Make Mine Mixers - Foam and Flavorings Fuel New Non-alcoholic Drinks in Cars Land
by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix, staff writerAdvertisement
[I have to begin this article by thanking the readers who took the time to respond to the first article in this new series focusing on non-alcoholic drinks at Disney Parks and Resorts ("Make Mine Mixers: A Non-Drinker's Guide to Disney Wining and Dining," which ran on April 10). This has been a particular interest of mine for years, and I was honestly surprised to get so many comments and messages from readers who share my quest for interesting beverages to enjoy during their Disney vacation. I've been writing for MousePlanet since the site launched in 2000 and have covered a wide range of topics, but none have struck a nerve quite like this. So keep reading, because Disney is doing some really exciting things with their non-alcoholic beverage programs at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and even the Disney Cruise Line, and I'm happy to share the delicious details with you.]
The opening of Cars Land presented Disney's food and beverage team with the opportunity to create new menus for the Cozy Cones and Flo's V8 Cafe, and both venues offer new and unique non-alcoholic beverage options. I sat down with Jeannie Villarreal, Beverage Manager for the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, during the Cars Land media preview to sample some of the new offerings.
The majority of the new non-alcoholic drinks are found at the Cozy Cone Motel, a complex of five cone-shaped counter-service stands along Route 66. Each cone has a unique "cone-coction," but many consider Red's Apple Freeze ($4.99 for a 16-ounce cup) from cone 4 to be the signature drink of Cars Land.
This drink is a blend of frozen 100 percent apple juice and toasted marshmallow flavoring, topped with passion fruit-mango foam. Despite the seemingly odd combination of flavors, this drink is delicious, with a sweet/tart play and icy texture that is especially refreshing on a hot summer day.
The Cozy Cone Motel serves most of the new non-alcoholic beverages in Cars Land. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Several tasters favorably compared Red's Apple Freezy to the frozen Butterbeer product served at Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter. While Red's Apple Freeze does not benefit from the same instant brand recognition as the iconic drink of the boy wizard and friends, the drink has already developed a following all its own among passholders and cast members.
Cone 1 serves my personal favorite of the Cars Land drinks, Ramone's "Pear of Dice" Soda. This Sprite-based drink is flavored with non-alcoholic mojito and desert pear syrups and served over ice. The soda perfectly captures that juicy pear taste—just be sure to stir it well to mix all the flavors together ($3.29 for 16 ounces).
Red's Apple Freeze (left) and Ramone's Pear a Dice soda (right) are two of the new non-alcoholic beverages offered in Cars Land. Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
Cone 2 offers a "Route" Beer Float made with Barq's Rootbeer topped with soft serve ice cream. The drink is served in a souvenir cup for $9.59. I've never tried this, but a cast member at the location suggested ordering the drink made with chocolate soft serve instead of vanilla, or a combination of the two. I'll leave that to someone a bit more adventurous.
Cone 3 serves two fruit-based drinks, an all-natural lemonade topped with wild berry foam, or pomegranate limeade topped with lemon-lime foam. Both are $3.79 for 16 ounces. The lemonade drink debuted earlier this year in Walt Disney World, which is also the first time I noticed a foam-topped drink. Since then, flavored foam has crowned a variety of new drinks across the Disneyland Resort.
I asked Villarreal about this unusual ingredient, and she said that the foam is a new product that has just four calories and no fat per two-tablespoon serving, and contains no high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors. Though some people use their straw to mix the foam into the drink, I personally prefer to drink straight from the cup—you may wind up with a foam mustache, but I think you can better enjoy the foam flavor that way.
Cone 5 serves Doc's Wild Grape Tonic, another Sprite-based drink, this time flavored with wild grape syrup and topped with wild berry foam. I found this to be far too sweet for me when I first sampled it, but the second time around I asked for "light syrup," and the result was much more to my liking ($3.79 for 16 ounces).
Fat-free flavored foam tops pomegranate limeade (left) and Doc's Wild Grape Tonic (right). Photo by Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix.
A note for those planning a Cozy Cone bar crawl: Since every cone offers a unique drink, you'll need to stand in line at each one to order their signature item. If the lines are long (as they have been throughout the previews and opening days), be prepared to split up and have each member of your party order from a different cone to speed the process.
Flo's V8 Cafe features Mater’s Tulsa Tea, Gold Peak sweet green iced tea topped with tropical fruit (passion fruit-mango) foam ($3.29 for 16 ounces). This drink actually resembles a beer, which amused my friends and caused me to include a disclaimer when I posted the photo of it on Twitter. Incidentally, you can also find the sweet green tea sans the fancy foam from the fountain drink section of Flo's menu, possibly the only place to find fountain green tea at the Resort.
Flo's is also the place to find classic ice cream shakes in vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. Each is topped with edible "Road Gravel” and served in a Souvenir Glass for $9.59, or you can order the shake without the keepsake for $3.99.
Though several of these new drinks are clearly aimed at the younger members of the family, some of them feature flavors (desert pear, mojito) and ingredients (green tea, pomegranate) that will appeal to a more mature palate. With seven new non-alcoholic beverages to try, non-drinkers have plenty of reason to return again and again to Route 66.
 
Comments
Thanks, Adrienne! Somehow I missed the first article in the series - but I love the idea!
Are the calorie contents available for these drinks?
Thanks for the great article. I see that you mentioned "foam" several times. Is this a dairy product? I am lactose intolerant and cannot have dairy. But I see that Ramone's Pear of Dice looks like something I can try!
GnP
The foam product is dairy-free, so you should be good. Ramone's Pear of Dice soda is fantastic - I have to admit to having had it for breakfast the day after Cars Land opened. ;o)
Adrienne
Do we know if they use anything "diet" or "light" in these mixes? most of the fruity drinks over at DL (like the mint julep and the blueberry lemonade) are made w/ diet lemonade, but not marked as such.
I have an allergy to artificial sweeteners and most castmembers don't know for sure what's in the mixed drinks :/
The only one that might be is the pomegranate limeade, and I'm only saying that because I don't know for certain what the limeade product is. I can check during a future visit. The lemonade is not artificially sweetened, and the other drinks use Sprite as their base. Gold Peak Green Tea is sweetened with sugar.
I was able to confirm today that they WILL make any of the Sprite-based drinks with soda water (carbonated water) instead of Sprite if you want. Personally I like a lighter taste so this was perfect for me, but it's not the same as if it were made with Sprite Zero. Still, it knocks 150 calories or so off the total. I watched them make mine today and it is two full pumps of syrup, so that's already 180 calories.
Adrienne
On the Red's Apple Freeze...
Is that actual marshmallow or a flavor additive? If it's marshmallow, is it made with animal gelatin? I don't think vegetarians (or nonmammaltarians) would expect meat products in their fruit beverage.
It's a flavoring syrup, not real marshmallow, just like the Desert Pear and Mojito syrups.
Adrienne
I don't think anyone expects to find meat in their fruit drink.
That, however, sums up the frequently odd state of modern food production.* I don't think most folks expect to to find casein in their veggie slices and non dairy creamer or bone char in their white sugar but there it is.
And that's why you won't be seeing me drink anything topped with mystery foam or artifically marshmallow flavored any time soon. Some traumas are easier avoided. I'm just barely getting my head wrapped around the pear syrup!
ETA gelatin is added to give extruded (puffed) marshmallows shape. It really wouldn't be needed in something like this.
How many folks know marshmallows were originally flavored with the extract of an aquatic plant, the "marsh mallow?"
A root beer float made with Barq's (a decidedly inferior root beer and making it ubiquitous is one of Coca Cola's great sins against humanity) and soft serve is, by definition, a crappy root beer float.
So I declare Cone 2 to be the loser without having been within 400 miles of any of the drinks.
Awesome info. These all sound so tempting but I am not a big soda drinker, so the soda water idea is great. If that's true that the MJs are made w/diet, that's probably why it doesn't seem too sweet to me.
I hope one of these will hit my drink craving sweet spot like the Mint Julep does for me @ DL. I definitely got a love spot open for DCA to claim. Pear sounds soo good, but so does the Apple drink.