Any Disney guest who has visited Epcot on a Friday or Saturday has probably encountered the tradition of parkgoers “Drinking Around the World”—sampling one alcoholic beverage from all eleven of World Showcase’s pavilions. While this can prove an innocuous enough pastime for some, for others things can get out of hand quickly (particularly during Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival). There are a dozen reasons why drinking around the world may not be the best idea for a guest. What if you want to do something fun and unusual at Disney World while staying sober?
Drinking around the world is hardly the only zany fun you can have at Disney World. Want a new tradition that doesn’t cause you to fall off the wagon? We found seven outside-of-the-box ideas that just might prove way more fun than getting drunk at Disney World.
1. Hit all four parks in one day
Part of the allure of drinking around the world is the idea of a challenge. One of the simplest alternatives you can attempt is to visit all four parks in one day. If you’re particularly determined, you could throw in Disney Springs or Disney’s resorts as well (though you may need to trade out those alcoholic drinks for Red Bull to hit them all!).
While this is possible any time, this challenge works best if you are visiting on a weekday in the off-season. You will need to move quickly, and it helps to have a battle plan. It’s not particularly challenging to just take transportation to all four parks. However, if you pick certain rides you want to hit at each, the thrill level goes up. You will want to be clever about your use of Fastpass+ since it can only be applied to one park at a time, and you will need to time your arrival at high-volume attractions carefully.
2. Have a thrill ride marathon
Image: Disney
If thrill rides are your thing, you could take your love of them to the next level with a thrill ride marathon. While the first way to do this might be to hit all four parks like we mentioned above, another way is to marathon-ride your favorite attractions.
This works better for some attractions than others (you probably won’t be able to do this with Flight of Passage, for example), but if you hit the parks in the off-season, at opening gate, or during fireworks, you can often catch your favorite thrill rides with a low queue. Using “Single Rider” lines is another way to shorten waits. During these light times, see how many times you can ride Space Mountain, Kali River Rapids, Star Tours, Expedition: Everest, or Rockin’ Roller Coaster in a row. Splash Mountain on a warm night during the fireworks is a particularly fun one. If it’s raining, the wait will be even shorter!
Have a tough constitution? Really miss that loopy feeling of being drunk? Just ride Mission: Space Orange Team a few times in a row. Three times was enough to leave our group staggering with the giggles all the way back to World Showcase.
3. Splurge on a signature dining meal
Besides the negatives of getting drunk, the biggest downside to drinking around the world is the cost. Alcoholic beverages at Disney World average $6-$16 a drink (with some fluctuations during the Food and Wine Festival). That’s $66-$176 a person, not even including the food you’ll need to make it through the day without passing out inside the American Adventure. Instead of splurging on that much booze, put that money towards a meal at one of Disney’s world class signature dining restaurants.
You don’t have to go full Victoria and Alberts to have a memorable time. Who are you visiting Disney with? A few of your bros? Make a reservation to enjoy some mouth-watering man food at Le Cellier or Artist’s Point. Like dining with an international twist? Have an unbelievable African meal at Jiko: The Cooking Place at Animal Kingdom Lodge. In the mood for a little romance or couture cuisine? Have the meal of your life at Monsieur Paul or catch a rooftop view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks at the Contemporary Resort’s California Grill.
For the price of just one day of drinking around the world, you could enjoy almost any of Disney’s finest restaurants or even a Starlight Safari at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Comments
if you are doing a signature dining meal triple check your reservation -- and check again. They never make mistakes ( that they admit to) and they cant correct anything on a fly-- speaking from experience.