Under age drinking ?

[Disney Sue]

DS is 19, and as we are from the UK has been able to drink alcoholic beverages for the past year. I understand that the drinking age in the US is 21.
We are going to be in Disney during the F&W this year and we are looking forward to sampling the different foods around the world. My question is - If I bought myself one of the alcoholic drinks that are on offer, and then discretely let DS try a sip, how much trouble could we get into?
Let me be clear - neither of us drink alcohol very often, and certainly never to excess - so there would be no chance of inappropriate behaviour. I just want to know if DS can taste any of the drinks without us getting thrown off Disney property. If he can't - that's OK, we will be happy to just stick with the food options

 

[AngiTN]

In the US any adult caught giving anyone underage an alcoholic beverage is subject to prosecution.
Will you get caught? No one can answer that.
But it is illegal in the US

 

[pooh4evr]

It will probably be fine, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If he's walking around drunk that's another story.

 

[Disney Sue]

Thank you ! I didn't realise it was that strict. I'm glad I asked - and we will not risk getting caught. The alcoholic beverages can wait until he's 21 - it gives us a reason to visit Disney again

 

[sarahb01]

It can and has been done. Is it illegal? Yeah. But is anyone really going to question how old your son is? Probably not.

 

[AngiTN]

I can imagine it's hard for the foreign guests who are of legal drinking age at home.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I remember my first trip to WDW after being legal at home for almost a year. I was a little sad when I saw the tasty looking beverages around the world but as soon as we crossed the border back to Canada I ordered a drink and was happy again

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Thank you ! I didn't realise it was that strict. I'm glad I asked - and we will not risk getting caught. The alcoholic beverages can wait until he's 21 - it gives us a reason to visit Disney again

I wouldn't call it that strict....see most U.S college campuses as an example of the drinking age being generally ignored. The problem is more of random enforcement. There are plain-clothes police and Disney security in the parks. Imagine the one drink you give him being right in front of an 'under-cover' security guard and cop looking to enforce underage drinking laws. They'd have to take action.

 

[JimmyV]

In the US any adult caught giving anyone underage an alcoholic beverage is subject to prosecution.
Will you get caught? No one can answer that.
But it is illegal in the US

Painting with far too broad a brush. There are lots of exceptions to that rule, and they vary from state to state. For purposes of the OPs question, Florida does not technically allow the sharing of alcohol with a minor, but they don't exactly have undercover officers looking to bust people for it. Every single restaurant where we dined in April brought 3 wine glasses to our table whenever we ordered a bottle of wine. My 18 year old daughter could have shared in our bottle any time she wanted to, with the CM doing the pouring. The only thing that stopped it was us saying that she would not be having any. That said, there is no uniform law throughout the U.S. See below. Scroll down to #8. That would be the circumstance governing WDW. http://drinkingage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002591

 

[CAS239]

It's definitely illegal. However a few sips or maybe buy a drink and hand if off..you'll be fine. Just do it away from where you bought it so you're not handing it off right in front of the CM. Aside from buying the alcohol, no one will be asking for ID.

It's not like anyone has never done it before

 

[BusyP76]

The reason answers may differ is that not all people realize that Florida is one of the handful of states that has no exceptions to their underage drinking laws. Here in Texas, our drinking age is 21 but I can "serve" my underage child alcohol if I am physically with them. (But I think an establishment can refuse that if they so desire.). In Florida it is definitely illegal for you to give your 19yr old son alcohol. How hard Disney would enforce that is unknown to me.

 

[summerw]

I have never heard of any parent getting in trouble for giving their child a sip of their drink, let alone their 19-year-old. Yes, there is a law that I've heard enforced on adults buying teens beer outside the liquor store and parents allowing their teens to have underage parties with drinking. NEVER have I heard of trouble in the situation you're describing. Obviously there's no way to say for sure since the law is so broad, but really, I would worry more about jaywalking (crossing the street somewhere other than a crosswalk) than giving my 19-year-old a sip.

 

[KT0191]

My mom would give me some sips of her margaritas when we were at Disney. No one ever said anything. Yes, there is a chance you could get caught but I am going to say that that chance is very slim. Especially since, like you said, you'll be discreet and he won't be drunk.

 

[Mickey28]

Painting with far too broad a brush. There are lots of exceptions to that rule, and they vary from state to state. For purposes of the OPs question, Florida does not technically allow the sharing of alcohol with a minor, but they don't exactly have undercover officers looking to bust people for it. Every single restaurant where we dined in April brought 3 wine glasses to our table whenever we ordered a bottle of wine. My 18 year old daughter could have shared in our bottle any time she wanted to, with the CM doing the pouring. The only thing that stopped it was us saying that she would not be having any. That said, there is no uniform law throughout the U.S. See below. Scroll down to #8. That would be the circumstance governing WDW. http://drinkingage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002591

If cast member knowingly served an underage guest they would be terminated before their shift was over. No exceptions, I guarantee it.

 

[Pkltm]

We never have had an issue, DS 19 at the time, would hold and drink the drinks we bought and no one questioned. I got id'ed while buying, had to have my passport, did not once, just my Canadian driver's license and they refused to sell to me

 

[AngiTN]

There are 2 different issues in play here
1. is it legal? That is not a grey area. It is not
2. will I get in trouble? That is a grey area. Chances are extremely high nothing will happen
Doesn't change #1

 

[wilkeliza]

Technically it is illegal and if you are caught it can have severe consequences. However, what would most likely happen if you are caught is first being told your son is underage and therefore you can not service him alcohol. If caught again by the same CM or by same security you can be asked to leave the parks and potentially have police called on you.

While it doesn't happen to everyone some CMs will send a call to security (especially during Food and Wine) when they see someone who looks clearly underage with drinks. This is more likely to happen during Food and Wine since they are usually on high alert. However, clearly underage probably doesn't fit a 19 year old unless they are small and baby faced.

 

[BrianL]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. The cast member certainly will not sell to him, but if you were to buy a couple of drinks, bring one to your waiting son and give it to him, chances are nobody would even blink. I mean, at 19, he could easily look of age. In the unlikely event that a CM called you on it, the most they would probably do is tell you not to do it anymore. It is extremely unlikely that the police would be involved or that you would be prosecuted.

The above should not be taken as encouragement to do it. It is illegal after all. You just wouldn't get in much trouble over it if any at all.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

You can pull it off. I mean, you won't get served in a restaurant, but you should be able to have a beer.

Not encouraging it, but in the trip after my dad beat cancer, he wanted to have a beer with me. The problem was that I was only 20. We figured Raglan wouldn't check as I look older, but they did. Long story short, he bought beers in the England Pavilion and we had one. Was it illegal? Yes. But I wasn't running around causing a ruckus. We didn't make a big deal about it, he handed me the beer as though he "bought that round" and we went on our merry way.

Mind you - my mom was not happy but she understood. They had a "what I don't know won't hurt me" mentality when I was in college. I never got in trouble, they knew I probably drank already - so my dad just wanted to have one with me.

There's a saying "act like you belong." If your son starts chugging beers (which he won't, just mind the example) someone may say something. If he nonchalantly takes the beer and enjoys the next booth with you, he should be fine.

 

[blackpearl77]

Just a thought - if they see him drinking them might "card" him (ask him for proof he is 21 or older). That happened to me - but I happily showed my ID since I'm 38!!!!