We went to EPCOT yesterday. I went into space — TWICE — and had beers all over the world. Well, mostly all over the world. I mean, I love you, Canada, but I’m not drinking Labatt’s. And whatever they call “beer” in France is actually “anger and shame in a bottle.”
We had so much fun, in fact, we slept for 13 hours (I guess three days of nonstop fun will do that to old folks like us) so we’re just getting started today. Here are a few memorable moments from yesterday:
The Living Seas is still one of the best places in EPCOT. I could have watched these manatees for an hour.
Anne kept saying she wanted a hat to keep the rain off her hair. I want a hat that I can fill with water and take a bath in. For some reason, even though this hat fits both criteria, we didn’t get it.
This is the best thing, ever. I’ve seen people wearing Tabletop T-shirts at cons, but never out in the wild. When I saw this guy, and he saw me, we both sort of freaked out and simultaneously asked if we could take a picture together.
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Awesome! Looks like SO much fun! I hope to go there one day, and oh yeah, take my daughter. She loves manatees!
OH THE HUGE MANATEES. I was at Epcot a few months back and I really enjoyed it too. There was science to do, and I did some.
My guitar case has been graced with a sticker from that Palo Alto event you guys hosted. And by the way, Beverly told me she’d get in touch with me about getting a TableTop shirt and I never heard anything back since then…
…should probably comment further; I understand she’s super-busy and absolutely *rocks* at what she does for you guys at Table Top – just lookin’ for a followup is all (…..yanking foot otta’ mouth, now) :/
My stepdaughter was in Epcot yesterday/Disney this week, I told her to keep an eye out for you – she loved going to Wootstock and you on Big Bang. We figure she’s old enough now, she can watch the Guild too
For best beers all over the world experience, return to EPCOT during the Food & Wine Festival — hands down awesome!
Having Labatt’s represent “Canadian beer” is like having Coors Light represent America. Just shameful. Please tell me you’ve tried some of the better Canadian beers! There are a bunch of great microbreweries in Montreal and they’re definitely worth a visit.
I agree! Labatt’s is a terrible Canadian beer ambassador!
Glad you had fun. Hope to be seeing you on Saturday at MegaCon.
If you like Epcot now you would LOVE it in the fall during the Food & Wine festival. Highly recommend.
We went to Epcot last summer and I forked out for one of their excursions with my (then) eight year old daughter. We did the living seas backstage tour where at the end of it you get to go snorkeling or scuba diving in the main tank. It was absolutely amazing to swim in that tank. Now I can’t imagine going back to Epcot and NOT taking that tour. Now my daughter wants to get scuba certified when she turns 10. Also, she is a huge Tabletop fan so keep up the great work!
The best part of my past couple of days has been following you & your wife on Twitter through Disney, and sharing the tweets w/my husband. We adore Disney, especially Epcot, and have been both entertained and wildly jealous. 🙂
Awwww….the sweetest thing is that you look even more excited about meeting the Tabletop fan than he does about meeting you 😀
I have also tried on that exact hat in the Mexican market in Epcot. I didn’t buy it either. I wonder if anyone does ever actually buy one??
Okay, so Labatt’s is like Budwiser, but with a higher alcohol content (probably). There are much better Canadian beers than Labatt’s.
… Says she who hasn’t yet found a beer she’ll actually drink.
You should make a trip there during the food and wine festival sometime. You will spend a small fortune and eat more in 8 hours than any human should in a month, but it is so worth it.
I am so thrilled about that last pic.
Mission Space is my FAVORITE ride ever.. .. glad you had fun! I enjoyed living vicariously through you and Anne.
Sir, if you get a chance to go on the backlot tour at hollywood studios you should ask to go on the tram that has Don’s voice. That is my betrothed’s father.
He is also the voice of the computer at the end of mission space in that activity area.
I love you, Canada, but I’m not drinking Labatt’s
Dammit, EPCOT, we have much better beers than that here! For brands you can get anywhere, Steamwhistle makes a creditable pilsner, and many people like Sleeman’s various beers, although they’re not my favourite.
If you’re ever back in the Toronto area, and you like hoppy ales (and who doesn’t) I highly recommend Mill St.’s Tankhouse ale, which is a darkish ale, Flying Monkey’s Hoptical Illusion, which is very crisp and hoppy and which they call a near-IPA, and Wellington County Dark, which is a nice dark ale.
Dammit Labatt, giving Canada a bad reputation in beer all around the world.
You should try out the Sorceror’s of the Magic Kingdom game in Magic Kingdom (if you haven’t already). It’s a pretty fun card-based game (free) that you will probably enjoy. It also has a tabletop version (not free), but it is not as good (people mostly only buy it to complete their card sets).
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away I used to work at The Living Seas in Epcot. I spent quite a lot of time saying “Watch your step as you get on the moving walkway” and answering questions. The number one asked question was “where is the bathroom,” but a very close second was “are the fish real.” Apparently a lot of folks thought the fish were some sort of crazy animatronic automatons. On my last day working there, after I made a vow never to have a job that required a name tag, I told a guy who asked me about the fish that the fish were completely real, but the water was all animatronic. He gave me a puzzled look as he moved down the moving walkway and I distinctly heard him tell his wife “Honey, the water isn’t real.” I like to think that to this day that man swears the water in The Living Seas is some sort of manmade gel.
That last picture makes me smile so much. I don’t know why; I’m not invested in it or anything. Just so happy for your successes.
Also, your wife is hilarious!
Imagine how many people have probably also tried on that hat… I bet there is a huge, unknown, lice epidemic in Disneyworld.
Hey WIl! If you skipped the beer at Canada then you missed the best beers at EPCOT! Inside the fancy smancy Steakhouse they regularly carry 5 (or more) Unibroue beers on tap! During the Food & Wine Festival they set up a triple tap between the Labatts & Moosehead and serve Unibroue out front too!
as a Canadian, and beer-drinker, I am moderately insulted that you think Labatt’s is the be-all and end-all of Canadian beers.
It is not.
and I will second the above comment, and say that Mill St. and Flying Monkey are good choices, for actually decent Canadian beers. there is also the Quebec Unibroue (with Maudite, Blanche de Chamblis, and Fin du Monde) as another Canadian gate-way beer option.
Look beyond the Labatt’s!!! I don’t think I’ve ever even tried Labatt’s, actually. . .
Oh, I know it isn’t. It’s what they had at EPCOT.
Just a guess, but maybe Labatt’s was the only Canadian beer that could be guaranteed in enough quantity to meet Epcot demand. Canada is actually a quite small country, eh. The problem with micro-brew at a hugely-popular place like Disney is the “micro” part.
Oh the huge manatee!
Okay, that cracked me up today. Thank you! 🙂
go to one of the springs: blue, wekiva, rainbow and you’ll see manatees in the wild. LOTS of manatees and it doesn’t cost more than a buck or two to get in. you can swim, picnic and grill your way to happiness. plus the springs are the REAL florida, not the theme park florida.
While not in EPCOT itself, have you tried the Big River Grille & Brewing Works by the Boardwalk resort out of the back entrance of EPCOT? It’s a brewpub stuck in the middle of parks/resorts. I would figure a place like that would be right up your alley.
I haven’t, but if we’re over there I’ll drop in to see what they have on tap.
Seeing your manatee picture made the song I’m a Manatee by John Lithgow get stuck in my head. THANKS! 🙂
That picture would have been great if it were just you and a guy wearing a Tabletop shirt
What makes it EPIC is that you just happened to also be wearing How We Roll.
So EPCOT looks cool. I was at DW in 1994, but i was 12. My step dad did NOT want to go to EPCOT. Put my suster on a carousel, take a little video. Apparently THAT is what we drove for a week all the way accross the south for. I’ve alweays said I’d never go back because Florida is miserable. So much humidity you can hang clothes on the line and they get wetter. A place where you need a shower because you walked from the hotel to the car. But now I think I might go to see EPCOT.
That’s me!!! And to make it even better, it was my first time wearing that shirt. I had just bought it before my trip.
Later that day, I told my wife I should have looked more excited in the picture. Trust me, I was excited! My wife thought I was having a heart attack when I noticed Wil Wheaton walking by.
Well, you made my day, dude. I’m wearing my Tabletop shirt today!
Hope the rest of your vacation is awesome!
If I may, where did you get yours?
My awesome wife got me a gift certificate from jinx.com for Valentines. I got my Table Top shirt, plus a couple others, from there.
Don’t worry, you look great. That picture just makes my day too, and I’m not even a gamer. The thing is that other guy in the picture is just an awesome actor, dontchaknow. 🙂
I love that you found a Tabletop fan WITH T-shirt out in the wild…must be an awesome sight. 🙂
Ok, i’m curious –> Had any Dutch beers?
I really need to go back to EPCOT without the kids i n tow. I want to sample the world beers.
Just so you know for next time, there are tours that let you go behind the scenes and also swim in the living seas…
Manatees are awesome! So glad you had a great time!! Don’t know why you and Anne didn’t get the epic sombrero
I would donate even more to a yet unspecified charity if I could see you seriously attempt to take a bath in a hat like that. I totally mean that.
I’d also like to hug that manatee.
Today you did the cool thing by offering up your seat on the bus. when my sister in law boarded the bus and announced she needed a seat in order to breast feed my nephew. The guy sitting next to her wouldn’t even be as thoughtful. anyway in some sitcom type of Irony my nephews and little Daughter snatched your seat. I saw you laugh at how funny that was. I asked how you were doing Wil, but felt sorta bad after seeing your head drop and grin a little. I outed you buddy. I only think one other person picked up on it.
We exited the bus. My teenage daughter said she thought she knew you…but not as a celebrity. I proceeded to tell her who you were. (She’s a big bang theory fanatic.) she and my wife chased you down. gah… I felt even worse…. more than that embarrassed and ashamed.
Your a great guy WIl…. probably the only person besides my wife that leads me to want to drink. XP
Actually one of the nicest session beers I have ever had came from France – Alsace specifically (which was part of Germany at various times in the past). Not sure what they serve at Epcot.
We have not been there in years, always enjoyed Epcot as a total even if bits of WDW were better. Have not been to the new animal park though – have you gone & if so how was it?
“I mean, I love you, Canada, but I’m not drinking Labatt’s.”
Says the guy who comes from the country that brought the world “Budweiser”
Also, Labatt is now owned by Anheuser-Busch, so it’s not as Canadian as you think.
Of course, this is just my $0.02CDN
Don’t you mean $0.05CDN…the penny has been retired! 😉
If you have the time (yeah, I know I should have commented sooner), Lowry Park Zoo out by Tampa has a truly wonderful manatee exhibit. They care for injured manatees there, and release them when they get better. My sweetie and I love hanging out in the viewing area that has big underwater windows where you can just watch them swimming around enjoying themselves. Granted Tampa is halfway across the state from Orlando, but since this is Florida, that’s no big deal.
You are a wise and learned man Wil Wheaton. EPCOT is by far the best Disney park. They’ve done such smart upgrades to it over the years. The rides are awesome, the food is awesome, the beer is awesome (I didn’t appreciate that so much as a kid).
If you can ever get special seats to the laser show at night, I highly recommend it. They have little viewing areas right at water level that you can rent out for events and stuff. I’m not sure what you have to do to get into them. My dad had a conference at a Disney resort when I was a kid and we had dinner in France and got to use that afterward for the show. It was amazing not having to fight for a good view.
Epcot is our favorite Disney park, too. We’re going back in a few weeks. Our last visit was in 2006. Can’t wait to go back! My wife and daughter love World Showcase, but I’m more of a Future World guy.
Oh, great. Now, after seeing that last picture, I’m going to have to wear my Table Top t-shirt everywhere I go in public, just in case I should, by miraculous coincidence, stumble across Wil Wheaton, so he might ask to have his picture taken with me. Or the other way around. Of course, I’ll have to get a Table Top t-shirt first.
Labatt’s is the swill that Canadians won’t drink, and export to fools who think we’d share the good stuff.
We’re a friendly nation, but good beer is good beer, eh!