A Monorail Crawl is one of the lesser-known Disney experiences for adults. It does not require a park ticket and allows you to explore the monorail resorts, which include: Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, and Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.
Although one of the perks of doing a Monorail Crawl is the monorail driver acting as your designated driver, we highly recommend drinking plenty of water and ordering appetizers during your adventure.
For our Monorail Crawl we decided to start off at Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto and Tiki Bar. This bar and lounge at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort is extremely popular. We recommend getting there at least 30 minutes before they open. They opened at 4pm the day we visited and we arrived at 3:30pm to find there was already a list of people waiting to get in. We were happy we arrived early to get our name on the list. They gave us a buzzer and we hung out in the lobby and gift shop until they were ready for us.
The ambiance at Trader Sam’s is amazing. It’s very interactive. Guests ordering certain drinks activate corresponding events. These events include everything from a volcano erupting to severe island storms. I ordered the HippopotoMai-Tai (Coruba dark rum, Bacardi superior rum, bols Orange curaçao, orgeat (almond), organic agave nectar, and fresh lime juice). It is served in a souvenir tiki glass. When you order it, the castmembers shout “two shots of rum!” My husband ordered the Shrunken Zombie Head (gosling’s 151 black seal rum, Appleton estate reserve rum, Bacardi 8 yr rum, tropical juices, falernum, and cinnamon). It is served in a shrunken head souvenir glass. For snacks, we ordered the Chicken Lettuce Cups with hoisin ginger sauce and Kalua Pork Tacos worth cabbage and pickled vegetables.
Another great bar and lounge option at the Polynesian is Tambu Lounge, located right outside of ‘Ohana. We highly recommend ordering the Lapu Lapu (rum and fruit juices), which is served in a whole pineapple.
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Our next stop was Mizner’s Lounge at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. This classy lounge, located on the second floor, has a beautiful view of the beach, pool, and gardens. They serve classic cocktails like Manhattans, Martinis, and Moscow Mules. We ordered the Nolet’s (gin) Martini and the Godiva Chocolate Martini (stoli vanilla vodka, Godiva chocolate liqueur, white creme de cacao, and frangelico). The bartender painted a Mickey Mouse in chocolate on the Godiva Martini! Mizner’s serves you complimentary mixed nuts with your drinks, so be sure to take full advantage of those. There is also a live jazz band that plays right outside the lounge. While we were there, they played a jazz version of Beauty and the Beast!
Another lounge option at the Grand Floridian is Citricos Lounge. This elegant lounge is located inside Citricos Restaurant.
Our next and final stop on our monorail crawl was the Outer Rim Lounge in Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The lounge is located right next to Chef Mickey’s and Contempo Café. This lounge is very simple, especially compared to Trader Sam’s, but has a great view of the Bay Lake. Here we opted for beer – ordering a Longboard lager draft and the Jai Alai IPA (can) from Cigar City Brewing in Tampa. We lounged in the comfy chairs, enjoyed the view, and polished off our last drinks of our monorail crawl.
If you want something fancier than the Outer Rim Lounge, we suggest checking with the front desk regarding a seat at the bar at the California Grill, the highest bar at Walt Disney World. The view and signature cocktails (we recommend the Sake Martini or California Grill spiked Coffee) would be a great way to finish off your crawl!