It has been two weeks since my wife and I returned from Walt Disney World, and I wanted to share the fun that we had being at Disney World, and having just some of the magnificent cocktails they offer. Disney World is “our place” there is no other place I want to go on vacation with my wife. Is it sensory overload? Sure. But who does not want some excitement in their vacation? To me sitting on a beach for a week sounds boring as boring can be. We have been coming here for years and during our last trip I discovered the side adventure of “drinking around the world” which is to have a cocktail in each country represented in EPCOT, which include:
- Mexico
- Norway
- China
- Germany
- Italy
- United States
- Japan
- Morocco
- France
- United Kingdom
- Canada
Our “drinking around the world” adventure took us to the Biergarten at the Germany Pavilion for our first stop the evening before we began on the rest of the countries. We were seated at a long table with three other couples, where we talked with the folks across from us, a couple in their late 50′s who were celebrating their honeymoon from New Orleans. She is a nurse and he works as an engine manufacturer for NASA. Very nice folks. After being in Walt Disney World for four days you see people who are miserable because their kids are whining constantly and being brats. It was nice to meet and talk with a couple who seemed to be enjoying their vacation as we were. I had in mind to order the beer flight, but the Weizen called out to me. A wheat beer that makes Blue Moon taste like sewer water.
After dinner we headed back to the resort, and ready to hit the bulk of the countries on day two.
We made the decision to skip the United States Pavilion, one because I am not a fan of it, and two the only beer that is served there is Bud Light and Sam Adams. Both items I can get by driving to Kroger and picking up. Not that I would drink Bud Light voluntarily as it is the foulest of beers (or maybe it isn’t, more on that later). We did drink two Little Kings before leaving for EPCOT, so we did have an American Experience.
We needed a way to get our adventure moving, so we decided to let play the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, and let that choose our first destination.
Disney’s Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure is an ultra-interactive quest at Epcot theme park based on the Disney Channel animated series, Kim Possible. Transform into secret agents, join Team Possible and help save the world from super-villains with the help of a high-tech “Kimmunicator”. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/epcot/attractions/kim-possible/
Our Kimmunicator took us first to Italy, where we began with the goodness that is the Bellini. This cocktail is made with Peach Puree and Prosecco. This started the Drinking Around the World Adventure off strong. A tasty, easy drinking light cocktail. Think of peach juice with white sparkling wine. Italy gets a passing grade.
Continuing with the Kim Possible game, our next country was Japan, and here is where we made our first not so great decision. Cold Sake. I am still kicking myself for not ordering the Plum Wine, but hey you live and learn.
France was up next, now we both love Champagne but the cart we stopped at had what can only be described as savory wonder lust for your tongue. The Grand Marnier Slush is a frozen drink made with Grand Marnier and Grey Goose Vodka, all mixed in an orange slush.
From France we took a small bridge to the neighboring pavilion, United Kingdom. In all of our visits we had never stepped inside the Rose and Crown, so we got to experience something completely new. Our bartender was a fella from Wales, very nice guy who Melissa loved to hear talk. (Sad for me that the Scottish girl who was bartending did not wait on us. As the Sake taught me, not everything goes your way.) The drink menu was obnoxiously long, after a couple of minutes I decided on a Black and Tan.
We began at about 11:00 a.m. when the World Showcase opened, and it was now about 2:00 p.m. and we had lunch reservations at our favorite restaurant in all of Disney, Le Cellier (Canadian Pavilion), but we had about a half an hour until our reservation so we took in the Circle Vision 360 movie O’Canada.
Canada was penciled in to be a beer because this was our lunch stop. And as much as I love sweet cocktails it is hard to have one with a meal. Ahhh…but the EPCOT gods would throw us a curveball. The day before we were treated to a glass of champagne by our server at Sanaa. While waiting to be seated, Melissa and her eagle eye saw a sign for Champagne. Not just Champagne, but a flight of it.
How in the world could we cheat ourselves out of this? Three offerings. Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Blancs, Columbia Valley Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial Rose and finally, the coup de gras, the Epernay Champagne Pommery Brut Royal. Oh yeah the food was perfect as always. Pretzel bread FOR THE WIN!
Our next stop would be Morocco, so we left Canada took a right, waved to the United Kingdom and France as we passed them and made our way to the North African Kingdom of Morocco. We settled on the Habibi Daiquiri, which is made with Rum (obviously), and was blended with strawberries and Orange Blossom Water.
Since it was getting warm this hit the spot nicely. This was the point where we decided to hit some of the rides at EPCOT. We waiting an hour for Soarin’ and then did Spaceship Earth which is one of my favorites at Walt Disney World. It was about six o’clock and we would wrap the drinking up for the day and finish off tomorrow, after all tonight was extra magic hours at the Magic Kingdom until 2:oo a.m. and I was not about to get drunk and miss that.
Day two of our Drinking Around the World Adventure left us with three countries to do, and as luck would have it, and with no planning at all, the three remaining countries were all in a row. Mexico, Norway, and China awaited us. The World Showcase opens at 11:00 a.m., and we arrived just as the rope was dropping, the first rope drop we had ever made at Walt Disney World. Melissa and I made our way to China to start off, where we ordered a Green Tea Plum Slush, but they were out. I am not sure exactly how you are out of something 5 minutes after opening, but there was nothing I could do about it. I decided on the Mango Gingerita, made with mango puree, ginger, rum and vodka blended with ice.
After seeing Reflections of China, a Circle Vision 360 film much like O’ Canada, it was on to Norway. Norway has a serious lack of alcohol offerings, and in fact the only thing that we found was Carlsberg Beer. As I mentioned earlier I am not fan of Bud Light, and to me Carlsberg is just as bad if not worse than the light version of the “King of Beers”
It was onto our final country, Mexico. Since the Carlsberg debacle was so horrendous we wanted to be sure that the last drink on our adventure needed to be awesome. A drinks that would make us forget about Carlsberg. And then there it was. The clouds opened up and trumpets sounded from the heavens as we gazed upon the Fiesta Margarita. Lime on the bottom, mango on the middle topped off with Strawberry. The perfect way to end our Drinking Around the World Adventure.
I would suggest giving this a try if you go to EPCOT, but please be responsible. Know your limits. We did this over three days and shared most of the drinks. The last thing you want is to be sick while in Disney World.
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Thadd writes at his site: Mister Bitters
