The EPCOT Food & Wine Festival has officially kicked off, bringing a ton of eats inspired by cultures across the globe, exclusive merchandise, festival entertainment, and a whole lot more to the park.
We’re at the FIRST DAY of the festival and while this ain’t our first rodeo, it’s not Disney’s either — but that doesn’t mean we haven’t still run into some problems!
Australia, are you okay?
The Australia booth is looking a little different this year. And by different, we mean totally whack. It’s not super uncommon for things to go awry on the first day of the festival, but this isn’t something you see every day.
Unfortunately, the actual Australia booth isn’t quite ready this year and this temporary set up has been installed instead. When we spoke with Cast Members at the booth, they told us they’re waiting on permits for the actual booth and it might not be ready for a few weeks.
On the first day of an EPCOT festival, it’s not uncommon to see booths that just don’t QUITE have everything ready to go! This year, that’s the Australia booth!
Cast members say they’re waiting on a permit for the actual booth and it may be a few weeks! pic.twitter.com/PN6qpr7ZqO
— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) August 29, 2024
So, if you’re looking for the Australia booth at this year’s festival, keep an eye out for this tent!
Cheesecake DISASTER!
You know that old trope of a kid losing his ice cream right off the cone? Yeah. That happened to us today. Myranda was trying to take stellar photos of the cheesecake from the Italy booth (because she’s a STAR!) and had an unfortunate accident.
Things happen! A LOT. On festival days. Sorry, Myranda! ? pic.twitter.com/D0N5Dv66wB
— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) August 29, 2024
She dropped part of the cheesecake on the ground! Clearly Sage found it hilarious, which you can see in this video. Just goes to show that you’ll always want to keep your eyes on the prize when you’re doing something as serious as eating around the world!
No beer for you!
This year’s festival has five new booths — but it wasn’t all smooth sailing at the Macatizers booth. When we stopped by, we tried all four of the mac and cheese dishes, plus a wine flight. We were planning on also sampling the beer available here with a beer flight — but we couldn’t!
Apparently, the kegs weren’t fully set up — or at least weren’t quite functional — to be able to serve beer at the Macatizers booth. Still, we had quite a few delicious eats here. Make sure you check it out when you visit the festival, you’ll find it inside CommuniCore Hall!
Good luck finding a seat!
Finding a seat at the Food & Wine Festival has always been somewhat of a challenge, leaving folks vying for tables and even the occasional trash can. But, Quincy ran into a major problem after she grabbed food from the Mexico booth.
Ok, so small problem! ??♂️? pic.twitter.com/28AD32oKHU
— AllEars.Net (@AllEarsNet) August 29, 2024
Hopefully, this is just a first-day oversight and Disney will add more tables to this side of the World Showcase!
Oh, CommuniCore Hall. You tried, I guess?
WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU! CommuniCore Hall was supposed to be home to all sorts of festival experiences including entertainment, demonstrations and seminars, and more. When it opened, most EPCOT fans were disappointed — but we suspended our sadness in hopes that Disney would still deliver something for the Food & Wine Festival.
How wrong we were. Instead of seminars, demonstrations, and other entertainment, we’re left with just ONE festival booth — and a glorified merchandise pop-up. While we’re excited about all the exclusive souvenirs and having more space to shop for them, we wish EPCOT was doing more with this space for its flagship festival.
You can check out ALL of our thoughts on the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival by clicking our full guide and live updates below. In the meantime, stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Disney World news and more!
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Will you be heading to the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival this year? Tell us in the comments.
Disney is becoming embarrassing. They pushed the festival back & had over 2 months to prepare & this is what we get? The great communicore hall is pointless, no beer at a booth, no booth for Australia. Honestly, who’s in charge???