You just thought that your dinner was something to do

I am not one to pick up gift cards, Disney or otherwise, unless I have no other option. Then I saw this Special Festival Edition gift card for the 2008 International Food & Wine Festival, and decided I needed to purchase this gift card, for myself. The reasons were simple, it is a beautiful card, I was planning on dining in the Marketplaces anyway, and after it has been used, I have effectively collected a free souvenir, and I like free.

The gift card itself can be purchased at the Festival Welcome Center (Wonders of Life Pavilion), Festival Gift Shop, Pearville Fair, Australia Exhibit Merchandise Shop, and Louisiana Exhibit Merchandise Shop and can be used as payment at all venues in the same manner in which any Disney Gift Card may be used.

Now, here comes the part where I let my mind wander and, as happens more often than not, I find a way to gather together a cornucopia of coincidences that, in reality, have nothing to do with one another. The theme of this year’s Festival is Cities in Wonderland. Wonderland, Alice’s home away from home, is being showcased in the Disney Press book Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland by John Scieszka and Mark Blair. To my eye, of which I am the first to admit it is untrained, the gift card bears a striking resemblance to Mary Blair’s artwork from it’s a small world. Wonderland, Mary Blair’s distinctive touch, literature, food, free souvenirs, it is really more than I can stand.

Take or leave the last paragraph for what it is, some ramblings of an overly tired, overly exicted, Disney geek. But, if you take one thing away from these ramblings, let it be this. If you are planning to dine in the Cities of Wonderland, pick up this gift card and give yourself a free memory to hold onto long after your meals have digested.

Further Reading:
¤For more information on Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland check out my life on the WDW d-list and Boing Boing.
¤To see artwork from Mary Blair, including pieces from Alice in Wonderland and it’s a small world, check out this article from Andrew Farago.
¤To whet your appetite for the International Food and Wine Festival, running from September 26th until November 9th, Disney has all the information on menus, special dining experiences, programs, and the Eat to the Beat concert series.