No More Free Beer At Busch Theme Parks

Citing narrow appeal by park customers, Anheuser-Busch Adventure Parks announced last week that it will no longer give free beer samples at its theme parks.

So the tap is off at SeaWorld theme parks in Orlando, Fla.; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, Calif., and the Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla., and Williamsburg, Va.

To be clear: The parks were never giving large amounts of alcohol to patrons. At Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, patrons could tour a portion of the bottling plant by monorail, then have two small cups of beer, gratis. It was a low-key tour, largely by couples it’s safe to assume wanted a break from screaming children for an hour or so.

Parks spokesman Fred Jacobs told The Associated Press that the free samples had a narrow appeal with park customers. Instead, the company will build more restaurants and other venues geared toward families with children, obviously their biggest clientele. No doubt patrons can still buy many Anheuser-Busch products in existing venues, such as the German-themed Oktoberfest.

But just like the lunch you’ll buy in the parks, it’s no longer free.