Desserts & Champagne Booth Menu & Review: 2020 Taste of Epcot Food & Wine Festival

Desserts & Champagne is a booth at the 2020 Taste of Epcot International Food & Wine Festival located inside the World ShowPlace between Canada and France. In this Walt Disney World dining review, we’ll share menu prices, food photos, and offer thoughts on what’s worth your money.

We’ll start with some history for those who are unfamiliar with the World ShowPlace. From October 1, 1999 through January 1, 2001, it was the Millennium Village, the primary home of Walt Disney World’s Millennium Celebration. The venue housed over 50 countries that didn’t have a permanent presence in World Showcase. Among these nations were Brazil, Chile, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Namibia, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Switzerland.

Millennium Village featured a Carnival area with interactive exhibits–think Innoventions, but with an international flair–plus activities like mini golf, a motion simulator, puppet shows, photo ops, and other interactive exhibits. These were of varying degrees of quality and interest, but the Millennium Village as a whole was pretty cool–and colossal. The whole space is so large that it actually takes up two World Showcase expansion plots! For more on how World ShowPlace is used today, see our Mac & Cheese Marketplace Review

You might recognize the name of the Desserts & Champagne Marketplace, and that’s because it’s not new. This booth previously appeared at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival for 5 years, and was one of the first booths to deviate from the “countries” approach. After a four year hiatus, Desserts & Champagne is back.

For those Epcot Food & Wine Festival historians out there, the old Desserts & Champagne booth is now Shimmering Sips (makes sense, right?) which was previously the Almond Orchard (okay, that makes less sense). The original incarnation of Desserts & Champagne served an exceptional “Dessert Trio” consisting of three cupped and beautifully-presented items that made our ‘best of’ lists for several years running.

Moving along to the present, Desserts & Champagne has relocated from its previous outdoor location to World ShowPlace. As touched upon above, this venue is absolutely colossal, and only a portion of the space is even open during the 2020 Taste of Epcot Food & Wine Festival.

Desserts & Champagne is the second from the right marketplace, between Festival Favorites and Almond Orchard, with Mac & Cheese on the far left. Even physically distanced, there’s plenty of space for dining in here. We nonetheless opted to eat our desserts outside, enjoying an atypically lovely Florida summertime evening…

Anyway, on with the review, starting with the Desserts & Champagne food and drink menus:

  • Liquid Nitro Chocolate Cake Pops
  • Liquid Nitro Chocolate Cake Pops with Crumbled Twix Chocolate Bars
  • Liquid Nitro Chocolate Cake Pops with Crushed M&M’s Candies

Desserts & Champagne Beverages:

  • Frozen S’mores (non-alcoholic)
  • Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut, Champagne
  • Dom Pérignon Brut, Champagne
  • Veuve Clicquot Brut Rosé, Champagne
  • Frozen S’mores with Whipped Cream Vodka

Now our photos and reviews of each dessert at this marketplace…

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Cake Pops ($4) – This is the standard version of the cake pop, not dipped in anything other than chocolate.

Sarah and I had very different views on these cake pops.

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Cake Pops with Crushed M&M’s Candies ($4) – Sarah found the cake to be a bit dry and ordinary–like a cheap pre-packaged super market treat.

I think that’s being a tad harsh. She’s right that the cake itself was nothing special–think typical Walt Disney World cupcake and you’re in the ballpark. However, the liquid nitro chocolate helped elevate it and made this a nice summer treat. Nothing revolutionary, but still good.

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Cake Pops with Crumbled Twix Chocolate Bars ($4) – These individual item reviews are all sort of flowing together because these cake pops are virtually identical. Which you should order depends upon what you prefer–I liked the Twix one best, but I’m a sucker for Twix.

One thing I wouldn’t recommend is ordering all three at once. These are best when they’re coldest, and it’s tough to eat them in quick succession. Also, I may or may not have eaten pretty much all three in that manner, getting an upset stomach as a result. (Zero regrets–I’ve been craving chocolate cake!)

We are in agreement that these cake pops are “one and done” desserts. Even though I enjoyed them, there are better options at the 2020 Taste of Epcot Food & Wine Festival.

Ultimately, how you’ll view these liquid nitro chocolate cake pops probably comes down to expectations. Sarah was anticipating something on par with the Liquid Nitro Chocolate-Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel from Chocolate Studio (above), which is perpetually one of #1 or #2 desserts at the event.

These cake pops do not hold a candle to that. They’re not in the same ballpark, league, or even playing the same sport. That iconic dessert was like Michael Jordan on the 1990-1991 Chicago Bulls. These cake pops are like Micheal Jordan on the 1994 Birmingham Barons. Both something people pay to experience, but definitely not the same.

On the other hand, I was expecting something more on par with the Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake Pop (above) served at the Italy Global Marketplace during last year’s event. That item was an abomination, with freezer burned cake that was stale and hard.

These cake pops are head and shoulders above that, and cost less. Where you’ll stand on these depends, I guess, upon whether you’re comparing them to one of the most iconic Epcot Food & Wine Festival desserts of all-time, or one of the most infamous.

Check out our Epcot Food & Wine Festival Booth Menus post if you want to see and read more about every menu this year. You’ll also want to read our full Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival Guide before you go to get an idea of what to do, strategy for the festival (yes, you will need a strategy), and much more!

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of the Desserts & Champagne Marketplace? Have you tried any of the cake pops at this booth? What did you think of them? What do you think of this booth? Does it live up to the quality of Chocolate Studio’s iconic liquid nitro dessert, or is it an inferior replacement? 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!

4 Responses to “Desserts & Champagne Booth Menu & Review: 2020 Taste of Epcot Food & Wine Festival”
  1. Jan B October 15, 2020
  2. Johanne Dunn September 4, 2020
  3. DebC July 22, 2020
  4. Amy July 22, 2020

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