The Red Wagon Inn catered the meals out at Holiday- land, though you were always welcome to bring your own picnic baskets. And, most surprisingly, those Red Wagon meals included all the beer you could drink "Walt thought beer was a basic part of a picnic," recalled
Jack Taylor, the first operations supervisor at Holidayland. "It was there if you wanted it."
"The beer at Holidayland didn't bother Walt," Milt agreed, "even though you didn't dare mention alcohol in connection with Disneyland. "
...
So admission to the Park was quickly added as a picnic option when organizations contracted for their picnic. they could purchase Disneyland admissions as well, a special entrance was created that spanned between the picnic arounds and Frontierland, and crossed right over the railroad tracks (an unthinkable thought today!).
Including admission to the Park was a solution to their biggest problem-or was it? Holidayland picnics were already getting more and more difficult to sell, and now with the added cost of Park admission, group picnics were getting too expensive for all but the biggest organizations. And even though the kids were usually out of school during the summer, Mom or Dad still had to work, and that meant picnics could only be held on weekends. Worse still, there were no lights for nighttime events, so evenings were out. That meant Holidayland sat unused five days a week.
One picnic that did sell, and sell real well, was set up for a major labor union, who purchased more than 10,000 tickets for the picnic. As soon as the picnic began, the beer was already flowing in an endless stream. By the time they headed into the Park, Milt recalls. "they were drunker than hoot owls.·· Disneyland survived the day, but it was the last time beer was allowed at a picnic if the guests were going to enter Disneyland.
(Disneyland: The Nickel Tour, Pages 180-181)
