Alcohol policy

[tzolkin]

Be sure to bring your ID with you everywhere.

We are midway through a stay with deluxe dining and I was not allowed to order a drink with my meal at Skipper Canteen. I have not been asked for an ID anywhere else on property, but I even had color scans on my phone of my license and passport and they still would not serve me there.

I’m still not clear on what the actual policy is. It can’t be “no ID no alcohol” without exception because they served two other people at my table without even asking for theirs. Perhaps it’s if you look under a certain age you must be IDed. But I think it’s fairly obvious I’m not that young. (I’m traveling with my 20 year old daughter).

 

[Moliphino]

It's up to the server if they think they need to card you, but if you are carded and don't have a valid ID they can't serve you.


Alcoholic beverages can be purchased at Walt Disney World Resort by all Guests 21 years of age or older.

Any Guest who wishes to purchase an alcoholic beverage at Walt Disney World Resort must present one of the following valid forms of identification:

• U.S. state driver’s license (includes U.S. territories*)
• U.S. state ID (includes U.S. territories*)
• U.S. military ID
• Original passport
• Copy of passport (either on paper or captured on a mobile device), along with a government-issued photo ID** that can verify the person and birth date shown on the copy
• NEXUS card issued by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (Canadian Guests only)

All Guests visiting from outside of the United States are required to present both a valid passport as well as another form of government-issued photo ID from their country of origin.

 

[cluvsdisney]

It's oddly random, outside Disney too. I always have ID on me so it's not an issue but I wonder what's the trigger and the cut off for being asked.

 

[gwynne]

Be sure to bring your ID with you everywhere.

We are midway through a stay with deluxe dining and I was not allowed to order a drink with my meal at Skipper Canteen. I have not been asked for an ID anywhere else on property, but I even had color scans on my phone of my license and passport and they still would not serve me there.

I’m still not clear on what the actual policy is. It can’t be “no ID no alcohol” without exception because they served two other people at my table without even asking for theirs. Perhaps it’s if you look under a certain age you must be IDed. But I think it’s fairly obvious I’m not that young. (I’m traveling with my 20 year old daughter).

If I think I might wish to order an adult beverage, I bring my license. It's obvious that I am legal age, but I've been asked for ID now and then. It's easy enough to avoid an issue.

 

[EdnaMarieMode]

There have been a lot of reports/ posts/ questions about Disney's policy for ID for alcohol lately (not necessarily here but on some Facebook groups it seems like there's a question/ report at least daily) so it seems that they are requesting ID and more closely enforcing the requirements than they were previously. In any case, it's within their rights and the law to do so. As to why they're doing this now, no one knows. It could be a number of reasons, it could just be something they're now doing randomly.

There is a specific list of identification they can accept. I do see that a copy of a passport captured on a mobile device is one form they accept but the policy says that must be presented with an actual government issued photo ID that includes both birth date and person on that copy. In your case, the scan of your passport would work, but not along with a scan of your license (the secondary document would have to be an actual ID, not another scan/ copy if that makes sense).

 

[NYCgrrl]

Never been carded at WDW but have at a wine shop near Madison, CT.
Maybeee they thought all those grey hairs were precisely placed by my hair stylist, LOL.
I always carry my passport with me as I don't drive.

 

[tzolkin]

If I think I might wish to order an adult beverage, I bring my license. It's obvious that I am legal age, but I've been asked for ID now and then. It's easy enough to avoid an issue.

Yes, I’ve had my license on me the entire trip (and of course, never been asked). I left it on the counter in the room yesterday morning and didn’t think it was necessary to go back for it. I will be sure to have it the rest of the trip. J

It's oddly random, outside Disney too. I always have ID on me so it's not an issue but I wonder what's the trigger and the cut off for being asked.

This is why I mentioned that I’m not sure what the actual policy is. I don’t think it would have bothered me if the policy was no alcohol without an ID, no exceptions. But the fact that they could use “common sense” to decide that two people in our party were old enough to not need ID and then wouldn’t extend the same courtesy to me was a bit irritating.

 

[sponica]

Yes, I’ve had my license on me the entire trip (and of course, never been asked). I left it on the counter in the room yesterday morning and didn’t think it was necessary to go back for it. I will be sure to have it the rest of the trip. J


This is why I mentioned that I’m not sure what the actual policy is. I don’t think it would have bothered me if the policy was no alcohol without an ID, no exceptions. But the fact that they could use “common sense” to decide that two people in our party were old enough to not need ID and then wouldn’t extend the same courtesy to me was a bit irritating.

That part is odd, usually it's everyone is carded, nobody is carded, or just the youngsters are carded. That being said, it is the end of the quarter, so who knows if liquor enforcement (or whatever it's called in FL) is stepping up random checks.

 

[Jennasis]

Yay! The server thought you could still be under 18! Hi five!

 

[tzolkin]

Yay! The server thought you could still be under 18! Hi five!

My daughter said I should take it as a compliment. But then I wound up just drinking water and wasting the included drink for the dining plan credit. The cheap side of me is much stronger than the vain side, so I would have rather they thought I was old and gotten a free drink.

That same morning a guy at Pongo Pongo (where my husband bought multiple beers without ID) thought my dad and I were married because “we look the same age” so I guess my face is hard to read. I must look anywhere between under 21 and late 50s.

 

[tzolkin]

That part is odd, usually it's everyone is carded, nobody is carded, or just the youngsters are carded. That being said, it is the end of the quarter, so who knows if liquor enforcement (or whatever it's called in FL) is stepping up random checks.

I guess we were “the youngsters”. The server asked for ID from my husband, my brother, and I. They both look younger than I do (almost 40). My parents were not asked (57). The rest of the party were my children (ages 13-20).

I honestly think it was just the manager and not a property-wide enforcement. She’s the one who refused me to be served initially and then again after I presented the IDs electronically. She came over to the table toward the end of the meal and she mentioned that they’re just “way more strict in the Magic Kingdom” and that our server “did his job better” than any other server we had encountered elsewhere. She just seemed to have an underlying “no one needs to be drinking” attitude.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I feel like I am a nag when I tell people on here to bring their ID and yet here is an example of why I keep drilling it in.

 

[sullyfam]

I've never been carded at WDW. And I actually can't remember the last time I was carded at home.

However, I know that any place I'm buying alcohol from has the legal right to ask for my ID whether that be a bar, restaurant, liquor store or otherwise. Some places even have to scan your ID, even if you're 85 years old. For that reason, I keep my ID on me if I plan on purchasing alcohol.

I would assume like many things, you can look young or old, and you will get that random person that wants to see ID regardless. No real rhyme or reason to it and no strict policy that I've seen. I would just always keep your ID on you and then you never have to worry.

 

[Dug720]

Yay! The server thought you could still be under 18! Hi five!

Under 21.

 

[MarkinNM]

Great point and will have to carry our ID with us as we partake of adult beverages in Disney, it is not the servers fault they are just doing their job, I am happy when I get carded!!

 

[SteveH]

Reality is that servers get lazy at times, they have a ton of things to do and remember. They think they can judge. The along comes the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco and they run a sting operation. Then all of a sudden management cracks down, for a while. Many restaurants have implemented a 100% ID to buy, I can respect that as it keeps the servers from getting in trouble and the business from getting its license revoked or fined and others do mandatory checks for a day, or even for an hour.

We are the ones responsible bring our ID with us any time we want to be served a drink at a restaurant.

There is a really simple solution here, bring your ID or don't order a drink.

 

[FCDub]

I carry my ID with me everywhere. Would never leave home without out.

 

[PartOfYourWDWorld]

Definitely take it as a compliment and try to understand that once the decision has been made to card you, they cannot serve you without seeing it. I’ve heard a lot of recently that some places need to check ID if they think you might be under 40.

 

[rg35]

I don't ofter order booze at Disney, but the times I have I have always been carded.

Nobody should travel without carrying a valid ID on their person though.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

but I even had color scans on my phone of my license and passport and they still would not serve me there.

I don't know if way back in the day a picture of your DL would have been ok or not but these days with REAL-IDs and whatnot the whole point is to be able to physically show your ID because it has security markers with information obtained from it.

For instance my DL has a barcode on it. That barcode can be scanned to verify its validity. One time the liquor store we go to got caught for selling to underage and had to scan everyone's barcode for a while. Prior to the barcode there were multiple seals that you could move around in the light and it would reflect a specific way. There's even a new DL out for my state after REAL-ID guidelines were updated. It has a circle with a gold star on it.

Even the states that have the option for non-REAL IDs they still have at least some security markers on it to help reduce abilities to create a fake DL.

Either way I know it bites to know you're old enough, to know you had your ID but you forgot it in the room. For me personally any time I don't have my ID I don't order alcohol period even when I'm in places that aren't typically going to ask for my ID.