Walt Disney World introduced particulars & dates for the 2024 EPCOT Worldwide Meals & Wine Competition, which is the park’s flagship foodie occasion of the yr. This shares all the information and our commentary about sure attention-grabbing modifications for this yr’s well-liked celebration of the culinary arts.
Let’s begin with the fundamentals. The 2024 EPCOT Worldwide Meals & Wine Competition will start on August 29, 2024 and run via November 23, 2024 for a grand whole of 87 days. It’s beginning over a full month later than final yr’s occasion, which started on July 27 and ran for 115 days. (That occasion was 2 weeks shorter than the earlier yr, for what it’s price.) The tip date is later, however that’s as a result of timing of Thanksgiving.
Regardless of this, the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition just isn’t anticipated to be smaller scale. In accordance with Walt Disney World, there might be greater than World Marketplaces all through EPCOT, together with returning favorites comparable to Belgium, Hawaii, and Germany. A full record has but to be introduced, however Disney teased a couple of fan-favorite dishes from these cubicles.
On the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition, the enjoyable doesn’t cease with the meals. It extends to thrilling actions for the entire household to take pleasure in! Walt Disney World has additionally introduced a number of the leisure and different choices that’ll return for the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition. Particularly, the Eat to the Beat Live performance Sequence (and eating packages for that) might be again.
Emile’s Fromage Montage additionally returns in 2024. This enjoyable meals stroll encourages visitors to pattern quite a lot of scrumptious cheeses served in ingenious methods. Buy any 5 cheese dishes from the official World Marketplaces record in your Competition Passport and ensure to gather a stamp for every dish bought. When you’ve collected all 5 stamps, deliver the passport to the desired location for a specialty distinctive merchandise to take pleasure in!
Households can embark on Remy’s Ratatouille Cover & Squeak – a “Ratatouille”-inspired journey that’s très magnifique! Friends of all ages can seek for Remy all through World Showcase and the World Marketplaces.
Right here’s a sneak peek at a number of the merchandise you should purchase throughout the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition:
Take dwelling a style of the enjoyable with magnificent merchandise that retains the magic alive between visits, that includes beloved mates, like Remy from “Ratatouille” and Mickey Mouse.
Right here’s a enjoyable reveal: Everybody’s favourite purple dragon, Figment, may even be cooking up some enjoyable this fall simply in time for the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition.
After all, the largest improvement for the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition is the opening of CommuniCore Corridor on June 10, 2024 within the coronary heart of World Celebration. Throughout our current days within the parks, we seen that this constructing has made large progress within the final month and now seems, not less than from the skin, to be practically or completely completed.
Walt Disney World has shared that when the EPCOT Worldwide Meals & Wine Competition begins, the brand new house will add thrilling contemporary parts to the pageant. Keep tuned for extra!
By way of commentary, essentially the most attention-grabbing angle of this information is the choice to delay the beginning of the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition till the top of August fairly than beginning in July like all different years since 2020. This can be a return to pre-closure regular, because the 2019 occasion additionally started on August 29 and that was the longest (on the time) pageant ever.
It wasn’t till 2017 that the EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition was first prolonged into August. Previous to that, it had sometimes began in mid-to-late September and ended earlier. Going again a full decade, the occasion ran from September 27 till November 11, 2013.
So the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition remains to be lengthy by historic requirements. It’s simply over a month shorter than final yr’s occasion, and 40+ days shorter than the 2020-2022 festivals.
With that mentioned, it’s very uncommon for Walt Disney World to cut back occasions. Like costs, normally one of these factor solely goes in a single path. Once we’ve seen one of these factor happen up to now, it has been on account of unpopularity or slower gross sales.
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Celebration involves thoughts; there have been a couple of makes an attempt at including dates in August and November 1 a number of years that didn’t initially stick. That drawback not exists, with each single date promoting out final yr.
For this reason it’s so stunning to see each the 2024 EPCOT Flower & Backyard Competition and now the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition shortened, and each by a month. And it’s exactly why we’ve been predicting a summer season pageant to fill the hole!
The most effective concept that I can provide you with is that Walt Disney World is purposefully transferring the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition outdoors of the summer season vacationer season in an try and push demand amongst Floridians and Annual Passholders to the August and September low season.
The thought course of right here could be that EPCOT now has a powerful sufficient trip roster to attract vacationers throughout the summer season, so it’s higher to delay demand from locals and regulars till the height vacationer season subsides. It wouldn’t be unprecedented to bifurcate demand by focusing on completely different demographics.
Nonetheless, I’m not less than considerably skeptical of this after our current visits to EPCOT that fell throughout the shoulder season and over midway via Flower & Backyard Competition’s run. The park was the least-busy I’ve seen it since not less than final August or September.
As for a summertime pageant, one now appears unlikely. In any case, it might be logical to announce that earlier than asserting the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition. Normally this stuff are accomplished so as.
Nonetheless, it’s additionally honest to level out that August 29 is nearly actually two months later than the official opening date of Tiana’s Bayou Journey. And we nonetheless don’t have that! It’s completely doable that Walt Disney World is asserting Meals & Wine Competition dates to drive bookings for the low season, and nonetheless has nearer-term plans for extra information.
Talking of Tiana’s Bayou Journey, it’s completely doable that announcement might be ‘bundled’ with reveals for Summer season 2024 within the different 3 parks, similar to occurred final month with “4 New Experiences to Have fun Summer season at Walt Disney World.” I may see a repeat of that with the TBA opening date. At the very least, that’s my hope–it might make sense for a splashy announcement that drives last-minute summer season trip bookings!
Throughout that final summer season announcement wave, Walt Disney World revealed the brand new limited-time present, “¡Celebración Encanto!” that may run a number of instances all through the day this summer season. It’ll invite you and your loved ones to sing together with a few of your favourite songs, and see Mirabel and Bruno on the newly opened CommuniCore Plaza stage.
The announcement for that teased the next: “And that’s not even mentioning the extra meals and drinks and extra leisure to come back … however we’ll have extra particulars for you quickly.” That reaffirmed our concept–that we’ve had since final yr–that EPCOT would do a summer season pageant.
Given all of this, I’m nonetheless inclined to suppose one thing else is going on at EPCOT this summer season. Maybe not a fully-fledged pageant, however some kind of ‘occasion’ a la Unbelievable Summer season that options leisure plus particular menus. It simply makes an excessive amount of sense with EPCOT’s different festivals getting shortened by appreciable quantities. Will Disney actually be prepared to depart that candy, candy meals & beverage income on the desk?!
Once more, the World Marketplaces are extremely profitable. The common visitor is spending extra grazing from these than they’re doing a counter service or sit-down meal in World Showcase. Extra importantly, the margins on alcohol are extremely excessive. (Throughout its low factors, we heard rumors that festivals and drinkers have been EPCOT’s greatest saving grace.)
It’s simply tough to think about Disney shortening two festivals with out a gap-filler. However maybe there’s extra there than meets the attention. It’s doable the longer pageant spreads out nearly the identical demand (once more, disproportionately amongst locals and regulars who love these occasions) resulting in decrease per day income and better per day working prices.
Clearly, it’s not possible to crunch the numbers from the skin wanting in, nevertheless it’s very protected to imagine Walt Disney World has accomplished precisely that. One other chance is that there’s one thing I’m overlooking completely. The underside line is that Disney wouldn’t voluntarily go away cash on the desk. That’s not what they do.
Talking of leaving cash on the desk, there’s additionally the query of culinary seminars, demonstrations, meals with celeb cooks, and different particular occasions. Walt Disney World nonetheless has not introduced any of this–and even teased its return. Final yr, none of this stuff returned–which could recommend the identical for 2024.
Nonetheless, the distinction for this yr is the debut of the CommuniCore Corridor occasion house. It looks as if a no brainer, as all of those particular occasions are dear and generate loads of income. I don’t know, although, as EPCOT has had different unused (or underused) occasions areas throughout the previous few years and has declined to make use of them. After being utilized in 2020 for the occasion, World ShowPlace has stopped being one of many pageant spots.
In the end, we’re wanting ahead to the beginning of the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition. Though I’m curious concerning the rationale for decreasing the variety of dates, I’m truthfully happy by the choice. The occasion has been too lengthy the previous few years and, like Halloween season, I’ve been prepared for it to be over by the point it entered what ought to’ve been its candy spot. Personally, I nonetheless suppose this can be a couple weeks too lengthy; my good EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition would run from September via November.
My private ‘want record’ for the 2024 EPCOT Worldwide Meals & Wine Competition would come with new World Marketplaces from precise nations or areas and a return of the studio idea cubicles within the culinary hall, plus previous favorites making a comeback. In any case, right here’s hoping this would be the yr the EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition turns issues round. Perhaps a shorter and extra centered pageant is exactly what’s wanted!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Trying ahead to the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition? Did you attend the occasion in any of the previous few summers or falls? Assume that it’ll profit from being shorter and extra centered, or are you disenchanted that you just’ll miss it throughout your summer season trip? Any hopes for World Market cubicles or menu gadgets? Assume any of the opposite demonstrations or seminars will return? Any suggestions you wish to share to take advantage of the expertise? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to suggestions about your experiences is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
