So there's this thing that happens just outside Magic Kingdom. It's something that Disney probably doesn't like to admit happens as not to tarnish their perfect family friendly image. This something is known as the Monorail Bar Crawl. Unlike drinking around the world at Epcot, which everyone knows happens, the Monorail Bar Crawl seems a bit less known. It basically involves parking at one of the Magic Kingdom hotels, drinking alcohol at a bar in the initial hotel, then riding the monorail to the next hotel and repeating the process. Although I really don't drink much, I do enjoy wandering around Disney hotels and monorails are one of my favorite forms of mass transit, so I've gone along as designated driver with people doing the Monorail Bar Crawl. The remainder of this post consists of alcoholic beverages that I didn't drink and food that I did eat...
We started at the Polynesian Resort. Once parked, we made our way to the Tambu Lounge, located next to the very popular Ohana. The drink of choice here was the Lapu Lapu. It was a stereotypical tropical drink served in a hollowed out pineapple, complete with paper umbrella.
After Tambu Lounge, we headed to the monorail station and took the ride to the Grand Floridian. The destination here was called Mizner's Lounge. Located right off the huge atrium that makes up the hotel's lobby, the big thrill here was the free bowls of nuts that were brought to every table.
The drink of choice at Mizner's Lounge was the Glowtini. It was basically a martini with an added LED 'icecube.' This allowed you to drink your alcohol in any color you'd like by sticking your fingers in the martini and pressing the button on the cube.
Once the light up martinis were finished at the Grand Floridian, we boarded the monorail once again and rode past the Magic Kingdom and into the Contemporary Resort. Here, we headed to the elevator that goes specifically up to the roof of the hotel to the California Grill. The California Grill normally requires reservations to eat at, but if you go to the desk downstairs and tell them you're going to the bar, they send you right up. Time it right and you'll be up on the roof of the hotel for the Magic Kingdom fireworks. Seeing them from above is my personal favorite way to watch Wishes. Here, the drink of choice is apparently called the Ray-Ray.
As a food blogger, I had to get some food at California Grill. While the majority of the menu at California Grill is rather pricy, their flatbread pizzas are relatively affordable and are enough food for a meal. We ordered a Heirloom Tomato BLT Flatbread and were served the wrong one. Topped with beef, mushrooms, and greens, the heirloom tomatoes were nowhere to be found.
They quickly corrected the mistake and brought out the Heirloom Tomato BLT. This thin flatbread was topped with marinated tomatoes, applewood smoked bacon, chiffonade romaine, and lemon mayonnaise. Getting a pizza topped with a range of colors from the typical to deep purple or yellow is very different. And very tasty.
And that's my experience being a designated driver during a Monorail Bar Crawl. Watching people drink, eating flatbread pizzas at fancy restaurants, and riding monorails. I'd gladly do it again!
