Second to last day of the Halloween celebrations, I grabbed a friend and some motivation by way of @disneydares to drink all the Halloween cocktails at Tokyo DisneySea. My park companion on this day had a one day pass, so we challenged ourselves to get through all of them in a single day (while still going about our regularly scheduled park shenanigans). Here's my report from the challenge!
We ended up going through 7 cocktails, this means we went through ALL the special cocktails on offer at Tokyo DisneySea in October, not just the Halloween ones. Oops?
We started off the challenge during lunch with the sparkling mix berry cocktail at Yucatan Base Camp Grill. My companion and I both found this dangerously sweet, it went down like lemonade. Absolutely delicious, Nice presentation, Dangerous.
The second drink was a grape cocktail at Zambini Brothers' Ristorante. I was very curious about this, wondering if it would taste like a wine cocktail, but trust Disney to throw surprises at you. It was a light, crisp-tasting cocktail with grape jelly. I really enjoyed this. Not too sweet, not too sour. The jelly added a fun texture to it, the colour was very appealing. We enjoyed this out on the outdoor terrace, battling the post-typhoon winds we were experiencing at the park that day.
2 down, 5 more to go.
We went about our regular park business during this challenge. We shopped souvenirs, played the carnival games, rode Indiana Jones (twice!), and watched both Out of Shadowland and Big Band Beat. It became apparent after a while that the challenge was slowly turning into a battle against time to get to all the drinks done before closing time.
Third cocktail was the first of two beer cocktails on the list. Both beer cocktails were special Halloween cocktails. My companion and I were dreading these, as neither of us drink beer usually. I can't stand the taste of beer personally, but was hopeful the fruity cocktail part would cancel out the beer taste. It didn't. And so I found both the beer cocktails pretty painful to get through, the green poison apple one more so than the blackcurrant one. The green apple was just incredibly bitter, and the beer taste was way too strong for my liking.
In between the two beer cocktails, we rushed off to Miguel's El Dorado Cantina to try their frozen tropical cocktail before closing time. Miguel's closes at 7:30PM or some other such ridiculous hour. It's definitely more of a lunch place than dinner and drinks place, which is a little bit of a shame in my opinion. The tropical cocktail was amazing. Adorned with a huge chunk of pineapple, it was exactly what my tastebuds needed after the bitter beer. The cocktail had a nice kick to it without being too sweet. Though probably best enjoyed in warm weather, at least we got to sit inside for this one.
We ran back to American Waterfront for the second beer cocktail (green apple). I admit, I nearly gave up halfway through this, but I soldiered on. I remembered Hudson River Harvest offered sparkling whisky and peach cocktails, so we rushed off over there to wash away the bitter poison.
6 down, 1 to go.
We decided to end the day at The Teddy Roosevelt Lounge, where we completed the challenge with their special villains inspired cocktail. Unfortunately, neither our waiter nor server explained what was in the drink.... but it was definitely the best balanced drink of the day. After spending the day sipping counter service cocktails, the difference in quality in the way this drink was prepared and presented was actually quite staggering. You could easily tell it was crafted by a bartender. Beautiful presentation, complex and interesting flavor combinations. The seasonal cocktails served around the park are delicious and cute (though usually a little on the sweet side), but there's a reason I keep going back to The Teddy Roosevelt Lounge for their special cocktails. The drinks are fun, but also quite sophisticated.
Overall verdict: This challenge was amazingly fun! We could (and should) have paced it out a little better, but honestly the race against time added to the fun for us. I find Disney park adventures are always better if you set yourself some goals or challenges for the day. This particular challenge was something I'd never thought of or attempted before. If you want to attempt this, drink responsibly and know your limits! Balance out the drinks with snacks and remember to hydrate! I would also recommend starting earlier in the day if you're planning on making it through all 7 drinks in a single day, just to avoid the evening crunch of visiting all the restaurants before they close for the day.
I'm already eyeing the Christmas drinks, looking forward to tasting them all (no beer cocktails! Huzzah!). But this time I'm going to try them one by one. I have a feeling that hot coffee cocktail will be an instant favourite. I hope it's as good as it looks!
I'll call this first Disney Dares a raging success. The challenge kept us occupied throughout the day, brought lots of laughs, but still gave us time to enjoy all the other things the park has to offer. I'm now wracking my brain trying to come up with something equally challenging and fun for Abi to try. Got any suggestions? Leave them in a comment below, and follow Disney Dares on twitter!
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