Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "And for some reason I doubt he would have lowered his standards the way so many others are willing to do." How is serving wine at dinnertime in a MK restaurant lowering standards? Kindly elaborate. I would think a witch as worldly and sophisticated as you would embrace this announcement.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip With all the "dumbing down" of Disney merchandise and menus over the past 10 years, I think the LAST thing he would object to is serving wine in a high-end restaurant.
Originally Posted By leobloom This is wonderful news. I've always wanted to get hammered and laugh at the dark rides.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance ^^^ You'll have to pay a small fortune to eat at the restaurant and drink enough to get hammered though. Hey, and I just realized, because of the popularity of the restaurant and WDW in general, you'll likely have to plan ahead 6 months anytime you feel the hankering to go into a family establishment and ruin the fun and experiences of all the wholesome families.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Now see, Dr. Hans, the idea of being sophisticated shouldn't even have to come up because that's one of the main points us Cauldron girls were trying to make. It never used to be that you had to worry about being sophisticated enough to go to Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom. It was a place where families could without having to worry that they'd be surrounded by people who were drunk. We've seen situations at Epcot that weren't quite so innocent, because of drunken behavior. All we're saying is we don't want that to happen at Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom. And we don't think Uncle Walt would either.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Keep in mind how the general views of alcohol have changed through the years, including since the time of Walt's death. When Walt was a kid/young adult, alcohol was completely banned from the US. When he was an adult, it was legal, but still viewed largely as something for the riff raff. Julia Child was one of the first Americans to really promote wine with dinner, and she didn't come into the spotlight until around the time of Walt's death, and I like to think that we've progressed some since then. I'd also like to question the price points on that wine list. I don't remember the exact pricing of wines in Epcot, but these all seem like they're several dollars higher. Even at the wine bar in DCA, I don't think they have any $17 wines (and certainly not 3 of them). It seems like they're doing their best to make alcohol available, so that they can claim it really is fine dining, but pricing it so high that it will keep most people from having more than a glass. Anybody know what the food pricing is like?
Originally Posted By danyoung >Why can't just one park maintain a higher standard?< Others have refuted this better than I could. I just think the idea that a MK style park that doesn't serve alcohol is in some way maintaining a higher standard is just ridiculous. We're not talking about beer kiosks going up around the park. We're talking about wine with a fine dining restaurant. I wasn't keen on visiting the BOG at all until this news. Now I'm much more likely to book a table. And it has nothing to do with wanting to get drunk - I can do that now at the hotels around the MK if I want to. It's about enjoying a nice glass of wine with a nice dinner, two things that always go hand in hand in restaurants around the world.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Just because people's view of alcohol has changed over the years doesn't mean it belongs in a family theme park. People's views about adultery has changed over the years, too, but it doesn't make it any less wrong for people to sleep around with each others spouses. It's just that the world has gotten more and more immoral.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 I looked at the list. There's some good beers on there. And I'll ask those who are against this, have you ever seen it be a problem at the other parks?
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub I give up about anything anymore...but relaxation and character dinners have never happened in my world. Usually the person seating us is giving such specific instructions about the character movement I have felt like it was an Army drill sergeant. So we are all cool about Casinos in Pleasure Island right?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<And I'll ask those who are against this, have you ever seen it be a problem at the other parks?>> Yes, as I mentioned previously I've seen "Drink Around the World" at Epcot occasionally result in problems. I'm not saying it happens often... I've probably visited Epcot 100 times over the past 20 years and noticed it only a handful of times. I do routinely see people pretty smashed in the Rose & Crown Pub, but what the heck? It's a BAR. As long as they are there and don't cause trouble, I don't really care! I'm certainly not opposed to serving wine and beer at BOG. You just asked if anyone had ever noticed a problem at other parks and I have. It is not common, but it exists.
Originally Posted By Manfried Time to invent a Disney drinking song. "I'll have a large beer after all...."
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<And I'll ask those who are against this, have you ever seen it be a problem at the other parks?>> For the record, I am for serving alcohol in sitdown restaurants in the MK. But, I also understand the reasoning not to serve alcohol in a family theme park. To answer the question posed above. Yes, I have witnessed numerous times boisterous, obnoxious drunken behavior at EPCOT. A few resulting in Disney Security getting involved. It is obvious that some guests consume huge amounts of alcohol when given the opportunity. I have a question. What is the largest size beer one can order anywhere at WDW? I'm really not sure if the answer is a pint. I have seen beer served in huge glass containers that looked like they were quart size.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip You used to be able to get a half-yard of beer at the Rose and Crown, but that has been discontinued. The largest size there is now a pint. I believe you can still get a half-yard of beer at Raglan Road in Downtown Disney.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "All we're saying is we don't want that to happen at Disneyland or the Magic Kingdom." That's why the parks have security staff, no? Witches, do you find your experience at EPCOT or DCA or any other theme park where alcohol is served less enjoyable because of it? "Just because people's view of alcohol has changed over the years doesn't mean it belongs in a family theme park." Don't most family theme parks serve alcohol? Even Legoland sells beer. The San Francisco Zoo even has a festival called Brew at The Zoo, which features an assortment of artisan craft beers.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Thanks RoadTrip. I just looked it up. Apparently the "half yard of beer" served at the Rose & Crown was only 28 ounces, and was served in a collectable, refillable glass.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>I have a question. What is the largest size beer one can order anywhere at WDW? I'm really not sure if the answer is a pint. I have seen beer served in huge glass containers that looked like they were quart size.<< I tihnk the largest size you can get in one serving is the Mass in the sit-down restaurant in Germany, which is 1 liter (ever so slightly more than a quart). I believe that the walk-up locations are all limited to a much smaller size (~16oz), and I don't think that the sit-down places tend to serve anything over about 20-24oz.
Originally Posted By disney pete Doesnt bother me as im always driving there so i don't drink Alcohol there anyway,i think it's ok as long as you don't see drunken folk around the park like we did at Epcot 3 years ago.
Originally Posted By leemac I gather that there has been extensive foaming on other sites about this decision. I must admit I'm surprised to hear that as I'm struggling to grasp why guests seem to be so against the idea. I remember first seeing alcohol studies for MK back in '00 when DCA was being prepped for opening. Mondavi was keen to expand its tie-up beyond DCA. The wisdom back then was that there wasn't an appropriate establishment for F&B to offer alcohol. I never saw that logic as King Stefan's Banquet Hall seemed the perfect location - not dissimilar. However the killer blow to the proposal was the fact that King Stefan's made more money from the character dining premium than would be possible from alcohol sales. I'm can understand why MK wouldn't want to offer alcohol at character dining - although it doesn't gel with the non-MK character dining experiences like Chef Mickey's that do offer alcohol. Epcot was in a specific conundrum and that was caused by the decision in '80 to partner with restaurant operators for World Showcase to mitigate the cost of . I gather folks like San Angel and L'Originale Alfredo di Roma just weren't interested unless there was alcohol sales (I suspect the high rents and royalties expected by WDW Co. meant that the economies didn't make sense). I should add that the vast majority of drunk and disorderly reports filed by Epcot Security are caused by convention guests or corporate hospitality. Regular guests rarely seem to drink to excess at Epcot - I suspect the price points assist in that result. It seems to be the free bars offered to groups is the biggest culprit. I'm more annoyed that BoG couldn't stick to theme on the F&B menu - there are as many Californian reds as French - not agree with that. There are also enough French lagers to not need to resort to Belgian ones - they weren't inventive enough to look further. I'm also very disappointed not to see alcohol contents on the menu - Chimay Blue is lethal - 9% ABV. The menu should explain that.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Epcot was in a specific conundrum and that was caused by the decision in '80 to partner with restaurant operators for World Showcase to mitigate the cost of . >> No idea why I didn't finish that thought: Epcot was in a specific conundrum and that was caused by the decision in '80 to partner with restaurant operators for World Showcase to mitigate the cost of operating the facility - there was also concern that they had built too many restaurants for the park. A licensing model would mitigate the downside risk but also limit the upside reward (same dilemma as Tokyo Disneyland).
