This past weekend, we finally got to visit one of our favorite EPCOT festivals, The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. This celebration of culinary treats and drinks kicked off July 14 and runs clear until November 19th. The festival offers a variety of outdoor food booths (called Global Marketplaces), free musical entertainment, kids’ activities, special merchandise, and more. The best part of this festival for locals is there are a lot of things to try so visiting multiple times is recommended. Here is what you have to look forward to.
Food Booths/Global Marketplaces
For us, the food booths are the main event. There are over 30 locations throughout World Showcase and the park. Some of our favorites this year are The Fry Basket, Flavors From Fire, Appleseed Orchard, and Hops & Barley. I also really love getting the pineapple Schofferhofer in Germany. I know I can get Schofferhofer at my local liquor store, but the scenery just doesn’t match the Germany pavilion.
Live Music
Another great feature of the Food & Wine Festival is the nightly music from well-known artists. These concerts are free (included with your park ticket). You can do a dining packet for guaranteed seating, but you can also do general seating at no additional cost. Sometimes, I even like sitting at a picnic table over in the American Pavilion with some food and listening from there. Some of the artists I’m personally excited about are 38 Special and Steve Augeri formerly from Journey, but there is a variety of artists from many genres. You can find the whole line up here.
Merchandise
With a new festival comes new merchandise. This year’s Food & Wine Festival was no exception and we loved many of the merchandise options. This year some of the options include Food & Wine logo merchandise, Chef Mickey and Minnie Mouse Collection, Princess Tiana Collection, Chef Figment Collection, Chef Remy Annual Pass Collection, and more. You can find out more here.
Activities
This year, there are two charming activities at the Food & Wine Festival for all ages to take part in. Remy’s Hide & Squeak is a scavenger hunt around the festival. We did it in years past and always had fun looking for the different versions of Chef Remy. This year, they also have Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit starting September 29th and running until October 31. This scavenger hunt will have you searching out character-themed pumpkins throughout the park. Both scavenger hunts have prizes for those who finish. We still drink out of our Remy cups from doing it four years ago. You can learn more here.
There is no shortage of things to do in Central Florida and things to do at Disney. If you are ready to make the move to Florida and take advantage of all the great entertainment opportunities, our Moving to Orlando REALTORS are here to help you navigate the market. Take a moment to fill out our contact form, and someone will be in contact with you!
