Walt Disney World’s Monorail Bar Crawl

I originally wrote this post back in September because I was so excited to share one of my favorite ways to drink at Disney: the monorail bar crawl! I typed everything out but when I went to add pictures from my previous crawls I couldn’t find any of them! I switch from a PC to a Mac a couple months back and some of my pictures are god-knows-where in limbo. Being the dutiful blogger I am (please note the sarcasm) I couldn’t let you guys down so this past Friday I kicked off my Walt Disney World marathon weekend with yet another ride on the monorail.

You won’t even have to crawl (or walk, run, etc.) because this crawl utilizes Disney’s highway-in-the-sky monorail system that connects the three original resorts built on Walt Disney World: Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, Disney Contemporary Resort, and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Without further adieu I present my best tips and drinks to enjoy while you crawl:

Stop one: The Wave at Disney’s Contemporary Resort

Pictured: Under the Florida Moon- a martini like drink that has orange juice and beer! You won’t find this on the menu- I got this by asking the bartender to make his speciality.

The beauty of this crawl is it’s circular nature which allows you to go in any order that tickles your fancy but I always like to kick things off at The Wave. My recommended drink here (as long as you brought a friend) is unique to this resort:

The Seven Seas Lagoon is 24 ounces of delicious mixed drink complete with Swedish fish, peach ring life-preservers, and tropical boba pearls.

Back up bar choice: California Grille’s lounge doesn’t require reservation and has specular views of the Magic Kingdom. However, seating is limited! Also consider Outer Rim situated right next to Chef Mickey’s. We visited here on marathon weekend and they had special drinks whipped up to celebrated:

The special Marathon Weekend Cocktail offering: The Finish Line

Stop two: Trader Sam’s Tiki Terrace at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

The Polynesian boasts the best drinks on the crawl so it’s hard to make just one recommendation. Trader Sam’s Tiki Terrace is my favorite top because if you time it right you can enjoy the Magic Kingdom’s Happily Ever After fireworks display from your seat! My recommended drink here comes with a take home cup:

The Shrunken Zombie Head is a rum cocktail that comes in an equally creepy and cool cup that I keep on a shelf at home.

Back up bar choice: Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto is the indoor, official tiki bar while the Tiki Terrace is the outdoor off-shoot. The Grotto is fully immersive with lots of Jungle Cruise inspired jokes and special effects to match the drink orders. Be warned: it’s difficult to walk up here without a wait. My other favorite bar at the Polynesian is the Tambu Lounge located adjacent to Ohana. Tambu Lounge offers many great choices (including the option to drink out of a pinapple!) My favorite here is the Back Scratcher:

Complete with a real back scratcher in your cup!

Stop three: Mizner’s Lounge at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa

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I love to wrap up my crawl with a stop at the ever-classy feeling Mizner’s Lounge. Tucked just behind the live band on the second floor, Mizner’s doesn’t have a speciality cocktail to recommend so I say go with:

The Godiva Chocolate Martini is sweet enough to please the palate of even the most beginner martini sipper. Plus, if there ever was a place to sip a drink pinky out, the Grand is it!

Back up bar choice: Citricos Lounge offers a menu of unique cocktails that can be enjoyed without a reservation. Be advised that they have more limited hours that Mizner’s so make sure to check ahead and plan accordingly. Citricos does offer speciality cocktails that you won’t find in Mizner’s but they also offer a great wine selection so that’s my personal pick!

Are you a Disney World person? Have you ever complete the monorail bar crawl? Any must have drinks that I didn’t mention?

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Stay adventurous, friends!

Merry Christmas: a holiday throwback to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! Today I’m bringing you a combination of the most magical place on earth with the merriest holiday of all: Christmas time at Walt Disney World!

Christmas at Walt Disney World is beautiful and lasts much longer than just one day. Christmas can be enjoyed at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida as early as November 1st and as late as early January. Today, in the spirit of the season, I’m sharing some of my favorite moments from Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party- a seasonal hard ticket event offered in the Magic Kingdom.

One of my very favorite part’s of Christmas time in general at the Magic Kingdom is getting to see Cinderella’s Castle done up in it’s Holiday Dream Lights!

During Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, the castle also serves as the back drop for Holiday Wishes. The seasonal soundtrack is a great way to get into the holiday spirit!

My favorite part of the party is definitely Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. I think this is Disney’s most beautiful parade and the fact that it snows on Main Street makes it even better!

The tin soldiers and the dancing reindeer make me so nostalgic for the Disney Christmas sing-along tape from my childhood!

I hope your holiday is filled with happiness and warmth! I’ll be enjoying mine with family and will be back next week with more updates (both Disney and non.)

Stay adventurous, friends!

runDisney’s Dopey Challenge: Walt Disney World Marathon Part 2

This is part five of a recap of the 2018 runDisney Dopey Challenge. For part four click here!

When I left off we had just taken a mid race break to ride Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom! I’ll admit that I was crabby when we got off the ride because though my sister was all for it I hadn’t been excited to wait in the twenty minute line. The ride was fun but after I was really cold for the next half mile. We made our way through the Animal Kingdom parking lot and I shook off the bad mood and actually warmed up enough to take off my long sleeves and tie it around my waist.

After marching our way down Osceola Parkway we made it to ESPN’s Wide World of Sports. A lot of people complain about this section of the course because it’s a lot of twists and turns so it seems like it goes on forever. I will admit that ESPN seems long but I always love how many character opportunities are available!

Channeling our inner Joy and Sadness from Inside Out!

Next we got to run around Champion Stadium, the spring training home of the Atlanta Braves.

Once we finished up at Wide World of Sports we made the short trek to Hollywood Studios where we entered via backstage access behind Fantasmic and Tower of Terror. Lots of people were buzzing about Oswald meeting here because he usually can’t be found in Florida!

Anyone checking in?

There was a lot of construction going on in Hollywood Studios in January 2018 (Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge) so it limited the amount of running we could do in this park.

We exited park’s front entrance and ran down the path that connects the park to the Epcot Resort area. I definitely started to lose steam as we ran by the Yacht and Beach Club Resorts but I tried to remember to keep my eyes on the prize- we were almost there!

We entered Epcot between the Canada and U.K. pavilions shortly before mile 25. Just past mile 25 we stopped to meet Belle and Aurora outside the France pavilion.

Next we stopped for a picture with Jasmine in the Morocco pavilion.

Our next stop with Germany- no characters greeting here but we wanted a nice cold beer to finish the race with! Being able to stop for a drink in Epcot BEFORE the finish line is one of my favorite novelties of the Walt Disney World marathon!

We mostly walked to the end as to not spill our beers!

Tip: If you’re going to grab drinks in Epcot know that characters won’t pose with you with the drinks in your hand.

Finally we saw the finish line arch ahead- we did it!

What an amazing feeing- Dopey Challenge done!

So, would I do the Dopey Challenge again? Yes! Am I doing it in 2019? No!

I recommend Dopey for anyone who loves runDisney to try at least once. It was really fun to get to participate in the whole weekend and not feel like I was missing out on anything. However, the four early mornings in a row were really hard. By marathon morning it took everything I had to force myself out of bed. Plus, the registration fee is high and I don’t think I’d want to pay that every year. Ideally, if it’s still around and I’m still running, I’d like to give Dopey another try in 2023. In the mean time I’ll stick to the Goofy Challenge (the half marathon and the full marathon) or the marathon alone.

I had so much fun recapping my 2018 Dopey Challenge! I’m headed down to Disney World soon for the 2019 Walt Disney World marathon. My training has been riddled with knee problems so this should be an interesting and challenging run to say the least. I’ll be sure to recap it here so stay tuned!

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Stay adventurous, friends!

Throwback Thursday: Walt Disney World’s Boardwalk Bar Crawl

For today’s Throwback Thursday I want to share one of my favorite Disney things to do: crawl! Bar crawl, that is! One of my favorite arguing points when people say Walt Disney World is only for kids is all the food and drink experiences to be had. I love to suggest people try to the Monorail Bar Crawl, or the Boardwalk Bar Crawl which I’ll cover today.

Like the Monorail Bar Crawl, the Boardwalk Bar Crawl doesn’t require you to have a park ticket so it’s a great option for a day or night you won’t be hitting the parks. The Boardwalk Resort area is easy to get to by Uber, Minnie Van, or by taking a bus to nearby Hollywood Studios and following the walking path. While it would take more time, you can also take a bus to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, or Disney Springs and take a Boardwalk, Yacht Club, or Beach Club resort bus to get there.

First stop: Big River Grille & Brewing Works

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Big River serves up American pub favorites in a family friendly setting. You can see 6 specialty beers being handcrafted on site!

We started our crawl with some nachos and beer:

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Second stop: AbracadaBar

AbracadaBar invites you into a 1940s magician’s lounge with a few tricks up its sleeves. With a selection of old fashioned cocktails to choose from we went with the Conjurita and Seahorse Sweet.

fullsizeoutput_19a — Seahorse Sweet on the left and Conjurita on the right

If you’ve peeped the menu you might have noticed the Seahorse Sweet and it’s disappearing cotton candy are technically non-alcoholic but when I used the magic word (please, in this case) the bar tender was happy to add some vodka. The conjurita is poured table side so you can enjoy it’s color changing trick!

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Once we had our drinks we enjoyed the ambiance and checked out the magic memorabilia. Pay close attention to the posters on the wall- you never know who’ll disappear!

Third stop: Jellyrolls

After crawling up and down the Boardwalk, the dueling piano bar Jellyrolls is the perfect place to sit, relax, and belt out your favorite music! While Jellyrolls serves typical bar drinks (we ordered Bud Light) its really the music that you visit for.

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A couple things to know about Jellyrolls:

Cover is $12 per person and only those 21 and older are admitted (sorry kids!)
Songs are played by request and requests are submitted with a cash tip (usually the better the tip, the more likely your song is to be played)

Other options to try:

Trattoria al Forno is a great place to start your crawl if you’re looking for dinner as you go! The drink menu includes a large assortment of wine, Italian brandy and cocktails. Dinner is served 5p-10p, reservations recommended!
ESPN Club is an excellent choice for a sports fan to take in a game mid crawl. Lounge seating is first come, first serve. Dinner hours and reservation needs vary so check the Disney website prior to your visit!

Have you done the Walt Disney World Boardwalk Bar Crawl? Or, would you want to try it?

Stay adventurous!

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