I've been a lot places and eaten a lot of food, so when I heard I was going to be at Epcot during their International Food & Wine Festival I was interested so see if it was the real deal or just a cheesy tourist trap. I talked to a buddy of mine that lived in Orlando for a while and he assured me that this was a "must see" for any Orlando trip.
For you newbies here's a basic overview of what it is and how it works. I usually don't go into too much detail about these things, but the information found online is really poor.
Walt Disney World in Orlando is made up of various theme parks. One of these theme parks is called Epcot. You've probably seen the the giant silver sphere (pictured above) - This is Epcot. In the rear of Epcot is a section of the park called, "The World Showcase". This is where they have the International Food & Wine Festival for a few months each year.
The World Showcase is a built around a lagoon. They've recreated 11 countries around this lagoon that you can walk through and experience: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, The American Adventure, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada.
I was impressed. Disney really paid attention to all the details. The cool thing is Disney has actual people from those countries working there. If you go during the International Food & Wine festival there are temporary food & drink booths setup from many more countries: Argentina, Scotland, Australia, and Greece just to name a few.
The food was great. My favorites were the fish & chips in the United Kingdom, boeuf bourguignon in France, and the avocado margarita in Mexico. I also appreciated the fact that the beers complemented the food they were serving in that country.
My only complaint was that the park closes early. So come early, make sure you come during the International Food & Wine Festival, and make sure you stay for the nightly fireworks show at the end. I will definitely be back to go eating and drinking around the world.
The pictures I took really didn't do it justice - so for more info here's a video.
