Happy Monday everyone! I got back from my birthday Disneyland trip last Monday (technically Tuesday morning) so it’s the perfect time to start sharing little bits and pieces from the trip. It’s weird because normally I write my blog posts on my laptop but today I’m typing it up on my iMac so it’s a little different. I don’t use my iMac much so I’m trying to give it a little more attention. 

Any who, you all know that I love a good Epcot festival. The Festival of the Arts, the Flower and Garden Festival, the Festival of the Holidays and, of course, the Food and Wine Festival. But oddly enough, I’ve never gotten to experience a festival at DCA. So I was super excited when I learned that my birthday trip was going to fall during the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival.

Here’s a little mini recap of the 2022 Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival:

Whether you’re a Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival newbie (like I was) or attend the festival yearly, I highly recommend getting a Sip and Savor Pass. The Sip and Savor pass is $57 (I am a Disney Visa cardholder so I got a slight discount) and gives you 8 removable taps that you can trade in for different food offerings. 

One huge difference about the Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival is how you get your food. Unlike at the Epcot festivals where you order/pick up from each booth, at DCA you can order your food from any booth and then you go pick them up whenever you’re ready from their respective booth. 

So you could order all your food at 11am and pay for it all at one booth and then pick the food up throughout the day. It was a very interesting concept. 

The first thing I tried at the DCA Food & Wine Festival was the SNICKERS Caramel-Peanut Milk Chocolate Mickey Macaron. This was available at the Nuts About Cheese booth. 10/10 would recommend!

Just look at that beauty! My only warning would be to make sure to eat it quickly because it does start to melt. Also this is perfect for sharing (you will not be able to finish it on your own!).

Up next was the French Onion Grilled Beef Tenderloin Slider. This was a grilled beef tenderloin topped with a Gruyère cheese sauce and caramelized onions served on an onion roll. I actually really enjoyed the tenderloin, but the sauce was a bit much for me. I ended up scraping most of the sauce off. 

The only drink I tried from the Food & Wine Festival was the Blackberry-Lavender Lemonade. This yummy drink contains blackberry, pineapple juice, lavender syrup, and lemon juice and is non-alcoholic. It was the perfect blend of sweet yet tart.

I’m not even going to bury the lead, the Ranch Wings with hot sauce drizzle were my FAVORITE from the festival. I’m the type of person who sort of picks at chicken wings. But with these?!! I had nothing but BONES left. In fact, these were so good I got them several times!

When I ordered them a second time it was on my actual birthday so I was wearing my birthday ears and birthday button. The girl running the booth asked “do you prefer drums or flats?.” To which I said “flats” (because flats are the best, sorry not sorry). And she said “because it’s your birthday” and handed me all flats! 

The wings, lemonade and slider were all from the same booth: Cluck-A-Doodle-Moo. So I’m sure it’s clear which booth I think was the best!

The final thing I got from the Food & Wine was from the D-Lish booth. I tried the Black & Tan Beef Potato Puffs. Fun fact: I love potatoes. I love mashed potatoes, fries, sweet potatoes, tater tots, baked potato, etc. Basically if its a potato, I love it! This dish sounds good on paper but for some reason it felt like something was missing. 

I think the beef was just a but much. I would have enjoyed it more if there was less beef or maybe if it was cooked in a different broth/sauce. It wasn’t bad but I wouldn’t get it again.

Overall I really enjoyed the festival and all the foods I got to try. Stay tuned because I have a few more Disneyland/DCA posts coming soon!