Trader Sam's Grog Grotto

[jtsalien]

that's for magic kingdom viewing, looks like it's typically at the poly around 9pm, which works perfect with our dinner reservation. Thanks for the recommendation.

Yeah that makes sense based on when we caught it. No problem. Have a blast!

Let us know if you try anything new and like it. We could definitely all be helping each other out more in the parks.

 

[Sledge]

Nautilus is a good drink, but at around $30 even without the mug, still overpriced.

It's really not that bad. The Nautilus is 32 ounces. The Krakatoa and HippopotoMai-Tai mugs are 16 ounces. The Nautilus is $29, the Krakatoa is $12.50 and the HippopotoMai-Tai is $12. If we are going by an even cost per fluid ounce comparison, the Nautilus should be $25. But I have been to Sam's twice now where they didn't have a Nautilus mug available to serve us with, so the supply-and-demand factor must be that additional $4 charge. :look:

To be perfectly honest, I think it is one of the better drinks on either coast and don't have a problem with the cost for the experience. It's fun to share a drink like this or the Uh-Oa with first timers.

 

[rhino4evr]

Well hopefully they have the Nautaulis because that’s one my list. Not sure I’d be interested without the mug though.

 

[rhino4evr]

So we got back yesterday from our trip. regarding Trader Sams...

We loved it. Got lucky and got the last corner table right after 4pm. We got to see most of the "show" elements due to a large party that was ordering plenty of drinks. We had two drinks inside and two drinks on the patio...I'd rate them

1. Nautilus - Our favorite drink and mug. We actually brought one home. I've seen a lot of people complain about the price, but I guess these people don't buy ANYTHING on Disney property. When a Margarita in Epcot costs $14, and a T-shirt in a gift shop is $24.99. Paying $26 for 2 drinks worth, and an extra $23 for the mug is a steal for Disney standards. Not to mention the drink was fantastic too. The mug itself is giant, and will make a great addition to my collection.
2. Dark and Stormy - We had this on the patio, and felt it was the best "value" of all the drinks we had. Strong enough to sip on.
3. Zombie Head - We had this inside. This was good, but I've had better Zombies in my time. Pretty much every Tiki bar makes their own version, so there is a lot of competition.
4. Mai Tai Hippo or whatever (patio) - this was the only drink that fell flat. not that it was terrible, but it was overpriced compared to the dark and stormy, with way less alcohol, and way too much ice. Felt kind of ripped off actually.

For food we got the mini corndogs, which were just "ok". They were out of the regular sauce, and the replacement sauce (an Asian type sweet sauce) didn't do much for the flavor.

Overall, I'm pretty sure we will go to Trader Sam's every visit now. We were really impressed by the bar, and would have stayed longer if we didn't have our 8 year old with us. She was amused at first, but only for about an hour, and was ready to leave.

 

[Andysol]

Man, @rhino4evr - now I want a dark and stormy. And it’s only 8am.

Anyone interested in making one- it’s the easiest drink in the world. All you need is goslings black seal rum and ginger ale.

 

[jtsalien]

So we got back yesterday from our trip. regarding Trader Sams...

We loved it. Got lucky and got the last corner table right after 4pm. We got to see most of the "show" elements due to a large party that was ordering plenty of drinks. We had two drinks inside and two drinks on the patio...I'd rate them

1. Nautilus - Our favorite drink and mug. We actually brought one home. I've seen a lot of people complain about the price, but I guess these people don't buy ANYTHING on Disney property. When a Margarita in Epcot costs $14, and a T-shirt in a gift shop is $24.99. Paying $26 for 2 drinks worth, and an extra $23 for the mug is a steal for Disney standards. Not to mention the drink was fantastic too. The mug itself is giant, and will make a great addition to my collection.
2. Dark and Stormy - We had this on the patio, and felt it was the best "value" of all the drinks we had. Strong enough to sip on.
3. Zombie Head - We had this inside. This was good, but I've had better Zombies in my time. Pretty much every Tiki bar makes their own version, so there is a lot of competition.
4. Mai Tai Hippo or whatever (patio) - this was the only drink that fell flat. not that it was terrible, but it was overpriced compared to the dark and stormy, with way less alcohol, and way too much ice. Felt kind of ripped off actually.

For food we got the mini corndogs, which were just "ok". They were out of the regular sauce, and the replacement sauce (an Asian type sweet sauce) didn't do much for the flavor.

Overall, I'm pretty sure we will go to Trader Sam's every visit now. We were really impressed by the bar, and would have stayed longer if we didn't have our 8 year old with us. She was amused at first, but only for about an hour, and was ready to leave.

Thanks for the review! Glad you had a good time. Give the tacos a try next time. Not a great value (but again, it's Disney) but they were delicious.

 

[PenguinCowboy]

We have a trip planned for the beginning of February (yeah, not the best timing, but granted who could predict the state of things 6 months ago), and I am hoping we can fit in a visit here at some point during out week!

I know they don't do reservations at this point, so we will be virtual queueing it up (which is totally fine, we have a number of days we could fit it in, so we will just be diligent about checking). Was wondering about a few things pertaining to this though.

-From my understanding you can only enter the virtual queue in person, correct? So we would just have to make a stop there first, enter, and then find a place to wait it out? We have a MK day on a Sunday, and so we might be able to pop over toward the end of the day, enter in, finish things out at the park and then if there is any remaining time in the queue just wait it out.
-I know it is hard to predict (given crowd levels can be all over), but does anyone have any measure on the typical VQ wait times? I know when it first reopened it was upward of 2+ hours, but was curious if it had simmered down in the meantime.
-On a similar note, for the virtual queue, when our ticket is up, do you know how long of a grace period we have? If we had entered, headed back to MK to finish the day, then got called, would we have enough of a grace period to make the 20 or so minute trip back?
-Finally, I know they changed the name for the Shrunken Head drinks and rolls, but was curious if they removed a good portion of the presentation for the drink too? I will still likely get it (because the mug is super fun) but was just curious if the show elements were equally nerfed to accompany the changed name?

Sorry for so many questions, haha, if even a couple field answers I'll be more than happy!