2018 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: August 30 to November 12, 2018

[TeresaWen]

Have the run out of similar passholder gifts in years past? Won't be able to get mine until Nov. 3rd - day 4 of a 4 day trip. Never been a passholder before. Would really like to get one since I'm not sure when I'll be a passholder again. Won't be the end of the world if I don't, though. Just curious.

We got ours today. Looked like they had lots!

 

[TeresaWen]

My review is up at www.destinationdoug.com.

We went today. A different menu but the experience was the same. What w well done event!

 

[goofyintoronto]

If you have an iPhone you can skip the booklet and download an unofficial app called WDW Food&Wine. It’s what almost everyone is using!
View attachment 347532

Thanks for the tip. I downloaded the app. Pretty cool! I noticed ppl using a F&W app last year but never really asked anyone which one it is. Glad im up to date this year. Thank you.

Can someone help me plan epcot with rides and booths for one day?
Is there any thread that can help with the itinerary?

I noticed in your other post youre planning to do most of the food booths in the evening. Honestly, i'd try to squeeze some earlier in the day if you can. Evening can get more crowded...esp if there's a concert that night (eat to the beat concert).

That mad and cheese was inedible last year IMHO. I threw most of it away

Same thing happened to me last year with the mac n' cheese...i didnt enjoy it. Way too many green onions, way too many bacon bits, too salty. I'll skip it this year.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

From the beginning, Sept 14 and 15th, and October 2 and 3rd..... strategy, I start in a different direction each day, right Active Eat, Coastal etc., Hawaii, Canada, then the next, Mexico etc.. Quit at 1 or 2 come back at 5-6, and I only do desserts at night.


Flavors from Fire: Smoked Corned Beef with Warm Crispy Potatoes, Pickled Onions and Blonde Ale Beer Fondue featuring BelGioioso® Romano and American Grana Cheeses. This was a favorite, just as good as last year, nice chunks of corned beef, salty, crispy goodness, a large serving.

Earth Eats: Steakhouse Blended Slider: 1st of, you can smell the goodness emanating from the grill. 2nd, the burger was moist, flavorful, the brie melted, very good.

Active Eats: Loaded Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Pepper Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Peppers and Green Onions, salty, cheesy goodness.

The Boursin Cheese Studio: Again this year we had the Braised Beef Stroganoff with Tiny Egg Noodles, quite tender and tasty.

Wine and Dine Studio: Butternut Squash Ravioli with Brown Butter Vinaigrette, Parmesan Cheese and Pumpkin Seeds, the brown butter vinaigrette, I'm making this at home.

Chocolate Studio: Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey-Carame and Sweet Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart with Whipped Cream, yes I had both,2 different occasions, sinfully good.

Hawai: Grilled Tuna Tataki with Seaweed Salad, Pickled Cucumbers and Wasabi Cream, good but I miss the Tuna Poke from years past. Love the floral notes in the Maui Brewing Company Bikini Blonde Lager, delicously refreshing

Canada: "the Mother Land" Oh my goodness, love in a bowl. Le Cellier Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with Truffle-Butter Sauce and one of my favorite beers, Moosehead Radler: Lager infused with Grapefruit, Grape and Lemon Juices. I love the soup too, but I just didn't have the room.

Refreshment Port: Stowaway Mary, pricey but wow, tasty!

Australia: Grilled Lamb Chop with Mint Pesto and Potato Crunchies, F&W isn't complete till I've had one of these, even better than I remembered it. Coopers Brewery Pale Ale

Ireland: Roasted Irish Sausage with Colcannon Potatoes and Onion Gravy, Chocolate Pudding with Irish Cream Liqueur Custard. I'm moving to Ireland... Those little sausages and the chocolate cake, so good.

Belgium: Beer-braised Beef served with Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes and the beer flight. Always good. I have yet to have a sweet waffle, miss the savory waffle from years ago.

France: Croissant aux Escargots, and the Passion Martini Slush: I had both, each time, never disappoints, also that little spot by the Seine, has the only breeze to be had.

Brewer's Collection: The beer flight and then just my fave of the 3, Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen Pomegranate Beer

Africa: Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil Stew with Vegan Yogurt and Quinoa, I had it twice, it was so good, perfectly spiced with jalapenos, rich, so flavorful, plan to have it again on 11/10.

Mexico: Short Rib Tostada, Corn Tortilla topped with Short Ribs, Black Beans, Salsa Verde and Spring Onion– Mariachi Loco: Crispy, moist savory beef and that salsa verde, a huge hit!

India: Warm Indian Bread with Pickled Garlic, Mango Salsa and Coriander Pesto Dips, xnay the pickled garlic, wicked, argh!

Spain: Charcuterie in a Cone with imported Spanish Meats, Cheeses and Olives with an Herb Vinaigrette . Salami, chorizo (maybe) chunks of manchego cheese, olives black and green, phenomenal!

Japan: Spicy Roll, Tuna and Salmon topped with Volcano Sauce, always good, fresh!

and I always have to have a sugar crepe with Vanilla ice cream from France with a glass of Champagne!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Africa: Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil Stew with Vegan Yogurt and Quinoa, I had it twice, it was so good, perfectly spiced with jalapenos, rich, so flavorful, plan to have it again on 11/10.

Yet, I had that stew and thought it was super spicy and almost blew my head off. This is a perfect example of the dilemma Disney has in deciding how spicy to make their dishes. I strongly suspect DH would agree with your assessment and wonder what I was complaining ("It's too spicy") about.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Has anyone been to or seen a review of the tequila lunch this year? I’m going in the next few weeks ... was just curious what to expect.

 

[karrit2000]

Has anyone been to or seen a review of the tequila lunch this year? I’m going in the next few weeks ... was just curious what to expect.

I went the week before last. Had Hilda as the presenter, terrific as always, I've never gotten the other guy. The welcome drink was very good. It had a slight spice to it. I'll have to dig up my menu because I can't remember exactly what the starter & appetizer courses were. Main course was a beef filet with yucca fries. Dessert was a Chocolate Lava Cake with Salted Caramel, way too much salt in the caramel IMO. Overall the meal was excellent as was the service. We also got to keep the drink vessel the welcome drink was served in, nice souvenir. If you've never gone before they start with the Welcome drink as you enter. They serve three Tequilas & Mezcal paired with the meal. I'll try to post more detail later.

 

[karrit2000]

Yet, I had that stew and thought it was super spicy and almost blew my head off. This is a perfect example of the dilemma Disney has in deciding how spicy to make their dishes. I strongly suspect DH would agree with your assessment and wonder what I was complaining ("It's too spicy") about.

Have to agree with you on the Spicy Factor. If Disney says Spicy I tend to avoid it although I was pleasantly surprise with the Fritto Misto at the Italy booth. The spice was just in the sauce & I thought it complimented the food just right although I would have preferred it slightly milder I was able to eat it all.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Yet, I had that stew and thought it was super spicy and almost blew my head off

lol, I didn’t expect it to be that spicy hot either, but I enjoyed it, you could taste the flavor of the jalapeños, not just the heat! I can’t even make it at home, no one but me would eat it!

 

[Texan]

Our party of 5 attended F&W on Sunday. Although very hot, and pretty crowded, had an amazing time at our first Festival. Maybe our standards are lower than others, but we really, really enjoyed the food and drink. All of the booth workers were so friendly and it was so much more efficient than I imagined. Longest wait in a line was probably 10-15 min. We got there around 11 and stayed until around 7. So glad we got to experience this. Some of the favorites were the Fritto Misto, Black Pepper Shrimp and the scallops at Coastal Eats. I even bought a bottle of the Sparkling Pineapple wine that they served at Hawai'i.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Some of the favorites were the Fritto Misto

I enjoy it too, I live close, so I've gone twice already. I have to make sure to try the Fritto Misto in November!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

WDWNT reporting they are out of the cute cups as prizes for the Remy hide and squeak and handing out “koozies” instead.

https://twitter.com/wdwnt/status/1052290450332233728?s=21

 

[ninafeliz]

WDWNT reporting they are out of the cute cups as prizes for the Remy hide and squeak and handing out “koozies” instead.

https://twitter.com/wdwnt/status/1052290450332233728?s=21

 

[Haley R]

WDWNT reporting they are out of the cute cups as prizes for the Remy hide and squeak and handing out “koozies” instead.

https://twitter.com/wdwnt/status/1052290450332233728?s=21

Are you kidding me? Guess I won’t be doing that now. Dang there are some major cons to going in late October. I mean it’s a cup so it’s not a huge deal lol. Would’ve been fun though!

 

[ninafeliz]

Are you kidding me? Guess I won’t be doing that now. Dang there are some major cons to going in late October. I mean it’s a cup so it’s not a huge deal lol. Would’ve been fun though!

Yeah, I had forgotten all of the drawbacks to doing this and MNSSHP very late in the season - we leave next Wednesday for 5 days. I guess they are so worried about having too many they always run out of stuff! Although then you can often find things in the outlet later - so I guess they just can't manage things like this well.

 

[gillep]

Are you kidding me? Guess I won’t be doing that now. Dang there are some major cons to going in late October. I mean it’s a cup so it’s not a huge deal lol. Would’ve been fun though!

UGH, that's terrible. We have gone late September/early October for two years now after MANY years going early November, and I have been trying to convince my husband to switch back to November because our last two trips have been so miserably hot, but there are drawbacks to that too, I don't want to miss out on all the good merchandise! We did late flower and garden this year, and I am still annoyed that they were totally sold out of the shirt I had been planning on purchasing in anything but the two largest sizes that certainly would not have worked for me. I think I am going to book something for BCV for late September now and mull it over a bit. I guess it saves money this way. I love doing those silly games as my husband and I get quite competitive seeing who can find the most items, even though they are hidden at a child's level of complexity.

 

[Haley R]

Yeah, I had forgotten all of the drawbacks to doing this and MNSSHP very late in the season - we leave next Wednesday for 5 days. I guess they are so worried about having too many they always run out of stuff! Although then you can often find things in the outlet later - so I guess they just can't manage things like this well.

We leave Monday! I’m already over this whole cup thing it’s not too big of a deal. I took the phosphorescent freeze off of my list since the beakers are gone. I just had to make some adjustments

 

[Haley R]

UGH, that's terrible. We have gone late September/early October for two years now after MANY years going early November, and I have been trying to convince my husband to switch back to November because our last two trips have been so miserably hot, but there are drawbacks to that too, I don't want to miss out on all the good merchandise! We did late flower and garden this year, and I am still annoyed that they were totally sold out of the shirt I had been planning on purchasing in anything but the two largest sizes that certainly would not have worked for me. I think I am going to book something for BCV for late September now and mull it over a bit. I guess it saves money this way. I love doing those silly games as my husband and I get quite competitive seeing who can find the most items, even though they are hidden at a child's level of complexity.

We haven’t been in the fall yet so this will be a good trip to try it out. I doubt we will be back in the fall but I’m still really excited! We haven’t really done any of the games like this. I guess we could still point them out without trying to win anything.

 

[gillep]

We haven’t been in the fall yet so this will be a good trip to try it out. I doubt we will be back in the fall but I’m still really excited! We haven’t really done any of the games like this. I guess we could still point them out without trying to win anything.

I personally think you should still play the game, even just amongst your group members with no official map/prize. Most are pretty easy to spot, but there are a couple that are a bit more hidden, and it breaks up the time walking from booth to booth. My husband and I make it a bit my difficult by saying that you don't get the points for just being the first to find Remy, but you have to be the first to find him and identify the food/kitchen item he is paired with, so there is a bit of stealth if you see Remy but don't want to let on to the other person until you are close enough to actually make out the item, you may even try to distract the other person by asking them to get you a food item from a stationary booth while you stalk closer to Remy to get a better view, we are clearly pathetic...

My favorite game is the character eggs hidden around Easter time, and I think that a few of those are a bit more difficult to find than the Remys.

Have fun, I love fall at Disney!!!!

 

[Professor_Cookie]

Yet, I had that stew and thought it was super spicy and almost blew my head off. This is a perfect example of the dilemma Disney has in deciding how spicy to make their dishes. I strongly suspect DH would agree with your assessment and wonder what I was complaining ("It's too spicy") about.

That’s a dilemma all chefs have. I have a dish with a house blended harissa that is about as spicy as if we had made it with black pepper and people still cry sometimes that it is overly spicy. Don’t get me started on the shishitos.