One of the stories that comes up a few times a year on CoasterBuzz is the application of various amusement parks for alcohol permits. First of all, the comments by locals on the newspaper sites border on hilarious, but even the comments on my site include a sample of people who assert that amusement parks are "family oriented" and therefore they shouldn't sell alcohol.
First off, let's point out that the Disney parks, not counting Magic Kingdom, all sell alcohol, and I can't imagine any other place more associated with families. In fact, Epcot even has its food and wine festival. Universal sells so much alcohol that I often wonder how they manage to get away with it and still maintain the atmosphere that they do. So at the end of the day, I'm not sure how people equate the sale of alcohol with hordes of drunken lunatics engaging in douchebaggery at every turn.
I'm no stranger to alcoholism and substance abuse. It runs in my family. It's an ugly thing. However, I just don't get how people make the leap that offering beverages somehow means everyone who has one is a drunk. And not just a drunk, but a fall-over vomiting schmuck. I also don't understand how the presence of alcohol is anti-family. (I'm suspect of anything labeled "anti-family," for that matter.) I can't remember a single family gathering in my lifetime where someone didn't have a beer or a glass of wine. And in all of those years, the only person I ever recall being drunk is me, mostly during my college years.
I think the use of alcohol falls into the same category as a great many other things that you teach your kids about. People will do what they do, and the best you can do is try to teach your kids to understand how to be responsible. I can do that even if Legoland sells a few beers.
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