the booths are themed to different nations from around the globe , but depending on the festival , the booths take on a specific culinary style or an ingredient-specific theme .
While you can easily make a meal out of the food booth offerings ( more on that later ), the selections are mostly bite-size samples and small drinks . The idea is to explore the park , meander your way around the World Showcase , and stop for a nibble here and there as the mood strikes . Some festival booths return year after year , as do some fanfavorite dishes , but no two festivals are exactly alike , and there are always new additions .
The festival booths all accept cash , credit cards , Disney gift cards , and MagicBands — though cashless payments are highly encouraged as part of COVID-19 health protocols . Occasionally , there are special festival-specific credit packages you can buy . These usually come with some merchandise like an exclusive pin with a little tear-off voucher that you can redeem at the booth of your choice .
A word of caution about these offerings — hang on to them tightly ! Don ’ t make the mistake my wife and I did : We purchased a Food and Wine festival coupon package , redeemed one ticket , and then promptly misplaced the rest of our tickets . That does not make for a magical evening .
The booths themselves are all very charming and decorated to match the current festival theme or simply reflect the country / culture . There are posted menus outside each booth , and Disney supplies little festival passports with each booth ’ s menu offerings . The passports are a great little keepsake , and you can note the dishes you ’ ve tried or the ones you want to try .
SHARING IS CARING While the individual portions can be small , the sheer breadth of options means that you ’ ll never go hungry eating at these festival booths . Even if it means you only enjoy one or two bites of a dish , I recommend touring the food booths as a group activity , so you can share plates and sample as much variety as possible . There ’ s nothing stopping you from getting double orders of a crowd-favorite item , but if you try and take on these festival booths solo , you ’ ll run out of appetite long before you run out of options to try .
One of my favorite Disney date nights is to hit up EPCOT with my wife and turn dinner ( lunch is fine , too , but World Showcase is much prettier in the evening ) into a walking feast . We simply adore wandering around World Showcase , exploring the pavilions . We dream about trips we might take around the world or reminisce about the places we ’ ve visited . We stop along the way for a bite here , a drink there , maybe hop on a ride if the lines aren ’ t too long . Sometimes we ’ ll add a twist like “ only try items we ’ ve never had before ” or “ how many items can we get for $ 100 ” ( we actually completed this challenge on the WDW Magazine blog ).
FESTIVAL FAVORITES As I mentioned before , the festivals are never the same . Some dishes have become so popular they actually inspired a whole line of spirit jerseys and Mickey ears ( I ’ m looking at you , Flower & Garden Festival Violet Lemonade ). What follows are some of my favorite festival picks :