2017 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: August 31, 2017 - November 13, 2017

I can’t say for sure since we never got there earlier, but the World Showcase itself opens at 11:00 so I guess it can’t open much sooner.
Ah. Well I knew at least one Joffrey’s is located over by test track so that is why I was curious. Not necessarily for the alcohol but for coffee in general.
 
Just back from 3 days at F&W last week. Quick thoughts in no particular order:

  • Weather couldn't have been better. Cool nights and warm days.
  • Crowds seemed heavier on Monday than I expected. We went a month earlier last year and the lines for the booths seemed much longer this year. Crowds were much better Tuesday and Wednesday, however. One contributing factor seemed to be staffing at the registers. Canada, France and other popular locations had adequate staff, but many others had only one person taking orders, which seemed to back the lines up considerably.
  • Black Pepper Shrimp at China was my favorite item.
  • Took a night off from the booths and ate at Via Napoli. Not terrible but absolutely no reason to return. The food was ok (Arancini appetizer was great), but they really mis-timed our food. Two people ordered pizza while others ordered dinner salad and pasta dishes. Pizza did not arrive until LONG after those dishes had been cleared from the table. Noticed this happening at other tables around us, as well.
  • Minnie Vans are great. Used them to go to and return from Disney Springs. I think the app glitched and showed me what an actual Lyft ride would cost and it was $4.75. Maybe it was just a glitch but if not interesting comparison on charges.
  • Didn't drink as much beer as I thought I would (and less than last year). Not sure why.
  • Single-rider line for TT is awesome.
  • Pandora is great and FOP is top-notch as advertised.
  • We'll avoid evening Safaris from now on. Lots of animals were up for the night. First time we didn't see a single elephant.
  • Nomad Lounge at AK is great. A hidden gem.
  • E-EMH at MK was great. Got there at 9:30 and rode four attractions by 11 (Space, Buzz, HM, BTMRR). Would've had 5 but POTC went down right before we got on the boat.
  • I could live at Kidani Village.
 


Would anyone be able to help me out? We bought my daughter the Remi scavenger hunt but when we went back to the store to pick up the keychain, they were closed. Would anyone be able to buy one and mail it to me? Please send me a PM. I can send payment via PayPal. Thank you!!
 
Would anyone be able to help me out? We bought my daughter the Remi scavenger hunt but when we went back to the store to pick up the keychain, they were closed. Would anyone be able to buy one and mail it to me? Please send me a PM. I can send payment via PayPal. Thank you!!


You had to provide them the completed poster thing and they stamped the back of it to show that you had picked up the prize. IDK if you can get it any other way than in person.
 
Back from a quick one day F&W trip (other two days were spent elsewhere). Having been every year since I worked the festival in 2009, we knew what to expect. Overall it was an amazing time. The weather was perfect and crowds were extremely manageable (Wednesday). We (bf and I) managed to make it all the way around the world trying 39 different items. I bought the sampler with Disney Rewards dollars and used them on drinks. My parents didn't try nearly as much but held in there pretty strong. My only concern was the portion size. WAY larger than normal. There are normally 3 people in my group and, on average, we have one bite per person. Some "tastings" were like an entire meal in itself (I'm looking at you Onion and Cheese Tart...). My mother has the same thoughts. We did end up throwing a couple of dishes away before being able to eat all of it. But I would rather have that problem than the other way around.

In the end, I believe the boyfriend is already looking to plan next year's trip after our first try at DCA's F&W this spring. Thanks to everyone for their reviews and thoughts throughout the past couple of months! See ya in 2018!
 


You had to provide them the completed poster thing and they stamped the back of it to show that you had picked up the prize. IDK if you can get it any other way than in person.

I was hoping I could pay someone to buy the whole thing.
You don’t actually have to complete it. Or, at least, it doesn’t have to be right. Just buy it and throw the stickers on it and they’ll stamp it and give you the keychain.
 
Last edited:
Reporting back from a fabulous and fun F&W weekend.

This was an adults only trip. Went to a few events, ate our favorites and even enjoyed a few rides.

First up, the French Family meal. This was by far my favorite event. The main dish was veal served over rice, peas and a cream sauce. Plenty and plenty of wine. I enjoyed the pace of the event, being served, and the general vibe. Would defintely do this event again and book more of this type of events. Delightful.

Parisan Breakfast on the other hand, I was not impressed as an event itself. While I did enjoy my cheese, baguette, charcuterie and mimosas, I thought of it nothing more than a crowded buffet. It was chaotic. We did enjoy and were seated near a lively group of hammered princesses who were enjoying the festival and zest of life. Cheers ladies.

We booked 6 of the wine tastings, which ended up being 4 too many. Each had a similar story, were pretty low energy and the pours were small. First reports were bigger than last year, then later, small. IMO they were small and I have no prior years to compare to. Would give these a dud.

Speaking of beer pours at the kiosks. Small! Craft Beers gets the shout out for best variety.

The culinary seminars on the other hand, we enjoyed more with the banter between PS and the chefs. The pastry one was an out of the Krusteaz box of crumb cake. Not informative in its own right but entertaining none the less. The Moroccan beef was neat to learn about and quite tasty. Would have gladly done more of these if offered.

Lines on Thursday were super short and lines Saturday walk to wall insane. Truly the busiest I’ve seen it.

We had an excellent dinner one night at Flying Fish and our wouldn’t be a trip without dinner at Via Napoli.

Never did I feel stuffed so clearly I didn’t eat enough despite my best effort.

Stayed at BWI and honestly, didn’t care for the resort. I likened it to a creepy fun house and expected carnival noises and freaky dreams. The halls were also soooo long. Can’t beat proximity to Epcot though, but will stick with Beach Club next time.

Did spend quite a bit of time both inside and outside spaces of the Bel Vue lounge. Liked that, and was surprised how big a crowd it drew. Didn’t care for Abracadabra due to themeing.

Was a bit incovienced by the race on Sunday. We were up early and planned to walk to DHS but the path was closed. Did not want to take a bus so we cheered part of the race and went to Epcot.

Already looking forward to next year. Have two bounce back booked. One for F&W and another for Flower & Garden.

Initial thoughts for next years planning is to go earlier in the week and more meal events, what’s cooking and mix its. Can’t wait to be planning again and learning F&G.
 
Last edited:
Shop Disney has some of the Food & Wine Festival merchandise on sale. The Food & Wine Festival 2017 Crossbody Bag By Dooney & Bourke is reduced from $178 to $133, t-shirt reduced from $30 to $24.50, and wine glasses reduced from $27 to $20.25. Many other items are also discounted.

If you have a Disney Visa, use discount code DRVCMEMBER for an additional 10% discount.
 
We're taking the family (Kids 8 and 7) to epcot during this time. Will there be kid friendly foods do you think?
 
Shop Disney has some of the Food & Wine Festival merchandise on sale. The Food & Wine Festival 2017 Crossbody Bag By Dooney & Bourke is reduced from $178 to $133, t-shirt reduced from $30 to $24.50, and wine glasses reduced from $27 to $20.25. Many other items are also discounted.

If you have a Disney Visa, use discount code DRVCMEMBER for an additional 10% discount.

I should have known this would go on sale after I bought my Dooney bag and more than 30 days ago so I can't return. (And when I asked about refunding the difference I was told so sad too bad!) sure could use that passion martini splash from France now....:sad2:
 
Some F&W Merchandise is on sale at the parks as well. I was hoping to use my AP discount on a cookbook but I didnt see any
 
We're taking the family (Kids 8 and 7) to epcot during this time. Will there be kid friendly foods do you think?

They have little icons to indicate “kid-friendly” choices. That said, most things are too adventurous for picky kids who live on chicken nuggets and pizza (but you can find other items in the park for them).
 
Got back Tuesday from my runcation, and as always enjoyed myself at F&W, even if I never have enough space to eat everything I'd like to. I did many more savory items this trip then in the past. Standouts to me were the Lamb Meatball in New Zealand, Crab Cake (can't remember the booth on this one), Beef Skewer in Patagonia and Hawaiian Pork Slider. Can't wait to be back next year, although I also think I need a F&W trip with no running so I can eat and drink more!
 
IMG_0022.JPG IMG_0006.JPG IMG_0021.JPG

Will this thread stay active after the festival ends? I want to continue to talk about it and hopefully find time to contribute a summary of my experience.
Here are a few highlights:
The frozen drink from Brazil was very refreshing. My DD did not like it. The cheese bread was disappointing.
The portable trays I ordered from amazon were very helpful. The salmon on potato pancake was one of my favorite food items.
Citrus Thistle from Scotland was one of my favorite drinks! My DD loved it too.
ETA: I have to mention how much I loved using the F&W app! It really helped me keep track of everything and if I wanted to eat or drink something a few days later and couldn't remember where it was, I could easily find it in my list of favorites. I highly recommend it!
 
Last edited:
Will this thread stay active after the festival ends? I want to continue to talk about it and hopefully find time to contribute a summary of my experience.

Yes, the thread will remain open. Once the dates for the 2018 festival are announced, the 2017 thread will be "unstuck" which means it will no longer appear at the top of the restaurant board. However anyone will be able to post to the 2017 thread whenever they desire.
 
We are back from 9 days of F&W enjoyment with friends. It is still adults-only for us. As soon as any of us get around to procreating, I suppose they'll be joining us as well.

We did the Parisian Breakfast, which was wonderful, and those mimosas were SO free-flowing. I'd like to reiterate my happy birthday to Helen, whose friends were awesomely supportive of her at this event. The food was delicious and the event was well worth it.

We also did the Krusteaz Pastry deminar, which was still disappointingly without wine. They sent us home with a box of Cinnamon Crumb Cake mix, an apron, and a scraper. The bread pudding was decent, and considering I've never indulged before and may try it again, I guess it was a success. I'm just less than thrilled to be presented with a "from a box" recipe. Last time was butterscotch pudding from scratch, which was divine and amazing. Sadly, we missed our Lobster Demo because we were busy at Dining with an Imagineer and didn't realize how close that particular change-of-venue was in timing.

Make-it, Mix-it, Celebrate-it was AWESOME. We made chocolate baskets out of modeling chocolate and peanut butter acorns. The former was awesome and the latter was a pretty miserable failure, but tasted delicious. Temperature had a lot to do with that. It's putting a whole new spin on our holiday party this year for gingerbread houses.

As far as the booths went, we didn't get to try nearly as many as I had originally planned. Thanks to the discovery of the "mid-day break," we did not spend nearly as much time in Epcot as we had hoped. The stuff we did try was generally good. I loved the venison loin in New Zealand, but the mussels fell quite flat. The Citrus Thistle in Scotland was Delicious, with that capital D intentional. We of course got our filets and Cheddar cheese soup in Canada, and loved them. The wine flight in Germany was 2/3 awesome. The other one bit my head off. It must have been the dry one. The Scallops in Wine and Dine were good. The Nitro Truffle didn't disappoint. The bread in Brazil was less than thrilling, slightly congealed, actually. And the pork belly was too thick a cut and thus not crisped enough. Neither of us felt compelled for more. The Beef burgundy in France was delicious, but the crème brulee was a crashing let-down thanks to the fact that the fruit jam was mixed through the custard, which made the consistency off. The potato pancake with salmon was fine, but not necessary to repeat. And if I never have another Dole Whip with alcohol in it, so much the better. They're far better without the booze. By all means, I'll take the booze in my iced chai, though.

The above paragraph is probably better bulleted, but I'm not feeling that dedicated right now. :) Sorry.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts


Top