Review: Disneyland Paris Food Festival 2017

This review is about an event that took place on septembre 8, 2017 (Last Updated: septembre 14, 2017)

In September 2017 Disneyland Paris saw its first Food Festival. Le Rendez-vous Gourmand follows the food festivals at the US Parks. Each year Disney California Adventure Park has the Food and Wine Festival. Epcot has the International Food & Wine Festival. Later in September, Disney Village at Disneyland Paris will also host an Oktoberfestival where different food will be offered.

Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Le Rendez-vous Gourmand

Location

Le Rendez-vous Gourmand de Disneyland Paris takes place every day at La Place de Rémy inside of Walt Disney Studios Park. The booths are open from park opening until closure. The location is perfect as it adds to the atmosphere of the area.

Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - chez marianne

Each booth has several high top tables, and in front of Chez Marianne there are a few more high top tables. This allows you to either eat your food next to the booth and continue onward, or meet up with friends and family after everybody got their bite at one of the booths.

Tasting

While we love food, it is hard to taste everything. We tried to taste something from every region in France. Even pairing some wine with it. We added all menus including their prices at the bottom of this page in case you want to get an idea of all offerings.

Alsace

Food items we tried:

  • Kassler en Croute / Roast pork en croute
  • Kouglof / Brioche Cake
  • Bretzel / Pretzel
  • Perfect pretzel, unfortunately not fluffy

I think Kassler en Croute definitely my favorite food item of the festival. We even went back a second time. It was also heated in an oven instead of a microwave which I think added to the overall flavor.
Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Kassler en Croute

The Kouglof is a great dessert option while it could be too sweet for some people. The Kouglof is definitely something you want to share with other people as it quite big.Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Kouglof

Even though it was already pre-made, the pretzel was still tasty. Heated in the oven, but unfortunately missing some of the fluffiness. Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Alsace

Wine we tried:

  • Sylvaner Les Princes Abbes, Domaine Schlumberger 2013

The Sylvaner Les Princes Abbes is an older type wine originating in Austria. This wine had a light honeydew taste, medium body and paired well with the heavier dishes we had, but I also see it as a great sipping wine for summer time.

Bretagne

Bretagne offers mostly sweet items and pancakes. We opted to skip it. When we are back for the runDisney weekend, we might stop at this booth and have one or two food items. The line at this booth was long and this is most likely due to the fact that they have pancakes which of course most people love and makes for an easy order.

Bourgogne/Région Lyonnaise

Food items we tried:

  • Croustades d’escargot / Snail vol-au-vents
  • Boeuf Bourguignon / Beef Bourguignon

Being in France you of course have to try snails. As they ran out of Saucisson brioché de Lyon I opted for Croustades d’escargot. For just three escargots, this is a pricey menu item as you pay 1,5 euros per snail. And they are small. Unfortunately they were heated up using a microwave which impacted the flavor. The seasoning that came with it tasted good. The Boeuf Bourguignon was okay. I expected a bit more flavor, but the meat itself was nicely cooked and had a great texture.Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Croustades descargot and Boeuf Bourguignon

Bordeaux

Food items we tried:

  • Hachis Parmentier de Canard / Duck Cottage Pie
  • Agneu de Gironde / Gironde lamb

My second most favorite food item of this festival was the Hachis Parmentier de Canard. Both the texture and flavor were good, and I loved the size of the portion. The top layer was great, and opened up nicely to the content of the Duck Cottage Pie itself.Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Hachis Parmentier de Canard

The Agneu de Gironde tasted good but the potatoes were a bit dry. I would have loved a bit more meat as it was really tender and had a nice texture. Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Agneu de Gironde

Savoie

Food items we tried:

  • Tartiflette au Reblochon / Reblochon Cheese Tartiflette
  • Sandwich Raclette / Raclette Cheese

The flavor of the Tartiflette au Reblochon was perfect. I had it before elsewhere in France and this time it even tasted better. I could see myself eating a full meal of this. The consistency and texture was great, and the flavor was all-round. Definitely something you can’t go wrong with. I didn’t pair it with wine, but I can imagine almost any wine goes well with this dish.Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Tartiflette au Reblochon

Who doesn’t love cheese? The Sandwich Raclette tasted great, and it is fun to look at when they prepare it for you. The menu says it would also have cured ham, but for some strange reason I didn’t get this (along with several other people that ordered before me). Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Sandwich Raclette

Sud de la France

Food item we tried:

  • Pan Bagnat / Tuna Sandwich

The Pan Bagnat was a lot of bread for the amount of ingredients you got. I felt like they skimmed on the tuna itself. The overall flavor of the ingredients was good.

Wine we tried:

  • Domaine Saint André de Figuière Rose

The Domaine Saint André de Figuière Rose is a pale, dry rose is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Mourvedre making it for a unique rose with a crisp acidity and tangy taste. I don’t think it paired well with the Pan Bagnat but would definitely drink again.

Menu Food Festival Disneyland Paris

Get an idea of what is offered at each booth, and what the cost is of each item.

Region Booths

Each region has its own booth. You line up on the right, place your order and pay on the left.

Merchandise

While in the US, there is loads of event related merchandise. For Le Rendez-vous Gourmand we only stumbled upon it by accident. We walked into Chez Marianne and saw they were selling glasses with the event’s logo on it. You can choose between three different types of glasses with prices ranging from 14,99 to 19,99 euros. The glasses are made by the famous arribas brothers who have their own store at the Walt Disney World resort. It is a nice keep sake but a lot harder to carry home than let’s say a pin, magnet, or keychain. Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - arribas brothers glass

Final Thoughts

We love the idea of finally having a Food Festival in Disneyland Paris. The way it is has been setup makes for a great start and we can’t wait to see it again next year.

The prices for the food and wine seems reasonable. There are some more expensive food items, but overall the prices are in line with what you would expect for a Food Festival inside a family park. The portion sizes are also good. The combination of both the price and the portion size makes that you can actually try some more items than just one or two. We have been to Food Festivals where you have to split something with a second person and it still seems too much. Or you break the bank after two or three items.

Disneyland Paris - Food Festival 2017 - Logo

Although overall we were really happy and pleased with this year’s event, we have three remarks which we hope might change next year:

Cash or Card?

Even though I could pay with card at most booths, some preferred(?) cash while others flat-out said they only accepted cash. One booth seemed to have issues with the card machine and kept on walking back and forth between their booth and the one next to them. This lead to increased waiting times. It would have been nice to know the issues with card beforehand so that people could get cash in Disney Village or at the Front Lot in Walt Disney Studios.

Microwave

Something I didn’t expect to see was the constant use of microwaves. It just ruins the whole experience and will ensure that some food is not re-heated properly or tastes off. I understand that if you have to cater for 1000+ people you have to cut (minor) corners, but wouldn’t there be a different solution? Like a normal oven (like they had at the Alsace booth) or maybe even the use of a Bain-marie. I know for sure the chefs at the resort would be able to think of something.

Promotion

On the web and social media channels there is plenty of information about Le Rendez-vous Gourmand, but as soon as you get to the resort, there is not that much information. There is the occasional flyer that can be found at Guest Services, and even inside Studio 1 the Information Booth was open with a bigger banner of the Food Festival. But that was about it. There were no signs in Disney Village. No banners when you enter Walt Disney Studios, and at the Disneyland Park nothing (besides the flyer that was well hidden at Guest Services) was pointing at an event at Walt Disney Studios.


Related Pages

Related Resort(s): Disneyland Paris
Related Park(s): Walt Disney Studios Park