Disneyland Serving Alcohol Is Actually Kind of a Bad Idea

Hold on to your Mickey ears, because the happiest place on earth recently announced that they will start serving alcohol, breaking Disneyland’s 63-year-old “dry” run. The initial rollout of liquor sales will take place at Oga’s Cantina, located inside the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction slated to open in summer 2019.

“Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be a completely immersive true-to-story experience,” park spokeswoman Liz Jaeger tells the Orange County Register. “Given our commitment to offering fans an immersive cantina experience, we felt this was an opportunity to offer alcohol- and non-alcohol-based beverages in the context of the story.”

The cantina will offer beer, wine, and outer space-themed cocktails. More information about the drink menu will be revealed as recipes are developed, but drinks will only be allowed to be consumed inside the cantina.

Introducing alcohol into a place like Disneyland sounds like a good thing, right? I mean, what tired parent wouldn’t want to grab a Star Wars-themed cocktail after three days roaming the park with too many kids? But trust me when I say it’s probably a bad idea.

When Walt Disney instituted the ban on alcohol in all of his establishments, he did so because he wanted to keep the places family-friendly. It’s a place that encourages fun for people of all ages. The park was already magical without spirited beverages. Regardless of the fact that “pilots, bounty hunters, smugglers, locals, and galactic travelers,” drink alcohol in Star Wars, the attraction would’ve been perfectly fine without imbibing.

Can we talk about what’s not fun? Hundreds of sweaty people trying to get into the cantina because it’s the only spot in the park that has alcohol. And top that with hundreds of screaming kids also in the same spot, because they love Star Wars. The whole thing sounds hot and chaotic.

You’re better off going to the park with your family, and then leaving and drinking somewhere else.

Disneyland won’t be the first Walt Disney park to serve alcohol. In 2012, Walt Disney World opened the Beauty and the Beast-themed restaurant Be Our Guest, which lifted the liquor ban in Magic Kingdom restaurants. Before that Epcot and the Animal Kingdom were already serving a variety of beer, wine, and sangria to restaurant diners. And while there have been incidents of guests getting a little out of hand, things have seemingly been fine on the alcohol front.

So, maybe Mickey and the gang do know what they’re doing. Let’s just hope guests who do choose to indulge stay on their best behavior.

What do you think? Should Disneyland lift its alcohol ban?