In my Adult-Only Disney Trip planning, I’m thinking about doing a snack and/or drink crawl around the monorail. Just one stop at each (GF, CR & Poly). Would it be weird to do it around 1 PM - 3 or 4 PM? Are the lounges open that early?
It fits nicely @ 1 PM after one of my mornings at MK.
PS- not really asking if it’s “ok” from a judgmental stance LOL, but more of will bars be open and will it be fun at that time.
Enchanted Rose (1:30), the Wave (11:00), Outer Rim (11:30), and Tambu Lounge (9:00AM) are open as far as indoor locations. The pool bars open at 11:00. You’d have enough to keep your interest.
Plus if you find yourself at Tambu around 3:30 you can get a spot for the first wave of Trader Sam’s at 4:00.
(Times are from memory.)
No shaming here - It is always 5:00 somewhere - cheers!
I want to go to Mizner’s and drink French 75s with my favorite Kitteh 
Well Mizner’s has gone to the great beyond and Enchanted Rose has its challenges.
I’d find Dahlia a very good replacement, especially when the weather is good enough to sit on the terrace.
Let’s hit dahlia next time 
I did love it there when I visited in January
Disney day drinkers are on average pretty high quality. These places will be less crowded (with one exception), so you can have an actual conversation. They’re people not hell-bent on spending every moment in the parks, so they’re generally much more low key. If they’re in a Disney lounge that time of day, they want to be social. I’ve met some people that way with whom I’ve kept in touch for years, and even meet up when they’re in the bubble.
Beware, you will encounter degenerate locals. They will lead you off the True Path and the next thing you know you’re tolchocking the weak and the old during EPCOT Food and Wine.
The one exception is Enchanted Rose. Many families with children are back at the Grand Floridian for a mid-day break, and many of those parents pile in to Enchanted Rose right when it opens at 1:30. They’re mostly after a beer or glass of wine to take away, and they bring their strollers and line up three deep at the bar. The bartenders have to serve them first, so you’re going to ponder the drink menu for 15 minutes or so. Plus there are no sound-absorbing surfaces in the bar area, so those screeching children get loud.
You seem completely qualified to help me plan this crawl. Which lounges should we go to? Ive never been to any of the monorail resorts, so if you had to pick one from each, what would you choose?
I read Trader Sams opens at 3:00 now. Anyone know for sure when it opens?
I’ve done this before, and it wasn’t as fun as drinking around the world as an example. The bars are kind of dead at that time. However, the biggest hurdle IMO is the time that it takes to use the monorail to travel between resorts which is exactly like everything at Disney, longer than you think.
However, I would recommend a different approach. Pick one resort and just explore/barhop there. That way you could also include Wilderness Lodge in the MK area!
DH and I do this almost every time we take an adults only trip. It’s fun and we like seeing all the different resorts. While we love Trader Sams at the Poly, it’s hard to get in. They serve the same drinks on the patio outside, just minus the shenanigans from the servers. We got one to go and drank it while walking over to the GF. We had a drink at the Enchanted Rose and it was fine. Drinks are super expensive and if I recall we wanted to get something to eat, but nothing struck our fancy. So we hopped the monorail to Contemporary. There are two good options - the bar at the Wave is big and we’ve never had trouble finding a seat. Food options are solid and drinks are fine. You can also ask and see if they will let you go up to the bar at California Grill. Sometimes they’ve let us go up and other times you had to have a reservation. The bar there is a lot of fun and the view is great. It’s pricey but worth it. If you have time, you can also take the ferry over to Wilderness lodge and check out Geyser Point. It’s outside - has great beer options and a good view. Plus the Wilderness Lodge is fun to wander around. We usually start around 3:30 or so and finish up with dinner along the way. Just check the lounge times if you want to start at 1. It makes for a nice afternoon break, though you might want a nap when you are done!
Oh heavens no. One only need look at the lapidary expressions of TRVTH of which I’m incapable to see how threadbare my knowledge is.
I read Trader Sams opens at 3:00 now. Anyone know for sure when it opens?
It was 4:00 last time I was there, in early December. But hours do change based on expected crowds and season. The WDW site has, in my experience (see caveat above), always had the correct hours, so go by that.
As for how easy or hard it is to get into Trader Sam’s: I’ve been dozens of times. Most of those right when it opened at 4:00. Only in the first week that it opened did I need to line up before 3:30, and I’ve never not been able to get in in the first wave. One doesn’t even need to line up any longer; a CM shows up at 3:30 to take names, party sizes, and cell numbers for text message callbacks, and it’s been that way for at least a year. There was a line back in December, but that was actually a line to get one of the Xmas tiki mugs. Now, if one goes in the evening, there can be a wait of an hour or more. But you weren’t asking about going in the evening.
I feel like you’re going to encounter a lot of stroller traffic going to/from nap time on the monorails…but I could be misremembering the timing on that.
I did the Highway in the Sky Dine Around as an evening sort of food/bar crawl. It was super fun…and you didn’t have to worry about crowds because they reserved monorail cars for us. I think that’s a little more formalized than what you’re looking for.
I’m thinking of the same thing for my Nov trip. Right now I have a reservation at Narcoosees for dinner, was thinking Trader Sam’s to start (I got an opening time of 3 when I googled), then GF for Enchanted Rose. I think I’ve read that there’s also an orchestra or pianist that plays in their lobby, is that correct? Does anyone have any recent info like times?
Not sure I’ll have the stamina to make it over to Contemporary after all that, but who knows?
This is what I was reading:
Assuming things stay “the same” when they re-open, it looks like Trader Sam’s is 3:00 opening.
Enchanted Rose opens at 1:00.
Sounds like we can do our early monorail crawl, @Yen_Sid_the_second 
Both, as they alternate 30 minute sets. The orchestra used to be on the mezzanine in front of where Mizner’s, now one of the Enchanted Rose rooms, seating areas, but now they’re on the first floor where the concierge desk used to be. The pianist starts at 3 and the orchestra at 4 (again, going from memory).
Trader Sam’s always opens with a full house, so the two bartenders get whacked with 50 drink orders all at once. The skippers are pretty good at working the room, but they also have to take 50 orders all at once. So allow half an hour for your first round. But sit at the surfboard table if you can and you probably won’t even notice the time.
Trvth
TRVTH must be capitalized. It looks better on the marble slab that way.
