What to Look Forward to at 2016 Food and Wine Festival

What to Look Forward to at 2016 Food and Wine Festival

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, I’m not talking about Christmas. I’m talking about the Epcot Food and Wine Festival at Disney World. Leave the kids at home. This is when the adults get to have their own magical experiences. It’s time to eat and drink around the world! Disney announced this week the offerings for this year’s festival, and I’m stoked already. So what am I most looking forward to? Let’s break it down.

1. Pineapple Dole Whip Soft-Serve Ice Cream with Bacardi Coconut Rum

My all-time favorite snack at Disney World is the Dole Whip. Now they’re adding a coconut rum topper? I think this is what dreams are made of. Look for it at the Refreshment Port. Take a right when you enter World Showcase from Future World, and it will be one of the first kiosks on the right.

2. Twinings® Pumpkin Chai Tea Frozen Cocktail with Caramel Vodka

One of the great things about the Epcot Food and Wine Festival is that they bring in extra countries with kiosks around World Showcase that they don’t usually have around the rest of the year, such as Ireland. Why a chai drink is at the Ireland kiosk instead of at an India kiosk, I may never know. What I do know is that chai tea is my go-to drink at coffee shops unless it’s fall, in which case I’m as basic of a girl as it gets because I love my pumpkin spice lattes. Putting those two together just might make my tastebuds explode. But then they also want to add caramel vodka? It’s like they tailored this drink just for me.

3. Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel

New to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival this year is the Chocolate Studio. If there’s one thing I love almost as much as Disney (other than my husband and family of course), it’s chocolate. I could totally relate in Frozen when Princess Anna sang, “I want to stuff some chocolate in my face!” This liquid nitro chocolate-almond truffle sounds like it will just melt in your mouth. AND it has warm whiskey caramel? Shut up and take my money!

4. Artist Palette of Wine and Cheese

Also new this year is the Wine & Dine Studio. The Artist Palette of Wine and Cheese includes a trio of cheeses (La Bonne Vie goat cheese served with toasted Craisin bread, Karst cave-aged cheddar cheese served with fig compote, and Statesboro blue cheese served with spiced candied walnuts), each paired with a wine (Conundrum White Blend 25th Anniversary, Kurt Russell’s GoGi “Goldie” Chardonnay and Robert Mondavi Maestro Red Blend). Is there anything in life that goes better than wine and cheese? Well, maybe magic and Disney. But really, this is a way to get all four at once.

5. Grilled Beef Skewer with Romaine, Apricots and Feta Cheese

Disney is more than just theme parks and movies. In fact, you might be shocked to find out what’s included in the vast Disney empire. One of the many things that Disney owns is the television channel ABC, which of course includes the TV show The Chew. And what promotes better synergy than exploiting the fact they own both a cooking show and a food-themed event than having a The Chew kiosk at the 2016 Epcot Food and Wine Festival? However, this grilled beef skewer with romaine, apricots and feta will likely make me forget that I’m giving into “the man” (or I guess in this case, it would be giving into “the mouse”).

What are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!

Food and Wine Fest