Whether you’re feasting or racing around the World during the Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2021, we share our favorite food-inspired fashion tips!
The Food & Wine Festival is one of Disney World’s premiere annual events, but this year it looks a little different. Thanks to the 50th Anniversary celebration starting smack-dab in the middle of the festival, there are some different schedule changes and themed merchandise that you’ll want to make note of.
Nevertheless, some questions stay the same every year: what food should I eat? What country has the best wine flights? and what do I even wear?!?
Don’t worry, FashionEarstas: we’ve been to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2021 (several times by now!) and have all sorts of tips and tricks to help you make the most of your visit!
Festival Fashion
As you eat your way around the World Showcase, keep an eye on the crowds: Food & Wine fashion can be just as entertaining as sipping a cocktail on your world travels! Here’s a roundup of what our team has seen on the ground at this year’s event.
Disney Bound & FashionEarsta Festival Looks
We felt inspired to share some of our favorite FashionEarsta and Disney Bound looks! Hopefully you can find some inspiration to dress up your Epcot adventure!
We love @mermadiandmouse! Her trips to the Disney Parks add some fashion style and fun to our feeds. Check out how well she coordinated the Orange Bird look with the classic Epcot Center earrings for her trip to the Ecpot Food & Wine Festival. We think it’s a perfect look for the Simmering Sips stop on your festival tour! Do not pass up their Mimosa flight!
Here’s how to get this festival look! The Orange Bird brightens up any day and is a classic Disney character that has been growing in popularity. The Orange Bird headband provides some great pop of color to any outfit. But we love the Orange Bird Shoulder Pal. It’s always nice to bring along more friends to the festival! I know I can’t help but smile with this little guy on my shoulder! We love these similar Epcot Center earrings to finish off the truly Florida festive yet retro look.
One of our favorite stops in the Epcot Food & Wine Festival is Hawaii! We absolutely love the Kalua Pork Slider shown here by @epcoteats. And with the recent renovation of the Polynesian Resort to infuse Moana & polynesian island vibes, we felt inspired to slide a Moana themed look into your festival attire.
We found a few similar styles to recreate the Moana look for your festival attire.
If you want to be inspired by the Hawaiian marketplace, check out more of our Moana-inspired fashion looks.
We love seeing all the ways that visitors find inspiration from fashion to attend the festival But we LOVE seeing all the ears that people wear to Epcot. Here are a few more FashionEarstas we liked!
run.teach.disney.repeat
You know we LOVE Disney ears at FashionEarsta! Check out our article for the best inspiration you will find to match your Disney ears to your snacks around the world! From Poland to Ireland to Mexico, we’ve got you covered for ears!
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Be official!
Another common fashion look at the festival is sporting the official merch! The Epcot Food & Wine has plenty of official merchandise this year! Divided into several collections including the Belle Be Our Guest Collection, Remy’s Shake Things Up Collection, Apple Orchard Collection and more! If you like to prepare ahead of your trip, here are some of our favorites available online at shopDisney.com.
Check back often as they continue to add more merchandise from this year’s collection to the website. But what we love about the Belle and Figment shirts are that they are customizable, so you can choose your color, style and of course, size. We hope to see more of this from Disney.
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2021 Tank Top for Adults
Figment Long Sleeve T-Shirt for Men – Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2021 – Customized
Photos credit to shopDisney.com
Fashion? I’m just trying to stay cool!
But don’t worry if fashion is just too much to worry about in the summer heat. This year’s Food & Wine Festival opened in July and goes until November. It will be the longest running single festival in the event’s history! So until the weather cools down over the next few months, be prepared to stay cool and dry. We have seen tons of visitors using cooling fans and towels to beat the heat. And, don’t forget that Florida is famous for afternoon downpours! So it’s important to pack ponchos and umbrellas as you sample the dining and delights from around the World Showcase!
Another tip we recommend is to visit in the early evening. The World Showcase experiences quite a bit of direct sunlight so it’s important to consider the direct sun when determining the best time of day for your visit. If the only time you have is the afternoon, we say go anyway! But, we would suggest taking frequent air conditioning breaks by experiencing the fun inside World Showcase pavilions. While we are excited for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure to open, you can currently enjoy the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along in France, and the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros in Mexico as ways to stay cool.
Bambi Ears by CastleBorn. Here’s our full review of these incredible ears that received a TON of compliments!
Read on below to find out more about the events at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival as well as some of our food choices for 2021!
“Fast” Fashion at RunDisney’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon Weekend
One of the lesser-known elements of Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival is… the part where you exercise! Unsurprisingly, many Disney World guests aren’t aware of the races taking place inside Epcot and the other Disney parks before opening during Food & Wine Festival weekend. But if you’re in Orlando for the first weekend in November and you like to run (or just enjoy wearing costumes) you should check out this annual RunDisney event!
The Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend is an annual event that coincides with the Epcot festival and is often food-themed! After being cancelled in 2020, the races are back from November 4-7. This year’s theme is “Wickedly Delicious”
This year, some of your favorite villains are back for another wickedly delicious good time during the 2021 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend powered by AfterShokz! Only this time, you’ll experience the ghoulish fun at Walt Disney World Resort — right at the start of The World’s Most Magical Celebration! This year’s menu will satisfy your cravings, whether it’s your first or 50th race. For those hungry for a little extra kick, there’s our Two Course Challenge that’s guaranteed to keep you running. Plus, you can keep things cookin’ at an after-hours Post-Race Party for runners and registered Guests!
We love so many things about this weekend, from the training playlist full of Disney food-themed songs to the chance to run through the empty parks and the after-hours after-party at the Food & Wine Festival!
But hands-down my favorite part of this race weekend is the fact that you’re encouraged to run in running costumes! RunDisney fans are amazingly creative with their athletic fashions and even the half marathon runners do their 13.1 miles wearing Disney flair!
This year some of our planned costumes for Wine and Dine are inspired by the food of Snow White‘s Evil Queen, the Pixar movie Cars, and more! Stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes video of sewing and crafting a Loki-inspired half marathon costume!
Not sure where to get started? We recommend finding a great pair of running-friendly ears! Check out this ear visor designed specially for running!
If running isn’t your speed, you can still earn “bling” for drinking around the world at the World Showcase! @run_buena_vista sells race-medals that let you track your progress around the alcoholic beverages of various countries!
So now if you’re visiting the Food & Wine Festival in early November and see other guests sporting shiny medals around the parks, you’ll know why! Maybe we’ll see you at a future race (or just racing around the Festival booths at Epcot)!
And speaking of Food & Wine Festival Booths…
Festival Foodie Favorites (and Flops!)
Our team has been to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2021 a few times already to taste-test its food and beverage offerings. And while this remains one of our FashionEarstas’ favorite festivals, there are a few tips that we wanted to give you a heads-up about this year!
Half of the Festival Booths aren’t Open (Yet)
This year, Epcot is waiting until October 1 to open many fan-favorite festival booths (like Ireland and the Alps)! We’re assuming that this is an attempt to draw visitors back to Epcot for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, which also begins on October 1. But with the official opening of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure attraction and the debut of the new Harmonious Fireworks Spectacular on the 1st, we think there are already going to be sufficient crowds in October.
In any case, here are the booths that are currently serving food and those that won’t be open until October 1:
| Open Now | Opening October 1 |
|---|---|
| Appleseed Orchard | The Alps |
| Australia | Belgium |
| Brew-Wing at the Epcot Experience | Brazil |
| Canada | India |
| China | Ireland |
| The Donut Box | Kenya |
| Earth Eats | Lobster Landing |
| Flavors from Fire | Mac & Eats |
| France | Spain |
| Germany | |
| Greece | |
| Hawaii | |
| Hops & Barley | |
| Italy | |
| Japan | |
| Mexico | |
| The Noodle Exchange | |
| Refreshment Outpost | |
| Refreshment Port Hosted by Boursin Cheese | |
| Rotunda Bistro | |
| Shimmering Sips Hosted by CORKCICLE | |
| The Swanky Swine | |
| Tangerine Cafe: Flavor of Medina |
We tried some of the worst food and beverage offerings so you don’t have to!
As much as we all wish that every single item served at an Epcot festival is delicious and worth its price tag, that’s just not feasible! So here’s a heads-up about the Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2021 offerings that made us go “yuck!”
Chilled Crab and Avocado Parfait with Caviar (at the Rotunda Bistro inside the America Pavilion)
If it looks like a grey yogurt and smells like rotting fish, that should probably be a sign not to eat it! Save your $6.50 and don’t order this dish! Or, if you’re craving crab, grab the “Tempura Shrimp Sando: Crunchy Shrimp served with Yuzu Crab, Green Onions, and Eel Sauce served on a Bun” from the Japan booth next door (and save $0.25)!
| Don’t Order This | Order This Instead |
| |
| Chilled Crab and Avocado Parfait | Tempura Shrimp Sando |
Wine Flight (at the Australia Booth)
There is a time and place for a wine flight, but we don’t think that the Food & Wine Festival is it! While the flight in France may be palatable, most of the others seem to be less than lovely. The portion sizes are small and the holder you are given makes it nearly impossible to stroll the World Showcase while imbibing. We found that the flight at the Australia booth served 3 wines that were completely inedible! If you’re looking for wine in that area of the World Showcase, we recommend the Parish Brewing Co. SIPS Pinot Noir Black Currant Sour, Broussard, LA (at the Swanky Swine booth).
| Don’t Order This | Order This Instead |
| |
| Wine Flight (Australia) photo by disneyfoodblog | Parish Brewing Co. SIPS Pinot Noir Black Currant Sour, Broussard, LA (the Swanky Swine booth) |
Candy Jar Donut made with M&M’S, SNICKERS, and TWIX (at the Donut Box)
This donut is a visually-tempting treat that proved impossible for the kids in my group to resist! And it wasn’t bad, per se. But for $5.00 there are plenty of more unique and inventive treats to be savored at this festival. Right next-door to the Donut Box booth is Flavors from Fire; we recommend their S’mores Whoopie Pie-lon: Smoked Chocolate Cake, Graham Cracker, Marshmallow, Chocolate Ganache, and Candied Bacon. It’s delicious and just as fun-looking as the donut (plus the kids ate all of this dessert and left their average-tasting donut half-eaten)!
| Don’t Order This | Order This Instead |
| |
| Candy Jar Donut (the Donut Box) photo by today.com | S’mores Whoopie Pie-lon (Flavors From Fire) photo by wdwnt.com |
Overall, though, we loved the experience of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2021, and we learned (the hard way) what not to order next time! We hope to see you, dressed up in your festival finery or best Wine and Dine costumes, before the end of this event and the launch of the Festival of the Holidays in November!
Happy September!
Have you visited the Food & Wine Festival this year? Any advice for best/worst dishes? Let us know here, on Instagram and Facebook (@fashionearsta) and our brand new YouTube channel! Be sure to follow us so that you’re always in the loop and can follow along with our adventures!
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