Universal Cracks Down: Employees Eject Rule-Breaking Guests for Life

It appears guest behavior is continuing to become worse at the major Orlando theme parks, and guests will do anything to film a viral moment, even if it means getting in trouble afterward.

Disney and Universal guests are increasingly finding creative ways to get themselves ejected from the parks, with a recent trend emerging that results in permanent bans from the properties.

Walt Disney World Resort, while a place of magic and fun, operates under strict rules and regulations as it is private property. Lately, there’s been a notable rise in poor behavior within the parks, often driven by guests seeking viral social media content. With platforms like Instagram and TikTok popularizing such antics, more individuals are attempting to break the rules to gain online fame.

One of the initial trends involved violating the dress code policy. Some guests wore shirts with vulgar slogans, but many exploited a perceived “hack” by intentionally wearing attire deemed inappropriate by Disney, hoping to receive a free replacement shirt. This loophole was intended for unintentional violations, but due to widespread exploitation, Disney now denies entry entirely unless guests return in appropriate attire, as determined by cast members.

A newer trend involves guests jumping into restricted bodies of water. Instances include guests lounging in the EPCOT France pavilion fountain, jumping into the World Showcase lagoon from the Italy pavilion bridge, diving off the boat at Tom Sawyer’s Island into the river at Magic Kingdom (home to potential alligators), swimming shirtless in the Sassagoula River at Port Orleans Resort, and diving into the AquaSphere fountain at Tokyo DisneySea.

At Universal, guests have recently been caught shoplifting and engaging in fights, prompting intervention from security and police. During a visit to Volcano Bay, around 15 police officers were seen responding to an incident where two guests were found bloody and beaten. The exact circumstances were unclear, but the need for guests to respect park rules remains evident.

Both Disney and Universal theme parks cater to families who invest significant amounts of money in their visits. It is crucial for guests to adhere to park regulations to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone.

One of the worst things that a guest can do is ruin someone’s ride experience.

So many attractions at both Disney and Universal have long waits, and paying guests can wait upwards of nearly 4 hours at times to go on an attraction. With so much of a guest’s being spent in line, it is important to acknowledge that your actions on the ride, if negative, can impact everyone else.

For example, when the streaker at Disneyland hopped off his boat on “it’s a small world”, the ride ended up having to shut down, ruining the opportunity for thousands to ride. We have also seen guests jump off many Universal attractions in the past, such as Jurassic Park River Adventure to grab a loose article that fell off during the ride.

This, of course, will force an immediate stop of the attraction, ruining the experience for all, in order to protect the safety of that guest.

Social media tends to be one of the biggest culprits when it comes to guests acting poorly at theme parks. We have even seen some creators go as far as sneaking in and attempting to stay in the theme parks overnight (only to be caught by Disney security) and trespassed for life. If someone is ever breaking the rules, it is now more common than ever to see that rule break being filmed and then posted on social media.

Instagram user oiaflol recently filmed their experience on The Cat in the Hat, located at Universal Islands of Adventure, where they and their party screamed excessively when Thing 1 and Thing 2 were running. This is not a haunted attraction or a spooky one to say the least, it is actually a family attraction with one of the lowest height requirements in the park at 36″. This means a lot of children tend to ride.

The screaming had become so loud that a team member had to interject on the PA system to remind the guests that this is a family attraction and that they should use their “inside voices” while riding.

If this were Jurassic World VelociCoaster, an announcement about screaming on the ride would never occur as it is a clear thrill ride, but screaming bloody murder on a children’s attraction likely startled other younger riders, panicking them for what is to come.

 

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Both Disney and Universal will interfere if a guest behaves poorly on an attraction, one comment on the post even read, “I spat once on a Disney ride as a kid to see if anything would happen and the ride instantly stopped, the lights came on, and someone came and wiped it up all in about ten seconds.I felt bad.”

The comments are quite split, with some upset that the team member intervened and others stating that the screams were clearly forced and unnecessary.

We have seen a huge uptick in guests being removed from both theme park giants for life, and now, it seems that even with so many getting banned, there are still guests who will risk how poorly they can act before punishment comes their way.

Have you noticed an increase in poor behavior at the Orlando theme parks lately?