You can look lots of places and find what the best alcoholic drinks are at Disney. I can recommend those left and right! But I myself have never really focused on more of a family-friendly type of experience when it comes to fun things to do outside of the parks. (I don’t have kids, so maybe that’s why.)

That’s why Ean and I set out on a Skyliner Crawl, determined to find some great drink and food choices for families and people who don’t really care for alcohol.

Here are some things we tried on our Crawl that are great for the whole family to enjoy! We included more than just beverages because, if you’re like us, food is always part of the experience 😋

Our Route

We started our Crawl in Hollywood Studios because that’s the park we were visiting that day. So here’s a quick look at the route we took:

Hollywood Studios –> main Skyliner hub at Caribbean Beach Resort –> walk to Caribbean Beach –> walk to Riviera Resort –> Skyliner from Rivera back to main hub –> get off and transfer to Pop Century/Art of Animation resorts –> Art of Animation Resort –> Skyliner back to main hub –> get off and transfer to the Rivera/Epcot line –> stay on when you get to the Rivera resort and ride to the Epcot hub –> get off at Epcot and walk to Beach/Yacht and Boardwalk –> walk back to Hollywood Studios via pathway next to the Boardwalk (we could have done the Skyliner back to Rivera, then from the main hub to HS, but we figured walking would be quickers)

Stop Number One

📍Banana Cabana at Caribbean Beach
🥤Tropical Storm: frozen colada with pineapple, coconut, and mango

This super sweet and tropical drink was the perfect choice to represent this beachy resort. There were two other specialty non-alcoholic cocktail options and a non-alcoholic ginger beer.

Banana Cabana is the pool bar at Caribbean Beach Resort, but you do not have to be a resort guest to enjoy some food and drinks at the bar. There were several families with kids there enjoying some drinks, so the atmosphere is very welcoming for families. There are some food options with a Caribbean theme- jerk chicken, shrimp, Cuban sandwich, plus burgers for the less-adventurous eaters. For veggie eaters like me, the option is a basic Impossible burger. You can also get a selection of appetizers if you just want some snacks to enjoy with your drinks. They have wings, loaded fries, cheese dip, and Caribbean pull-apart rolls. We did not get food here, just drinks, so I cannot attest to the deliciousness of it.

Stop Number Two

📍Bar Riva at Riviera
🥤Mediterranean Mint Lemonade: Minute Maid lemonade with mint and honey

I thought this drink was very delicious. It did have a strong mint presence (as you can see by the giant mint they included in our drink!) but I thought it tasted wonderful and represented this Riviera-themed resort well. There is one other non-alcoholic drink on the menu as well as a non-alcoholic ginger beer and plain lemonade.

Bar Riva is the Riviera Resort’s pool bar, but anyone can go to it. We did not know this until later, but the tables have servers but you can also order at the bar. All the tables with table tents that stated the tables have servers had people sitting at them, and the font on the table tents was very small so we did not see them at all. And there were no servers immediately present as we entered like there had been at Banana Cabana. SO we ordered at the bar and went and sat down at a table (that didn’t have a table tent), and the server wasn’t very happy with that. BUT she noticed my Ahsoka gear and was like omg okay I really like you all and she showed me her Ahsoka tattoo 😍🤷‍♀️

With that being said, I guess always just assume that at the bars/lounges, sit at the bar if you order at the bar and wait for a server if you want to sit at a table!

Bar Riva also had a few food options, but we did not get them. They had salads, a burger, a grilled chicken sandwich, an Italian sandwich, wings, brie, and veggie skewers.

Stop Number Three

📍Landscape of Flavors at Art of Animation
🍔Burgers! Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger for Ean and Plant-Based BBQ Burger for me

Now for this stop, we could have either gone to Art of Animation, Pop Century, or both! We chose AoA because we were super familiar with the area (we last stayed there in October 2019; it’s been since May 2015 since we’d stayed at Pop Century). We also chose to do a full-on meal here because it was getting past dinner time. They have lots of different food options, but we went with burgers because who doesn’t love burgers. Plus that was the only veggie option for me, haha! But both Landscape of Flavors at AoA and Everything POP Shopping & Dining at Pop Century have basically the same menu, so we would have gotten the same thing at either place. They’ve got your standard family-friendly foods- burgers, chicken, turkey, and pizza.

We figured that, if in your own Crawl journey you do have children with you, Art of Animation and Pop Century are both fantastic places to stop and have an actual meal. The both have big dining areas, have plenty of options for the whole family to enjoy, and are very themed so there’s lots for your little ones to look at and enjoy.

IF you just wanted to continue going to bars/lounges and not sit down in their quick service restaurants, you may choose to go to The Drop Off Pool Bar at Art of Animation or Petals Pool Bar at Pop Century. You do not have to be a resort guest to access either. Both pool bars have a non-alcoholic Lava Smoothie that I can almost guarantee is incredible because it’s basically a non-alcoholic version of the Pina Colava adult drink, which is a classic. So delicious.

Stop Number Four

📍Boardwalk Ice Cream at the Boardwalk
🍦Ice cream! The Classic Wave- A double scoop of dairy free chocolate and vanilla for me; Bayside Brownie A la Mode for Ean

Now, this last stop has an OVER ABUNDANCE of fantastic choices!! I will most definitely list them all and a recommendation at each, BUT we chose to end our night with some delicious ice cream (dairy free for me!) because we thought that would be more perfect than getting another drink. We were running out of time and had a sweet tooth after the burgers at the last stop!

The Boardwalk Ice Cream shop is located where Ample Hills Creamery used to be. Ample Hills unfortunately went out of business during the pandemic, but ice cream on the Boardwalk is a must! So Disney put in this generic ice cream shop, and it’s wonderful. I told them I didn’t have a dairy allergy, just an intolerance, but they still handled mine with so much care and caution. I was so grateful (last time I ate dairy ice cream, I was SO sick for several hours… while in Epcot… at the end of May… while Flower and Garden was going on… if you saw me laying out on the concrete next to the Odyssey center that day, no you didn’t).

Here are the many different places you can go in the Epcot Resort Area for this stop:

At the Boardwalk Resort:
Boardwalk Bakery – another great place for some sweet treats plus some savory sandwiches
Leaping House Libations – Boardwalk’s pool bar; they also have that Lava Smoothie! They have fun-themed adult drinks as well as some light snacks (Mickey pretzels, Mickey bars, pretzel dog, salads, plant-based power bowl)
Belle Vue Lounge – several non-alcoholic drink options, but I would probably try the Sparkling No-Jito or the Pomegranate Lemonade

At the Beach Club Resort:
Beach Club Marketplace – their quick service location; no specialty drinks but you can get a variety of snacks, tea, juice, water, and milk in cans/bottles, specialty mac & cheese, and an assortment of sandwiches
Beaches & Cream – **RESERVATION REQUIRED!!** (you can book dining reservations up to 60 days in advance) I’ve included this one because it’s a classic Beach Club eatery. It’s so delicious and worth the stop on your Crawl if you’re really planning ahead. You used to be able to walk up and get ice cream at the window, but that’s no longer an option. If you want their ice cream, you’ve gotta have a reservation. For real food, you can get burgers, sandwiches, tater tots, onion rings, and fries, but the real treat are their shakes and sundaes. Try one of their specialty shakes that come topped with a cupcake!!
Martha’s Vineyard – BC’s lounge area inside near Cape May Cafe; this lounge has some snack appetizers like wings, chowder, and a cheese plate. They have the same bar menu as the Boardwalk, with the non-alcoholic Sparkling No-Jito or the Pomegranate Lemonade being the drinks I would choose.

At the Beach and Yacht Club:
Hurricane Hanna’s – Beach and Yacht share a pool, and this is their pool bar. You can access it as a non-resort guest on the main walkway by the lake. You can get sandwiches, salads, and fruit, and the same non-alcoholic beverages as the pool bars at AoA, Pop, and Boardwalk. Another lava smoothie, anyone?

At the Yacht Club Resort:
Ale & Compass Lounge – the lounge area at YC. Enjoy snacks like cauliflower wings, flatbreads, and garlic shrimp. The non-alcoholic drinks vary a little from the other Epcot resorts with the addition of a Hibiscus No-Jito on the menu.
The Market at Ale & Compass – YC’s quick service place with lots of snacks, sweet treats, and sandwiches.

A veiw of the Boardwalk from across the lake

Ean and I enjoyed our ice cream from the Boardwalk as we took the short walking path back to Hollywood Studios. We were parked pretty close to the park entrance, so it didn’t take us too long to get back to our car. It was very easy to find since most everyone was gone at that point! We are pretty sure the Skyliner was still running to Hollywood Studios, but we were not 100%, so we decided walking would be our best bet.

I hope you enjoyed the idea of a family-friendly Skyliner Crawl and found it helpful for your own Disney planning! We really enjoyed getting to see all the different resorts!

We met a lovely couple and their granddaughter while we were on the Skyliner from the main hub to Epcot. We always try and avoid talking to other people while on transportation, but that was just too long of a journey for us not to, haha! They too were visiting all the resorts on the Skyliner and their 7-year-old granddaughter was loving it! So if you’re worried about if your kids will enjoy this or not, just know that a sweet and curious little girl thought it was so fun to get to go around and see all the different resorts. There are fun lawn activities you can play at the Riviera, and both Art of Animation and Pop Century have incredibly neat environments for kids to run around.

I’d love to hear about the food and drinks you and your family try on your Crawl! Be sure to let me know about your experience!! 🥰