Disney California Adventure holds a special place in my heart. As luck would have it, one of my first jobs in college was as a show hostess and dough divider at the Boudin Bakery Tour on the Pacific Wharf when the park first opened in 2001. I’ve watched it grow and change over the past 11 years and one of the most exciting events that DCA offered was the Disney’s California Food & Wine Festival.
For years, I had heard of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival at Walt Disney World and wished that the Disneyland Resort would host a similar event to showcase California’s culinary landscape. It is no secret among my friends that I love food and it is a passion that I learned from my parents, who taught me to cook and enjoy putting together a great meal. As both of my parents’ birthdays happened to coincide with Disney’s California Food & Wine Festival, my brother and I decided to treat our parents to a wonderful afternoon at The Disneyland Resort – and it has become one of my favorite DCA memories.
Prior to this event, my parents had never set foot in Disney California Adventure. While my mother is well-versed in the ways of Disneyland, having taken me there when I was younger, it was priceless to see her face light up in awe at this new Disney park that she hadn’t experienced before. For those who have never attended, the Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival was a showcase of food, wine, and beer from California. Featuring celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, wine and beer walks, wine education events and special food offerings throughout the parks, the festival celebrated all things epicurean and DCA became the perfect showcase for it.
My dad was extremely excited to see Chef Robert Irvine of “Kitchen Impossible” fame perform a culinary demonstration in the Sunshine Plaza, and I couldn’t wait to try the food offerings. My family and I checked out the many educational wine walks that showcased California’s wine region, took a walking tour throughout DCA, and for the first time, I admired the Imagineers’ handiwork as I didn’t go on one single ride during this visit. This goes down in the books as one of the nicest Disney outings I’ve ever had – and I got to share that with my parents, the people who first introduced me to Disney.
With the exciting expansions happening at DCA (stay tuned for all the updates here!), there hasn’t been an opportunity for more Disney California Food and Wine Festivals, but hopefully in the near future we’ll see them again!
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