Thank God: Disney World to Start Serving Alcohol

I haven’t been to Disney World in Orlando since my age was in the single digits. This is mainly due to the fact that I can only bear the annoyance of screaming kids if I’m moderately inebriated, and the children’s fantasy land isn’t stocked with hard alcohol — or any alcohol, for that matter. However, the probability of me donning mouse ears recently grew slightly with the announcement that the park will soon be serving booze for the first time in its 41-year history.

Okay, so it’s not like Mickey and Minnie will be walking around offering shots of Jager (this is still a family establishment, unfortunately), but of-age visitors will be able to enjoy bottles of wine or beer when the park opens up the Beauty and the Beast-themed Be Our Guest restaurant. According to MSNBC, the decision to stock the bistro with the soft stuff was a no-brainer:

“You cannot walk into a French restaurant and not get a glass of wine or beer,” Maribeth Bisienere, vice president of food and beverage for Walt Disney Parks, told the Orlando Sentinel. “It made more sense to do it than not to do it.”

Some “Disney purists” freaking out that this will lead to a rise in people being thrown in Disney jail for puking in the Haunted Mansion or throwing a punch at the guy in the Pluto costume, and to them I say this: take this glass of pinot grigio and calm the hell down. The drinks will be served in just one location and only during dinner hours, so the chances of seeing a dude passed out on Main Street, U.S.A are slim to none.

And besides, adding alcohol to the menu will no doubt boost interest in the park among people like me and up their revenue. Because if there’s one demographic that Disney World hasn’t targeted enough, it’s the twentysomething cynic with a taste for cheap wine and a desire to ride around in over-sized teacups.

You can read more about Be Our Guest and the boozing-up of Disney World here, but in the meantime we want your feedback: what do you think about Disney World serving alcohol? Let us know in the comments!