Epcot Food & Wine Festival Special Events

Phone lines will open at 7 a.m. Eastern on August. 13 to book reservations for premium events for the 18th annual Epcot®International Food & Wine Festival, Sept. 27-Nov. 11, at the Walt Disney World® Resort!

©Disney

From the over-the-top Party for the Senses grand tasting experience on select Saturday nights to a new taste of Scottish cuisine, there are lots of opportunities. Price per ticket:

• New Scotland, Land of Food And Drink (Sept. 28), $95 or $115
• New Spirits Confidential (Nov. 1), $80 or $95
• New Parisian Breakfast (Saturdays), $37
• New Hibachi Experience (Oct. 8, 15, 22, 29, Nov. 5), $120
• “3D” Disney’s Dessert Discovery (Oct. 4, 11 and 25), $55 or $90
• Epcot Wine Schools (Sept. 29, Oct. 27, Nov. 3), $135 per person
• Culinary Adventures in Signature Dining (more than 25 dinners throughout the festival; prices vary)
• Mixology Series: Taste, Shake and Indulge Like the French (Saturdays), $65
• Kitchen Memories (Sept. 27, Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25, Nov. 1, 8), from $110-$170
• Cheese Seminars (Sept. 28, Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26, Nov. 2, 9), $80
• Party for the Senses (Oct. 5, 12, 19, 26 and Nov. 2), $145, $180 or $285
• Food & Wine Pairings (Tuesdays, Thursdays), $55
• Sweet Sundays (Sept. 29, Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27, Nov. 3, 10), $99
• The Discovery of Chocolate (Oct. 13 and 27), $75

Additional events include Italian and French pairings and lunches, and a Mexican tequila lunch. You can book special festival experiences including daily Culinary Demonstrations ($14), Mixology Seminars ($15) and Wine, Beer or Spirit Seminars ($14). Inside-the-park festival dining experiences, as well as culinary and beverage programs, require Park admission.

Contact Mouse World Travel today for more information if you are interested in booking any of these wonderful events!

Busch Gardens, Williamsburg

While Mouse World Travel is a Disney focused travel agency, we also like to highlight other vacation destinations.  Today we bring you an overview of Busch Gardens in Williamsburg.

I was lucky enough to make a trip to Williamsburg, VA this past spring. When planning this trip I knew I needed to visit Busch Gardens as well as learning the history of our country at Colonial Williamsburg.
Busch Gardens is not open year round and in the Spring it has limited hours due to the weather. For our trip, it was mainly open on weekends, so we chose our first full day of the trip, a Sunday, to head over to the park and check it out.

This park is beautiful. They had flowers blooming all over, and coming from Ohio, it was a nice sight for eyes that had seen so much brown (& white) for the last few months!

We tried to explore as much of the park as possible. The park is divided into different countries. My thought was it would be like Epcot, but it really isn't. The countries are much bigger in size, though I did not think many offered much of the actual culture from it's homeland. Each country did have rides with names themed to the country, but not really having anything to do with the country itself.

Sadly we did not ride many rides. This park is not for the faint of heart. It is roller coaster city. If you love roller coasters, this is the place for you! They had several to choose from. 

For the little ones they had a very popular area called "Sesame Street Forest of Fun". For those who are not wild at heart, or little in age and size, there isn't a lot left to ride. This was my biggest complaint about the park. We just don't care for coasters, so most of our day was spent exploring the countries. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed doing that, but it would've been nice to have a few more ride options as well.

We did watch a few shows. The one in Germany in the Festhuas was a pretty corny take on the Snow White story, but my daughter who is 8, just loved it.

We also watched an animal show, but honestly compared to it's sister parks in Orlando, this show was very lacking. Don't expect to see lot of animals at this version of Busch Gardens.

A highlight for my daughter was painting pottery in France. The price was reasonable. She was able to pick out a piece to paint and then they would glaze and fire it for her and it was sent to our home address. It arrived less than 2 weeks after she painted it.

Another highlight were the Black Clydesdales. These animals are just beautiful to watch. We were lucky enough to see a young one out training in the afternoon.

We enjoyed our day at Busch Gardens and I am glad we had the opportunity to see this park. If you love wild rides and coasters, this is a must do park for you. If you are expecting more Disney type rides, you will be disappointed in that respect. Be prepared for a lot of walking as well. The park is built on very hilly land. There was a lot of going up and down for us, which we didn't mind, but for some it could be an issue.

If you are interested in going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, contact your Mouse World Travel Agent for tickets and accommodations. 1 day tickets are $70 for adults and $60 for children.

by Jennifer Dowling

jen@mouseworldtravel.com