We finish up our look at the 2018 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Marketplaces located outside of the Festival Center with Taste Track, which situates itself basically right across from Test Track’s exit/giftshop.
For years, Taste Track was basically the RadioShack of Epcot – just because they’re open today doesn’t mean they’re going to be open tomorrow. During Food and Wine, it should be open from 11am-9pm daily.
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Croissant Doughnut Tossed in Cinnamon Sugar – $6
What-we-legally-can’t-call-a-cronut™ is the name of the game here with four selections. A scoop of gelato can be added for $2. If you do end up adding a scoop of Chocolate, Hazelnut, White Chocolate Raspberry or Vanilla Bean Gelato, then you might ask for it on the side. The doughnuts are best picked up and you’re going to have a bit of a problem trying to carry a fried pastry with a big hole in the middle of it to your mouth when the melting-because-this-is-still-Florida gelato is placed in said hole.
The Croissant Doughnut moves over here from Refreshment Port, which is serving those “Poutines” for the duration of the Festival. The Standard Croissant Doughnut is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with quite the dusting of cinnamon and sugar to give it a churro-esque flavor profile, only with a more satisfying chew and a little more butter. They’re really good, though perhaps not quite as good as what was served fresh out of the fryer over at Refreshment Port.
Croissant Doughnut with Chocolate and Marshmallows – $6.50
This one arrives with a layer of chocolate icing, graham cracker crumbles, and little marshmallows, which makes the flavor profile closer to a s’more than a churro.
My gripe here would be that the marshmallows aren’t toasted – I would have liked a couple of larger, toasted marshmallows for more of a roasty-toasty flavor like we have here at Geyser Point. As it stands, I thought the layer of hardened chocolate interfered a little too much with what the croissant doughnut is trying to accomplish, being crispy, soft, and chewy all at once.
Croissant Doughnut with Chocolate Hazelnut Cream – $6.50
This is a similar situation – I thought the hazelnut would play a bigger role, but it seems reduced to being used to hold down the three plump raspberries. Personally, I liked the fruit topping a little more than the marshmallows – the fresh berries really brighten up the flavor profile along with just a little bit of creamy nuttiness from the spread.
Croissant Doughnut with Sprinkles – $6.50
There’s a vanilla option as well if you’d like to head in that direction. I thought it was the weakest of the bunch – the crunchy sprinkles take away from the delicious chew of the doughnut and the vanilla icing mostly just adds sugar. If you are a vanilla person though, then by all means.
Overall, whichever croissant doughnut is right for you probably depends on your personal preferences. I liked the fruitiness of the raspberries contrasting with the rich decadent quality of the chocolate icing, but you may prefer another flavor combination. I’d say that overall, these are a:
Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
It’s nice that the toppings only set you back 50 cents and the doughnuts are big enough to pass around and share should you have the inclination. The Cinnamon and Sugar version may be the best of the bunch, but the others are a little more novel for the Festival.
Pancake Milkshake – $5
This was delicious, refreshing, small, and may or may not taste like pancake batter. We really appreciated its creamy quality though and it tastes like sweet batter of some variety – I picked up a little more birthday cake than pancake, but it isn’t artificially sweet in any way and it’s blended really nicely. Just about everything at the Festival is small and overpriced, but this would be a good deal at $3.50. It’s a bit of a stretch at $5.
Taste: 8/10
Value: 4/10
Overall, Taste Track is a nice little stop, offering four croissant doughnut creations at reasonable prices. You might ignore the value proposition and add a Pancake Milkshake to your order. Taste Track is in a bit of an odd location away from the rest of the Festival stuff, but you might want to plan around making a stop at some point in your day, perhaps around the time you’re planning on riding Test Track or Mission: SPACE or on your walk over to the Festival Center.
We’ll close coverage of the Food and Wine Festival Outdoor Marketplaces with an index of the reviews and then head into the Festival Center.
As always, thanks for these reviews.