Hi Danielle,
I love all parts of the Epcot International Food andWine Festival, from the food marketplaces to the special events. Myhusband and I make it a point each year to reserve at least oneculinary demonstration and one wine or mixology demonstration during the festival.
Theseseminars are held in the Festival Center and usually cost about $15. They are relatively inexpensive ways to learn about food, wine and spirits and to meet famous chefs.
The culinary demonstrations feature a chef and a winemaker. You watch the chef cook while sampling the dish and the featured wine. We've met chefs we've seen on TV and in magazinesand chefs who cook at Disney, including the executive chef from Disneyheadquarters in Burbank.
The wine seminars usually include several varieties from a specific winemaker. One of our favorite events last year was the mixology seminar that highlighted spirits from Scotland.
If you want to get an idea of the variety of seminars, check out the unofficial site, DisneyFoodBlog.com. It has a full list of the 2013 events and reviews of many of the seminars.
The 2014 schedule probably will be released in summer. Many of these seminars sell out, so I recommend advance reservations, which usually open in August.
If you are interested in a more elaborate event, I greatly enjoyed the Wine School last year as part of the festival. This three-hour seminar included tastings of eight varieties of wine and instruction by a master sommelier. Good friends also loved last year's beer dinner. I've added that to my list for this year.
I hope that gives you some ideas for ways to enhance the already delicious festival. I will be watching the Disney website and the
Disney Parks Blog for event announcements.
Please let me know if I can answer any other questions for you as you plan your visit. I love to talk about Disney food and wine year-round.
Wilma