Okay, so I know it’s not technically travel since I live here (and hopefully no one is traveling to Orlando for Margaritafest), but this is the post I wish someone had written about Margaritafest 4 (or 3,2,1) before I spent $35+ tax on my “VIP” experience.
I’ll start by saying that the margarita is one of my favorite cocktails. Unfortunately, it’s also a very finicky drink. It can be done very well or very poorly and the quality makes a world of difference. I will also admit that I’ve been a little spoiled by La Cava Del Tequila.
Anyway, I purchased a VIP ticket online in advance at the urging of my friends who had gone to the fest last year (yet failed to warn me). When I arrived I was given a VIP wrist band and a small plastic cup to carry around with me to all of the booths and get filled with various flavored margaritas. The only distinction between the $35 VIP ticket and the $20 general admission ticket was access to the Tequila Terrace in the Monkey Bar, where the Margaritafest website promises “free margaritas, free Coronitas, a high end tequila tasting, and … latin inspired snacks.”
The free margaritas in the VIP lounge were worse than the general admission free margaritas outside. In fact, it tasted as though I hadn’t quite finished my first margarita and they accidentally filled my cup with ice water.
The “high end” tequila tasting was a huge line you could wait in on the balcony for about a 1/8 shot of mid-grade tequila.
The saving grace of the VIP experience was the free Coronitas that were welcome after two or three sickly sweet margaritas outside.
As for the Latin inspired food. That consisted of one tray of taco meat that ran out about 30 minutes in to the 3 hour festival and then all that was left were fried pickles.
So, if you’re keeping track. That’s $35 for some gross margaritas and pickles. For my money, I would just go to any Mexican restaurant.
The website also urges potential guest to “make sure you get your tickets now because these will sell out!”
It didn’t seem like they set any sort of limit on ticket sales, as they were still available at the door and the VIP lounge was too crowded to move (or comfortably make it to the fried pickle tray in the corner).
After the food had all but run out and we were tired of being sardine crammed in the VIP lounge, we headed outside with the masses. To be honest, this was a lot better, but still not worth a $20 ticket.
It was crowded,
like people tripping over weird alligator statues crowded,
and the entire festival seemed to consist of waiting in one long line after another for a tiny cup full of “margarita” that was mostly just sugar water. It’s the kind of festival that would have been great if I had been able to sneak in at 18, but as a legal drinker, I expect better. I got a stomach ache from all the sugar and fried pickles well before I got any sort of tequila buzz.
The most fun I had at the festival was trying this margarita, taking a picture of the booth so I would know never to accidentally try that margarita again, and then watching others as they took one sip, made a great face and dumped the whole thing on the ground.
So, I’ll be nicer to you than I was to the people at this festival and tell you that if anyone ever offers you a Dos Lunas Rita Runner, DON’T TAKE IT! (but if you do, please take a picture of your face immediately after and send it to me.)
Of course, the festival wasn’t all terrible margaritas, there was also a booth run by orlandoweekly.com where you could spin a wheel and see what prize you could have won if you had spun the wheel in the first hour while they still had prizes.
This guy left with the satisfaction of knowing that he could have won movie tickets an hour ago!
I don’t want this review to be too negative, I did leave with some pretty sweet swag.
So, here’s to spending Margaritafest 6 at El Tenampa and getting twice the drunk for 1/4 the price!
