Walt Disney World Claims Best Overall Beverage Program, Hotels, Casinos & Cruise Lines

The beverage program at Walt Disney World is designed to enhance the guest experience by creating unique recipes, imaginative presentations, and thoughtfully cultivated offerings.

With nearly 600 food and beverage venues, the Walt Disney World beverage program centers on unique offerings that integrate with the specific location.

Some venues offer customized concoctions, such as the Barcelona Lounge at Disney’s Coronado Springs Gran Destino Tower where guests can craft their own G&T by selecting from a variety of gins and flavored tonics.

Enchanted Rose, modeled after Disney’s live action film Beauty and the Beast, offers two custom, tableside cocktails that depict two primary themes in the story: love and envy.

The award-winning beer program incorporates local and important offerings, as well as proprietary brews made especially for Walt Disney World. Each resort features local and craft brewers that fit the geographic theme. For example, at Epcot’s World Showcase, imported beers are served from the ten countries. Specialty beers were brewed for venues, such as Gold Squadron Lager, White Wampa Ale, Gamorrean Ale, and Bad Motivator IPA at Oga’s Cantina.

Wine lists are carefully cultivated to integrate with the restaurant or resort environment.  The award-winning Victoria & Albert’s Restaurant was honored with a Wine Spectator “Best of Award of Excellence” and offers over 600 wine selections, including rare and valuable vintages. Annually, the resort purchases over 400 different wines, 300 spirits and 200 beers.

Equal focus is placed on creating innovative non-alcohol beverages to accommodate every guest. Traditional tea is served at the Garden View Tea Room at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Gourmet milkshakes are available at D-Luxe Burger, SciFi Dine-In Theater, and Beaches & Cream SodaShop. Several Disney resorts feature Coca-Cola Freestyle machines and artisanal roasted coffees, including 20 specialty blends produced by local roaster Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Company served across all resort venues.

The program incorporates specialty and souvenir glassware to create an immersive experience. For example, The Mystic Portal Punch is available in an Alien Sipper cup modeled after “the claw” arcade game in Toy Story. Tropical concoctions at Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto are available in vintage Polynesian inspired glassware.

The Disney Beverage Team collaborated with Walt Disney Imagineering and beverage agency MarkeTeam Inc. to develop themed menu collateral to present the beverage program across diverse food and beverage venues. These menus showcase beverages through stylized photography and are coordinated to promote specific beverages or categories.

In terms of training, the Disney Beverage Team launched its Beverage Learning Series in 2017. On a monthly basis, beverage professionals conduct education seminars on topics that cover the entire beverage world. Cast members can attend two courses offered through Disney University: the Appetite for Service class, where they learn about table service fundamentals, and Uncork the Magic, a wine 101 course.

On an annual basis, the Walt Disney World Parks and Resorts serves over 81 million beverages. Beverage sales represent 24 percent of total food and beverage sales. Last year, the beverage category grew by nine percent.