Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2021 Review- Part 1

There is still a couple of weeks left to enjoy this year’s Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, so I wanted to share with you my thoughts on it when I visited there back in October during Walt Disney World’s 50th celebration. While all of the festivals have been scaled back at times since the Covid pandemic made Disney rethink how the festivals run. This go around, major headlining bands and indoors gatherings were still off the table. However, the copious amount of food and merch booths were still around, as well as the annual scavenger hunt and the newest food tasting hunt. Today, I want to share with you a closer look at some of the festival I experienced, and will finish off later this week.

 

Well, let’s begin.

 

Remy’s “Ratatouille” Hide & Squeak

First up, a (re)look at the annual scavenger hunt that takes place around the World Showcase. Remy’s “Ratatouille” Hide & Squeak has been the Food & Wine Festival’s scavenger hunt for quite a few years, and the premise remains the same. Throughout the World Showcase area, Remy can be found with his special ingredients to make his famous ratatouille. Some of these statues you can find quite easily, while others not so much.

 

Those wishing to participate in this hunt can purchase a map at various locations in Epcot. Once completed (or not), those maps can be “voided” to receive a gift. For this year, guests can get one or four cups for each map “voided”. I ended up getting the Remy and Figment cups. There were also Belle and Minnie cups, themed after the merchandise collection, which I will mention a bit later.

I am a BIG fan of both Remy and Figment, so these small cups were must haves for me while at the festival. While quite small in comparison to past scavenger hunt gifts, they also are a LOT better than other years where the gifts were keychain fobs. Still, the best were the times with exclusive pins.

 

 

Festival Merchandise

While at the Food & Wine Festival, I did pick up a few items made especially for the event.

 

First, here is one of the Limited Edition pins from the festival. It features two characters from one of my favorite Disney animated movies (and not featured much on merch), Robin Hood. This pays homage to the scene in the film where Robin Hood burns the stew while daydreaming about Maid Marion, leaving Little John to deal with the mess.

 

I then picked up a couple of items from the Festival Collection, which features Figment. While there were a lot of items that I wanted to get, I held back and only picked up the coaster set and the fridge magnet.

 

There was also a piece from the Belle, Be Our Guest collection, inspired from the characters of Beauty and the Beast. While a lot of the pieces were nice, one stood out as something I wanted in my kitchen. Here is the Cogsworth Timer, which is pretty awesome.

 

Food Booths- Future World & World Showcase Plaza 

 

I’m going to finish up Part 1 of my review by sharing with you what I got at the food booths located in Future World and World Showcase Plaza, and my thoughts on said dishes. I was joined by three of my favorite Disney-food inspired Funko Pop! Vinyls: Tiki Stitch (he’s chowing down on a pineapple!), Chef Remy, and Chef Figment. Let’s get started.

Mac & Eats

Here at Mac & Eats, I tried both the Cowboy and Sausage and Peppers (Plant Based) versions. Both were tasty, but the plant based sausage was a bit too spicy for me.

 

Lobster Landing

I heard mixed reviews about the lobster tail, so I opted here for the Baked Lobster Dip. It was quite good!

 

Flavors From Fire

The NFL on ESPN sponsors this booth, hence the “witty” dish names. The dish I tried, The Corned Beef Corner Route, was part of Emile’s Fromage Montage (I’ll recap this in Part 2), so I tried it. Even though I enjoy corned beef, there were a lot more dishes throughout this festival that were cheesier. I just don’t think it needed to be on the list over others.

 

Donut Box

My friend Stephanie joined me at this booth, where we share the Donut of the Day (Black Forest), the Strawberry Smoothie, and the Coffee Milk Stout. The donut was quite rich, but tasty. I mainly stuck with the smoothie, as I am not a fan of coffee. Stephanie enjoyed the stout, however.

 

Brew-Wing at the Epcot Experience

I stuck to the “Wing” part of this booth. I chose the mildest (and in my opinion tastiest) of the options: the Garlic-Parmesan Sauce. The wings were actually really good. I never made it back over to that area. However, If I did, I definitely would have gotten more wings.

 

Earth Eats

This booth, sponsored by Impossible, features a couple of plant based food items, and was popular for serving the Spiced Apple Twinnings of London Chai Tea. My friend Erica and I tried The Impossible Burger Slider and the tea. Tea we would have again. Burger slider… not so much.

 

The Noodle Exchange

This booth was one I was hoping I could visit multiple times, but I am not a big fan of spicy, and I overheard that both the beef and shrimp dishes were spicy. I tried the Char Siu Pork Udon dish, which was delicious. I never got back to try the tofu dish.

 

Refreshment Port

This location has recently been serving poutine year-round. However during festivals, there is usually a special version and a special dessert. This festival’s Braised Beef Poutine was really good. I never got back to get the cheesecake, but I was told by friends that it was really good.

 

Australia

Plan: try more than just the Roasted Lamb Chop. Reality: lamb was so good, I decided to just get it again.

 

Shimmering Sips

With this booth only having a couple of food options, I went with the Banana Bread. Wasn’t a fan, however. This booth was more popular with the various mimosas that they serve.

Hawai’i

One of the few food booths that I stopped at more than once. First time was for the Teriyaki-glazed SPAM Hash and the Passion Fruit Cheesecake (part of Emile’s Fromage Montage), and the second time I got the SPAM Hash again and then tried the Kalua Pork Slider. All dishes were really good. Definitely a booth I would recommend. I will say this, however… I got more bang for my buck the first go-around with the hash. Comparing the two pics side by side, I’m guessing they were running low on SPAM the second time.

 

The Swanky Saucy Swine

The last booth for Part 1. I actually was hoping to get to The Swanky Saucy Swine more than just once. The first, and only, visit was to pick up the Crispy Barbecued Pork Rinds with Pimento Cheese (also one of the items for Emile’s Fromage Montage). Very tasty, but definitely not enough rinds. I never got back to taste the rest of the menu, which I heard was really good.

 

Well, that’s it for Part 1 of this year’s International Food & Wine Festival review. Later this week, I will take a look at the rest of the food booths, talk more about Emile’s Fromage Montage, and what I saw at the America Gardens Theatre. Hope you enjoyed Part 1.