Disney to Serve Alcohol

For 41 years Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, has not served alcohol in its restaurants or shops, but that is about to change.  The company has long offered alcohol in other parks like Animal Kingdom and Epcot Center but not the Magic Kingdom. A new French-themed restaurant is opening in November and a glass or bottle of beer or wine will be available. The ‘Be Our Guest’ restaurant is a significant shift for Disney as the Magic Kingdom has always been considered more of a family park.

Maribeth Bisienere, vice president of food and beverage for Walt Disney Parks said it made more sense to do it than not to do it. ‘You cannot walk into a French restaurant and not get a glass of wine or beer’, Bisienere said. Disney’s diehard fans are spit 50-50 on the decision with purests wanting to keep the park alcohol free. Disney assures park goers that alcohol will only be served at one venue and only at dinner. The worry is whenever you serve alcohol there’s a potential for visitors to get loud or rude and find their way into an unsafe situation.

The concern of many Disney fans is this will be the first venue to serve alcohol and more will follow. In Disney parks that already serve alcohol there have been  issues from time to time but nothing serious and rarer than people think. Disney sees a lot of people leave the park to have dinner so they can have a beverage with it. They hope by serving beer and wine in the new French style restaurant ‘Be Our Guest’, will keep people in the park to eat.