I’ve Tried Every EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Hack in Disney World, and I’m Sharing the 7 That Work Every Time
We practically live at EPCOT during the Food & Wine Festival, and these are the hacks that never let us down!
2024 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival
You know we LOVE the EPCOT Festivals! And, with its focus on a few of our favorite things, the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival will always have an extra-special place in our hearts. This year’s EPCOT Food & Wine Festival is scheduled to run from August 27th through November 21st, 2026, and we’re already daydreaming about all of the incredible flavors we’re going to try! We want to make sure you have the BEST time at this year’s event, so we’re sharing the seven Food & Wine hacks that work every time!
Share Dishes to Try More
There is SO much to eat and drink around the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival! For reference, at the 2025 event, there were a total of 30 Marketplace Food Booths located throughout the park, meaning there are literally HUNDREDS of festival food items to choose from!
Mexico Booth at Food & Wine Festival 2025
With so many different options, you might wonder how you’ll find the space in your stomach — or budget — to get everything on your must-try list… which is exactly why this tip is so helpful! Considering the overwhelming number of dishes available, we’ll often split our festival food with other people in our party.
Flavors From Fire Booth Food & Wine Festival 2025
Sharing will allow you to save some of your appetite for other dishes, and, as long as the people you’re traveling with are on the same page, you can also take turns buying to stretch your budget farther!
Divide & Conquer
Speaking of sharing, if you’ve got your eye on items from two different booths that are relatively close to each other, you can wait in one line and have your friend wait in the other to save time.
French onion soup style dumplings at the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival
This tip can be extra helpful during times that the food booth lines tend to get particularly long, like at peak meal times, weekends, holidays, the first day of the festival, etc.
The line for the Italy Booth
Just make sure you’ve got a plan for where to meet up when you’ve both grabbed your dishes, in case your hands are too full to call or text!
Budget With a Gift Card
We know from experience that the cost of eating and drinking around the festival food booths can sneak up on you FAST. When we want to stick to a specific budget, our go-to hack is to buy a Disney gift card to use for our Food & Wine purchases, so we can make sure we don’t overspend.
Get your Disney Gift Cards!
The food booths all accept Disney gift cards as payment (barring any unexpected system outages, which are rare but have happened temporarily in the past!), so you can easily make sure you don’t go over budget by only using your gift card for your festival purchases. Plus, the remaining balance is typically printed on the bottom of the receipt, so you can keep track of how much you have left with no manual calculations needed!
Disney gift cards!
You can buy Disney gift cards at the park, or as an extra budgeting bonus, you can also find them at several retailers at a discount, which is basically free money for your trip! For example, Sam’s Club will occasionally offer savings on Disney gift cards for members.
Sam’s Club sometimes has discounted Disney gift cards
Also, Target Circle Card holders can typically save 5% on many third-party gift cards, including Disney!
Disney Gift Cards!
Snagging a discounted Disney gift card makes this Food & Wine budgeting hack a one-two punch!
Shop Disney Gift Cards at Target
Get Hot Dishes Early or Late in the Day
Even though the majority of the event is technically during the fall season, don’t be fooled — the temperatures can still be super steamy during the Food & Wine Festival, especially if you’re there during August or September! When the heat and humidity are still hanging around, we plan our day so we can get any hot dishes on our must-try list like soups, pot pies, etc., either right when the booths open or at the end of the day when the sun (and hopefully temperature) has gone down.
Cheddar and Bacon Soup
As delicious as these dishes are, it can definitely take away from the enjoyment when you’re eating them in the midday heat. During those peak temperature times, we typically opt for items that are frozen, chilled, or at least not served steaming hot!
Guinness Baileys Coffee Shake in 2023
Take a look at the weather forecast as your trip gets closer and adjust your festival plans accordingly!
Bring a Tray
Have you seen pictures of EPCOT guests huddled around a trash can, using it as a makeshift table? This situation isn’t as rare as you might think (and we’ve definitely been there ourselves)! There are limited tables available around the park, and it can be tough to find an empty one, especially on busy days & peak meal times.
Festival tables get PACKED on busy days & peak meal times!
Having a tray can be super helpful both for carrying your dishes and for use as a makeshift table when the crowds are at their peak. You can find some budget-friendly options online before your trip, like this 8-Pack of Serving Trays from Amazon. The trays are 15 inches by 10 inches, so you can slide them right into your backpack, stroller, or tote bag!
©Amazon
Our tray has saved us from disaster countless times, especially when we’re buying multiple items from the same booth. We’ve seen what can happen when people try to juggle multiple food dishes and drinks while searching for a table — spoiler alert: the EPCOT pavement often ends up eating well in those situations!
Bring a Refillable Water Bottle
Speaking of things we bring from home, a refillable water bottle is one of our non-negotiable park bag essentials! Of course, with the Florida heat and humidity, plus all of the walking we do around Disney World, we always suggest having a refillable water bottle on hand. But that suggestion goes double when it comes to the Food & Wine Festival!
Water Bottle
Most of the EPCOT festival food booths don’t have free water available like the quick service restaurants typically do, so you’ll want to have your own water on hand to stay hydrated.
Pack your water bottle!
Plus, you can even add an extra Disney touch with your water bottle choice! We love our Owala Disney Princess Water Bottle because it’s just the right amount of Disney to rep our favorite characters, but still subtle enough that we use it outside of the theme parks all the time!
©Amazon
There are tons of different designs to choose from, including Rapunzel, Ariel, Belle, Tiana, and Moana-themed options. Each of them features the princess’s signature color scheme, plus a small icon that references them, like a lantern for Rapunzel, or a seashell for Ariel.
Map Out Your Must-Try Items Ahead of Time
As we mentioned before, there are literally HUNDREDS of different menu items available at the Food & Wine Festival booths. That’s why it’s important to have a plan before you start making your way around the booths!
Full spread at the Festival Favorites booth!
We know all too well how easy it is to get excited and stop by the very first booth you pass, and then the second, and then the third… But if you just go all-out at the first booths you pass, you’ll probably end up being out of room and/or budget to get your “dream dishes” when you pass them later.
Pineapple Cheesecake
That’s why we suggest doing your research ahead of time! Take a look at the menus for the booths and check out our reviews to see what items you think deserve a spot on your must-try list. Having a handful of dishes that you know you definitely want to get will help make sure you don’t miss out on anything big, plus it can help you decide whether or not to stop by some of the other booths you’re on the fence about as you make your way through the festival.
Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote
We publish reviews of ALL the dishes at every Food & Wine Festival booth, so you can cross-reference our notes to see what sounds perfect for your palate!
Hawai’i Spread
We also share a list of our festival favorites each year for a quick view of the highlights. Here’s a look at what made the list of our favorite items from the 2025 Food & Wine Festival!
As usual, we’ll be at the first day of the Food & Wine Festival to try ALL the dishes and report back with full reviews on everything, so stick with us at DFB for our favorite — and not-so-favorite — items from the 2026 festival!
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