The third day and penultimate day of our Walt Disney World “Minnie-moon” honeymoon consisted of a culinary tour around the whole entire world, a voyage into outer space, and back again. After experiencing EPCOT during the International Food & Wine Festival (and Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, but we’ll get to that in our recap of our final magical day in the Magic Kingdom), we don’t think we can ever bear to visit the parks at a time when this fun foodie fest isn’t taking place.
If you can stomach the long lines and World Showcase countries teeming with unfathomable numbers of drinking-around-the-world’ers drinking around the world, this event is a can’t-miss life-altering experience for those belonging to the elite foodie sub-niche of foodies who are also Disney Parks foodies.
ONE DAY IN EPCOT: OUR CAN'T-MISS RIDES AND SHOWS 🌐
SOARIN'
“”Soary”” if you’ve heard this before, but this is yet another bonafide Disney Parks classic staple. Some iteration of Soarin‘ can be found at many of Disney’s parks around the parks multiverse, and we’re lucky to have it at Orlando’s spectacular EPCOT.
On Soarin’ Around the World, riders’ feet dangle underneath them as a paraglider-emulating vessel lifts them up, creating a surprisingly convincing, delightfully stomach-lurching illusion of flying while a massive 4K screen displays some of the world’s greatest wonders. Riders “soar” over the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, roll over California peaks and valleys, and twist around the Eiffel Tower in France. The ride concludes where it started, with a beautifully meta birds’ eye view of Epcot lit up at night. Bon Voyage!
LIVING WITH THE LAND
The Land (or, “Living With the Land”) is undoubtedly the most underrated and underappreciated ride in all of Disney World, and in our humble opinion, the perfect indoor slow ride. Passenger boats take you through an ultra-immersive ride through the history of human ingenuity in farming practices. Get an up-close glimpse of hydroponic gardens and sustainable farming of various fish species in practice. During your peaceful, meandering boat ride, riders will “ooo” and “ahhh” while transported through a wondrous domed greenhouse growing everything from exotic dragonfruit to lemongrass, papayas, ghost peppers, and much more. Even cooler, the vibrant rainbow of fruits and vegetables grown here are sourced as ingredients the annual food and wine festival. During the festival, informative signage indicates what ingredients you can find around the park.
This educational (and fun!) ride deserves more recognition for sure, it’s one of the rides we circle on the schedule every time we have the pleasure of returning to Epcot.
GRAND FIESTA TOUR: STARRING THE 3 CABALLEROS -
World Showscase, Mexico
The Mesoamerican-style pyramid housing this ride and its queue is as much a part of the experience as the boat ride itself. Upon entering the pyramid, guests feel as if they’ve been transported to the bustling marketplace of a romantic, lamp-lit town in Tijuana at night. The plaza contains vendors selling Dia de Los Muertos-themed trinkets and skulls (when we were there, there was a whole Coco-themed Dia de Los Muertos exhibit), a tequila cave holding Disney’s finest tequilas and mezcal, and a gorgeous indoor Mexican restaurant that we’ve never had the pleasure of eating at but always marvel at.
Once on the ride, passengers are taken for a river tour through Mexico as Donald Duck and the 3 sombrero-wearing caballeros guide and serenade you. True to the spirit of Epcot, you’ll feel as if you’ve spent an hour or two in Mexico once you exit this immersive pyramid. It’s incredibly easy to lose track of time among the glittering lights and uniquely dark and cool atmosphere.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: COSMIC REWIND
This one was worth the looooong wait (and we mean long even after having bought the premium Lightning Lane single pass tickets sold separately for this ride – Mickey Mouse at it again with the highway robbery, but it felt necessary given how much we had to pack into one day at EPCOT).
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is one of the most unique and immersive roller coasters we’ve ever experienced, and it currently holds the record for the longest indoor roller coaster in the world.
The line takes riders throughout a Xandarian ship, wth the familiar guardians of the galaxy characters speaking from video monitors. Similar to the queue from Rise of the Resistance, passengers are taken through multiple loading chambers, eventually ending up in a massive launch bay where Terry Crews and the guardians alert the riders that a world-shattering Celestial is aiming to turn this planet to dust. Get ready for another dance-off to save the galaxy, as each passenger vessel gets its own personalized soundtrack for every ride. The ship spins on its axis as it careens along the indoor track, allowing riders to get a 360-degree panorama view of the giant screens as the celestial chases after the spinning and wildly pivoting Guardians ship adds a new dimension to the twists and turns of the coaster, and everything feels so fresh and so super cool – like, Kevin Bacon-level cool. Mary Poppins-level cool, even. Hell yeah.
Our favorite part of the ride came when the Celestial snuffed out all of the light from the night sky, leaving riders in total darkness for a brief moment as the coaster then spirals downward in a corkscrew action which somehow results in an world-saving conclusion when the mighty Celestial is defeated by the combined might of the guardians of the galaxy and Disney park patrons.
SPACESHIP EARTH
The quintessential Epcot ride, no trip to Epcot is ever complete without a spin inside this iconic magical geodesic sphere. The Spaceship Earth sphere is synonymous with DisneyWorld, and it has become somewhat of an 8th wonder of the world; the simple but delightful ride inside represents everything that Walt Disney wanted in an attraction, it’s innovative, educational, and entertaining. Riders are taken on a slow-paced omnimover that twists onward and upward through the annals of human history and progress, highlighting epic moments in the technological evolution of man-kind from ages old cave paintings, to telecommunication, and the modern internet. The star-lit exit through a slice of space and time is a fitting end to this masterpiece. This timeless ride, which debuted in October 1982, remains a top tier Epcot attraction all these years later, and it will no doubt enchant Epcot guests for many decades to come.
FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL 2024 🌐
As previously mentioned, this was our first time attending Epcot’s famed International Food & Wine Festival, and after experiencing it, we honestly can’t imagine going to Disney World any other time of year.
DELICIOUS BITES @ COMMUNICORE HALL
Truffle Mac & Cheese
A solid mac, with some nice real black truffle as a garnish, but it needed to be way creamier and cheesier. It’s a shame because the flavors are nice, but it was too dry to justify the cost for the portion you get.
Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies with Caramelized Onions & Sour Cream
Standard but really tasty and creamy perogies pierogies pair nicely with the slightly sweet carmelized onion topping and the salty, smoky kielbasa, to complete the holy trinity of polish food. Dip the pierogi into a nice dollop of sour cream and you’ve got a great bite,. These won’t blow you away but they are worth trying if you are a fan of this polish staple.
Boozy Irish Milkshake
This little boozy treat is the perfect chaser for the savory bites mentioned above. Comprised of Guiness Stout, Bailey’s Irish Cream Liquer, and Vanilla Ice Cream. Absolutely downing a spiked milkshake while gazing up at the marvel that is SpaceShip earth, all while the dancing waters of Moana’s Journey of Water splish and splash in the shadow of a larger than life floral recreation of Tafiti, is everything we love about Disney.
IMAGINATION PAVILION ✨
Pumpkin Mascarpone Ravioli
This tasted like a perfect bite of fall flavors. The Ravioli was nicely al dente, the pumpkin mascarpone filling was creamy and not overly sweet, and the parmesan flakes mixed in some salty with the sweet, all with a finish of fried sage for some earthly balance. While it would have been nice to have a sauce to accompany the ravioli, it worked as constructed.
O, CANADA! 🇨🇦
Cheddar Cheese & Bacon Soup w/ Soft Pretzel Roll
Quite possibly the single best bite we had at Epcot, this soup puts to shame all the other underwhelming cheese soups you’ve had in your days (we’re looking at you Panera). The salty and crispy bacon bits do a tastebud tingling dance with the creamy cheese soup, and it’s all sopped up wonderfully with a soft-baked pretzel accompaniment. Even if you think you don’t like soup, try this and forever change the course of your life.
Braised Beef Poutine
This is likely the best poutine we’ve ever had (to be fair, we’ve probably only had poutine two or three times in our lives but that’s beside the point). This poutine was the one true poutine to rule over all other poutines, eat your heart out Canadians. The fries were perfectly crispy, and smothered with a wonderful combination of succulent braised beef, creamy garlic and herb cheese sauce, gooey cheese curds just in case you didn’t already have enough cheese, and a gherkin relish that adds a tangy acidic kick to finish off the dish. Thanos would be proud, these fries were balanced as heck and delicious.
AMERICAN ADVENTURE
CHICAGO-STYLE HOT DOG (American Adventure)
Easily one of the best hot dogs we’ve ever had, and we’re from New Yawk, the uncrowned hot dog capital of America, so that’s high praise. The snappy all-beef hot dog and poppy-seed bun forms a holy union with the briny dill pickle, tangy pickled sport pepper and yellow mustard, vibrant neon green Chicago relish, and a sprinkling of diced onions and tomatoes. Just a damn good dawg.
SPAIN
SPANISH CHARCUTERIE (Food & Wine Festival Special Food Stand, Located Between Italy and Germany)
We’ve had better Tapas, but this Spanish medley was more than serviceable. The dish comes with salty jamon, creamy and nutty manchego cheese, and a side of crispy bread with bright and slightly acidic pan con tomate. It’s definitely not going to be confused with cuisine from Chef Jose Andres, but the more Tapas in your life the better.
CHINA
PAN-FRIED CHICKEN DUMPLINGS WITH HOUSE-MADE SWEET-AND-SPICY SAUCE (China)
Fairly standard take-out style chicken dumplings with a nice crispy undercarriage, slathered with house made sweet and spicy sauce, which tasted like a more refined rendition of the classic sweet and sour sauce from McDonalds.
Pro Tip: Enjoy under the arches with SpaceShip Earth across the water.
MEXICO
TRE-COLORE MARGARITA (Mexico)
Found right outside the Aztec Temple, the tre-colore margarita is a delightfully frozen treat that’s great for cooling off on a hot day. This frozen Marg comes packed with three distinctive swirls of flavor perfect for mixing and matching, so you’ll never get bored of this boozy concoction. More of a traditionalist? Stay cool with a classic single-flavor marg on the menu!
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