Incidents of Guest Misconduct at Disney World

In the early days of Disney World, the term "Guest Misconduct" was almost never used.  People came into the Happiest Place on Earth, followed the rules, and left the typical exit and went home.  Then, as we entered the late 80s, there were incidents of note.  But they were handled discreetly, and you mostly heard about them through whispers from friends.

By the 90s, that started to change.  Guests were behaving badly at times, and police - uniformed officers - started to appear at the parks more often.  And then by the early '10s, there was an alarming regularity to incidents.  

One reason that I can pin to all of this is entitlement.  People feel like they deserve more, and because they are paying more, their expectations go way up.  And of course because its "me-first" many times, this just gets worse. 

And social media these days is a central reason we hear more about things - because some guests filmed themselves to make their own 5 minutes of fame, and others figured they could report on it and get their own likes.

With that, I'd like to call attention to a few incidents that have happened in the last couple of years.  It just goes to show how people have changed behaviors.  I should note that in nearly every incident, the Cast Members step in and call the sheriffs office who handles it from there.  Its unknown what happens in each case, unless there is a police report and we know the person was arrested or otherwise charged.  Sometimes the guests are simply escorted out, sometimes they get a ban for a day, a week, or a lifetime.  And sometimes they have charges pressed against them

1. Guest decides to climb out of the boat and dive into the water on the 3 Caballeros ride at Epcot  https://www.instagram.com/p/DeK8a4vCZ6H/
2. Man takes a plunge into the lagoon at Epcot  https://www.instagram.com/p/CywhJG5rr80/
3. A guest climbed up the stairs at the Mexico pavilion at Epcot https://www.facebook.com/7NewsMiami/videos/man-climbs-pavilion-at-epcot/10153290431702613/
4. A former Cast Member drinks water from decorative fountains, and rates it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z82RiZwUXk
5. A guest climbed up to a balcony on Cinderella's castle for a photo https://www.reddit.com/r/disneyparks/comments/praey3/guest_standing_on_cinderella_castle_balcony_at/
6. A guest wanted to get drone footage of the fireworks show (drones are forbidden, and the story is that many have been confiscated by security) https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2020/06/05/drone-pilot-tries-to-get-perfect-disney-world-footage-but-gets-trespass-warning-instead/
7. A man riding the Land boat ride at Epcot apparently dropped his phone into the water, and exits the boat to retrieve it https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLVR9ncPOVe/?hl=en
8. A guest needed to go to the bathroom really badly on Kilamanjaro safari and later apologized saying he *really* needed to pee https://www.tiktok.com/@itsedwinlv/video/7636259939542928653
9. A couple of guests hopped off of Pirates of the Caribbean (I think this incident was at Disneyland?) and hung out with the animatronics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzxli1VUnjw
10. A guest wasn't willing to wait and left Its a Small World with their child, but had trouble getting past the gate and nearly got injured https://www.tiktok.com/@mgkaty._/video/7340846096689810734
11. A man got drunk and started pounding on a hotel room door, which was not his.  He wound up getting arrested https://nypost.com/2026/03/26/lifestyle/drunk-disney-guest-arrested-after-banging-on-wrong-hotel-door-in-wild-viral-meltdown-video/
12. A verbal altercation led to a guest punching a Cast Member, all around a refund https://insidethemagic.net/2026/03/guest-allegedly-strikes-a-cast-member-after-verbal-altercation-at-disneys-animal-kingdom-rl1/
13. A man was upset that he didn't get what he wanted when his family met a costumed character, got physical, and was arrested. https://insidethemagic.net/2026/03/guest-allegedly-strikes-a-cast-member-after-verbal-altercation-at-disneys-animal-kingdom-rl1/
14. A woman wasn't happy with the service at Steakhouse 71 in Disney's Contemporary and bad behavior ensued.  She was detained by police.https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/irate-disney-guest-smashes-glasses-shoves-employee-over-party-dispute