October is my favorite time of year to live in Orlando. During the blistering summer heat, when hordes of tourists swarm like locusts, I curse this town. In the spring, when the daily 4 p.m. monsoons come through, turning I-4 into a flooded parking lot, I wonder how soon I can move back to Jersey. But each October, I’m reminded why I love this place.
The weather is perfect, with clear days in the 80s and mild nights in mid-60s. Tourism drops off until Thanksgiving, making it the perfect time of year to ditch work for an afternoon and ride some rides. There are many fantastic Halloween events to explore, making Orlando a horror fan’s paradise.
But my favorite thing about Orlando in October is Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival. Running from October 18th through November 16th, this year’s Food and Wine Fest is the largest yet. Anyone in town with an appreciation for the culinary arts, or just a desire to eat and drink themselves into a coma, owes it to themselves to pay a visit.
There are several facets to the Festival, many of which are included at no extra charge with your Epcot admission. There are exhibits on subjects like Australia wineries, South African culture, and Italian chocolate. There are cooking demonstrations and craft projects for the kids. Every day of the festival features a different lineup of seminars and demonstrations, featuring chefs and wine experts from Disney and around the world. There is the “Eat to the Beat” concert series, featuring nostalgia acts such as Sister Sledge, Three Dog Night, and Chubby Checker. And there are the sold-out “Party for the Senses” events, which combine VIP seating for the concerts and Illuminations with gourmet food and wine (for a hefty $85 on top of admission).
But the heart of the Food and Wine Festival is the International Marketplace. This year, 26 different kiosks have been arranged around the World Showcase lagoon. Each features appetizer-sized samples of regional food and drink, priced from $1 to $4.50. There are stands for each of the nations represented by the World Showcase pavilions, such as China and Germany. There are also stands representing cuisine from nations like Australia, Spain, and Russia, as well as specialty beer and wine gardens.
Each stand offers an average of 3 kinds of food and 4 beverages to sample. In total, there are over 70 different foods to try, and over 110 different beverages. No human could try everything, or even sample one item from each stand, in one visit. At least not without needing serious medical attention afterwards. My technique is to work my way around the lagoon, trying one or two items from each stand. I can visit half a dozen stands in a visit, and by the end of the month-long event I’ve made 4 or 5 trips and sampled something from every stand. By that time I’m a couple hundred dollars poorer, and a few pounds heavier. What sacrifices we make for culture!
There are legitimate criticisms to be leveled at the Festival, and many of my friends don’t like the event. For one, it can be very expensive. Though each item is less than $5, and many are only $2 or $3, eating your way around the world can quickly add up. It’s easy to spend $50 before you know it, and the addition of credit card readers has made this event even more dangerous to the wallet. It’s also easy to become intoxicated before you realize it. The wine and beer are served in samples that are half the size of a normal glass, so it’s easy to toss back half a dozen samples and find yourself in over your head.
So be sure to drink plenty of water, especially if it’s a warm day, and ride Mission: Space before you start imbibing. The food samples themselves can be a bit hit-or-miss. The recipes are sometimes more ambitious than what the kitchens can deliver, and some of the portions can be a bit small. This is not an event for bargain hunters, and you will be better of at one of the park’s fast food eateries if you want to fill up for $10.
All these minor gripes pale next to the huge variety offered by the festival. You may be able to find any one dish at the Festival at a restaurant in your hometown, better prepared and at a cheaper price. But there is nowhere else on Earth where you will find all of these different items, in such a beautiful setting, at a price that encourages grazing for hours on end. If the items on offer at one stand don’t appeal to you, just walk a dozen yards and you’ll find a whole new menu. Combine this with the fascinating cooking demonstrations, free concerts, and all the other attractions on offer in the park, and you have a gourmet’s (or gourmand’s) dream come true.
On my first visit to this year’s Festival, I sampled from half a dozen stands between the Mexico and Germany pavilions. I started with a delicious Floridian seafood stew, a generous portion of shrimp, clams, and fish in a rich tomato broth, and washed it down with a refreshing grapefruit wine. The Greek souvlaki was less successful; a meager skewer of overdone meat with a tasty onion-and-yogurt tzatziki sauce, and the Boutari Kretikos red wine was nothing special. The tacos and quesadillas on offer at Mexico care run-of-the-mill, but the watermelon water is delicious. So is the meade at the Ireland stand. If you have never tried this sweet wine made from honey, give it a try. It goes great with the potato and leek soup, or the whiskey flan custard.
One of my favorite items was the cold poached salmon from Scandinavia. The firm, flaky slice of fish is topped with a tangy mustard sauce and accompanied by a fantastic marinated cucumber salad. From China I tried scallion pancakes, which were filling but a bit bland, and a tasty glass of plum wine. I only wish they would bring back the dim sum steamed meat buns from years past. My final sample was an Australian lamb chop. The Australia stand was the only one with a significant line, probably because they offer shrimp on the barbie and BBQ beef tenderloin. The chop was a little well done for my taste (I like my lamb still bleating) but well seasoned. It came with a delicious side of caramelized onions, and it paired well with a glass of Black Label cabernet.
This represents only a tiny fraction of the samples available. On my next visit, I’m looking forward to trying the American corn and lobster chowder, tuna tataki from Japan, New Zealand mussels, and Canadian cheddar cheese soup. There are some more unusual offerings, like the French frog leg chowder and “bulls blood” wine from Eastern Europe. And how can you go wrong with white chocolate mousse and a glass of champagne?
As I stumbled happily out of World Showcase, I stopped by Mission: Space and was shocked by what I saw. The ride advertised a 25-minute wait, with fast passes being distributed for less than 2 hours in the future. By comparison, Test Track right next door had a 120-minute wait (60 minutes for single riders) with all Fast Passes gone for the day. I discovered that the actual wait at Mission: Space was even shorter, as I got through the single rider line in less than 10 minutes.
I had heard rumors that the ride had been toned down recently in response to guest reactions. I’m happy to report that those rumors appear to be false. I have been on the ride over a dozen times since it’s first public soft-open testing during the summer, and the G-forces seem unchanged. A manager I spoke to confirmed that the spinning has not been turned down since the internal testing was completed months ago. A friend of mine who works in the Epcot custodial department tells me they continue to have as many as 30 “protein spills” to clean up after each day.
Mission: Space has been the subject of a massive media campaign, with television commercial saturation reaching its peak right now. The apparent guest antipathy towards this expensive new attraction may be a result of the mixed messages that Disney is sending. The ad campaign for M: S highlights the thrill aspect, calling it the most intense ride in Disney history. One commercial features hidden-camera footage of guests on the ride screaming, “I can’t feel my face!” and “Daddy, are we still in the building?” Even the cover of the current park guide map shows a family with bug-eyed grimaces of terror straight out of “A Clockwork Orange”.
If all this doesn’t put off guests, they are confronted with newly-installed warning signs outside the attraction. These are the direst warning signs I have ever seen in any park. One states you may experience headaches, nausea, and dizziness even if you have never had motion sickness on any ride before. You are warned to be well rested and hydrated before entering. One might think you were about to climb Mt. Everest, not ride a glorified Gravitron.
It seems only the most die-hard thrill seekers are making it past the warnings into the ride. Many of those who do are probably agitated by the repeated warnings, and I witnessed more than one person bail out after watching the preshow safety briefing. As I’ve said in the past, going into the ride with fear and trembling only makes it more likely that you will become ill, and all the guests I’ve ridden with who went in with a positive attitude came out fine.
There seems to be a real disconnect between the target audience for this ride, and the demographic that Epcot normally focuses on. The older, more affluent crowd that would be attracted to the Food and Wine Festival is exactly the opposite of the crowd that would flock to an intense thrill ride. I have a feeling that if Mission: Space had been themed to a science-fiction film and dropped in the Disney/MGM Studios next to Tower of Terror and Rock N’ Roller Coaster, it would be doing twice the numbers that it is now. If it was built in a thrill park like Six Flags, there would be a line around the block. But in Epcot it seems out of place, and even the guests who queue up for hours at Test Track seem to be staying away.
Well, that’s all the time I have for today. I hear a seafood paella and a glass of sangria calling to me!