Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto is a hidden gem at Disney World Resort and you don’t need a park ticket to experience it! If you’re looking for an exciting “Adult Night Out” this is the place to go!
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What Is Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto?
Only the coolest lounge in all of Disney World!! Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto is a unique speak-easy type lounge that comes alive and is a fully interactive experience.
The first time I visited Trader Sam’s was on a girls trip with my mom. We decided to do the Monorail Pub Crawl and I heard that Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto was the place to go…but I had no other indication of what to expect. Mom and I were sat at the bar; I ordered us a shareable drink and some appetizers.
I knew the night was going to be good because the bartenders were on point. They were interacting with all of the guests, laughing and joking, every one seemed to be having a good time. The bar itself is decorated with a mixture of Jungle Cruise, Tiki Room, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. For the first 15 minutes I was thoroughly enthralled with looking at all of the decor and not really noticing the shenanigans going on around us.
Our bartender brought our drink out to us, but not before setting the stage…which should have given me a clue that this wasn’t a normal drink I had ordered. Honestly, I ordered the drink because I was being a bit cost conscious…it was a shareable drink for $27 while single drinks were $18. Little did I know, this drink comes with the FULL bar experience.
As the bartender is presenting us our large fishbowl style drink he begins chanting and before I realize it, the WHOLE bar joins in the chant. The lights start flickering, thunder starts crashing, the wind begins to blow, and the bartender starts misting us with water…. the bar turns into a full blown hurricane! And, mom and I can’t catch our breath from laughing so hard because this is not what we expected.
As the grand finale of this drink presentation, the bartender lights the drink on fire and sprinkles cinnamon on top to create fireworks! The drink itself was several different rums mixed together with tropical fruit juices and it did go down smooth…but the total value of the drink is in the performance!
As the night drew on and I started paying attention to the happenings at the bar, I realized many of the drinks come with their own interactive elements that get the whole bar involved.
What to Order at Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto?
There are so many choices for drinks at Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto…but I will say, you better like rum! Rum is the main ingredient in most of the mixed cocktails. Which makes sense when you think about the theming of this lounge.
They do also have beer flights and wine…but the real shows come with the mixed drinks. We ordered the Uh-Oa! which I thought was the best experience out of all of them!
A lot of people seemed to enjoy the Polynesian Pearl which emerges from a large clam in the corner… you get to keep the pearl and every once in a while someone gets a black pearl. The best interactions I saw were orders for The Nautilus, the Zombie, the Uh-Oa!, and I’m sure there were others we missed out on.
Not a drink with an experience but a drink every adult should experience is the Spikey Pineapple! This was the perfect Disney adult drink of mango rum blended with pineapple DoleWhip! If you love DoleWhips then you have to try the Spiky Pineapple!!
Where is Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto?
Luckily, you don’t need a theme park ticket to experience Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto! It’s located inside Disney’s Polynesian Resort, downstairs near Captain Cook’s.
If you’re not careful you might totally pass by this unassuming entrance! When entering the Polynesian Resort, you’ll head to the back left hallway going down toward Captain Cook’s. Continue down the hall past Captain Cook’s and you’ll see the wall change colors on the right, then there’s a wooden door with a small sign that say’s Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto.
How to Get Reservations for Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto?
Unfortunately, Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto doesn’t take reservations and they don’t allow walk ups! So how do you get in to Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto? It was a complete mystery to me, how can you have a pub that doesn’t do reservations and they don’t do walk-ups…it just didn’t make sense to me.
The only way to get into Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto is to get on “The List” and arrive back within a certain time frame from being called. The exclusivity factor lies in the anticipation of getting on “The List“!
When mom and I arrived at Disney’s Polynesian Resort we headed straight to Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto to get our names on “The List”. The hostess told me it would be about an hour and a half, but they would text me when it was our turn and we would have 15 minutes to get back to be seated.
So we decided to head over to Disney’s Grand Floridian to start our Monorail Pub Crawl at the Enchanted Rose. I do not recommend doing this because if I had received the text before paying our tab we would have missed our 15 minute window. Luckily, I received the text as we were boarding the monorail to return to the Polynesian and we arrived back at Trader Sam’s with a minute to spare.
This 15 minute return timeframe is what adds to the allure of this bar and makes it so exclusive. If you happen to miss your 15 minute return time, they may let you add your name back to the list and try again…but I advise you stay close by because Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto is worth the wait!!