I have an old souvenir book from my first trip to Disney in the late seventies. And while it’s super fun to look through the whole thing, some of my favorite images are from Disney’s Contemporary Resort.
It’s here that I first learned about Top of the World, the restaurant that once occupied the spot that California Grill calls home these days.
Well, the seventies glamour that epitomized the Contemporary may have given way to a sleek mix that is both modern and retro at once, but we don’t have to look too far to bring some of those fun days back. Thanks to Disney cookbooks, their cocktails live on!
That’s right! I’m talking about those famous and delicious Monorail Drinks!
If you love retro Disney cocktails like we do (hellooooo, Kungaloosh!), then you’re going to really love this post. Because we’re not giving you just one recipe, but three! Seriously — how much cooler will your next party be?? Very. You’re welcome.
Can’t You Just Feel Monorail Red Swooshing By??
So Please Stand Clear of the Doors (Por Favor Mantengase Alejado de las Puertas) — get those blenders ready — and, GO!
Monorail Cocktails
Top of the World
Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Monorail Pink
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 1/4 ounces gin
1 1/4 ounces pineapple juice
1 1/4 ounces orange juice
1 ounce grenadine
1/2 ounce lemon bar mix
1 1/2 ounces heavy cream
3/4 cup crushed ice
orange slice
maraschino cherry
Instructions:
Mix gin, fruit juices, grenadine, lemon bar mix, and heavy cream in a blender with ice. Blend for 10 seconds. Pour into tall glass. Garnish with orange slice and cherry.
Monorail Red
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 1/4 ounces tequila
3/4 ounce sweet licorice-flavored liqueur
3/4 ounce grenadine
2 1/2 ounces lemon bar mix
2 ounces pineapple juice
3/4 cup crushed ice
maraschino cherry
Instructions:
Combine tequila, licorice liqueur, grenadine, lemon bar mix, pineapple juice, and ice in a blender. Blend for 10 seconds and pour into a tall glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Monorail Yellow
Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces rum
3 ounces orange juice
3/4 ounces coconut cream
2 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
3/4 cup crushed ice
maraschino cherry
orange slice
Instructions:
Combine rum, orange juice, coconut cream, pineapple juice, and ice in a blender. Blend for 10 seconds and pour into a tall glass. Garnish with maraschino cherry and orange slice.
And if you have access to the new Top of the World Lounge at Bay Lake Towers, you can stop in for a Monorail Yellow the next time you’re home! (Read our review of Top of the World here.)
Will you be making Monorail cocktails for your next special occasion? Leave a comment and let us know which one sounds the best to you!
Recipe Courtesy Mickey’s Gourmet Cookbook
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I’ve been making the Monorail Yellow at home for years and I didn’t even know it! Thank you – I now know what to call it (and what to order next time I’m there)!! 🙂
These all sound fantastic! I am curious though, what exactly is “lemon bar mix”? I can’t stop picturing a pre-mixed dessert concoction for lemon squares, which are delicious, but I’m sure that’s not what this is.
I think I’ll make the monorail red this weekend. I’m a tequila fan so this caught my interest immediately.
Katie — they are crave inducing, yes? My best guess is that’s a generic term for something like sweet and sour. It threw me too at first, but I think they were just trying not to use any brand names when they wrote the recipes. Witness “sweet licorice-flavored liqueur” in the Monorail Red. I super just wanted to write “Pernod.” 😀
Joe B — Let us know how it comes out!
Andrea — that Monorail Yellow sounds fab. 🙂
Dang I was slowly scrolling down hoping that my favorite monorail drink was there but sadly no….does someone have the recipe for monorail purple?? I remember the way it was described on the menu card ” champagne, grape juice and a fiery explosion! What is the fiery explosion? Does someone have the recipe in an old disney cookbook or perhaps a long time bartend?
What’s the access policy for this lounge now? I know it used to be you’d be a DVC member of Baylake Towers….then just a DVC Member or staying at Baylake towers. Is it still restricted?
@Joni — I’ve never had a Monorail Purple, but my copy of Chef Mickey: Treasures from the Vault & Delicious New Favorites by Pam Brandon has a recipe for it. It’s 1.25 ounces brandy, 2 ounces sparkling wine and 4 ounces grape juice mixed in a cocktail shaker and poured over ice. Hope that helps.
Sam Winston — Note that these recipes are for Top of the World Restaurant, which used to occupy the location of California Grill at the Contemporary.
Sue thank you so much, I really appreciate it 🙂 so I guess the fiery explosion was Brandy!
@AJ…I see that now. The photo of the monorail at the baylake tower ‘Top of the World” threw me off.
BTW: I remember the Top of the World at the Contemporary. It was a bit of a pain for my 8 YO self that i would not be allowed to the shows they had–it was one of the first adults only places in WDW. People like Phillis Diller and Bob Hope would do shows there and they had a running Broadway review show. While the kids got shuffled off to the movie nights and arcade in the ‘basement’.
My 8 YO self was also a bit put out that I couldn’t go into the “Spirit world” at the Contemporary….which I learned later was just a liquor store. I thought it was a Haunted Mansion thing.
Monorail yellow is also called a painkiller. They are yum.
Sam Winston — Ha ha! I can SO see how the “spirit world” would be completely enticing to a kiddo who loved Haunted Mansion!! Thank you so much for sharing your memories!! Also, the rules keep changing, but from my last visit, guests had to be staying at Bay Lake Towers to get into Top of the World Lounge, but didn’t have to be DVC members. No idea if that changes up depending on how busy the hotel is.
There used to be a lounge on the 4th floor of the Contemporary called the Monorail Club Car. My parents used to take us there after a day in the park (this was back in the mid/late 70s) and I remember these drinks on the menu. My sisters and I would get “Mickey Mouse cocktails” (a/k/a Shirley Temples) and they used to have the best cheese-stuffed pretzels (think Combos, before Combos were around). Ahh, memories! (Now I feel so old!)
Ive been drinking monorail reds since 1975! The bartender wrote it down for me! I still drink them to this day!
Delicious Disney: Walt Disney World shows 1-1/4 oz Rum for Monorail Yellow.
Minor difference I guess.
Funny thing, the cookbook I have names all the liquor brands in the drink recipes except on the Monorail ones.
Monorail yellow has differences from the classic Painkiller.
The ratios are different. The garnish is sweet fruit instead of nutmeg.
Also, Painkiller is required by trademark law to use Pusser’s, an aged Demerara rum and I’ve heard, but can’t prove, the Monorail used a white rum.
The Trader Sam’s Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum is more similar to the classic drink. That said, I like the Top of the World version better.