Hey Epcot, I’m back! It’s been what seems like forever, but I came back to Epcot to enjoy a second year of their International Food and Wine Festival. This has quickly become one of my favorite things to do at Disney and therefore had to make it part of our Orlando trip this Fall.
Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival occurs every year in the Fall, August through November. I wrote a whole blog post about what to expect during your first time visiting it HERE, but will recap some basic information and thoughts in this post as well.
Admission to the Festival
There are no official tickets for general admission into the International Food and Wine Festival, you simply need a park ticket to Epcot. These are $109 for a 1-day Epcot park ticket, $169 for a 1-day Park Hopper ticket. Park Hopper tickets allow you to go to more than one Disney World park (there are four total) within the same day. This choice is up to you! This year we did a Park Hopper ticket as we did Halloween at Magic Kingdom in the morning and Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival in the afternoon.
Festival Passport Booklet
One of the top things I loved about my first time experience at the International Food and Wine Festival was being able to track which food stops I made around the world with my festival passport booklet. These are found right when you walk into the Epcot park – before walking past the globe – as well as at many Festival Marketplaces and each of the food stops. Basically, you can’t miss them. Even if you don’t fill them out on the spot, these are really fun to have as a souvenir afterwards to mark down when you stopped with the provided stickers. The booklet also has the menu for each spot, so you can look ahead at all the different options.
The Food
Now the good stuff! While you might be tempted to get food from the regular food kiosks that are always at the park, I highly recommend tasting only from the festival stops. It is, after all, why you are there, right? The festival stops are stationed throughout the park, around the world, in their globally correct positions. The festival passport booklet goes in order around the world if you need help finding and tracking. Each stop offers 3-4 main food items with beverages to pair. Last year I tasted 7 different festival stops. This year I only tasted 3, however I had carefully planned ahead of time which stops I was going to taste thanks to this helpful Disney Parks Blog foodie post that lists out the menu items (with images) for a handful of stops! Besides a couple new stops, all of the food offered at the stops were the same as last year
Stop 1: Mexico
My first stop was right at the beginning at Mexico. Side note – the Mexico location at Epcot never disappoints. From the food to the Three Caballeros ride, everything is always a thumbs up. Out of the options for food, I chose the Tostada de Carne and it was AMAZING. I actually wish I would have gotten two!
Stop 2: Italy
True to form, I had to have some bubbly in my veins. We hadn’t planned to stop at Italy, but prosecco on a 85 degrees hot day was calling my name. It was so good, too! Defiantly hit the spot.
Stop 3: France
France was a stop I had missed at last year’s event and had top of my list for this year. I tried the cheese fondue (it was alright) and the escargot croissant (not my jam).
Stop 4: Ireland
The final, and my favorite stop as a whole, was Ireland. Figures I would like something close to home (I’m half Puerto Rican, half Irish). At this stop I tried the Cheddar Cheese and Stout Dip with a Guinness Bailey’s Shake. The shake was one of the best treats I’ve ever had. Who would have thought!
