Food, Wine, and Mickey - Oh My!

When someone says "Mickey Mouse," I bet wine is not the first thing that springs to mind. However, if it's between late September and early November, that's exactly what I think of. That's because Epcot's Food & Wine Festival is held every year during that time. The Food & Wine Festival, for the uninitiated, is an annual event that celebrates diverse food and drink from around the world Set in Epcot's World Showcase, guests can visit over 30 booths representing different countries and purchase small samples of food, wines, cocktails, or beer. (Of course, there are non-alcoholic offerings too.)

Even though we had just visited Disney in August, it was really necessary that we visit again this October. After all, it was the 20th anniversary of the Food and Wine Festival. And it was Halloween, and therefore time for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. And, well...just because we hadn't been there in two months. So decision #1 was made to go for a long weekend, Friday through Monday. Decision #2: Where to stay? We orginally wanted to stay at a Boardwalk area resort so we could easily walk into the back entrance of World Showcase, but there was nothing available for our dates on short notice. We opted instead for Disney's Polynesian Village, and since we were planning on getting tickets for Mickey's Not Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) held at the Magic Kingdom, a resort right on the monoral would be very convenient. We figured on two days at Food and Wine and one night at Magic Kingdom for MNSSHP. We ended up changing our arrival date to Thursday so we could have a full day at F&W on Friday. For Thursday night we chose to stay at the Art of Animation in the Little Mermaid Building, which is the only non-suite building - Cars, Nemo, and Lion King are all suite buildings.

love our photobomber!

Our flight was uneventful and on time, and we touched down in warm, humid Florida early afternoon. We waited about a half hour for our Magical Express bus to whisk us away to the Art of Animation, and while we were waiting I got a text that our room was ready. I had completed on-line check-in from home, so once we arrived at the resort we were able bypass the check-in lines and go right to our room. Love this feature!

Our room was about as far as it could be from Animation Hall, which is where you arrive. The theming is really done well, however, and there was lots to check out on the way.

Timon, Pumba, and Simba watching over us as we pass.