Hi Sandra!
Welcome to planDisney! Thank you for sending this Disneyland Resort planning question to us hEAR!
Oh boy! The
Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival is one of my favorite annual events. I'm very happy to say, Sandra, that of all of the eats, sweets, treats, and drinks, the majority of them do not need a dining reservation! 98% of the foodie options you'll find at this best-ival festival are all served counter-service style, where you'll order each dish with a cashier and pick up your sip or bite a few feet away at a counter. The Disney Parks Blog even wrote up a
2022 Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival Foodie Guide to
all of the festival marketplaces so you can make a list of your must-try items. Even some of the
year-round restaurants have joined in on the foodie fun by offering an additional menu item or two; of these locations, only the Lamplight Lounge accepts advance dining reservations. And as a bonus,
some dining locations in the Downtown Disney District are also introducing special limited-time festival-like items!
Sandra, have you hEARd about the Sip & Savor pass? For *$57 you'll get a lanyard with eight (8) tabs that can be redeemed for most food and non-alcoholic festival options at all 13 festival marketplaces and participating
Disney California Adventure Park dining locations. You'll know which dish accepts these tabs if by its name or description it says "available for Sip & Savor Pass." And another really neat festival feature is you can order all of the dishes and drinks that you'd like to try in one day at one payment register, then pick up your items in any order you wish, at any point in the day. There's no need to stand in multiple payment lines!
Lastly, there are some Food & Wine classes and events that have returned to the Festival this yEAR! The
Carthay Circle Winemaker Reception and the
Wine, Beer and Mixology Education & Tasting Seminars are reservation-required separately ticketed events that take place inside the festival park, so if either of these sound interesting I'd book sooner rather than later.
I hope that this helped to clEAR things up a bit, Sandra! Be sure to follow the
official planDisney Instagram account for even more tips and tricks. And if you have any more Food & Wine or Disneyland Resort questions, We're All Ears!
~Kristen N.