It’s really happening! The EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival has officially kicked off!

We’re LIVE at the festival and eating ALL the food. Seriously, ALL of it! So let’s head on over to the Magnolia Terrace booth at the American Adventure pavilion and check out all the NEW eats that are available this year!

Menu

The menu here is inspired by food from the Gulf region. Three of the four food items here are new and we can’t wait to dig into the Muffuletta Panini, Crawfish Pie, and Bananas Foster Bread Pudding (yes, we’re wiping some drool off as we write this). There’s also a good selection of beers here, including a Beer Flight.

Now that we’ve taken a look at the menu, let’s eat some food!

Eats

First up, we grabbed the Muffuletta Panini with ham, salami, mortadella, provolone, and Swiss with olive salad for $6. Okay, you just CAN’T go wrong with a muffuletta, but how does this one compare? Well, we’re going to be honest. We took a bite of this and were immediately not big fans. It’s not a BAD sandwich, but it’s VERY HEAVY on the olive salad.

If you love olive salad, that might not be such a deal breaker. We’ll warn you, too, it’s kind of spicy! The bread had a nice crunch to it. There was also a good cheese-to-meat ratio.

Next, we’re trying the Crawfish Pie for $6.75, which is also new this year. Crawfish is SO Gulf region, but did this deliver? Well, now we just feel like we’ve gone down to New Orleans because this dish ALSO brought some spice. The crawfish had a bit of a kick to it. The bread was also flaky and crunchy. We might warn you that if you’re used to eating crawfish, this might not be the BEST you’ve ever had. But if you’ve got a craving and you’re at Disney, get the Crawfish Pie.

Did we take an opportunity to grab the Spicy Chicken Gumbo with Andouille sausage and BEN’S ORIGINAL Long Grain & Wild Rice for $6.25 again this year? YES, we did! We loved this gumbo last year and thought it would make Princess Tiana proud! So how is it this year?

Well, this gumbo delivered AGAIN. It’s not SUPER spicy but still might have a bit too much heat for some people. The chicken is super soft, fiery, and full-bodied. The rice is chewy. We LOVE this gumbo and were surprised that it’s been consistently good year after year. We will say this — ALL this food is VERY heavy for a hot Florida day, but that can’t be helped.

Finally, the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding is new this year! Just the idea of bananas fosters flavors with bread pudding is giving us happy thoughts. It’s super soft and melts in the mouth. It’s also VERY thick (again, consider that if it’s a hot day out). We got more of the brown sugar and cinnamon flavors than the banana. But we’ll say that IT IS DELICIOUS.

Now on to the drinks!

Drinks

In terms of drinks on this menu, we got the Beer Flight for $10. Why just try one beer when you can try three? The Parish Brewing Co. Ghost in the Machine Double IPA is the most approachable of the three beers with more floral and wine-like tastes. It’s also the driest of the three. The Wicked Weed Brewing Day Light American Light Ale is a lot brighter and lighter, though. This year’s beer choices also include a new beer, the Central 28 Beer Co. Pretty Things Ale. We found this really fresh on its first impression, but it’s got a bitter aftertaste that’s almost briny, but also kind of fruity.

The Beer Flight is a great way to try all the beers available at this booth.

OVERALL

Overall, this booth is a taste of Louisiana right in EPCOT but be warned: the dishes here do BRING THE HEAT. This is going to be a little TOO spicy for some guests. It’s also very HEAVY food and we think it might be best to visit this booth when the weather is a little cooler. Overall, though, the food here SLAPPED, and we will look forward to eating that gumbo over and over throughout the festival.

Hopping over to the American Adventure Pavilion, we’ve got Magnolia Terrace! Here, you can find the Muffuletta Panini, the NEW Crawfish Pie, Spicy Chicken Gumbo, and the NEW dessert – Bananas Foster Bread Pudding!

Bonus: Beer flight! pic.twitter.com/gPBvDxkaQd

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) March 1, 2023

That’s it for this booth, but we’re making our way ALL around the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival. Be sure to stay tuned to DFB for more reviews!

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Flower & Garden Festival!

Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2023 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:

• Learn about the Garden Rocks Concert Series and Dining Packages
• Check out ALL of the 2023 Flower and Garden Booth Menus
• See what eats you’ll need to try to get a PRIZE at the Festival!

And don’t forget to pick up our 2023 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival e-book! See more details about the book below.

What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments!