So during the most wonderful time of the year, Halloween celebration, Walt Disney World celebrates the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.
Epcot Wine and Dine
This runs from August 30th to November 12th. This Festival at Epcot is massive; you have events going on every day until the park closes. During this extraordinary festival you travel around the world in Epcot tasting different cuisines from master chefs. You have 35 different marketplaces to choose from. Want dessert first, head on over to the chocolate studio to satisfy your entire mouth of sweet teeth. If spicy is more your mood you can head on over to Flavors of fire, which may make you run to Craft Drafts or Hops & Barley to soothe your mouth. You do need to be 21 to drink alcohol in Epcot, and they will always ask for ID no matter how old you look. Need some pasta? Head down to Italy, where all your carb cravings come to an end.
Something special during this festival is the Epcot Specialty Dining in Pairings that take place at certain days and times. Please check with your resort for the list. you will be able to sample amazing flavors with paired wine or craft beer that has been specifically selected for that meal. This is a special price outside of the admission to the park. The entire experience can last about an hour and a half to two hours depending on the meal you chose.
This festival brings something else amazing to the Epcot table. We have the Disney wine and Dine Half marathon. Starting on November 2nd through November 4th, there will be a series of races before the parks open. That means if you are going to run, you have to get up at about 2:30 in the morning to get to the start line at 5:30 am.
November 2nd runners hit the ground for the 5k,hosted by Chef Tony from Lady and the Tramp. On November 3rd, runners get to challenge themselves for the 10k, hosted by Chef Louis and Sebastian.
November 4th, runners get to get a little crazy and run that half marathon or 13.1 miles for the non runners, hosted by the mouse himself Chef Mickey. Now that’s not all, oh no, not for Disney. You can also participate for the 2 medal challenge, hosted by Lumiere. This is running the 10k on the 3rd, and the half marathon on the 4th. You do get some shiny medals running these races. With the challenge you get another medal, and exclusive after hours Post race party for participants, if you are not completely exhausted by Sunday night.
A great thing about this festival and the races is the characters. Rare characters come out and play during this time. If you are able to, snap a picture while you are feasting around the world. And if you are lucky enough to run in any of the races, you should try to stop and get a picture. Now I say lucky enough because these races sell out quickly. And I mean quickly. This writer was going to do the 5k since we will be there during that time. However I had a meeting at 9 am, which is when the registration opened up, 10 minutes later it was sold out when I came back. These races sell out fast. I will announce more races and registration dates when we get closer to them.
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