On our recent quick weekend trip to Disney World, Jason and I experienced EPCOT’s International Food & Wine Festival for (somewhat) the first time. Our first “true” time at Food & Wine was after the Inaugural Wine & Dine Half Marathon and EPCOT was a madhouse. We stayed long enough to use our food/drink coupons, then we left. I was hoping for a better experience this time around and I definitely got it – we had a BLAST!
(Please note: My issues with Wine & Dine’s post-race party happened during the race’s inaugural year. I haven’t run this race since, but I’ve heard reports that the post-race party has improved since it’s first year.)
As we entered World Showcase, we first stopped to pick up a Festival Passport.
If you are planning on attending the festival, a passport is a must-do! Its free of charge and serves as a menu of sorts (minus the prices) – we used it to determine our food/beverage selections at each country.
Stamps are also available at each booth. We enjoyed having our passport stamped each time we purchased an item. It was fun to see which countries we “visited” by the end of the night!
Our festival journey began in Scotland (Canada side) and continued all the way around World Showcase.
Here’s a glimpse at a few booths we visited during our time at the Food & Wine Festival.
Greece was our first stop.
I had the Spanakopita – a flaky outer shell filled with spinach and feta cheese…delicious!
We also really enjoyed the Pork Sliders from Hawaii.
Despite major crowds, the booth lines were quick – we never stood in line longer than 10 minutes.
In Belgium, we had….
…Belgium waffles! Get outta town…
Jason really enjoyed Sushi in Japan.
As we passed through Germany, this window display really caught my eye. I love caramel apples (this display is the reason I tried my hand at them last week…the disaster also known as caramel apple making…)
Speaking of Germany, I had Jason take this super dark picture of me in my usual spot at the fountain of the Germany Pavilion. This location is sort of a “tradition” for me…I have a photo at this very spot from almost every EPCOT trip I’ve been on since 1999. Any guess why? It goes all the way back to a favorite boy band of mine…yes, NSYNC once sat in this very spot while filming for their Disney Channel Christmas Concert. Yes, I’m a nerd. Thank you. :0)
What were we talking about? Oh yeah, Food & Wine Festival….
Our final stop was China where we enjoyed these pot stickers (they were VERY tasty)!
In all, we spent about 3 hours walking around the festival. Perfect timing, we reached the final booth past Mexico just as the Festival was closing for the night.
On our way out, I just HAD to stop by the Leave a Legacy wall to track down a few familiar faces…
After a small internet search, I found them! NSYNC is on EPCOT’s Leave a Legacy wall!
West 6 F 4.
When you enter the park, these guys are located on the first row of legacies, all the way to the right (at the very end of the row). They were super easy to find!
In all, we really enjoyed visiting the Food & Wine Festival and would go again in a heartbeat. I can’t wait for next time! :0)
If you are running the Wine & Dine Half Marathon this weekend, I hope you take time to visit the festival – it’s well worth your time!
Have you visited the Food & Wine Festival in the past? What’s your favorite menu item from the festival?
