Disney World, Epcot, and Drinking Around the World

Now that Epcot is reaching its 27th birthday, there have been a number of traditions and annual events taking place over time. The Flower & Garden Festival has been an ongoing tradition for several years now, which is a floral festival featuring innumerable topiaries along with all sorts of flowers and other ornamental plants displayed in abundance throughout the park. This usually occurs during the springtime, and has a great added bonus of the Flower Power Concert Series, featuring well known artists from the sixties. Davey Jones seems to be a mainstay of this, to give some hint to the flavor of the atmosphere. Paul Revere and the Raiders has often been there, and also the Turtles. It’s always a good time at Epcot during this festival, particularly for those with green thumbs and a shutterbug habit.

The autumn season has seen the Annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, and this year will be the 14th installment. This festival also features a lot of musical talent, and this year won’t be an exception. Starship will be there along with a host of other famous artists. Your humble author grew up on Starship, Jefferson Starship, and even Jefferson Airplane, so I’ll be sure to pass on my thoughts after this takes place.

While the Annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival is really cool and a lot of fun, it can be pricy. You could start in Mexico with $200 in your pocket and be fishing for change by the time you reach Canada. You won’t be full, and you won’t be tipsy, either. The tastes are great and a lot of fun to experience, but the portions are small. They should be, since you have a long way to go, but they cost somewhere around $3 to $7 or more per serving. Have a marvelous time, but bring some cash you don’t need any more.

With all that said, the purpose of this article is to enlighten you on a longstanding tradition that has taken place at Epcot unofficially for many years; probably for about as long as the park has been open. This old tradition is known by the name, Drinking Around the World.

Drinking Around the World was started by Disney Cast Members (employees, if you weren’t aware) a long time ago. So long ago that I don’t know when it started, but I know it was well established when I first started working there in 1992. This was likely started in the park’s early years, probably soon after opening in 1982. Therefore, this old unofficial tradition goes back farther and has enjoyed more years than any other Epcot annual event. The thing is, there is no particular time of year for Drinking Around the World. More than likely, it was more of a rite of passage for most people working at Disney World, and especially those who are on some college or international program and staying at Vista Way.

Oh, if you didn’t know of Vista Way, it is the housing development where college-age people stay during their few months while on the college or international programs. What you have is hundreds of people at a time, all averaging about 20 years old, in a very tight-knit housing community. If you do the math, you wouldn’t be surprised that this place has been mentioned several times within the pages of magazines like Playboy.

Okay, enough of that visual. Drinking Around the World likely started because once Epcot came into being, there were alcoholic drinks available in each of the country pavilions making up Epcot’s World Showcase. This was done begrudgingly at first, and they were very restrictive then, since drinking was new to Disney World. There were no alcoholic drinks available in the Magic Kingdom, except for perhaps some wine at dinner, and this is still the case. In EPCOT Center, as it was known then, you had to consume your drink within the confines of the pavilion where it was obtained, for example. This is not so much the case anymore. Another thing that got it going was the variety of drinks to be had, from margaritas in Mexico, to various beers and wines, including Sake and other specialized drinks.

It eventually developed into a routine of starting at Mexico and then having a great time drinking the available drinks in each of the countries all the way around the lake, with the party coming to a head at the Rose & Crown Pub, where some heady English brew could be had.

Part of the trick, and the supposed fun, was to be able to make it to The United Kingdom pavilion and the Rose & Crown without going down. Plus, it was great fun because you’re with new friends and having a great time in a safe environment. Few are the Cast Members who have not partaken of this unique (and hushed) Disney World tradition.

I probably wouldn’t be discussing this in this public venue if this was still primarily a Cast Member tradition, but it isn’t and hasn’t been for a long time. The reason for this is there have been a lot of people who look back on their time doing this when they worked there (for some of them, the years have accumulated) and have since done it as tourists, either with friends or new spouses, as well as a variety of other reasons. Back when they worked there, they could stumble to the bus and back to Vista Way, but many people who are staying at a Disney World resort can do about the same thing back to their hotel. Folks staying at the Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club can walk back to their hotels, providing they were moderate in their consumption.

There were a lot of partying people who often stayed at the Horizons Resort (man, I am going to get the evil eye for exposing this, but I just can’t help myself), which was the Horizons attraction after the sponsor General Electric pulled out of it. Once GE pulled out, the building was mostly abandoned and the attraction, Horizons, ran only seasonally. So, when it was abandoned, a lot of people stayed many a night under the roof of that building. So many, in fact, and for so long, that there were people who had hidden places in the building so secured that they had beds with nightstands and alarm clocks in place. Yes, there were people staying there almost long term. I’ll talk about this now, since Horizons is long gone and has since been replaced by Mission: SPACE.

As long as those embracing this old tradition of Drinking Around the World are reasonably responsible and don’t become so intoxicated that they’re a nuisance or risking being escorted to the gate by security, it can be a lot of fun for those staying at a Disney Resort or accompanying a designated driver. This is sort of the precursor to the Annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. And, to be honest, likely a little bit cheaper (but not by much).

So, if you’re staying on Disney property or have a designated driver, enjoy becoming a patron of this old time, unofficial tradition taking place at Epcot called, Drinking Around the World. Have a couple margaritas at Mexico. They’re usually frozen these days and quite enjoyable, as well as in a variety of flavors. Then move on to a beer or something at Norway and China (Tsing Tao beer is there, I believe), and then the famously heady beers of Germany. Germany also has a lot of wine available at one of their gift shops, as well as wine tasting. You just have to try some Italian wines, and certainly some Sake and Plum wine in Japan. Be cautious about the Plum wine, as it is very sweet, but the Sake is marvelous and available in a wide range of styles. I honestly cannot remember what was in Morocco, but France has the expected fine wines, but also a nice French beer. Then, the Rose & Crown has Bass Ale, although I think they used to have Guinness. They might still have Guinness on tap, but I am not sure now. I am quite often with my children when I visit Epcot nowadays, so it’s been some time since I’ve stepped into that quaint, little bar. Oh, and I believe Canada has Labbats beer.

So there, I have officially let this unofficial cat out of the bag. Or, did I? Punch in Drinking Around the World in your favorite search engine and voila, there are all sorts of people commenting about their time partaking of this unique tradition. You’ll find a lot of advice, humorous stories, and foggy reminiscing. I went on for several pages on Google regarding this! I am anxiously awaiting the day when we have a United States President who admits they, too, went Drinking Around the World. 


 

Courtesy of Walt Disney World