EPCOT Food & Wine Festival 2026: What I'm Hoping Comes Back

The EPCOT Food & Wine Festival 2026 menu still isn't fully out — so let's speculate

So instead of pretending I can rank a menu that doesn't exist yet, I did the more honest thing: I made a tier list of what I'm personally hoping shows back up on the 2026 lineup, based on what's already confirmed and what I (and a lot of other regulars) loved last year. Think of this less as "official rankings" and more as my wishlist, with some honest opinions on what's actually worth the calories mixed in.

What's actually confirmed so far

Before the wishlist — the facts. Disney has confirmed exactly three returning dishes for 2026: the street corn-style chicken dumplings at Gyozas of the Galaxy, the bushberry-spiced shrimp skewer at the Australia booth, and the Kirschwasser Torte at The Alps. That's it, officially, as of now. Everything below is either "highly likely to return" based on how consistent this festival usually is, or straight-up hopeful thinking on my part.

The other thing worth mentioning: this year brings a new addition called "Cheers to Cheese!", an interactive exhibit opening in CommuniCore Hall on September 18 that's supposed to dig into the history and culture of cheese-making. It's not a food booth, but it's the kind of deeper, learn-something-while-you-eat addition that a lot of longtime fans have been wanting back since the old culinary demos got phased out after 2019.

My tier list: what I'm hoping makes the cut in 2026

S-Tier — I will be genuinely upset if these don't return

• Street Corn-style Dumplings (Gyozas of the Galaxy)
• Bushberry-spiced Shrimp Skewer (Australia)
• Kirschwasser Torte (The Alps)
• Cast Iron-seared River Trout (Bramblewood Bites)

The first three are officially confirmed for 2026, so there's basically nothing to worry about there. The trout is the one I'm holding my breath over — it got called the best single item of the whole festival by more than one food blog last year, pumpkin purée, brussels sprout slaw, maple glaze, the works. If Bramblewood Bites swaps it out for something else, I'll be a little heartbroken.

A-Tier — I'd be disappointed but not devastated

• Smoked Duck Bao Bun (China)
• Paella Caldoso (Spain)
• Griddled Cheese (Greece)
• Melon Limeade (Greece)

The smoked duck bao bun at China was one of the most talked-about new items last year, and I really hope it sticks around long enough to become a proper staple. Same goes for the paella at Spain — it's the kind of dish that built a loyal following over multiple seasons, so the odds feel decent. The griddled cheese at Greece is probably my most confident "it's coming back" prediction on this whole list; it's consistently called one of the best value items in the park, especially paired with the Melon Limeade, which a lot of regulars consider the unofficial best combo of the festival.

B-Tier — nice if they're back, no big deal if not

• Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup (Canada)
• Korean BBQ Wings (Brew-Wing Lab)
• Onion Cake / Zwiebelkuchen (Germany)

Canada's cheddar soup and pretzel roll is more of a yearly ritual than a must-have — I'll eat it either way, confirmed or not. Korean BBQ wings are fun and photogenic, worth trying once, but I wouldn't lose sleep over their absence. Same with Germany's onion cake — solid, shareable, replaceable.

C-Tier — honestly wouldn't mind if these got swapped out

• Italy Booth lineup (overall)
• Bellini Spritz (Italy)

I'll say this gently: the Italy booth's lineup has landed near the bottom of a lot of festival regulars' rankings for several years running, and the Bellini Spritz in particular tends to show up on "most disappointing drink" lists. That's just my read — if you love it, genuinely no judgment, everyone's palate is different. But if the 2026 refresh brought something new to that booth, I don't think many people would complain.

What I'm most excited to find out about

Honestly, beyond the confirmed dishes, I'm most curious whether the Cheers to Cheese exhibit ends up feeling like a real return to the festival's more educational roots, or whether it stays a one-off add-on. A lot of the old-timers I follow online have been asking for the culinary seminars and beverage tastings to come back for years now, and this feels like the first real signal in a while that Disney's at least testing the waters again.

One small confession

Once I had my wishlist tiers sorted out in my head, I wanted to actually see them laid out instead of just scrolling a bullet list — so I dropped my picks into a food tier list template I found online, dragged everything into S through D rows, relabeled the tiers, and exported the whole thing as a PNG for my group chat. Took about five minutes. If you're the type who'd rather argue about this stuff with a picture than a paragraph, that food tier maker is a pretty painless way to do it.

So — what are you hoping comes back?

That's my wishlist, and I know it's going to look different from person to person depending on which booths you gravitate toward each year. Are you hoping the trout stays, or do you have a totally different sleeper favorite you're rooting for? Drop your own predictions in the comments — I'll check back in once Disney actually drops the real 2026 menu and see how close any of us got.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Has Disney announced the full EPCOT Food & Wine Festival 2026 menu yet? A: Not yet. As of now, Disney has only officially confirmed three returning dishes — the street corn-style dumplings at Gyozas of the Galaxy, the shrimp skewer at Australia, and the Kirschwasser Torte at The Alps. The full Global Marketplace lineup usually gets confirmed closer to the festival's opening in late August.

Q2: Is the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival worth going to before the full menu is announced? A: Many longtime fans still plan trips around it, since the festival's booth lineup tends to stay fairly consistent year to year, and the Global Marketplaces plus the free Eat to the Beat concerts are included with regular EPCOT admission either way.

Q3: Which EPCOT Food & Wine booth is most likely to have the best food in 2026? A: There's no guaranteed answer since the menu isn't final, but Canada, France, and Greece have consistently ranked near the top of fan surveys for several years running, so they're a safe bet if history repeats itself.

Q4: Do I need a separate ticket for the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival? A: No — the festival is included with standard EPCOT park admission. You only pay separately for individual food and drink items, festival merchandise, and optional add-ons like reserved concert seating packages.

Q5: Is the food tier list maker free to use? A: The food template on TierMakerPro is free to open directly in the browser — you drag items into tiers, rename rows, add your own images if you want, and export the finished ranking as a PNG.

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Menu's still TBD, but the wishlist stands. Once Disney actually drops the real 2026 lineup, I'll be back to see how many of these predictions held up — and probably to make a very different tier list.

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