Father Thrown Out of Universal Studios Over T-Shirt

[UniversalCityFL]

I always love when people think they have the "right" to see a policy "in writing". This is not a legal situation, per se, so nothing needs to be in writing. If management at any time decides to kick out a guest for any reason, they can do so. There is no written policy book.

 

[bobwadd]

Whether or not it actually is is hard to say, but considering I've heard a couple people here complain about instances of photographers being kicked out beyond Park policy, calling it unfair, I think it's being a bit quick-to-judge to call the guy an idiot for questioning the situation with a certain about of emotional distress.

^This :wave:

I always love when people think they have the "right" to see a policy "in writing". This is not a legal situation, per se, so nothing needs to be in writing. If management at any time decides to kick out a guest for any reason, they can do so. There is no written policy book.

And there is the issue. In the state of Florida you can be kicked out of a theme park or any were else you are at voluntarily by the owners or their agents without cause. Oh, I don't like the color of your shoe laces. Goodbye.

 

[TylerDurden]

^This :wave:



And there is the issue. In the state of Florida you can be kicked out of a theme park or any were else you are at voluntarily by the owners or their agents without cause. Oh, I don't like the color of your shoe laces. Goodbye.

whats the problem with that? It is private property, those who run it can do what they want with it, just like you can kick someone out of your house if you dont like them.

 

[bobwadd]

whats the problem with that? It is private property, those who run it can do what they want with it, just like you can kick someone out of your house if you dont like them.

I understand that they can through out whoever they want. IMO they just get a little carried away at times. It's just bad business and leads to bad PR like this story.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

I wonder why, if it's Universal policy to not allow guests to wear a shirt like this, he was allowed to enter the park in the first place. Clearly he would have gone through security and the main gate, that's at least two touch points prior to him entering and spending time in the park to tell him of the policy.

 

[Hockeyman55]

Im 50/50 on this. In one hand he shouldn't be walking around in a Police shirt because it does give out mixed signals but in the other hand you can buy Police shirts in numerous places around town or even the mall, not like he was walking around telling everyone he was a cop or walking around with a fake badge. Heck I bought an NYC convict shirt and walked around wearing that but doesn't mean i just escaped jail

 

[TylerDurden]

I understand that they can through out whoever they want. IMO they just get a little carried away at times. It's just bad business and leads to bad PR like this story.

Yes it is, but I feel like we arent getting the full story. Universal does what they do to protect business and PR. They saw the man as a threat (imagine the backlash when a Universal "cop" didnt stop a robbery, help a lost child, etc.) and asked him to change the shirt, probably in a calm and polite manner that the man negatively responded to, leading to his removal from the park. A man walking around impersonating an officer in a theme park has liability written all over it, and Universal clearly didnt want to take chances, yet Im sure it was the guest's attitude, rather than his wardrobe, which got him kicked out.

 

[andrew]

Yes it is, but I feel like we arent getting the full story. Universal does what they do to protect business and PR. They saw the man as a threat (imagine the backlash when a Universal "cop" didnt stop a robbery, help a lost child, etc.) and asked him to change the shirt, probably in a calm and polite manner that the man negatively responded to, leading to his removal from the park. A man walking around impersonating an officer in a theme park has liability written all over it, and Universal clearly didnt want to take chances, yet Im sure it was the guest's attitude, rather than his wardrobe, which got him kicked out.

Exactly this. There is a difference between wearing a shirt that says "NYC Convict" (because I'd bet my left foot that nobody incarcerated in NYC would wear similar clothing) and wearing a shirt that says POLICE in a large font. I couldn't tell you what the Orlando PD wears, so if I was in the parks and something requiring police presence was happening, someone wearing a POLICE shirt would catch my eye.

The article says: more security officers showed up and told Christian not to bother buying another shirt because he needed to leave the park. . Stuff like this doesn't happen to nice people going about their day in the park. It seems like this guy caused a scene, was embarrassed in front of other guests and his family, and instead of taking responsibility for himself, has turned it around on Universal.

 

[bobwadd]

All I'm trying to say is that UOR security gets carried away at times. From the figures I found in the past they remove/ban 70 to 75 people a day. That's not an insignificant number.

 

[TylerDurden]

.Aall I'm trying to say is that UOR security gets carried away at times. From the figures I found in the past they remove/ban 70 to 75 people a day. That's not an insignificant number.

Do you happen to know what these figures are for Disney and even SeaWorld? It seems like a lot, but then again you've got thousands of people walking through those gates every day, and you gotta figure that not only is 70 a small percent of the average attendance, but also that that percentage has gotta be around less than or equal to the percentage of crazies in the tourist/local population going to theme parks.

I agree that they get carried away--Mardi Gras security is the worst, they take everything out of context. A lot of security guards can be downright rude. I've seen this happen and experienced it myself. The thing is, as carried away as they get with reprimanding guests, it never comes to removal from the park unless the guests are rude back. Whenever I've gotten "in trouble" I make a snide comment and walk away, and have never been trespassed from the property. I imagine that if I started creating a scene then I would be a disturbance to the guests around me, seen as an unruly liability, and THEN asked to leave. I'm willing to bet this guy wasn't just an innocent NYPD fan...

 

[andrew]

.Aall I'm trying to say is that UOR security gets carried away at times. From the figures I found in the past they remove/ban 70 to 75 people a day. That's not an insignificant number.

That is certainly not an insignificant number, and I am sure there are some questionable evictions among these. However, a majority are probably for significant issues, which are likely exacerbated by the guests' reactions to the situation. Vacations can be very stressful, and going to Universal is EXPENSIVE. Not only do you want to have things done perfectly, but you also want to have fun. When someone tries to disrupt this (ie, security), it's easy to get upset and irrational.

Bob, from reading the boards, I understand that you have had issues with Universal, which are completely your own and none of my business. However, what this man did is foolish and he deserves no sympathy. There is an obvious difference between taking pictures in a public place and wearing a shirt that says POLICE on it.

 

[jtsalien]

.Aall I'm trying to say is that UOR security gets carried away at times. From the figures I found in the past they remove/ban 70 to 75 people a day. That's not an insignificant number.

:jaw:

Incredible. They certainly have made it tough to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[maxairmike]

From watching the video and having my own experiences with less than pleasant people, it seems pretty likely that he escalated things to the point where they felt he needed to go. Wearing a shirt like that doesn't just create issues for Universal, but also could create a safety issue for that man and his family. I also don't think he was in the park, I think he was just in CityWalk. I don't think I've ever seen people have to turn their shirts inside out at Universal, they seem pretty lax about that from my observations, but more than likely a TM along the way either softly said something that was ignored/resulted in a snappy response, or called security about the shirt so they didn't have to deal with a possibly crazy guest. It actually isn't uncommon for a guest to have had a confrontation with a front line employee and get a decent distance before security catches up to them to handle the situation (if that's the case, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the first responding security that only talked to the guest was just having him get a new shirt, but after other security talked to a TM previously involved, those ones decided to bounce him).

 

[Nitro_230]

All I'm trying to say is that UOR security gets carried away at times. From the figures I found in the past they remove/ban 70 to 75 people a day. That's not an insignificant number.

I'm curious where that number came from. It doesn't seem to line up with anything I've ever heard.

A few facts on this topic:
- When there is cause to remove a guest they remove that guest only. The exception to that is if the guest is under 14, then they would make a parent leave with them (though the parent is welcome to come back in). The rest of their party is welcome to stay.
- Most guests are removed for shoplifting. Other common reasons are public intoxication, violation of ride rules (jumping out of an RV), fighting, and threats of violence.
- Most of the time when a guest is asked to leave the park it is just that. They do not take their ticket away, and they do not call the police. They simply ask them to leave the park and not come back that day.
- Only if the police are called and paperwork is done are they banned from the park, this is actually quite rare, and usually stems from shoplifting or violence.
- Security actually gives push back on asking people to leave, its a lot of paperwork for them that gets passed on to PR and legal. It's much easier for them to lecture them, fix the issue and let them free.

 

[batsmouth]

:jaw:

Incredible. They certainly have made it tough to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I don't think it's that high of an amount to be honest. Considering you can get removed for queue jumping how many people do you see on your trip who constantly do this? Along with all the other reasons listed above Along with other people breaking the rules and ruining potential dream holidays for visitors.

 

[Bryce]

:jaw:

Incredible. They certainly have made it tough to give them the benefit of the doubt.

There is no way that many people get removed/banned from the park DAILY. That's a ridiculous amount.

 

[jtsalien]

There is no way that many people get removed/banned from the park DAILY. That's a ridiculous amount.

If it's an average, not really if you think about. When you consider all the alcohol flooding events like HHN, Mardi, and Summer Concerts, etc. It's a shocking figure unless you consider special events, like I didn't at first.

 

[floridakid]

First off, this guy doesn't seem like the type of guy to cause a scene. Not under these circumstances anyway: with his family and daughter's friend for his daughter's 16th birthday..? Come on now. Someone telling me to remove my shirt or leave a theme park because of what's on it would probably have me asking a few questions before I complied, too.

Second, well.. most security guards in Orlando (in my experience), are downright a**holes. Whether you're downtown, by UCF, or at the parks, they think they work for the secret service. It's annoying. They take their job waaaay too seriously, and they act as if they had been chosen by divine right to be a security guard when I can go take a class and get certified for the same thing. They like to display their "power" and it's really, really frustrating. That being said, I've met very reasonable and respectable security guards who know that they aren't cops and that their power is limited.

Third, I don't know what cops people are seeing in Orlando, but most if not all cops are wearing the required uniform, and if they're "undercover" or not in uniform, they almost always have a gun and badge on them, along with a bulletproof vest. I have never seen a cop wearing a shirt that says "POLICE" on it and that's it.. nothing else on him.

Regardless, Universal is a theme park that should be providing security and police force in a time of need. So, that being said, if a situation DID arise, and a cop was needed, there should be Universal-employed security or officers on the scene ASAP. There shouldn't be a need for this guy to get called over to help someone out or settle a situation based solely on the fact that his shirt says "police" on it. And if he does get asked, why is that his fault?

Again, to sum this up, I'm not saying this guy was in the right. Wearing a police shirt in a theme park, to me, doesn't seem like the best idea. But, it also doesn't seem like the wrong one. I wear a FDNY shirt (says "FDNY" in all caps) all the time to different places (HHN, for example) but no one runs up to me when there's a fire asking me to put it out.

If this was a posted rule then it's a different story entirely. But I had no knowledge of guests not being allowed to wear shirts like the one in the story, and lets just say Universal isn't known for voicing their rules too well.

 

[TylerDurden]

There is no way that many people get removed/banned from the park DAILY. That's a ridiculous amount.

70 people in a park of, let's say 15,000 (relatively light crowds), that's 0.4%...there are a LOT more than 0.4% of people breaking the rules at Universal daily. As a matter of fact, the average amount of items stolen from the Universal Studios Store DAILY is 53...so on average 53 people shoplift per day in ONE store. You could kick out a LOTTT of people solely for shoplifting. Then you have unruly guests who, like others have said, are stressed about vacation and succumbing to heat, leading to fighting, swearing, line jumping, etc. When compared to the amount of people who walk through those gates (a good amount of them, you gotta figure, are nuts) then 70 is a reasonable figure, in fact, one that's maybe even too small.

 

[batsmouth]

First off, this guy doesn't seem like the type of guy to cause a scene. Not under these circumstances anyway: with his family and daughter's friend for his daughter's 16th birthday..? Come on now. Someone telling me to remove my shirt or leave a theme park because of what's on it would probably have me asking a few questions before I complied, too.

Second, well.. most security guards in Orlando (in my experience), are downright a**holes. Whether you're downtown, by UCF, or at the parks, they think they work for the secret service. It's annoying. They take their job waaaay too seriously, and they act as if they had been chosen by divine right to be a security guard when I can go take a class and get certified for the same thing. They like to display their "power" and it's really, really frustrating. That being said, I've met very reasonable and respectable security guards who know that they aren't cops and that their power is limited.

Third, I don't know what cops people are seeing in Orlando, but most if not all cops are wearing the required uniform, and if they're "undercover" or not in uniform, they almost always have a gun and badge on them, along with a bulletproof vest. I have never seen a cop wearing a shirt that says "POLICE" on it and that's it.. nothing else on him.

Regardless, Universal is a theme park that should be providing security and police force in a time of need. So, that being said, if a situation DID arise, and a cop was needed, there should be Universal-employed security or officers on the scene ASAP. There shouldn't be a need for this guy to get called over to help someone out or settle a situation based solely on the fact that his shirt says "police" on it. And if he does get asked, why is that his fault?

Again, to sum this up, I'm not saying this guy was in the right. Wearing a police shirt in a theme park, to me, doesn't seem like the best idea. But, it also doesn't seem like the wrong one. I wear a FDNY shirt (says "FDNY" in all caps) all the time to different places (HHN, for example) but no one runs up to me when there's a fire asking me to put it out.

If this was a posted rule then it's a different story entirely. But I had no knowledge of guests not being allowed to wear shirts like the one in the story, and lets just say Universal isn't known for voicing their rules too well.

This screams liability all over it for Universal if say something did happen say for example a burglary and you can guarantee some idiot will say a police man stood by and did nothing. Bad press for Uni and as others have said it is private property it is really up to Universal/their security's decision.

Think about a few scenarios a lost kid walks up to him? Bad situation all around. If a security guard came up to me and asked me to remove my shirt, I would certainly ask why, but not start acting like a cretin asking and demanding about policies as I wouldn't have a clue on half of them. I would expect them to offer me something to change into and I'm sure it wouldn't have escalated to this level.