So, yesterday the Disney Park’s Blog announced the drinks menu at Be Our Guest, in the new Fantasyland Expansion.. and the internet went nuts.. ok maybe not the whole internet, but definitely the Disney twitter people, and a lot of Disney fan sites, blogs and forums. So I may as well add to it and put in my two cents.
Firstly, for the record, I am not remotely opposed to alcohol (come visit me in Bermuda, you’ll see it’s almost a pre-req to live here).
Now, if you’re going to serve alcohol at a Disney park, at least do it right. Be Our Guest’s beer and wine line up is pretty awesome. It’s not the regular domestic beer or lousy wine line up that you may find in other areas of WDW.
“The wines focus primarily on France’s famous wine-growing regions, including Champagne, Alsace, Loire, Rhone, Burgundy and Bordeaux.
“We’ll also offer the leading French beer, Kronenbourg 1664,” says McGuire. “And, staying in the general region, we’ll also offer Belgian beers.”
This is great! No Bud, no Miller, but beers and wines that would be found if we were to actually visit a Belgian or French village.
A lot of people have been saying “This isnt what Walt would want”, and I’m at two minds with this. I mean, I’m not sure how we’d actually know what he’d want right now in 2012, but lets pretend for a second. The whole point of Magic Kingdom and WDW in general is the show, to immerse people in the story, to step away from real, modern life and disappear into the fantasy.
In most European countries beer and wine is a part of life and meals. So, surely it’s still in keeping with the story? no? Now if they were serving Budweiser in those metal bottles, it’d be a different matter, well to me anyway..Plus, alcohol will only be served at dinner, which is sit down, full service, like any other restaurant, perhaps to be the best restaurant in the Magic Kingdom yet!
So, for this point, and how it’s being accomplished, I’m not against this alcohol decision.
Now, on the flip side, I LOVE the fact that Magic Kingdom is a dry park. I dunno why, I mean, I drink, I like beer, I love whiskey, and I have no problem with enjoying a few. What I dont like is when people get out of hand with alcohol. It drives me nuts! The first time I went to Magic Kingdom, I tried to order a beer at Liberty Tree… boy did I get some looks… Sandra laughed and said, “um it’s a dry park” Oh! i did not know that…. but it didnt bother me… I dont NEED to have a beer or wine, and I thought it was kinda cool. She said, dont worry, when we go over to Epcot, you can have a beer. And it’s true, I can.. but I usually dont. I drink so much less when I barely drink when we’re at WDW. I may have a beer while we’re sitting watching Illuminations, but that’s it, the end of a great day, sit off, watch Illuminations, have a beer, and go home..
Heck, we’ve even warned our wedding guests not to drink too much. We dont want our Disney Wedding to be some free for all, crazy party, we want everyone to find their inner kid and have fun. And being a kid didnt involve getting drunk.
So, I guess my final thought on it is this:
I’m going to miss knowing that MK is (was) a dry park, just the kitsch value of it. It’s where I enjoy being a kid the most at WDW, and alcohol never crosses my mind. So from that aspect, thumbs down.
I’m not anti-alcohol, so IF alcohol is going to be served there, at least it’s being done right (in my opinion). No leaving the restaurant with booze, no metal Bud bottles, and only with dinner service, with the wine and beer keeping with the theme of the restaurant. So from that aspect, thumbs up!
Now, the next big debate… is this going to open it up for other areas of the park? Will Cinderella’s Royal Table start serving alcohol with dinner? who knows.. but if it happens, at least keep it with the theming.
So can everyone calm down now? Magic Kingdom is still there, it’s still awesome, and the imagineers have done an amazing job. If you dont want to see alcohol, maybe get a lunch reservation 