2022 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Booth List
Walt Disney World has released the Global Marketplace lineup for the 2022 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, with booths opening in two phases. This preview offers a full list of new and returning food booths, followed by my “old man yells at cloud” commentary.
As a reminder, the 2022 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival at Walt Disney World runs from July 14 through November 19, 2022 for a grand total of 129 days. The Global Marketplaces will span six continents and be located throughout the World Showcase pavilions and spill into Future World, with the booths open most of each operating day.
One unsurprising detail is that many of the Global Marketplaces will not debut at the start of the event on July 14, 2022. This is exactly what happened last year, with the event starting in summer but kicking into high gear on October 1 with the start of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. The phases are different this year, and not nearly as pronounced.
Although unrelated to the full list of Global Marketplace booths, Walt Disney World has also announced some of the entertainment and other offerings that’ll return for the 2022 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. Namely, the Eat to the Beat Concert Series (and dining packages for that) are back.
Cheese lovers will want to check out Emile’s Fromage Montage, where you can sample a variety of delicious cheeses served in inventive ways. Purchase any five cheese dishes listed in the Festival Passport and collect a stamp for each cheese dish purchased. Once you’ve collected all five stamps, bring the stamped Festival Passport to Shimmering Sips for a specialty souvenir.
Below are two lists of the Global Marketplaces from DisneyWorld.com. The first list has no opening dates, and are presumably debuting with the event on July 14, 2022. However, that’s an assumption at this point. It’s always possible Walt Disney World will stagger the openings of other booths, based booth on staffing realities and demand.
The second phase of booths all opens on August 15, 2022. This is actually a somewhat curious choice, as mid-August tends to be when summer vacation season slows down with schools starting to go back into session. Not that I’m complaining–I just would’ve expected the second phase of booths to debut in late September!
While this appears to be relatively final based upon the number of booths, we are personally hoping that’s not the case. Some of our favorite options from the “Culinary Corridor” (e.g. Cheese Studio, Wine & Dine Studio, Chocolate Studio) went on hiatus last year, and are once again conspicuously absent.
With that said, the various EPCOT festivals are all about trying different things and discovering new favorite dishes. There are many promising options on this list that we’re extremely excited to give a try!
More commentary follows the lists of Global Marketplaces…
First Phase of Global Marketplaces
The Alps
Indulge in comforting Alpine cuisine, like warm Raclette Swiss cheese served with a baguette.
Australia
Embark on a culinary journey Down Under as you sample popular Australian food and wine.
Appleseed Orchard
Celebrate autumn with tasty apple creations—like an apple tart or apple cider.
Belgium
Satisfy your sweet tooth with a fluffy Belgian waffle—and pair it with a bold Belgian beer.
Brazil
Dig into South American cuisine and culture with the Land of the Palms’ finest fare.
Canada
Discover delightful dishes and refreshing beverages from the Great White North.
China
Please your palate with popular Chinese plates, bubble tea, draft beer and cocktails.
Earth Eats hosted by Impossible
Delight in hearty, plant-based fare featuring Impossible foods, as well as wine or a refreshing cocktail.
Flavors from Fire
Enjoy heartwarming dishes inspired by campfire-cooked summertime favorites.
France
Fall in love with the classic cuisine of France—along with assorted wines or a slushy cocktail.
The Fry Basket – NEW!
Snack on crispy French fries or yucca fries, seasoned to perfection.
Germany
Venture to Germany for Bavarian bites sure to sate foodies of all ages—every dish is köstlich!
Greece
Opa! Enjoy traditional Greek dishes like spanakopita or a gyro.
Hops & Barley
Stay stateside for all-American craft beer, wines and the hottest tastes from coast to coast.
India
Spice up your life with Indian cuisine, like samosas and chicken tikka masala.
Ireland
Enjoy favorites from the Emerald Isle, like Irish sausage and seafood pie—which pair wonderfully with Irish ale and mead honey wine.
Italy
Relish the simple elegance of cucina italiana, with some of the world’s best-loved food and wine.
Japan
Delight your appetite with delish dishes and lively libations from the Land of the Rising Sun.
Kenya
Set off on a safari of flavor as you enjoy traditional Kenyan food and beer.
Mexico
Take your taste buds south of the border for tacos, tostadas, Mexican craft beer and margaritas.
Shimmering Sips
Get the brunch party started! Sample sweet treats and sip on sparkling mimosas.
Spain
Feast on flavorful Spanish foods—like paella and charcuterie—along with beer and wine.
The Swanky Saucy Swine
Try out tantalizing pork dishes that pair well with wine and cocktails.
Tangierine Café: Flavors of the Medina
Treat your senses to traditional Moroccan cuisine, like grilled kebabs and a falafel pita.
Second Phase of Global Marketplaces
Brew-Wing at the Odyssey – Opening August 15, 2022
Try a variety of flavorful chicken wings—along with assorted beers and ciders.
Coastal Eats – Opening August 15, 2022
Savor succulent seafood dishes that pair beautifully with cold beer, wine and cocktails.
Hawaiʻi – Opening August 15, 2022
Traverse the Pacific for tropical flavors and island favorites both savory and sweet.
Mac & Eats – Opening August 15, 2022
Discover macaroni-and-cheese combos your mom never imagined!
The Noodle Exchange – Opening August 15, 2022
Savor the flavors of the Far East served up in delicious noodle dishes.
In terms of commentary, I’ve gotta admit that I’m underwhelmed. Honestly, I feel a little silly complaining about this, as there have been far more major grievances and legitimate complaints.
This is relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Yet, that’s also why I’m fine voicing this–it doesn’t really matter and isn’t going to result in anyone cancelling trips–as a little “low stakes” critiquing is a nice change of pace.
Over the last several years, I’ve noticed the new booths being added to the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival lineup are largely unambitious and unadventurous.
Don’t get me wrong, I love mac & cheese, but it becomes disappointing when virtually every addition is comfort food. This is supposed to be Walt Disney World’s flagship foodie event, and most new options in the last few years have been simple crowd-pleasers.
Even in looking at specific menus or dishes, many of the Global Marketplaces have shifted to simpler menus and items more suitable for social media (e.g. shock value, bright colors, odd ingredients). There’s less that’s actually ambitious or has much culinary merit.
Part of this is unsurprising. We’ve been saying for years that, ironically enough, Food & Wine Festival serves up EPCOT’s least envelope-pushing cuisine. It has become a victim of its own popularity, with booths going for simplicity due to a mix of demand (needing to churn things out quickly) or because they know there’s a built-in audience that’ll buy regardless.
To be abundantly clear, I’m no food snob–two of my favorite foods are ramen and burgers–and I love a lot of the specific new dishes that have been added to the menus at the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival in recent years.
In isolation, many of these are fantastic, fun dishes that are broadly appealing. I can understand why Walt Disney World has made menus more approachable. Disney is just giving guests what they want rather than challenging them, which is basically the EPCOT story at this point.
Yet, the totality of this is nevertheless disappointing. This is the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. If guests want nothing but french fries, mac & cheese, chicken wings, and pizza–that’s totally fine, no judgment. But there’s no shortage of counter service restaurants at Walt Disney World that fit the bill for that standard theme park fare.
This flagship foodie event should strive to be something more–a place to try new and unique cuisine or an epicurean adventure, as cheesy as that might sound. I’m probably in the minority on this (that’s absolutely true in looking at lines for the various booths), so feel free to dismiss this as an “old man yells at cloud” rant. On the plus side, I am very happy to see Coastal Eats returning after a few year hiatus. Other than that, yawn.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of the Global Marketplace lineup for the 2022 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival? Any booths missing that disappoints you? Do you agree or disagree with my rant about this festival starting to feature too much unambitious and unadventurous cuisine? Excited about any of the new options? Thoughts on the festivities kicking off in two phases? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’m optimistic that these concerns are premature. After all, there’s always a Mac & Cheese-focussed booth, Odyssey is always serving beer and wings, and there’s always a fries option (poutine).
The dumbing down of the food booths is really unfortunate.
Totally agree, and this is a fair point.
I hear you Tom, I’m a foodie and like the stuff that shows thinking out of the box. Loved the cold lobster bisque mousse at the arts festival this year for example
I enjoy Food and Wine, but at this point I find the food more interesting and adventurous (and better tasting most of the time) at Flower and Garden and Festival of the Arts. I wish they would make the Arts longer! As a RunDisney person they stick it right in between marathon weekend and princess weekend. I understand they want to draw people when there aren’t special events, but being out of state I just missed Festival of the Arts twice last year.
I love Food & Wine Festival! I flew from Ohio ladt year, went twice, (first time) and was delighted and impressed. Swanky Swine! Brut rose with truffle puff pastry, eaten in the cool of the rotundra! I had a moment or to, for sure, on that lake. Booked for October and looking forward to it. Thank you for your seasoned input. Ohiogal will be back.
I agree totally! You can absolutely get pizza, wings, fries, and Mac & cheese anywhere. Why insert it into what’s supposed to be “The Foodie Event.” People wait a year and sometimes more to do these such events. At least make it worth it.
Kind of disappointed. We arrive on August 13th, reservations (insert eye roll here) for Epcot on the 15th. My oldest and I love to try new and exotic to us foods. This would have been the perfect opportunity to do that without making my husband and youngest eat at a restaurant they won’t be happy with. Oh well I guess less money spent.
This used to be an event we planned a vacation around! We loved it, a chance to try some new and different things, expand your knowledge a bit and enjoy strolling Epcot while doing it. I totally agree that now it’s about “giving the people what they want”. I guess they want salty foods you can buy anywhere and I am sure Disney is only too happy to sell them overpriced booze to balance it out! Such a bummer to see a great experience dumbed down to fries and beer!! Some of that is of course good to have, but should be in addition to the more ambitious offerings. They could and should do better. We all deserve it.
Here is my Old Woman Yells at Cloud moment, when/will they bring back special events for food and wine? We loved the cooking demos, breakfast with the chef, Party for the Senses, cheese seminars, mix it/make it/celebrate it, special meals at the restaurants. We spent a ***ridiculous*** amount of money every year at these events. It was a fabulous stay-cation for us. It was so much fun and I really, really miss it. Complaint done.
These seminars/special events will unquestionably return once Disney has the staffing and logistics figured out. I suspect that most will return this year, and just haven’t been announced yet.
As you noted, these things cost a ridiculous amount of money. Does Disney strike you as the type of company that voluntarily leaves ridiculous amounts of money on the table? 😉
I hear you Tom, I’m a foodie and like the stuff that shows thinking out of the box. Loved the cold lobster bisque mousse at the arts festival this year for example—so much fun to try something so unexpected! But I also remember running into a big multi-generation family I know from my hometown at a festival last year, and they were all hungry and crabby. They planned to eat at the kiosks because they heard that was the thing to do, but didn’t research the food, so had no idea it was small plates only so you had to wait in a ton of long lines to make a whole meal, made worse by the lack of options for picky eaters. I rescued them by sending them to Regal Eagle—they were do focused on the booths they walked right by it. I don’t mind a few booths with pizza, wings and mac n cheese to rescue the poor planners with picky eaters from a hungry family meltdown. There are still enough fun things for me to try at more international booths.
“I don’t mind a few booths with pizza, wings and mac n cheese to rescue the poor planners with picky eaters from a hungry family meltdown. There are still enough fun things for me to try at more international booths.”
Totally agree, and this is a fair point.
I guess I just wish that some of the new additions were on the more ambitious side. I get that there might be a need to rebalance the lineup, but a few new adventurous options added alongside the crowd-pleasers would make for a more anticipation-building announcement and exciting event.
The dumbing down of the food booths is really unfortunate. While I still enjoy most of the items I try at this festival, I’ve never forgotten that I discovered gravlax at a booth in the mid 90’s. I seek it out often, and have even made it a few times – and whenever I taste this fabulous salmon, I give Epcot the credit. It’s about discovery!
Love your info and the food and wine festival.my wife and I go several times a year. My question is how does an artist become a vendor. I have tried several times . I just cant seem to find the right person to put me in touch with. I do probably 100 events a year . And I live in florida
Thanks for your info as usual. Always informative and sometimes amusing. Any idea when September Calendar will be coming out. Hard to make park reservations when we don’t know what’s going on in individual parks. I know MNSSHP has published and we have those tickets.
I’m optimistic that these concerns are premature. After all, there’s always a Mac & Cheese-focussed booth, Odyssey is always serving beer and wings, and there’s always a fries option (poutine).
My hope is that separating these items to their own booths will keep the other booths free for more adventurous items.
The Mac & Cheese booth is one of the new additions within the last 3 years. Odyssey is usually unambitious, but the wings & beer ‘booth’ there was new last year.
At least they’re not doing the doughnuts booth again, I guess.
I LOVE food n wine festival!!! If dining packages r coming back for Eat to the beat concerts, that may b a sign of Dining plan coming back soon????
I HOPE something is announced soon
There were dining packages for concerts at the last few festivals, too.
Agree 100%, Tom. I’ve been going yearly since at least 2004/5, and it’s just not as much fun or as interesting as it used to be. This sentence: “Disney is just giving guests what they want rather than challenging them, which is basically the EPCOT story at this point.” is spot-on. With the way you’ve talked it up, I’m thinking of checking out the Festival of the Arts instead next year.
Festival of the Arts is fantastic through and through.
The entire event has more substance, and some might argue that the cuisine is better than Food & Wine Festival. (I would.)
I think your “rant” is right on. This is the flagship foodie event and the new booth is … fries?!? We will wait for the next arts festival and hope for more adventurous fare.
No Chocolate Studio? I’m canceling my trip… just kidding. I spent so much money there back in 2019… I guess I’m and old man ranting at clouds too. I thought the same thing when the saw the new ‘fry’ booth… can’t you get those at any quick service food counter? I love the food and wine festival. We actually planned our trip around it and MNSHP. Be there in September.
All of the ‘studios’ that used to line the Culinary Corridor behind Journey into Imagination were fantastic. Really miss those, but at least some of their dishes have found different homes.
I don’t have a trip planned, but I keep hoping to see South Korea make its return. Always loved the pork kimchi lettuce wraps.