The Coveted Limited Edition Tiki Mugs
On a recent trip to Magic Kingdom, we hopped on the monorail and made our way to the Polynesian Village Resort to Trader Sam’s to get our hands on one of the new Monstro Tiki Mugs. These are the newest in a line of special addition tiki mugs and this one coincides with the new remake of Disney’s Pinnochio.
Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto has a lot of very cool tiki mugs you can buy, but the most sought after ones seem to be these limited edition offerings. We knew that it might be tricky to get one since they usually limit the amount they will sell in one day. If you are looking to get a limited edition mug yourself, either the Monstro or a future release, hopefully our experience is helpful to you.
Getting the Mug: Our Experience
We headed to Trader Sam’s around 12:30pm to see if we could get in line or join a waitlist. There was a friendly cast member out front of the closed bar (they usually open at 3pm) and she gave us a paper wristband that guaranteed us a mug anytime after 3 while they were open. The wristbands are limited to 2 per person. The mugs are available in two spots, inside Trader Sam’s or on the Tiki Terrace, outside behind the bar.
The wristband does not guarantee entrance into the actual tiki bar. To get on that waitlist, you have to wait in line until 2:30 when they start taking phone numbers to put you on a list for seating.
Since there was a new mug out, the line got pretty long going past Capt. Cook’s down the hall. If you have never been before, you might find the wait worth it. But, since we live close enough, we prefer to take advantage of the shorter lines when there is not a new mug in demand. About a month ago we just walked up to the door right at 2:30 and got our name on the list and were called back at 3 when they opened.
We opted to skip the inside bar this time and head to the Tiki Terrace outside to pick up our mug. We arrived a little after 3pm and there was a short line at the Terrace bar, where you order the drink, which comes with the souvenir mug. The drink and mug is $50 and this price is set no matter if you want the mug only, or if you opt for the non-alcoholic version of the drink.
At the outside bar, the drinks are not served in the Monstro mugs. After you buy your drink, you just show your receipt at a separate table to pick up your mug already packaged up in a bag. We highly suggest that you open it immediately to check for any damage. In the past, we ran into a couple paint defects and they happily swapped it out for us.
The Tiki Drinks
Nick went with the alcohol drink and Nicolette opted for the alcohol free version. Note that these are 2 totally different drinks, not just one with booze and one without. Both of the drinks were really good and seemingly well thought out.
The Whale of a Tale had rum, gin, pineapple juice, and orgeat, garnished with charred pineapple. The taste was not as sweet as you might expect with a predominant flavor of pineapple.
The Treacherous Waters (non-alcoholic) was ginger ale, falernum, cinnamon, lime juice, and garnished with fresh strawberries and a slice of candied ginger. This mocktail was very gingery and the fresh strawberries were a nice touch.
Is it worth the price?
The Monstro Tiki Mug itself is quite a beauty and a worthy splurge in our eyes. The mug feels heavy, like solid ceramic, with a glazed interior area for the drink. There is a decent level of craftsmanship as you can see all of the details of the whale face and the wood-grain effects.
While it is unfortunate that the alcohol and alcohol free versions are the same price, we were okay buying this one for our collection. It can be hard not to fall into the Disney trap of just buying everything that is limited edition, but if the design really speaks to us, we know that it would be something we would regret not getting. Monstro now lives happily on our open kitchen shelves bringing some tiki flair into our lives.
Need some more tiki drinks in your life?
Check out our Tiki Tea Recipes
