I just got back from Universal Studios Orlando and the first thing I did was get a beer from the kegerator.
Talk about a craft beer lovers hell! The best I could find was a Newcastle on draft at the Hard Rock Cafe. Margarittaville had Landshark Lager which wasn’t too bad but I’m not running out to the store to get it.
We didn’t have a car and stayed at one of the onsite hotels. I got a little excited when I say a street cart in one of the parks that had “Beer” on the awning only to find out that it was Bud or Bud lite. I did have a Hogsmeade Ale at the Harry Potter park…again not the best but better than nothing.
Hopefully these parks will realize that after a full day in the heat with screaming kids and rude people, that we craft beer lovers would like some options.
We need a Sam Adams theme park. You ride the Battle of Bunker Hill roller coaster, a wooden rackety coater with musket fire, smoke and cannons blasting. Then you get on the log flume ride. Sam Adams narrates, taking you through the Boston Tea Party raid weaving in between the tea ships in Boston Harbor splashing into the water a bit as the tea chests are tossed off the deck by native Algonquin dressed actors. All followed by the ultimate beer garden. There you watch an automated Jim Kock reenact the creation of his ancestor’s beer recipe, while you down tankards (made of pewter by an automated Paul Revere) of Boston Ale. Now that’s a good time!
Sorry DarkSide, this here is Bud country…sad to say. Whenever I visit some places out west I am amazed (and pleased) that there really ARE a lot of people who drink craft beer. Here we got a ton of rednecks, old-as-dirt-retirees, and tourists…and I imagine the profit isn’t as high with craft beers so the tourists kind of get screwed.
Redlight, Redlight had ‘Sour Day’ on Sunday which was fun but it would have been a trip for you and not a place for kids. Every tap in the place (and that’s a lot) was a sour of some sort.
It’s great how popular craft brews are becoming. My company had a picnic last week and provided a bunch of kegs. It was all local micro-brew. Imagine my suprise (and delight) when I found a Belgian Double and a Kolsch, among others. In fact, the Belgian Double was the first keg finished, even before the basic pale ale. People are finally realizing that beer can taste good!
On a side note, I went to Seattle two weeks ago and found a place called the “Tap House Grill”, an ultimate beer heaven with 160 beers on tap. :o Made it through samples of 12… Only 148 to go!!! ;D
My wife is a Disney fanatic, and while we grew up with the anaheim park, someday we’re going to go to Disney World, and I’ve stated up front that they should drop me off at EPCOT around noon, and I will then proceed to drink myself round the world. Seriously, the world showcase looks like it has some great food and drink! They even have akvavit in their pseudo-Norway!
I’ll just have to empty my 401K to fund the pub crawl, probably!
I like EPCOT. The English Pub there is nice, (Rose and Crown?) Germany’s got a few good beers, plus there’s a nice brewpub called Big River at Boardwalk that has pretty good beers. It’s part of the Gordon Biersch chain. If you stay “on campus” you can take a free boat taxi from your hotel to the pub and/or EPCOT.
Good times drinking around the world. I was really disappointed with the beer in Germany and said something to the kid serving there, considering all of the awesome choices they could have had. It think it was St. Pauli Girl, Bitburger, or some other mass produced light lager, I can’t remember.
Bitburger can be good. St. Pauli Girl not so good. I can’t imagine that there’s much of a market for big, chewy beers at a theme park in Florida, though. You were at least lucky in that there was German-themed beer, as opposed to the usual manifestations of fizzy yellow swill.
All of the countries have beer from there, and it was cool enough that I totally would have gone for something interesting. Even a marzen would have been good, still on the lighter side and with some flavor. Or a weizen would be nice and is approachable for people. I don’t know, there’s plenty of great beers in Germany that would have been a better choice rather than something you can find on a shelf anywhere :-\
I was an annual pass holder at Disney World (unlimited access to any park any time) for 20+ years. Hands down Epcot was the park my family & I spent the most time in. I have the “pub crawl” route in the World Showcase down (no alcohol served in Future World).
My preference - turn right and go around the lake counterclockwise. Go cups are served.
Stop at Canada for a Canadian beer (start light). Or you can go with Unibroue heavies.
Wander on down to United Kingdom for a black and tan (or two).
Cross the bridge and visit France (wine stop for da wife) French beer sometimes available.
Stop at Japan in the sake bar (very nice selections) and the tempura bar and/or sushi restaurant Japanese beers available there too. (this is the best spot to watch fireworks from)
Continue on to the American Experience for a turkey drumstick and a Samuel Adams
Then, destination achieved, Germany. The bier selection here varies with the season. There is always a seasonal bier on tap (along with one or two others) at Germany. Highly recommend the goulash soup and soft pretzels. The bratwurst is very good too. If you want to have dinner in the Bierhall the buffet food is very traditional German fare and quite good, and they have an extensive selection of bottled bier and wine to choose from. Germany is the 2nd best spot for fireworks. The fireworks happen over the lake. Hot tip: don’t watch fireworks on the downwind side of the lake.
If you’re still up for it, there are Chinese beers at China and Mexican beers at Mexico. Margaritas available at Mexico.
I usually don’t get past Germany.
The beverage selections vary throughout the World Showcase constantly. The best time to visit (all times are good), hands down, is during the Epcot Food and Wine Festival in the fall. In addition to the mainstay countries’ pavilions, they set up many food and beverage stands throughout the whole World Showcase, and have many special tastings and dinners.
Next to watching launches from the Cape in person, I miss pub-crawling at Epcot most, since I moved to Hawaii.
Yeah, I know what you mean. They have these little animated vacuum cleaners that sneak around and suck all of the money out of your wallet.
But the Food & Wine Festival is pretty cool. They sell lots of small taster portions of some great food and wine from around the world for like $3 - $4 per serving. One big score I found one year was a really nice Piesporter Auslese Eiswein Riesling for like $5 a glass - or something very reasonable like that.
