West Coast Disney foodie fans always look forward to the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival's return. In 2024, the Food and Wine Festival kicked off Friday, March 1 and runs through Monday, April 22. Reservations opened in mid-January for special tasting seminars and winemaker receptions. This year, there are more than 80 new California-inspired items, so we can't wait to try out as many as we can this year. And of course, we love our returning favorites too!
As an epicurean amphibian, I always look forward to attending the West Coast version of the popular EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival. If you're a foodie like me, you definitely don't want to miss out on all of the yummy cuisines. But everyone can bask in the beautiful springtime scenery at the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival! The pink Tabebuia trees are in bloom (well, they are getting a late start in 2024), and all of the colorful flowers make Disneyland Resort especially beautiful this time of year. This festival is included with regular park admission (though some offerings are an additional charge and require reservations).
The biggest thing to know this year is that you need to make a theme park reservation to visit. If park hopping, you can choose Disney California Adventure as your starting park. If you select Disneyland as your starting park, you can hop to California Adventure at 11 a.m. (or later), just in time to start enjoying items from the festival booths.
A lot is hoppening at Disneyland Resort this spring, so you may want to expand your visit by an extra day or two to do it all! The Pixar Place Hotel is officially open as of Jan. 30, 2024. For Star Wars fans, the Season of the Force takes place at Disneyland Park April 5 through June 2, 2024. And just after the Food and Wine Festival ends, Pixar Fest returns to Disneyland Resort April 26, through Aug. 4, 2024! It brings a new daytime parade to Disney California Adventure and new enhancements to the returning Together Forever fireworks at Disneyland Park. Plus, Disneyland Park is hosting four themed After Dark parties on select nights from January to June!
What's Included at Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival
Let's hop to it and go over what we know so far about the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival.
We have uplifting news for 2024! Soarin' Over California is back for a limited time during the festival. It replaces Soarin' Around the World during the festival each year. Mmmmm ... I can still smell the orange groves just thinking about it!
Each Food and Wine Festival brings new menus and events. You'll find plenty of fun for the whole family. We love hopping about the festival and using up our Sip and Savor Passes while trying all the yummy food and drinks. There are culinary demonstrations with local and celebrity chefs, as well as special signature events. Here’s the scoop on when, where and how to attend one of these seminars, tastings or free experiences.
Free Experiences & Festival Kiosks (Included with Disney Park Pass Reservation & Admission)
- Access to festival marketplace kiosks and restaurant menu items (though food and drinks are an additional charge)
- Culinary demonstrations (Saturdays and Sundays usually at 3:30 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.)
- Family-friendly cooking demonstrations
- New! "Confection Purrfection with the SuperKitties" (Hands-on cupcake decorating activity and show for ages 3-11)
- Character experiences such as Chef Goofy and Jammin' Chefs
- Musical entertainment
- Crafts and special activity zones
- An expanded menu of cocktails, craft brews, savory snacks and more at Sonoma Terrace hosted by CORKCICLE (additional fee for food and beverage, but look for a free photo-op!)
Additional Reservations Needed
- Signature events, such as Carthay Circle Winemaker Receptions, Disneyland Hotel Food and Wine Experiences, Trader Sam's Mixology and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Food and Wine Experiences
- Beverage education & tasting seminars for beer, wine and mixology
You can buy 2024 tickets at the events page. Purchase as soon as possible in 2024, as some dates can fill up quickly.
When you visit Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival, be sure to grab a Tasting Passport to help you find all of the foods and events you'd like to get your fill of. The Tasting Passport has a map of the Marketplaces, photos of foods and an index that breaks up the food into categories such as vegetarian or plant-based, tadpole-friendly and more. We're always looking out for our friends with special dietary needs. The Festival Guide covers entertainment, such as demonstrations, music and shows too! All this information is in the Disneyland app.
Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival Marketplace Kiosks
The Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival offers small plates of special California-inspired menu items and beverages at the Festival Marketplaces and various Disney California Adventure quick-service and table-service restaurants in the park. Take a culinary trip through the Golden State without ever leaving the park! (You may find some special festival items in Downtown Disney this year.) Festival Marketplace kiosks are usually open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily during the festival.
Sip and Savor Pass
You’ll definitely want to leap for a Sip and Savor Pass when attending this festival! This year, you can choose from two kinds of Sip and Savor Passes: the green one is good for four tastings of food or nonalcoholic beverages ($31) and the red one is good for eight tasting portions ($61, but $56 for Magic Key holders). It's good at festival booths and some participating restaurants. You can pick up a Sip and Savor Pass at any food booth or merchandise location, as well as a few other locations in California Adventure. The passes no longer have tabs. Instead, you scan them at the register and type in the code on the back.
Because most tastes run about $8 to $10 (some desserts or treats are about $7), you’ll save money if you use it for items that are in the higher price range. Two people can share one pass, and if you go through it too quickly, get another! The pass is good for items at the Festival Marketplaces and for tasting-size portions (or for nonalcoholic beverages) at participating restaurants. You cannot mobile order using the Sip and Savor at the restaurants though. We are toadally drooling just thinking about all the foods we tried! Some standout items are the cheeseburger bao, the pork belly and the pulled pork mac and cheese. Of the plant-based options, the beef stroganoff is our top pick.
Check out our hopful downloadable menus.
Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival Booths for 2024
The menus are fun and creative. There are so many items that we moved the menus to a separate post with hopful downloadable menus. The Festival Marketplace booths each offer tasty tidbits and libations. The kiosks have exciting signs that light up at night (some even move)! Some booths have colorful art on the side, making excellent photo opportunities and backdrops for your most Insta-worthy eats. Be sure to check them out!
- Nuts About Cheese
- California Craft Brews
- Cluck-a-Doodle-Moo
- D•Lish
- Garlic Kissed
- Golden Dreams
- Earth Eats
- LA Style
- Peppers Cali-ente
- Uncork California
Save some room after you eat your way through the festival booths because, after you pass by the Golden Zephyr, you’ll find yourself in the Paradise Garden Grill Beer Garden area, which offers much more than just beer. (I usually feel a lot like a Zephyr by this point.) Enjoy a cold one from California and beyond at the Paradise Garden Grill Beer Garden!
Food and Wine Dishes at Disney California Adventure Restaurants
Aside from the Paradise Garden Grill, which always serves up special foods during the festival, many other eateries in Disney California Adventure have created special treats and drinks for the festival this year.
Be sure to ask about special menu items when dining in Downtown Disney, too!
The following locations offer some tasting portions and special beverages on the Sip and Savor Pass in 2024. (Keep in mind that you cannot use the Sip and Savor Pass if you use the Mobile Order service.):
- Cappuccino Cart — Chocolate-espresso loaf, honeydew milk tea
- Cocina Cucamonga — Strawberry horchata
- Studio Catering Co. — Chicken lollipop
- Outdoor Vending Carts — Loaded carnitas pretzel bites
- Paradise Garden Grill (tasting portions) — Tacos Gobernandor, pistachio cheesecake
- Smokejumper's Grill — Pastrami fries
- Willie’s Churros — Butterscotch banana churro
- Churros at Hollywood Land — Cannoli churro
- Clarabelle's Hand-Scooped Ice Cream — Butter cake a la mode
Table-Service Restaurants with Food and Wine Dishes in 2024 (not on the Sip and Savor Pass):
- Lamplight Lounge
Downtown Disney
Keep an eye out for tasty offerings from Friends of the Festival at Downtown Disney restaurants in 2024. These are not on the Sip and Savor Pass:
- Ballast Point Brewing Co.
- Naples Ristorante e Bar
- Splitsville Luxury Lanes
- Salt & Straw
- Black Tap Craft Burgers & Shakes
- Jazz Kitchen Coastal Grill & Patio
Free Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival Culinary Demonstrations
You can take cooking lessons and gather insider tips for creating new recipes from both Disney-based and visiting chefs. Unfrogtunately, there are no samples at these free demonstrations. You can generally find culinary demonstrations at the Backlot Stage in Hollywood Land on select weekend dates at various times in the afternoon (the demonstrations at the Backlot Stage usually start at 3:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.) Search for "Culinary Demonstrations" in the Disneyland app to see the scheduled chef lineup for the entire festival, or visit the Disneyland website. (We are still waiting on the exact 2024 lineup.) In the past, we have also hopped by the stage when no demonstrations were scheduled and still caught one in action, so check it out just in case. Grab some food from a nearby booth and take a seat to enjoy your food, learn how to prepare some recipes and even hear some stories.
These are the 2024 Culinary Demonstrations with Disney chefs (Saturday and Sunday):
- 3:30 p.m. Culinary Demonstrations with Friends of the Festival
Enjoy mini cooking and educational farm-to-table presentations by festival sponsors involved in growing the foods at the festival. - 5:00 p.m. Culinary Demonstrations with Disney Chefs
Join the Disney Chefs for a cooking demo that focuses on their favorite Disneyland Resort dishes and treats. - 6:00 p.m. Culinary Demonstrations with Visiting Chefs
Attend an outdoor cooking exhibition with sizzling excitement!
Samples are not given at these free demonstrations.
Free Entertainment and Experiences for the Whole Family
Aside from culinary demonstrations and the return of Soarin' Over California, here are some more free experiences the whole family can enjoy.
See the Jammin' Chefs
The Jammin’ Chefs show is a highlight for us at the California Adventure Food and Wine Festival (Chip, Dale, hooray!). Be sure to hop over to see them. Spoiler alert: Daisy Duck and Clarabelle Cow join in the fun! You can usually find them at the obelisk at Paradise Gardens, near The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure. Add a cute musical interlude to your dining and drinking plans by watching this spectacular show! The Jammin' Chefs show — featuring Chip 'n' Dale — is a fun show of drumming, music and dancing (but no kid interactions this year). The Jammin' Chefs usually appear from 10:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., but times are subject to change as the festival continues. Check the Disneyland app for the most up-to-date showtimes.
Meet Chef Goofy
You can meet Chef Goofy in the Hollywood Backlot!
New! Confection Purrfection with the SuperKitties
Tadpoles and froglets ages 3 to 11 will enjoy a FREE hands-on cupcake-making experience that allows them to express their creativity during a show. Plus, Minnie Mouse joins in on the fun! If you flip for our froggy puns, just wait for the purrfect kitty puns in this adorable show. Paws out, claws out! Participants can usually sign up about 30 minutes before each showtime. However, we recommend signing up for the first show, as these spaces go quickly. Space is limited. Make sure your tadpole is comfortable leaving your side for a bit. Kids can take their creations home! Times vary each day, with more shows during the week than on weekends.
Double-check the entertainment guide on the Disneyland app for your visit. Our tip is to aim for the first show as demand can build later in the day.
Cook Up Some Crafts
You need a chef hat to look like a pro while you stir up some fun. Your tadpoles can color their own free chef hat (or placemat with games) and decorate them with food stickers. You can find this craft station to the left of the stage in Hollywood Land.
Enjoy Musical Entertainment
Be sure to check the entertainment calendar for live festival music. Talented bands and musicians take to the Palisades Stage at Paradise Park (in front of the water), providing some groovy beats to enjoy while dining. In the afternoons, you can also find some smaller musical entertainment at the Paradise Garden Bandstand near Paradise Garden Grill.
Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival Seminars and Tastings
The 2024 Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival offers many opportunities for exclusive and exquisite culinary adventures. There are several seminars, receptions and tastings that you can reserve if you are 21 and up. Each course has a fee in addition to the cost of park admission for the day. (You do not need a theme park ticket for events at hotels.) Tickets went on sale in early January for 2024 events!
You can sign up for hotel-themed events:
- Trader Sam’s Mixology Seminars - Learn how to make a classic tiki libation and sample tray-passed hor d'oeuvres around the outdoor fireplace. Take home a souvenir tiki mug. Tickets cost $159 per person, plus tax and gratuities. Events are at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Mondays, March 11, 25, April 8 and 22, 2024.
- Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Food and Wine Experience (at Hearthstone Lounge) - Meet the chefs, sommeliers and art historians from Grand Californian, as you sip Silverado Trails' wines paired with crafted plates, featuring selections and experts from Caymus, ZD, Duckhorn, Laurent-Perrier, Heitz Cellar, Darioush, Robert Mondavi, Black Stallion, Clos Du Val, Stag's Leap, EnRoute, Far Niente and Nickel & Nickel. Tickets cost $250 per person, plus tax and gratuities. The event is Friday, April 19, 2024, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- New! A Gastronomic Journey at Napa Rose - This evening begins with a reception featuring sparkling wine, passed hors d'oeuvres and live jazz music. The main event is a group-seated, 5-course tasting menu accompanied by expertly curated wine pairings from Peter Michael Winery. Napa Rose wine director, Patrick Kirchen, teams up with winemaker Robert Fiore to share the stories of each wine directly with guests. It takes place Thursday, April 11, 2024, from 5:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Napa Rose. Tickets cost $350 per person (plus tax and gratuities). This event is completely sold out for 2024.
Enjoy Beer, Wine and Mixology Seminars
Do you have a thirst for knowledge on wine, beer or spirits? You can quench it at one of these 45-minute seminars at Sonoma Terrace. The price includes sample tastings. You must reserve in advance through the online reservation system. You can click on each date to get more information when you reserve.
Sign up for:
You need a valid theme park ticket and reservation to attend.
Reserve a Winemaker’s Reception at Carthay Circle Restaurant
This popular event returns in 2024 with three Friday nights of gourmet, wine-focused pairings with hors-d'oeuvres. The Winemaker Reception ($175 per person plus tax and gratuity) has no cancellations or exchanges. Events take place from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with check-in beginning 15 minutes before it begins. The dates in 2024 are:
- March 15, 2024, with Wine Ambassador Jared Gutierrez, Baja Wine
- March 29, 2024, with Tony Lombardi, Lombardi Wines
- April 12, 2024, with Nat Komes, Flora Springs Napa Valley Family Estate
Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival Merchandise
You may notice that the Avocado Time food booth is gone, but it lives on in the merchandise (and in a photo-op).
Hold onto your ears! There is new headwear, apparel, home decor, kitchen gadgets and more. We had to have the new canvas Loungefly bag! There are also adorable festival-themed ears and spirit jerseys! You can find them (and more) in front of The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure, with a smaller selection of apparel sold across the entrance to Cars Land. Toadally cute pins are also available for those of you frogs who love to collect!
The Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival is just one of many events hoppening at the Disneyland Resort. Will you be hopping in for this festive celebration? Have you attended in the past? Let us know in the comments below!
Related: Full Schedule of Disneyland Events
Related: The Full List of Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival 2024 Menus
Hoppy planning!
