Satisfy your soda fix as we bring you to the Coca-Cola Store Orlando, Walt Disney World.
The history of Coca-Cola and Disney’s partnership goes a long way back in 1955 when Walt Disney himself enlisted Coca-Cola to help finance the construction cost of his first theme park, Disneyland. Since then, Coke has become the official beverage seen in both Disneyland California and Walt Disney World.
From the nostalgic Coke merchandise, unique tasting flight of sodas around the world, iconic “thermal detonator” Coke bottles at Disney's Hollywood Studios’ Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, to FREE (who doesn’t love free stuff) all-you-can-drink soda at Epcot’s Club Cool, if you’re a soda fan like us, you’ll enjoy visiting the following Coca-Cola attractions as much as we did.
1. Coca-Cola Store Orlando at Disney Springs
The Coca‑Cola Store is certainly one of the best thematic buildings that stands out at Disney Springs. You can’t miss out the strikingly huge Coca-Cola logo in its classic font.
What’s visually stunning of this building is not just the futuristic, floor-to-ceiling glass walls that look awesome both from the outside and inside, but that it’s modelled after a 1920s bottling plant.
Entering the building, you’ll be greeted by a 30-foot-wide blown-glass chandelier made from repurposed Coca-Cola bottles. How cool is that?
There’re three levels in this building. While there’re lifts servicing all three levels, we would recommend walking up via the ramp (which is wheelchair friendly too) that wraps around the building. The walk offers a beautiful 180° aerial view of Disney Springs.
Merchandise
The highlight of the store is its huge range of Coke merchandise, not to mention its one‑of‑a‑kind products that are exclusive to the Orlando store.
The ground floor features a wide selection of clothing and fashion accessories from t-shirts, sportswear, to pyjamas. We love the eco-friendly hand-crafted purses and bags made from recycled materials by female artisans around the world.
You can even find soccer balls, stationaries, mobile cases, and lip balms here; not forgetting the iconic Coca-Cola Polar Bear!
If you love collecting crockery and kitchenware, head up to level 2. There, you’ll find everything from branded mugs, glassware, wood beer crates, bottle openers, trays, aprons, kitchen towels, to even cushions and paintings for your home decor.
Tip:
The merchandise is reasonably priced at typical flagship store pricing. If you’re looking to bulk buy take-home souvenir for family, friends or colleagues, you can find decent small gifts starting from $5.
Coca-Cola Polar Bear Experience
Your little ones on the other hand will truly enjoy the Coca-Cola Polar Bear Photo Op Experience.
The entrance to this free meet-and-greet has some pretty neat features. There’s a floor section (made out of screens) where penguins and polar bears swim beneath you. There’re also interactive screens at the perfect height of your little ones, to keep them entertained while waiting in line.
Tip:
You can catch the Coca-Cola Polar Bear from 10:00am to 9:00pm, though he does take a break at various intervals throughout the day. Wait time is no more than 5 -10 mins.
Rooftop Beverage Bar
Our favourite place in the store is the Rooftop Beverage Bar. This is where you’ll get to take in the panoramic views of Disney Springs while enjoying the Coca-Cola signature - Tastes of the World.
There’re three Tastes of the World tray options to choose from - the International Tray (USD $10), Float Tray (USD $11), and the Combo Tray (USD $17).
If you’re visiting the Coca-Cola Store for the first time, we would recommend to get the International Tray to try the sixteen mini samplers of Coca-Cola beverages and brands from around the world. We had that at the Coca-Cola Store Las Vegas; some drinks are strange and some are really good, in whole, the experience is awesome!
For the less adventurous, go for the Float Tray with eight drink samplers of the more familiar flavours. Each drink is topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
The Combo Tray is a combination of the International Tray and Float Tray at a discounted price. It’s probably too much for two to try; but it’s perfect for a thirsty family of four.
If you wish to drink and shop at the same time, opt for the classic Freestyle Experience to go. You’ll be spoilt with choices of over 100+ different sparkling and still beverage options. It also includes 5 free refills within an hour of purchase!
Besides the classics, there’s also a wide mixture of alcoholic flights, smoothies, cocktails, and mocktails to spend your night away.
Tip:
Before leaving, if you have room for more Coke, we would recommend to grab a frozen coke from the “Arctic Coke” machine. It’s quite fun to see how the bottled Coke transformed into a Coke slushy in seconds.
2. Coca-Cola In Walt Disney World
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Disney's Hollywood Studios
The series of “thermal detonator” Coke bottles at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the latest Coca-Cola X Disney hype (see their ad above). Exclusive to the land, these spherical orb bottles with the Coca-Cola brand names printed on the rusted labels in Aurebesh (Star Wars language), look like small thermal detonator grenades ready for use by the rebel spies.
It has certainly caused quite a storm for Star Wars’ fans and we love how realistic they look. Too realistic perhaps, that it was initially banned by TSA with the concerns that these bottles could cause confusion for TSA agents at the airport because they look like replica explosives. The good news is the ban was eventually lifted; and Coca-Cola and Star Wars fans like us could bring this collectible item home.
Club Cool, Epcot (Future World)
Located in Future World at Epcot, Club Cool offers FREE all-you-can-sampledrink Coca-Cola beverages from around the world that one can sampledrink to your heart’s delight!
From the self-serve soda dispensers, one can choose from a selection of eight flavours - Brazil Guarana Kuat, Peru Inca Kola, South Africa Sparletta, South Africa Bibo, Japan VegitaBeta, Thailand Fanta Melon Frosty, Italy Beverly (the iconic love-hate relationship beverage), and Greece Fanta Pineapple (our personal favourite).
While this attraction is now closed due to the redesign of Epcot, we read that it’ll return in another incarnation as part of Epcot’s transformation. We certainly hope that the park will keep the signature Flavours Around the World when it reopens.
Getting There
Staying Onsite
If you’re stay on-site at a Disney Resort hotel (recommended), you can take the complimentary Disney transportation (bus, monorail, ferryboat, or their newest skyline cable car - depends on which hotel you stay).
Disney Springs is accessible by:
Bus from all on-site Disney Resort hotel. Bus service operates daily from 45 minutes before opening until 1:00 AM and the last return service to Disney Resort hotels is 2:00 AM.
Bus from the 4 Disney theme parks. The service operates daily from 4:00 PM until 11:00 PM or 1 hour after theme parks close, whichever is earlier. Do note that this is a one-way service.
Ferryboat from Disney’s Port Orleans Resort (French Quarter and Riverside), Disney’s Old Key West Resort, and Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. While the hours of operation vary subject to water and weather conditions, it is usually a 5-10 minutes wait time.
Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are accessible by:
Bus from all on-site Disney Resort hotel. Bus service operates daily from 45 minutes prior to park opening and ends 1 hour prior to park closing. Return service to Disney Resort hotels ends 1 hour after park closing.
Boat from hotels at Disney’s BoardWalk area (including Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s BoardWalk Villas, Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Disney’s Beach Club Villas, Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, Walt Disney World Swan Hotel, and Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel). While the hours of operation vary subject to water and weather conditions, it is usually a 5-10 minutes wait time.
Skyliner from Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort and Disney’s Riviera Resort. The service operates from 6:45 AM to 10:30 PM.
Only for Epcot – Monorail from Magic Kingdom park, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. The service operates from 30 minutes prior to earliest park opening until one hour after latest park closing.
These complimentary transports that run continuously within service hours are typically located right at the doorstep of your hotel’s lobby or just a stone throwaway. Journey time range from 15 - 40 mins, depending on which hotel you’re staying or transportation you’re taking.
If you’re staying at hotels near the Boardwalk area, you could even walk to Epcot’s park and beat the main crowd by admission from the side gate near the United Kingdom Pavilion.
Staying Offsite
If you’re not staying on-site, some hotels do provide transportation at selected timing to and fro Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney Springs. If your off-site hotel is near Disney Springs (expect an hour journey), you could take an approximate 20-min walk to Disney Springs’ bus-stop and thereafter take the complimentary Disney bus to the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel and walk along the Boardwalk (12-min) that will connect to Epcot.
We would recommend to take Uber/Lyft (quite reasonable priced, which cost quite similar to Grab in Singapore) to transfer from Disney Spring to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
For more information on Walt Disney Transportation Guide and Tips, look out for our upcoming updates. We’ll also update an hotel analysis to help you choose the right hotel based on your Walt Disney Vacation’s needs…till we can travel again…
My Travel Kakis Singapore Travel Blog: Orlando, Coca-Cola Store at Disney Springs, Club Cool at Epcot & Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World