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Mardi Gras & Oktoberfest 2021

Skyscraper said:
Maybe it's because Mardi Gras is more of a family event?
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I always see this argument pop up, but every event at Towers is a family event. Oktoberfest was advertised as a family event, yet still had a bar offering drinks on the lawns. The vast majority of people on park are going to be having a drink or two during the day then driving home - alcohol does not mean everyone wants to get paralytic every time. It was 24 degrees on Sunday, and when the show was on/about to start the benches were packed with guests. There was a single ice cream van parked in front of the lawns, then after that you had to head over to Corner Coffee or further afield to Towers Trading, the hot dog kiosk or Cbeebies Land for a drink.

To not have some sort of refreshment stand there is an absolutely insane decision. It's boiling hot, there's kids waiting to see a show and a large percentage of those people will want at least a drink. We were on 'Food Street' and seeing all those people across the lake not spending money was dumbfounding. It was such an obvious opportunity, and to fail to capitalise on it was madness.
 
Craig said:
I always see this argument pop up, but every event at Towers is a family event. Oktoberfest was advertised as a family event, yet still had a bar offering drinks on the lawns. The vast majority of people on park are going to be having a drink or two during the day then driving home - alcohol does not mean everyone wants to get paralytic every time. It was 24 degrees on Sunday, and when the show was on/about to start the benches were packed with guests. There was a single ice cream van parked in front of the lawns, then after that you had to head over to Corner Coffee or further afield to Towers Trading, the hot dog kiosk or Cbeebies Land for a drink.

To not have some sort of refreshment stand there is an absolutely insane decision. It's boiling hot, there's kids waiting to see a show and a large percentage of those people will want at least a drink. We were on 'Food Street' and seeing all those people across the lake not spending money was dumbfounding. It was such an obvious opportunity, and to fail to capitalise on it was madness.
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Wasn't an argument mind, just a thought.
 
Craig said:
I always see this argument pop up, but every event at Towers is a family event. Oktoberfest was advertised as a family event, yet still had a bar offering drinks on the lawns. The vast majority of people on park are going to be having a drink or two during the day then driving home - alcohol does not mean everyone wants to get paralytic every time. It was 24 degrees on Sunday, and when the show was on/about to start the benches were packed with guests. There was a single ice cream van parked in front of the lawns, then after that you had to head over to Corner Coffee or further afield to Towers Trading, the hot dog kiosk or Cbeebies Land for a drink.

To not have some sort of refreshment stand there is an absolutely insane decision. It's boiling hot, there's kids waiting to see a show and a large percentage of those people will want at least a drink. We were on 'Food Street' and seeing all those people across the lake not spending money was dumbfounding. It was such an obvious opportunity, and to fail to capitalise on it was madness.
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It is a strange decision for the entirety of Mardi Gras to not have drinks stalls/bars on the lawns but maybe for this weekend they tried to get more in but no outside vendor was available as they were booked elsewhere? Just looking at the news from the weekend shows how busy it was at pretty much every tourist attraction and beach. It's a bit like the [lack of] lighting on the Wickerman in 2019; I'd heard that they tried to hire lighting in but couldn't get any in time as none were available so they made do with what they had on site.

Would they need a licence to sell alcohol on the lawns or do they have a resort-wide alcohol licence?
 
I'm not sure on the alcohol licence side of things, but considering the table service for Oktoberfest and the bar area on the lawns for Scarefest I can't see it being an issue. In any case, I'm sure with a bit of foresight they could have secured even just someone selling soft drinks and coffees on the lawns, even internally.
 
Craig said:
I'm not sure on the alcohol licence side of things, but considering the table service for Oktoberfest and the bar area on the lawns for Scarefest I can't see it being an issue. In any case, I'm sure with a bit of foresight they could have secured even just someone selling soft drinks and coffees on the lawns, even internally.
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They have several little van stall things I'm sure they could have used. Even just someone with 500ml bottles in an ice bucket (this really makes me think of Disneyworld memories!) would probably have made a lot of sales this weekend.
 
Any more on the Summer event ? I thought we’d have heard something by now. I’d love the return of AT Live or other concerts. A pride weekend would also be a great addition to the events roster - it’s very popular at Disneyland Paris and could be a huge driver for hotel packages too !
 
tayspru said:
Any more on the Summer event ? I thought we’d have heard something by now. I’d love the return of AT Live or other concerts. A pride weekend would also be a great addition to the events roster - it’s very popular at Disneyland Paris and could be a huge driver for hotel packages too !
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I'm half surprised and half not by the lack of information on the summer event. My main thinking is there's a lot of unknowns at the moment restrictions wise that they want to have cleared up. Whatever happens will heavily impact the operation of the event on park and also who they can get in externally, as a large number of companies may end up elsewhere at festivals etc.

I'd imagine come the middle of the month there'll be more coming out as the government provide more information on restrictions.
 
Craig said:
I always see this argument pop up, but every event at Towers is a family event. Oktoberfest was advertised as a family event, yet still had a bar offering drinks on the lawns. The vast majority of people on park are going to be having a drink or two during the day then driving home - alcohol does not mean everyone wants to get paralytic every time. It was 24 degrees on Sunday, and when the show was on/about to start the benches were packed with guests. There was a single ice cream van parked in front of the lawns, then after that you had to head over to Corner Coffee or further afield to Towers Trading, the hot dog kiosk or Cbeebies Land for a drink.

To not have some sort of refreshment stand there is an absolutely insane decision. It's boiling hot, there's kids waiting to see a show and a large percentage of those people will want at least a drink. We were on 'Food Street' and seeing all those people across the lake not spending money was dumbfounding. It was such an obvious opportunity, and to fail to capitalise on it was madness.
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I agree....i asked the question because at both oktoberfest and scarefest last year we watched the ents on the lawn as a family..and i had 2 or 3 pints while i did and really enjoyed it

The mrs drives home ...but i wouldn't be getting blind drunk anyway

I didn't realise that you couldn't get a drink of anything none alcoholic either...seems crazy
 
I have an alcohol license (personal license) and it really wouldn't matter in the case of the lawns. Since the park is technically one venue, it's likely it has one Premises license for all outlets within it as you can't just walk off the street to any of the places serving alcohol on park due to the park being restricted access. You'd be able to tell by the Premises License displayed on the wall at the entrance or bar areas (I haven't looked) and it would detail the licensing restrictions and conditions. This is a legal requirement that has to be displayed for any member of the public, police etc to scrutinise should they wish. It will display the local authority that granted the license (always the local authority the actual premesis is located within), licensing hours, any special conditions (such as for consumption on or off premises, no alcopops or high strength lager etc), the name of the Designated Premises supervisor (a specific licensee with a personal license as opposed to a company or subsidiary who can't hold a personal license) and the name and address to which the license relates. I'm intrigued now so may be sad and look this up.

However, each individual place selling alcohol on site could have its own individual Premises License. This also wouldn't matter in the case of the lawns as these would be licensed as permanent premises serving alcoholic beverages, whereas the lawns would be temporary. A temporary event such as a pop up tent or a van does not need its own Premesis License, it only needs a Personal License holder to oversee the sale of alcohol with a Temporary Event Notice (TEN). This is because each Personal License Holder is allowed to oversee up to 15 temporary events per year on the same premesis with a TEN. So as long as the lawns has a Personal License holder supervising the sale of alcohol, they can sell booze from the lawns temporarily (I think it's a limited number of days each time though) without the need to get a Premesis License. Although they'd probably easily get granted a Premesis License for the lawns owing to other venues in the same park doing the same thing anyway, only thing that would stop then doing this would be cost as it's quite expensive and requires solicitors to apply for one. Licensing is unlikely to be the issue as to why there is no alcohol served there

The lack of beverage provisions on the lawns also surprised me when I visited last week. Seemed like an own goal. If you wanted booze, you'd have to go all the way to the Welcome Inn, sit at a table, order your drink on your phone, wait for your drink and then carry it all the way over to the lawns. A saw a few people doing this.

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You don't need solicitors for a Tens licence as I've applied for a few in the past, its a document that you can download from the council website and complete, Im sure Solicitors would love the £ for there time though.

A TENS wouldn't be applicable as there are more than 500 people on park. A tens is limited to 500 people at an event.
 
I suspect each outlet is individually licensed, hence the "no alcohol beyond this point" signs at the exits of Welcom-inn and Woodcutters.
 
Rob F said:
You don't need solicitors for a Tens licence as I've applied for a few in the past, its a document that you can download from the council website and complete, Im sure Solicitors would love the £ for there time though.

A TENS wouldn't be applicable as there are more than 500 people on park. A tens is limited to 500 people at an event.
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Correct. I was only referring to the Premesis License being expensive and needing solicitors, which would possibly encourage them to not bother having one with the Lawns if they're not going to be serving booze there year round. I've only applied for a TEN once so it sounds like you're more used to it than me. Completely forgot about the 500 limit it's been so long so serving booze on the lawns is quite simple for the park.

I think I remember seeing some sort of documentation on the wall by the bar in the Welcom-Inn so it's quite possible they do have a separate one for each venue.

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During Oktoberfest they did serve alcohol all over the lawns, then of course the table service rule came so you had to be served at the table. Then for Halloween they moved the bar to its own area, I assume to make it easier to serve as it was only a small area.

So I’m sure if they wanted they could do, and does seem a bit missed opportunity. I also find it odd there is no food for sale near the stage. They had the burger van but that was removed when Oktoberfest began.
 
Alsty said:
I suspect each outlet is individually licensed, hence the "no alcohol beyond this point" signs at the exits of Welcom-inn and Woodcutters.
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Those signs are there to prevent under age drinking...older mates buying several pints at the bar, then passing them over to under age thirsty people "round the corner".
Used to be a "bar area drinking only" rule on the Beach, but it does not seem to be the case any more.
You are not allowed to take your pint with you into the ride queues, and if you leave your pint in the storage wire bins on Infusion, you get told off.
 
I'd imagine the lack of food on the lawns would be so they could spread the event out and create a separate area to do the whole Food Street thing. Still unable to comprehend why no beverage provision there.

The table service policy has created issues, both inside the park and the hotels. There were loads of people wanting to pay cash (whether anyone thinks that's right or wrong) and I didn't bother carrying my wallet and was using Google Pay so I only had to carry my phone around the park with me. The payment method meant I had to know my card expire date and CVC which I couldn't remember. So I had to go to the bar so they knew I was waiting, alert them to come to my table and do a manual order. They'd take my order and when they arrived with the drinks I could then pay contractless with my phone.

I'd imagine they won't be modifying this system for something that is temporary any way, but it could've done with an option to tick a box to pay at table. But then I suppose you could argue people could have ordered drinks without paying and then buggered off.

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