Thursday, January 17, 2013

Drinking Around the World (showcase)

I have had a lot of friends and clients ask me if Walt Disney World is a fun vacation for adults without kids.
OF COURSE IT IS!
My husband and I do not have children and we have been to Walt Disney World 7 times since New Year's Eve 2008/2009. We never run out of awesome and fun things to, but we're kids at heart so for my introduction to my "Disney, not just for kids" series I'm going to focus on an adult ONLY activity.

Welcome friends, to Drinking Around the World! (Referred to from here on out as DATW)




DATW is a fun game many adults (21 and older please) play at the World Showcase at EPCOT. The goal of the game is to drink an alocholic beverage in it's entirety at each pavillion. There are 11 countries total during standard operating weeks. (I will be doing a special DATW - Food and Wine Edition post in October)

There are no real rules, as it is not a sanctioned event. The goal is to have fun and to be safe. Some people use a check list they find online. Other's just drink a beer in each country. I did things a little differently.

I asked a cast member from each country the following question:
"If you had to suggest only one alcoholic beverage that best represents your country, which one would it be?"


Then I drank it. To make the event more fun I purchased an Epcot passport and had it stamped at the KidCot location for each country and I had the cast member who poured my drink sign the passport and write a fun message. 

I did all 11 countries in 6 hours, with a short break between country number 8 and country number 9 for the DVC Merry Member Mixer. I definitely could have done it quicker, but I probably should have done it a little slower. I was worried about the time. When I do it again in September/October I will be sure to start earlier and take my time especially since there will be 30 countries. 

My favorite countries were Mexico (shots of tequila), France (Grand Marnier & Grey Goose Orange Slush)and Canada (Torontopolitan). 

My least favorite countries were Japan (a horrible Sake, the name of which I forgot, but I also tried my husband's and his was gross too. While the feeling you get after drinking sake is quite nice, the torture to drink it was not worth it), China (Tsing Tao - a beer, totally average and nothing special), and Norway (Linie Aquavit - it's like a vodka except it tastes like all of the licorice in the world was put into a single shot. I hate licorice and that's the only reason this made my least favorite list, the price was right and the strength was great.) 

Germany also had a delicious beverage and earns an honorable mention. Apfelkorn Schnapps is a delightfully light and sweet schnapps that was perfect for a post Thanksgiving pre-Christmas holiday drink. (The fact that it was only $2 a shot made it even better!)

In the UK I had Magner's Pear Cider. Quite refreshing and enjoyable, I will definitely drink it again.
I drank the Sangria in Morocco which was fine, but nothing to write about ;-)
I was a bit disappointed with the choices at the USA pavillion. I drank a Frozen Red Stag Lemonade which was strong but not very tasty. If I could have broken the "rules" I would have had a glowtini from Coral Reef instead because the "American" drinks were boring by comparison. 

Here is a photo montage of all of my drinks with my passport stamped and signed. The photos are numbered so you can tell how I was feeling by the time I hit China. I did the countries a bit out of order because I had dinner reservations and the Merry Member Mixer to attend.
1- Mexico 2- Norway 3- Germany 4- Italy 5- USA 6- Japan 7- Moracco 8- UK 9- France 10- China 11- Canada


When I let the cast member in Canada know what I was doing and that I was on my last drink of DATW she got so excited that she came to pose for a photo with me. So did some random Canadian guy who was proud of me (and may have been doing a bit of drinking around the world himself!) it was a fun way to celebrate the end of my journey. 


So, the moral of this story is that yes Virginia, Walt Disney World is a fun destination for adults traveling without children. I will be sure to share more of my favorite activities in the near future.

If you have any questions about adult only trips to any of the Disney Destinations, I'm you're gal.
Contact me for more information or to book your trip today!
Kerri@MickeysDreamVacations.com
Twitter - @LadynWonderland

Facebook - Facebook.com/MickeysDreamVacationsbyKerri