More places to get beer and wine at the Magic Kingdom

[GoofGoof]

We have a number of concerns with this rumor.
1. We do not think it is advisable to ride motion intense rides (i.e. space mountain) with people that might be nauseated by their alcohol.
2. This may slow down turn-over at restaurants that serve alcohol as people sit to finish the drinks they paid for.
3. As has been previously mentioned, lines at restrooms will be bad. Maybe the previous FP+ solution to restrooms will come to pass.

Have you been to any theme park besides MK? I did a recent trip to Busch Gardens which has plenty of beer available and way more intense rides than MK and didn't see any issues. The other 3 WDW parks have no shortage of alcohol either and I've never seen a problem with people getting sick or turn over at restaurants. I'm assuming the rest room thing is a joke.

 

[GoofGoof]

This is also just beer and wine with dinner. They aren't really setting up a bar in the Tomorrowland Arcade. There's a big difference between someone having a beer or glass of wine at dinner and doing shots or pounding down hard liquor at a bar for several hours. I know someone is likely to say "this is just the start, eventually it will lead to bars all over the park and liquor everywhere". It hasn't spread like that yet with BOG and I haven't heard a single story about anyone getting drunk at BoG and causing problems.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I remember the sadly gone days of the hospitality house at Busch and Sea World where free beers could be enjoyed, dont recall blootered drunks though

 

[GoofGoof]

When we got back from this recent trip to Busch my dad asked me if they still have the free beer samples.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Speaking of free booze (relative term), Ive never seen anyone hammered at Discovery cove either.

 

[Disone]

Have you been to any theme park besides MK? I did a recent trip to Busch Gardens which has plenty of beer available and way more intense rides than MK and didn't see any issues. The other 3 WDW parks have no shortage of alcohol either and I've never seen a problem with people getting sick or turn over at restaurants. I'm assuming the rest room thing is a joke.

My thoughts exactly. RNRC is literally double the speed of SM, flips you upside down three times, and is in a park that not only sells alcohol at TS locations, but as QS as well and add in outdoor vending. This is a non issue. You don't have to go a hour plus away to Busch Gardens, but that is an even more excellent example. Multiple 65plus mph coasters flipping you over 7 times in less then 2 minutes.

 

[KaliSplash]

In regards to the consumption of alcohol in the Magic Kingdom, I thought they were following Walt's vision pretty well up till now. Sure, they are serving beer and wine at BoG for dinner but I reluctantly let it slide because of the whole "French restaurant" angle (wouldn't want another Disneyland Paris on our hands). I wasn't fond of the idea of serving alcohol in any form but if they wanted BoG to be "authentic" what could be done?

Now, if alcohol is indeed planning to be served at ALL sit-down restaurants, that's where I personally draw the line. Mostly because there is no way to hide behind the "Oh, we were trying to make the restaurant authentic" BS. It'll be put in place as a money-grab and nothing more.

As of right now, guests have three other theme parks, an entire shopping district, two water parks and almost 25 resorts to get their booze fill. Do we really need to add in another park? At what point does the line between "dinner only" and all-day become blurred together? I already have to deal with drunken idiots for half of the year at Epcot (never mind the non-event daily operational days) can we folks who don't drink have at least ONE place we can stay clear from the guests with no self-control?? Heck, my last trip to DHS in March I saw people lining up at park opening for drinks and half of them had kids tagging along. Great example for our future society! Make sure to buy them a blinky drink to indoctrinate them early.






*Sigh* I'm sure the heads at Disney would agree with you on that one....maybe they can get a sponsorship with Word of Beer.

Mickey's job is to make money. That is all. Mickey has been able to do that for decades without serving alcohol in the Magic Kingdom. But if there is ANOTHER dollar to be made by offering beer and wine, it shall be done. Mickey's job is to make money so the shareholders will be happy. The shareholders are only happy if revenue is going UP. Quarterly earnings reports MUST EXCEED expectations! It does not matter is we are making money. It ONLY matters if we EXCEED EXPECTATIONS! This is the latest step in that process.

 

[GoofGoof]

Mickey's job is to make money. That is all. Mickey has been able to do that for decades without serving alcohol in the Magic Kingdom. But if there is ANOTHER dollar to be made by offering beer and wine, it shall be done. Mickey's job is to make money so the shareholders will be happy. The shareholders are only happy if revenue is going UP. Quarterly earnings reports MUST EXCEED expectations! It does not matter is we are making money. It ONLY matters if we EXCEED EXPECTATIONS! This is the latest step in that process.

It's not just about making money. It's also about guest satisfaction. A lot of people like to have a glass of wine or a beer with dinner. It enhances their experience and with the markup on alcohol makes a nice profit too. There's nothing wrong with making money on something that is actually enhancing guest's experience. It's a win/win.

 

[omurice]

TS selling $10 to $15 six ounce pours of craft beers, this will not make a material difference. The price point is too high for many to go too far off the rails.

On the other hand, locals showing up to MK pre-wasted, or with vodka in the water bottles, on any given Friday or Saturday evening is already a "thing". That's something the company is aware of but has done very little yet to deal with.

Guessing TWDC did some math and found buzzed people had a higher average per-guest spend!

 

[IMFearless]

Anything which reduces the difference between a market leader, I.e. Magic Kingdom and their competition is not helpful. Warren Buffet calls this an "economic moat". It refers to the intrinsic advantage that a great business has which protects it from competition. Eventually the "Disney difference" will have eroded away to such a point that it will no longer be noticeable. Any business should aim to increase its economic moat at all times, not be actively removing it for short term gains.

Disney must not be short sighted about this, Disneyland was different by design, its success is a direct result of this. It is far harder to widen an economic moat than it is to maintain it, the competition will always be doing their best to breach the fortress of any great business as the rewards for copying are likely to be high for them.

Disney should at all costs aim to increase their unique approach by building a resort which is so different and so well done that no competitor is able to attempt rivalry.

The problem with all of this is: it won't be apparent until it's too late, ask the managers at Kodak... When did their position as market leader no longer ring true? I'll help you out, it was when other businesses were able to overtake them by providing better technology, that was different, in ways that the public wanted. Basically, Kodak didn't do enough to increase their advantage as market leader.

I hope Disney wake up to why they got to where they are, the trouble is the people at the helm didn't get them there, so they probably have no idea.

 

[GoofGoof]

Anything which reduces the difference between a market leader, I.e. Magic Kingdom and their competition is not helpful. Warren Buffet calls this an "economic moat". It refers to the intrinsic advantage that a great business has which protects it from competition. Eventually the "Disney difference" will have eroded away to such a point that it will no longer be noticeable. Any business should aim to increase its economic moat at all times, not be actively removing it for short term gains.

Disney must not be short sighted about this, Disneyland was different by design, its success is a direct result of this. It is far harder to widen an economic moat than it is to maintain it, the competition will always be doing their best to breach the fortress of any great business as the rewards for copying are likely to be high for them.

Disney should at all costs aim to increase their unique approach by building a resort which is so different and so well done that no competitor is able to attempt rivalry.

The problem with all of this is: it won't be apparent until it's too late, ask the managers at Kodak... When did their position as market leader no longer ring true? I'll help you out, it was when other businesses were able to overtake them by providing better technology, that was different, in ways that the public wanted. Basically, Kodak didn't do enough to increase their advantage as market leader.

I hope Disney wake up to why they got to where they are, the trouble is the people at the helm didn't get them there, so they probably have no idea.

I guess for me I never considered the lack of alcohol at the MK to be a huge advantage to Disney. If being alcohol free is this huge "economic moat" then why do the other 3 WDW parks have alcohol? Why didn't they all fail like Kodak? Its a pretty huge stretch for me.

The introduction of beer and wine at dinner in MK is not even an attempt to have a full range of alcohol available but is more related to the push to have more "high end" table service dining options in the park. For a lot of people (me included) a nice dinner out includes a glass of wine or a beer. If you look at the history of WDW, guests who wanted something closer to a fine dining experience went to the monorail resorts or hopped to EPCOT for dinner. Most of the food in the park was counter service and even the sit down options at MK were pretty bare bones. Disney knew that if they wanted to create something close to a fine dining experience it would help to offer beer or wine. I'm not sure why it's such a big deal for someone to have a beer or glass of wine with dinner at Be Our Guest when that same person could instead choose to hop on the monorail and stop at any of the resorts for a dinner that includes a full bar before coming back to the park. I think there was a lot of over reaction to the alcohol at Be Our Guest and I haven't heard of any issues with it so far. No stories of drunken fools or people getting sick all over the place.

 

[IMFearless]

I don't think the provision of alcohol is crucial to the success or failure of a theme park, but maintaining an advantage over competition is absolutely crucial to any leading business. If they were running a bar it may be crucial!

If I was going to list Disney's main advantages over it's competition it would include: Its ownership of brands or intellectual property, its economies of scale, its history and Nostalgic appeal.

Think about it for a minute - what makes Disney the market leader? What have they got that is so special?

All of those items people list in answer to the questions help to create barriers to competition. They set Disney apart from competitors. My point is that once you remove all the little things from a brand that differentiate it from the competition where is the advantage?

Walt Disney himself is very much a part of the history of Walt Disney World, he makes up two thirds of it's name! He very publicly stated, in fact on television, that he was not going to sell beer at Disneyland as he disliked the atmosphere of lesser quality amusement parks. Not his exact words but basically that was his point. Why? Because he wanted Disneyland to be different. Why bother to keep the park so clean? Most amusement parks don't spend so much on maintaining a pristinely clean environment. Again, it is to differentiate from the competition, to be superior.

Walt may have been a dreamer and a visionary but he had a huge brain for business also. Personally I think that to make a u-turn about an issue which is so blatantly different from Walt's vision is perhaps eroding the value in Walt Disney as the most valuable IP the company have. They are eroding their competitive advantage. Walt said it right "quality will out"

They should embrace what makes the Magic Kingdom different to other amusement parks, including theirown other three parks, all of which sell alcohol, but interestingly have way lower attendance. It would make more business sense perhaps if they were trying to make the other three parks more like MK, not the other way around.

As I have said, its hard in the moment to realise when a company is beginning to loose its competitive advantage, look at Blackberry in 2006 - could anyone have predicted it's demise? What did they do wrong? Not much, but they did not do enough to maintain a superior product and a number of competitors gradually gained market share. There are many examples of market leading companies failing to maintain a big enough advantage over their competition, when you look back historically it's easy to see.

This alcohol issue alone is not a big enough one to make a lot of difference. The problem is, it is far from a lone issue. There are many areas where the company could be widening their advantage over the competition, instead they are reducing it or allowing their competition to catch them up.

I have friends who visited Florida from England and they didn't actually visit WDW at all this trip, they chose to only go to Universal and Busch Gardens.
I would hate to see this become the norm. If Disney don't maintain a large enough economic moat, it surly could become the norm.

 

[unkadug]

I concur. My father was an alcoholic and so are/were extended members of my family. But I have no desire to do any substance in an abusive manner nor do I have any cravings where my day can't go on unless I get my fix. But I completely understand addiction and it's evils. Take away beer, and someone will huff paint. The desire outweighs any logic you think you can apply. That's why it's really a mental illness.

I know plenty of people who go to MK and take a flask or bottle with them. If you see an adult with a Disney refillable mug in MK, I'd say even odds it's Jack and Coke or Captain and Coke.

While I have agreed with most of your posts on this subject, I'll have to disagree on this last statement. I'd say that someone having alcohol in their refillable mug would be the exception, not the the rule.

 

[unkadug]

Speaking of free booze (relative term), Ive never seen anyone hammered at Discovery cove either.

Did you thoroughly examine the bottom of the pool?

 

[Disone]

Anything which reduces the difference between a market leader, I.e. Magic Kingdom and their competition is not helpful. Warren Buffet calls this an "economic moat". It refers to the intrinsic advantage that a great business has which protects it from competition. Eventually the "Disney difference" will have eroded away to such a point that it will no longer be noticeable. Any business should aim to increase its economic moat at all times, not be actively removing it for short term gains.

Disney must not be short sighted about this, Disneyland was different by design, its success is a direct result of this. It is far harder to widen an economic moat than it is to maintain it, the competition will always be doing their best to breach the fortress of any great business as the rewards for copying are likely to be high for them.

Disney should at all costs aim to increase their unique approach by building a resort which is so different and so well done that no competitor is able to attempt rivalry.

The problem with all of this is: it won't be apparent until it's too late, ask the managers at Kodak... When did their position as market leader no longer ring true? I'll help you out, it was when other businesses were able to overtake them by providing better technology, that was different, in ways that the public wanted. Basically, Kodak didn't do enough to increase their advantage as market leader.

I hope Disney wake up to why they got to where they are, the trouble is the people at the helm didn't get them there, so they probably have no idea.

Jimmy Buffet would also agree a business must addapt to market changes. Kodak failed because its market litterally disappeared. Who wants a cell phone to also be their primary camera? Apparently most vacationers. Kodak failed to evolve with this massive change in it's market. Disney on the other hand is changing and has been changing. No alcohol in the MK is a dated yet time honored tradition, but it is not part of the economic moat. Disney does not even advertise this... "Where Fantasy Reigns and Alcohol is Ban" was never said or hinted to in any commercial on line or in print.

 

[IMFearless]

Jimmy Buffet would also agree a business must addapt to market changes. Kodak failed because its market litterally disappeared. Who wants a cell phone to also be their primary camera? Apparently most vacationers. Kodak failed to evolve with this massive change in it's market. Disney on the other hand is changing and has been changing. No alcohol in the MK is a dated yet time honored tradition, but it is not part of the economic moat. Disney does not even advertise this... "Where Fantasy Reigns and Alcohol is Ban" was never said or hinted to in any commercial on line or in print.

While I agree that adapting to market needs is essential for a business, the market clearly favours the Magic Kingdom as the jewel in the crown of the Disney Property. The park is not suffering due to the existing policy.

Magic Kingdom is doing much better than all the other parks. The other parks could only dream of having the gate admission numbers of Magic Kingdom. I would therefore argue that the format of Magic Kingdom is certainly not broken. The place is packed morning, noon and night.

While I can understand that some guests may prefer to buy alcohol, I certainly would not agree that this is a reason for Disney to make this change.

Would a fully licensed bar do well at my kid's school nativity play? Possibly.
Is it a good idea? Probably not.

 

[Disone]

First

While I agree that adapting to market needs is essential for a business, the market clearly favours the Magic Kingdom as the jewel in the crown of the Disney Property. The park is not suffering due to the existing policy.

Magic Kingdom is doing much better than all the other parks. The other parks could only dream of having the gate admission numbers of Magic Kingdom. I would therefore argue that the format of Magic Kingdom is certainly not broken. The place is packed morning, noon and night.

While I can understand that some guests may prefer to buy alcohol, I certainly would not agree that this is a reason for Disney to make this change.

Would a fully licensed bar do well at my kid's school nativity play? Possibly.
Is it a good idea? Probably not.

First of all, I LOVE your screen name. Great BTMRR easter egg. In short, you are correct in that doing this or not doing it will not make or break MK. But your kids nativity play the MK is not, and it certainly would not be the same thing as selling alcohol there.

 

[IMFearless]

My only point was that just because it is possible to sell something in a particular venue isn't justification for doing so.

In my opinion if this goes ahead it is likely to be for short term financial gain, not guest satisfaction. I think in the long term it conflicts with the essence of the park and reduces the special status the Magic Kingdom has in many people's minds and hearts.

When BOG started selling alcohol people used the same arguments: that it was only in one restaurant, only at dinner. Now it is being rolled out to other table service.

Next will be quick service restaurants, then the outdoor vending. It is a slippery slope.

Before you know it people will be watching MSEP with a Premium Mickey Celebration glow in the dark cocktail, all to improve guest satisfaction.

Wake up people, it is a money grab.

 

[unkadug]

Before you know it people will be watching MSEP with a Premium Mickey Celebration glow in the dark cocktail, all to improve guest satisfaction.

How cool will that be?

 

[IMFearless]

Unless you're the kid who's parents would rather get drunk in Magic Kingdom than watch the parade... It's already happening at Epcot:



Personally I enjoy Magic Kingdom as it is. The ultimate escape from reality. Alcohol is likely to detract from the experience in my opinion.