A few weeks ago, Jessi and I spent three days at the Disney theme parks, and we approached each day differently when it came to drinks:

Day 1: By the end of Magic Kingdom, we just wanted to go rest. Thankfully, our resort had an amazing bacon-garnished, bourbon-spiked milkshake that was just the right size for us to split.

Day 2: As mentioned in a previous post, we quickly gave up on “drinking around the world” at Epcot, choosing instead to limit our cocktails to what genuinely sounded good to us. This was definitely the right call.

Day 3: Jessi had a surprise for me, and not only did this surprise feed into my undying love for a certain film franchise; it also gave me a great example for how to serve cocktails to a large crowd quickly and efficiently.

We spent our third day in Orlando at Hollywood Studios, the current site of Disney’s Star Wars attractions and the future home of Disney’s “Galaxy’s Edge” amusement park. Having both grown up on Star Wars, Jessi and I were probably the most excited about this park, and after riding Star Tours six times and getting hugs from Chewbacca, we still had one more important stop: the Star Wars “Galactic Spectacular” Cocktail and Dessert Party.

While stormtroopers patrolled the party to maintain order (and pose for pictures), fans of all ages browsed a buffet of beverages and sweets. There were cupcakes modeled after various Star Wars characters along with pudding cups resembling the series’s famous “blue milk.” Servers to the side dipped nutella and ice cream into liquid nitrogen for a delicious treat. But of course, the star attraction was the cocktails. While I don’t know the exact measurements involved, I did get the ingredients and prep for all three:

Galactic Punch
coconut rum, spiced rum, mango syrup, passion orange guava juice
Syrup and juice premixed in dispenser; stir with rums and ice; serve.

Cosmic Citrus Twist
citrus vodka, watermelon lemonade
Watermelon lemonade in dispenser; stir with vodka and ice; serve.

Lightspeed Margarita
tequila, blood orange syrup, sour mix, lime juice
Syrup, juice, and sour mix in dispenser; stir with tequila and ice; serve.

A few things worth noting about this cocktail selection:
– With the exception of the spiced rum, all spirits were milder and sweeter.
– Everything had a sweet, citrus, and/or tropical flavor profile.
– The cocktails relied heavily on pre-mixed/batched ingredients for quick service.

(Side-note: Disney may be the one time I’m willing to look the other way on sour mix. A dehydrated mixture of sugar and lemon juice, sour mix gives drinks a noticeably artificial taste and color. You know how there’s always something a little off about a margarita from a franchise restaurant like Chili’s or Applebee’s? Almost a little sulfuric— like the bartender tossed in a few ounces of flat Mountain Dew? Yeah, that’s the taste of sour mix. Cocktail purists despise sour mix, but when you produce as many cocktails a day as Disney, I understand using it. Just to be clear, I’m not happy about it, but I get it.)

As with the Epcot drinks, the Star Wars cocktails catered to a sweeter palate, but since Jessi and I didn’t have to pay for these drinks individually, it was easier to take a chance on them. Additionally, there was a stress on efficiency, with the drinks requiring as little onsite prep time as possible, allowing the bartender to serve the whole room quickly. The Disney staff achieved this with a technique called “batching” where the bar staff premix as many ingredients as possible to cut down on serving time. When cocktail bars feature a drink special or when parties offer a signature drink, there’s a good chance the staff will batch some of the ingredients ahead of time so they can serve dozens of drinks as quickly as possible. Pour, stir, serve, repeat!

Batching sometimes gets a bad rap, but it’s no different than serving from a punchbowl or carafe, and as long as you’re not keeping ice in the batched ingredients, there’s no harm coming from dilution either. If you prepare the right amount in advance, batching is often a better use of time and resources for larger events. The next time you find yourself hosting a large gathering where you know there will be two or three most commonly requested drinks, consider batching some of the ingredients ahead of time so you can devote more attention to your guests. After all, it’s not just useful for theme parks.

(unlike sour mix)