Why I’d SKIP the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival This Year

The EPCOT Food & Wine Festival will arrive in Disney World on August 27th through November 21st, and although it’s always a fun festival to attend with over 30 food booths, we think you might want to skip it this year and go to the OTHER food and wine festival in Disney World.

That festival is the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic, and we believe it could provide a better food and wine experience with more value. Now, we’re going to tell you why we think that.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic is happening on November 20th and 21st. The event brings food from the Swan and Dolphin’s 20+ restaurants to those with a ticket and offers live entertainment, seminars, special experiences with celebrity chefs, and more. Here’s why you might want to visit the Food & Wine Classic over the EPCOT festival this year.

Unlimited food and drinks

One thing that the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic has over the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival is that you get to eat everything you want if you have an event ticket. The EPCOT Festival requires you to purchase a ticket to get into the park, and then you have to pay for each food and drink item at each food booth, which can get pricey.

With the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic, though, you pay for one ticket,m and that gets you all the food and drinks you care to enjoy at the event.

A lot less busy

Here’s what the first few days and weeks at the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival look like:

In comparison, here’s what it looks like at the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic:

As you can see, the Food and Wine Classic is a lot less chaotic. This means you won’t have to face long lines at food booths as you would in EPCOT (and those lines can get LONG).

A better value

If you do the math, the price of attending the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival can add up because you have the cost of your EPCOT ticket plus the cost of each food item you want to try. Then you also have to consider the cost of your hotel.

A Swan and Dolphin Food and Wine Classic ticket costs $215 for one night at the festival, which gets you all the food and drinks available there. Those with tickets can also get a discount on their hotel while they’re attending the event. That means you’ll end up paying less for the Food and Wine Classic experience.

Seminars, Demonstrations, and Panels

At one time, the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival used to offer seminars, demonstrations, and even panels with celebrity chefs. However, these haven’t been offered since 2019.

However, the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic offers seminars, experiences with celebrity chefs Todd English and Michael Mina, beverage tastings, live entertainment, and more.

Gourmet food is created by chefs

Now, Disney does a pretty good job of creating food and drinks for the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, but the food and drinks you’ll get at the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic are actually driven by chefs from the restaurants at the hotels, including Todd English’s bluezoo and Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin has some of the highest-rated restaurants in Disney World, so the food you get at the Food & Wine Classic is going to potentially be of higher quality.

You don’t have to walk as far

World Showcase is over 1 mile around, and if you’re walking from food booth to food booth, you will feel it. Add in all the standing in line at the food booths, and your feet are going to take a beating.

The Swan and Dolphin Food & Classic is contained to one smaller area at the hotel, and the waiting at food booths is minimal. You’ll also find plenty of places to sit down with your food (which can be an issue at EPCOT).

Less planning involved

If you attend the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, you’ll want to plan WAY ahead of time so you know what foods you want to eat and which booths you need to visit. That’s because there are over 30 booths to visit with hundreds of food items.

However, things are a little simpler at the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic. You don’t really need to plan ahead. It’s easy to peruse the food booths, choose what looks good, and easily grab those items to try. It’s also a bonus that the event only lasts from 5 to 9 PM, so it’s not an all-day affair.

You’re only steps away from your hotel room

If you’re visiting the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic, you’re also probably going to be staying at the Swan and Dolphin, meaning that you can visit the festival, take a break, and go up to your room.

It’s also nice to just be able to walk back to your room quickly when the event ends, without having to worry about taking transportation back to your hotel at the end of the evening.

Tickets are on sale now for the Walt Disney World Food & Wine Classic, so if this sounds good to you, go grab those tickets now. Meanwhile, we’ll keep an eye out for more Disney World news, so check back with AllEars again soon for more.

Swan vs Dolphin: Which Disney World Resort Is Right for You?

Will you be attending this event this year? Let us know what you’re looking forward to in the comments!

Post a Comment