Table of Contents
Background
When The Disney Cocktailor was first conceived, it was with the idea that it would be a place where Disney fans could go to get the recipes for signature and specialty cocktails found across the parks and resorts of Walt Disney World.
It quickly became clear, in order to do that, I needed to do some different Disney research.
I had to taste as many Disney cocktails as possible before posting the recipes, and recipes alone wouldn’t be enough. Photography of cocktails and their locations would be needed, too — I mean, you gotta show what these drinks look like, right? We needed visuals to show Disney fans on social media know what we’re doing. And if I’m gonna post photos, I’m gonna have to post videos, too.
Thus, the Disney Cocktailor Research Trip was born.
Planning the Trip
I reached out to my favorite Disney Travel Agent, Jessica at Magical Vacations Travel, and booked three nights at Disney’s Pop Century Resort for the last week of October/first week of November — with NO PARK TICKETS!
But this is Disney, so to make this work as efficient as possible, we still planned EVERYTHING in advance:
- Which locations to visit each day
- The order in which we would visit
- Which cocktails to order at each stop.
The Research Team for this trip included Mrs. Cocktailor and one of our twin daughters. Three researchers meant we could try three cocktails at each location, focusing on signature and specialty offerings.
The Itinerary
Below is an overview of the bars and lounges we visited each day. Staying at a Skyliner resort made choosing these locations pretty easy. One day was dedicated to the Boardwalk. One day to the Yacht Club, Beach Club and Riviera resorts. One day to the two Animal Kingdom resorts. And the final day was spent hitting pool bars at the Skyliner resorts (Caribbean Beach, Art of Animation and Pop Century).
Detailed reviews of each location and the cocktails we had will follow in separate posts.
Day 1
- Big River Grille & Brewing Works
- Boardwalk Joe’s Marvelous Margaritas
- Belle Vue Lounge
- Abracadabar
- bluezoo
Day 2
- Hurricane Hanna’s
- Ale & Compass Lounge
- Bar Riva
- Topolino’s Terrace
Day 3
- Maji Pool Bar
- Sanaa
- Uzima Springs Pool Bar
- Victoria Falls Lounge
- Boma
Day 4
- Banana Cabana Pool Bar
- Drop Off Pool Bar
- Petals Pool Bar
Past trips to WDW were solely focused on hitting as many attractions as possible. We would rope drop every morning, taking advantage of any Early Entry benefits and tour the parks until just after lunch. We would then take a break back at our resort, perhaps take a dip in the pool and (probably) hit the pool bar. We’d then freshen up and either head back to the park or hop to another for the evening.
This trip was unlike any we’ve made before. No parks meant sleeping in. And given that the earliest any bar or lounge opens is 11:00 (the pool bars), we were able to enjoy our mornings. Twice we rolled out of bed after 8:00 am and leisurely made our way to Le Petit Café for coffee and Primo Piatto for breakfast at Disney’s Riviera Resort via the Skyliner.
The pace was also very different. Starting our ‘research touring’ at 11:00 am or even noon, allowed us to space out our visits to the bars and lounges for the day.
Before getting to Orlando, Mrs. Cocktailor worried about being able to ‘hang’ with the rest of the Team. But our strategic planning paid off, and at no time did anyone ever feel the need to tap out.
The Aftermath
We were still tired by the end of the trip … but it was a different kind of tired. Our feet weren’t worn out but our voices nearly were from the conversations we had with some really great people:
- Kelly and Jim from LA (Jim is a former Disneyland Jungle Cruise Skipper from LA celebrating his 80th birthday)
- Sean from New Hampshire (who we ran into at both Belle Vue and Abracadabar)
- Tiffany and Doug from upstate NY (who left the kids at home)
- Renee and Sean, some friends from home we unexpectedly ran into at Bar Riva.
Our greatest takeaway, though, was the bartenders. Shout out to Carlos at Big River Grill, Natalie at Boardwalk Joe’s, Megan at Belle Vue Lounge, Emily at Abracadabar, Kevin at bluezoo, Devin at Hurricane Hanna’s, Ron at Ale & Compass Lounge, Ivan at Bar Riva, Bee at Maji, Wes at Sanaa, Mike at Uzima Springs, Anthony and Shelby at Victoria Falls Lounge, Kim at Banana Cabana, Kristina at Drop Off and Paul and Wendy at Petals.
They were genuinely interested and supportive of what we’re doing, and shared a lot of their time for questions and good ol’ conversation. Every bartender with an Instagram account gave us a follow — as well as a few fellow guests.
This Research Trip was successful enough that we are already planning the next two, potentially three, in 2024.
Come back for the reviews of all of the cocktails we tried and the bars and lounges we visited.
Follow us on Instagram and Tik Tok or join our Facebook group, and … see ya real soon!