The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival will start today, July 27th, and run through November 18, 2023, this year. This is one of our favorite Disney World events!

Eat around the world at the many marketplaces featuring global cuisine and beverages. This is foodie heaven with delicious dishes, fine wine, craft beer, spirits, and other beverages sure to satisfy every palate.

For a full list of the numerous marketplace menus, check out the festival page below:

• EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Global Marketplaces

In addition to the food, there are also other fun activities. Participate in the Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak or Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit scavenger hunts. Commemorate your trip with special photo ops. And of course, there will be plenty of merch if you want to do some souvenir shopping.

You can also enjoy live concerts at the Eat to the Beat concert series with performances nightly starting at 5:30 PM, 6:45 PM, and 8:00 PM at the America Gardens Theatre.

For a full performance schedule, see below:

• Eat to the Beat Concert Schedule

This year, EPCOT will also be the focus for the Disney Company’s 100th Anniversary celebration activities in Orlando so expect additional fun related to that as well. Don’t skip EPCOT on your next Disney World trip.

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about this or any other Disney event. We love these festivals!

Disney has announced that the Trails End restaurant and adjacent Crockett’s Tavern at Disney World’s Fort Wilderness Campgrounds Resort will be reopening tomorrow, July 27, 2023!

They have been closed for refurbishment the last few months. We were sad at the closing of one of our favorite Disney buffets at Trails End, now reimagined as a quick-service takeaway food market. It used to be our tradition to take the ferry boat over to Fort Wilderness after a long hot day at the Magic Kingdom Park for their buffet dinner. Resting our feet with the cool breeze blowing as the ferry sailed across the lagoon was the best feeling ever at that point. Then, we sat for a while as a family, recapping our fun day, enjoying the delicious fried chicken, brisket, ribs, gigantic baked potatoes, and more. Yummm! At least, it sounds like some favorite foods are returning, along with some new selections.

Most importantly, YES, the fried chicken is back! The old Trails End had the best fried chicken at Disney, and I contend even the best I’ve ever had elsewhere too. Crossing fingers that it’s returning the same. Too bad it won’t be all-you-can-eat anymore, but I can’t wait to try it again.

Along with the fried chicken, there will also be pecan smoked chicken and brisket, bbq ribs, chicken nuggets, chicken wrap, cheeseburgers, and pizza, including new meat lovers or veggie versions of the latter two. Sides will include mac n cheese, mashed potatoes with gravy, coleslaw, plant-based cowboy beans, french fries, and cornbread. Of course, they didn’t forget dessert! The famous strawberry shortcake from Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue next door is back, along with other favorites like banana pudding, lemon blueberry trifle, carrot cake, ice cream, and several cupcakes and cookies, including s’mores flavors.

The restaurant has been refreshed into a casual seating area with warm wood furnishings and rustic accents. You can sit there to eat your food from the marketplace or take them to go.

Crockett’s Tavern has also been reimagined into a lounge with expanded seating indoors and out. The outdoor window will also reopen for you to grab a quick drink to-go.

Light bites include a charcuterie board, chicken bites, crispy cauliflower, and a trio of sliders (pulled pork/brisket/buffalo chicken or plant-based fried green tomatoes). There’s also a dessert trio with s’mores chocolate pudding, strawberry shortcake, and banana pudding.

Of course, the adult beverages are the stars of the lounge, with a moonshine cocktail flight and several new cocktails featuring Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey, Laird’s Applejack Brandy, Angel’s Envy Bourbon, Hendrick’s Gin, Teremana Blanco Tequila, Ole Smoky White Lightnin’ Moonshine, and more.

Were these places some of your favorites too? It’s sad to see the old favorites go, but I’m glad they’ve reopened back in some form. We’ll have to check them out on our next trip!

Feel free to contact me if you want to chat more about a Disney trip.

Pics ©Disney

For travelers to Disney World in Orlando Florida, the Sunshine Flyer and Mears Connect bus services have announced their merger this week. The new service will be called Mears Connect Driven By Sunshine and officially begin service on August 1, 2023.

These services provide bus and van transportation to and from the Orlando International Airport and the Disney World area resorts. With the merger, they can now provide 24/7 service and additional features. Unfortunately, the buses will no longer have the cool old-fashioned steam train look though.

If you have a current Mears Connect reservation, you will not be impacted. If you have a Sunshine Flyer reservation before August 1st, you should have gotten an email with new instructions.

Future reservations can be made on the Mears Connect site. You can also visit the site for additional information about the merger.

This is just one of several options for transportation to the Disney Parks. You can always rent a car and drive yourself, book private car services, or take Uber/Lyft. Feel free to ping me if you want to chat about your options for a Disney trip.

Pic ©Mears