Epcot - Orlando, FL Review

I just got back from a wonderful girls-only trip to Epcot at Walt Disney World. We purposely planned this trip to coincide with the annual Food and Wine Festival. I'll tell you about the festival first.

Food and Wine Festival 

There are over 20 countries represented including Australia, South Africa and New Zealand where you can sample a variety of foods and drinks including wine, beer, champagne and frozen drinks. Each country offers two or three different foods and anywhere from two to five different drink selections. They even pair some of the drinks with the foods so you can get the best experience when sampling. Be prepared for small portions though. You are only sampling the foods so they are mostly on small plates in appetizer form and some of the drinks come in small cups and are not full size. You can easily see the different prepared foods before you buy so don't worry about that.

The prices are what you would expect from Disney. Foods range from around $2.50 to $5.00 and drinks from $3.00 to $8.00. Champagne and full sized frozen drinks tend to be more then wine. We tried everything from Escargot and Pomegranate Kir in France to Spicy Tuna Roll and Hana Raspberry Saka in Japan. The Escargot came with three small bread bowls with a garlic butter sauce and a must try. I had never had Escargot and wasn't sure I wanted to but it became a group favorite very quickly. The sushi was also served with three pieces. The portions are great for sharing and even though the park was busy the lines where fairly short and moved quickly.

Once you've had your fill of food and drink the festival also offers complimentary beverage seminars, culinary demonstrations, book and bottle signings, as well as a wide selection of unique activities and live music.  

The Park

Visiting Epcot at any time is a great experience. Along with seeing the "world" you can ride Soarin, Mission Space, or the Test Track. Take the little ones to see Nemo and friends or on Spaceship Earth. There are always a wide selection of bands and entertainers at each country that represent the different cultures and traditions. If you are not there during Food and Wine Fest many countries like France, Germany and China have ethnic restaurants available for you to have a great meal anyway.

The kids can still see characters like all of the other parks. We saw Mary Popins, Jasmine, Snow White, the Beast, Donald Duck in Mexican attire and the Genie all in one day.

In my opinion Epcot is a great Disney park no matter when you visit and definitely great when the Food and Wine Festival is going on.