CHEERS, CHAPS
Take our Harry and Meghan tour of Epcot Food & Wine
Do you remain obsessed with Harry and Meghan?
Are you eagerly awaiting their fall tour of Australia, Fiji, the Kingdom of Tonga and New Zealand?
I know I am, and I gobble up every bit of gossip about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Did you know they got a Labrador retriever and named him Oz?
Did you know Meghan calls Harry “my love”?
Did you know Harry’s favorite cocktail contains pineapple and coconut rum — and there’s a similar taste sensation at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival?
To celebrate Harry and Meghan, we headed to Disney World, that fantasy land where every little girl can become a princess.
Here’s our special “Harry and Meghan Tour” of Epcot Food & Wine Fest.
Crowns and Mickey ears optional.
Start with a sparkling toast at the new Shimmering Sips
Mimosa Bar: One of the longest lines inside Festival Center, which is in the front of Epcot, was at this new bar, where Champagne is never plain.
Choose from Key Lime Mimosa (Key lime sparkling wine and cranberry juice, $6), Blood Orange Mimosa (sparkling wine and blood orange juice, $6), Tropical Mimosa (sparkling wine, pomegranate, orange and grapefruit juices, $6) or a Frozen Mimosa … and more.
We saw lots of folks balancing multiple mimosas.
And here’s a thing about Epcot Food & Wine, if you’ve never been there: Booze is king. All kinds of booze, and people start drinking early.
Cocktails, wine and craft beers — many from Florida — are featured at all of the 35 “global marketplaces,” which are kiosks where you order taste-size food and drink.
So, beware of the sweaty and the inebriated. As the queen will tell you, rowdy behavior is neither proper, royal nor civilized.
Harry and Meghan will travel
to New Zealand soon: You don’t have to make the trip to try our favorite new discovery, the Frozen Wine Cocktail featuring Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc ($7).
Be sure to stop in Australia, too, like the duke and duchess will: At the Australia marketplace, we tried a dessert favorite: the Lamington, a little chunk of yellow cake dipped in chocolate and shredded coconut. It tastes like an Almond Joy.
Drink like Harry: Back in Harry’s pre-Meghan partying days, he is said to have enjoyed a drink
called the “Treasure Chest” at London’s Mahiki nightclub. It contains pineapple juice, coconut rum and lime. That reminds us of our alltime favorite festival food: the pineapple soft-serve ice cream with Bacardi coconut rum ($9.50). It’s at the Refreshment Port, in Showcase Plaza, between Future World and World Showcase in Epcot.
Meghan used to live in Toronto: So, we stopped by the Canada marketplace and indulged in one of the food and wine festival’s most popular dishes: “Le Cellier” Wild Mushroom Beef Filet Mignon with a Truffle Butter Sauce. We paired it with the suggested wine, Chateau Des Charmes Equuleus Red Blend.
At $14, this was a good deal: The piece of filet was about three-fourths the size of my palm — and tender and delicious. A serving of wine in this pairing is about a half-glass.
United Kingdom, home
sweet home: Of course, the United Kingdom pavilion at Epcot’s World Showcase is where a true royal fan would throw back a pint of Guinness.
At the Rose & Crown Pub, a fixture in Epcot, and the Yorkshire County Fish Shop, where tourists line up for fish and chips, staff members Alice and Melissa — both from the U.K. — cooed over Meghan for her “chic modernity.”
Stop at the Tea Caddy and get a couple of mugs for your favorite newlyweds: One says “Mr. Right” and the other says “Mrs. Always Right.”
Would the Duchess of Sussex ever indulge in such sarcasm? Who knows … but they’d be perfect for serving a spot of Prince of Wales tea.