Beer and wine to be served at Be Our Guest

[DizneyFreak2002]

I guess this is just the next phase of moving away from the original foundation set by Walt Disney.

What would Walt think?

Walt would think what he's been thinking for years - the Walt Disney Company is forsaking the original premise of the park all in the name of PROFIT.

Believe me, if alcohol wasn't one of the most profitable things you can sell in individual units, we would not be having this conversation.

The quarter numbers are now more important than the original mission of the park.

Good thing Walt put imagination, innovation and heart into the parks when he created it. Budget initiatives would not allow those sorts of things these days.

Only problem with asking what would Walt think is he put alcohol into Disneyland...

[DisneyGlutton]

What would Walt think?

He might have created the Happiest Places on Earth and left a tremendous legacy, but he was not perfect and neither was every single one of his ideas.

[SBETigg]

I guess this is just the next phase of moving away from the original foundation set by Walt Disney.

What would Walt think?

Walt would think what he's been thinking for years - the Walt Disney Company is forsaking the original premise of the park all in the name of PROFIT.

Believe me, if alcohol wasn't one of the most profitable things you can sell in individual units, we would not be having this conversation.

The quarter numbers are now more important than the original mission of the park.

Good thing Walt put imagination, innovation and heart into the parks when he created it. Budget initiatives would not allow those sorts of things these days.

I agree with you in part, but not completely. I think we have a tendency to glorify Walt and his intentions. He was, after all, a businessman, and profit did play into his motivation to some extent. He didn't set out to please families at the risk of going broke or losing profits. But yes, he probably wouldn't have made some of the choices that people in charge have made through the years. Still, I think all of the parks are in keeping with Walt's original ideas and intentions for the most part. There are some quibbles, and some giant stretches along the way, but I still think there's plenty of heart.

[Mfarquar]

Only problem with asking what would Walt think is he put alcohol into Disneyland...

I think it is safe to say that Club 33 is the exception at the Disneyland Park. There are club members, who are in essence "registered". Walt started it as invitation only, so there was obvious intention to control the alcohol.

He did not allow it in the park otherwise, and did not allow it in Magic Kingdom before its opening and his untimely death.

What happened after, is par for the course.

[Mfarquar]

I agree with you in part, but not completely. I think we have a tendency to glorify Walt and his intentions. He was, after all, a businessman, and profit did play into his motivation to some extent. He didn't set out to please families at the risk of going broke or losing profits. But yes, he probably wouldn't have made some of the choices that people in charge have made through the years. Still, I think all of the parks are in keeping with Walt's original ideas and intentions for the most part. There are some quibbles, and some giant stretches along the way, but I still think there's plenty of heart.

You make very valid points, and I agree with them.

I think the difference is that the importance of profit is more blatant than ever and one can make the argument that the balance of Walt's business approach and modern pressures of a major corporation are a tad off.

[Jared]

I think it is safe to say that Club 33 is the exception at the Disneyland Park. There are club members, who are in essence "registered". Walt started it as invitation only, so there was obvious intention to control the alcohol.

He did not allow it in the park otherwise, and did not allow it in Magic Kingdom before its opening and his untimely death.

What happened after, is par for the course.

Both Disneyland the Magic Kingdom have also had alcohol at private events.

[Mfarquar]

He might have created the Happiest Places on Earth and left a tremendous legacy, but he was not perfect and neither was every single one of his ideas.

I agree. I think this is just one of the MAJOR "rules" he left behind that the company honored for a very long time.

It is obvious that this is a profit decision over a customer service one. If it was a customer service one, we would have seen alcohol in the MK restaurants a long time ago (who doesn't want some champagne in a castle or red wine with Italian food?)

[Mfarquar]

Both Disneyland the Magic Kingdom have also had alcohol at private events.

The operative word is "private".

The change here is the overall alcohol policy and offerings for normal park operating hours.

[DisneyGlutton]

It is obvious that this is a profit decision over a customer service one. If it was a customer service one, we would have seen alcohol in the MK restaurants a long time ago (who doesn't want some champagne in a castle or red wine with Italian food?)

You make a very good point, and I'll have to ponder it. My first response would be that since it was (apparently?) a big rule of his, this by itself may have kept MK from becoming "wet" earlier from a customer service perspective.

[Mfarquar]

You make a very good point, and I'll have to ponder it. My first response would be that since it was (apparently?) a big rule of his, this by itself may have kept MK from becoming "wet" earlier from a customer service perspective.

Yes, I think that's what, at the core, bothers me about this.

I applaud changes that are *truly* for an improved experience for customer. I think that you can make the argument that this is obviously to improve the bottom line of this restaurant. The construction HAS to be VERY costly (more so than most of their restaurants). They have to make it profitable and I would venture that the budget managers determined that it would not turn a profit within the prescribed time frame without alcohol (restaurants' most profitable sale item).

[Mfarquar]

After all of my long-winded soap-boxing, I will say that I am sure Disney will monitor the alcohol as best they can. I also like to have faith in the public that they will behave, with occasional exceptions that will be addressed on individual basis. I like a drink as much (maybe more) than the next person and do not have ANY problem with people who like to have an alcoholic beverage with their meal.

Maybe I need to go have a glass of wine to help process this new shift in MK culture...

[Stu29573]

I dont like it. I have a far too vivid memory of a young lady at Epcot barfing her toenails up in the gardens by Germany right in front of a bunch of little kids. Now we are putting it right in Fantasyland? Bad form.

[Mfarquar]

The "What would Walt think!?!?" argument makes me laugh.

I get that Walt was opposed to alcohol at his parks, since he wanted to maintain a family friendly atmosphere. So really, Walt would've been upset YEARS ago, when they decided to serve alcohol at all the other places on his resort.
How does serving it at one other place suddenly incur his wrath?
Unless you're opposed to alcohol being served at ALL of the parks on WDW property, it makes no sense to oppose this. You can be pro-alcohol at Animal Kingdom, but anti-alcohol at Magic Kingdom. The argument makes no sense.

And maybe we should stop worrying about what a guy who's been dead for almost 50 years thinks.

If you go back to the first page of posts, you'll see this is a worthwhile question posed by Melanie.

I would never use an interrogative sentence as an argument. I was merely answering the question and sharing my thoughts about one of Walt's original policies involving parks with castles.

[Disney Hungarian]

I think this news just topped Apple's iPhone 5 news release.... sign of the times?

[DisneyGlutton]

I think that you can make the argument that this is obviously to improve the bottom line of this restaurant. The construction HAS to be VERY costly (more so than most of their restaurants). They have to make it profitable and I would venture that the budget managers determined that it would not turn a profit within the prescribed time frame without alcohol (restaurants most profitable sale item).

I agree 100% with the above, but there is no reason if couldn't have been from a customer service explanation as well--they aren't mutually exclusive. Although this thread shows how divisive introducing alcohol to MK will be, there a lot of people who would like wine with their dinner and thus pay $$ for it (and little to no people who will stop going because of the park becoming wet). Disney is not a charity, but a for profit enterprise. Not only don't I mind them having a profit motive (capitalism is supposed to improve things through the invisible hand of competition, after all), I want them to make tons of money so they can stay around, innovate, expand, etc.

[DisneyGlutton]

After all of my long-winded soap-boxing, I will say that I am sure Disney will monitor the alcohol as best they can. I also like to have faith in the public that they will behave, with occasional exceptions that will be addressed on individual basis.

Here, here! I can agree with that 1000000% and will now get off my soapbox

[Mfarquar]

Totally agree. Customer service is a part of this decision. I'm sure there were some surveys involved and studies concerning what people order in the parks.

However, I just feel that history suggests that profit was the major factor in this decision. Otherwise, I think they would have brought this about awhile ago when people starting asking about wine at Tony's. I feel comfortable saying that people probably would have liked to have alcohol available at any/all of the MK parks for years now. I just think the return on investment factor was more severe this time and tipped the scales in favor of alcohol.

Perhaps it was inevitable.

I would also say that if it goes over well from a financial and security standpoint, we will see the alcohol offerings extended to other MK table service restaurants.

[Mfarquar]

That was the last one, I promise.

Thanks for the interesting discussion, DisneyGlutton.

[SBETigg]

It is obvious that this is a profit decision over a customer service one. If it was a customer service one, we would have seen alcohol in the MK restaurants a long time ago (who doesn't want some champagne in a castle or red wine with Italian food?)

I think customer service as well as profit could be in the decision-making, though. In fact, I think it's more customer than profit driven. I think it's something they might be hearing from customers and responding to after the release of the Be Our Guest menu. If it was strictly profit-motivated, we would have heard about this weeks ago when they presented the menus for Be Our Guest in the first place. I think it's a targeted response to customer commentary.

No restaurant in the MK has called for wine with dinner quite as much as the Be Our Guest menu does now. If you're offering a more upscale fine dining menu, then the customer who tends to enjoy that kind of experience has certain expectations, and wine pairings is one of them. So to not offer it puts off a good portion of your intended audience from the start. How much of it? No idea. But I'm guessing the initial booking of the venue reflected a certain lack of enthusiasm to occasion the drastic change in policy. I'm sorry (or not) if this encourages you to back off on your previous promise. I think you've made some interesting points and I've enjoyed the conversation.

[Dsnygirl]

Oh my... that place is going to be packed and I may never be able to get an ADR there.

I personally have no problem with it, seeing as it's being limited to dinnertime, and is a part of the theming/cuisine, as they put it, and I'm sure will be carefully watched. I think it will come down to CM's being very careful to uphold the rules so that it DOESN'T become an issue... that being said, I know that can be a tough job, as the CM's who work at Epcot I'm sure can attest to.

... and as to the "family friendly" arguements, as far as I'm concerned, EVERY park at Disney should be "family friendly", and if alcohol is offered at the others under this same premise, I have no problem with it being offered in a small, special way at MK. I think it (or at least hope) that it will enhance a special, new & unique restaurant.

It will be interesting to watch this unfold, and I've enjoyed reading the prior comments!