In typical Disney fashion, they staggered the opening of all global marketplaces for the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. We were anxiously awaiting the start of these new booths as they have the potential of being some of the tastiest kitchens of the festival; too bad they opened so late in this festival season. You can catch our written coverage of the first part of the festival here and a VLOG of it here.
Also, on this day, we had many pending items to do since our last visit to EPCOT. Figment started to do meet and greets! Also, Journey of Water Inspired by Moana, has soft opened, which we went through. New Disney Annual Passholder Magnets were available, and finally, Soarin Over California returned! We will write this article and once again take our camera into the park and film a walkthrough of our day, so let’s get to it.
New Food & Wine Global Marketplaces
Four new kitchens opened for the Food & Wine Festival, and we tried a little bit of something from each. We will take you through all four of them, from appetizers to main courses to desserts! First up is “Wine & Wedge” where we ordered the “Southern Pimento Cheese”. This item was tasty and great for an appetizer. It came with bread and pickled veggies to really bring the taste home.
Next up on the appetizers list is from the “Bubbles & Brine” marketplace, where we ordered both food items, the “Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail” and the “Jonah Crab Claw Cocktail.” Both things were good. However, the Crab cocktail is somewhat awkward to eat without the proper tools to get all the meat out. Our main complaint with this one is that it could have strengthened the Costal eats marketplace and created an opportunity here for other food. Also, it is worth mentioning you can grab a glass of Dom Perignon at this booth for $69, which isn’t horrible if you break it down from the retail bottle price. We did not get that one!
Now, onto the main course courtesy of “Char & Chop”. This booth is dangerous in the way that you can easily order everything off of the menu and be full, which isn’t a bad thing. We went with the obvious choice, “Roasted Porchetta”. As you approach this area, you can see and smell them cooking the porchetta. This dish did not disappoint, it is phenomenal! This meat is tender with a pleasant salty and crispy taste! This porchetta deserves a second visit!
What better way to end our food day than with dessert from “Swirled Showcase”? This Marketplace offers soft serve ice cream and a liquid nitro cake. This booth can be found in the old Starbucks location. We went for the “Mickey-shaped Liquid Nitro Cake”, and a cup of Salted Caramel soft serve. Both underwhelmed us. While the gimmick of liquid nitro cake is fun to watch, the product itself isn’t very tasty. As for the soft serve, it wasn’t horrible, but not something we should have waited months to open. We ended up combining both of them into the same cup to create the ultimate dessert!
The Journey of Water Inspired by Moana
Toward the end of our day, we were able to experience “The Journey of Water Inspired by Moana.” This is the newest addition to EPCOT. This addition is not an attraction per se; although the crowds turned out for it, Disney decided to implement a virtual queue for the area. This walking path is heavily themed and designed to teach you about water.
Because we headed over to The Journey of Water near closing time, we had the place to ourselves. During the day, when we showed up, the line to get into the area was over 90 minutes long. It will be interesting to see how The Journey of Water integrates into EPCOT as a regular space for people to enjoy. We anticipate that once the newest wears off, this will be a spot for guests to enjoy the water on hot Central Florida days.
The Journey of Water offers a lot of interaction with water, which is fun and engaging. Please watch our YouTube channel, where we will take you through The Journey of Water, explore all the interactive moments, and even show you the themed garbage cans!
Conclusion on EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival
A couple of loose ends to tie up on our trip to EPCOT this day. As mentioned above, Figment is now meeting and greeting at the Imagination Pavilion, so we grabbed a photo with him! Also, we got the newest AP and rode Soarin’ Over California. Getting on the original Soarin’ was a cool experience, and I hope they do this regularly. I love that orange scent!
Seeing a real-life Figment is a dream for anyone with an imagination. Figment is such a star in his meet and greet, getting cheers from the crowd every time he comes in and out for pictures. It is an excellent thing to experience.
And finally, the four newest Global Marketplaces are solid additions to the Food and Wine Festival, giving you many options overall at EPCOT for eating. Our favorite is Char and Chop. Let us know what you think in the comments about all of the exciting offerings at EPCOT. Also, if you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, you can walk with us through “The Journey of Water.”