Excited about EPCOT’s International Food and Wine Festival? Wondering when ‘Ohana will open and whether it’ll be serving its signature noodles? Well, do we have some updates for you!!

This past week Disney shared some seriously big news when it comes to EPCOT’s International Food & Wine Festival booths, restaurants opening all over Disney World and Disneyland, mask and social distancing changes, and more. Today we’re breaking down all of the biggest stories from this past week and sharing them with you so you know what to expect and how to prepare for your upcoming trips! Ready to dive in? Let’s go!

1. EPCOT Food and Wine Festival News

This past week was a big one for Food and Wine Festival news! The 2021 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival will kick off in just over a month — on July 15th, and last through November 20th, 2021. 

This week, we got a FULL LIST of all of the food booths that will be available this year. Many of the booths are returning from the previous Food & Wine Festival, including Australia, Appleseed Orchard, The Donut Box, and others.

But, you’ll also have 8 NEW booths to check out at this year’s Festival including Kenya, Lobster Landing, and Mac & Eats.

Click here to see the 8 new booths coming this year!

And click here to see a full list of the booths!

One important thing to note about this year’s festival is that 9 of the booths actually won’t become available until October 1st, 2021 (which marks the start of Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebrations).

These 9 booths include some popular favorites like The Alps and Brazil, as well as some of the new booths.

Click here to see the booths that won’t open until October.

There are also 8 booths that are NOT returning to this year’s Food and Wine Festival.

These include the Citrus Blossom and the Desserts and Champagne booth.

Click here to see the booths that won’t be returning.

But wait, there’s more Festival news!! This week, we also got a first look at some of the special merchandise coming for this year’s Festival, including an exclusive Corkcicle you’ll be able to purchase.

Disney also shared some details about a live concert series that will be available for guests to enjoy at the Food & Wine Festival. These sound very similar to the ones that have been available throughout Flower & Garden.

Click here to read more about these live concerts.

2. BOO Bash Tickets Are Now Available for Select Guests

This week, tickets for Disney’s NEW After Hours BOO BASH Halloween event became available for Disney World hotel guests with stays booked for the days they want BOO BASH tickets for.

And while 74% of our readers feeling like BOO BASH tickets are not worth the price, it seems QUITE a few people were very much ready to buy their tickets!

Right now, reservations can only be made through the phone. When we first called, we kept getting an error message that the call couldn’t be completed. Eventually, we got through and given an estimated hold time of 167 minutes!!

Click here to read more about our initial experience.

We waited for a WHILE (12 hours) and then got through to a Cast Member. But, the Cast Member shared that they were unable to sell tickets because the large influx of calls took down the Ticketing line! The ticketing line was expected, however, to be back up soon. If you’re calling to book your BOO BASH tickets within the next few days, just be prepared to wait a while and potentially be faced with some complications due to the influx of calls.

Click here to read more about the BOO BASH ticketing line complications.

3. More Restaurants Are Reopening

If you have been waiting for more restaurants to reopen in Disney World or Disneyland, then you’re in luck!! Quite a few spots (including some big fan-favorites) will be reopening soon.

First, let’s tackle Disney World. The ever popular ‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort will be reopening soon for both breakfast and dinner! 

When the spot reopens, it will have a slightly modified menu though. What’s going on with their signature noodles? Will they be available? Click HERE to find out! (Spoilers: there was a brief moment of panic, but noodles fans can rejoice once again!)

Reservations are now available for ‘Ohana — click here to learn more!

Also in Disney World, Sebastian’s Bistro at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort will be reopening soon, and it will feature a NEW menu.

Reservations for this spot are now available and you can click here to learn more.

Check out the new menu for Sebastian’s Bistro here!

Over in Disneyland, a number of restaurants will also be reopening including Oga’s Cantina in Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Wine Country Trattoria, and 4 other restaurants!

Brunch will also become available again at Lamplight Lounge.

Click here to see some of the restaurants reopening in Disneyland!

4. Disney Has Made Some BIG Mask and Social Distancing Changes

Things regarding masks and distancing have been changing quite a bit in Disney World, and over the past week or so we’ve seen MORE changes made.

Disney recently changed their mask policy to note that masks are only required in INDOOR theaters (as opposed to all theaters). We got a look at this updated policy regarding outdoor theaters in action in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

But soon, that mask policy will be changing again. Starting June 15th, masks will be optional for fully vaccinated guests in most areas throughout Disney World.

Masks will continue to be required, however, on Disney transportation for all guests.

Click here to read about this big change!

We’ve also seen some changes when it comes to distancing policies in the resort pools in Disney World.

Disney also recently updated their physical distancing guidelines when it comes to restaurants and shops, and more changes are set to take place starting June 15th.

We’re noticing quite a few changes being made in Disney World, so be sure to keep an eye out for updated signs throughout your trip to make sure you’re following all of the most current procedures.

5. Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Has Reopened

This past week, another Disney World hotel fully reopened — Disney’s Wilderness Lodge!

While the hotel’s Disney Vacation Club Villas had been open for quite some time, the resort’s standard rooms had not been available. Now, the resort has fully reopened.

Click here to see more about the reopening of Wilderness Lodge!

Not only has Wilderness Lodge reopened, but some of its rooms have also been renovated!

The rooms now feature all kinds of unique details and some Disney characters hidden throughout.

Click here for a full tour of a renovated room at Wilderness Lodge!

6. The Disney Skyliner Crashed

And finally, in terms of big news, earlier this week some gondolas on the Disney Skyliner crashed again.

The situation, however, appears to have been resolved as we were able to hop aboard the Skyliner later this week.

Click here to learn more about the Skyliner crash.

And that’s our wrap up of the big news this week. But, of course, there’s much more news where that came from. Here’s a peek at some of the other stories we shared this week:

• New animatronic characters have appeared in Disney World’s Jungle Cruise ride as well as a new building
• In case you missed it, Avengers Campus officially opened in Disneyland last week and we’ve shared SO much information from the land including a review of Pym Tasting Lab, a look at all of the merchandise, and a review of Terran Treats. Check out our video below for more about Avengers Campus!

• Canada Far and Wide may be closing later this month for an unspecified period of time
• A fan-favorite breakfast item has returned to Disney World
• NEW Mint Minnie ears and a whole mint collection have been released
• Disney’s weighted plushes have arrived online
• A power outage in Disney’s Animal Kingdom shut down many of the park’s rides…twice!

• We got a first look at the Aladdin Stitch Crashes Disney collection
• Space 220 is hiring and we got an update on when the restaurant is expected to open in EPCOT
• The Dumbo play area has reopened in Magic Kingdom
• Disney Cruise Line has canceled more cruises for this summer
• Self-serve water stations have returned to Disney World and we’ve got an update on just where you can get FREE water in the parks
• EPCOT has made some changes to its rope drop procedures

• The Disney Store has updated its mask policies
• There are some Disney World hotel deals for Passholders and Florida Residents that are ending soon
• We got evacuated off of Rise of the Resistance in Disney World AND got stuck on Test Track in a really weird place!
• Disney has made a change in their description of wait times on the My Disney Experience app

And that’s it for us in terms of our weekly news wrap-up! We’ll be on the lookout for more news and we’ll be sure to sure that all with you throughout the next week. Stay tuned for all the latest from us here at DFB.

A new Chicken Guy! location is opening soon near Disney World! Check out more details here.

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Will you be visiting Disney World soon? Tell us in the comments!

The post EPCOT Food and Wine Festival Booths, an ‘Ohana Reopening Date, and Other BIG Disney Updates! first appeared on the disney food blog.