I traveled to Disney World’s Epcot with a friend for the 2025 International Food & Wine Festival. This is my second time attending.

But we also made a stop where we met some new friends!

Below is an in-depth breakdown of the trip as well as some things I learned along the way.

Trip Details

Trip Dates: September 25-28, 2025

Main Places Visited:

• The Capybara Cafe in St. Augustine
• Epcot

Total Cost: $1,044

Cost Breakdown:

• Gas (drove from KY to FL): $81/person.
• Capybara Cafe: $100/person.
• Food: $60
• Food & Wine Festival food: $90
• Souvenirs: $118
• Two nights at Disney Caribbean Beach Resort: $418/person
• Epcot ticket + Lightning Lane pass for Guardians: $177

Itinerary

September 25

• Depart Kentucky at 4:30 p.m.
• Arrive in Atlanta by 11 p.m.
  • We stayed the night with a friend, which helped cut down cost!

September 26

• Depart Atlanta by 7 a.m.
• Arrive to St. Augustine by 1:30 p.m.
  • Tip: Street parking was only $3 for 1.5 hours! We ate at Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grille. The Shrimp and Crab Remoulade salad was incredible. And I am NOT a salad person.
• Capybara and Friends Encounter at The Capybara Cafe.
  • Book it? HECK YES. Conservation, cuteness and education all rolled into one. It was worth every sent. Splurge on the hour long session. You will always meet the capybaras, but could also meet coatis, lemurs, armadillos and more!
• Drive 2.5 hours to Disney Caribbean Beach Resort.
  • Tip: Thought pricier then an Airbnb, it’s worth it. You get a early entry to the parks (think a 30-minute head start which I find can really help your day be less stressful) and this is the cheapest resort with direct access to Epcot. You ride the Skyliner which was a blast. The resort was much nicer than I expected. I would stay again.
  • Tip: If staying at a Disney resort, you get earlier access to Lightning Lanes, which is why I got one for Guardians. I was super glad I did and would do that again.
  • Tip: Ask to stay in Building 34 or 35 if you book the 5th sleeper rooms! These are Little Mermaid themed and have been more recently updated.

September 27

• Leave the room at 7:15 a.m.
• Hop on the Skyliner at 7:24 as it opened early (it’s supposed to open one hour before the park, which was 8:30 a.m. that day with early entry).
• Fly through the air!
• Arrive at Epcot by 7:45 a.m.
• Once the figurative ropes drop, get in line for Remy in France as it’s super close to the International Gateway entrance. Head to Frozen in Norway right after.
• The rest of the day is spent eating, drinking and being merry — and riding other rides.

Specific Food & Wine Festival Tips

• The Food & Wine Festival booths don’t open until 11 a.m. In retrospect I would have brought a very light snack to have around 9 a.m. to tide me over as I got a bit nauseous on the rides. The booths remain open until the park closes.
• We hit up the Marketplace booths first as we were HUNGRY and over in the area. But if I did it again, I would head to the back of the World Showcase (think America, Germany, etc.) and eat at those booths first. Later in the day, the World Showcase booths were slammed while the marketplace ones were not.
• Be prepared to walk a lot. Without kids, adults should prepare to cross the park multiple times to get the shortest wait times and food when you’re hungry. We did about 10.5 miles.
• I’ve tried a couple alcoholic drinks at the festival and haven’t been impressed. I’d stick to the food and maybe one or two drinks, as those are twice the prices of the food. But, I am a bourbon drinker and don’t do beer, which many booths had. So, take this with a grain of salt.
• You can do 2-3 dishes and then may need a 2-hour break to ride rides. Definitely pace yourself.
• So, here’s what I would get again (I ranked my top three) along with the booth’s name where they are found:
  • $8.25 Lamb Chop (Australia) — 2nd
  • $7.25 Trio de Pintxos (Spain) — 3rd (tie)
  • $5.25 Griddled Cheese 🧀 (Greece)
  • $11 Remy Milk Shake (Sunshine Seasons Menu; it was pretty to look at but I only had about half as it was so sweet)
  • $7.25 Cast Iron-seared River Trout (Bramblewood Bites) — 1st
  • $5.50 Pumpkin Marscopone Ravioli 🧀 (Forest and Field) — 3rd (tie)
  • $5.25 Pineapple Cheesecake 🧀 (Hawaii)
  • $6 Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese 🧀 and Alpine Ham (near Germany) NOTE: this cheese STINKS so you have to be OK with that
• The items I didn’t hate but didn’t love:
  • $5.25 Schinkennudeln🧀 (Germany)
  • $7 Peachy Mango Boba (Japan)
  • $14.50 Oahu Sunrise (Hawaii, alcoholic)
• The 🧀 designate the items part of Emile’s Fromage Montage. You have to eat five items out of the Montage’s list (found in the official Festival Passport) and get corresponding stamps. I didn’t know it but you get a treat in a souvenir plastic glass! I would definitely do it again, as I really liked most of the items.

September 28

• Depart at 6:30 a.m. and drive all day!
  • Tip: Audio books, especially good ones, make time fly. We were “reading” Golden Son, the second in the Red Rising series. I cannot emphasis enough how good this series is.