slide show

June 1, 2011

DGTG Wine Wednesday: On a Stemware Mission at Walt Disney World


On my recent trip to the Walt Disney World Resort I brought along a special bottle of wine to toast to a special occasion...  One problem... I forgot the flutes.  And if you know me, you know that I just cannot bear drinking Champagnes or Sparkling Wines out of traditional red or white wine glasses.  To me doing so is taboo.  It's not only a matter of etiquette, but one of personal preference and taste!!! The juicy little bubbles can't even begin to tickle the nose when consumed from such an oversized glass.

I knew from previous experience that stemware is hard to come by at Disney World.  Now don't get me wrong, the signature restaurants all grace their tables with the top names in European stemware: Reidel, Spigelau, Zweisel, and Schott, to name a few, but the Disney shops including World of Disney and the resort gift shops seem to only carry generic, clunky Mickey-etched wine glasses...no flutes.


I made it my mission to find a decent Champagne flute somewhere within Walt Disney World... I mean come on... with all the weddings, celebrations, and special events taking place around the clock combined with posh resorts and restaurants, there's bound to be a need for such a commodity... Right?

Then it hit me like a barrel of grapes (sorry for the pun)... "CRYSTAL ARTS"!  Duh!!! Of course...Crystal Arts, a ritzy glass specialty shop located near the beginning of Main Street U.S.A in Disney's Magic Kingdom Park.



If you've never been inside of Crystal Arts, boy have you been missing out!  This gorgeous store is filled with all things glass and crystal from designer bowls, to over-the-top vases, to Aaribaas Brothers luxury items, to Swarovski trinket boxes, to tiaras and scepters, to...you guessed it...crystal stemware!



The have a huge selection of wine glasses for all of us enophiles to choose from, and even better, they can personalize your selection with anything:  A favorite character, your initials, an ode to a loved one...just about anything!

So as you can imagine, I was extremely cheery that I remembered Crystal Arts and found a solution to my "flute problem."  So cheery, in fact, that I forgot to change the batteries in my camera so my pictures (including those of my purchases, etched with my 2 favorite Mice BTW) are limited or non-existent!




I hope you've enjoyed this Disney Go To Girl epiphany brought to you by yours truly!  Be sure to visit Crystal Arts for the best in Disney stemware.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you about the Champagne flute requirement! Similarly, I get a bit cranky drinking any wine out of chunky glasses – the finer the edge on a nice crystal glass, the better.
I'll definitely visit Crystal Arts next time I'm at WDW!

Bird said...

Love the new flutes! I started to head in there while we were there, but thought better of it, when my little guy tried to hop out of the stroller the moment we walked in the door... It's on my list for the next trip though!

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree more about the generic oversized Mickey Etched glasses. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my late 90's version, wine taste better with a little bit of Mickey. Or maybe I'm just a nut. My kids wash the dishes, so there will be no fine crystal in this house for a few more years. Once they're gone though I plan on purchasing an amazing bar set!

You can also find a lovely selection of wine glasses in Germany at Epcot!

Beth Doda ~ disneymom2jhe said...

I too believe that without a flute, champagne just doesn't have the same celebratory feel to it! I love Crystal Arts, though my trips in there are now limited to the length of time my husband can handle the three kids outside the store! :-) It was already said, but I do also like the ones in the German Pavilion.

Unknown said...

When we got married, we bought two flutes in Downtown Disney. I believe it was Arribas Bros?