EPCOT's Food and Wine Cheese Exhibit Does Not Open Until September 18, 22 Days After the Festival Starts

Disney published its 2026 EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival preview on Wednesday, and the one genuinely new item in it is sitting in the middle of the post: the festival's CommuniCore Hall exhibit does not open until September 18, more than three weeks after the festival itself starts.

The festival runs August 27 to November 21, dates Disney locked in back in April. That is an 87 day run. The exhibit covers 65 of those days and misses the first 22.

The Leaning Tower of Cheeza Magic Shot returns for 2026. Cheese is a running theme this year. Image: Disney Parks Blog

What Disney actually announced

Disney's wording is loose. It tells guests to get ready to say "Cheers to Cheese!" starting September 18, and describes an all new interactive exhibit coming to CommuniCore Hall where you can discover fun facts and the history of cheese. Disney did not give the exhibit a formal name, and "Cheers to Cheese!" reads as a tagline rather than a title.

What Disney did not say: how long the exhibit stays, whether it runs through the November 21 close, whether it carries any extra cost, or what is inside CommuniCore Hall during the festival's first three weeks. The September 18 date attaches to the exhibit. Disney said nothing about the building being unavailable before then, and in past years the hall has held festival merchandise and indoor seating regardless of what exhibit was installed.

Why there is a gap at all

CommuniCore Hall is currently occupied. GoofyCore, the Goofy themed indoor play space, has been running there since May 26 as part of Cool KIDS' SUMMER, which ends September 8. Disney has not published a final day for GoofyCore itself, and the ten day cushion between the end of the summer season and September 18 points to a changeover period rather than a same day handoff.

Last year the space barely showed up at all

Set against 2025, a dated and themed exhibit is an upgrade. Last year Cool Kid Summer ended September 1 and GoofyCore kept running about two weeks past it. What followed was not a festival exhibit. By early October, with Food and Wine well underway, Blog Mickey reported the hall sitting with minimal festival theming, a state it referred to as "diet CommuniCore Hall."

Committing to a date and an actual concept ahead of time is a change from that. It just lands late.

Disney is running two cheese activities this year

The exhibit is not the only cheese play on the 2026 board. Emile's Fromage Montage returns, the food stroll where you collect festival passport stamps for cheese dishes at select Global Marketplaces and earn a treat once you complete the set.

Disney attached a start date to the CommuniCore Hall exhibit and to nothing else in the post. The Fromage Montage got no separate date, which in past years has meant it runs with the festival.

The Kirschwasser Torte at The Alps, one of three marketplace items Disney has now highlighted twice. Image: Disney Parks Blog

Most of the rest of the post is a rerun

The bulk of Wednesday's preview repeats what Disney confirmed in April. The August 27 to November 21 dates, the three marketplace items Disney now describes as returning (Street Corn-style Dumplings at Gyozas of the Galaxy, the Grilled Bushberry-spiced Shrimp Skewer in Australia, and the Kirschwasser Torte at The Alps), the Eat to the Beat concert series, Emile's Fromage Montage and Remy's Ratatouille Hide and Squeak scavenger hunt were all on the record months ago.

Still missing, with 22 days to go before opening: the marketplace list, the full menus, and any prices. Disney repeated that some Global Marketplaces open in phases rather than all on August 27, and pointed to a Foodie Guide it has not published yet.

One genuinely new Magic Shot

Disney PhotoPass adds Waiter Mickey Mouse as a new Magic Shot across five World Showcase pavilions: Mexico, China, Italy, Japan and France. The returning shots are the Giant Empanada, the Leaning Tower of Cheeza, the Swedish Chef and Chef Figment.

The Swedish Chef Magic Shot is one of four returning for 2026. Image: Disney Parks Blog

One line in Disney's post is already out of date

Disney's Wednesday preview tells readers they can explore festival dining packages before they go on sale July 16. July 16 has passed. Eat to the Beat dining package reservations opened that day, and the packages are bookable now through My Disney Experience or by phone. If you read Disney's post today and assume you still have runway, you do not.

Planning note: if the CommuniCore Hall exhibit is part of why you are going, September 18 is the date that matters, not August 27. A trip in the festival's first three weeks gets the marketplaces, the concerts and the Fromage Montage, but not the exhibit.

Source: Disney Parks Blog. 2025 CommuniCore Hall details via Blog Mickey.