It’s finally time! While EPCOT’s International Food and Wine Festival started back in late August, now it’s time to experience the SECOND Food & Wine event in Disney World.

The Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic takes place at the hotel each year, and similar to EPCOT’s festivals, you can find multiple different booths with tons of different food and drink offerings in smaller portions to try. This year’s event takes place on Friday, November 14th, and Saturday, November 15th, 2025, from 5-9 PM, and we just got to try a TON of the options at this year’s event to tell you what should be at the top of your list!

There are multiple themed areas around the Causeway this year: The Beer Garden, For the Love of Florida, Carnival Corner, The Bubbles Lounge, and Chinatown. At this event, you’ll get to walk around to different booths representing various restaurants around Disney World and see what they have to offer!

This means you’ll get to try items from restaurants like Cabana Bar & Beach Club, The Fountain, Il Mulino New York Trattoria, Amare, and so many more. We’re always grateful these portion sizes are small, because there are SO many great options to try.

One thing we learned is that this year’s event will be a little different. First, the event is moving forward a half hour, so it can end a little earlier this year and leave time for visitors to hit some restaurants (if they’re still hungry!). The causeway will also be transformed with a whopping 150 vendors. This year’s menu has been extensively overhauled, so expect to see a lot of new items. Plus, the Bubbles Lounge is returning.

At this special event, we got to try a few of the most sought-after options that you can grab at this event. We started with the Slow Braised Wagyu Beef Short Rib with Celery Root Espuma and Shallot Marmalade from Bourbon Steak. “Incredible” is how our reporter described this. The beef was so tender that it fell apart like butter when we put a fork through it. It had a rich, deep, and buttery flavor and was salted perfectly. The pairing of the celery root and the shallot marmalade just really brought out those softer and smoother flavors. If you’ll be visiting the Food & Wine Classic, do NOT miss out on this.

The Sabich with Fried Eggplant, Israeli Salad, Pickled Watermelon Radish, Tahini Garlic Sauce, Amba, Micro Parsley, and Mini Pita is from Amare. No, we didn’t misspell “sandwich.” This is a vegan dish with lots of juicy veggies and fresh spices all wrapped up in tasty pita bread. It is a hefty portion, so this one might be shareable, so you don’t fill up before you have a chance to hit up all the food stations. If you’re looking for something more grounded and earthy, this is it.

Next up, we tried the Stir-Fried Rice with Blue Crab, Florida Gulf Shrimp, and Tempura Shiitakes from bluezoo. The rice itself is good fried rice by the usual standards. It’s sweet with a salty soy flavor, and the right amount of salt. The crab is tender and soft, and the shrimp has just the right amount of chew plus a nice sweet and salty flavor. You also get a nice crunch with the mushrooms. There are also green onions that add some brightness. This is another filling portion size, so again, you might want to share. That also makes it a good bang for your buck meal.

The Ricotta Cappelletti with Hand Crafted Pasta, House Made Citrus Ricotta Filling, Slow Cooked Angus Beef Ragu, and Crispy Pancetta Breadcrumbs is from Il Mulino. It is a very savory dish, but the ricotta cheese gives it an additional rich flavor. It’s a fun filled pasta with a lot of great flavors, including that citrus flavor with the ricotta that adds more brightness and sharpness. The breadcrumbs add a nice crispy texture.

Then we tried the Chirashi Bowl with Cured Salmon, Seasoned Sushi Rice, Shoyu Egg, Wakame, Pickled Radish, Cucumber, Edamame, and Sriracha Aioli from Cabana Bar and Beach Club. Now, this is a more adventurous item, but we did end up liking it. You have to really like the whole sticky rice sushi thing, and we weren’t feeling it with this bowl. There are some nice veggies, and the salmon had a nice flavor. What we really loved, though, was the sriracha aioli on top.

The Fried Apalachicola Oyster Sliders with Black pepper and Scallion Coleslaw, and Key Lime “Mignonette” Jam might be a mouthful to say, but you’ll find them in the Love of Florida themed area of the Food & Wine Classic. We were immediately hit with a sour flavor, but then the black pepper and coleslaw kind of come through. The scallion brings some sharpness, as well as a bright crunch. The oyster is chewy, and the bread is light and fluffy. This is one of the more unique items on the list with a lot of interesting flavors, but we think it’s unusual enough that it won’t be a festival favorite for a lot of folks.

Next up was the Pan-Fried Shrimp and Pork Dumplings with Ginger and Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce, House Made Chili Oil, and Yu Chen’s Crispy Chili Oil from the festival’s Chinatown-themed area. These dumplings are OH SO tender and a bit sticky with the crispy bottom from the frying. The meat inside was salty and almost like a sausage. We didn’t taste much of the ginger and black vinegar in the dipping sauce, but the chili oil flavor was strong. For those who are spice-averse, we’d call it a medium heat, so it’s probably not for you.

Okay, let’s look at some sweet treats you’ll be able to get at the Food & Wine Classic. First up, we’ve got the Sweet Corn Ice Cream Cone with Hot Honey Syrup, Crushed Cheddar Cheese, and Caramel Corn. You wouldn’t think hot honey would work on ice cream, but y’all, this was TO DIE FOR. It has just enough of a kick to make it feel elevated. However, it is a little salty (although in our defense, we did pop the cheese in our mouth first, because CHEESE). This is a solid dessert, though.

Then it was time to try desserts from the Swan and Dolphin Pastry Chefs, starting with the Green Tea, Lime, Mango and Mousse Dome.  The lime mango inside the dome is nice, and you do get a hint of green tea flavor, but only after you hit the green tea layer on the bottom. It’s light, so we think a lot of people will appreciate it. Plus, it’s pretty.

The Cherry with Cherry Mousse, Chocolate Cake, Black Cherry Compote, and a Dark Chocolate Disc, though, blew us away. It’s shaped like a giant cherry (even if it sorta’ looks like an apple). We liked the cherry compote, but we think it needed more of it. The chocolate cake is also good, and the mousse has a nice moussey consistency.

Finally, we tried the Chocolate Casssis Mousse, which was probably our favorite of the four desserts we tried. It’s a thicker dark chocolate kind of mousse, but it’s also got like some blackcurrant flavor to it, which is where the bite comes from. You’ll want to try to get all the flavors in one bite, because otherwise, the mousse is just too sweet.

Now what’s extra special about this event is instead of paying for each bite to eat or drink you pick up, you pay for the cost of your ticket (which is $205.00 per person ($224.01 with tax and service fees) for either Friday OR Saturday night), you get unlimited access to the food and drink at the event! If you want to attend both days, you can also grab the two-night ticket 10% off for $369.00 per person ($403.30 with tax and service fees).

Don’t forget to check out the live entertainment around the area as well, and make a list ahead of time of what you may want to grab the most — it can sometimes feel a little overwhelming. Be sure to stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Food & Wine Classic news and reviews!

Check out the entire menu for this year’s event here!

What are you most looking forward to trying at this year’s event? Tell us in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend their media preview of the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ