Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival is a celebration of California
Category: Activities, Performances, & EventsCategory: Restaurants
The 2024 Food and Wine Festival at Disney California Adventure in the Disneyland Resort is bigger and better than ever with plenty of food and fun for the whole family. This year it seems the colors are brighter than ever.
The Food
Since this is the Food and Wine Festival, let’s start with the food. This year a new “restaurant” in the marketplace has been added. EARTH EATS is strictly plant based, which is bonus for vegetarians. And what they offer in terms of savory dishes deserves an “A” as they are very tasty. I tried both their Impossible Beef Stroganoff and their Impossible Chicken Parm Bites. Can you say “Yummy?” Spoiler alert: My personal favorite is the Stroganoff.
In keeping with the vegetarian options, the Chile Relleno Empanada at PEPPERS CALI-ENTE is also delicious. It’s a bit on the spicy side, but has a great flavor. Just be warned if you are sensitive to spicy foods.
And at LA STYLE their Baja-style Fish Taco is plant based and very tasty. In the PARADISE GARDEN GRILL guests can order vegetarian Loaded Baked Potatoes, which are filled with plant based goodies.
This is the first year I have noticed this many plant based options for guests, and definitely plenty more than in other festivals earlier this year. This addition of plant based options is good for not only vegetarians but also guests who want a different option (although the items are still filled with flavor).
That’s the roundup of vegetarian options. For meat lovers there are many offerings ranging from beef to chicken to pork.
And let’s not forget the desserts. At DELISH try the Olive Oil Cake and at UNCORK CALIFORNIA the Raspberry Almond Cake is tasty. But the piece de resistance is the Mickey shaped Macron at NUTS ABOUT CHEESE. This delectable delight includes chocolate and Snickers bar pieces for a truly memorable dessert (or snack) for chocoholics.
Beverages
Being a Food and Wine festival, there are many kinds of wines available, as well as interesting alcoholic concoctions. Have you heard of a PB&J Whiskey Shake? It’s strictly for adults but you get the idea of what the flavor is. Selections of Mimosas as well as red and white wine are available alone or in flights. Note: No alcoholic beverages are included in the Sip and Savor Pass.
The non-alcoholic Huckleberry-Citrus Cooler at DELISH is delicious and very refreshing. It’s light and not overly sweet. Just plain good. And for horchata lovers, the Strawberry Horchata at COCINA CUCAMONGA is a bit heavier than the cooler, but filled with cinnamon and strawberry flavor.
Additionally, there are plenty of other beverages available throughout the festival.
Sip & Savor Pass
There are two options when purchasing a Sip & Savor Pass this year. Guests can select whether they want a pass for four selections or eight. And there are no tabs to click off when ordering. On the back of each pass is a bar code which will be scanned when your order is placed. There is also a PIN number which guests must enter in the keypad. The receipt will let the user know how many more “purchases” are available on that pass. It’s actually very easy however some of us prefer the old click-off tabs. That’s progress, I guess.
There are a total of 10 marketplaces to sample a variety of food and beverages, and many of the restaurants feature additional festival offerings. To save time, take this little tip – order your items at any of the marketplaces and when you are ready to eat – or drink – take your receipt to the specific marketplace where you simply show your receipt and pick up your order. In other words, look for the shortest order line as guests can order any selections from any ordering line. That definitely saves time when some of the lines are very long later in the day.
Merchandise
As always, there is plenty of festival merchandise. There is the return of the beautiful teal colored Corkcicle Flute which can double as a wine/champagne flute or a bud vase. A spirit Jersey, backpack, and several other festival specific items are available. And don’t forget the ears!
Entertainment
From Disney Junior’s hit animated series SuperKitties, kids can have fun decorating their own cupcake while the SuperKitties are on-screen trying to solve a mystery. This “Confection Purrfection with the SuperKitties” is an adorable activity for even adults to witness as the kids try their hardest to make their special cupcakes. Meanwhile, when the activity is not running, just walking by the location (located in Hollywood Land), glance up at the screen as the SuperKitties are always looking out over the guests, and if you look hard enough, you’ll see them blinking. Just a little extra touch of Disney fun. SuperKitties is for ages 3-11.
Also in Hollywood Land, Chef Goofy, dressed to the hilt in his chef’s attire including hat, pops in from time to time for photo ops with the guests.
Over in Paradise Gardens the “Cookin’ with the Jammin’ Chefs” is an upbeat, colorful, and fun show put on several times a day. Chip, Dale, Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle join in the fun with some great music, interesting dialogue from the “head chef” and a lot of interactive dancing with the guests.
Artist showcases, signing events and demonstrations round out some of the activities at the festival.
The Festival
California is the focus of the festival. The family-friendly festivities run from March 1 – April 22, 2024. It’s a good time to bring the entire family to celebrate the food and culture of the state.
For more information about all the food and beverages, check out the Disney Eats: Foodie Guide
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.