As the 3 o’clock hour started to hit we got a visit from Erica our hostess, it was also her birthday shell-a-bration, to start taking names and party numbers to see how many of the long line of fans would be able to make it in to the 51 person bar.
After the head count, the first 48 guest were stamped while those behind them would be given pagers to alert them when space would be available inside, but they were more then welcome to enjoy the Trader Sam’s Tiki Terrace that also served drinks and had live entertainment.
Now for the fun part…at about 3:30 Sam and all his amazing skippers invited in the first guests inside for all the bell ringing and “Aloha’s” we could take!
Once inside of the Grotto there is so much to see i will be spending many hours just taking pictures, but they also have food and drink(would hope with bar in the name)
Now as I am not a drinker, nor much of a food critic (if I like it I eat it, if not I don’t) I will, as they say, let the pictures speak for themselves!
Now moving onto the main reason to visit the Grotto, the drinks! What really makes Sam’s unique both in Florida and in California is the mugs that many of the signature drinks come in and even more so, the event that happens when many of said drinks are purchased.
The first is the Polynesian Pearl, this drink comes in a plastic pearl for you to keep and is made with RumChata cream liqueur, Grand Marnier, and Cinnamon with Tropical Juices. While this is just a plastic pearl, it does hold a fun surprise because when you order the pearl it comes out of a giant clam shell with 1 in 100 being a black pearl
The second, and by far my favorite, is the Nautilus which serves at least 2 and is Barbancourt Pango Rhum. Appleton Estate Reserve Run, Combier Crème de Pêche de Vigne Liqueur, Tropical Juices and Falernum and served in Nautilus mug.
When the Nautilus is ordered a lot happens between the skippers and things behind the bar along with a great lighting effect and actual narration from the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction from the Magic Kingdom.
Now there are a few other effects that happen when the Krakatoa Punch, HippopotoMai-Tai, and Shrunken Zombie Head’s are ordered but I will leave those for you to find out on your own about.
I will however give you one of the highlights of the entire bar and that is when someone orders an Uh-Oa.
The Uh-Oa has just about everything you could want in a drink…lots of RUM!
Now to wrap up our tiki time…