DD (adult) and I are heading down to the world in 3 weeks. We want to do a bar crawl for drinks and apps for dinner one evening. Would like to go to Poly, WL, Contemporary and GF. Looking for combination of best atmosphere, outdoor seating, if possible, and food/drink quality. Here are the choices we are looking at:
GF: Citrico’s or Narcoossee’s bar
Poly: Trader Sam’s, Tambu, or Wailulu (I know Trader Sam’s doesn’t take reservations; what are our chances on a level 3 crowd day to get seating?)
WL: Territory Lounge or Geyser Point
Contemporary: CA Grill Lounge or Steakhouse 71
Please share your recommendations! Hoping to maybe watch the water pageant from one of these. Not sure what order to do this in or best way to get there from Boardwalk Villas. Will be going to MK afterwards for EEH. Thinking we’ll go from about 5 to 8:30 ish. Thanks in advance for any help!
I recommend Enchanted Rose at GF. I love their lavender fog drink!
Wailulu was also really good. Although don’t trust the times in the app. You really have to be at the restaurant to see what the wait time is. If you go early, there shouldn’t be a problem.
I love territory lounge and the steakhouse 71 lounge as well.
And you can’t go wrong with either Tambu lounge or trader Sam’s at the poly. We found that with Wailulu opening up, Trader Sam’s had no wait.
I am not sure you will be able to do all 4 in 3.5 hours without feeling really rushed. I just want to set your expectations. The time travelling between locations can be more than you think sometimes.
GF: you can’t go wrong with either, but I would go Narcoosee’s here. The bar feels a little more cozy than at Citricos which is a little more wide open space.
Poly: Tambu. Because Noodz and potstickers. Trader Sams is fun but the unpredictability of the wait time deters me most visits.
WL: Geyser. Not even a question. Don’t waste my time
Contemporary: again you can’t go wrong with either but I think you’ll have an easier time of getting into SH71 and also that cake CaliGrill offers views (if you turn around) and fireworks space with your receipt and also can order some of those much loved items a la carte that can’t be had but prix fixe anymore in the restaurant. I think SH71 is a little less frenetic
Poly - If you’re looking for outdoors, you’ll have no problem getting drinks at Trader Sam’s Tiki Terrace (the outside bar portion of TS…they have the same drinks and food). If you want the atmosphere and experience of Grog Grotto…CL in the parks doesn’t really matter…day of the week and time you try are bigger indicators. Since you’re tight on time, I would just do the Tiki Terrace.
WL - I love Territory Lounge, but again, if you’re trying to spend some time outdoors, Geyser Point is the way to go
Contemporary - Steakhouse 71 Lounge
If it were me I would:
Uber to WL - Enjoy Geyser Point or Territory Lounge
Take the Boat to MK, Walk to the Contemporary - Enjoy SH71 Lounge
Take the Monorail to the GF (which means you pass by the Poly stop) - Enjoy Enchanted Rose
Walk to the Poly (I think the path is open again) - Enjoy Tiki Terrace and sort of see the Electric Water Pageant…better views on the beach, but still not terrible.
Monorail to MK for EEH.
If you really want to do Grog Grotto - you need to be at the poly before 3, put your name on the list and if they tell you 2+ hours, you get yourself over to the Grand Flo and start there instead until you get your table ready text. But then, you have to be ready to walk QUICK back over to the Poly
My friends and I do a lot of bar crawls at Disney…
When we were there the Blue flag route was two separate boats running CR-FW and CR-WL. I don’t know if it’s like that all the time but they will usually ask where you are going.
We started at Steakhouse 71 lounge, then Tambu, followed by Enchanted Rose. We started at 7:00 and were headed out of Enchanted Rose after 11:00. I don’t think you’ll have enough time to do four places in 3 hrs and 30 minutes. In four hours we barely had time to get to Enchanted Rose before closing.
I had to look up the Lavender Fog. I’m not a huge fan of lavender (the espresso martini piqued my interest!) Anyway, not sure if you’ve seen this, but the recipe for the Lavender Fog is online. It does sound interesting and unique.
You Will Need:
1.5 oz Nolet’s Silver Dry Gin
0.5 oz Rothman Crème de Violett
0.75 oz Vanilla Syrup
1 oz English Breakfast Tea
1 oz Half and Half
Optional: Faux lavender to garnish
Steps:
Combine all ingredients listed above into a cocktail shaker, add ice, and seal.
Shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds to combine.
Strain into a chilled coupe glass.
Optional: garnish with faux lavender to complete the “Enchanted Rose” look.
CaliGrill offers views (if you turn around) and fireworks space with your receipt and also can order some of those much loved items a la carte that can’t be had but prix fixe anymore in the restaurant. I think SH71 is a little less frenetic
