It’s less than a month – yes, the countdown is almost here!
On August 29th, the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival will FINALLY open after nearly three months of no festival in the park. We can’t wait to experience all the food vendors, try all their delicious offerings (I’m eagerly awaiting those menus, Disney!), and enjoy the overall atmosphere of Food and Wine once again. If you’re going to the festival this year, there are a few things you ABSOLUTELY need to know!
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It could be VERY crowded
Food and Wine is one of the most popular festivals of the year, so in normal years the crowds can be quite large, but this year is not a normal year. After a three-month drought of festivals at EPCOT, we might see a bit more crowds than usual at this festival!
However, it is also possible that the opposite could be the case! Recently, we have seen a significant decline in wait times and overall visitor volume at EPCOT and the rest of Disney World, and this trend may continue during the festival. Disney also reported on their third quarter earnings call that attendance at the park was down, but since this festival is a major attraction for the park, we expect long lines on opening day and weekends!
Conclusion: Expect the unexpected!
There will be bees
This may sound a little silly, but it is NOT. The start of the Food and Wine Festival occurs at the end of summer. August (and quite honestly, part of September) is still HOT at Disney World, and this means that the bees are doing WELL.
And do you know what that means? They will be near the stalls and possibly with you while you eat. Unfortunately, there is no foolproof way to avoid this, so it’s best to just be prepared.
However, you can avoid wearing too bright colors and buying cute items (especially the drinks with sweet syrup). While it won’t keep them away completely, it’s a good start!
Invest in a tray
Another thing that may sound silly, but trust us – we have been doing this for YEARS, and we tell you that You will need to invest in a tray if you plan on trying several different things at different stands.
There aren’t many tables at most of the festival’s stalls, which may result in you eating on a trash can. And that’s totally fine! However, it’s much more fun if you place your TRAY on a trash can rather than on your actual food.
Plus, it’s much easier to take your food somewhere else and find a place to sit down without having to balance everything in your hand. Just imagine you’re back in primary school and you grab a tablet from the internet – most of us did that for about 13 years in school, we can do it again!
Grab one right here!
Do you have a plan
We ask that if you will not listen to anything else we say, then PLEASE listen to this — You need a PLAN before you enter the park! And that includes not just food, but also regular EPCOT entertainment, festival-specific entertainment, merchandise offerings and more.
However, if you’re primarily focused on the food, this is when you most need a plan. There are A LOT of booths to experience, and it’s so easy to get overwhelmed. We’ll be listing all of the booths and their menus here on the blog before the festival starts (as soon as Disney announces them), so We highly recommend you take a look and make a list of things you want to try BEFORE bringing food onto EPCOT property.
Not only is it saves you from spending huge amounts of money that you don’t need (especially if you don’t go at the beginning of the festival and can read our reviews of each individual stall before you go!), but it will You don’t have to zigzag through the parks, picking up items from the various stands in a less than ideal order.
The Disney Dining Plan is BACK
This is also the first Food and Wine Festival to reinstate the Disney Dining Plan has disappeared since the parks closed in 2020!
So what does this mean? Well, many of the food items at the food stands can count as snack credits for those on the Disney Dining Plan. This can be fantastic for those who want to experience the festival without breaking the bank, BUT It’s easy to use up your snack credit for the ENTIRE trip without even realizing it!
Remember, the number of credits you see in your My Disney Experience app is for your ENTIRE trip, not just that day. So if it says 7, that’s the total you have left. You don’t just have 7 credits for that day. For this reason, it may be best to save the Food and Wine Festival for the last day of your trip so you can use up your leftover snack credits on festival meals without worrying about running out of food for the rest of your trip.
We can’t wait to experience everything this festival has to offer in just a few weeks, so stay tuned to AllEars for all the latest Disney World news!
This is the ONLY booth you need to know about at this year’s Food and Wine Festival
What are you most looking forward to at this year’s Food and Wine Festival? Tell us in the comments!
