I spent some time out at the Food and Wine Festival on opening day and you have no idea how much that meant to me. This is the 20th anniversary of this particular event, and I very clearly remember the first one and how badly I wanted to go. Food, wine and Disney? Are you kidding me?
I was never able to go before today and so that makes this the completion of a 20 year dream in the making and
I loved nearly every second of it.
I think the only place I won't be eating is Scotland, which is ironic since that's my heritage, but it's mostly fish and haggis and I have no desire for either of those things!
I picked up my little passport booklet today and I can't tell you how many food and beverage items are listed, but more than you could eat in the two months even if you went every day I think! I didn't do much sampling today. I was mostly getting the lay of the land. It was hot and it was crowded like I haven't seen Epcot crowded in the whole time I've been there, but I did get the feel for what was going on and if you've never been, I'll take you on a first timer's experience over the next two months! We'll be in it together! lol
It's not that costly either I found out and was pleasantly surprised. I've done my budget for this and over the next two months, without any extras like cooking demos and such, it looks like I'll be able to eat at seven of the locations.
Now, some may find that disappointing, but good lord, I wasn't even expecting that much! I thought I'd be REALLY lucky if I could eat once during the entire thing given my daily budgetary issues, but a good friend blessed me with some birthday money earmarked for just this occasion and I intend to enjoy every penny of that!
The Remy is about $20 and the Figment is $30.
I also saw kitchen tools, dishware and such, all with either a Disney theme or the festival logo on them.
There's also cookbooks! I'm really wanting The Italian Slow Cooker I think that's a must have from what I saw in it yesterday.
Back to the food though, at these kiosks you'll find three or four food samples and three or four drink samples. There's also a heavy artisan beer presence. Each food item is like tapas, and seem to range in price from 3 to 8 dollars each... alcohol being a bit more.
I decided that there's just too much to do for me to go random with this. I really want to experience as much as possible. So for me, first up when I go back, will be the Dominican Republic. There I'll sample Lechon Asado. Which is apparently roasted pork and yes I know, so my vegetarianism is out the window for the duration of this event. Primarily because I want to explore food now that I have all my food issues dealt with and can eat without guilt or self hate! That's a big deal for me, so nothing is off limits.
This dish is also served with Mangu, pickled red onions and avocado. Then I'll also try the Souffle De Yucca and for a dessert taste, caramel flan with rum roasted pineapple.
That should be Tuesday, but my plans for Tuesday are a bit up in the air as my priority is to get to the Disney Springs dedication that day.
All in all, it was a fantastic time and I think will only get better each time I go out as I get more and more familiar with what's being offered. I've heard the weekends are always jam packed, so I'll avoid those because the lines at each of these kiosks were hideous, and in today's heat... kind of took the fun out of it a bit.
Just so you know, there's always more photos on the site - www.disneylovin.com
And one last thing I just have to say, don't give up on dreams. Eventually they really do come true!
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