Up next in 10
Rick's Picks for EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival 2025 4K
Sep 9, 2025
Mr. Daps interviews Rick DeCicco, the Proprietor of Festivals, Food & Beverage at Epcot, about this year's EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. Along the way, Rick shares some of his "Rick's Picks!" for getting the most out of this wonderful festival! Read the full article accompanying this interview here: https://dapsmagic.com/2025/09/ricks-picks-for-epcot-international-food-wine-festival-2025/ #hosted #waltdisneyworld #wdwmagic2025 Don't miss Daps Magic's official weekly YouTube show Geeks Corner here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAF91C7183BAB676B Visit Daps Magic: https://dapsmagic.com Join Our Patreon Community: https://patreon.com/dapsmagic Daps Magic was created by a very special group of Disney Fans who had a dream for a place on the internet where people young and old could share their love of Walt Disney and his legacies in a safe and fun atmosphere.
View Video Transcript
0:01
[Music]
0:04
Hi, I'm Mr. Daps and I'm here at Walt
0:06
Disney World with my new friend Rick to
0:08
hear all about the Epcot International
0:11
Food and Wine Festival and there is
0:13
cake. This day is going to be very, very
0:16
good. Rick, tell me everything I need to
0:19
know within reason about the Food and
0:22
Wine Festival.
0:23
Well, first, everything is better with
0:24
cake. I think we've definitely
0:26
established
0:26
our day just went up through the roof.
0:28
But yeah, it's food and wine time. It's
0:30
the Epcot International Food and Wine
0:32
Festival now through November 22nd.
0:35
Amazing.
0:36
So, we love to talk about the what's the
0:39
what's new, what's next, and so this
0:42
year really proud of what the team was
0:44
able to accomplish with so many new
0:46
things. I'm going to give you a couple
0:48
of what I call my Rick's picks. So that
0:51
the uh for me the top item uh this year
0:55
is at the flavors of America marketplace
0:59
and this is a uh GF coast style seafood
1:04
roll.
1:04
Oh.
1:05
So this is a warm water lobster with uh
1:08
shrimp. It's topped with lobster bisque
1:12
and creme fresh and it's served on a
1:14
buttered grilled roll
1:17
with butter on the side for for uh all
1:20
of your dipping needs. It is an
1:23
unbelievable item
1:24
in a theme park.
1:25
It I it is incredible. And of course
1:28
other items at that location that are
1:30
equally good, but that is that's kind of
1:32
my my top one um so far. of course, many
1:36
other new things and uh refreshed menu
1:39
items over at our Spain kiosk. There is
1:42
a a trio of items there. Uh so you got
1:46
to try that. You got to make sure that
1:48
you get a festival passport. So I did
1:51
bring a prop for us. And uh it it really
1:54
gives you everything you need to do.
1:56
Have you heard of Emil's forage montage?
1:59
I have. And I might have even started my
2:02
stamp process.
2:03
You got to get the stamps. And so this
2:05
is all about the cheese and you can
2:08
taste your way around the festival and
2:10
there are many cheese uh items to try.
2:12
Get your five stamps and then uh go to
2:15
shimmering sips marketplace where you
2:18
can get your uh completer prize.
2:20
Do you have a favorite cheese to start
2:22
with?
2:22
Well, I love at the Alps kiosk the uh
2:27
warm reclet.
2:28
You are speaking my language, my friend.
2:30
and available either with or without the
2:32
alpine ham of course with cornishons and
2:36
potatoes and the baguettes. Uh you can
2:39
watch the chefs scrape the cheese right
2:42
off the wheel. Uh the smells are in the
2:44
air. You're going to smell the smells
2:46
and taste the tastes. It's amazing. Now
2:48
also as I have segueed to the Alps
2:51
kiosk, we talked about cake, right? And
2:54
so the cake that we do have for you to
2:55
try here today is our Kirswasha Tort.
2:58
So, it's a cherry and pastry cream.
3:02
It looks delicious.
3:02
Almonds. It is absolutely delicious. It
3:05
is probably another Rick pick of of this
3:08
uh of this festival.
3:10
Uh, you know, returning favorites. Let's
3:12
talk a little bit about a little bit
3:14
about a little bit about that favorites.
3:16
I love the brewing lab at Odyssey. Now,
3:19
now why? Because it's got a little bit
3:22
of something for everyone. And yeah, we
3:24
hired the best scientists we could
3:26
possibly find. and I love your your tie.
3:29
Uh so being able to work with with Dr.
3:32
Bunson Honeydew and Beaker has been
3:35
life-changing for me. And uh as we
3:38
developed the unnecessarily spicy yet
3:41
extremely tasty curry pepper wing uh
3:45
which is hot. It's not normal hot. It's
3:48
it's hot hot.
3:49
I'm going to be sweating more than
3:51
it will definitely uh allow you to break
3:53
a sweat if that's what you're looking
3:55
for. And it's not for the faint of heart
3:58
uh in terms of if if you're looking at
4:00
your spice levels, but truly the the
4:03
trick there is be on the ready. Wash
4:05
that down with a pickle milkshake. The
4:08
iconic pickle milkshake. I I was uh
4:11
working with the team and we were trying
4:13
to figure out this this uh item to to
4:15
put with that spicy wing. I said pickle.
4:18
My partner said milkshake and so was
4:21
born the pickle milkshake. It it
4:23
actually makes a lot of sense when you
4:25
put it this way.
4:26
It does. And truly, the space is an
4:28
unbelievable space. We've got a lot of
4:30
fun uh in there this year. Brand new
4:33
brand new things where, you know, maybe
4:35
there's some surprises like a rubber
4:37
chicken toss or a pickle milkshake
4:40
cornhole that uh you can participate on.
4:44
So, we love the Muppets and I think the
4:47
Muppets actually love us, too. I can't
4:49
imagine why they wouldn't with that kind
4:51
of a space and that kind of food. Um,
4:53
for somebody that's maybe kind of an
4:55
entrylevel, this is my first food and
4:58
wine experience.
4:59
Yeah.
5:00
Where would you suggest they start out?
5:03
I think planning is key. So, consult the
5:07
website or the My Disney Experience app
5:09
where we have a lot of information and
5:12
chart your course. But uh truly my
5:15
advice to anyone is always take risks.
5:18
Try food items that you might not
5:20
normally try. You know why? There are so
5:22
many of them that if you do happen to
5:25
have something that's not really your
5:26
cup of tea right next to it, you're
5:29
going to find that that thing. And you
5:31
know, many people will say, "Hey, it the
5:34
only time I have ever tried esargo was
5:38
was here at the at the France
5:39
marketplace, right? It's a it's an entry
5:42
point for a culinary journey. And there
5:45
are so many different things that you
5:46
can try and and don't miss the favorite
5:49
items like the the mushroom fillet and
5:51
the bacon and cheddar soup at the at the
5:54
Canada Marketplace, but take those
5:56
chances and try and try all of the
5:58
things. Of course, don't skip the
6:00
merchandise shop because we've got
6:02
fantastic collections this year. And the
6:05
one I was most excited about is our
6:06
Muppet Labs collection. I will tell you
6:09
that on day one I was in there buying
6:11
the Bunson and Beaker lug bag. Um and uh
6:15
I won't tell you what I keep in there.
6:17
That's proprietary, but uh you know it's
6:19
a great bag. It's got my favorite
6:21
Muppets on there. It's so cool. The Chef
6:24
Remy collection, the Chef Figment
6:26
collection. There is so much cool stuff.
6:29
Of course, you know, we also have our
6:31
scavenger hunts. So, uh, right now
6:34
you've got, um, uh, Rey's hide and
6:38
squeak scavenger hunt.
6:39
I'm glad you remembered the name cuz
6:40
like it's something with Remy.
6:41
Yeah. And then, uh, also through
6:44
Halloween, we've got, and while supplies
6:46
last, we've got our pump Pluto's pumpkin
6:49
pursuit as well.
6:50
Super cute.
6:51
So, help Remy find the ingredients that
6:53
he needs to make his famous ratatouille
6:56
dish. And, uh, of course, look for the
6:58
pumpkins as well throughout the park.
7:00
And then on top of that, you have some
7:02
incredible entertainment happening
7:04
throughout this with Eat to the Beat
7:05
concert series.
7:06
Eat to the Beat concerts,
7:07
which I have yet to actually do this in
7:10
my trips out here,
7:12
but every time I walk by or sit in Japan
7:15
and you hear the music over there, I'm
7:17
like, why am I not doing, you know, I
7:19
need to plan better? Really,
7:20
there are there are really some great
7:21
acts this year,
7:23
both locally and
7:24
and yeah, we've got some local acts and
7:26
and we've got uh, you know, our other
7:28
acts as well. There's a lot of returning
7:31
favorites like Hansen,
7:33
um, Boys to Men, uh, we've got Baja Men
7:36
coming, I think next week. We're uh,
7:39
closing out the towards the end of the
7:41
festival. We've got Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
7:43
and the Beach Boys this year, which I am
7:46
super uh, pumped about.
7:47
I think that's awesome. I wish I was
7:48
coming that time, too. Uh, that would
7:51
Nobody's saying that you can't come
7:52
back.
7:52
I know. I might have to. You know,
7:54
schedules, though. Yes. Uh
7:56
there's also a way where you can eat and
7:58
then go to the beach.
8:00
Absolutely.
8:00
And I think this is honestly the way to
8:02
do this.
8:03
Yep. So, if you want to make sure that
8:04
you that you get into that show, we do
8:07
have our dining packages. So, uh you can
8:10
book into a variety of our table service
8:12
restaurants and uh then get that time of
8:15
day. Yep. Throughout the day and then
8:17
you can you get that guaranteed seat.
8:19
Again, I'll go back to the passport
8:22
right here on page seven. You've got the
8:25
eat to the beat information. There's a
8:28
QR code. It gives you all the
8:30
information and you can link to our
8:31
dining packages as well.
8:34
Good. Good stuff. This is your best
8:35
friend during the festival. We want to
8:37
make sure everybody has this.
8:40
Yeah. And then you come year after year
8:42
and you collect them.
8:44
Maybe put them in a shadow box or
8:46
something,
8:47
you know.
8:49
So, we have this cake, right?
8:51
Yeah.
8:52
I feel like we should take a bite to
8:53
wrap up our segment. Well, I will take a
8:55
bite.
8:55
Yes, you take you take a bite.
8:57
I've had a lot of cake already.
9:00
Is there normally like if we were over
9:03
in Epcot? I guess we are kind of in
9:04
Epcot. What would you pair with this?
9:07
Well, at the Alps location, my favorite
9:10
item that I think pairs with almost
9:12
anything is our frozen rosé. Oh, it is
9:16
it is a fantastic pairing. I will also
9:20
tell you that right next to the Alps
9:22
kiosk is our Germany marketplace. And so
9:27
uh we we most years feature a brand new
9:31
flavor of uh chauffeerhoffer heis.
9:35
And this year exclusively brand new
9:37
flavor. We have a berry lime and it is
9:42
really excellent. It's great. Uh yeah,
9:44
it's great when it's warm out. It's a
9:46
it's a uh really refreshing offering. I
9:49
was
9:49
say it feels like
9:50
and it's it's a neutral pairing with
9:52
just about anything. Whether you're uh
9:55
you know, whether you're having the
9:56
tort, whether you're having the rawlet
9:58
next door or um
10:01
you know, just about anything that's
10:03
there.
10:04
Good stuff.
10:05
So, having tasted this, it's delicious.
10:07
Is there cinnamon in it? Is that what
10:09
I'm
10:09
So, you're getting cherry.
10:11
Mhm. I got Definitely got the cherry
10:12
and the pastry cream.
10:14
um the cake. So, there may be a little
10:16
bit of cinnamon as well.
10:16
It's like almost like a little cinnamon
10:18
sugar I felt like layered in or
10:19
something.
10:20
And of course, it's many layers.
10:22
Yeah,
10:23
I can't imagine how these are made.
10:26
Uh with love.
10:27
Absolutely.
10:27
With love. Chef Amanda and her pastry
10:29
team are so incredibly talented that the
10:33
dessert offerings, the sweet offerings
10:35
across our festivals are they're
10:38
absolutely next level. Now, if you
10:40
happen to make it by Swirled Showcase,
10:43
I would definitely suggest trying our
10:45
liquid nitro um pumpkin cream cheese
10:48
mousse.
10:49
Oh, that sounds good.
10:50
Yeah, it is uh dipped in liquid
10:52
nitrogen. Oh, that's good.
10:54
And uh topped with caramel and candy
10:56
pecans. It is next level. You want to
10:59
actually place your order and then run
11:02
to the window to watch uh the the uh
11:05
pastry team in there handcrafting this
11:07
item. Oh, that's really cool.
11:10
It is stunning.
11:12
Well, thank you so much, Rick, for
11:13
telling us all about Food and Wine
11:15
Festival here at Epcot. And it kept
11:17
continues through November 2
11:19
November 22nd.
11:20
22nd was what I thought.
11:21
Absolutely. And we will have uh on uh
11:24
September 28th, we'll be debuting two
11:27
additional locations as well. So, our
11:31
our Coastal Eats location,
11:34
our guozas of the galaxy location,
11:37
one I saw on the Disney parks blog, and
11:38
it looked like a lot of fun.
11:39
It is going to be a really great uh
11:41
location with street corn dumplings,
11:43
with the French onion soup dumplings and
11:45
the buffalo dumplings.
11:47
That's the one.
11:48
So, it is uh it's going to be good stuff
11:51
and we can't wait uh to get that one
11:53
open and for guests to enjoy that one,
11:55
too.
11:55
Me, too. I I feel like I definitely need
11:58
to come back now. Uh, make sure to go to
12:00
waltd disneyworld.com for more details.
12:02
Also the myd Disney experience app and
12:04
don't forget to get your passport and we
12:07
will have more coverage showing up on
12:08
dapsmagic.com. Thank you Rick and thank
12:11
you for watching. Make it a great week
12:12
everybody.
12:13
Thank you.
#Food
#Restaurants