Whats behind the free alcohol idea?

[Shooby doo]

It's all about the bottom line, you have been able to get alcohol at Universal for sometime & Disney execs have decided to cash in. Sorry I'm not a fan of any alcohol in what is supposed to be a family friendly environment- whilst most people are sensible there are always the few, go to Epcot during F&W or the weekends & count the amount of hen/stag parties. There is no questioning their logic, just using our forums as an example, you only have to count how many posts are about this "free drink", to see how excited posters are getting!
Personally I'll stick with my lemonade refills & drink on other holidays.
SD

[Andybear]

My drink of choice out there was Minute Maid Lemonade - I drank gallons of it! With POFQ having Coke Freestyle machines I was able to have it in my resort mug as well as with meals.

[Rescuer]

It doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t think there is anything wrong with having one drink with your meal.
The one drink is not going to cause drunkenness in the parks and those who over do the drinking around the world are probably not eating anyway.
Will I want an alcoholic drink with every meal credit, probably not but I like that I can have the option. Moderation is the key for me and the example I set for my child.
Ds can have a speciality drink if he wants or not...
Maybe it’s the other way, each adult only has 1 glass of wine rather than having a bottle - who knows.
At the end of the day disney don’t discourage alcohol because they are making money.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

All these decisions are made by Accountants who have run the financial model and evidenced the fact it will work.

Also we need to accept that the Board Members have no interest whatsoever in what Walt would have thought. Bear in mind most weren't even born when he had died.
To them it's just a name that brings in money.

[SquishTheWhale]

I'm not a drinker at all. I can go 6 months without an alcoholic drink without thinking. I don't think its evil, I'm just not bothered. DH drinks even less than me!

However, I was pleased to see the addition of alcohol with the DDP. I'll enjoy a fruity cocktail with my dinner, that usually I would be too tight to pay for! Its fun to have a cocktail on holiday.

But no, I will not be 'day drinking'! For an almost non-drinker like me that's a bad idea in the heat. I'd fall asleep. I don't think the DDP is to blame for drunkeness at food and wine- you can't use a snack credit for the alcoholic drinks. So its just people who choose to purchase drinks.

[novocastrian]

you can now get a 'free' alcoholic drink on the dining plan , as in one drink?

you would have to pay for any others?

hardly going to lead to mass drunkeness, its just giving people a choice, a glass of wine/beer with a meal, cant see what the actual issue is...? clearly a demand for it...

or am i missing something..

[disney_chick13]

I think that Disney are preparing to end the free dining offer. That would explain the dramatic price increases of food/snacks and inclusion of alcohol on the dining plan. Both those things combined are probably enough to encourage people to actually buy the dining plan as it will be seen as good value vs paying oop!

[Cha cha]

I’m not a big drinker either, I think having the choice to have a cocktail/beer etc is nice, but I still had mostly non alcoholic drinks with my meals, mainly because I was so thirsty.
It was nice to try some of the cocktails though on qsdp. 😊

[Burgmeister]

I have been to Disney many times and I have bought beer in a park twice (had a pint of bitter in UK and a Molsen in Canada - different days). I don't NEED it but sometimes I find it pleasant to have one.

I won't be taking alcohol with my QSDP during the day as it will be too hot for me to drink alcohol but I may have one with my meal in the evening. The fact that it is included with my QSDP is more likely to mean that I will have one but I certainly won't be paying OOP for any more.

To me, its a nice perk. Would Walt have approved? Probably not. But Walt's dead and the world moves on.

What I need to find out now is where can I get cocktails on QSDP? (my wife likes the odd cocktail when on holiday - but only if someone else is paying! )

[paw]

My DH and other adult family always had a free drink or two in Seaworld and Busch when it was part of Anheuser-Busch. The pavilions were always packed with people getting drinks. As a non drinker I hated that area, lots of bored children and adults wanting to move on but I don’t recall any loutish behaviour.