Earlier today I posted on Theme Park MoJu’s Facebook page that Universal Orlando has implemented a curfew for those under 18 in City Walk. It falls Friday through Sunday. I was unable to locate information on the curfew on their website.

“We’ve made some adjustments to our weekend operations at Universal CityWalk and guests under the age of 18 are required to depart at 9 p.m. unless they are accompanied by a parent/guardian, are staying at a Universal hotel or planning to see a movie at Universal Cinemark,” Universal said in a statement.

The news stations I found the information on said that Universal did not provide information as to why the curfew went into effect.

You’ve probably heard about the Orlando Police Department being called to City Walk on July 24 for juveniles fighting. You may also have heard that there reports of gunshots, though OPD discovered no weapons. You may also have heard about the panic that was caused.

Somewhat understandably, they want to keep the incident as quiet as possible. Yet, I think keeping it hush-hush and enacting a curfew will cause issues in itself. We’ll come back to that.

I’ve been given some details by a source who only shared the information under condition of anonymity.

On July 24, there were groups of kids that were running through City Walk and causing trouble. They were screaming in the stores, stealing, and being obnoxious. A second source told me that some of this behavior stemmed from social media challenges, or things the kids wanted to post to their accounts. Why people think it’s a good idea to act like fools or break the law and post it in videos for the world to see is beyond me.

A few of the groups of kids got into a verbal altercation near the Panda Express on the second floor and a fight broke out. There is seating in that area that consists of metal chairs and tables. These were used to make a loud noise that caused nearby people to panic. They yelled that they had heard a gun. As you can imagine with current events and the daily shootings in our country, mayhem ensued. People ran leaving their belongings behind. Some even running right out of their shoes. Restaurants were evacuated into the tunnels below City Walk. People locked themselves in bathrooms and deep freezers. Stores locked their doors, which is usually policy in most retail locations when an active shooter is reported. Many guest were trampled. It was a “complete mad house.”

The SWAT team was called in and swept through City Walk with rifles drawn in search of a gunman. Thankfully, it was a false alarm.

I’ve been told that all of the posts on the Team Member Facebook page were taken down. I haven’t gone in search of photos or videos, but I have heard of their existence.

I understand that Universal Orlando Resort would not want bad publicity about an incident such as this. Especially after Knott’s just had their incident splashed all over the national news. They’ve both implemented curfews, which is a good move in my opinion.

If there are kids, or anyone, out there who want to behave recklessly, they will have consequences. It’s not just kids, I’m sure you’ve seen the videos of the adults physically fighting at Disney as well. Trying to prevent these things from happening for the safety of all guests and people who work in the parks should be a top priority.

So why do I think trying to hide what happened and then slipping out a curfew isn’t the best idea? I think they should have let the incident play out in the news, but come out immediately with their concern and plans to take action. If they just throw a curfew out there for seemingly no reason, people are going to think something even worse than what happened happened. That’s when all the speculation and rumors start. Maybe those rumors escalate to an actual shooting? I think it would have been best for them to acknowledge that kids were fighting and caused a panic.Tell everyone what steps were taken to ensure guest safety. Then lay out the plans, step by step, of how they are planning to avoid future incidents.

It’s a bit of a trust issue between UOR and it’s guests. Do they not trust guests to have the truth? I know I saw plenty of wild rumors in the passholder groups and in news comments. Many people were absolutely convinced there was an actual shooting. I don’t think that’s better for public relations than the truth.

There is also another aspect to the harm of not telling guests why you’re going to put a curfew in place for minors. The policy hasn’t been posted on the site as far as I know. I haven’t been to the parks to see if there are signs up, but I haven’t heard of any.

How is Universal handling the curfew? Will they be asking for ID from anyone who appears to be under 18 and without an adult after 9 pm? Will more security be present to do this?

As a local, I thought about all the parents who drop their kids off for the day at Universal. So what happens if someone drops off a pack of teens and then can’t get back to pick them up until after curfew and the parks have already closed? Is security going to detain them until a parent arrives? Where is Universal putting them?

What about the parent who is unaware of the curfew and their child has broken it? I can only imagine those conversations with Guest Services.

I guess what I’m really getting at here is that Universal should be more transparent. And proactive with signage and information on the website. Guests will be a lot more understanding and rational if you give them the information they need. If they know they can’t drop little Kevin off at City Walk to hang out with his friends unattended, they probably aren’t going to do it.

Universal parks are fabulous places, my second home really. But when you have tens of thousands of people in one place, things can and do happen. Live by my theme park golden rule, “If you can’t behave yourself, don’t go.”