Favorite items at Epcot Food & Wine Festival - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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We will be there this time next week! Really looking forward to the Cheese Ravioli at Italy, it is always really tasty. But my outstanding favourite is the Key Limen wine - it is really sharp and refreshing! Oh and I loved the seared sea scallop with spinach-cheddar gratin and crispy bacon last year, plus the beef short rib with mashed potatoes in France.
Lots of new things to try this year as well, such as Haggis with Neeps & Tatties from Scotland. I think we're gonna like this!
Can't wait to go!!
__________________
Silvercat
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My favorite food this year was the cheese bread and crispy pork belly from Brazil! Dominican Republic has the most beautiful booth this year and I loved the Yuca Souffle with Griddled Cheese there. I also enjoyed the Bulgogi in Korea and the Craft Beer charcuterie plate.
You MUST go to the Chew Lab booth and get both the Salmon and the Strip Steak. Easily the best items of the festival in terms of flavor profile, detail, and technique.
My second favorite was the cheese studio; again, they did a nice job pairing flavors (blue cheese with raspberry, cheddar with honey...).
I'm always a fan of the Tuna Poke at Hawaii. The beef in South Africa this years was better than its been--spicier, more interesting, braver maybe. I also always get the food in France, and usually it's good to very good, but probably not great. Still, I like it.
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We were huge fans of the Canada, France and Chew Booths this year. Also the lamb from Austrailia and the bun from Japan. We were disappointed in Korea and Italy.
I also thought the salmon at the chew lab was really great. Other faves were the mussels in New Zealand, the croissant des escargots in France, and the lamb chop in Australia. Oh, and we loved the udon in Japan. I was disappointed in Ireland, I thought the fisherman's pie and the chocolate pudding were underwhelming.
I really liked the salmon and strip steak in the Chew Lab, the Artist Palette (cheese and wine pairing) at the Cheese Studio, the loaded mac and cheese and griddled "yard bird" and greens from Farm Fresh, and the roasted pork lettuce wrap from Korea. I was underwhelmed by the chicken gyro from Greece, the lobster roll and beef slider from Hops & Barley, and the chocolate cherry explosion from Desserts & Champagne.
However, I do think it can be situational too. While DH, DS, & I thought the sauce overwhelmed the grouper at the Dominican Republic booth, DD and her BF choose that as one of their favorites. I really enjoyed Ireland's offerings of Fisherman's pie and warm chocolate pudding (although I seem to remember that being bigger in the past!) that sakana didn't.
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i'm not sure if the fest is even going on anymore (or if your trip is over) but: hands down, my favorite bite from the fest this year was the apple 'drink' from the poland booth. i don't recall the name, but i passed someone who was eating it and stopped her to ask what it was--and then promptly turned around and ordered it. it's basically a frozen alcoholic apple pie. they give you a straw, but you need a spoon.
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i'm not sure if the fest is even going on anymore (or if your trip is over) but: hands down, my favorite bite from the fest this year was the apple 'drink' from the poland booth. i don't recall the name, but i passed someone who was eating it and stopped her to ask what it was--and then promptly turned around and ordered it. it's basically a frozen alcoholic apple pie. they give you a straw, but you need a spoon.
YES! The frozen Szarlotka is yummy! Last year, I'm pretty sure they just garnished it with an apple slice. This year, however, the apple pieces and streusel topping made me feel like I was eating a drunken Dutch apple pie!
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