Alcohol at MK?

[Gillian]

My DH is doing research on WDW and he wants to know why there is no alcohol at the magic kingdom. The friendly people over at the theme parks board thought some of you experts over here might know the history. Any help is much apprecited! Thank you

 

[WDWHound]

This was a decision made by Disney many years ago. Since Disney World was a family resort, alcohol was thought to be in appropriate. I beleive this reflected Walts wishes (Disneyland did not offer alcohol either). When Walt Disney World frist opened, The Contemporary Resort was the only place on property where you could buy an adult beverage. This policy has been relaxed since then, but the Magic Kindom remains alchohol free becuase it is the park most popular with kids and families.

 

[Another Voice]

The prohibition against alcohol came directly from Walt Disney before Disneyland first opened in 1955. Walt wanted his new park to a family place; he didn’t think alcohol fit that image. The amusement parks at the time often sold beer and had reputation for being crowded with drunks. Disneyland was supposed to be completely differnt from the typical amusement park, the ban on beer was one more of those ways. And this was the 1950s, there was much wider distinction between what was acceptable private behavior and what was acceptable public behavior.

Walt himself had no problem with adults drinking. His own afternoon scotch became legend around the studio lot. And there are numerous stories about the party thrown in the Golden Horseshoe Saloon the night before Disneyland opened (including the one where Walt was so drunk he had to be carried to his Main Street apartment).

When the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, the “no alcohol” policy was such a popular part of Disney tradition that it was continued. The MK was to be a family place too. However, the rest of the resort was more typical vacation destination and all the resorts opened with full bars and restaurants that served wine and beer. Even the shops in the hotels carried those little airline sized bottles of booze. But that was adult stuff that was kept away from the kids and out of the Magic Kingdom.

The policy was changed at Epcot because the park was designed mostly for adults, not children. And alcohol is a significant part of many of the cuisines offered in the World Showcase restaurants. A French meal is impossible without wine (an issue that would reappear with Euro Disney). In the Eisner era – things became so much simpler. The profit margins on any kind of alcohol are huge and it was mandated from early on that the Disney/MGM Studios would serve as much as possible. The Studios was also the first theme park to open with two full fledged bars – the Catwalk Bar and the one the one adjacent to the Prime Time Café.

Today alcohol represents a significant profit center for WDW from the parks to the ancillary gates to the golf course (those drink carts make a ton of money) to Pleasure Island to catered events at the resorts. There are almost annual proposals to change the MK “no booze” policies and there has been the occasional special event that sold alcohol. Most people now consider it only a matter of time before the beer wagons show up on Main Street.

 

[Gillian]

Thank you Mr. AV!!

 

[d-r]

The Studios was also the first theme park to open with two full fledged bars – the Catwalk Bar and the one the one adjacent to the Prime Time Café.

I don't think I'd call Dad's tune-in waiting area a "full fledged bar" but anyway, help me out here because I was in high school when epcot opened and not in tune with such things. Were Matsu Noma and Rose and Crown not there when epcot opened?

 

[d-r]

Personally, I'm not in favor of having drinks at mk at wdw, but on the upside, it might make eating at Tony's or Cinderella's a little more palatable.

DR

 

[montessori]

I might be wrong, it's happened before but I thought Reedy Creek was a dry town back in the day.
I know we stayed at the Contemporary once and had to drive into Kissimmee to buy a six pack. The store in the Contemporary wasn't allowed to sell alcohol.
So, we drove into Kissimmee of course. We once drove from Boston to New Hampshire to buy beer on a Sunday! This was a LONG time ago.

 

[WDW2002]

There are almost annual proposals to change the MK “no booze” policies and there has been the occasional special event that sold alcohol. Most people now consider it only a matter of time before the beer wagons show up on Main Street.

I certainly hope this never happens. I don't seen a reason or a need to serve alcohol at the MK.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I agree...why do you need beer in MK when they barely have full service restaurants?

 

[Cricket2]

I heard they were replacing Tom Sawyer island with a super "Bum Fight" arena of some sort.

Gotta' serve brewski's in there right?

 

[Dznefreek]

This policy has been relaxed since then, but the Magic Kindom remains alchohol free becuase it is the park most popular with kids and families.

They do serve wine in the Mk in Paris.

 

[montessori]

Il est vrai, ils laissent boire au royaume magique à Paris. Le Français l'aurait aucune autre voie !