Showing posts with label EPCOT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EPCOT. Show all posts

Monday, April 28, 2014

The Emerging Craft Beer Scene at Walt Disney World

Craft Beer at Walt Disney World

By: Nick

On our last 2 trips, in October of 2013, and this past January, I discovered several locations offering a fairly decent beer menu.

Let's start with what I found in October.

My wife, Barbie and I stayed at the Art of Animation Resort. The food court, Landscape of Flavors, has a fairly decent beer selection, including offerings from local Orlando Brewing. But I was really excited to find a couple of beers from the highly rated Cigar City Brewing out of Tampa Florida, as well as a couple other excellent choices from Bell's and Breckenridge Brewing over at Pop Century's Everything Pop food court.


I took a couple back over to Art of Animation to enjoy at the pool.



One of the best times for beer at WDW is during Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival. There are dozens of choices, with just about every food booth offering at least one beer. A couple of my favorites were found at the Florida Local stand.

Me enjoying a Cigar City Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale

In addition, there are booths dedicated exclusively to beer!



Menu from the Craft Beer stand.

It was on this trip that I also discovered one of Disney's best kept secrets located inside the Mitsukoshi Department Store in Epcot's Japan Pavilion. The Garden House Sake Bar serves Ginga Kogen, a wheat beer. It is awesome.

There is also a new permanent structure serving craft beer located outside of the United States Pavilion at Epcot called Block & Hans, which was a souvenir stand at one time. There were only a few beers to choose from, but they are quality choices. The cast member I spoke to said they would be expanding their selection in the future, which they have indeed done, as we'll see when we look at January's offerings!





One more stop from October can be found at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The Gardens is a gluten free stand which has some gluten free beers!


I confess, I didn't try any, but it's good to know these choices are available.


In January we stayed the The Villas at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort, and I was very happy with the beer selection at the pools and restaurants.

Both Beaches Pool Bar & Grill and Courtyard Pool Bar have a good selection.


The menus even break down beer by categories to help you decide!


Further assisting your choices is a description of the beers!




While not quite as extensive as the pool menus, the beer choices at Narcoosee's located on the shores of the Seven Seas Seas Lagoon has a pretty good list.



Citricos, located inside the Grand Floridian also has a few nice choices.



Let's shoot over to Epcot. In the France Pavilion at Le Vins des Chefs de France you'll find one of my favorite beers, 1664 Blanc, as well as Kronenbourg 1664.


Over in the Mexico Pavilion, La Cava del Tequila is now offering beer from Dia de los Muertos. I did not try them because when in Rome, er, Mexico, I drink Tequila, but I intend to try these out if I ever see them at a local beer store.


Last but not least, we'll return to Block & Hans, where, as promised, the beer selection has become slightly more robust.




They are also carrying Mickey-shaped and Jalapeno Pretzels, which are excellent with a Hopageddon Imperial IPA from Napa Smith, maybe one of the best India Pale Ales I've ever had!


There is a great site to visit for a more comprehensive overview of beer in Walt Disney World called Beers and Ears, in fact I reviewed their app a few months back. However, things constantly change at Disney World, and clearly this topic requires much further investigation, and I will endeavor to do as much research as needed in the future.

Nick co-writes the Disney Musings Blog

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Club Cool at Epcot new flavors



the club will offer seven new flavors of soda samples. Only one option from the previous selection will remain – Beverly, a common aperitif found in Italy.
New flavors added to the sample station are:
  • Fanta – Fanta debuted in Europe in the 1940s and was introduced in the U.S.A. in 1960s. It’s now available in more than 90 flavors.
  • VegitaBeta – This Japanese beverage combines apricot and passion fruit flavors.
  • Fanta (Melon Frosty) – This melon-flavored soda is number one in Thailand.
  • Bibo – This fruit-flavored juice drink originates from South Africa.
  • Sparberry – This raspberry cream-flavored soda has been a favorite in Africa since 1955.
  • Guarana Kuat – This drink, flavored after the guarana berry, is popular in Brazil.
  • Inca Kola – This Peruvian favorite offers a sweet, almost bubblegum-like taste.

Which sounds most interesting to you?

Friday, November 1, 2013

Japan's sweets

One of our favorite spots at EPCOT's is Mitsukoshi,  they have a lot of cool Japanese goods, from stationary, to toys, to snacks, this place is a great souvenir stop. My favorite part is all the way in the back back baaack where they have a lot of cool candies (shrimp gummies anyone?) and even a really nice selection of fun chopstick sets and bowls. 

This store is a scaled down version of the Mitsukoshi department store in Japan, and it is an absolute ADVENTURE to go through. As you walk in, you are immersed in Hello Kitty land. Go further through the store and you'll pass Pokemon land, Studio Ghibli land, Mikimoto Pearl land, Traditional Japanese Clothes land and more, before you reach the back of the store, which is chock full of Japanese food, drinks and candy. It's without any doubt that this is the largest store in the World Showcase and probably the most popular. Everytime I visit EPCOT, I spend the most time and money in this store. You honestly don't have to be a Japanese culture freak to love this place. It's just that much fun to be in.

A few of the many types of items you'll find in Mitsukoshi are:
- Sanrio (Hello Kitty) Items 
- Domestic and Imported Anime Merchandise, including a HUGE selection of official Studio Ghibli goodies!
- Pokemon Items
- Kimonos, Yukatas, Tabi sandals (and socks!) as well as various goods made out of chirimen (The fabric kimonos are made out of)
- Japanese bath and beauty supplies
- Japanese stationery items
- Japanese dishes
- Japanese beverages, snacks and candies
- TONS more

Enough with the words, here the best part, photos of the sweets!