Mouse Extra

Today we have our first installment of our tour around this year’s Epcot Food and Wine Festival.  This festival is what makes the fall my second favorite time of year to go to Walt Disney World.  The vibe and aroma around the promenade is overwhelmingly exciting, and if you are lucky enough to get a good act playing in the Eat to the Beat Concert Series you’ll be about ready to cry when the park closes.

Let us begin at the Festival Welcome Center, a.k.a. the Wonders of Life Pavilion…

They have not really transformed the inside of this pavilion at all.  I was expecting to see a work-in-progress inside, assuming the pavilion was going to be significantly altered, but that is not the case.  In fact much of the old pavilion remains.

As far as the festival is concerned, you can find some wine tasting and seminars in here…

You can sample some food, wine and beer at the Wonders Bar, aptly named for what it serves and where it is serving it…

And you can also purchase wine from the festival at what is truly a expansive shop called Inspired Vines…

While I feel they have done a good job centering all of this in one location big enough to house so much stuff, it is no doubt off the beaten path.  Without the guidebook one would never know it was here.  It is so far away from the rest of the festival, it seems forgotten.  While people are flooding the promenade trying different things and enjoying the festival, the Welcome Center stays mostly empty.

In our next installment, we will head out the World Showcase Promenade to see what is in store for the senses out there.