Disney’s Coronado Springs Sangria University
Everyone has a different approach on what to do on arrival day. Some like to take in Orlando, some like to get a park day in, some like to see Disney Springs, and some just like to hang around the resort. We have done all of the above, but this trip we decided to take advantage of one of the unique offerings at our resort: Sangria University.
We discovered Sangria University on the Disney World Website (link below) on the events and tours page. We booked several other fun tours during our trip so check out the other posts for info on those tours. Knowing we were staying at Coronado, I searched the list for any activity that was hosted with the resort as the location (there were a few).
You can book your tour or activity right from this page. Some things are only offered on certain days and times and this can be a lot like dining reservations, meaning that some of these are super coveted and hard to get. You can book 60 days in advance of your park reservations so some people set alarms and all kinds of things!! Anyway…the class is held only on Saturdays and Sundays and is a 90 minute experience. It costs $59 per person and includes tax and gratuity and is paid when you make your reservation.
You must be 21 to participate (online it says if you are under 21 you must be accompanied by someone who is 21 and you will be served a non alcoholic flight) and show valid ID and all of that. You can find all the details on the website when you go to book. The thing that got us excited was that you learn about the history of Sangria, you learn the 4 main recipes, you get to TASTE them (along with a selection of appetizers), and then you get to make your own!!
We arrived for the class 15 minutes early as was directed in our booking confirmation and it was a completely full class (there was about 60 people total). The entire restaurant was utilized but each party had their own table and set up of chips and guacamole, supplies for creating your Sangria (a plate of fruit and two shot glasses full of fruit juice), a bottle of water, and a flight of four full glasses of Sangria.
To be honest, the class started out strong. The team passed out the flights and instructed us to start with the Sangria at the top and work our way down. The “teacher” was lovely and very knowledgeable. He started by talking about what was in the Sangrias we were currently tasting as we were tasting them. After that it kind of went left. For the next 30 minutes or so he spoke about the history of Sangria. He did his best to make it as interesting as possible and tied in Disney references where he could but in my personal opinion it left a lot to be desired and was not super engaging.
After the history lesson, the “teacher” moved on to the create your own portion of the class. There were about 15 tables on our side of the restaurant that he was teaching with at least two people per table. He personally went to each table individually to ask what wine, shot (they charged you an additional $5 for per shot on top of what you had already paid), and juice you wanted to create your Sangria. While I appreciate the personalization, it took an absolute eternity (an hour almost) and he did not turn in the ticket to the bar until he was halfway through and then again at the end. Because of this, people were getting antsy and just ended up dumping their shot and juice and fruit into their wine and there was no actual instruction portion of the class-which I feel like is kind of a miss.
At this point it had been two hours (of a 90 minute class) and our room was ready and we were pretty done. We flagged the “teacher” down and asked if there was anything further or if we were free to go as we had other arrangements that afternoon. About 10 minutes later, we had certificates of completion, cute photos with a photo prop, and a nice buzz. Later that night we went to the restaurant that hosts the class for dinner. The guacamole costs $12 and the exact same flight of four Sangrias costs $22. The choice is yours but next time I think we may skip school.
