With Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival just around the corner, now’s the perfect time to get your game face on and work on your plan of action for eating and drinking your way around Epcot. While the festival features many different offerings from seminars to parties to the Eat to the Beat concert series, the festival’s many international marketplaces are the main draw. Here are five tips to make the most out of visiting the food booths at Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival
1. Don’t Make Any Dining Reservations
If you plan to dedicate a day during your vacation to Food and Wine, do yourself a favor, and skip the dining reservations that day. The true lure of the marketplaces is all of the varied and yummy foods, and you won’t be able to really enjoy yourself if you’re stuffed from a buffet lunch or three course dinner. In fact, I’ll even go so far as to say don’t even eat “real” meals all day. It’s no stretch to say that a festival-goer could easily consume the day’s calories and be fueled from sampling all the festival has to offer.
Get Park Wise: On the dining plan? If you don’t think you’ll be able to use all your table or quick credits by skipping a day of meals, consider turning them into snack credits. This may not be the wisest use of those credits, but it’s better than letting them go completely to waste. Snack credits can be used at the marketplaces. Look for the dining plan symbol to see what can be purchased on the dining plan.
2. Grab a Gift Card
Speaking of purchases, grab a Food and Wine gift card and fill that baby up! The festival gift cards are attached to a bracelet making purchases quick and convenient. Not to mention, it’s a cute little souvenir to take home. In the unlikely event you still have money on the card, since it’s just a smaller version of a standard Disney gift card, you can use it later in your trip or even back home at the Disney Store (I thoroughly confused the local Disney Store cashier one year, but when I told her it was a gift card, she ran it with no issues).
3. Travel with Friends
With so many options, there’s little chance you’ll get to try everything at the festival, so this is where friends come in handy. While the servings look tiny, they are filling! Our crew tends to grab three or four options then meet back to sample a little of everyone’s plate. We get a taste of far more countries than if we were to try to tackle the menus alone. Easier on your stomach and easier on your wallet! Just make sure no one’s coming down with anything. That kind of sharing is NOT fun.
4. Visit During Weekdays
Weekends are packed at Food and Wine. In addition to the vacationers, locals are running out to the festival on the weekends, too. If at all possible, plan to hit Epcot during the work week. Even better, get most of your sampling done in the afternoons, as the World Showcase crowd begins to swell as dusk approaches. Use the evening to go back and grab a favorite from the day or maybe enjoy an adult beverage (or two), then hit the bricks to avoid the crowd or find a spot to settle in for IllumiNations.
5. Drink Around the World…Responsibly
I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to put on the mommy hat and tell you to drink responsibly. It’s tempting to load up on libations, especially when are so many interesting and tasty options to please your palate, but you are in a family zone. Kids and drunks don’t mix, and unless you want to be on the receiving end of a mama bear rant or a disgruntled dad, keep yourself in control. In addition, if you’re not used to the Florida sun, too much booze can make for a gurgling stomach. Not fun, either. Finally, there’s some great music during the festival concerts, and alcohol makes everyone think they’ve got rhythm. Unless you want to be the star of someone’s YouTube video shakin’ your groove thang and slurring your words, watch your intake.
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Here’s another fun way to experience Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, MiceChat is holding its annual Sip and Nibble on October 24th. Join a herd of fun loving MiceChat readers during a full day attempt to eat and drink in ALL of the Food and Wine Festival marketplaces! More information HERE.
Plus, MiceChat has a full week of Orlando activities planned for October 22nd through 29th. What can you expect? A visit to the Wizarding World, Walt Disney World Gumball Rally, Sip and Nibble, daily meet-ups, meals, friendship and a whole lot of fun. More information about all of the WDW Invastion events HERE.
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What are your favorite tips for visiting the marketplaces?
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