The 2024 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is underway, which means it’s time to eat our way around World Showcase (and beyond). After recovering from the spiciest dish we’ve ever experienced at Walt Disney World with the Carolina Reaper Pepper Curry Wings at the Brew-Wing booth, we’re headed toward another questionable decision in The American Adventure to (try to) eat four all-new hot dogs. Let’s jump into our Flavors of America review from the 2024 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival!
Flavors of America Review | 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival
All the way back in The American Adventure, at the far side of World Showcase, you’ll find the Flavors of America Global Marketplace. The Flavors of America booth returns from its 2023 debut, and it has an all-new lineup of food in the form of four hot dogs and some chocolate cake!
New York-style Hot Dog | $6.75
All Beef Hot Dog with sauerkraut, onion-tomato sauce, and spicy mustard in a brioche bun
If the photos and descriptions don’t sell you on ordering the hot dogs, I’m not sure what I could write that would. I think each of these are a good buy, even though I wish the “Southwest-style” dog stayed under the $7 mark, but that one is wrapped in bacon.
Back to the “New York-style” hot dog currently sitting in front of us. I’m personally not a huge fan of sauerkraut, but there is plenty of it should that be your style. In fact, there isn’t a single hot dog that does anything in moderation, just like the country they’re representing.
Chicago-style Hot Dog | $6.75
All Beef Hot Dog with tomato, dill pickle, pickled sport pepper, diced onions, yellow mustard, and Chicago green relish in a poppy seed bun
The Chicago-style hot dog is more in my wheelhouse. It’s hard to believe, but I do venture off-property on occasion and have a local spot where I get to eat before the camera does. My go-to menu item at this particular spot is the Chicago-style hot dogs, and EPCOT’s version hits all the right notes.
One of the recurring themes of each of these hot dogs is that they’re loaded up with noticeably fresh ingredients – and the Chicago-style dog doesn’t disappoint in that category. Every bite contained fresh ingredients, paired with a hot dog that had the slightest bit of crunch to the exterior. There’s even a bit of seasoning on the diced onions – showing a bit more care than you’d probably expect from a hot dog kiosk and certainly more care than you’d expect from a seasonal Food & Wine kiosk. Well done!
Carolina-style Hot Dog | $6.75
All Beef Hot Dog with chili, coleslaw, and yellow mustard in a brioche bun
Did I mention that you should probably sit down while enjoying these hot dogs? They’re not exactly plain grab-and-go Casey’s Corner hot dogs that you attempt to scarf down before the spotlights illuminate Cinderella Castle and the opening notes of “Happily Ever After” ring down Main Street USA. Instead, we found a table at the nearby Regal Eagle Smokehouse to approach eating these hot dogs in a more civilized manner.
With this “Carolina-style” hot dog, you’ll find that the chili is much better than average and that the coleslaw plays nicely with the mustard to try and elevate the experience a bit. I’ve had some really bad chili dogs at Walt Disney World, but this might be the best effort I’ve seen so far.
Southwest-style Hot Dog | $7.25
All Beef Hot Dog wrapped in bacon with warm pinto beans, tomatoes, jalapeños, avocado crema, and queso fresco in a French roll
A hot dog wrapped in bacon, need I say more? Actually, if you’ve made it this far in the review, I’ll reward you a bit by commenting on the actual hot dog itself – something I’ve somehow managed to neglect up until this moment.
I hope you’re reading this on a big screen to see some of the details going on here. The hot dog is wonderfully cooked, with a slight char consistent across all four of the hot dogs – regardless of style. This meant that even if you ended up hating the ingredients on any of the hot dogs (you won’t), you’ll still have an exceptional 5-6 bite hot dog for roughly $7.
Freshly-baked Chocolate Pudding Cake | $5.00
The Flavors of America booth was our final booth of the day, which meant that some of the hot dogs ended up in to-go boxes from Regal Eagle Smokehouse (pro tip!), but the one dish that was finished at the table was the delicious Chocolate Pudding Cake with bourbon caramel. It was exceptionally rich and there was plenty of caramel to go around.
Fans of the Festival will be happy to hear that while some of the booths from previous years such as Kenya and Ireland haven’t returned this year, some of the dishes have been scattered around the remaining booths for you to find. In this case, the Chocolate Pudding Cake is America’s spin on the Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake from Ireland in years past.
Flavors of America Beverages:
- Brewery Ommegang Farm Fresh Ale conditioned on Wildflower Honey | $5.75/$9.75 (6oz/12oz) (New)
- Goose Island Beer Co. Hazy Beer Hug Hazy IPA | $5.75/$9.75 (6oz/12oz) (New)
- Wicked Weed Fest Bier | $5.75/$9.75 (6oz/12oz) (New)
- Beer Flight | $10.25
It’s actually a bit of a shame that Disney doesn’t offer an Eat to the Beat dining package if you purchase the full house at the Flavors of America booth. If they did, we’d skip the Regal Eagle Smokehouse dining package quite happily. If you’re a fan of hot dogs, you really can’t go wrong with anything at the Flavors of America booth this year. If you’re not a fan of hot dogs, there’s no way you should’ve made it this far into the review, but the chocolate cake is pretty good.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
