Walt Disney World has introduced particulars and dates for the 2023 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, which is the park’s flagship foodie occasion of the 12 months. In this put up, we’ll share all the information and our commentary about sure fascinating wrinkles of this announcement.
Let’s begin with the fundamentals. The 2023 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival will start on July 27, 2023 and proceed by way of November 18, 2023 for a grand complete of 115 days. It’s beginning 13 days later and ending 1 day sooner than final 12 months, making this a 2-week shorter run in complete than every of the final 3 years.
Despite this, the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival will not be anticipated to be smaller scale. According to Walt Disney World, there will likely be greater than 25 Global Marketplaces all through EPCOT, together with returning favorites resembling The Fry Basket, Flavors from Fire, Canada, India and Spain. Additionally, a number of new Global Marketplaces will open later in the course of the competition as summer time turns to fall.
At the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, the enjoyable doesn’t cease with the meals (or wine, I suppose). It extends to thrilling actions for the entire household to get pleasure from! Walt Disney World has additionally introduced a number of the leisure and different choices that’ll return for the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. Namely, the Eat to the Beat Concert Series (and eating packages for that) will likely be again.
Additionally, cheese lovers will wish to try Emile’s Fromage Montage, the place you possibly can pattern quite a lot of scrumptious cheeses served in ingenious methods. Purchase any 5 cheese dishes listed within the Festival Passport and accumulate a stamp for every cheese dish bought. Once you’ve collected all 5 stamps, convey the stamped Festival Passport to Shimmering Sips for a specialty memento.
Families can embark on Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak – a “Ratatouille”-inspired journey that’s très magnifique! Guests of all ages can seek for Remy all through World Showcase and the Global Marketplaces. To have a good time the Halloween season seize your gourd-eous group and partake in Pluto’s Pumpkin Pursuit, a particular pumpkin scavenger hunt from September 29 by way of October 31, 2023.
In phrases of commentary, probably the most fascinating angle of this information is the choice to “delay” the beginning of the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival till the tip of July somewhat than beginning mid-month like the previous couple of years post-reopening. I’m positive some will declare it is a signal of failure, falling recognition, or who is aware of what else in an try and generate controversy or criticism.
However, it’s vital to not have a brief reminiscence when drawing conclusions. This remains to be the 4th longest EPCOT Food & Wine Festival of all time. Back in 2019, the occasion didn’t debut till August 29, which was one of many longest occasions of the “modern” period, which began in 2017 when the occasion was first prolonged into August.
Prior to that, it had usually began in mid-to-late September and ended earlier. Going again a full decade, the occasion ran from September 27 till November 11, 2013. So the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival remains to be extremely lengthy by historic requirements.
With that mentioned, it’s very uncommon for Walt Disney World to cut back occasions. Like costs, normally one of these factor solely goes in a single path. When we’ve seen one of these factor happen previously, it has been as a consequence of unpopularity or slower gross sales.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party involves thoughts; there have been just a few makes an attempt at including dates in August and November 1 a number of years that didn’t initially stick. That drawback now not exists, with each single date promoting out final 12 months.
In this case, an absence of recognition appears unlikely. The EPCOT Food & Wine Festival is extremely profitable, and the occasion was first expanded for the ‘Taste of’ occasion when the parks reopened in 2020. Attendance must completely freefall for EPCOT to be much less busy this July and August than it was then.
During the final couple of years, Walt Disney World has performed the staggered sales space openings and truly ended up debuting the second wave of Global Marketplaces earlier than formally introduced. That can’t be defined by an absence of demand. (Quite the other.) This can be coming at a time when staffing shortages are enhancing, not worsening; in order that’s not it, both.
The greatest idea that I can provide you with is that Walt Disney World is purposefully shifting the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival exterior of the summer time vacationer season in an try and push demand amongst Floridians and Annual Passholders to the August and September low season.
The thought course of right here can be that EPCOT now has a robust sufficient journey roster to attract vacationers in the course of the summer time, so it’s higher to delay demand from locals and regulars till the height vacationer season subsides. It wouldn’t be unprecedented to bifurcate demand by focusing on totally different demographics.
Walt Disney World has performed summer time occasions previously, most not too long ago with “Incredible Summer,” which featured “Guardians of the Galaxy – Awesome Mix Live!” at EPCOT. More not too long ago, the park has hosted Annual Passholder mushy openings for its two latest points of interest in the course of the low season previous to their official openings.
Perhaps I’m overthinking this or connecting dots that don’t exist, however I nonetheless assume there’s a chance that Moana’s Journey of Water opens early. As mentioned in that put up, the attraction is virtually performed and prepared.
While it’s additionally not with out precedent for Walt Disney World to sit down on almost-completed points of interest, the distinction right here is that there are ending touches put in or enabled that can climate or trigger weathering. It additionally simply looks like a very odd transfer to postpone the opening of a water-centric attraction till the coldest time of 12 months.
Call me conspiratorial, however my hunch is that the plan is to quietly open Moana’s Journey of Water this summer time as one other transfer in a brand new ‘surprise and delight’ plan aimed toward underpromising and overdelivering. This was our foundation for predicting a mushy opening of TRON Lightcycle Run, and look what occurred with that.
Assuming all of this out-of-left area hypothesis is right, that will give Moana’s Journey of Water and/or a Walt Disney World-wide summer time occasion time to shine throughout vacationer season. Following that, the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival would have its personal window for being the massive draw.
At the tail finish of that’s the kick-off of the Disney100 Celebration, which will likely be centered at EPCOT. Along with that, the Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit will likely be stuffed, Innoventions 2.0: Half Off Edition, Figment’s meet & greet, and a brand new nighttime spectacular will all debut. From the attitude of staggering new additions to maintain curiosity in EPCOT and visits by locals, this method makes some extent of sense.
With that mentioned, this idea doesn’t make full sense to me. Again, the Global Marketplaces are extremely profitable. The common visitor is spending extra grazing from these than they’re doing a counter service or sit-down meal in World Showcase.
Perhaps there’s extra there than meets the attention. It’s potential the longer competition spreads out nearly the identical demand (once more, disproportionately amongst locals and regulars who love these occasions) resulting in decrease per day income and better per day working prices.
Obviously, it’s inconceivable to crunch the numbers from the surface wanting in, however it’s very protected to imagine Walt Disney World has performed precisely that. Another chance is that there’s one thing I’m overlooking totally. The backside line is that Disney wouldn’t voluntarily depart cash on the desk. That’s not what they do.
Speaking of leaving cash on the desk, there’s additionally the query of culinary seminars, demonstrations, meals with superstar cooks, and different particular occasions. Walt Disney World nonetheless has not introduced any of this–and even teased its return. Last 12 months, none of this stuff returned–which could recommend the identical for 2023.
However, it was actually considerably of a shock that final 12 months’s Food & Wine Festival didn’t convey again these components. It looks like a no brainer, as all of those particular occasions are dear and generate a number of income. If this stuff don’t return for the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, it’ll nearly actually be as a consequence of inadequate staffing as soon as once more. In different phrases, that’s not an instance of Walt Disney World voluntarily leaving cash on the desk.
Ultimately, we’re wanting ahead to the beginning of the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. Although I’m curious concerning the rationale for lowering the variety of dates, I’m actually happy by the choice. The occasion has been too lengthy the previous couple of years and, like Halloween season, I’ve been prepared for it to be over by the point it entered what ought to’ve been its candy spot. Personally, I nonetheless assume that is about 25-30 days too lengthy; my good EPCOT Food & Wine Festival would run from September by way of November.
At this level, we’re anxiously awaiting further particulars and the Global Marketplace menus for the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. Last 12 months, the brand new cubicles and objects had been actually disappointing. Frankly, it’s downright disheartening that there was a lot hype and reward for the Fry Basket, which ranks as probably the most unambitious cubicles ever, from my perspective. I hope EPCOT’s culinary workforce doesn’t give followers extra of what they need and cubicles like that.
On a way more optimistic observe, Walt Disney World completely crushed it with this 12 months’s meals lineup for the 2023 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival. This is likely one of the greatest occasions in years for meals, with a number of cubicles having stellar lineups from top-to-bottom. Paradoxically, the Food & Wine Festival has been the weakest culinary occasion hosted by EPCOT for the previous couple of years.
My private ‘wish list’ for the 2023 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival would come with new Global Marketplaces from precise nations or areas and a return of the studio idea cubicles within the culinary hall, plus previous favorites making a comeback (SPAM Hash and Pumpkin Mousse are huge ones, however there are loads others). In any case, right here’s hoping this would be the 12 months the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival turns issues round. Maybe a shorter and extra centered competition is exactly what’s wanted!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Looking ahead to the 2023 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? Did you attend the occasion in any of the previous couple of summers or falls? Think that it’ll profit from being shorter and extra centered, or are you disillusioned that you simply’ll miss it throughout your summer time trip? Any hopes for Global Marketplace cubicles or menu objects? Think any of the opposite demonstrations or seminars will return? Any suggestions you wish to share to benefit from the expertise? Any questions we might help you reply? Hearing suggestions about your experiences is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!