The 2024 EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival is just around the corner in Disney World (we think), and there is a LOT to prepare for! Disney hasn’t announced the dates for the 2024 Food & Wine Festival yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give you an idea of what to expect.

First off, you’re going to want to take a look at those food booth menus when they’re released so you can map out which items you want to grab while in the parks. You should also probably check out the lineup for the Eat to the Beat Concert Series to see which artist will be performing while you’re at the festival, or even to schedule your trip around a certain artist! We’re getting you ready with our guidebook to the festival, our free printable for all of the food booths, and some sound advice, but there is one major thing we need to talk about — BUDGET! So, let’s break down what an actual realistic budget looks like for EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival.

Park Tickets

To go to the festival, you gotta buy a ticket to get into EPCOT — duh! The festival is accessible to everyone who has admission into the park, so there’s no paying extra to attend or anything like that. Now, park ticket prices vary on when you visit, with busier times typically being more expensive.

There are a lot of dates to look at since the festival is about 4 months long! Keep in mind that weekend tickets are usually more expensive than weekday tickets, so that could affect your budget when you’re planning.

In 2023, the majority of them were in August and September, with October and November prices being higher. Throughout the 4 months, ticket prices for a single day, single park admission ranged from $109-$149 for each ticket. But, prices are a bit higher for 2024. In 2024, the starting prices range from $109 to $164.

When you’re planning, keep in mind that this cost will change according to when you visit the festival, so make sure to look at the dates you want to go to get an accurate estimate for your budget!

EPCOT Food and Wine Festival 101

Food

Now for the main event: FOOD! Well, it’s the main event for us, at least. And, it’s typically the thing you’re going to spend the most money on at the festival, unless you’re buying a BUNCH of merchandise (you do you!). At Food and Wine, like the other EPCOT Festivals, there are food booths with different themes scattered around the park.

Food items tend to cost between $4.50-$12, and drinks tend to cost between $5-$9 (with some outliers). So, the average cost for each food or drink item at the festival is around $7-8. These are almost all small plates or portions, so don’t expect a full-sized steak to come out on a plate. But, that’s a good thing in this case, because it means you get to try more things! And, it won’t be a total loss if you end up absolutely hating something.

Realistically, you probably won’t be able to get something from every single booth, just because that is a lot of eating and/or drinking! You could probably do it if you really pushed yourself and shared items with other people. And, if you did do this, you would spend around $175 using the average price of the items, and that’s only if you stick to one thing at each booth.

But, we know a lot of people only have so much stomach space and time while in the parks, so realistically, let’s you get 2 items and a drink at 3 booths, and you can expect to spend about $70 per person. You could round it up to $100 per person to give you a buffer for choosing a more expensive drink, flight, or food item. Or some extra coin in case you want more than 2 items at a particular booth.

But remember, you can also share items with people in your group to cut costs and to try more things. It all depends on how hungry you are!

If you want to make SURE you stay on budget while you’re at the Food and Wine Festival, you can use one of our favorite tricks — get a gift card! No, not like a gift card that someone else gives you (although that would definitely help with costs!), but one that you pay for yourself, loading the exact amount of money you want to spend onto it, that way, you can’t go over budget!

Now, we’re not going to include this in the realistic budget, but if you want to get an Eat to the Beat Dining Package while you’re at the festival, remember that costs extra cash! You can take a look at the pricing right here.

Click here to see our 3 budget plans for EPCOT festivals!

Merchandise

Let’s talk about merchandise. This definitely isn’t a necessity at the festival, but we’re sure a lot of you will want some kind of keepsake from Food and Wine to take home with you! So, if you do want some merch from the festival, make sure to leave some wiggle room in your budget for it.

Keep in mind that Disney merchandise is usually more expensive than the same kinds of items you would find in stores at home (wouldn’t it be great if there were Target prices at Disney, though?!). There are a LOT of different items that Disney releases for the festival, so we’re just going to talk about some of the more popular things.

Spirit Jerseys at Disney World are usually between $70 to $80, while regular short-sleeved T-shirts are between $30 to $40. Cups like Tervis Tumblers or Corkcicle items run between $25-$35. And, Minnie and Mickey ears can usually be found between $30-$40.

So, let’s say you get 2 reasonably priced merchandise items while you’re at the festival. Including your food budget, this will probably put you around $200 total for the day, plus the cost of your park ticket. Now, this does NOT mean that you’re for sure going to spend $200 for each person while you’re at the festival — it completely depends on how much you eat, drink, share, and buy. Everyone will have different preferences, which will add up to different costs.

But, this should help you get a general idea of what eating a decent amount of items and buying some merch will look like during the festival!

Want to prepare even more for EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival? We’ve got you! You can check out our full guide to the festival while we wait for Disney to make more announcements about what’s in store for 2024!

We’ll be checking out EVERYTHING at the festival, from the food booths to the entertainment, so stay tuned to DFB for MORE coverage of the 2023 EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival!

Will you be going to EPCOT’s Food and Wine Festival this year? Tell us in the comments!