Best Things We Ate at Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic

You’ve heard of the EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival, but that’s not the only foodie event we look forward to each year at Disney World!

The Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic was BACK November 14th and 15th, and we checked it all out so you know what to expect next year and what the top dishes are to grab. So let’s get into it!

This event is held on the Causeway and in between spaces at the Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels. 2025 tickets cost $205 per person for just the single night; however, it is all inclusive!

The country booths and other tents were set up —  similar to what you’d find during EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival.

They had live music, which added to the overall vibe!

There were lots of areas to sit, eat, and drink.

Beginning at 5:30 PM, we headed into the event and tried everything we could! Let’s talk about our favorite dishes and drinks from the event, starting with the Toki Whisky. This was served as a highball with seltzer. Bubbly effervescent, but still keeps that clean whiskey taste as well. It’s really nice and smooth.

The Bourbon Steak was super delish! It has fatty pieces where it needs to be, and the meat was nice and tender.

The carrot and the toppings, and the little microgreens were great additions. We appreciate this as a celebration of the short rib’s richness. The caramelized onion and bourbon glaze add great sweetness, and the sauce complements the savory flavor of the short rib.

The Orange Peel Beef was like skewered steak that used some Floridian flavors — like oranges from Winter Garden. However, we didn’t get that note. We got more of a very salty grilled steak bit that was skewered with some red peppers. We love steak, so we didn’t mind this one, but the most prominent flavor for the rub just came through as more of a salty flavor than an actual spice or robust flavor.

The Citrus-Habanero Marinated Crispy Pork Shoulder was something we enjoyed, but it could be a dish for acquired tastes. You could probably make this at home — it’s got rice, pinto beans, and a pork shoulder. The pork had some fatty ear pieces to it, but the meat pulled apart well. It is a more boring dish, but it has some good flavor to it. It tastes like a pork shoulder that you would cook at home, with those crispy bits that are kind of juicy but also salty. This one was listed to have a habanero in it, but it didn’t feel like it did.

There was the Oyster Sammich, which was alright. We liked the individual parts more than the sandwich itself. We feel like the bread-to-stuff ratio was off. There was too much bread, and it overwhelmed the flavors of the components.

Then there was the Shrimp, which was probably up there as one of our favorite things we got. It was well-cooked, with balanced flavors and textures, and had a good utility to the accompanying toppings. They weren’t just on there for a pretty look; they were on there for textural and flavor balance.

There were Chicken Wings, and they were very good. They were juicy and lightly sprinkled with breading crisps. The crisps at the top didn’t have much flavor to them, but they were great texture-wise to have with such a savory snack.

Chicken Wings

They were lightly coated in a sweet buffalo sauce, so it had a little kick to it, but not anything that lingered or was too heavy.

Oh my goodness, the Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Ice Cream was amazing! How is this not in the park?! This is developed with a little tiny scoop of pineapple, Dole Whip, a black cherry, and a mini funnel cake — all topped in crushed sweet pineapple. We’re telling you it’s one of the most delicious things we’ve ever had. There’s also powdered sugar. It might sound crazy, but this may be worth the entire ticket to be able to sit here and eat it.

The Cavatapi was good, but we really needed the sauce for that extra flavor, and you only got a little bit of it. You really only got a bland piece of cavatapi with some meat, and then a little bit of very flammable sauce.

Cavatapi

We really enjoyed it whenever we had it together, but separately, it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable. We will say, the pasta itself was cooked very well, just enough to be given without being overly cooked. The meat was very juicy and chewy, and we would’ve had 10,000 more if it had just a little bit more sauce.

We tried this Bella Vois Chardonnay,  and this was nice and sweet. It goes down super smooth, and overall, just a very enjoyable Chardonnay if you’re familiar with a white wine taste.

The Korean Corn Dog did not feel like a corn dog. There wasn’t any cheese. Don’t get us wrong, it’s good, but it is a corn dog with hot Cheetos on it. It’s just not like a corn dog that you would picture.

The Applewood Smoked Bacon is good if you like a very fatty piece of bacon. We liked the flavor quite a bit. It’s topped with some sweet corn purée, fennel vinegar, slaw, and pumpkin seed Romesco. It had good flavor, but it wasn’t totally our speed.

Overall, this one wasn’t our favorite, but we could see it being appealing to people who really like those smoked and southern style kind of fuel to the slaw and the sweetcorn in the fatty pieces of bacon.

Lastly, we tried the Shu Mein. The noodles were excellent! If you are a fan of Captain Cook’s noodles, but really want something like a Chinese filter to it, this is definitely the one to get.

Shu Mein

It’s topped with a few toppings like little chives and pieces of tofu that, texture-wise, feel like meat to the noodles. The noodles are cooked very, very well. We added a little extra soy sauce to it, which made it a little extra soupy. Definitely one not to miss here at the Foo and Wine Classic. And it’s vegan!

Overall, we had a great time here. The food and drinks were very tasty, and the vibes were great the whole night!

We are already looking forward to this event next year. Be sure to stay tuned to AllEars for all the latest Disney World news!

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What dishes stood out to you? Tell us in the comments!

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