Your 2013 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival map is here! Find all your kiosks, exact locations, menu items and more…all in one place! Just in time!
Maybe I was looking at the wrong websites, or just doing it wrong, but I was having a hard time finding a festival map that was large enough to read. The map I created below is from the official Disney website. You can click here to see it in it’s original format – all I did was make it bigger. I was able to get my printer to PRINT this map as well. It even came out all on one page, STILL large enough to read. I hope it does the same for you!
Thanks for allowing me to share this with you today. Friends don’t let friends go to food and wine without a plan!
Click on the mini-map below to enlarge it…and startplanning you way around the world! Cheers!
What comes to mind when you think of the gorgeous China Pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase?
Sure, China has lots to offer. The pavilion is decorated with serene ponds, crossed by fantastic bridges, and is dominated by a replica of the Temple of Heaven. Here you will also find Reflections of China, a Circle-Vision 360° movie – and there is a museum containing several ancient Chinese artifacts. You don’t see that every day.
China’s Nine Dragons is one of the most beautiful restaurants in all of World Showcase, and the Lotus Blossom Cafe has some of the best orange chicken in town. Shopping at Good Fortune Gifts and House of Good Fortune is a wonderful air-conditioned past time in the hot Florida summers.
Agent P World Showcase Adventure? Check. Dragon Legend Acrobats? Yep – China has those too – and what visit to China would be complete without actually meeting Mulan and Mushu? Speaking of Mulan, did you know Epcot’s China Pavilion served as a backdrop for the music video “Reflection,” performed by Christina Aguilera? You may recall that “Reflection” was from Mulan’s 1998 film – and nobody knew who Christina Aguilera was back then.
But what is China’s BEST kept secret?
To me, it is a wonderful little thing called the Lucky Combo – located right here at the Joy of Tea kiosk – only found at Epcot’s China pavilion.
It’s not new – it’s just that the The Lucky Combo has been hiding from me
(in plain sight).
For just $9.98, The Lucky Combo includes a Chinese BBQ Pork Bun, a Curry Chicken Pocket and an Egg Roll with your choice of a canned soft drink and a pretty generous serving of ice cream.
No…for real…this is an actual thing.
I had to take a picture because I couldn’t believe my own eyes.
The extra ice cream you see pictured here belonged to my dining companion. We got one of each option – Strawberry Red Bean and Caramel Ginger.
Trust me – you need to try them BOTH.
But wait – there’s more!
Tea here comes in all forms – hot, iced, spiked or slushie – and it is the only location in Epcot that carries real brewed tea instead of pre-made tea beverages.
Not a fan of hot tea? Here’s another little secret:
The extremely friendly cast members that staff this location will gladly provide you a cup of ice to make your own iced version. They will also offer you a tasting of any (non-spiked) beverage, if you want to try before you buy.
Even though it’s hard for me to look past the Lucky Combo, here are more details on the menu, in case you want to plan ahead:
Sweetened Iced Teas: Peach Oolong and Mango Green (both $4.25 or one snack credit)
Hot Teas: Ginseng Oolong, Jasmine, Dragon Well, Green (all $3.19 or one snack credit)
Soft Drinks: Soda ($1.59 or one snack credit); Bottled Water ($2.50 or one snack credit)
Alcoholic Beverages: Mango Gingerita w/vodka and rum ($7.50); Canto Loopy w/vodka and cantaloupe juice ($7.50); Peach Snap w/Schnapps ($7.50); Green Tea Plum Slush w/plum wine ($7.50); Tsing Tao Beer and Tsing Tao Pure Draft Beer (both $5.75); Plum Wine ($4.99); Tipsy Ducks in Love ($8.50 or non-alcoholic $5.50)
Ice Cream: Strawberry Red Bean or Caramel Ginger (both $3.25 or one snack credit)
Snacks: Chinese BBQ Pork Buns ($4.50); Curry Chicken Pockets ($3.99 or one snack credit); Pork and Vegetable Egg Rolls ($3.99 or one snack credit)
So what are your thoughts? Do you agree that the Lucky Combo might be one of Epcot’s best kept secrets?
The 2013 Epcot Food and Wine Festival will take place from September 27 – November 10, 2013, in Epcot, Walt Disney World.
Just like in previous years, we can look forward to fantastic special events, culinary and beverage demonstrations, celebrity chefs, and, of course, World Showcase Marketplace tasting booths.
Food and Wine is here and if you’re like me, you want to make the most of every precious minute you have to spend in Epcot!
To help you with your Food and Wine plans here is a link to the Disney Food Blog’s page. This will show you where each World Showcase tasting station is located, the menu items from each one, prices, and some even with pictures and reviews of the food and libations! Click HERE to check out all of their guides.
Before you head to World Showcase, I want to recommend that you find the top 5 items that you really have your heart set on trying. Sometimes the lines are long and people are blocking the menu boards – so just knowing where you want to go and what you want to get when you get there can save you a ton of time!
Another time saver is to get a Disney gift card before you go. You don’t even have to wait until you get here, you can get themonline! It’s fun just to check out all the different designs there are! This will help you stick to your budget and there’s no fumbling with cash or change at the kiosks. They do have special gift cards at the festival that you can attach to your wrist with a rubber band – but other then that – they don’t do anything that a regular old Disney gift card can’t do. You can reload them as many times as you want. Below is a video showing the gift cards that attach to your wrist – only these were at the Flower and Garden Festival.
If you do have extra time (and money) however, you will want to read up on the special events and possibly make a reservation or two for those. There are wonderful low cost seminars and food demos too!
One other tip. If you can spare the time, take a minute to find the festival welcome center and grab a free passport. It’s a wonderful (FREE!) souvenir and you can get each country stamped by a cast member when you visit the kiosks! These have menus but not pricing, so doing your homework if your on a budget is still a good idea. If you take just a few minutes to check out the festival welcome center while you’re there – you could meet a TV star from HGTV, get a free chocolate or wine sample, do some shopping, and definitely enjoy the air-conditioning.
Do a little planning before you go and you will find there is so much more to the festival that you may not have gotten a chance to experience otherwise. If you have any questions or maybe your own tips for saving time at food and wine please post them in the comments section.
Even though I was born and raised in Orlando, I didn’t know about 3D Disney’s Dessert Discovery Party until I actually took a job booking Disney dining for guests. Most of us that are born here have heard of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival but really don’t know much about it, we only think we do. When I excitedly tell my friends and family that the Epcot food and wine festival is coming – I usually get a raised eyebrow and the same question, “Isn’t that the thing where you get to try food and wine from all the countries?”
Well… yes… but it’s also the chance to book some wonderful experiences, demos, and tastings – the way only Disney could do them. You just might even meet some TV stars, and you’ll definitely get a chance to rock out to some tunes courtesy of some of the best bands of the 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s. But these are just the Food and Wine Festival opportunities that Disney tends to focus their advertising on. There is so much more to enjoy!
You may want to book early for the Dessert Party, although there still seem to be seats available for this year. If you are planning ahead – and you enjoy this sort of thing – you will want to start studying up on what’s new, what’s popular and what’s changed…beginning in early August, and even July 2013.
Events like this one are VERY popular and sometimes sell out on the first day we can book them.
I had been reading about Epcot’s “3D” Dessert Discovery Party for years. It sounded like a wonderful experience – and being the dessert lover that I am, I thought, how could I go wrong?
“Join us for a dessert lover’s dream at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2012! Indulge in decadent desserts and cordials, then enjoy a V.I.P. viewing of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.
Where: World ShowPlace Events Pavilion, located between the Canada Pavilion and the United Kingdom Pavilion in World Showcase.
When: Fridays, October 5, 12 and 26 and November 2 from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Cost: $55 per person, plus tax. Gratuity included. Epcot Theme Park admission required.
For General Admission reservations, please book online or call (407) WDW-FEST or (407) 939-3378. Space is limited, so be sure to book in advance.:”
You read that right — FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS plus tax. Whew!! Pretty steep for me. I justified it as a “research” expense for my readers and busted out my credit card on the very first day of bookings. After months of waiting, the occasion finally arrived. October 5th fell on a Friday this year. All this time I thought I would be going by myself, but I was pleasantly surprised to have my neighbor Tristan express interest in coming along. Luckily she was able to book a seat just in time – and we were off on our quest to discover wonderful Disney desserts.
We were headed to The World Showplace Events Pavilion. It is located between the Canada and UK pavilions in World Showcase at Epcot. This is where they hold many of these type of special events. I think it looks so pretty at night. This photo belongs to http://www.disneytravelbabble.com – the rest are from Disneyways.
The party didn’t start until 8PM, so Tristan and I decided to sample some of the best and most popular eats that the Food and Wine Festival had to offer. Before taking off though, I double checked with a cast member who told us we would be given a wrist band upon entrance – and they can usually just look up the reservation by last name. People were already lining up by 7pm – but Tristan and I were hungry – and we are not much for lines. At $55 a seat we figured it wasn’t a big rush, Epcot could afford to save 2 seats and some desserts for us. This proved to be a smart decision. There were a lot of people – but the pavilion is BIG, and the dessert stations are plentiful – so there was no shortage of food or seats when we got in.
After our snacks from the kiosks of the “world” we checked in at the podium and were handed some pretty cool 3D glasses. There is just no way to describe what you see through these things unless you look at these chandeliers and imagine Mickey icons being all around them.
From here we were treated to the sounds of a live band singing all your typical “sweet” and “candy” themed songs…Sugar Sugar…Lollipop…Candy…you get the idea.
I loved the music and thought the band was great. But that’s no surprise – I’m pretty cheesy like that.
The very end of this blog contains a link where you can learn more about the details, dates, and how to book the 3D Disney’s Dessert Discovery Party.
Today I wanted to take you on pictorial and video tour of my personal experience – but first – here’s a few Disneyways tips:
Don’t sweat the long line -unless you really want to be one of the first ones inside! There are plenty of food and seats for everyone – and you won’t have to be in the serving lines nearly as long if everyone else has gotten their desserts already.
Have a snack before you go – something substantial. I recommend the Coq Au Vin from the French Kiosk! There is a “Savory” station but of course that is the longest line during the first hour of the party. This is really a time where you can eat dessert first! Pace yourself and go back for the savory stuff later – you’ll be glad you did!!
Do NOT miss the donuts flambé! They are bathed in sugar are cooked in a pan of rum – right in front of you!
4. I am not much for alcohol but even I had to try the flavored vodka!
5. I mixed it with some of the blue lemon-aid and Tristan suggested I call it the Krista Cocktail. Feel free to try it OR you could mix some flavored vodka with the Chocolate or Cranberry Water they had available and create your own signature drink!
Overall, the event was fabulous, and more than I expected. One of the best parts of the party however, is the special fireworks viewing area.
We were literally right on by the water – and I got some cool video.
Watching the fireworks through the special 3D glasses they had given us earlier was pretty much the coolest thing I had ever seen. There was no way to film it through the glasses – but believe me I tried! In fact, much to my embarrassment, you can hear my reaction and see how I turned the video camera sideways – without even realizing it. Listen closely before that… and you’ll hear the Dad behind me telling his son “I SEE MICKEYS!” Awesome.
SO – if you are big on sweets, booze, fireworks, and feeling like you are getting VIP treatment – you may want to look in to the “3D Dessert Discovery Party” as I like to call it! In closing, here are some pictures of the food stations, atmosphere, and fun!
To learn more about booking your own 3D Party – including Sweet Seats click here.
Disney has just released booking dates for the 2012 EPCOT International Food & Wine Events. Food and Wine will take place September 28, 2012–November 11, 2012. The date to call and book your events is August 10th at 7:00AM (eastern) for Annual and Seasonal Pass Holders, DVC Members, Tables in Wonderland Members and Golden Oak Residents. On August 14th at 7:00AM (eastern) all festival programming will open for booking for everyone. We will get additional information on all of the event celebrity guests and cooking demonstrations in the near future! You may want to subscribe to Disneyways by typing in your email address on the right hand side of this page – so you can be one of the first to know!
Here’s a video so we can reminisce about last year’s event!
Disneyways 