I’m so happy I finally got to experience Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival 2020! It has been on my Disney bucket list for years, but honestly I put it on the back burner. Not this year! My boyfriend and I spontaneously grabbed 1-day tickets to Disney to go to the Hollywood Studios park, but upon our check-in our lovely cast member upgraded our tickets to include a bonus day for the same price. We debated all day on which park to go to the next day and we landed on going to Epcot. I knew this would be the perfect Disney park for a Sunday afternoon and seeing that Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival 2020 was in full swing sealed the deal.
So you may be asking Anissa what is Epcot and Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival? Glad you asked!
The Travel & Leisure blog sums it up best, Epcot is essentially a 2 in 1 Disney theme park that consists of a future world and an 11 country world showcase. I love the pavilions individually dedicated to the 11 countries with food, drinks, and shops to reflect those countries. The Food & Wine Festival extends upon the permanent pavilions to share food & wine from across the globe. For example there is not a pavilion for Brazil, but there is a Brazilian food kiosk for the festival.
Today we’re only chatting about the Food & Wine Festival and the park itself we will save for a different post. However today we will break this down for food, drinks, and budgeting.
Food Selection
The food and beverage selection is available at booths stationed around the park. There are also 4 booths in the World Show Palace. Food selection at the countries apart of the festival consisted of small plates, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The small plates of food had a variety of little entrees and desserts. Overall the food was delicious, but the seafood boil located in the American pavilion stole our hearts.
You can look to spend anywhere from $4-14 dollars on depending on the food or beverage.
Drink Selection
Each Country pop-up has about 2-4 drink options to accompany the food selection. There’s a variety of beers, wines, and cocktails. There were also non alcoholic beverages. I indulged in the caipirinha from Brazil, the American beer flight, and a blood orange mimosa.
Restaurant Availability
- Not all of the restaurants are currently open, but there are sit down with table service restaurant selections.
- I would highly advise booking your reservations for a sit down restaurant the night before to secure availability. I didn’t do this for the restaurant at the Mexico pavilion and totally regret it.
- You can book a restaurant reservation up to 60 days in advance. There is not winging it nowadays
- Other restaurants served based as quick service with mobile ordering which is super easy with the Disney App. You can then take your food to a seating area nearby.
- The food & drink kiosks that are part of the Food & Wine Festival were mostly walk-ups with mobile pay options to avoid contact.
Budget
- Disney is not a cheap vacation outing, but there are ways to maximize
- Share plates! You get to try more and not kill your wallet in the meantime.
- See which areas you want to eat to efficiently plan your food budget too.
- Don’t overdo the souvenirs. Trust it’s tempting to buy a little something for everyone on the list, but just take a deep breath and think it through. I would personally save shopping to the very end and go for something that really connects with the special trip.
- Find ideal locations to take photos. The Disney photography service is wonderful and makes a great souvenir, but if you are finding ways to crunch the budget then you may want to pass. The photographers are strategically at the best photo ops, but just a little bit away from where they are you can grab a great shot. Look for areas with iconic scenery too that makes the park iconic.
Social Distancing & Crowds
- While there are people still going to Disney it’s not the overwhelming crowds of the previous normal. Disney does require you to reserve your park attendance. We did the night before.
- Ride waits aren’t exceptionally long which is a plus of the reduced capacity limits.
Before You Go Tips
- I do recommend getting the Disney World App which will provide you a map with wait times, food ordering, and reservations for restaurants. Click here for current dining options at Epcot!
- Plan! Plan! Plan! While we were able to quickly get a plan together, you want to approach your trip with a strategy. Ask which rides are on your must list, plan your food, use the app features to reserve.
- Dress comfortably! You can manage cute elements of an outfit, but keep it comfy. I packed a few comfortable outfits to choose from ranging from biker shorts, tees, denim shorts, and dresses. I kept the shoe options limited to sneakers.
All in all, while the new normal is real the Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2020 is an enjoyable experience. If you’re thinking of going just know that you can stay safe and clean there, so relax and enjoy the Disney Magic. Are you ready for a Disney trip for yourself?