Must Be WDW Epcot Festival Fever

Festival of the Arts?  Flower and Garden?  Food & Wine?  Choices abound!  If you’re a fan of Epcot festivals, you now have more choices than ever!

Must Be WDW Epcot Festival Fever

I’ve had a great time following along with friends via social media during Epcot’s inaugural Festival of the Arts.  I’ll confess, I’ve also been Goofy-hat-green with envy.  This brand new festival runs Fridays through Mondays only from January 13th to February 20th this year (2017).  I hate that we couldn’t be there!  What a cool idea full of truly unique experiences!  Packed with art in many forms from Broadway performances to living statues to artists’ workshops and, of course, culinary arts.  What would an Epcot festival be without the food?  Several attendees I know have gone so far as to say Festival of the Arts may now be their most favorite festival.  Certainly this will become an annual event and I’m working hard on figuring out how I’m going to get there for at least one festival weekend next year.Epcot Food and Wine Festival Food

I’ve got Epcot Festival Fever.  Here’s how I know…I’ve managed to make sure I’ll be at Walt Disney World during both Flower and Garden and Food and Wine this year.  If I can pull off a visit during next year’s Festival of the Arts, it’ll be the festival trifecta!  For a non-local, I think that qualifies me as a true festival fan.

What’s the draw for us?Minnie Mouse Topiary 

Epcot’s International Flower and Garden Festival (March 1-May 29, 2017) – It’s springtime, the flowers are blooming and Epcot goes all out with music, topiaries, special seminars and yes, FOOD.  I’m particularly excited about this year’s lineup of offerings at the festival’s outdoor kitchens.  If you’re into gardening (we are!), there’s a lot to love including seminars and informational experiences to help you make the most of your green (or in my case, not so green) thumb.  Timed just right, the weather for most of the festival isn’t too hot and most schools are not yet out for the summer.  While our favorite time to take in Flower and Garden has been mid to late May, we’ll be visiting in April this year.Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival (August 31-November 13, 2017) – Yes, it’s extremely crowded at times and has a reputation for being a bit rowdy on the weekends, but Food and Wine can also be incredibly fun.  Raymond and I love the special food and wine pairing events offered during the festival.  Enjoying a long, leisurely lunch sampling tasty international flavors while learning about regional wines specific to the host pavilion is worth the splurge for wine lovers like us.  We like to spend our time at the festival early in the day rather than at night.  The craft beers and specialty food booths are great!  The weather in October and November is usually fantastic.Experiencing Epcot International Food and Wine Festival

We’ve found Epcot’s festival seasons to be an extra special time to visit Disney World.  Sharing tables with other visitors and getting to meet fellow festival fans is part of the fun.  Planning which booths and seminars are must-dos while leaving ample time for soaking up the extras allows us to make the most of these very special times of the year.

Are you a festival fan?  Which Epcot festival is your favorite?  Are you planning to be at Disney World during Flower and Garden or Food and Wine this year?

Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival Merchandise – 2014 Edition

Yay for the weekend!  The weather is slightly cooler, the promise of fall is in the air and the 2015 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival will soon begin (September 25th – November 16th)!  One of the most anticipated aspects of the Festival is the specialty merchandise.  If you’ve not yet visited Walt Disney World during this most excellent time of the year, Nick’s recap of last year’s Festival merch will give you a great idea about what visitors can expect to see.  Happy Saturday, y’all!

Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival Merchandise – 2014 Edition

By Nick

There are several locations around Epcot selling a wide assortment of Epcot’s 2014 International Food and Wine Festival merchandise.
Let’s take a look at a few items offered for sale in the Festival Center, located inside the old Wonders of Life pavilion in Future World.

You can find some nice merchandise exclusive to this years festival. There is a green Annual Pass version of the tee pictured directly below, but unfortunately there were only large, medium and small sizes left, and I’m an XL. The white tee is $29.95.

The tee shirt below is $27.95.

This print comes unframed for $24.95, or framed for $219.95.

There is also a wide range of merchandise featuring favorite Disney characters as well as items that can be found at other locations on property.

There is also an assortment of items from the Rose and Crown Pub, located in the United Kingdom pavilion in World Showcase.

 I bought 2 things. The tee-shirt pictured up in the first photo up at the top, for $27.95.

I also bought this Limited Release pin for my wife. This was $14.95.

There were a couple of Annual Pass pins, but they have already sold out!

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So Many Disney Food Pictures!

Happy Weekend, Disney Fans!  This week’s Saturdays with Nick is all about FOOD!…Well, food pictures at least.  Like Nick and Barbie, I inexplicably take an enormous number of food pics when I’m on a Disney vacation!  How about you?  How many of your Disney trip pictures are of food or dining-related activities?

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Don’t Play With Your Food. Photograph It!  So Many Disney Food Pictures!

I’m going through every photo from our Disney vacations, and I see a lot, I mean A LOT, of pictures of food.  I know I’m not the only person to take pictures of food, I used to write Trip Reports for the DVC fan sites I belong to, and now write restaurant reviews for this blog and photos are integral to these articles.  But I also take these photos because it helps me remember a good, great, or even bad, meal.

All these examples are from early October, 2009.

We take photos of where we are eating.

 Sanaa, Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village
 Wolfgang Puck Express, Downtown Disney

We take photos of what we are eating.

 Wolfgang Puck Express

Beaches and Cream, Yacht and Beach Club

Pictures of food being made.

Beaches and Cream

 Pictures of waiting for the food.

Beaches and Cream

The food being eaten.

  Beaches and Cream

A photo of food theft! Blatant food theft!

Wolfgang Puck Express

Before photos…

Beaches and Cream

…and after photos.

For more on the Banana Split at Beaches and Cream, please check out this post.

Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival at Walt Disney World is our favorite time to take pictures of food. We pose it as attractively as possible.

So, remember, Mom said don’t play with your food, but she didn’t say anything about photographing it!