Ever since I was a little girl I have been dying to go to EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival. Since I was blessed to go to Disney World 30+ times in my youth, I have attended many Disney events. However, Food & Wine had never been checked off my list. I remember seeing the signs and the pavilions. My parents didn’t drink while I was growing up so it was something they had a desire to take part in. As I got into my college years I learned more about the event and made it a goal to go. Finally in 2018, I made it happen.
Food & Wine Festival is hands down one of the greatest things I have ever done at Disney World. Great and expensive! We devoted a whole day to EPCOT which is not something that I normally do. I hope you enjoy the day vlog that I put together on this. Day drinking at Disney is magical. Below is a list of tips that I have for the festival:
- Buy the gift card wrist band: This made our lives so much easier. Even though we had the quick service dining plan, we put extra money on the gift card for alcoholic beverages. For two adults I put about $150 on the card to correspond with our dining plan. With the cards, you don’t have to input a pin and they are reloadable at almost all of the pavilions.
- Get a Quick Service Dining Plan: If you are doing a weekend trip, you can definitely get your money’s worth with the QS dining plan. We found out that you could use one of your quick service meal credits to get three items plus an alcoholic beverage at an outlet. Considering we were doing 2 park days over a three night stay, we had 18 total QS meal credits. This really lets us taste everything.
- Be prepared for lines: There were descent lines at most outlets but they did move pretty fast. The only outlets that seemed slower than others is if it came to seafood. Use the food passport to get an idea of what you want to order prior to getting to the register.
- Keep the kids entertained: We engaged Olivia in this adventure. Prior to attending, we got her all excited about trying new foods from different countries. She loved adding the stickers in the passport. We also allowed her to purchase a toy in the park (frozen miniature figures set) to play with as we tried different things along the way. She also enjoyed watching some of the outdoor shows along the way. We decided to do most of the rides first and save a couple for after world showcase to keep her engaged and on her best behavior.
- Start Early: Especially on the weekends when you have more locals attending, it is best to start at rope drop at this park. This way you can get in a few rides and start with lower crowds. We pretty much tried everything and completed just about all the rides by 4:30pm with a 9am rope drop. We were pretty tired and were perfectly fine catching a minnie van to go back to the hotel.
Food and Wine Festival was just an amazing experience. I couldn’t get over how fun it was. It ended up being so much more than I expected. When I attend again, I may plan it as an adult weekend because I would love to engage in some of the seminars and shows the next time around.
Thank you so much for following this adventure!
