Preview of the 2019 Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic

Hi everyone!

We were invited to a preview of the 10th annual Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic, which will be held on Friday, November 8th and Saturday, November 9th, 2019 from 5:30pm – 9:00pm. We have attended the event most years, and what I really like about the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic is that it keeps evolving while remaining a showcase for the restaurants of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. In 2019, the event will include 28 food booths and 69 beverage locations including 17 for beer. And new this year, the popular Beer Garden is included with the ticket price of $145 per person (inclusive of tax and service fees). Room packages are already sold out, but I recommend to book early for 2020 once dates are announced.

Here is a look at the preview we attended.

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New for 2019 is a Hang 10 location, which will include food and entertainment. Celebrating the 10th year of the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic, one of the offerings will be a Fry Basket with clams, shrimp, oysters, fries with malt vinegar, targer sauce and lemon. The other will be a Hearts of Palms Ceviche.

Phins & Feathers is the exclusive beer of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin.

We tried a variety of offerings at the preview. I mentioned that there were 28 food booths this year. That is four times more booths than in 2010, when the food was primarily from the restaurants of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin. Now they are a large part of the event, but other food is included too.

For example, Smokin D’s BBQ is a location just for the festival. The item served on Friday this year is the Hand Crafted Smoked Doruc Pork Belly. Some items here are served both days, some on either Friday or Saturday. Check the full menus out on the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin website.

The food at the event not only is delicious but creative.

Every year, my first stop is the Shula’s Steak House booth. The steak served changes each year. For 2019, it is the Roasted Angus Beef Tenderloin and includes mashed potatoes. I am a fan of Shula’s and always stop at this booth a few times during the night. Shula’s Steak House is located inside the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort and I recommend it.

 This is a look at how it will be served for the Classic.

While Jeff and I both put Shula’s at the top of the list (every year), there are many excellent samples to try. His second favorite item from the preview was the Dragon Roll from Kimonos.

Kimonos is located inside the Walt Disney World Swan and is a favorite of Walt Disney World guests for the sushi.

Jeff enjoyed this a lot (I don’t eat seafood).

Jeff said his #3 item from the preview was the Maryland Style Crab Cake Slider. Again, this is a Friday only item.

This is presented by the Garden Grove Restaurant, which is known for Disney character meals for as long as I can remember (at least since the late 90s).

Here is a look at Jeff’s slider. He has had Maryland crab cakes and he thought it seemed comparable.

There are a variety of vegetarian and vegan options this year. The Organic Kabocha Squash Filled Ravioli from Il Mulino is vegetarian. Il Mulino is a restaurant located in the Swan Resort. While most of the items at the preview are served Friday, this is served on Saturday.

The raviolis are quite good. And while it looks nice when presented, I’m not a fan of the crispiness on top – I just like the soft ravioli part.

We were divided over dessert – Jeff’s favorite was the Chocolate Peanut Ganache Filled S’mores and mine was the dessert I will show underneath it.

Each year, desserts are different as are most food items. And they are always unique.

The peanut ganache filled s’more was just okay for me. Again, Jeff liked this better of the two desserts. I think for me it had too strong of a peanut taste – but Jeff loves peanuts, so it worked well for him.

The Key Lime Curd Frangipane was my favorite of the desserts. It has carved carmelized pineapple, coconut sorbet, coconut streusel and vanilla, and coconut milk tapioca.

The base is harder than it looks, so it is easier to set it down to eat. But I really liked the combination of everything.

Here is a look at the dessert.

There are a variety of seminars to book, we’ve attended a few and they are really well done and have never skimped on the drinks. The ones that seem to sell out most quickly are ones like Craft Cocktails, or anything that includes a pairing (like The Cheese Course, which we enjoyed last year). It is a great way to extend the event into more than just a night or two of food and wine!

Freedom & Whisky will probably be very popular as well, so definitely check out the various seminars on the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin website.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic is always a fantastic evening, and it is a rain-or-shine event – we’ve been inside just once for it so far.

There are a total of 97 food and beverage stations with 170+ different beverage offerings at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic, and it’s one of my favorite events of the year.