Four more restaurants at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom will begin serving wine and beer Dec. 23.

Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, Liberty Tree Tavern, Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen and Cinderella’s Royal Table will serve the beverages daily during lunch and dinner. They will join Be Our Guest Restaurant, which in 2012 became the first Magic Kingdom eatery to serve alcohol.

The change comes after numerous requests from guests, according to a Disney spokeswoman.

Beer and wine will only be sold within the table-service restaurants. There will be no to-go options or standalone bar.

It was a long road for alcoholic beverages to be offered in Magic Kingdom. Founder Walt Disney had a strict edict against alcoholic beverages in the park, said Scott Smith, an assistant hospitality professor at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.

Special to the Orlando Sentinel Liberty Tree Tavern is one of four more Magic Kingdom restaurants that will start serving beer and wine starting Dec. 23. Pictured here is a New England lager with the restaurant's Patriot’s Platter of roast turkey, roast pork and prime rib. Liberty Tree Tavern is one of four more Magic Kingdom restaurants that will start serving beer and wine starting Dec. 23. Pictured here is a New England lager with the restaurant's Patriot’s Platter of roast turkey, roast pork and prime rib. (Special to the Orlando Sentinel) (Special to the Orlando Sentinel)

“There was always a fear that people would drink to excess and become unruly,” he said.

As alcoholic beverages were added to other Disney World parks, including Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot, that fear slowly diminished, Smith said.

The time is right to continue to moderately expand those drink options to other restaurants, Smith said. Disney traditionalists are slowly being supplanted by a younger audience open to the idea.

Serving alcohol is a moneymaker as well, Smith said. Alcoholic beverages are more profitable than food, easier to store and not as perishable.

Requiring guests who want a drink to go to the higher price-point restaurants helps, too, Smith said.

“I don’t think Walt (Disney) is going to be spinning in his grave as long as it's done tastefully,” he said.

Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando sell beer, wine and other alcohol at their attractions.

Magic Kingdom guests won’t just find a simple new drink menu. Brian Koziol, a master sommelier and the concept development director for Disney Parks Food & Beverage, has outlined some drink and food pairings.

The beverages offered fit with each restaurant’s theme and cuisine.

Here’s a look at a few of them:

Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, an Italian restaurant in the park’s Main Street area, will offer Italian wines and beers, including a Chianti Superiore designated to pair with the grilled pork chop with mushroom-bean pancetta ragu and marsala reduction.

Liberty Tree Tavern will serve beer, cider and domestic wines to go with its American cuisine. Koziol paired a New England lager with the Patriot’s Platter of roast turkey, roast pork and prime rib.

Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen in Adventureland will have a more global beverage menu, with drinks such as a riesling to pair with Trader Sam’s head-on shrimp.

Cinderella’s Royal Table, which host many special occasions at its spot in the center of the park, will serve champagne and sparkling wine.

ldelgado@orlandosentinel.com