The EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival is here, and despite all the years I’ve spent eating my way around World Showcase, there was one festival experience I still hadn’t tried: the Parisian Breakfast at Chefs de France.
The limited-time breakfast is back for the 2026 festival after its return in 2025. Chefs de France hosts the prepaid buffet on Fridays and Saturdays during the festival, with a spread of French pastries, baguettes, cheeses, charcuterie, smoked salmon, fruit and other breakfast selections. It also comes with a fairly steep price tag of $67.95 per person.
For something exclusive to Food & Wine that tends to grab plenty of attention when advance reservations open, I expected a more elevated breakfast experience. Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite make it to Paris.
What’s Included?
Upon arrival you receive a large glass of mimosa and are offered a cup of hot coffee (made with Joffrey’s coffee).
Sadly, the unlimited mimosas is no longer a thing, which was one of the biggest draws of the Parisian Breakfast in previous years. You now receive one generous pour upon arrival, which felt closer to two smaller glasses, but additional mimosas cost $4.99 each.
The walk-up buffet table, centrally located in the restaurant’s main dining area, focuses heavily on breads and cold selections, including croissants, pastries, baguettes, cheeses, charcuterie, smoked salmon and fresh fruit. There are some warm breakfast items as well, including ham and cheese croissant and egg dishes.
How Was the Food?
To be frank, the food options were disappointing. Most of the warm items were cold within minutes since they sat in silver warming platters that weren’t keeping them hot enough. More popular items, like the egg soufflé and even fresh berries, disappeared quickly. And once they were gone, they weren’t refilled.
Outside of the baguette being sliced at the buffet table, the breads weren’t particularly fresh or crisp either. Our table’s pastry basket seemed like it could have been leftover from the day before, or even earlier.
For $60+ per person, and from Chefs de France, I wasn’t expecting my favorite part of breakfast to be the baguette and cheeses I could purchase for a fraction of the price nearby at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie.
Disney’s promotional image for the Parisian Breakfast also sets expectations a little too high. While I wasn’t actually expecting little French flags standing on each item (how cute would that be though), take the Croque Monsieur, for example. The preview photo shows a full, golden and crispy-looking sandwich that certainly helped sell me on this breakfast. Disney’s promotional image:
Another promotional image currently on Disney World’s webpage for the breakfast event depicts a large helping of smoked salmon with the description “Delicate and silky slices of smoked salmon, perfect for pairing with fresh bread or a squeeze of lemon”.
What we found instead were tiny portions of Croque Monsieur sitting in one of the warming platters. They still had the familiar ham-and-cheese flavors, but cutting them into such small portions and leaving them in the warmer didn’t do the bread any favors. There was no crispy, toasted bite. See that small white rectangle on the plate’s left side? That’s the Croque Monsieur. And that small slice of smoked salmon was sitting atop a soft and flavorless square of bread:
No pain aux chocolat here — the chocolate raspberry pastry was the closest thing on the buffet. It was just okay, and again, the bread was dry and lacked any airiness or crunch you’d expect from a Parisian pastry. By the end of our quick 40 minutes inside, I felt swindled.
Be Prepared to Share Your Table
As a party of two, we were seated with another party of two at a very small round table in one of the sunrooms. The couple joining us didn’t realize they would share a table either, and our hostess only briefly explained the arrangement after I questioned why used glasses and someone else’s bags were already at our table.
Disney does disclose towards the end of the reservation page that some parties may be seated with other guests. Still, it’s worth knowing before you arrive, especially for the experience’s price tag. Everything worked out fine, but those first few minutes were a little awkward.
Is the Parisian Breakfast Worth $67.95?
This event has limited availability during Food & Wine, so I went in expecting something a little more special. Between the limited food selection, dishes running out, lukewarm offerings, shared seating and the loss of unlimited mimosas, the experience didn’t match the price for me. I LOVE Chefs de France, especially the prix-fix menu available for lunch and dinner, but… this is not it. For the money, this felt closer to a glorified hotel continental breakfast, and I can’t say I’d recommend it. Spend your Disney food money elsewhere, or save it for lunch/dinner at Chefs de France!
At EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, $67.95 can buy a whole lot of festival food. I’d rather take that money for a stroll around World Showcase and build my own brunch along the way… Or you can go ham at the nearby Boulangerie-Patisserie.
