The 2018 Food and Wine Festival is happening at Disney's California Adventure from March 2 through April 12. Jaclyn paid a visit recently and gives us all of the delicious details on this Disney dining festival.
For the past few years I have been wanting to try The Food & Wine Festival at Disney’s California Adventure. I have heard great things and we decided to join in on the fun this year. The Food & Wine Festival is located inside Disney’s California Adventure Park. Every year, for 6 weeks, the Food & Wine festival hits with amazing culinary creations, family friendly seminars, live music, and special tastings with world famous chefs(at an additional cost). Basically take your favorite food festival, add a little music to it, and put it inside an amazing theme park for the perfect trifecta!
We arrived as the park opened at 8am and bought our theme park tickets, as theme park tickets are required to attend the Food & Wine festival. We went on a few rides and I scoped out the 14 different marketplaces you can choose from and I set my targets. The menus are listed outside so you can see what they have to offer. Once the marketplaces open lines start to form so it’s good to have a game plan.
One of the first things you should do is pick up a passport. Your passport will list all the marketplaces, where to find them, and the menus. You bring your passport to every stop and get stamped when you purchase. It’s a really fun way to keep track of your eating destinations! Reading through the passport I was blown away by the options! Avocado & Peer Jack Petite Guacamole Burger, Fried Artichoke Carbonara, Strawberry Frose, are just to name a few. It was hard to decide where to begin but I had a few good ideas…
My first stop was Eat Your Greens. I ordered the Grilled Asparagus Caesar salad and paired it with a LOLEA Sparkling Frizzante Sangria. The salad was delicious and a fun play on the traditional caesar. It was a great appetizer to start the day. The Frizzante came served with fresh blackberries! If you like sweet and sparkling then this drink is the one for you.
My next stop was Food at Citrus Grove. I ordered both the citrus brined pork roast with lemon pepper slaw and the crispy orange chicken and rice. Both were bursting with flavor and should not be missed. The portions are great for sharing between two.
After lunch the kids wanted to see Disney Junior Live which means waiting in line. Normally, waiting in line is not too enjoyable but it’s a different story during the Food & Wine festival. Waiting in line is the perfect time to pick up a flight of wine at Uncork California! You can decide between a red or white flight. I went with the white wine flight featuring wines from Napa, Santa Maria, and Monterey. The wine flight comes in a portable tray carrier with the wines listed on a business card so you know which one you are trying. Each wine had totally unique and different flavors. It was a great assortment and I have my eyes on the red wine flight for next time.
After a ride on Toy Story Mania it was time for my last stop, Off the Cob. The Shrimp Boil Tacos with sausage and corn were really speaking to me. I’m so glad I stopped here because this was by far my favorite tasting. The flavors were incredible and spicy. Genius move to put sausage in a taco, plus the shrimp were big and meaty. I was completely impressed.
Overall, I was really impressed with the quality of food at the Food & Wine festival. I can’t wait to go back to try more and it is something I will plan on doing every year. Here are a couple of tips I have:
Don't judge a marketplace by the lines. There are kiosks that have been featured for years at the festival as well as new ones and both are equally delicious. I had my eyes, and nose, set on the Garlic Kissed kiosk but the line was insane! That’s when I decided to stop at Off the Cob, with a much shorter line, where I ended up finding my favorite dish from the entire festival.
I would also plan on doing the festival in a span of 2 days. There is so much to try and if you want to enjoy other park offerings like rides as well, two days would be perfect.
Make sure you pick up passports for your kids too. They will have fun trying new things or simply just getting stamped.
Lastly, don’t forget to enjoy the live demonstrations and music. It truly is a fun and magical time, but hey, isn’t that what Disney does best?!
