25 Drinks of Christmas – Day 7: LOST ON SAFARI at Dawa Bar

The Christmas season is our absolute favorite time of the year. Growing up, one of the little things I loved most was getting an Advent calendar and counting down the days until Santa would be coming down the chimney. As I grew older, I had to leave Advent calendars in the rear view mirror,* but I still miss that daily countdown building anticipation to the big day. So, we’re going to start a virtual Advent calendar here at TouringPlans. For 2022, we are going to countdown our favorite drinks at Walt Disney World and the Universal Orlando Resort.

Criteria: Drinks can be alcoholic or nonalcoholic. Drinks can come from any venue on the property. Bonus points are awarded for the atmosphere where the drink is served. Any drink with glow cubes is immediately disqualified. Ready? Let’s go!

The Drink – Lost on Safari
Location – Dawa Bar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom

LOST ON SAFARI – Ingredients: Starr African rum and Captain Morgan Original spiced rum with Dawa’s refreshing Pangani Punch.

Once again we are reaching out to a Certified Drinking Expert (AKA ) Professor Daniel Miller, co-author of the book Drinking at Disney, and the guy who is on a first name basis with every Uber driver on WDW property.

Jambo! One of the first “classics” to come from Walt Disney World’s youngest park is Lost on Safari.  Located at perennial park bar favorite Dawa Bar in Africa at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, this fruit juice based rum cocktail is a refreshing pre-Safari stop, or the perfect reward following a trek around the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. If you’re lucky, your stop will coincide with the high energy sounds of the Tam Tam Drummers, or one of the other entertainment acts at the nearby village stage. Kwaherini! ” – Prof. Daniel Miller

Dawa Bar’s location in Harambe Village lends itself to great backgrounds when taking a picture of your Lost on Safari (ALWAYS REMEMBER THE “GOLDEN RULE” OF THEME PARK PHOTOGRAPHY: The Camera Eats First.)

Another one of our favorite drinks at Dawa is the Ngumu Jungle Juice (Snow Leopard vodka, Bols peach Schnapps and Tusker’s famous Jungle Juice.)

However, our memories are filled with some wonderful drinks of years past where unfortunately are not currently on the Dawa Bar menu, including the legendary Sugar Cane Mojito. This was always a Must Get for us on every trip to Animal Kingdom.

The African Bloody Marys had a nice run at Dawa…

…while the beer selection used to be straight up E-Ticket. It’s good now, but it was GREAT.

Speaking of changes, let’s take a look at the unique bar seating that used to be at Dawa Bar.

Today, well “unique” might not be the most accurate word. Dawa Bar is still worth going out of your way to experience though, either while waiting for your reservation at Tusker House, an upcoming showtime for the Festival of the Lion King show, or a quick stop on your way to one of the best attractions in theme park HISTORY…

…that’s right Kilimanjaro Safaris, where you can truly get Lost on Safari.

25 Drinks of Christmas TouringPlans Brought to Me…

• Day 1 – Duck Duck Razz at THE BOATHOUSE
• Day 2 – Grown-Ups Lemonade at Woody’s Boathouse
• Day 3 – Yub Nub at Oga’s Cantina
• Day 4 – Isla Nubar in Jurassic Park
• Day 5 – Bam’s Barnstormer at Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar
• Day 6 – Santa’s Cookies & Milkshake at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium
• Day 7 – Lost on Safari at Dawa Bar

See you tomorrow for the next entry into the 25 Drinks of Christmas Countdown, where we are going to head over to Disney’s Beach Club. If you had fun, be sure to check out any of our other fun series including Theme Park Hills to Die On, the adventures of David & Derek (theme park’s Goofus & Gallant,) or the famous (infamous?) Theme Park Turkeys of the Year awards. for your listening pleasure, check out the Parkscope Podcast. Your humble author can also be seen producing typos at an inhuman rate on Twitter: @derekburgan

The 25 Drinks of Christmas series couldn’t be done without an All Star team behind us including world class photographers Michael Carelli, Brandon Glover, Scott Sanders, and Hedghehog’s Corner. The drink listing came from a double-secret blue ribbon panel comprised of SAT SIX Fun Squaders including: Megan Stump, Nitro230,The Man Formerly Known as @DrunkAtDisney, Bethany Vinton, Parkscope Joe and Parkscope Nick. As always, Digital Maestro Scott Walker was the cherry on top of the sundae.

*That is an absolute lie. I still buy an advent calendar every year with chocolates in it, and I also buy an annual box of Christmas Crunch, but we’ll keep that between us.