Funworld June 2008
Keeping It Fun for Everyoneby Keith Miller Parks reveal how they handle alcohol for the enjoyment of drinkers and nondrinkers alike
Mount Olympus Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, has three different types of amusement facilities on its property—an outdoor waterpark, an indoor waterpark, and a dry ride park. All three sell alcohol—primarily beer and wine—to guests at snack bars and in restaurants, and the theme park is working to secure a liquor license this year to sell cocktails. Park owner Nick Laskaris says Mt. Olympus did not always sell alcohol. “My father was a very conservative man and wouldn’t do it,” he says. “For years and years, we didn’t serve it because we thought we’d have a lot of drunks causing mayhem. But I think it was actually worse because of tailgating.” Laskaris explains that when the park didn’t sell alcohol, some guests would tailgate in the parking lot and drink, and then come into the park intoxicated. “When we started selling it, we were able to take control of it,” he says, “and a lot of [the control] is done through the pricing. We set the price high enough so that no one wants to pay that much just to get drunk!” He says his servers are required to check the identification (ID) of purchasers, and that, coupled with the high price, thwarts most underage drinkers. Also, the servers at all three parks are trained to watch for signs of intoxication, and if it appears a guest has had too much, that person is cut off. Laskaris says if customers become unruly, security removes them from the park. “We don’t put up with that at all,” he says. “But the guests who drink are pretty responsible.” Laskaris notes advantages to the park in selling alcohol include higher income and guest satisfaction: “A lot of guests expect to be able to buy it, and if you don’t provide it to them, I think you’re missing the boat.” CustomizedTraining Gary Jones, manager of development standards and safety for Cedar Point, says the park utilizes a special training program called ServSafe Alcohol. It was developed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, and Jones says Cedar Point assisted with that development. All of the park’s food and beverage service employees must complete the program, which for Cedar Point is divided into eight different tracks. The particular track a server takes depends upon the tasks of that server. The ServSafe program is conducted in the classroom, at unit workstations, in one-on-one settings, and online. Servers are given various training materials, and when they’ve completed the program, they must pass an exam to be ServSafe certified.More information on the ServSafe program, including extensive information on state-by-state regulations and governing agencies, can be found at www.servsafe.com/alcohol. Jones notes in the year prior to Cedar Point’s participation in the ServSafe program, which began in 2005, the park recorded around 10 alcohol-related incidents. “The first year we used the program, we had one alcohol incident in the park, and the past two years we’ve had none.” He says the park also has a program in which a plain-clothes police officer teaches the staff the specifics of the Ohio alcohol laws, which is important because the state has some unusual regulations, such as the fact that neither passports normilitary IDs are acceptable for the purpose of purchasing alcohol. Guests are not allowed to enter the park if they appear intoxicated, nor are they allowed to bring in their own alcohol. Cedar Point not only checks IDs, but also limits guests to one drink at a time per ID. Servers and staff at the waterparks watch especially closely for patrons who’ve had too much to drink because of the additional drowning risk. “We just won’t serve a guest who’s getting intoxicated because if they get into an accident, we can be in trouble,” he says. “We sell it because a lot of people equate alcohol with fun, and we’re not here to stop them from having fun. If we can do it without them becoming a problemto themselves or others, then it works out for everyone.” Palace Entertainment owns 10 waterparks across theUnited States, but only a few of them sell alcohol; according to Chip Cleary, who is vice president of Palace’s waterpark division and president of Splish Splash waterpark in Riverhead, New York, the parks that do also utilize the ServSafe Alcohol program. “We absolutely positively check IDs,” says Cleary, “and you’d think that would be a tough thing in a waterpark, with people’s IDs being [in their lockers], but that’s not been the case.” Cleary sees the alcohol sales as a premium experience that offers guest choice: “We look at it as not necessarily a big profit area, but as a convenience for guests, and we price it accordingly to keep it very, very controlled—it’s a higher-priced product. We sell mostly beer, and it’s only in a controlled environment in restaurants. We don’t market it, and we don’t do things like buy-one-get-one-free!” When asked if guests are allowed to bring their own alcohol to the parks, Cleary quickly retorts, “Absolutely not.” Because of these controls and the ServSafe training, he says the Palace parks haven’t seen a problem with people having too much to drink. Competing with the Beach Shipwreck Island waterpark in Panama City Beach, Florida, has a somewhat unusual situation regarding guest alcohol consumption because it sits across the street from theGulf of Mexico. Says General Manager Buddy Wilkes, “We’re competing with the Gulf of Mexico, where they can go drink and swim and lie on the beach for free!” He says the park’s focus groups show adults—even parents—like to mix adult beverages with the beach and the water. So the park sells beer and wine coolers at three locations. The staff is trained in serving alcohol, and Wilkes says they have to deal with four or five intoxicated guests a year at most. “We’remore concerned about people coming into the park that way,” he says, which is the other challenge presented by the Gulf. “They’ve been out on the beach drinking all morning, and then they wander in here, so we have to handle that. We have a great concern about safety, so we just don’t want to have to deal with that. They’re not allowed to bring alcohol in, but sometimes they’ll sneak it in and keep it in a locker.” Wilkes notes underage purchases are not a problem. But occasionally, an adult will purchase a beverage and give it to a teen. “If we see someone drinking who just looks too young, we will ask for ID,” he says. As for the issue of whether alcohol sales affect park insurance, Wilkes responds, “Well, yes, they certainly want to know your numbers, and they do take it into account, but alcohol has fortunately never been involved in an issue in our park.” Different Cultures, Different Approaches Faarup Sommerland amusement park in Saltum, Denmark, is representative of the posture of parks in Europe, according to its co-owner, Sorne Kragelund. “I think we are very typical of how parks do it in Europe,” he says. “We sell beer and wine, and people are allowed to bring in their own alcohol. A lot of them expect to be able to do it if they stay all day. We allow them to cook out, and they want to be able to have a beer, especially if they’re on vacation. It’s a part of Danish culture.” But Kragelund stresses that Faarup Sommerland is a family park, and excessive drinking isn’t tolerated: “If they’re trying to bring in boxes of beer, we say no, no, no.” The park has a written alcohol policy for staff, and intoxicated persons aren’t allowed to board rides. Alcohol buyers are carded, but only if they appear under 18. If a guest becomes unruly, the staff doesn’t make a scene but instead appeals to the guest and his/her family to leave. It is interesting that, unlike the parks interviewed in the United States, Kragelund says his park refunds the guests’ money to prevent an angry escalation. Kragelund notes, “We sell much more soft drinks than alcohol. We sell about 40,000 liters (annually) of alcohol and 557,000 liters of soft drinks. We rarely see intoxicated people because we are a family park in a vacation [spot]. You don’t come to this park to get drunk!”
El Vergel waterpark in Tijuana, Mexico, also has a methodology that’s a bit more relaxed than that of most U.S. parks. Park co-owner Gerardo Salazar says the park will sometimes allow guests to bring their own beer if the amount isn’t excessive. “Sometimes when there are a lot of people in the family, like 15, and they bring just a six pack, its not a problem,” he says. “But if it’s one or two people bringing a whole [case], that’s a problem, and we won’t let them in.” In addition to its sales at food outlets, the park also has a palapa (hut) where beer can be purchased. Guests are carded if they appear under 18. “They’re happy to [to be able] to buy it here, and we sell it because if they can’t drink they will leave the park,” Salazar says. “We’ve been doing it since 1984, and it works.”
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According to waterparks and amusement parks, many guests say the relaxation and enjoyment of a day of leisure are enhanced if they can enjoy an alcoholic beverage. But for the parks, this presents the challenges of gauging when that relaxation turns into intoxication, where and how to sell alcohol, and how to deal with guests who become unruly. 