2018 International Food & Wine Festival

This past weekend, I went to the Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT with two of my best friends, Ariana and her fiancé Andy and, somehow, we ate and/or drank at least one item at every stop on our Festival Passport Book and had a blast! I rated every item on our Instagram story and we decided to share it all here in more detail for anyone interested in a Barefoot Princess Club Guide to Food & Wine!

I rated each item on a thumbs up scale, from 1 to 5, with five being the highest!

1. Festival Center: Shimmering Sips Mimosa Bar (Blood Orange, Key Lime and Tropical Mimosas)

We were so excited for these! Ever since they announced a Mimosa Bar for this year’s festival, we knew we were in for a good time! The Tropical Mimosa received a five out of five for how smooth and easy it was to drink (and of course, how tasty it was!)

2a. Light Lab: Blue Spectrum 

I love the Light Lab! It's so fun inside! Located in Future World West, near Club Cool, this lab is a cool location to go into and have fun under the blue light. This drink comes with different flavored Boba Balls and is a nice Mimosa Type drink. 

2b. Light Lab: Cider Flight and RGB Flight

These were an interesting combo of Beers and Ciders. As a whole, they definitely deserved a four. Side note: the Green Kiwi Blonde in the RGB Flight was so weird at first but that after taste made up for it! Gaby's Fav: Original Sin Dry Rosé Hard Cider. 

3 & 4. The Cheese Studio & The Wine & Dine Studio: Cheese Trio & Braised Beef "Stroganoff"

Winners. Both are definitely winners. Stand Out was the Strawberry Macaron with Boursin Pepper Cheese. WOW that was GOOD!

Note: Spot 5 was The Almond Orchard where Andy had the Banana Almond Soft-serve Sundae... Twice! And it was definitely a five thumbs up! So good and refreshing! Sadly, it is the only treat we don't have a picture of as Ari and I were in line for Mai Tai's....

6. Hawai'i: Mai Tai

Delicious, fruity and so yummy! (Plus, I love Mai Tai's!)

7. Islands of the Caribbean: Ropa Vieja Empanada

As Cuban girls who grew up eating home cooked/authentic Cuban Food, I can confidently say that this was delicious and one heck of a win!

8. Greece: Loaded Greek 'Nachos'

Let me start this off by saying that I am not the biggest fan of Greek food so I had Ariana rate this one to give it a fair chance. The nachos were good but nothing out of this world. 

9. Mexico: Margarita

I. Love. Margaritas. And I've had quite a few in my day. This margarita was great but nothing to freak out over. (Although the tequila was strong with this one)

10. China: Kung Fu Punch

Yummy. Sweet. Fun and refreshing. (It was hitting 100 degrees at this point in the day and we were trying our hardest to keep it together. Dang you, Florida sun!)

11. India: Warm Indian Bread

This was very savory. The best was definitely the Coriander Pesto Dip. (I LOVE pesto...)

12. Refreshment Outpost 1: Outpost Lemonade 

Vodka and Lemonade while it's 100 degrees outside? YES! Although the Vodka was strong, it never overpowered the refreshing taste of that tart lemonade. 

13. Africa: Groot Constantia Pinotage

To be totally honest: we ordered this only because "Groot" was in the name... But it was GREAT and I LOVE wine!

14. Brewer's Collection: Beer Flight

These were great! A nice cold beer is always refreshing when the sun is strong and it's well over 100 degrees out.  Gaby's Fav: Schöfferhofer Hefeweizen Pomegranate Beer. So tasty!

15. Germany: Roast Bratwurst

"Slimy, yet satisfying" (sorry, I had to!) This was yummy though and I do love me some Bratwurst. 

16. Spain: Charcuterie in a Cone

My great-grandparents and so on were all Spaniards before immigrating to Cuba with my grandparents so Spain has a special place in my heart as well. And this was good! Imported meat and cheeses that hit the spot!

17. Italy: Villa Sandi Prosecco

Good Prosecco! (And this was such a dangerous pose for this yummy drink but, as they say, "do it for the gram"). 

18. Fife & Drum Tavern: Hanson Brothers Beer Company Mmmhops Pale Ale

Ok so the name on this was incredibly fun however, I am not the biggest fan of Pale Ale's and this proved me right again. The three of us agreed to the one thumb only. Our one thumbs up could be someone else's five thumbs up, though!

19. Block & Hans: Ciderboys Strawberry Magic Hard Cider

This was delicious! We are big fans of Hard Cider, especially flavored ones. And this was incredibly refreshing as we were eagerly awaiting for the sun to start disappearing. 

20. Hops & Barley: New England Lobster Roll

Very fresh and very favorable and a good amount of lobster too! I will say though: We missed the hell out of the Simply Frozen Lemonade with Firefly Blackberry Moonshine that is served here during the Flower & Garden Festival.  

21. Japan: Tokyo Sunset

This is one of our favorites! Perfectly sweet, perfectly spiked and perfectly drank in a perfectly shaded area. (We always end up loving whatever we find in Japan. Violet Saké anyone?!)

22. Morocco: Hummus Fries

These were very tasty. I could have done with less cucumber pieces but other than that, they were savory!

23. Belgium: Belgium Waffle with Chocolate Ganache 

This may be biased because I have one heck of a sweet tooth but wow oh WOW this was yummy! Let's just say we were waiting in the Brazil line to grab a drink and then share this waffle with between us two and Andy, and it never made it to him... (Sorry, Andy!)

24. Brazil: Casa Valduga Brut Rosé

Speaking of Brazil; I'm basic and extra (and proud!) so I love a good Rosé. This one was tasty! The best part was the little grassy park we found behind the Brazil stand where we sat to drink our Rosé and take some fun candids. 

25. France: La Passion Martini Slush

By this point in the day, we were feeling very happy and giggly which explains the six out of five rating for this slush. It totally deserves it, though! This slush was so refreshing and perfectly fruity and drinking it by the World Traveler: Port of Entry was just perfect.

26. Ireland: Guiness Baileys Shake

(Please excuse the typo.... we had had quite a bit to drink by Ireland)

We were so eager to try this since everyone has raved about it... and they were RIGHT! This was delicious and I want the recipe for it asap! Best Part: You get to keep the cup! Seriously though: if you only get one drink at Food & Wine, make sure it's this shake!

27. Canada: Canadian Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Soup

This soup has been one of my favorites since 2012 when I first had it! Always tasty with a tiiiiny hint of spice. It's perfect. Confession Time: We didn't even grab a spoon for this. We drank it straight from the cup...

28. New Zealand: Lamb Meatballs

We gave these a three thumbs up only because we couldn't do 2.5 thumbs up with emojis. The bread the meatballs were in was already soggy by the time it was served to us but the meatballs themselves were well seasoned. 

29. Refreshment Port 2: Dragon Berry Refresher

If you haven't noticed yet, Ari and I LOVE fruity drinks and this one did NOT disappoint. Very refreshing, very sweet and very perfect. A splash more of Vodka would have made this a five thumbs up for sure!

30. Australia: Grilled Sweet and Spicy Bush Berry Shrimp

This one wasn't as crazy good as we expected. It was tasty but a little boring for us. 

31. Joffrey's Coffee & Tea Company, Showcase Plaza: Wild Goose Frozen Berry Vodka

Back with the Fruity drinks and, of course, we gave it a five out of five! Ari and I really loved this one especially paired with our favorite food of the day (which is next!). 

32. Thailand: Marinated Chicken with Peanut Sauce and Stir-fried Vegetables

It's finally Golden Hour by this point and we were SO ready for the sun to disappear.

Disclaimer: We gave this four thumbs up because we rated it too quickly. It definitely deserved five thumbs! That peanut sauce was one of the tastiest things I've ever had and we made sure we practically licked the container clean. So. Good. 

33. Taste Track: Croissant Doughnut with Sprinkles (A Cronut!!!)

This was my first Cronut, ya'll and it. was. delicious. Perfectly fried, perfectly sweet and perfectly flaky. Ari and I both agreed we could have gone back for a million more!

34. Coastal Eats: A to Z Wineworks Pinot Gris

I love my wine and this was fairly good wine. It went down smoothly and had a nice taste to it as well. 

35. Earth Eats: Steakhouse Blended Burger

This burger was well seasoned and had wild mushrooms (which is one of my favorite foods ever) with a yummy Brie Cheese Fondue on top. 

36. Active Eats: Loaded Mac 'n' Cheese

This was very spicy but SO GOOD! We are Big Mac 'n' Cheese people but dang, this was tasty and cheesy and very yummy! Big Winner!

37. Flavors From Fire: 7 Deadly Zins Zinfandel 

I love Zinfandel and this name is clever as heck but we gave it a two out of five because it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. It was a nice "last wine" of the night, though!

38. The Chocolate Studio: Sweet Dark Chocolate Raspberry Torte & Twinnings Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Frozen Cocktail

Both these items were very tasty and the PERFECT way to our end the day! The Torte was flavorable and well baked while the Cocktail was also yummy (not enough Pumpkin Flavor for this basic girl but still great!)

And that was the end of our journey! There are technically 39 destinations but that last one is a "Fun for Kids" station that we had to skip over. However, we ate/drank at all 38 locations and had a blast! We filled up our Passport Book, stayed on a budget thanks to our pre-loaded Food & Wine Gift Cards and tasted some new and old favorites! We hope this guide is as fun for you all as it was for us to make! Happy tasting, pals!

-The Barefoot Princesses