When Walt Disney dreamed up his first theme parks, he specifically did not plan to serve alcohol to the general public. “No liquor, no beer, nothing,” he said in a Saturday Evening Post in 1956. “Because that brings in a rowdy element. That brings people that we don’t want and I feel they don’t need it.”
More than 6 decades later, alcohol is now served in every Disney Park, and at a majority of theme parks across the United States.
At the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo held in Orlando last month, food and beverage pros from around the globe gathered to discuss WHY the landscape has changed so much for theme parks serving alcohol over the past decade, and the trends they might adopt over the next year.
With the opening of Be Our Guest Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom in 2012, Disney World started selling alcohol in what had been its only previously “dry” park. Since then, many other U.S. theme parks have started selling beer, wine and cocktails — a topic that used to be “the elephant in the room” according to Rob Gordon, Managing Director of Food and Beverage for Hersheypark.
“It’s really crazy to think how prevalent alcohol has become in our industry,” Gordon said.
The “why” alcohol sales have become so important to theme parks — like nearly everything about business — has to do with the bottom line, of course, but also because many consumers who go to theme parks do drink. A 2021 Gallup Poll showed that 70% of U.S. adults between the ages of 35 and 54 drink alcohol.
Jeff Whiting, Vice President of Operations for Whiting’s Foods, said Instagram is driving many theme park cocktail trends. Those pretty drinks people want to put on social media drive excitement. “Instagrammable drinks up perceived guest value,” he said. “I like to say they’ll come for the food, but they’ll stay for the drinks.”
Kyle Allison, the owner of Altitude 1291, a family entertainment center in Oklahoma City, said he updates his drink menus more often than his food menus to drive sales. “Alcohol is one of our most profitable items,” he said.
There are concerns that come with introducing alcohol in family-friendly parks — both with ensuring that minors are not served, nor that adults are over-served.
“The key is to be sure you design a very responsible program,” Gordon said.
That’s why many theme parks require that anyone who wants to buy alcohol go to a separate station to show ID and get a wristband before ordering at a counter. Another tool theme parks use that you may not have noticed is that many theme parks have “alcohol-only vessels,” meaning that beer, wine, and mixed drinks are served in cups that look different than the cups used to serve water or soft drinks. This helps theme park staff identify what guests are drinking.
Gordon said that the “consumer of today” has come to expect alcohol to be served at theme parks — something that many theme park operators once considered taboo — so its prevalence will continue to expand.
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Do you drink alcohol when you visit theme parks? Do you think it should still be banned? Let us know in the comments!
The idea behind Disneyland was to provide things that adults and children could enjoy together – and drinking alcohol does not fall
Into that category. I can’t help wondering how many of the recent fights in Magic Kingdom happened because of slightly lower inhibitions from just a little alcohol consumption. It makes me wonder if alcohol really makes Disney more money than it costs – at least within Magic Kingdom where expectations and therefore tensions tend to be higher.
Walt said no ALCOHOL PERIOD!!
During Walt’s time, amusement parks and carnivals were often seedy, scummy places, and that type of crowd did not need any excuse to get drunk and start trouble.
The reason for alcohol sales is clearly money. The price of a fifth of liquor can easily be made up with the pour of the first few shots out of the bottle.