Planning a trip to the Disneyland Food and Wine Festival at Disney California Adventure? Use this guide to figure out when to go, what to eat, and even what to do with your kids if you bring them! Everything from ways to save money to tips to save time standing in lines! I’ve been there and want to make sure it easier for you to enjoy your visit!
Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival
I just got back from a trip to Disneyland to check Disney California Adventure’s Food and Wine Festival! I went with my siblings and we ate alllllll the food, drank all the non-alcoholic beverages, and checked out all the fun so that I could give you a well rounded review of everything!
I’ve put together tips and tricks from our visit as well as full reviews of all of the Disneyland food festival menus here!
And don’t forget to check out this Disney packing list for everything you need to bring with you!
Disneyland Food and Wine Festival 2023 Details
If you’ve never been to the Disneyland Food and Wine Festival, these are some of the main details you’ll need to plan your trip!
What month is Disney Food and Wine Festival?
The Disneyland Food & Wine Festival is being held at Disney California Adventure Park from March 3 to April 25th, 2023. Over the past few years, it’s always been in the months of March and April, which is the perfect time to visit Disneyland!
If you’re looking for the Epcot Food and Wine Festival, that annual event is typically held from August to November, the time of year that’s great for visiting Florida!
How long does Disney Food and Wine Last?
The hours of the festival are technically from 8AM to 10PM but the food kiosks are typically open for shorter windows from 10:30 AM to 9PM but like with anything are subject to change per week so make sure to check the Disneyland website, the Disneyland app, and the Food & Wine Festival guide you can pick up when you get into the park!
In order to enjoy the Disneyland Food and Wine Festival, you must have a valid ticket to enter Disney California Adventure. You can’t just go into the park to enjoy the festival, you must purchase a ticket.
Where is the Disneyland Food and Wine Festival?
Disneyland Food and Wine Festival is held in Disney’s California Adventure Park (right across from Disneyland Park in the Disneyland Resort) in Anaheim, California (aka the golden state) in the United States.
Do you have to pay extra for disney food and wine festival?
The Disneyland food and wine festival requires attendees to have a paid park ticket AND a theme park reservation (this is free but must be made in advance). Park ticket prices vary by date.
Aside from this, the food and wine festival is technically free unless you want to buy food, drinks, or merchandise. The price of these things can vary from $6 per food item all the way up to $9. Alcohol can be more expensive and merchandise is sold in prices of all ranges.
Tip!
Get discounted tickets and Disneyland hotel offers through Get Away Today, my preferred method for buying tickets! Save even more if you use the code PlayPartyPlan10 on a package of 2 nights in a hotel + 2 day tickets or more!
Festival Marketplaces
There is so much to do at the Disneyland Food and Wine Festival but something you can’t miss is all the food!
I’ve put together a full Disneyland Food and Wine Festival foodie guide here with all of the menu items. We ate EVERYTHING and I’ve included full honest reviews of all of the food and drinks we’ve tried in the past plus this year’s new dishes, so make sure to check that out as well!
The festival is full of festival marketplaces that offer festival specific food and drink items. There are 12 different festival marketplace booths offered in 2023 as well as festival specific food options offered at various regular food locations throughout the park!
The festival marketplaces being offered this year include:
- Avocado Time – flavorful medleys inspired by avocados
- Berry Patch – delicious delights with berry flavors
- California Craft Brews – brews from local California breweries
- Cluck-A-Doodle-Moo – all the chicken and cows you could want
- D*Lish – sweet and savory dishes with delicious flavor
- Garlic Kissed – dishes with a hint of garlic and drinks to wash them down
- Golden Dreams – more delicious food and drinks
- I Heart Artichokes – all the artichokes
- LA Style – LA inspired dishes
- Nuts About Cheese – all sorts of cheese inspired dishes
- Peppers Cali-Ente – the spiciest of the marketplaces
- Uncork California – nothing to whine about here with this California cuisine
Exclusive Festival Experiences
In addition to the food, the Food and Wine Festival is jam packed with festival specifics shows and performances! These are all of the things that have been announced so far for this year!
Check your festival guide for specific times for all of the live entertainment when you get to the park.
These are just a few of the free, no-reservations entertainment options to look out for:
- Culinary demonstrations and cooking demonstrations where celebrity chefs prepare mouth-watering dishes (Backlot Stage, Hollywood Land)
- Live festival music
- Jammin’ Chefs
- Ride Soarin’ over California (back during the festival for a limited time)
Paid Festival Experiences
There are also a handful of additional fee required bookable experiences, such as mixology seminars you can take advantage of as well. You can find more information on these on the Food and Wine Festival website as well.
These sell out quick so if you’re interested in doing them, I recommend booking in advance.
Kids Activities at the Disneyland Food and Wine
The Food and Wine Festival isn’t just for adults! Disney has made sure to include a couple of kid specific activities to keep the fun family-friendly!
Alice’s Wonderland Bakery Unbirthday Party
Kids ages 3-11 can head to the Hollywood Backlot stage to join in on a fun cupcake decorating activity inspired by Disney Junior’s show Alice’s Wonderland Bakery! When I saw this last year, the kids looked like they were having a great time at this fun event!
You can sign up to participate in this free event 45 minutes before each showtime. Only 32 kids can participate for each performance, so make sure to sign up early!
One other thing to note that I thought was neat was that if it’s raining and it’s not possible to have the actual unbirthday party, they still handed out cupcakes and cupcake decorating kits to the kids who signed up. They didn’t get the full experience, but they still were able to enjoy a little Disney magic!
Live Music
Kids love listening to the Jammin’ Chefs playing on their pots and pans, especially if Chip and Dale make an appearance like they have in the past!
They have numerous performances during the day, and it’s a must-see if you have kids! It’s also a fun time to break out in a dance party!
There are tons of other live music performances that are great as well, but the Jammin’ Chefs is definitely the most kid-friendly option!
Tasting Passports
Getting their tasting passport stamped as they try different things at the food booths. If you try all of the booths and get your passport stamped, you can take it back for a stamp of completion. Not quite as fun as the stickers provided in the Epcot food and wine festival but still fun!
They’ll also love trying out the different desserts and kid-friendly drinks throughout the parks.
Festival Merchandise
There is always some really fun festival specific merchandise available to buy – both for regular ticket holders and magic key holders (aka annual passholders)!
This year I saw some really cute merchandise with the phrases “the dude with the food” (Mickey) and “so sweet “amazingly sweet” (Minnie).
There was everything from pins to cups, shirts, and even my personal favorite – these awesome little trash can salt and pepper shakers. If you’ve ever been to the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival, you know how much you appreciate being able to find a good trash can!
Disneyland Food and Wine Menu
The Disneyland California Adventure food & wine menu varies slightly every year, and I like to do reviews on all of the food so I’ve created a post just for the Disneyland food and wine menu and reviews over here. You can get my full foodie guide over there.
Food and Wine Festival Magic Key Holder Perks
At most of their events, Disneyland offers exclusive perks that are available only to Magic Key Holders. This year the perks that I saw during our visit included:
- Special Magic Key holder only seating area
- Reduced price on the Sip and Savor pass ($54 versus $59)
- Exclusive festival merchandise available to purchase
- Special souvenir lanyard for the Sip & Savor Pass just for Magic Key holders (it’s has a fun 2023 design)
Sip and Savor Pass
Sip and Savor passes are back this year and if you use them wisely, they’re a great way to save a bit of money while you’re enjoying all the food in the park!
There was a Sip & Savor Cart setup right at the beginning of the park (before Avengers Campus) where you can purchase the Sip & Savor Passes. Or you can also purchase them at Elias & Co, Festival Gifts, Festival Marketplaces, Julius Kratz & Sons, Rushin’ River Outfitters, Seaside Souvenirs if the line at the Sip & Savor Cart is long.
The pass includes a lanyard, a list of what items the pass is eligible for, and eight little tabs secured onto the pass.
DO NOT PULL THESE TABS UNTIL YOU’RE PAYING. If the tabs are pulled prior, they will be considered voided and not able to be used for purchasing food items.
How Much is the Sip and Savor Pass?
The Sip and Savor pass costs $54 for Magic Key holders and $59 for non Magic Key Holders. You can easily share a sip and savor pass with friends or family, and it’s actually a great way to do it!
Is the SIP and Savor Pass Worth it?
If you plan carefully, the sip and savor pass can definitely be worth it and save you money. If you don’t plan to eat much at all, buying individual items is probably a safer bet.
Items at the booths range from $6.25 to $9.00 so plan carefully which items you’ll use your sip and savor pass coupons on so that you can make the most of it! The break even point for the Magic Key version is $6.75 per item and for the regular priced one is $7.38.
I’ve also included notes in my post on the Disneyland Food & Wine menus which ones are the best use of your Sip & Savor Pass.
What does the Sip and Savor pass include?
Sip and savor passes give you eight coupons redeemable for select food and non-alcoholic drinks at the marketplace booths and on certain festival items at restaurants throughout the park.
There are items at restaurants throughout the park that you can use your Sip & Savor Pass on (and they’ll be noted in the tasting passport and on your Sip & Savor Pass). Just be aware that you need to make sure and get the tasting portion at some places like Paradise Garden Grill.
Using your Sip & Savor Pass also means that you’re unable to use mobile ordering, which is one of my favorite ways to save time. So keep that in mind when you’re purchasing your Sip & Savor.
Food & Wine Festival FAQs
The Disneyland food and wine festival requires attendees to have a paid park ticket AND a reservation (this is free but must be made in advance). Park ticket prices vary by date. Aside from this, the food and wine festival is technically free unless you want to buy food, drinks, or merchandise. The price of these things can vary from $5 per food item all the way up to $9. Alcohol can be more expensive and merchandise is sold in prices of all ranges.
Once you enter the park, you can check out any of the free festival experiences throughout the park (check your festival guide for times). If you want to enjoy the food and drink offerings, you’ll need to purchase the items that you want at each individual kiosk then pick up the food at that kiosk (or another kiosk if you pay in advance). Enjoy as much or as little of the food and drinks as you want and make sure to grab a Sip & Savor pass to save money!
Unfortunately Disneyland mobile ordering (one of my favorite Disneyland tips) is unavailable for the Food and Wine Festival kiosks. You have to stand in line just like everyone else. The best way to speed up your process is to pay for everything at one booth and just pick up at all of the other booths!
The only way to get a Magic Key discount on the DCA Food and Wine Festival food is to purchase a Magic Key Sip and Savor pass. The Magic Key version is $54 while the regular version is $59, so you’re essential saving $5 for eight items. You do not get any further Magic Key discounts on the other food.
Disneyland Food & Wine Festival Tips
These are just a couple of tricks we picked up during our visit to help make your festival visit even better!
Avoid Peak Hours
Try to avoid eating at the booths during peak eating hours (11:30-1PM) and (6PM-8PM). The lines seemed much longer during these times. The lines were shortest first thing in the morning when the booths opened around 10:30.
Also, if you see a short line at a booth you want to try, take advantage of it. You never know when that line will be long again!
And if you have flexibility, check out the festival on a weekday rather than the weekend. Not only are weekends at Disney California Adventure just busier in general but there are also special events happening only on the weekends, so they’re going to be busier festival wise as well.
One other thing to note – Disney California Adventure (and Disneyland) seemed to be busier after around 2PM when people got off school and locals (aka Magic Key Holders) came into the parks. If you want to avoid lines for food, I recommend doing as much as possible of the festival entertainment before those crowds hit the park, especially on Fridays.
Plan Ahead
You can buy everything you want for the festival at one kiosk then pick it up throughout the festival. So go through the passport (or this post) and plan out what you want. Find the shorter Order Here line you can and order everything at that booth so you only have to stand in the Order Here line once.
You’ll get one big receipt that you then can take to the Pick Up Here lines at each booth to pick up the food you’ve already paid for. It’s the best way to save time standing in lines!
I ordered 28 different items at once (I told you we ate it all) and they just crossed things off as I picked them up!
Just make sure you don’t order more than you actually want because the receipt with your orders is only good for the day you order.
Work together
If you’re visiting with multiple people and want to try food at multiple booths, split lines. As mentioned above, you’ll only need to stand in line to pay once but some of the pickup lines were pretty long too.
Have one person (or multiple people) stand in each pickup line then meet back up to try the food. This works best if you have 3-4 people so you can pass the receipt along without having to get out of line.
Share
Share items so you can try more without having to buy everything yourself. You can buy another one later if it’s that good you want your own!
If there’s a Magic Key holder in your group, take advantage of their ability to buy a less expensive Sip & Savor pass. Split the cost of the pass and share the food.
Drop it off
If you buy merchandise you don’t want to carry around, you can leave it at the package check at Elias & Co on Buena Vista for free. They can’t take food but were able to hold our other purchased merchandise.
Or if you want to be able to take it in and out, the lockers at the front right by the bathrooms and fruit stand were $7 for all day and hold a lot of stuff!
Ask about allergies
If someone in your group has allergies, check the back of the Food and Wine Festival tasting passport for a list of foods that work for common dietary lifestyles like gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, etc. I also highly recommend asking at the cashier about any allergens before you purchase any food.
While some of the food items can be customized for allergies like not putting whipped cream on top of a juice, it seems like most things are at least somewhat pre-assembled, which would make it harder to customize.
I can’t eat onions and found that a lot of the items had onions but in some cases, they were able to leave them off for me. It’s definitely worth asking!
But don’t worry, if you can’t eat all the food and wine festival food, here’s a list of the best Disneyland food to check out instead! There is something for everyone!
Don’t Skip the Restaurant Festival Options
Some of our personal festival favorites were speciality items offered at the restaurants for the Food and Wine Festival. Make sure to check out your tasting passport or my festival foodie guide so you don’t miss out on some of these sleeper items that you won’t find at the marketplaces!
One of the best things about these options is that you can use mobile ordering to make it quicker to get them!
More Disney Planning Tips & Tricks
If you’re planning a trip to Disneyland for the Food & Wine Festival, these might help too!
- Disneyland Halloween Food – the best Disneyland Halloween eats and treats available during the Halloween season!
- Oogie Boogie Bash – my review and tips for the Disneyland Oogie Boogie Bash that’ll be updated with details for this year’s upcoming party!
- Best Disneyland Food – while you may be enjoying Food & Wine food, don’t skip out on these tried and true favorites!
- Pixar Fest Food – the best of the best food to eat on Pixar Pier!
- Comfy shoes for Disney – these are the BEST travel shoes. I wear them every Disney trip and have no problems walking for miles and miles in them!
lisa says
California is one of the best places for tasting wine. Specially Napa Valley is one of the best place for drinking wine. He is also famous for producing wine. A great meal with wine an awesome combination. I really enjoy this kind of dinner with our family.
BritniV says
Thank You
Betsy Spadafora says
I prefer Disney World!
Edna Pendleton says
I have never been to Disneyland, but love Disney World..