Disney's Epcot Food and Wine Festival

I have a secret place that I go to get away, relax and unwind.  It is beautiful, tropical, and the best part is that it is only about an hour away from my house!  It's Orlando- that's right, the home of Mickey Mouse!  Disney offers a special Florida Resident pass for a pretty reasonable price.  With the pass, you can hop from park to park and get special rates on their resorts.  We have had our passes for about 4 years now, and we have gotten to be quite the Disney experts.  This is my favorite time of year at Disney, the Epcot Food and Wine Festival.  I always go opening weekend before the hotel rates go up.  In Epcot's world showcase, they normally have 11 countries with food you can purchase, but for this special event that goes on from October to mid-November, there are about a dozen more kiosks set up selling food and beverages from even more countries.  The food is served tapas-style on small plates for prices ranging from about 3 to 7 dollars.  Epcot also has some cool activities to keep your kids entertained while you nibble your way around the world.  They have a paper Duffy bear (Mickey's teddy bear) that you can color, and get stamped in every country.  They also have a fun Kim Possible adventure which involves a special cell-phone, and lots of cool little hidden secrets.  I usually spring for a hotel room in the Dolphin or Swan hotel, so that I can take a boat right from my hotel room to the park!  They have fabulous pools there where they have fun pool-side games for the kids every hour.  We had a great time there this year- it is worth the trip if you are nearby.  And if you make it to the festival, try the Coq au Vin sur gratin de macaroni in France (Red Wine braised Chicken, Mushrooms, Pearl Onions and Macaroni Gratin) or the Seared Barramundi with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes, Arugula, and Lemon Oil in Australia!  Tell them that I sent you!