I want to preface this blog post by saying that I went down to Orlando for the weekend with my husband and met my brother and his wife there for Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival. This was my first event, and it was a bucket list item for a long time.
Kiosks from around the world…
The International Food and Wine Festival consists of kiosks throughout Epcot. Most of the vendors were situated at various countries. Every country was represented, including Hawaii (which totally confused me). Each kiosk had at least three different small plates coupled with a few different types of drinks, mostly signature cocktails.
I noticed there were few kiosks that actually sold wine.
There were several types of dance routines at various countries. As we were leaving the park, we stopped and listened to a “boy” band.
No healthy choices…
There were no healthy choices, so if you are dieting, forget about it! I gained two pounds and didn’t eat that much!
Food ranged from Pork belly with Black Beans from Brazil and spicy Tuna and Salmon Roll from Japan to New England Lobster Roll from America and Loaded Greek Nacho from Greece.
The beverages ranged from Mimosa Royale from Morocco and Frozen Margarita from Italy to a Riesling flight from Germany and Happy Peach drink from China.
There were seminars and workshops, but we weren’t able to get near anything. The lines went fast, but most were very long.
I read on the Internet that there were a lot of “drunk” people there, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I did see a couple get engaged, which was pretty cool.
The park was very crowded.
Was it worth the price?
Although I thought the Wine and Dine was only one weekend, which it was for the half marathon, the actual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival started on August 30 and ended November 12.
It cost $150 to enter the park. After that, every kiosk charged for food or wine. There was no additional ticket to purchase. Many people bought gift cards and paid for the vendors that way, which I ended up doing. (I was afraid that my credit card would reject all these small charges of $5, $8, etc.)
Although most of the liquor and food was around $5 to $10, it added up. I bought a $150 gift card and easily went through it.
The day cost me a little more than $500, with admission to the park. Was it worth the money? I don’t think so. However, I did have a great day spending it with my family!
