Yesterday, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board decided to up the number of liquor permits at Magic Springs theme park to eight, total. This means that Magic Springs can now sell alcohol at eight different locations around the park.

This is easily one of the weirdest issues we’ve had to deal with in recent months. Here you have a family theme park that already sells a good bit of alcohol, but it wants to sell even more.

Think about that for a moment. Silver Dollar City in Branson doesn’t sell alcohol. Wild River Country in Little Rock doesn’t sell alcohol. Disney World’s Magic Kingdom doesn’t sell alcohol. Why? Because they cater to families, and social drinking does not mix well with children and families.

Even family restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages usually separate the bar from the rest of the dining room, and follow a policy against over-serving alcohol to diners. They do that to preserve the family atmosphere they want to encourage. But Magic Springs is going to sell alcohol at eight different locations, which means patrons could literally go on a binge buying alcohol from different vendors throughout the park.

How many of you want to take your kids to a theme park where people might be getting drunk? How many of you trust the staff at Magic Springs to be able to police every patron, ensuring they aren’t becoming inebriated? I don’t think they can.

This is America. If Magic Springs wants to, they can shut down the rides, turn the park into a night club, and sell all the alcohol they want. But they’re a family theme park, and family theme parks simply don’t mix well with alcohol. And that’s all there is to it.

1 Comment

  1. If you watched the news you would know that beer sales will stay at the previous five locations. Also Disney and sixflags sell beer.

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