I'm finally getting this posted here on The Dibb - a lot of copy paste from my food trip report, so please excuse if I've said the same/similar thing over!

Halloween in the Wilderness 2015 Trip Report Index! (And here is the Pre-Trip Report!)


Day 4 - Eat Around The World
Farm Fresh, Scotland, Hawaii, Desserts & Champagne, Brazil, Belgium at Epcot International Food & Wine Festival | La Cantina de San Angel (CS Lunch) | Le Cellier (Signature Dining) | IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth
October 26th, 2015

Today was our first day at Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Over our two week holiday, we visited a total of three times – making the most of trying as many of the dishes as we could! We decided not to use the car today, and instead get to Epcot using Disney’s transportation. I knew Steve and I would want to drink alcohol, and I have a zero drinking and driving policy. We discovered that there was a set of stairs at our end of the hotel corridor, that led us out to the main swimming pool of Wilderness Lodge, which you can walk behind and around to the boat dock. The plan was to take the boat over to Magic Kingdom, and then the Monorail from there to Transportation and Ticket Center, to catch the Epcot Monorail line – something we haven’t ever done before.

The walk to the boat dock was very scenic, as was the journey on the boat, which takes about 10 minutes from Disney’s Wilderness Lodge to Magic Kingdom. It made me feel very glad that we chose this resort to stay at, and we wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again in the future. You feel so out of the way here, but so close to the magic too! You can also catch a boat from this dock to Fort Wilderness.


The boat dock at Wilderness Lodge is situated in Bay Lake, which connects with Seven Seas Lagoon. The journey takes you over World Drive, past Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and under the monorail. I can’t tell you how excited I was to see Cinderella Castle come into site in the distance!


As the boat docked, I commented how very busy Magic Kingdom looked, and how surprised I was to see it that way. I’d always thought October was quieter than August, but I think it felt a lot busier. It wouldn’t put me off going again at this time of year though – we have always gone on holiday to Orlando expecting crowds.
We walked up the ramp to catch the monorail round to the Transportation and Ticket Center, as you can’t catch the Epcot line from the Magic Kingdom station.

We just missed a Monorail to Epcot, so had to wait a bit for the next one, but were soon on our way again. I can’t say how long the journey took, as I didn’t make a note of it, but it didn’t feel too long at all. The Epcot Monorail line actually goes into the park, and loops around Spaceship Earth (that’s the giant golf ball looking structure!), so that it’s facing the right way to go back to the Transportation and Ticket Center. It was very cool to see Epcot from a completely different angle. The monorail car was packed, so getting photos was a bit tricky, but I did get a few – the one I really wanted though, of Spaceship Earth, didn’t happen.


We disembarked, and joined the line to get into Epcot. The plan was to completely bypass everything in Future World and head straight for the Festival Center to pick up the festival passport, to get stamped as we ate our way around the world!


This was our first ever visit to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, and whilst the majority of the festival is over in World Showcase, there are decorations for the festival along the way, and the Festival Center is over by Future World East. Disney Photopass Photographers are often found in front of Spaceship Earth, but the line was quite long for a photo, so we bypassed having one done. I did my best to get a few shots without it looking like I was taking photos of random people posing!

There are some signs nestled in the planter, showing you some of the countries represented at the festival, along with their signature dishes. I think I managed to get a photo of all of them that I saw, along with the exit sign too, as I knew we would be staying until after the fireworks, and wanted to get a photo of that in the light.


And a visit to Epcot is not complete for me, without a photo (or several) of Spaceship Earth! Every time I see it, I’m always amazed at the structure, and can never get over how big that sphere is.


Along the way to the Festival Center, Liam decided he wanted some popcorn, and I decided I wanted the Halloween bucket for said popcorn, so we bought one. I love me a Disney souvenir! There was lots of things to buy inside the Festival Center, including festival merchandise, artwork, food, and wine. We picked up a festival passport (don’t seem to have a photo of that, but will have to dig it out to show you what it looks like) and walked over to World Showcase, all quite hungry as we hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast.


We walked to World Showcase via the bridge from the Odyssey Center, which is where you could try the craft beers. Along the walkway leading up to the entrance of World Showcase were lots of timeline signs charting the years of the festival, which were an interesting read. I didn’t take photos of all of them, wish I had though.

There was also a very cool topiary of Mickey Mouse, dressed as a chef, standing next to a barbecue grill, holding some skewers of kebabs. There was a Disney photographer here too, but we didn’t line up for a photo – long line again!


We stopped first at the Farm Fresh booth, and used 2 of our snack credits to buy two dishes, and paid in cash for the cider flight, as the dining plan credits are not accepted for this.

Epcot Food & Wine Festival - Farm Fresh

We did 3 days in total at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival 2015. We stopped first at the Farm Fresh booth, and used 2 of our snack credits to buy two dishes, and paid in cash for the cider flight, as the dining plan credits are not accepted for this.


Steve had the genius idea this year to bring a dictaphone along with us, so that we could record our thoughts as we ate our way around the Epcot Food & Wine Festival! I thought it would be easier to just put these thoughts into short videos to watch/listen to, instead of writing it all out. It’s good to have this record, because, now that months have gone by since our visit, I’ve forgotten a lot!







When it comes to the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, you can use one snack credit where the symbol is displayed. You can also use one meal credit to purchase 3 snack items in one transaction.


Our next set of dishes at Epcot Food & Wine Festival came from the Scotland. We use 1 meal credit of our Deluxe Disney Dining Plan to pay for 3 of the dishes from this booth.










When it comes to the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, you can use one snack credit where the symbol is displayed. You can also use one meal credit to purchase 3 snack items in one transaction.


For most of the dishes at the festival, we more often than not shared between us – and that’s how we manage to try lots of different dishes! We swiftly sampled some food from the Hawaii Booth, where I had heard that the pork sliders were amazing. I wonder if my initial thoughts I recorded tell that – I can’t remember now!







We also bought a drink from this booth, as I was gasping, and didn’t fancy the bottled water we had in our bag.

Minute Maid Light Lemonade – $3.25

No photos of this, it’s just a regular drink! This booth didn’t seem to think we could use a meal credit, so we used snack credits here instead.


Continuing our tour around Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, we stopped at the Desserts & Champagne booth, for desserts of course! The champers was way too expensive for a glass! We used two snack credits here.

Desserts & Champagne

When it comes to the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, you can use one snack credit per item where the symbol is displayed. You can also use one meal credit to purchase 3 snack items in one transaction.


We went on to have a look around the nearby shop, we didn’t buy anything, but I did pick up my pins for Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak challenge, that I’d bought earlier when we first walked into Epcot.

There were 12 Remy statues hidden around the festival, and the idea is to find them, and then place a sticker on the sheet in the country that you found them in. You don’t have to do that, you’re essentially just paying for the pin. I bought all 6 of them, because I’m a completionist like that! We didn’t find them all, by any means, but then, we didn’t really look out for them either!

I’m going to do a video on my YouTube channel of my Disney pins, so I’ll be including the Remy ones in that.


Festival merchandise wasn’t in this shop, from what I remember, but rather at various stands around World Showcase, and in the Festival Centre. But there were other things like you could purchase here, including lots of booze!


We then decided to hop on a Friendship Boat across World Showcase Lagoon, which is such a lovely view as you glide across the water. There are two sets of docks, one goes from Showcase Plaza over to Germany, and the other from Showcase Plaza over to Morocco. We went to the latter, where we bought a Belgian Beer Flight at the Belgium booth, and tried some dishes from the Brazil booth.

A beer stop was next at the Belgium booth, that was mainly for my husband, since he loves trying out different beers. I’m not so much of a fan, but I did like the Stella Artoris Cidre. Booze is not available on the dining plan, so we paid out of pocket for this.

Epcot Food & Wine Festival - Brazil

This was one of our absolute favourites at the Food & Wine Festival – it was so tasty, and a really generous portion too. I did buy the recipe book for the festival, and will have to have a proper look through and see if the recipe for this is in there. I would definitely try to recreate it at home.


When it comes to the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, you can use one snack credit where the symbol is displayed. You can also use one meal credit to purchase 3 snack items in one transaction.


The Brazil booth had a nice seating area with lots of colourful flags hung over it. There wasn’t room for us to go in there, but we sat at a table in nearby Morocco instead.

At some point during this part of the day, Liam went off to go on Test Track as a lot of the things around the festival were not to his liking and he was getting bored. He’s a pretty fussy eater, so I wasn’t surprised. We’ve been to Walt Disney World three times before and he knows his way around very well, so I wasn’t worried about him going off on his own. We would keep in touch via Whatsapp.


On his way back to us he decided he wanted to get some nachos from La Cantina de San Angel in Mexico, using a meal credit to buy them. The photo I have is a bit of a mess, since he’d already started eating them on the walk back around to us. He also got a drink, but I don’t think he bothered with a dessert. He ate the lot up, so he must have enjoyed them!

When it comes to the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan at a quick-service restaurant you are entitled to one entrée, one dessert and one non-alcoholic beverage for one credit per person.


Steve and I hung around in this part of World Showcase while Liam went off to do his thing, just soaking up the atmosphere and surroundings, and enjoying our first experience of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival.


After a while, we got the boat back over the lagoon, and did a bit of wandering about, looked at the cranberry bog, bought some Epcot Food & Wine Festival merchandise, grabbed a coffee…


We bought a couple of things in this festival shop. Having already struggled to (unsuccessfully) find a festival pin, I wanted to make sure we got a fridge magnet (something I collect from the places we go), and also some of the wine glasses too.

The Ocean Spray Cranberry Bog demonstrates how cranberries are harvested, with Cast Members in waders, standing in the bog, raking the cranberries – it was pretty cool! If you didn’t know, to harvest the fruit, the farmers flood the field where they grow on long vines, with up to 18 inches of water. The rakes then loosen the cranberries, which float to the surface. The Epcot Food & Wine Festival runs during the annual harvest of cranberries in North America, so it’s a great demonstration – and you can get free bags of dried cranberries too. Yum!

We bought a couple of coffees from a stall in the Canada Pavilion – paid out of pocket for them – but can’t remember how much. By now it was approaching early evening, and the wind had really picked up. I’d go as far as to say a little bit chilly, but not cold enough to cover up with a jacket or anything.

We had a dinner reservation at Le Cellier, but was too early to check in for that, so took a wander to the Disney Vacation Club stand, and had a chat with the guy there. We ended up booking a DVC Tour, (which we also took in 2013) as we were very interested in purchasing this time around. We booked in for the next day, and all about that will be coming up soon. As well as a more detailed post about being a DVC member.

Our dinner reservation at Le Cellier was fast approaching, so we headed over there to check in. Turns out that they were running late, so we went and watched the 360° film, O Canada! We have seen this before, and whilst it looks fairly dated, it’s pretty awesome. I love the way it feels like you are almost flying over Canada, yet, you’re just standing their watching this film – fab. Had a look at the flowers in the Victoria Gardens which are inspired by the Butchart Gardens near Victoria, British Columbia.

Le Cellier Steakhouse

We checked in at Le Cellier, and was given one of those pager thingies, that buzzes and flashes when your table is ready. Once it gave the signal, we were shown to our table. The first thing that struck me about the restaurant was how dark it was… but given that it means the cellar, I guess that’s to be expected. It felt cosy and inviting, and we sat down at a table right near the rest rooms, which was very handy as I really needed to use them!


When it comes to the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan at a signature restaurant you are entitled to one appetizer, one entrée, one dessert and one non-alcoholic beverage per person (usually refillable) for two credits per person.

In our experience, at all Disney signature restaurants, you are given a bread basket when you are first seated at your table. Le Cellier was no exception, and despite having sampled several dishes during the day at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, we were actually all quite hungry.

The bread basket came with butter that was topped with sea salt, and brown maple sugar. The bread rolls were: sourdough, multigrain, and pretzel breadsticks. The pretzel sticks, the server told us, was because where the city they come from hosts the biggest Oktoberfest outside of Germany.


Appetizers…

Me: Assortment of Artisanal Cheese – Chef’s Selection of Accompaniments ($15)

Him: Canadian Maple Whisky-Cured Salmon – Heirloom Radish, Orange Supremes, Caviar, Caper Cream, Everything Bagel Crumbs ($15)

The Boy: Charcuterie – Chef’s Handcrafted Meats, House Pickles, Grilled Sourdough Bread ($17)


My husband did do a few voice recordings of what we ate during our meals and what we thought. We also asked the server if we could record her telling us what each of the items were on both the cheese plate, and charcuterie, but I’m finding it hard to understand everything that she said!

Unlike other restaurants, where we’ve had this sort of thing before, we didn’t get a little card that tells us what each thing is. A shame, as I like to be as thorough as I can when describing everything. I’ve actually done some online sleuthing, trying to decipher some of the things she says. Actually, you know what, I’ll pop the audio over the photo, and you can help me figure it out!

On the artisanal cheese plate there was Reypenaer Gouda with a Fig-Almond Cake; Cheddar with Raisins; ? with local raw honey; ? with Marcona Almonds; Valdeon Blue Cheese with Cherry something, and some crostini to go with.

I am not a fan of blue cheese at all, so they got left on the side, the others were nice cheeses, and had an interesting set of accompaniments.


Steve really enjoyed his smoked salmon, which was full of flavour, and was nicely plated too.


The Charcuterie came presented on a slate platter and included: Asian Style Sausage; Peameal Bacon with Maple Mustard Seed; Bacon Pork Sausage; Smoked Chorizo; ? Cheese with Marcona Almonds; Grilled Sourdough; and Bread and Butter Pickles, that are grown at The Land in Epcot. I’ve also made a video to help with the name of the cheese!


Entrées…

Me: Le Cellier Filet Mignon – AAA Canadian Tenderloin, Mushroom risotto, Heirloom Toy Box Tomatoes, Truffle-Butter Sauce ($49)

Him: Seared Canadian Bison Strip Loin – Heirloom Carrots, Pease Pudding, Truffle Béarnaise Sauce ($50)

The Boy: Angus New York Strip – Garlic-Herb Rösti, Wilted Kale, Cabernet Butter ($49)


Oh my gosh, my filet mignon was absolutely amazing, it tasted so good! The mushroom risotto was a bit too salty for my tastes, and very mushroom-y. But that steak though! Steve really enjoyed the bison, which was very tender. And Liam liked his steak too, which he had without the Cabernet butter. It was a big steak (no weights given on the menu) and I remember he couldn’t finish it all. I ended up having the kale from his plate, since he’s not a fan of the green veg!


Desserts…

Me: Maple Crème Brûlée – Description ($9)

Him: Chocolate Whisky Trifle – Malted Milk Panna Cotta, Caramel Popcorn, Whisky Caramel Sauce, Buttered Popcorn Gelato ($11)

The Boy: Nanaimo Pie – Chocolate Hazelnut Crust, Coconut Custard, Crème Anglaise ($11)


All of the desserts tasted very good, and a thumbs up all around from us. On the whole, we really enjoyed Le Cellier, and would choose to dine there again. I know it gets mixed reactions from diners, saying it’s not worth 2 points on the dining plan, and that it’s not as good as it used to be, but for us, we couldn’t find any fault with it at all.


After paying our bill, we walked out into World Showcase to find a spot for the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks, that would soon be starting. We did struggle as it was very busy, but managed to squeeze into a spot, with not a clear view, but one that was “good enough”. I absolutely love IllumiNations, can’t fail to be impressed by this night time show.


IllumiNations takes place on World Showcase Lagoon, with the centrepiece being the huge metal globe that drifts across the water. You can view the show from all around the lagoon – and people take up a spot an hour or so before the show begins (usually 9pm, every night). Since there are fireworks, you don’t have to be right at the front, but it does help to see all of the action taking place on the water.

Just before the show begins, the lights start to get dim, until it is almost pitch black, with just the torches aflame. Then you hear the flames being blown out and IllumiNations begins! Most of this post from now on will be photos and video… enjoy!


With the show over, we started the walk back to the entrance, and to the bus stops to catch a bus back to our resort. Along the way I took some photos of Spaceship Earth, all lit up, which is my favourite way to see it.




Read about the day before:
Day 3 – In The Wilderness:
Landscape of Flavors (CS Breakfast) | Check in at Wilderness Lodge | Whispering Canyon Cafe (TS Dinner)

Read about the day after:
Day 5 – Welcome Home
Disney Vacation Club Open House Tour & Purchase | Whispering Canyon Cafe (TS Lunch) | Cape May Cafe (TSB Dinner)

Read ALL the days!

What a wonderful day! Everything you ate just looked amazing 😊

Amazing food pics! Thanks for sharing this.

So glad you decided to carry on.
Looking forward to your take on DVC, we was going to go for the talk last time we went but we never got chance to fit it in.

Oh my, all that food has made me ravenous!

Fantastic photo of Spaceship Earth reflecting in the sunglasses

So glad you're continuing!

Your Food & Wine Festival eats look gorgeous! We have never visited when the Festival hasn't been on, I can't imagine Epcot without it!

We loved F&W!

Thank you!

Best decision we made!

Tell me about it - I feel like that when I write up these reports!

I didn't like to leave it unfinished here! Having done it twice now, it's going to be weird for it not to be there on our next trip!

Looks like a lovely day! Your photos are fab! We are there at F&W this year, I cant wait to use up some of those snack credits

Best place to use them! We did F&W in 2016 without the dining plan, and certainly missed using credits!