Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom might be the “happiest place on Earth,” but for years, visitors have noted it sure would be a lot happier if more than one of the on-site restaurants sold booze.
Finally, it seems, these prayers have been answered. Sort of.
According to a recent article in the Orlando Sentinel, four more Magic Kingdom restaurants are expected to start selling alcohol this week (December 23). The move would bring to five the number of restaurants in the theme park at which frazzled parents can throw back a stiff drink.
Currently the only Magic Kingdom restaurant that serves alcoholic beverages is Be Our Guest, a “Beauty and the Beast”-themed restaurant. Once the new rules go into effect, visitors also will be able to order beer and wine at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, Liberty Tree Tavern, Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen, and Cinderella’s Royal Table.
Interestingly, each of the new restaurants will serve different options—beers and wines that relate at least tangentially to the overarching theme.
Tony’s, for instance, which is an Italian-style restaurant, will serve Italian wines and beers.
Why is the addition of beer and wine to these menus even news? In a nutshell, blame Walt Disney himself. When Disney started Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, he wanted the Magic Kingdom park to be completely dry—his way of avoiding people getting sauced and hitting the rides. A recent article on Eater noted that Disney apparently wished for the Magic Kingdom in Florida to remain as a dry zone within the bigger resort there, as well. So it has been.
(To be clear, today there are lots of other places at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida where you can get drunk. At the California resort, the California Adventure theme park serves all sorts of booze.)
Still, if you’re thinking (hoping?) these latest moves might open the door to yard-longs on Main Street USA, think again. As much as we might need to throw back the hard stuff after a humid day of interminable lines and manic children and credit card debt, the name of the game at the Magic Kingdom always will be moderation.
