ParkMagic Podcast: Insider Tips To Plan Your Disneyland Adventure
Our goal is to help you simplify planning for your trip. We give you tactical tips to help you plan your next magical Disney Vacation to Disneyland and California Adventure.
We want to make you feel like you have a clear plan. In short, we want you to feel like you have a Disneyland expert in your pocket. Helping you plan your meals, rides, shows, and how to spend less time in line.
ParkMagic Podcast: Insider Tips To Plan Your Disneyland Adventure
Cocktails and Day Drinking at the Disneyland Resort with Jason T. Smith
Wondering where to find the best cocktails in Disneyland? You're in luck! We sat down with Jason T. Smith, a cocktail connoisseur who's spent years exploring the Disneyland resort and its alcoholic offerings.
Find the best locations to get your day drink on, including the best places to get craft cocktails in the parks. We also touch on the many locations to get wine and beer in both Disneyland and California Adventure.
So, get your glass ready for a boozy journey through Disneyland!
CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
0:30 Cocktail and Tiki Expert Jason T. Smith
2:20 Yes, They Do Serve Alcohol at Disneyland!
2:42 Blue Bayou: Hurricanes, Wine, and Beer
3:34 Oga's Cantina: Delicious Batch Cocktails
11:17 Carthay Circle: Delicious High End Cocktails
15:03 Lamplight Lounge and Magic Key Terrace
16:54 Pym's Test Lab: Cocktails and Characters
18:50 Drinking in Cars Land
19:35 Beer and Margaritas in San Fransokyo
20:30 Bayside Brews: Beer at Pixar Pier
20:48 Napa Rose: High End Cocktails and Food
23:26 Trader Sam's: A Tiki Lovers Paradise
29:43 Don't Forget Downtown Disney
30:42 Using Picky Mickey from ParkMagic to Find the Perfect Cocktail
Links:
Follow Jason T Smith on YouTube
ParkMagic Picky Mickey App
Show Transcript
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Welcome to the Park Magic podcast, your place for insider tips for your next Disneyland adventure. Whether you're a first-timer or first-time in a while visitor, we're here to unwrap the secrets to creating and simplifying your dream Disneyland vacation.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Park Magic podcast where we give you insider tips to help you plan your next Disneyland adventure. And I am so excited I have got Jason T Smith. He is a cocktail expert Literally. People fly him in from other parts of the country to talk, especially Tiki. He knows every cocktail in the park and he's going to be sharing with us the best tips for being able to get your little bit of a buzz on at Disneyland. So, Jason, thank you. Can you tell us a little bit about how much you love Disneyland and cocktails?
Speaker 3:Well, first I've been going to Disney World because I grew up in Ohio since I was four years old, and then my wife and I moved to California in 2000 and started going to Disney. We had a Magic Key Pass and we didn't even live in California anymore, but we went enough from Las Vegas that we had a blast and really, because of having the pass, every time we went into town it would be two or three days of the park. We really worked the cocktails around both parks, but mainly California Adventure, because there's only a couple spots in Disneyland and you can't walk around with them like you can in California Adventure. So we would work our whole day like, okay, we're going to ride this, this and this, and then this cocktail, because it's right next door, you know. So I've got all kinds of good tips and tricks about how to get into places, how to order, what to order, all kinds of good stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Well, and it was so different going with you because I'm like such a rideaholic. I was like go, go, go, and you're like wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. No, we haven't gone to Trader Sims. It was definitely a different experience, but I had a great time getting to do all the cocktails and everything. The biggest thing that people don't know about Disneyland is that you can't just walk around in Disneyland with alcohol. There's only a few places.
Speaker 3:Yeah, in Disneyland the California Adventure is a whole different animal. But there are two places right now more coming to get cocktails and that is Blue Bayou. Well, three if you can get in Club 33. And I would say probably the best cocktails in both parks would be at Club 33.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes, definitely. Those are some of the best cocktails I've ever had.
Speaker 3:The bogus cantina is, I would say, the main place, because Blue Bayou only has one cocktail. They've got wine and beer and it's a decent hurricane. It is by no means a real hurricane and most people think the red sugary drink they get to real hurricane. It isn't. It's like the Applebee's version of a real hurricane. A real hurricane has four ounces of rum, passion fruit syrup and lemon juice, and that's it.
Speaker 2:And I'm pretty sure that's not the ingredients for the one Blue Bayou.
Speaker 3:But they have a really good rum in Blue Bayou. You know, of course you go to Blue Bayou for dinner. It's all about the atmosphere sitting on the water, watching the boats go by and having a pretty decent drink that they're calling a hurricane, yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know the wine and beers is not an extensive selection. It's not like what you're going to be able to get at like Napa Rose, which is the really high end restaurant that's in the Grand California, but there's a couple things. But I think if you want to get like a better drink, then Uggas is really the place to go right now.
Speaker 3:So there and a couple other places, disney has figured out, and some of the bars I frequent and figured out too, how to batch cocktails. Yeah, so they're on tap and so typically people think of beer on tap. This is actually pouring out the entire cocktail on tap. And I went to one of my favorite Tiki bars that I've gone to for 10 years and I was just there a couple of months ago and I watched the guy pour a drink that I heard the guy next to me order from a tap and I thought, well, the drink I ordered wasn't from a tap because it was good. And then I started talking to the bartender and he goes no, no, your first drink was from the tap. I go what?
Speaker 3:So they do the drinks in the little kegs and not Disney but the store bar, and they last a day and a half because they're so popular. I'm sure Disney's the same way, but that's how they figure it out, how to really kind of move people through. That's kind of Disney's old motto how many people would get on and off this ride in and out of this restaurant, in and out of this bar? And so if you have these things batched on tap, it's not the poor ingredient. Poor. Next ingredient poor. Third ingredient shake a, shake a, shake a. And so their drinks. I like them. Some people don't like them, but my favorite is the outer rim. It's essentially a margarita, but it's a little bit better margarita than normal. And they use the black salt because everything about August is let's make it look kind of as spacey as possible, and so the black salt is very cool, and so I like that one and the fuzzy tauntaun.
Speaker 2:I love the fuzzy. I think I don't actually love the drink so much as I love the effect that you get from bubbles.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so they use an ingredient that makes your lips go numb and your tongue go numb in a fun way.
Speaker 2:Not in a scary way.
Speaker 3:I can't feel my face.
Speaker 2:But that could happen over a California adventure, because there's a lot more alcohol over there.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, yeah, so the outer rim is a Patron Silver pomegranate liqueur, lime juice, cane sugar topped with exotic puree and then rimmed with the black salt. So that's good. Now at August, here's the big tip Bring in everybody, get your pen and paper. You don't need to make a reservation If it so happens that you snag one. Was it 60 days out? Yeah, I've never snagged one, and we went for a full year, never snagged one for there and never snagged one for TeraSams, and we drank there every single time, without fail. Granted, if you have a family of 20 with you, it's going to be a little trickier.
Speaker 2:Always break those bigger groups up into groups of four or less. Six is always a stretch, especially at August. Thank you, there's not a lot of seating.
Speaker 3:If you have a reservation, you actually get to sit down.
Speaker 2:If you walk up, you stand, and after being at Disneyland all day, that's usually the last thing I want to do is stand, so you usually get a drink. Get out for us, which is exactly what they want you to do.
Speaker 3:But here's the big tip If you go later in the evening, galaxy's Edge is kind of quiet and so on the app, you do the walk up and it'll tell you some dumb time 30, 40, 50 minutes and then like usually within 10 minutes, like okay you're up, but then you do have to stand in another line after that, so just make sure you're ready.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it's usually pretty quick.
Speaker 3:But the people that say that I talked to a friend recently who's been there many times, maybe had a pass, had never been in. I'm like, wait what?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was.
Speaker 3:yeah, I'm like just at the end of the day, can I work your way over there for like evening cocktails, and there's no one really over there, compared to at, say, 1 PM.
Speaker 2:Now this doesn't really work at 1 PM and it doesn't really work at 6 PM. You see, you have to like go home, take a little nap come back. You do have to go during a lower period and if you try this, like the week between Christmas and New Year, probably it's not gonna work, no matter what time cause it's gonna be so busy. But as long as you especially if you're on a weekday during off peak time you walk up reservations not only for a lot of the reservation places that's a really great option.
Speaker 3:And there you can get souvenir essentially ceramic tiki mugs on three different drinks. And so when you look at the menu, if you don't know that you're gonna be like, why is that drink $40? It's because you get to take the ceramic mug home. So the alcoholic one is the yub nub and look, you might love this alcohol, but if the first ingredient in any cocktail is Malibu pineapple, I'm just out. I'm out.
Speaker 2:Public service announcement. If you ever meet Jason, don't ever order Malibu. He has like a 30 minute speech he will give you.
Speaker 3:But it's a fun drink. It's akin to like an Applebee's cocktail and it's a good mug, it's the mug of Endor and then, if you want to not alcohol for the kitties or I actually like the drink, it's fun, it is the cliff dweller and then the mug's a porg and it's a Dorbs. But then if you're a real, you want to carry a big thing home. You get the beer flight, which comes in rancor teeth, which comes in four teeth and a holder, and when it's in the box in the styrofoam it is gigantic. But it's an awesome thing to take home and if you have some friends overthrow like candies in each of the teeth, like it's such a cool piece to have. Whether you have a home bar or not, it's just a fun piece to have. So if you like beer, at least get the beer flight once and take home the rancor teeth. So there you go. There's your tips.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's got a little great atmosphere If you are like old school Disney. If you went, you and your kid on Star Tours, there was like a little robot and he was like, yes, my first time, and he would take you. That guy's kind of like a little DJ and it's kind of fun. It's definitely an atmosphere bar it is. You know, as far as like it's got a lot of really great theming, but I don't spend as much time there because I usually don't get reservations and I don't like standing. But they're coming out with carnation cafe or leans and riverbellal terrace. We all have alcohol coming up soon.
Speaker 3:That is much theming involved in those, so to speak. But when you go to the places that are themed, like Ogres and we're going to talk about Trader Sam's, make sure to look up too. You know, people always kind of look at their eye level, yeah, and especially at Trader Sam's. Look down, there's things that are low, things that are high. So if you really want to be enveloped, make sure you look all the way around you. But the one thing and correct me if I'm wrong when I first started going to Ogres, I always said to my wife why don't you play the cantina song? Yeah, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And then the last time I was there I heard it. I'm like, oh enough, people must have complained. You know, stop it. We have this bar and not have the cantina song Crazy. But yeah, it's fun. Like I said, I don't mind standing there and all the bartenders are great. I'm jolting for an outer rim cocktail right now.
Speaker 2:I know now I really want to drink, but it's yeah, it's a little early.
Speaker 3:So we're kind of strong. I'm going to see you later. I'm going off to.
Speaker 2:So California Adventure is. If you're from Disney World, coming to Disneyland for the first time, california Adventure is the Epcot of the Disneyland Resort, so it is the place where you can get a lot more options for alcohol, and there's lots of beer, lots of wine, lots of champagne, sparkling wine options. There's some places with really great cocktails. So, jason, what are your go-tos at California Adventure or your tips for that?
Speaker 3:Well, as I was taking notes last night, I think there's 19 places to get alcohol. I might miss the one or two, but I mean that's a heck of a number and all of it is to go. So if you pass, pass and something, you got a short line, then do it, but if you know you're going to a line where you're going to stand and wait, just get a bit of a cocktail you know, and if you've never been to Disneyland, you're allowed to have drinks in line.
Speaker 2:You're just not allowed to take those drinks on the attraction. So if you have a drink and it's time for you to get on the attraction, they will make you throw it away beforehand. There's no like, let me put it someplace you have to throw it away. So if you're going to do it in line, just make sure you're ready to chug if necessary.
Speaker 3:And a lot of places, even the smallest places, will have a beer or a seltzer. Like Angry Dogs, which obviously is a hot dog place, has one beer. Now no selection. Like you either like that beer or you don't. Award-winners has beer and seltzer. There's three selections.
Speaker 3:So you know those are not your deepest cuts, but if you're standing there getting a dog and you want a beer, boom, you're right there. If you want to sit down and have good cocktails, is Carthé Circle Such good cocktails, yes, and such an extensive menu compared to a lot of the places. Like it takes a while when you're in the menus online or on the app. It takes a while to scroll through all the cocktails there. It's one of our favorite spots to relax and have a cocktail or two because also, now, this is one of the places that's using a little bit better ingredients, little more esoteric than some of the places.
Speaker 3:You know I've been cocktailing not all my adult life, because I grew up country mumpkin, but last 30 years for sure, and I still enjoy when I get to a place where I got to look up what the ingredient is and I know a lot of stuff. But there's still, you know, bars that are pushing the envelope, are trying new things and most people don't, and you're like what's that you know? But yeah, so they have wines, they have after dinner drinks and they have classic cocktails and they just have such a great selection. They got a pretty decent Mai Tai, a great daiquiri. Now here's a little tip for those of you who are not the biggest drinkers If your daiquiri is strawberry and frozen, that really isn't a daiquiri. That's like it's another drink that stole the name. A daiquiri is just rum, lime and sugar Shaken served straight up in a coupe glass. That's a daiquiri.
Speaker 2:I don't think I've ever actually had a daiquiri. Then Okay, and there's variations like.
Speaker 3:They have the Hemingway daiquiri, which adds grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur, so it makes it kind of dry and tart, whereas just the regular one is just rum, lime and sugar. And they also have the Aviation Cocktail, which is a big gin cocktail, if you like that. They got an agroni. That's really good. Sidecar, that's great. So it's kind of the beginning of the epicenter of the park, so you can, you know, like, okay, well, meet here at 4 pm for drinks, you know, and you can get reservations for that relatively easy compared to yes, trader Sampson, august.
Speaker 2:Now Cartier Circle actually has kind of like two locations in the same place. So there's the Alfresco Lounge, which is some seating outside, but you might get seated at the bar inside and then they have the restaurant that's upstairs. So if you're trying to get food at the same time, make sure you compare both venues before you make the reservation. I really like the Alfresco Lounge. They have my favorite dessert. Have you ever had their? It's an ice cream sundae with like caramel and chocolate, but it's got caramel popcorn laced in it.
Speaker 3:Oh, I definitely not at that.
Speaker 2:Like I went to go order the hazelnut crunch and the server was like no, no, you don't want that one. And then the cocktail that I like is probably too sweet for you because you like. You know, I like little kid drinks. I drink the chicken nuggets of the cocktail world, and so I love Pim's Punch.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, yeah, it's one of my favorites.
Speaker 2:It's been my favorite for like a long time. It's just I don't know why they always have the best strawberries on top.
Speaker 3:Whatever you like, you like, but I always try and educate my friends who are like I like Malibu rum and I always say it for starters.
Speaker 2:Don't drink Malibu anymore. I'm not saying you.
Speaker 3:I'm just saying Malibu ain't really rum. Yes, based on actual laws. Yes, and they actually have changed their name, and so if I see friends drinking coconut rum or pineapple flavored rum, there are actually decent rums out there that are made with actual coconut and actual pineapple, not chemicals.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of options and Cartier Circle is modeled after the theater. That's no white debudians. It's got a lot of history, a lot of great pictures from all. I would go to the bathroom even if you don't need to go to the bathroom, because there's some really great pictures in the stairwell up to the bathroom. But even if you don't go on for the full on meal, it's. I love Cartier Circle. It's one of my favorite places to eat in the park. It is more upscale, but it's the nicest restaurant where you can wear jorts and mckiers.
Speaker 3:Speaking of, I don't wear sleeves too often. Yes, so most of these bars are okay for me. We're going to talk about one that I would go find a shirt with some sleeves on it, but let me tell you about things that aren't that good. Yeah, things that you can skip. Okay, that people will tell you is awesome, and I have plenty of years experience drinking cocktails to tell you no not really Not awesome.
Speaker 3:Lamp light lounge. It used to be great. Okay, there's nothing wrong with the drink, but I don't remember anything I drank that night and usually I'm like, oh my God, I cannot, like I would have it and I know it's not the greatest margarita, but I go have an auto rim right now. I would not go have a drink at the lamp light lounge. If it's nighttime and you're sitting there and the show is going on or just the lights, it's a great location for that. Not bad drinks, but not like I'm so excited If you're looking for like a craft cocktail.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And people rave about the lobster nachos. 10 years ago they were rave-able. They are very hit or miss. If they come even just a little bit cold, they're not good anymore.
Speaker 3:You know. So we went at least once a month and each time was usually three or four days, and so in that year of having our past we were there 35, 40 days, so we had plenty of time to work everything out, dry everything, and there are many things that we repeated and some were like Nope, that's good Moving on, same with magic key terrace.
Speaker 2:Womp, womp.
Speaker 3:Oh, my God.
Speaker 2:And you have to have an annual pass to get in here. But we're telling you you're not really missing anything.
Speaker 3:No, we only went a third time. You know, full me one. Shame on me, yeah, because my mom was with us and she wanted some place to sit that was shaded and had a nice view and I'm like, all right, we'll go up there. The first time they had this trio of gin drinks, where one was pine flavored. It was so good. My wife hated it but I loved it. They don't have that trio anymore, but the surface was always horrible. So the drinks were not that good. I mean, I liked them, but the service was never good and the one night we waited over an hour to get bad service and that really ruins it right there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so if it wasn't important to know any of these sit down locations for cocktails, you need to budget an hour to 90 minutes.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The service is just not. You would think that they would be turning really fast, but the servers are very busy and you just have to keep your expectations low. I think this is especially true at Lamplight and at Blue Bayou.
Speaker 3:Now the big tip in California Adventure is about PIMS.
Speaker 2:So many great things at PIMS. The food in the test kitchen is great, and then they've got the labs, which is cocktails, so you can order drinks with your meal. But there's also a little bar and I love sitting at the bar because you just hang around there. You get to watch all sorts of Avengers walk by you know you're just having your cocktail and Thor strolls by or Loki strolls by. It's super fun. It's great people watching too.
Speaker 3:And the great thing about PIMS is it's right across from Guardians of the Galaxy, yep. And so if you've never gone, you can pre-order a lot of food and a lot of drinks on the app. And then you say I'm here, make it. So as you step onto your car in Guardians, you click the order. Boom. As you step off, you go, I'm here because it's just right across the way. And then you walk up like you order a cocktail. You never have to wait one second for it, you play it right Now. If you just walk up in order, it only take a couple of minutes because, again, they're on tap. But we drag there the most because it's right in the middle of the action, easy to just pick up and go and I'm like, oh time for cocktail, let's go right there. So we love drinking at VIMS. It's just so easy.
Speaker 2:And if you just want the cocktail, I would order from the labs. You'll be faster. Yes, pims Test Kitchen, which they really should have made them two different things. It might say like the next mobile order is available in three hours, that doesn't mean that you can't order just the booze from the labs.
Speaker 3:Yep. And then the bonus tip, which has nothing to do with booze, but getting a soda, a diacoke. In there they have the build your own machine.
Speaker 2:The freestyle.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that's only in a couple of places and that's one of them. So I'm a big diacoke drinker and so that's one of the places besides getting cocktails, we always get the diacoke because I can make it exactly the way I want to.
Speaker 2:Now I think I heard somewhere that's like a special, like a vanilla spray that's only available in this location, not available anywhere. Oh, I don't know that.
Speaker 3:Again, kind of like my cocktails. I like it a little more on the tart side, yeah, and more lemon diacoke kind of guy than vanilla, although I will have it every once in a while but yeah.
Speaker 3:so PIMS is a good spot and, like you said, you sit there and just watch all the action. In the event, you're walking around. It's just so great. This is a perfect spot. Some things aren't built right in terms of flows and stuff, but that in that spot is perfect. I want to go there now too. Let's go. This is making me Jones' them for using it. Let's go. Let's see. Like I said, a lot of places have. The Cozycomb Hotel in number four has beer and cocktails. Flows has beer and seltzer. Hollywood Lounge has a bunch of cocktails, and that's kind of off by itself.
Speaker 2:It's like way back in the corner, but it's not as busy, which is great, and there is some seating around there. It's close to Monster's Inc, so it's a great place. Or if your kids are playing on the band's stage there in California Adventure, it's going to be over by there.
Speaker 3:And, as of this recording, they're changing over that area. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So there's an area that's over, that's got a ton of seating. It's kind of like in between Cars Land and over by the Pixar Pier. It used to be called Pacific Wharf, now it's called San Francisco and it's Baymax themed and there are some specific cocktails, but all of those locations really serve alcohol.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so beer, beer, beer.
Speaker 2:The San Diego beer yeah.
Speaker 3:To go a different way in the park over at Smokejumper's Grill, the one really good thing about that compared to everything else is a frozen rum and coke.
Speaker 2:My mom totally dug the frozen rum and coke.
Speaker 3:So talk about adult cool treat for the day. Now they do do that at Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats. However, not really a lot of booze in the boozy ones. One just has blue curacao. I mean blue curacao isn't all that potent. Yeah, you know it's got a nice flavor to it. I'll drink anything blue so you can get it there. But if you want a true frozen adult cocktail, go to the Smokejumper's and get the rum and coke Really good.
Speaker 2:And if you've got a beer lover with you, there's beer in all of the dining locations. But there is a specific location, Bayside Brews that has a much wider to-go tap. That's over by Boardwalk Pier, Unless you're disagreeing and you find you think someplace else is better.
Speaker 3:No, no, I fully agree with that. Since I teased it earlier, I don't like to wear sleeves too often. Yeah, I'm currently not wearing any right now, but if I was going to Naparose, even just for drinks, I would absolutely go find some sleeves.
Speaker 2:It is literally the nicest restaurant in the entire resort. There is nothing more high end. So if you're looking for someplace really fancy, you're a foodie, then that's going to be where you want to go. It is expensive and in the mornings it is a princess breakfast adventure, which is $125 per person For the most part. If you're there for the food and not characters, and you're going to go in the evening, they have a really extensive venue. I've never been there for cocktails, though.
Speaker 3:Here's what's funny I've never had dinner there. I've only been there for cocktails. But to tell you how good the cocktails are, how good are they?
Speaker 3:The Skippers, which are the bartenders at Trader Sam's. I am friends with a bunch of them. That's just where we drink together. We go to Naparose to drink, so the Skippers like to drink there, and so the cocktails. And now we're to that point where it's way higher end. There is zero Malibu on this menu and it's all good stuff and just a good variety, from gin to vodka to rum and oh yeah, this was a little monk with Appleton rum and chartreuse. Chartreuse is a very much acquired taste, but I love it. My wife does not. That's cow rye compari, just a whole gamut of boozes featured in cocktails. So it's such a nice place to sit down Find your sleeves, find your sleeves and go there.
Speaker 3:That and the Hearthstone Lounge too. Again, the big, long cocktail list. Good cocktails, but that's where I hang out with the other bartenders from around the park.
Speaker 2:So, and just to clarify, those locations are all in the Grand Californian so they're kind of connected to the park. There's an exit over Thorne, california and Redwood, challenge Creek, so it's in between there and you can exit out. That way you can also enter in from downtown Disney or from the actual hotel's entrance. Grand Californian in general is something I usually take a first-timer to walk through, especially if you're around Christmas time. Their lobby is stunning and worth the walk just because it's so beautiful.
Speaker 3:And I gotta tell you there are a lot of nooks and crannies in that.
Speaker 3:There are, we're called the lobby, but the couple of nooks and crannies are so far from the lobby. Everywhere you go that has a leather seat. They're so comfy, and we discovered this about halfway through our year of having the pass. Where there's this corner, no one's ever in, and so we wanted to take a break in really good air conditioning. We'd sit in there I mean, didn't have a drink or nothing Just we happened to find it by accident. I'm like, oh, this chair is comfy, I'm gonna sit here. And that became our new kind of rest spot. We needed just that glass of cold air for like five minutes and want a really comfy seat. All right, I think we've saved the best for last.
Speaker 2:Yes, so we're not talking about anything at the last Disneyland resort, because right now it's kind of in limbo, there's not really much, there's not anything worth walking to over there, but the Disneyland Hotel has the place to get cocktails in the place that. I think that is probably nearest and dearest to Jason's heart, because it is Tiki themed and he is all about the Tiki Woo-hoo.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was at Trader Sam's the first or second we could open. I wish I could remember exactly, but it was right there Without my wife and I texted her from the bar. So back then, before anyone knew about it, you could just waltz him at any time of any day and sit down at the bar and have a drink. And so that first time I was there I was with a couple of friends who lived locally and I texted my wife and she goes, well, and I go. I think I'm gonna get a cot and sleep here, like right in the bar, because a good Tiki bar needs a few things Drinks for sure, of course, atmosphere and also meaning the decor around you.
Speaker 3:Some Tiki bars, this one included, if they have a little magic and the music, it all plays a part in it. And so even when I got to the bathroom speaking of bathrooms, trader Sam's is probably the prettiest Tiki Bar bathroom in the world I even told my wife that she goes what I go. Just the wallpaper, the light, sconce, I mean just everything in the bathroom is like so nice. Now here's your tip, because nowadays it ain't so quiet.
Speaker 2:No, it is busy all the time, all the time. It's rare. I've only been there one or two times where it's not been full.
Speaker 3:Yeah, do not. Do not try and go on Friday and Saturday night like at 7 pm, Unless you love standing in line for three hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because that's literally how long the wait will be is two to three hours.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's a few times we walked because we were like, okay, we've been here a million times, nope, I'm not gonna wait three hours. If you fashion yourself a day drinker, or if you haven't become one, become one, because when you walk in at 11 30 am, sit right at the bar, no wait. And they say there's a 90 minute wait, but during the day, since people aren't beating down the doors like they would be on a Friday and Saturday night, but again, people who don't get the reservation 60 days out, they don't even go, they don't even bother. I'm like, okay, I walk up again, not Friday, not Saturday night, but I walk up on normal times, normal evenings, and just put our name in and you know, 20 minutes a half hour. That's when I go in the gift shop in the hotel. That's where I spend some of my time buying some goodies. But the nice thing is they tripled, quadrupled the size when they added the outdoor patio and Gerulitaris, so you can get the same drinks outside.
Speaker 3:However, there's a lot of magic inside.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a different experience, so if you're going for the ambience, you need to ask to sit inside. It is still beautiful. Outside. You can watch kids play in the pool, and they also have the loaded dual whips there as well, so you can get the dual whip with a shot of rum in it. It's very nice. They've got like tiki torches out there. It's great, but inside is a completely different world.
Speaker 3:A whole new world.
Speaker 1:I know I can't sing, but Don't you dare close your eyes.
Speaker 3:But it seems so appropriate for that moment.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, and so you want to go inside, because magic happens If you order three drinks, and I will not ruin the magic, so no spoiler alert needed. But if you order Krakatoa or U-Oa or Shipwreck, oh yes, yeah, that's why I don't drink the most, because I'm not a bourbon drinker. But here's the big tip If you're facing the bar dead center, you have to sit on the right side someplace, whether at the bar or at the two tops or the four tops, because most magic happens on both sides, but shipwreck only happens on the right.
Speaker 2:Now, if you ask your bartender, if I order a shipwreck, will I be able to see it? They will answer your question without ruining the magic.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:But there are some places that are. It's a small bar. There's not a lot of places to sit, but you can see everything except for the shipwreck. The shipwreck is the one area where you need to have a specific seat.
Speaker 3:And bonus tip if you go like with everything Disney, if you go in the month of December, the magic still happens, but now it has become winter magic, so the tiki's will have little Christmas hats on. Little Santa hats on them. So definitely, if you've been there before not during the holidays definitely stick your head in that Christmas time, because it is a whole new world again, because it's very tropical and magical and Christmassy.
Speaker 2:It's really. It's so much fun. There is a 90 minute wait and during busy times they are very strict on the 90 minutes. For me it's so loud I can't do more than 90 minutes there. But if you're going when it's quiet and people aren't ordering as many of the magic drinks, then it's not. Then I could stay there for hours.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm the other way. I could sit there for five hours, yeah, and drink and talk. And here's your next tip. No, write this one down If you like a tiki drink not on the menu. This is the rare place where the skippers will make other tiki drinks and they all have their Rolodex of their specialties. So definitely have something from the menu to have what they've created for it. But then go off and let me tell you if you are a drinker and you like booze, get the zombie. That is my favorite drink there.
Speaker 2:And that one has a souvenir mug.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes. So the zombie has a souvenir mug, the Mai Tai has a souvenir mug. The Shipwreck has a souvenir mug. The Oa has a souvenir bowl. The Krakatoa Punch has a best souvenir bowl, because as you drink you see the Krakatoa. It's awesome, but the zombie will kick your ass.
Speaker 2:And I asked somebody post that like how do I know how much more the souvenir mugs are versus the regular drink prices? Yeah, that's the one thing.
Speaker 3:They don't put prices anywhere on that menu. I think any of them is, but that one for sure. I think it's like nowadays it's like 40, some with the mug. But the other tip is you can come home and sell the mug for about what you paid for with a drink in it, and so essentially your drinks are free. That's what I do all over the world.
Speaker 2:Jason and I actually became friends because he is one of the world's leading experts on eBay. If you're looking to kind of get more information, you should follow him for that. Or he's also got a Tiki channel that he's been growing and he's got so much knowledge when it comes to Tiki. So fun to listen to him talk about the history and all of these different things. And remember you've been walking all day. It might be hot, so the drinks can hit you a little bit harder, and it is a bummer if you only have two days in the park and then you're hungover for one of them. So you know, make sure you pace yourself.
Speaker 3:But also you can walk off your cocktail calories real good. If you do day drinking and before you take a little afternoon napping up, get back in the park and walk those calories off and you're like it's like I didn't have any drinks. And then you got the mugs and you can resell and then you could pay for your drinks and it's like they didn't even exist, but they tasted good going down. Yes.
Speaker 2:If you're going for cocktails, trader Sam's, carthage Circle, uggas are the priority places, and there are lots of really great restaurants in the Anaheim area that offer great cocktails as well. So don't feel like you're limited to just the resort. But if you're not somebody that wants to leave or you don't have a car, there's a lot of really great restaurants in downtown Disney as well.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, and they all have booths like Black Tab, Ballast Point, Cocktails, Wine, Beer and Seltzer. If you're having dinner in downtown Disney, plenty of options there. We usually skip those and walk right over to Trader Sam's because that's on the other side of downtown Disney from the park.
Speaker 2:And Trader Sam's does have food as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, they've got like a little. They've got several things. I'm gluten-free, so I only need a couple of things there, but I've had good luck there. The food's pretty decent there, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:We tend to work our meals around there too, since we're sitting there. Yeah, you know we're going to be there for a couple hours having cocktails. We'll definitely get our food there, but yeah, I have spent quite a bit of time because Trader Sam's been open for like 13 years now and something like that, and I have spent a lot of hours there.
Speaker 2:And then if you're looking for cocktail, wine and beer just a shameless plug of park magic for our Picky Mickey tool you can actually go into Picky Mickey and say cocktail, beer, wine or alcohol and you can search and it will show you exactly in the park what alcohol is available at each location. So it's not like going to beer and then finding out that that place only has IPA or only has Coors Light. You can see exactly what's available and you can save the cocktails that you really want to try.
Speaker 3:So you have like a list. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I make those lists myself, anyway, yeah. I'm a nerd that makes spreadsheets for everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you even have walking directions too, so like you can click on it, it will give you Google Map walking directions 47 steps to the outer rim, which is crazy that Disneyland app doesn't do that. They just show you the map, which is really helpful if you know the parks, but if you don't know the parks it's a little less helpful.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh yeah, Definitely got to have walking. One last thing I just thought about All the food type festivals that come to California Adventure. They were all the little small houses, the little kiosks.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And they'll have cocktails just for those different times, and so you're not just beholden just to the actual restaurants and snack stands. If they're having any festival, the food and wine, the Chinese New Year, if they're having any of those, there'll be specially cocktails just for that. And the Christmas one don't remember exactly what it was, but man, there was a good Christmas cocktail that a little on the sweet side for me, but it was so good I was like, yeah, I'll have another one of those, please. Thank you very much. So keep that. If you're there any of those times, make sure you check out.
Speaker 3:besides, the food offerings too the cocktail offerings, because it'll be different than any place in the park.
Speaker 2:It used to be that Disneyland was a dry park. Now that is not really the case. Disneyland, you still kind of have to sit down. But California Adventure, there's so many options. We hope this episode has been helpful. Drink responsibly, drive responsibly, of course, but if you want to get more Tiki information, you can follow Jason. What's the best way, what's the best channel for them to follow you at?
Speaker 3:Well, probably my Tiki group on Facebook, which is PaulNationPop Tiki Collectors.
Speaker 2:And then you can find him. You Google Jason T Smith, he comes up. He's a big guy, long beard, you know can't.
Speaker 3:No hair, no hair, can't miss it.
Speaker 2:I was going to skip that part.
Speaker 3:Because there's a lot of Jason Smiths in the world.
Speaker 2:So the.
Speaker 3:T definitely separates me from the pack a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:But if you're Jason T Smith and Tiki, you'll definitely find me.
Speaker 2:And then, if you want to know more about the app, you can go to parkmagiccom and there's a link at the top where you can click on Picky Mickey and learn a little bit more about our food finder.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this episode of the Park Magic podcast. For more tips and planning tools designed to help simplify your Disneyland adventure, visit parkmagiccom. If you enjoyed today's episode and want to hear more tips, be sure to subscribe to the Park Magic podcast, and don't forget to leave us a review. Your feedback helps us spread the magic even further. Leaving a review could also help you. Each month, we will be selecting one reviewer to win a one-hour planning session with Robin. Winners will be announced at the end of the first episode of every month. Thanks for tuning in and remember that we are here to help you have a less stressful and more magical trip to Disneyland.