2024 Epcot Food and Wine Festival at Disney World
The Food and Wine Festival has finally arrived at Epcot and it is sure to make your mouth water. This festival at Epcot brings foods and wines from all over the world. I want to go over the essence of this festival and also include in this post Pro Tips on money savings and festival hacks.
When is it:
This festival runs from August 28th until November 23th 2024.
Know before you go:
This festival is not a special ticketed event with the price of admission to Epcot You can participate in many of these activities for free. If you want to enjoy the special food, merchandise, demonstrations, etc., those come at an extra cost. There will be specialty booths throughout the world show case that will offer a range of foods and drinks from their respected countries. These booths do not open at park open but at 11am and serve until park close.
Epcot Food and Wine Fest at Disney World runs for several months this is to help crowds spread out a bit. Annual Passholders and Florida Residents are regular weekenders to the festival because of the food choices and the wide array of alcohol available. This leaves weekdays when families are vacationing at Disney a little less crowded. The evenings at Epcot will always be crowded during this time period because there are different bands throughout the festivals entirety and extended hours that draw out the locals. I recommend if you can to avoid attending the festival opening weekend and the last weekend those times typically are the most busy.
Photo from WDW News today
Epcot Food and Wine Festival at Walt Disney World Passport
Just like the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival you get a “passport” at the Festival Center and select retailers for the Epcot Food and Wine Festival at Disney World. The passport includes menus for each kiosk, drink lists, and stickers you can use to mark off each country that you’ve visited. I love the passport as part of this experience. It’s a great free souvenir and makes the journey through the country fun. If you’re looking for Kid-Friendly foods at Epcot just look for the pear in the passport, or the letters KF ( kid-friendly). You’ll also find gluten-free and vegetarian markers throughout the passport as well.
Planning Your Festival Adventure
To get the most out of your trip you’ll want to do a little pre-planning. You can definitely just show up, get your foodie passport, and take to the countries without a plan. I like to be a little more prepared with my food choices, if there is something i really want i make sure to note that in my passport book as booths can run out of specialty items. Click here to go to official Disney site to view all the Food & Wine festival menus A plan will also help out your budget. Pro tip* Get a Disney gift card add the amount you want to exclusively spend on food and drinks and ONLY use that card for those transactions this will greatly reduce your risk over going over budget which believe me can be so easy to do at these festivals for any foodie because you are tempted to try everything!
Additionally click here for Disney Allergy friendly menus for the festival booths
How Much Does Food Cost at an Epcot Festival?
The Booth foods at the Food and Wine Festival generally cost between $5-$15 dollars each. Most of the foods are usually around that $6 mark. Generally, these are single-serve dishes. The size portion is done strategically by Disney so guest my partake in more booths. Pro Tip we’ll grab several dishes and then share them all. It’s a great way to experience more for less money. For Disney adults over 21, you can plan to pay about $5- $12 for beers and wines. Other alcoholic drinks can go up to $20 depending on what you get.
Using Disney Dining Plan(DDP) at Festival
Since Disney Dining Plan is finally back at Disney World you are able to use your Disney Dining Plan (DDP) snack credits at Festival booths. Pro Tip: If you’re traveling during a festival at Epcot and have a dining plan. You can use those snack credits for meals at booths around the world showcase. Keep in mind only select items on each menu will be available to redeem a snack credit for. i recommend always redeeming your snack credits for the most expensive item so you are getting “more” for your money spent on buying the DDP. *Note* Alcoholic drinks are NOT include to use a snack credit for and would need to be paid with out of pocket but using your snack credits from your DDP for this event could really save you money that you could use to buy some festival exclusive merch or more margarites your choice.
Pay with Disney Dining Plan Credits
If you’re on the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) and have your snack credits just let the cast member at check out know you are using your DDP credits and they will charge them accordingly. I went ahead and have snips of a few of the menu boards from the festivals if you see the area I have outlines in red these are items with the DDP icon next to them that are eligible to redeemed DDP credits on. if you are ever unsure be sure to ask a cast member.
Entertainment
Okay we have discussed Foods lets talk Entertainment! Entertainment at the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival happens throughout the day. You can expect to see the JAMMin’ Chefs, Mariachi Cobre, Voices of Liberty, and more just by strolling throughout your day there. However, if you’re up for staying for an evening concert, then the Food and Wine Festival Eat to the Beat Concert Series is something to see!
- Location: America Gardens Theatre – American Adventure Pavilion
- Dates: Fridays through Mondays from August 30 through November 18, 2024
- Showtimes: 5:30 PM, 6:45 PM, and 8:00 PM
click here to direct you to Disney Worlds official list of bands and dates! a few highlights of bands coming this year are Sugar Ray, Yellowcard, Switchfoot, Boyz 2 men, Smash mouth and so many more.
Family Fun at Epcot Food & Wine Fest
Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak Game
As part of the Food and Wine Festival, you can play the Remy Ratatouille Hide and Squeak Game. This scavenger hunt game has small Remy statues hidden in each World Showcase country. You can do this completely for free or if you want to keep the kids engaged with the game and win a prize at the end you will need to purchase the Scavenger Gameboard at the Port Traders shop as you go through the show case and find his statue you can ask cast members for a sticker to show you found him. Once completed you can bring the gameboard back to the Port Traders gift shop to redeem your prize. Game is typically $9.99 each and the prize you receive is usually worth about that.
Emile’s Fromage Montage Challenge
where are my cheese lovers? if you Purchase any 5 cheese
dishes from select outdoor kitchens across the World Showcase. *The select dishes are listed in the Festival Passport* you simply collect a stamp at each kitchen. Once completed you can head to Shimmering Sips to collect your special prize! this prize is typically a specialized cup or reward of dole whip!
Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit Scavenger Hunt
you can celebrate Halloween at EPCOT with Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit Scavenger Search for hidden decorative pumpkins based on popular Disney characters throughout EPCOT. First, purchase a game board and stickers at select merchandise locations, including:
Whether you choose to hunt for pumpkins or not, return your game board to Disney Traders or World Traveler for a spooky surprise.
Food and Wine Festival Merchandise
Merchandise for Food & Wine Fest Feature food, wine, beer, Figment and of course other Disney characters usually make an appearance! Mickey and Minnie are usually cooking up a storm, and Tiana too, and you can usually find Remy on tons of Food and Wine Festival Merchandise. Click here to go to Disney’s official listing of EPCOT Food and Wine Festival Merchandise
Conclusion
Hopefully, this Food and Wine Festival Guide has given you many of the answers to your questions. While there is so much to do, see, taste and sip it helps to have a list of what to know before you go. I love the Epcot festivals and hope to run into you there!
If you enjoyed our post on Epcot Food and Wine Festival Click here to check out out our post on Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party for 2024!
References:
WDW News
Walt Disney World Website