Making the Most of the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival

For its 28^th year, the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is dishing out a huge array of global small bites at food stalls across the park. 

This Disney World fan-favorite event kicked off on Aug. 29 and runs through Nov. 23. It’s also tied to the Eat to the Beat Concert Series that’s welcoming popular music stars such as Yellowcard, Aloe Black, Parmalee, and more. 

What can feel like a dizzying array of cultural cuisine and fun park activities is really quite manageable when a trip to the festival is planned correctly. TMR visited the festival during its opening days, and we have some tips for optimizing the time spent there. 

Where to stay

The best Disney resort to stay at when visiting EPCOT is the BoardWalk Inn, especially for Food & Wine. After a long day of eating, it’s only about a 5-minute walk back from the park. Plus, it offers great dining options for all the foodies who would presumably be attending Food & Wine. 

BoardWalk Inn’s Flying Fish is one of Disney’s standout upscale, sit-down restaurants. Right next door is the AbracadaBar, serving specialty cocktails in a stylish and cozy, magician-themed venue. 

There’s also an ice cream shop, sandwich spot, corn dog stand, and Italian restaurant, all on a quaint boardwalk that offers entertainment at night, merchandise stores, and 2- and 4-person surrey bikes for rent. 

When staying at a Disney resort, guests get into the parks half an hour early at 8:30 a.m. Coupled with its proximity to EPCOT, BoardWalk Inn guests can get to the park as early as possible for those long-line rides, though the festival doesn’t start until 11 a.m. 

Walt Disney World is also offering up to 30% off stays at select resorts throughout the duration of the festival, so be on the lookout for that, as well as Eat to the Beat Concert Series and festival packages. 

What to eat & drink

Let’s get to the main attraction: the exclusive food and beverage offerings at Food & Wine, which features dozens of Global Marketplaces with 240 food and drink items for sale. From beer and fresh waffles in Belgium to noodles and dumplings in China and everything in between, there’s a solid chance Food & Wine will have your desired cuisine and help you discover your new favorites.  

We highly recommend picking up a Festival Passport and a park map and planning out your culinary journey. Festival Passports feature all the menu items at each food stand, plus indicate plant-based foods and allergy-friendly foods. It also shows which dishes count toward Emile’s Fromage Montage, where guests can get their Festival Passport stamped after ordering certain cheesy dishes for a free treat at the end. 

About 43% of the small plates are brand-new to the festival this year, which is especially exciting for return guests. This includes menus at several new Global Marketplaces: At ComminiCore Hall, guests will find the new Macatizers and Fan Favorites menus. And at the new Harvest Hollow area, there are three new Global Marketplaces: Milled & Mulled, Forest & Field, and Bramblewood Bites. 

For an extensive list of all the food, visit the Disney Parks Blog’s EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Foodie Guide. Another pro-tip: By booking a Walt Disney Travel Company package with a Disney Dining Plan, guests can use their snack credits for many of the festival’s delectable dishes.   

What to do

Along the way, there’s plenty to do now that EPCOT has completed a multi-year transformation. The Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is a thrilling rollercoaster introduced two years ago, and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, an immersive 4-D ride, is also fairly new to the park. 

In contrast, a longtime EPCOT mainstay is Living with the Land. This calming ride takes guests through a greenhouse of all kinds of plants and crops, tying them to the dishes of Food & Wine while the festival is in session. 

To stay cool, visit A Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana, which is an outdoor walk-through experience that opened in October 2023. Those who want to shop ’til they drop will find tons of Food & Wine-themed merchandise for purchase throughout the park. 

For entertainment, the Eat to the Beat Concert Series and Celebracion Encanto sing-along both have several showtimes throughout each day. And of course, each evening ends with the Luminous: The Symphony of Us fireworks show.