The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival – travel blog
I know I know. This blog is long overdue. I have no excuse for why I’m posting so late, but this blog got lost in the vault when vlogmas started pouring in. Because I’m doing 25 blogs in January, I knew I’d get around to it eventually. Plus, I have exciting news! Caitlin and I will be returning to Disney next month for an entire week! Caitlin created an exciting (and impressive) itinerary for our trip, and many of the restaurants and attractions were recommended by you guys from our last Disney adventures, so thank you!
Today, I’ll be sharing photos from our day at Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival. It was the last day of our trip, and we were so exhausted from all of the walking and early mornings. Ending our trip with a lot of good food sounded like a good plan.
We were lucky to be in Disney World during Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival. We planned to visit every single cuisine, but got rained out! I think we did pretty dang good though, and if the rain didn’t hit, we would have for sure made it. Not going to lie, Caitlin was the real MVP of the festival. She’s super-fit but can eat more than anyone I know. She ran the half marathon earlier in the morning, so she brought her appetite to Epcot. I’m excited for round two next month. You’ll have to follow along to see if we can complete it. 
One of the cool things about the festival is the passport you get. If you watch my YouTube video, you’ll see us adding a stamp to all the countries we ate at. In the passport, you’ll get to look over the country’s menu and see what’s gluten-free, vegetarian, or kid-approved. I took a digestive enzyme before we started eating and picked around the dairy/gluten, but I’m sure I still indigested some of it. I didn’t want to be too strict, but I avoided it the best I could. I knew I was going to feel a bit bloated/uncomfortable after eating some of the foods, but it was all worth it. I know I’ll have a lot of people letting me know that things aren’t gluten/dairy free, but believe me, I know. 😊 
First stop was Hawaii🍍 Each dish was $5 and super small, so this made it easy for sampling around the world. Each cuisine had about 3-5 options for you to choose from.
We had: Grilled Tuna Tataki with Seaweed Salad, Pickled Cucumbers, and Wasabi Cream 
New Zealand: Steamed Green Lip Mussels with Garlic Butter and Toasted Breadcrumbs (Caitlin enjoyed these! You couldn’t get me to eat a Mussel if you tried!!)
The Almond Orchard (hosted by Blue Diamond): Fire-roasted Tomato Hummus topped with Blue Diamond Lightly Salted Roasted Almonds and served with Blue Diamond Artisan Nut Thins Multi-seeds Crackers.
Australia: Grilled Sweet and Spicy Bush Berry Shrimp with Pineapple, Pepper, Onion and Snap Peas (GF)
This was delicious. Shrimp is a hit or miss with me because shellfish can make me nauseous, but I was fine with this one!
Canada: Canadian Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Soup served with a Pretzel Roll
Ireland: Roasted Irish Sausage with Colcannon Potatoes and Onion Gravy. I ate one of the sausages in this dish, and I’m pretty sure it was my favorite of the day.
France: Carbonade de Boeuf, Purée de Pommes de Terre: Beer-braised Beef with Bacon, Onion and Mashed Potatoes
Oh, and champagne if France, please! 
We hit our first downpour while waiting for our food in Brazil.
Brazil: Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread Gluten Free. I ate around the cheese the best I could, but this bread was incredible!!!!
Morocco: Casa Pale Lager
Belgium: Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream (V) (KA)
Japan: Spicy Tuna and Salmon Roll topped with Volcano Sauce
Hops & Barley (U.S.) New England Lobster Roll: Warm Lobster with Fresh Herb Mayonnaise and Griddled Roll.
This was our last stop because Caitlin and I were drenched with rainwater and it wasn’t a warm day either, so dry clothes sounded appealing!
We were going to go back and finish eating our way around the festival later in the evening, but we decided to go back to the hotel and nap for about four hours and then have dinner at Shula’s Steakhouse. We were so exhausted from early mornings and walking around the parks that we just wanted to stay put, have one last good dinner, and go to bed! 
I am so glad we had dinner at Shula’s because the food was out of this world. They gave us gluten-free bread that was to die for, and it paired perfectly with our wine. I ordered the blackened salmon for dinner, and it was incredible! ♥️
If you missed our first Disney blogs, make sure to check them out here!! (Our Day at Magic Kingdom) & (Our Day at Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom!) There are YouTube videos to go along with each post as well 😊
Questions for you!
- Do you think we’ll make it around the world next time?
- Who is your favorite Disney Character?
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I love mussels! I could live off of them and sushi everyday to come! I love Disney. I went twice last year and will be going at least once this year and plan on celebrating my birthday there next year as a girls trip only. The weather apps always lie in Florida. So many downpours then boom! The sun is back.
1. I think y’all will. The festival is always awesome and hopefully y’all get better weather next time.
2. A Disney meetup would be cool because you have so many followers.
3. Ariel hands down. She’s always been my favorite character. I even had the bedsheets as a kid until I was 13 🙈
I love sushi! (but not mussels lol)
Sounds like you’re a Disney lover also!!! We are excited about going back and it’s always fun to have a girl’s trip!!
I have faith in us! 😆
I may try to do a meetup on one of the days!:)
YES!! Ariel was my favorite as a kid!!
You will definitely make it around the world, I believe in you! And February is quiet for rain and the Festival of the Arts is currently going on with more delicious eats! There are also tons of Youtube videos and articles with the best snacks and signature drinks at each country (my favorite drink is the Ottawa Apple in Canada at the popcorn cart).
Please do a Disney meet up!!!😭 I loved getting to run into you during Wine and Dine weekend but would love to see you again and chat!
I just love all things Disney, especially growing up with it as such a huge part of my life, but definitely Marie from the Aristocats. I’m running the Disney Princess 10K next month and she inspired my costume 😊 But I also love Tinkerbell, Pooh, and Cinderella
Hi, Olivia!!
Thanks for those tips and I will start diving into the YouTube videos for ideas!!
YES YES YES! I will let you know when I’m there and if I don’t do a meetup, I’ll reach out so we can get together!!
Caitlin is also doing the race, so maybe I’ll run into you there too! Good luck on the race, Olivia!!
My friend and I will be attempting to eat gluten free (her) and vegan (me) at the Food and Wine festival this year so that will be interesting! Like you, I think we will have to approach it with a relaxed attitude and enzyme pills 🙂
BTW, I tried your vegan enchiladas last night and they were great! Loved the addition of the vegan cream cheese. I would have never thought of that.
Awww yay!!! I’m so glad you tried them! I made my chili with the vegan cream cheese last night and it was so good 🙂 I’ll post that recipe if you’d like to try it out.
That’s why we did it on the last day just in case any of it made us sick or if we just felt like eating our hearts out!:) You’ll have so much fun!
When are you and Kyle going to go on an actual trip together?
We just went last weekend?
I think she means one where you don’t stay in a comped room or go to visit family.
Ohhhh, that’s what she meant? Gotcha!
The thing about me is that I’m very independent. I want to travel and do things as much as I can, and Kyle’s job doesn’t allow him to take days off because of his line of work. I always wonder how other bloggers/Instagrammers have their significant others in all of their vacation posts. Kyle and I love each other and enjoy each other’s company but sometimes our schedules don’t align, and THAT’S OK! Do I wish he could come with me? Absolutely! When he does have time off, we go visit family because that’s how we want to spend our time and it’s important to us. Everyone needs to have independence in a relationship and be able to do things without their significant other sometimes. I’ve easily lost myself in relationships in the past, and I love that Kyle encourages me to grow and do the things that I love. As straight forward as it sounds, I’m not going to sit at home just because Kyle can’t come with me.
As long as you don’t have a significant food allergy (ex: smelling peanuts causes your throat to close us) I say you only live once and gotta embrace some bloat for super yummy food! Good for you!
You’re, right!! ♥️
This looked like so much fun! If anyone gives you crap on what you eat, they can buzz off.
Thanks, Michelle 🙂
Yes you will definitely make it around the world! But make sure to pack ponchos! Florida is unpredictable when it comes to weather!
Yes definitely do a small meet up. Don’t do anything that will take away from your time too much though!
I think my favorite Disney character is Donald Duck lol.
Hahaha, we really should have brought ponchos!
❤️ OMG Love Donald Duck! haha
Oh Disney is so amazing! Would love to live closer so I could go more often. Maybe I’ll plan a trip there for the next International Food and Wine Tour — all that food look incredible!
Out of curiosity, if you’re not celiac and/or lactose-intolerant, why do you need a digestive enzyme before the food?
Yes! It was so much fun and you totally should.
Gluten, dairy, nuts, and shellfish give me extreme bloating and discomfort. Even though I cut out dairy/gluten for my endometriosis, I’ve always had an issue with feeling uncomfortable after eating it. The digestive enzyme was recommended to me by my doctor and I only take them when I eat at restaurants or places like this. I find that they do help with any discomfort and it’s worked for me.
Where do you get a digestive enzyme? I’ve never heard of that. My husband has a lot of stomach issues and I’m convinced he has some kind of gluten intolerance, but of course, he won’t do anything about it and he doesn’t have the best diet.
I just get them at Whole Foods 🙂
I love food and wine festivals, they’re the best to walk around in! I’m always so happy when surrounded by food, haha (explains why I love wandering around the grocery store so much!) 😉 ❤️
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Haha, I feel ya! 😉
Meet up!!!
♥️
I ordered the same at Ireland and loved it. I think you girls will make it around this time!
So delicious!! & Thank you!! hoping we can make it!
What a fun thing to do! I def think you girls will be able to eat around the world next time you visit. You got this! 🙂 All of the food is so interesting and looks sooo good (minus the mussels .. im with you.. no way im even trying them) haha! Can’t wait to see the next time you go. Loved reading this.
XO, Katie | http://www.meshkomoments.com
Hi, Katie!
Hahaha, love that you’re on team “no mussels”!! We are going to try so hard the next time. Although, we totally would have made it if it weren’t for the rain!
I wish I could have tried Ireland, Belgium, and Japan! The shrimp one looked good too, but I can’t remember which one that was and I don’t want to scroll back up the page to find it. lol I LOVE trying different foods.
I don’t know that I have a favorite character, but I am currently obsessed with buying disney movies for my kids to watch, especially the older ones! My girls are watching Aristocats right now.
I always go on the Netflix “kids” section and watch all the older Disney movies!!
I think the shrimp one was Australia! 🙂 Shrimp on the barbie!
Hi! where are the tennis shoes you wore at epcot from? thank you!
They are from Aldo! I can’t remember the style name it was over a year ago when I got them.
You can do it!
😊
Do you have kids?
Nope just a big adult who loves all things Disney lol
What do you use to edit your photos?
Lightroom 🙂
AHHH I LOVE Epcot!! It has been 4 years since I was last there and after reading this I am dying to go back. I love learning about other cultures and trying their food, so Epcot has always been one of my favorite spots in Florida 🙂
Isn’t it the best?! And 4 years……You better get back there!! 😊
Where is that backpack from in your pictures?
It’s Patagonia from Backcountry 😊
I love, love, love Epcot! We just were there a week ago for the Festival of the Arts. The food booths are similar to Food & Wine, but a bit toned down. We didn’t make it to every country, but my boyfriend did have poutine 4x! LOL. Everything was amazing!
Fun!