This one came together last minute. Sarah rarely gets a free day, so when one opened up we packed the laptops and spent a Tuesday working from EPCOT during Food & Wine. We got there around 10 AM and didn’t do a single attraction. The plan was simple: find good places to work, eat our way around the festival, and still get real work done. The cooler weather helped. Knup 7.4.
And it was a real workday. I taught my Entrepreneurship class remotely from the park, and Sarah and I held a two-hour internal meeting right there in the park. That’s the part that still feels a little ridiculous to me, in the best way.
Early on we walked past the pin traders outside Connections Cafe, a whole crowd of people with big pin books flipping pages and making deals. I don’t collect, so mostly I found it funny, but you could tell it’s a genuinely fun scene if you’re into it.
Food started at Coastal Eats with the crab cake (tropical fruit chutney, mustard sauce, micro celery) and the seafood pot pie (shrimp, scallops, lobster bisque, puff pastry), $7.49 each. Sarah loved both and ate most of them. I thought they were just okay. The Fry Basket was the opposite story for me. The $7.99 fry flight came as three big tubs: sea salt-malt vinegar, truffle-parmesan with black garlic-truffle aioli, and sweet potato casserole fries with cinnamon sugar, candied pecans, and marshmallow cream. Great portions for festival food, and probably my top bite of the day.
We only looked at Brew-Wing Lab at the Odyssey, which is done up Muppet Labs style. The menu has wings ($7.79) in flavors like Garlic-Parmesan, Buffalo-Dill Pickle, Korean Barbecue, and Carolina Reaper Pepper-Curry, plus fried pickle spears and a Pickle Milk Shake. A lot of pickle. Next time we’re getting the wings.
The best find of the day was a work spot. By a grill tucked behind the Japan pavilion there are red umbrella tables tucked back in the trees, barely visible from the walkway. It was quiet, shaded, there was a nice breeze, and you look out at the gardens and the pagoda. Plenty of seating, too. The downsides: the seats are small, low stools with no backs, and my back let me know about it afterward. The Wi-Fi was weaker than usual but okay for what I needed. I’d still rank it near the top of my Disney work spots.
We also tried working in the central area with a live band. Nice tables and a good vibe, but between the band, singers, drums, and background music, it was too loud to concentrate. Fine for eating or answering email. Not where I’d teach a class.
For lunch, Sarah brought me a Texas brisket sandwich on Texas toast with baked beans from Regal Eagle Smokehouse. Really good flavor. And dessert was the smoked chocolate bread pudding at Flavors from Fire, $4.99, with chocolate ganache, vanilla bean bourbon sauce, and smoked sea salt. It was really moist, and the only thing missing was a scoop of ice cream. An 8 for me and one of my top festival picks.
Not a park day in the usual sense. It was a workday with better food and a better view, and a rare full day with Sarah. I’d do it again, with a back cushion.
Photos
The day in bullets
- Last-minute workday at EPCOT during Food & Wine. Arrived around 10 AM, no attractions.
- Taught my Entrepreneurship class remotely and ran a two-hour internal meeting with Sarah from the park.
- Best work spot: red umbrella tables tucked in the trees by a grill tucked behind the Japan pavilion. Quiet, shaded, breezy. Backless low stools.
- Disney Wi-Fi was weaker than usual in Japan but held up.
- Top bites: Fry Basket fry flight ($7.99) and smoked chocolate bread pudding at Flavors from Fire ($4.99).