real rescuerangerSep 19, 2018

I have been going to WDW for years. Dozens of trips and hundreds of days. I can honestly say that I have never seen one obnoxious drunk in all of those trips. You are wanting to amputate an arm because of a hangnail. I work in law enforcement. I will not drink and drive even if it was only one drink. WDW is the one place I can get a drink or two and not have to worry about who’s driving. I just hop back on the bus to my resort. You keep saying that Disney is for families. Well my family happens to be all adults of drinking age. It is for us too. Drunks aren’t the problem. I wish they would kick out families who have bratty snowflakes who run around and do what they want without the parents once saying stop or no. Those people are the true problem. I would rather sit amongst a group of drunks rather than one family with spoiled kids.

Chef MickeySep 19, 2018

I understand the profit of alcohol in the parks...of course this is why it was done. In the grand scheme, it's peanuts and could be absorbed in the form of higher prices on other things. I'd support the lost revenue and/or various increases to make it up to have it gone (aside from my proposal for selling it with dinner and tracking it). I'm not in favor of prohibition. I'm just in favor of Disney enforcing the rules they should enforce on private property at a family park. The rules outside don't apply at Disney, like smoking. You have to go to a designated area. There is a dress code. Your bags will be checked. Point is, they can do what they want. I'd just rather alcohol be less of an emphasis, particularly at EPCOT. Wine with dinner or a drink with dinner is about as much as I want to see. That or they need to be serious about tracking it because people get way too much and I'd hate to see an "incident" at a family park. It's just not worth it. You get one guy running naked around World Showcase or causing other trouble and I guarantee you Disney will be taking my approach (just like they did when the unthinkable happened and the kid got eaten by the alligator).