Walt Disney Global has introduced again the “secret” front room for the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition! This spot is a brilliant visitor hideaway for escaping the warmth and crowds, enjoyable & recharging with loose beverages in addition to actions and VIP live performance seating. This put up takes a glance inside of and the right way to get right of entry to the particular venue in Global Exhibit. (Up to date September 20, 2024.)
This marks the fourth consecutive 12 months that there’s been a loose front room in EPCOT all the way through the Meals & Wine Competition. Throughout the primary 12 months, it was once really a hidden gem. Even after writing a put up to hype it up, we seldom noticed greater than a dozen other people in all the house. That was once regardless of the living room very a lot “hiding” in simple sight, proper subsequent to the Frozen Ever After queue.
Remaining 12 months, the living room needed to relocate from Norway, as its former house within the medieval fortress was once being reclaimed via Akershus Royal Dinner party Corridor. It moved to a true secret spot, hidden gem, hollow within the wall, under-the-radar get away, and so forth–actually in probably the most tucked away location in all of Global Exhibit at EPCOT.
In so doing, the Florida Blue Living room–now positioned within the Eating place Marrakesh–was a lot more well-liked. We’d be expecting that to be true as soon as once more all the way through the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition. Phrase has surely gotten out since that first 12 months, so now you’ll be expecting to come across a waitlist to go into on busier dates and weekends.
If you happen to’re unfamiliar with the positioning of the Florida Blue Living room, it’s deep within the Morocco pavilion down a dead-end hall–this space is best house to Eating place Marrakesh. Pre-closure, Eating place Marrakesh was once no longer in particular well-liked. This was once most likely partially because of its extra unique delicacies, however location performed a larger function. Because of that, there was once mechanically a Solid Member within the entrance courtyard of Morocco beaconing visitors again, appearing menus and touting the (underrated) eating place.
When EPCOT reopened, Eating place Marrakesh didn’t. Even after the 3rd celebration working player exited the Morocco pavilion and grew to become over operations to Disney, the eating place nonetheless stayed closed.
Once more, unsurprising. Pent-up call for for eating has fizzled out, to the purpose that even well-liked eating places have transform fairly simple ADRs. And Eating place Marrakesh was once by no means in the slightest degree well-liked prior to. Our expectation is that finally this turns into an Aladdin persona meal, however the way forward for Eating place Agrabah is a special tale for a special day!
With that stated, let’s have a look across the Florida Blue Living room.
The Morocco pavilion was once in line with designs discovered within the towns of Casablanca, Rabat, Fez, and Marrakesh. (We’ll guess you’ll’t wager which town impressed this actual eating place.) Like many Moroccan towns, the pavilion is split into new and previous towns, demarcated via the Bab Bou Jeloud (“Blue”) Gate.
Eating place Marrakesh lies past the Blue Gate, and in large part maintains its opening day look with ornate design and surprising main points. Morocco is a rustic of “undying wonders” with historical mosques, synagogues, souks, church buildings, and kasbahs the place the artwork and structure were designed and delicate over centuries.
That is obtrusive inside of Eating place Marrakesh/Florida Blue Living room. The environment is really transportive, feeling worlds clear of a modern theme park in Florida. From tile paintings to the tea dispensers to the ceilings and (particularly) the sunshine fixtures, Eating place Marrakesh is a plush exemplar of previous international Morocco–and old-fashioned Imagineering aesthetic sensibilities.
Clearly, you don’t get the overall enjoy from visiting the Florida Blue Living room. Throughout a real meal at Eating place Marrakesh, you’d experience tune from a two-piece combo acting conventional songs and a stomach dancer appearing off her skills and beckoning youngsters to sign up for her at the dance flooring.
Then there’s the delicacies. Eating place Marrakesh served up various complicated however approachable dishes, with all kinds of spices and herbs generating original Moroccan dishes with nuance, however no longer essentially intense taste or spice. On the contrary, certainly one of my favourite dishes right here was once the roasted lamb shank, which was once fall off the bone delicate. Even Signature Eating places couldn’t compete with this.
Oh, and Eating place Marrakesh was once considerably inexpensive than different eating places. Because of its loss of recognition, the positioning incessantly presented lunch specials or massive samplers that had been a discount via Walt Disney Global requirements.
Now let’s quilt the highlights of the loose Florida Blue Living room within the Morocco pavilion.
For the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition, the living room must have stations with self-service water, Moroccan mint tea, and chilly brew espresso. Unfortunately, there was once no snack cart on any of our visits to the living room, so we’re guessing that’s a factor of the previous. There additionally weren’t any bottled drinks to be had upon request. However the chilly brew and mint tea are incredible–I’d take this loose chilly brew over lots of the espresso offered at EPCOT!
On a favorable observe, there are further loose actions. Prior to now, those have modified right through the day or over the process the development, and there were such things as watercolor portray and loose Henna tattoos.
Each time we’ve visited the Florida Blue front room all the way through the 2024 EPCOT Meals & Wine Competition, this space has been a create your personal decoration station. You get to make a choice glass and beads and insert them into sand-colored adorns. Appears to be like lovable.
For us, despite the fact that, the spotlight is the reserved seating for the Consume to the Beat live performance sequence. (See our Information to the Consume to the Beat Live performance Collection.) They used to supply extra official-looking playing cards, however our enjoy in 2024 has been those makeshift wristbands. Most likely that’ll exchange.
As a way to profit from this, we’d extremely counsel going to the Florida Blue front room faster quite than later. There were a few days the place I’ve long gone inside the first two hours the living room was once open and there have been only a few other people inside of (as you’ll see in those pictures!), however availability was once already restricted for the wristbands above.
From what we’ve noticed, the Consume to the Beat live shows are a lot more well-liked in 2024 than previously–most likely because of a choice of musicians interesting to elder millennials versus child boomers, as the previous is an increasing number of turning into Walt Disney Global’s audience. Since we’re averse to buying eating applications, this was once an implausible technique to see well-liked performers with out ready in lengthy traces. Extremely beneficial!
This 12 months, the Florida Blue Living room is now open for the 2024 EPCOT Global Meals & Wine Competition. It’ll be open via November 23, 2024 from 12 pm till 6 pm day-to-day.
Eligibility is at all times a tough subject on the subject of the Florida Blue Living room. Formally, consistent with each Walt Disney Global and the insurance coverage corporate, this front room is open to “Florida Blue Contributors and their Visitors.” Does that imply you must be accompanied via a Florida Blue Member, or are visitors accepted on their very own? No one actually is aware of.
In earlier years, somebody has been admitted to the Florida Blue Living room who registers for the Visitor Cross. You’ll be able to do this at this hyperlink. As you’ll see from the screenshot above, nowhere does it ask you to go into data about your medical health insurance corporate.
Beneath is the Visitor Cross itself, which additionally says not anything about being required to turn your Florida Blue insurance coverage card or anything else except for the Visitor Cross. Once more, you’ll download that with out being a Florida Blue Member.
Over the process the final a number of years, we now have visited the Florida Blue Living room dozens and dozens of occasions. No longer as soon as have we needed to display anything else instead of the Visitor Cross, which is in step with what the Visitor Cross itself says.
Then again, we’ve had a number of commenters in either one of the final two years who had been denied get right of entry to to the Florida Blue Living room. I suppose we’ve been very success–or some readers were very unfortunate (or perhaps a bit of of each).
There’s additionally a 3rd risk, which is they’re no longer assured or ask questions on having the ability to input, which ends up in confusion amongst Solid Contributors and visitors, inflicting denials? I don’t have the slightest thought–it simply moves me as abnormal that we’ve almost certainly entered this front room 30+ occasions with out as soon as having the problems reported via others.
Regardless, we wish to warning that this can be a YMMV factor when you’re no longer a Florida Blue Member, and dependent upon whoever is status guard at the living room front. And, most likely, your personal self assurance stage–so act such as you belong and don’t ask questions!
With a bit of luck Walt Disney Global and/or Florida Blue get at the identical web page this 12 months, and it’s transparent whether or not get right of entry to is for the ones with Florida Blue insurance coverage or visitors as neatly. I don’t know the way this stays so ambiguous after 3 years, however it’s what it’s.
Suffice to mention, don’t ebook a travel to Walt Disney Global only as a result of you need to get some loose chilly brew. The living room may exchange insurance policies, deny you access, and so forth. Listed below are a couple of extra pictures of the pretty Florida Blue front room:
That final photograph displays the restrooms on the finish of the hallway. Whilst those don’t make our esteemed record of the Most sensible Bogs at Walt Disney Global, they’re completely price trying out. If we had awards for rest room doorways, those could be close to the highest of that record. (Hmmm…perhaps we must?!)
In the end, we’re searching ahead to making the most of the Florida Blue Living room at Walt Disney Global all over again…assuming we don’t get close out via having other medical health insurance…and sought after to provide you with an early heads up about its go back.
Past the loose refreshments and actions, what we actually love in regards to the Florida Blue Living room is the environment. It’s an exemplar of old-fashioned EPCOT Heart and Imagineering on the peak of its sport–a criminally underrated Global Exhibit eating place that even many diehard Walt Disney Global enthusiasts have by no means noticed. It actually is an excellent spot to relaxation, recharge, and chill out. Plus, it’s no longer on a daily basis that you simply get one thing really loose at Walt Disney Global!
Making plans a Walt Disney Global travel? Know about accommodations on our Walt Disney Global Inns Critiques web page. For the place to devour, learn our Walt Disney Global Eating place Critiques. To save cash on tickets or decide which kind to shop for, learn our Pointers for Saving Cash on Walt Disney Global Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a novel have a look at artful pieces to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney Global Trip Guides will lend a hand. For complete recommendation, the most productive position to begin is our Walt Disney Global Shuttle Making plans Information for the whole lot you want to understand!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever taken benefit of the Florida Blue Living room in EPCOT? Have any problems gaining front into the positioning with the Visitor Cross? Will you be visiting this loose transient refreshment spot on an upcoming consult with to Walt Disney Global in 2024? Thinking about the chance to enjoy the design and main points of Eating place Marrakesh? Do you settle or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions we will mean you can solution? Listening to your comments–even whilst you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please percentage your ideas beneath within the feedback!
