FOOD AND WINE HELP

[dreamfinder]

Does anyone know if its true they are not stamping the books this year? I heard there are stickers in the middle of the passport that you put on the corresponding country..

Yes, no stamps. Just the stickers in the middle of the book.

The below picture was from an October weekend in 2012 and I've heard its gotten worse!

View attachment 171675

That looks like midweek when we were there 2 weeks ago.

 

[Otterhead]

The below picture was from an October weekend in 2012 and I've heard its gotten worse!

It was about that busy when I went on Thursday of last week. This is what it was like on Saturday (terrible photos, but it was shoulder-to-shoulder, 15-20 minute wait at every stall)

 

[Dubman]

Wish I could unlike the above posts. hahaha. Good news is that we have dinner plans every night, so its lunch time tastings and then we are outta there! I'm hoping that the pre 4:00pm crowds are manageable weekdays.. Its the last week of the festival though, and election day and veterans day may boost park attendance a bit on those days.. At least I think election day will bring out more locals (no school etc) We'll see..

 

[Otterhead]

Wish I could unlike the above posts. hahaha. Good news is that we have dinner plans every night, so its lunch time tastings and then we are outta there!

If you go at 11 when they open and do some lunchtime tastings you'll be fine. It definitely got worse later in the day, and there's big bottlenecks to avoid (around France, near Canada, around Mexico). The most popular stalls have double lines to speed things up (Mexico, China, Australia, America). Don't miss the lamb chop at Australia, the Kahlua pork slider at Hawaii, the brisket & pimento cheese at Hops & Barley in America, and the cheese puffs in Brazil.

 

[dreamfinder]

The most popular stalls have double lines to speed things up (Mexico, China, Australia, America).

I think a few of the others do as well. I recall seeing it at France as well, and there are several lines in Craft Beer (but yet a surprising lack of any good selection of beers). Good rule of thumb if you are traveling with someone, one person gets in line while the other checks to see if the other side has registers/lines. A few times when we were there, one line was huge filling the whole queue, while the other side had no line at all. CMs just hanging around looking bored. Could save you a bit of time/waiting.

 

[Otterhead]

Craft Beer (but yet a surprising lack of any good selection of beers)

It was a slim selection, agreed, but I did kinda like the Shipyard Midnight Snack and the Blueberry beer.

 

[Dubman]

I'm a hophead and saw very limited selections available this year.. Will probably just try the few available ones and go to the Liberty Inn for my favorite Sweetwater IPA.. If they still have it..

Want to try list
3 Daughters Bimini Twist IPA, St. Petersburg, FL
Kona Brewing Company, Big Wave Golden Ale
Samuel Adams Rebel Grapefruit IPA, Boston, MA

Very weak IPA/Hoppy Beer list IMHO

 

[Glasgow]

Thank you for clarifying.. We are going in 10 days, but will be staying far away on the weekends.. We would usually stroll around world showcase early afternoon on weekdays and give the book to our son to collect them.. Much less hectic and I couldn't even imagine trying to get stamps on the weekends

The below picture was from an October weekend in 2012 and I've heard its gotten worse!

View attachment 171675

Pass!! Its like being at Mardi Gras .. Well, okay .. Not quite

 

[dreamfinder]

It was a slim selection, agreed, but I did kinda like the Shipyard Midnight Snack and the Blueberry beer.

The Shipyard is an oddball. It's not officially a Shipyard beer despite them labeling it at such, (at least Shipyard doesn't list it in their beer list) but yet is is listed on the Sea Dog list, which is a Shipyard subsidiary. So it should be Shipyard Midnight Snack, Portland ME or Sea Dog Midnight Snack, Clearwater FL. I found it to be very bitter for a milk stout. Then again, I like my milk stouts sweet like the one from Left Hand Brewing.

I'm a hophead and saw very limited selections available this year.. Will probably just try the few available ones and go to the Liberty Inn for my favorite Sweetwater IPA.. If they still have it..

Want to try list
3 Daughters Bimini Twist IPA, St. Petersburg, FL
Kona Brewing Company, Big Wave Golden Ale
Samuel Adams Rebel Grapefruit IPA, Boston, MA

Very weak IPA/Hoppy Beer list IMHO

It's a weak beer list overall this year. I found the mmmHops at Block and Hans to be pretty solid, even though I think that's technically just a Pale Ale, not a full on IPA. Not to mention it's got much smaller distribution than almost anything else they are pouring. It's $8ish, but its a full 12oz bottle, not the dixie cups everything else comes in. Even though I don't mind the regular Rebel, the Grapefruit Rebel was just meh, nothing special.

 

[Otterhead]

I found it to be very bitter for a milk stout.

Whoa, really? My friends hated it because they thought it tasted like overly-sweetened candy. I think one of them said "it just tastes like chocolate milk with some fizz."

I think my favorite overall beer this year was the Anchor Steam Liberty Ale, but those guys never let me down. Not a lot of heavily-hopped beers this year, true.

 

[dreamfinder]

Whoa, really? My friends hated it because they thought it tasted like overly-sweetened candy. I think one of them said "it just tastes like chocolate milk with some fizz."

I think my favorite overall beer this year was the Anchor Steam Liberty Ale, but those guys never let me down. Not a lot of heavily-hopped beers this year, true.

Yeah, I found it to be a bitter and thin, more like a porter than I expect a stout to be. And coincidentally, the graphics on the Sea Dog site do say Midnight Snack Oreo Porter, even though the description does call it a stout. Maybe I just got a bad pour, but not impressed.

 

[Texas84]

I must go on the best weekends. I never see those crowds. Luckily.