robbalvey Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 (edited) Food & Wine Festival opened on Wednesday and of course we were there! We will be at the media event on Saturday so we will have more to share this weekend. But for now, here's some pics... Today is opening day for @WDWToday #EpcotFoodFestival! Our absolute favorite annual theme park event! The #EpcotFoodFestival is open daily! Let's go check it out! Here's a look at some of this years #EpcotFoodFestival merchandise! Love the new logos! 2016 #EpcotFoodFestival guide includes booth stickers! No more holding up lines to get stamps! Great idea! #EpcotFoodFestival food booths getting ready to open for their first time this year! Once again, @ElissaAlvey is first in line for Pot Stickers in China! Our first stop @WDWToday #EpcotFoodFestival is China! Unfortunately they've radically changed the PotSticker sauce this year. Sadly, It's not good. Compared to previous years, the Potsticker sauce is now like a BBQ sauce. Flavor is disappointing. It's very strange because this seems like a very unusual choice for potsticker sauce. Here's a look at Africa! The Italy pavilion is a little taste of @realtuttoitalia Everyone will be Wang Chunging tonight! You can always find some good stuff in Japan! The new Hummus Fries in Morocco are FANTASTIC! Now on the "must have" list! New #EpcotFoodFestival stickers are AWESOME! Eliminates line cutters & waiting for guests wanting stamps! New France items also delicious! Onion soup & alcoholic push pops are thumbs up! We are celebrating another "fish free year" in Canada! YAY!!! Always awesome running into TPR fans @WDWToday #Epcot! We love you guys!!! Menu items @WDWToday #EpcotFoodFestival Patagonia booth are always delicious! New "Islands of the Caribbean" area had some great looking dishes! The new "Next Eats" area has old favorites along with new items! Some @WDWToday #EpcotFoodFestival items that will help you make your visit even easier! Wrapping up this visit @WDWToday #EpcotFoodFestival with the always awesome and now "@TheChew approved" Pork Slider! See ya later #EpcotFoodFestival! We will be back for more on Saturday! Edited September 19, 2016 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 I'm so excited for this! Everything looks amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCoasterKid211 Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 Dude... I'm actually in the park right now, waiting for the Germany kiosk. Where were you guys?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 YAY....my favorite time of the year on TPR - Food and Wine time! Those hummus fries look amazing! I have never been a fan of chick peas so therefore never had any desire to try hummus until I tried some at Michael's son and daughters house in Virginia last year...now I am hooked and LOVE it! I have even made my own on two separate occasions using lots of jalapenos, fresh garlic and cilantro. So far I have seen at least one menu item from every country that just sounds absolutely amaze-balls - sure wish I was in Florida right now. Can't wait to see more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Dude... I'm actually in the park right now, waiting for the Germany kiosk. Where were you guys?? Damn, you should have tweeted at us. We almost never check the forums when we are busy doing a media event, sorry. It's almost exclusively social media for us at those things! Here's a little video we put together from today. Should have a whole report up soon! [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 ^^ Awesome looking food - well done! Also loved the add-in of Jefferson Airplane, I mean Jefferson Starship, I mean Starship, no I mean Starship featuring Mickey Thomas singing what was once nominated the "worst song of all time". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 We hit the Food and Wine Fest on Saturday and I know it was a Saturday, and the first Saturday of the event but man it was crowded, like crowded to the point that we just kinda gave up and said we will try again sometime later this season. Every stand we came to had lines out of the of the extended ques into the pathways and the whole thing felt like a giant cluster. Again maybe it was just a late afternoon rush combined with the first Saturday but I hope the event hasn't reached the point where it's to popular for it's own good ya know. On the other hand Future World was a bit slow so we still had a pretty solid day. An the diver aqualock water tube thingy was operating in the Seas Pavillion which I haven't seen in years, so that was pretty cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 (edited) We hit the Food and Wine Fest on Saturday and I know it was a Saturday, and the first Saturday of the event but man it was crowded, like crowded to the point that we just kinda gave up and said we will try again sometime later this season. Every stand we came to had lines out of the of the extended ques into the pathways and the whole thing felt like a giant cluster. Again maybe it was just a late afternoon rush combined with the first Saturday but I hope the event hasn't reached the point where it's to popular for it's own good ya know. Yeah, it was actually just fine on Saturday from about 11am - 4pm. We noticed it started getting REALLY packed when we went to go see Starship. As always, our best advice is to get there early! I don't think we waited more than 5 or 10 minutes for any food lines before 4pm. Edited September 19, 2016 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted September 19, 2016 Author Share Posted September 19, 2016 ^^Interesting that you had that problem. We were at the event hitting up food booths from 1-6pm on that same super busy Saturday and never waited more than 10 minutes. I agree the lines looked scary, pouring outside of the queues, and I was prepared to wait quite a bit but they moved faster than ever before in previous years. Next time, give it a try and wait. I really think they've improved their POS and delivery systems and they go quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 (edited) ^ That's right! I just remembered we DID wait in lines after Starship! We were in the "Chew" area and there were no lines for any of the food items we bought. Edited September 19, 2016 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 ^^Interesting that you had that problem. We were at the event hitting up food booths from 1-6pm on that same super busy Saturday and never waited more than 10 minutes. I agree the lines looked scary, pouring outside of the queues, and I was prepared to wait quite a bit but they moved faster than ever before in previous years. Next time, give it a try and wait. I really think they've improved their POS and delivery systems and they go quick. Yeah the lines looked intimidating but they probably do go by faster than they look but the front of the showcase was slammed, I don't remember that many booths in the front but it's been a few years since I've been. We were in the park from like 2-6:30 and hit the Showcase around 5 so there might have been a late afternoon rush coming in for the evening or something. We're definitely going to be back at some point and will hit the event earlier in the day, preferably without kids next time! ^ That's right! I just remembered we DID wait in lines after Starship! We were in the "Chew" area and there were no lines for any of the food items we bought. I saw "The Chew" advertised quite a bit and to be honest I don't have a clue what the heck that is, is it some kinda TV show or something? Never heard of it, but whatever it is the area looked great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 Forgive my ignorance since I have no idea if "WDW News Today" is a reliable source but this is blowing up my news feed today from pages that are generally pretty trustworthy. It's still a rumor, but apparently cast memebers are reporting a January 2017 closing date for Universe of Energy. If it's true it's hardly a shocking development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted September 19, 2016 Author Share Posted September 19, 2016 ^More reliable than some of the Disney Click Bait sites but not the best out there! Seriously though, like you said, none of this is a surprise including the date. We actually filmed a bit of the ride last week in anticipation of the closing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepoint4life23 Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 Great Video Robb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterRench Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 I love the pictures, I worked at EPCOT as part of the Disney College Program a little bit ago. It is by far one of my favorite parks. Right around 4:00p all of world showcase started cooking dinner, the smells were amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 Here is our update from the media event at Walt Disney World Epcot Food & Wine Festival! First up, a video! Please watch! You'll get everything you need to know about Food & Wine in two minutes! Volume UP! [fbvideonew] [/fbvideonew] This morning we are at Walt Disney World for the Epcot Food & Wine Festival media event! The Festival Center is where you can do all your Epcot Food & Wine Festival shopping! Do we have any Dooney & Bourke fans? There's some exclusive Epcot Food & Wine Festival merch for you! The Festival Center is also the place for food demonstrations & wine tasting seminars! The media event has begun! Lots of food to try! Having some African butter chicken, Brazilian Pork Belly & an IPA! Delicious! Cheers! Enjoying the Festival Chardonnay & Pumpkin/Caramel Milkshake! Yum! Liquid nitrogen chocolate ice cream w/ warm whisky caramel? Yes please!!! Wow! This new smoked beef brisket from Hops & Barley is FANTASTIC!!! Iron Chef Morimoto from Morimoto Asia at Disney Springs arrived to talk about his sushi class! [twitter] [/twitter] Not only is the food at Epcot Food & Wine Festival wonderful but the staff that put it all together are amazing! If you're into craft beer, this is the place you want to be! Making our way around the world now! First stop... Mexico!!! We are VERY happy to report the correct potsticker sauce is BACK! Turns out, it was just an honest mistake on opening day! See our openig day report if you don't know what we are talking about. Kudos to Disney for fixing it!!! Here's a look at some of the exclusive Annual Passholder merch! All the food from the Poland booth looks sooooo good! Love the Coke Freestyle and sense of humor at the Chase Lounge Japan is my favorite place on Earth and the food is FANTASTIC!!! Best new for 2016 food item of Epcot Food & Wine Festival has to go to the Moroccan Hummus Fries! YUM!!! Another lap of France means more Onion Soup and Strawberry Daiquiri Push Pop! Hands down my favorite item overall at Epcot Food & Wine Festival is still the Hawaiian Pork Slider!!! Up next! We Built This City!!! Yes!!! Starship! These guys ROCK Epcot Food & Wine Festival! [twitter] [/twitter][twitter] [/twitter] Heading home after another amazing @WDWToday Epcot Food & Wine Festival visit! We will be back (probably this week!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 I'll have a pork slider with a side of pretty much everything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Note to self: Do not read reports from Food & Wine Festival BEFORE dinner. As if I wasn't hungry enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhubbuch Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Man, I cannot wait to make my annual trip to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival in October! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 Amazing. I am most curious about those hummus fries and what they taste like. Do they make them out of a flavored hummus like red pepper, chipotle or garlic? Or is it just regular hummus with the extra flavor added in the exterior sauce? Kudos for F&W to come up with such a unique culinary experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bert425 Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 .. .and now I'm hungry. thanks a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted September 20, 2016 Author Share Posted September 20, 2016 Amazing. I am most curious about those hummus fries and what they taste like. Do they make them out of a flavored hummus like red pepper, chipotle or garlic? Or is it just regular hummus with the extra flavor added in the exterior sauce? Kudos for F&W to come up with such a unique culinary experience! To me they taste like Falafel. They're awesome and seem to be one of the more 'talked about' items this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 ^ Ahhhh...I never even made that connection as I have only had falafel once, although it makes sense with the chick peas and all. The thing that I like is that Morocco incorporated something off the wall like that and added a Greek flair to it to create something that no one is probably offering anywhere else - bravo, Disney/Epcot!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyBo Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Awesome Report. I'll skip all the food and drink my butt off around the World. Some of those selections on drinks looked intriguing. Have you guys ever "Drank Around the World" and tried every drink? Jimmy "Best part of the year at Epcot!" Bo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylanreich Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Awesome trip report! Excited to catch the last day and a half of the festival in November to kick off my first visit to Orlando (so happy they extended the dates this year!). Craft beer section... yummy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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