Whether you’re a verified Mouseketeer who’s been to Disney World more times than you can count, or you’re just someone who plans to visit the House of Mouse sometime in the near future, chances are you’ve heard of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. And if you’ve been hemming and hawing about whether or not to make your way to the fest this year, we have good news for you: you’ve still got time to enjoy it!
This Disney food and wine festival is one of the best-known in the country, and is, as it bills itself, a spectacular celebration of global cuisines, music, and more. Best of all, it runs nearly three full months, giving visitors ample opportunity to get themselves to the Most Magical Place on Earth to experience some out-of-this-world eats.
In this post, we’re serving up everything you need to know about the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, including selected menu items, events, prices, and what else you can expect from a Disney World vacation — specifically as an RVer!
Epcot Food and Wine Festival 2019
Let’s start with the bare-bones basics. When and where is the Epcot Food and Wine festival?
Well, Epcot is one theme park in the amusement multiplex that is Disney World in Orlando Florida. And it actually started out as way more than your average theme park! Short for “Experimental Planned Community of the Future,” the EPCOT center was Walt Disney’s idea for a new wave of urban American living, a way to preserve different cultures and traditions while also bringing people together so they could share both their lives and their resources. And although the park includes traditional attractions like high-speed rides and arcade games, it’s really more about celebrating human innovation and achievement, and is sometimes considered something more along the lines of a “permanent world’s fair.”
At Epcot, visitors walk (and eat) “around the world,” meandering through a variety of cultural exhibits during their journey. Even on non-food-festival days, you might get a bite of sushi in the Japanese section of the park, and then walk a few minutes over to “Germany” for a beer.
During the Food and Wine Festival, however, the experience is even more intense. Disney brings in celebrity chefs and gourmet experts to not only serve you delicious bites of the most exquisite cuisines in the world, but also to teach you how to make them — and even taste them.
The Epcot Food and Wine 2019 dates are as follows:
August 29, 2019 – November 23, 2019
Epcot Food and Wine Menu
If you’re searching for the Epcot Food and Wine menu, you might be looking for the specific dishes that will be available during the event. And to be sure, we’ll talk about a few of those below.
But before we dive into the actual delicacies themselves, let’s talk about all the fun events that go on during this one-of-a-kind festival.
There will be plenty of specialty dining and pairing options available while you meander around the park, for one thing — and even during a regular day, a trip to Epcot is a culinary journey.
But the Food and Wine Festival also brings some extra magic to choose from, including the Party for the Senses, a specially-ticketed evening gathering that includes a delicious, international spread as well as live music from the Femmes of Rock.
That’s actually only one part of a larger entertainment initiative during this unique season: the Eat to the Beat Concert Series, which runs from August 29 through November 19. Artists who have already graced the stage include the Plain White Ts and Smash Mouth, and you can still catch 98°, Kenny G, the Baha Men, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Billy Ocean, among others.
If you’re more into the hands-on experience of dining (and the cooking that comes before it), you’ll get a chance to learn from the best: master chefs will offer culinary demonstrations, talk you through remarkable food and beverage pairings, and even offer a Sunday brunch experience you won’t soon forget. There is also an entire section of the website devoted to cheese seminars — and I mean, honestly, we don’t think a better pair of words have ever been spoken.
Alright, alright… so what’s actually gonna be on the plate, though?
Don’t worry, we were curious, too!
Disney Food and Wine
When it comes to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, what you’ll get depends on where you’re going. Each subsection of the park has its own theme and its own offerings, and some items are eligible to be paid for using a package deal whereas others will need to be purchased separately (like alcohol).
For example, here are the offerings from the Australia booth at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival in 2019, per the Disney Food Blog:
- Grilled Sweet and Spicy Bush Berry Shrimp with Pineapple, Pepper, Onion and Snap Peas (GF) – $6.00, DDP Snack Eligible
- Roasted Lamb Chop with Sweet Potato Purée, Bush Berry Pea Salad and Pistachio-Pomegranate Gremolata (GF) – $7.75, DDP Snack Eligible
- Deconstructed Pavlova with Pastry Cream, Citrus-macerated Berries and Lemon Myrtle Meringue (KA) (GF) (V) – $4.00, DDP Snack Eligible
And here’s what the site reports from the same booth when it comes to adult beverages:
- Coopers Brewery Original Pale Ale – $4.50
- Hope Estate “Wollombi Brook” Semillon, Hunter Valley – $5.00
- Franklin Tate Estates Chardonnay, Margaret River – $6.00
- 3 Rings Shiraz, Barossa Valley – $6.00
- Wine Flight also available – $6.25
Personally, we think it kind of sucks some of the fun out of the event to see what’s available at each and every station before you set foot in the park… but we understand that some people might want to plan out their meals ahead of time, for health or purely prioritization purposes. After all, you don’t have room to eat and drink EVERYTHING, unfortunately, so you’ll have to make some decisions!
While we don’t have room to list all the food items on the menu and their price here, Disney Food Blog is a pretty reliable resource, and they’ve compiled a great, in-depth guide here. You can also click around and learn more about the event in general by visiting the Disney Food and Wine Festival homepage.
Other Epcot Festivals and Events — and Need-to-Knows for Campers
Can’t make it to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival this year? Yeah, it’s a bummer… but it’s not the end of the world. Because when it comes to Walt Disney World in Orlando, there’s literally always something going on — and if you’ve got your heart set on this foodie journey, hey, there’s always next year!
But what are the other events you might put on your calendar to consider? And how do you go about finding a camping spot in this uber-popular destination?
Let’s start with the last question. It’s actually possible to camp right AT Disney, giving you super-close proximity to Epcot and other theme parks, by heading to Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. This 750-acre, pine-and-cypress-covered landscape offers premium full-hookup sites, swimming pools, woodland trails, on-site dining and shopping options, and more. And it’s all just a hop skip and a jump away from Epcot and the Magic Kingdom, which you can reach by a quick ride on the ferry boat and/or monorail.
As for other Disney events to consider, well, there really is something for everyone! If you are Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party planning to make your way to Orlando before fall’s out, check out, filled with sweet treats and delightful fun for the whole family. Once winter falls, it’s time for the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays, which celebrates Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, and a whole wide range of other traditions in between. One of the scheduled events is called a “holiday cookie stroll,” so it’ll definitely satisfy your sweet tooth!
If you’re a green thumb (or aspire to be), there’s also the Yearly Epcot Flower & Garden Festival, which showcases flora from across the world (and may even teach you a thing or two about how to recreate those beautiful landscapes at home).
Finally, remember that no matter when you go, Disney World is chock full of thrilling and relaxing recreational opportunities for the whole family, and although it’s undeniably expensive, they do offer package deals that can make exploring the Most Magical Place on Earth a little bit more accessible.
Psst: If you don’t have a motorhome or travel trailer of your own and want to experience the #RVlife during your Disney vacation, click here to check out available rentals near Orlando, Florida — or browse the listings near your hometown and drive in!
Either way, have fun at Disney World… and bon appetit!
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