Heidi...
i don't know if this is appropriate, but here's a "rant" i sent to Disney here in Florida concerning their last "Food & Wine Expo"... i never got a response... wonder why?

dear mickey, donald, goofy, and the rest of you guys...
re: food and whine expo

i've been an avid supporter and customer/fan of epcot and wdw for years. food and wine expo since the beginning. loved it. always had a blast and great experiences. this year, not so. let me tell you why.

for some reason, an event which anyone with common sense could read and see is for all intents, an adult gathering, became an excuse to allow children/kids to run rampant throughout epcot, bumping drinks, spilling food, yelling and coming off like a deleted scene from "lord of the flies".

i found the numbers of strollers, combined with the scooters, rascals and golf cart sized, battery-operated fat chariots to be more than i or my companions could navigate safely through given that your extra booths for international cuisines were jutted out into the used-to-be ample walking and transport areas. the funneling of human flesh through 6 foot corridors was overwhelming, especially given that every biped appendage was balancing an overpriced nibble of some delicacy or a plastic cup of fermented grapejuice which after the knocking of heads and elbows allowed one to find a spot to quietly sample the few remaining drops in the cup. most of it was now soaking into the fabric of whatever garment adorned your body, having been dribbled down your pants to become an everlasting ornament to the wonderful day spent at epcot! along with the crushed toes and half-severed achilles tendons from the footplates and bumpers of 700 lb. uncle norton's rascal or tad and marcie's double playskool stroller containing little chad and barbie who are happily reaching out to touch someone with a handful of some sticky, sweet concoction or worse.

i realize this country has become a woeful example of good health but this era of enabling behavior is not making things any better. your availability of "fat chariots" for rental is, i'm sure, a very "healthy" (pardon the pun) profit for the park... but let me ask that you consider instituting a policy of "need"? 75% of the people you rent these scooters to are nothing more than lazy, out of shape, fat, disgusting slobs who, for a price, can fancy themselves superior to those of us who choose to walk and try to balance a day of caloric debauchery with "exercise". jeez, what a concept?

the mindset of a "scooter pooter" is one of elitism... they actually think and act as if they have the right of way to do as they please, when they please and to hell with anyone in their way. this of course, is usually not the case for those individuals who actually are infirmed, disabled and do really need motorized transport. they bring their own because they actually do need it... all the time! and most, are polite and patient and the same attitude is returned just by that posturing.

the useless flesh bags who rent your "chariots of fire" have no concern for anyone on 2 legs and they definitely have no sense of rules, or safety... especially at dusk and night lighting levels inside epcot. and that's another thing... the promenade should be better lit, especially if you're going to rent "go-carts" to "jabba the huts" and allow them to speed freak around the world knocking over healthy people and adding to the numbers of wheelchair bound invalids! i smell a lawsuit coming soon if this is not rectified. rudeness is a given by most of these fat slobs... they simply wind up the battery and launch their mechanical monster into the crowd of shuffling humanity. arms, legs, tendons and concession morsels go flying askew. screams and curses, power over the din of an over-the-hill, flower power, one-hit wonder, burned out hippie band at america's gardens. it's a horrible scene in which open-handed slaps dance upon uncle goober's fat head, but still he doesn't know how he got this thing to go this fast nor how many $5 cups of wine and $7.50 mini racks of lamb he launched into the cool, florida night air? but god forbid, he's still holding onto that funnel cake!

may i ask what the hell is up with that 747 landing light on the front of those "fat gurneys"? by now, we're bleeding, stained, incontenant and incoherent, shuffling like the bataan death march, taking turns dragging one another, glancing over our shoulders and screaming "oh god, sheila, here comes another one! jog, if you can, to your right, your right, oh no... go left!" to turn from that into the retina scorching glare of another horror... not one, but 2 or 3 blubberwagons, side by side! we know it's over now... we simply give it up, no where to go, no one to turn to, trapped like deer in the headlights of a winnebago. they continue on, plowing through the field of human flesh, herding waves of strangers into our "personal space". we try to grab another human as a shield, try to clutch to something that can pull us to safety but all we can grip is a glowing necklace. the moans, the cursing, the crushing of bone... this will be months of therapy. miraculously, we've been spared the blitzkrieg of side by side blubberbuggies. we find refuge on a bench, along with other survivors... we share stories, we laugh, we cry, we get ourselves together as much as possible and prepare for the next wave. we wish each other good luck and give up our seats for the next survivors to limp to a haven of safety. on the way out, sheila discovers a wound... the gash is wide and the bleeding is ominous. we dive for the cover of grass outside the paved stream of humanity and wheeled deathwagons. i spot a refreshment area directly across the way serving a nice selection of reds. i tell her i'm going to attempt to procure a beverage for us and she should remain here, applying pressure to the wound until it's stable. i lock my sites on the target, acquire a path and launch myself across the flow of humanity and wheeled dangers. 15 minutes and one dislocated knee later, i arrive at the "line". i rest for a spell, check my toes and glance over at sheila who is curled into a fetal ball... i fear shock may sit in before i can get back to her! eventually i am in front of what appears to be a small child of bulbous proportions, who smiles and asks me what i would like. i say "2 cabernets please"? to which she responds "to whom is the other person whom is drinking?" at this point, i turn around and way off across the way in the gloom and fast covering darkness, i point towards the black forest and say... "my wife... she's been injured and needs the alcohol!" the pouty queen extorts... "i must hand her the other drink, i can only hand you one drink sir!"

o.k., i could go on with this but here's where it stops and gets absolutely stupid and ridiculous!

know why the kids were so bad this year? because of that retarded serving restriction. picture this, mommy is holding back little bobbie from going over the fence and into the lake after the freakin' ducks. daddy jimbo is up ordering some gourmet treats and wants a varietal he hasn't seen before, so he orders one for the missus and hears this "to whom is the other person whom is drinking?" he turns to see mommy's strained, glaring red face pulling and yelling at little bobbie, who is screaming at the top of his lungs. jimbo points to the scene and says, "my wife, she's over there with her hands full!" "i must hand her the other drink, i can only hand you one drink sir!" so after a few choice mumbled curse words daddy jimbo yells across the way to mommy, "yo, janie, turn the little bastard loose and come get your merlot!"

all in all, i'm over it. i've had an annual pass which seems like forever, but i don't think anymore. things have to change. you guys are (or were) innovators of moral, social examples, not so much prone to swallow the dollar for every little thing. it's trivial to some, but it's the small things that make up a society and the way we conduct "synergy" between one another. it's got to get better and you can start by using a bit of common sense:
• lazy people do not need carts. they can walk like everyone else... they don't wanna, they can see epcot from the monorail.
• if really fat and obese people are that bad off, they should be at a fat farm, not epcot. it's unsafe even for them... my god, i've seen 7-800 pounders stradling those scooters, bustling along at 3 mph., waddles, batwings and thighs flapping in the breeze, taking out small people and children like no ones business! and the real horror is just waiting to happen, one day or night, that scooter will give up the ghost, blow a battery, lock up and throw the behemoth off the seat and onto someone... crushing them to death no doubt!
• your security folks need to enforce driving rules on the walkways.
• you need to light the darkness better.
• where there's alcohol, there should be no kids. (period) i personally witnessed little ones and teens carrying full wine cups.

a really disappointed, ex-annual passholder, who most times never complains and has a good time at your vacation kingdoms, but lately has sensed a decline in guest satisfaction and lackluster concern for the well-being of all. meh.

r. murrey
titusville, florida

www.listen4music.com
https://www.teepublic.com/user/murfner