Disney, We Need to Talk About the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival

The EPCOT Food & Wine Festival is officially coming back from August 27th to November 21st, which means we’re cracking out the notebooks, napkins, and cameras to cover it all. This festival is usually our favorite because the main focus is FOOD, and we are the Disney Food Blog, after all.

Chocolate Baumkuchen

Since we’ve been going for years and years, we’ve noticed changes, and when Disney removes something we once loved, we get a little sad. So Disney, we need to talk. Why did you take all of this away??

For YEARS, we have been begging for Food and Wine Culinary Demonstrations to come back! These were 45-minute demonstrations where chefs would show you how to create your own special dish. They shared tips and tricks to sharpen your kitchen skills, and you even got to try the dishes that the chefs were making.

Chef Gale Gand Leads a Culinary Demonstration

Not to be confused with the Food and Wine Beverage Seminars, which we’ve also been on our knees trying to convince Disney to bring back! These were also 45-minute seminars that were focused on wine, beer, and spirits. Both demonstrations and seminars cost around $20 and are an inexpensive upgrade to make your trip that much more special.

Chef Kevin Dundon of Raglan Road Irish Pub Conducting a Culinary Demonstration

We also loved the Hands-On Workshops, where we got to be part of the experience. There were workshops on decorating cakes, garnishing, and even making cocktails! They cost around $45 and truly made us feel like we were part of the magic.

Individual Workshop Setting

One of our favorites was the Chocolate Experience: From Bean to Bar. This was included with your park admission and was hosted by Ghirardelli. It went through the history of chocolate and the chocolate-making process, as well as chocolate sculptures created by Disney pastry chefs.

The Chocolate Experience: From Bean to the Bar

Outside of seminars and workshops, we also enjoy ed when they had a pass, similar to Disneyland’s Sip and Savor Pass for their Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival. You could pay a single upfront price and then use the pass at the food booths. It was significantly more convenient than pulling out our cards every time we’re at a booth. While these haven’t returned, you can purchase a gift card, load money upfront, and use it throughout the day if that’s easier to budget.

Sip and Savor Pass ©Disney

We would love to highlight an experience very near and dear to our team: the Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog. There was an actual cranberry bog placed in the middle of EPCOT, and it was just like the Ocean Spray commercials of the 2000s. Ugh, bring this back, Disney!

The Bog!!

While a majority of these experiences ended during the 2020 closures, we’re still hoping they’ll eventually bring them back, especially the demonstrations and the demonstrations. When CommuniCore Hall opened, there were suspicions that this space would be turned into the new seminar area, but it never happened. We’ll be crossing our fingers until it happens!

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EVERYTHING CONFIRMED FOR THE 2026 EPCOT FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL

IT'S WINE & DINE TIME!

Food & Wine Festival can be a bummer. You stand in line waiting for what looks like the perfect treat, and it's a bust. But fear not, dear friends, we compiled EVERYTHING you need (and the things to avoid!) to plan the ULTIMATE EPCOT Food & Wine Festival experience.

If you're planning a day or a week at the festival, we've got every performance, activity, and tasty nosh detailed out so you can make the most of your time and money. Listen, it's a tough job eating and documenting the nearly 200 bites and sips, but we do it all for YOU!