Disney World Confirms EPCOT Food & Wine Festival Activity Returns With Free Reward

Yesterday we covered the full menu drop for the 2026 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, and fans responded exactly how you would guess.

Those menus had been the missing piece for months. The 30th anniversary lineup with 30 returning or reimagined items gave veterans something to dig through, and the new additions gave everyone else a starting point for planning.

Another EPCOT development landed this week that matters more than it sounds. Disney installed the first wooden countertops on World Showcase railings, starting in the Germany Pavilion. That is the fix for the new solar-powered trash cans, whose rounded tops wiped out the long-running guest habit of using flat lids as makeshift dining surfaces during festivals.

The counters have a raised back edge so nothing tumbles into the flowerbeds, plus a “no seating” sign guests will absolutely ignore.

Menus, check. Somewhere to set your plate, check. Now the last piece.

Emile’s Fromage Montage details are out.

How It Works

The festival’s cheese food stroll, named after the food-loving rat from Ratatouille.

• Buy five eligible dishes from the Global Marketplaces
• Get a stamp for each in your Festival Passport
• Hit five stamps, then head to Shimmering Sips
• Claim a free special treat

You do not have to finish in one day. Stamps carry over, so nobody has to eat five cheese dishes in an afternoon.

Every Qualifying Dish

Fourteen eligible items this year.

The Wedge Hosted by Dairy Does More (opens September 18)

• Selection of Cheeses with accompaniments featuring Wisconsin cheese
• Crab and Corn Macaroni and Cheese with bacon, crab seasoning, roasted corn, and jalapeños
• Three-Cheese Macaroni and Cheese with smoked cheddar sauce and herbed panko
• Cheesesteak Macaroni and Cheese with shaved beef, peppers, and onions

Festival Favorites (opens September 9)

• Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse Trifle with citrus sauce, spice cake, and cranberry streusel

Earth Eats (opens October 2)

• Red Wine-braised Beef Short Rib with goat cheese polenta, tomato ragù, and shaved pecorino

The Alps (opens October 2)

• Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese on a baguette with jambon and apple-mustard relish
• Tartiflette with potatoes gratin, caramelized onions, bacon, crème fraîche, and brie

Open Around World Showcase

• Schinkennudeln at Germany
• Basque Cheesecake at Spain
• Griddled Cheese with pistachios and honey at Greece
• Pão de Queijo at Brazil
• Pineapple Cheesecake at Hawai’i
• Pumpkin-Mascarpone Ravioli at Forest & Field

The Problem With August Trips

Count what is actually open August 27 and you land on six.

Germany, Spain, Greece, Brazil, Hawai’i, and Forest & Field. That is it. The other eight sit at booths opening September 9, September 18, or October 2.

You need five stamps.

Doable on day one, technically. Barely. You would have to hit five of those six exact locations with zero margin if something sells out or a booth shuts early.

Visiting in late August or early September? Route it deliberately. Do not improvise.

When It Loosens Up

• September 9: seven options
• September 18: eleven options
• October 2: all fourteen

From October 2 forward, you have room to work. Before September 18, you really do not.

New Versus Returning

The Wedge is brand new and carries four of the fourteen on its own. That is a big chunk of the challenge sitting in one spot inside CommuniCore Hall.

Warm Raclette Swiss Cheese at The Alps is a return, originally from 1997.

Pumpkin-Mascarpone Ravioli at Forest & Field, Pão de Queijo at Brazil, and Schinkennudeln at Germany are returning favorites regulars will spot instantly.

Tips Before You Start

Grab a Festival Passport early. No passport, no stamps.

Split it across visits if you can. Five cheese-forward dishes in one day is genuinely a lot, and several of these are rich.

Only going once? Build the route around the six World Showcase spots plus whatever seasonal booths are live on your date.

And the reward comes from Shimmering Sips near Port of Entry, so work that into your walking loop instead of doubling back at the end.

Dates

The 2026 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival runs August 27 through November 21.

Fourteen eligible dishes with booths trickling in through October is a solid argument for more than one trip around World Showcase this fall.

And now there is finally somewhere to put your plate.