Though Festival of the Holidays is probably my favorite (The lights! The music! The moderately less sweltering weather!), I'm always happy when the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival returns. And now, it has.

Yes, this Big Kahuna of Epcot food orgies (including a new rice bowl at the Hawai'i marketplace, as a matter of fact) runs through Nov. 23, and while there are plenty of returning favorites -- some of them in an all-new Festival Favorites location -- as always, it's the new bites I most love to check out and see how you can live your most budget-friendly life while attending.

First impressions: 2024 Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

Back in 2019, I set the budget at $25 apiece for two people (food only), and though I was tempted to jack that up to $50 five years later, I realized that whether you've already forked out admission for a one-time visit or gotten yourself an annual pass, you're going to want to watch that spend. I'm here to tell you that unless you're looking to roll back to your car or plan on spending double-digit hours here, $25 per person is entirely doable for a once-and perhaps even twice-around the World Showcase.

Here are some of my favorites:

France is a must for almost everyone. For me, it's for a kir royal (which clocks in at an "obnoxious but I can't not" $22.95). For many others, as the lines always prove, it's for snails. This year's garlicky offering, the brioche aux escargot ($7.95) is a tearable, shareable yum, that lovers of the Epcot-decadent will surely enjoy.

If you want to double down on the nouveau, grab a slab-like tray of the creamy moelleux aux onion ($7.95) and, though I've given this hot tip out before, send your companion a few steps away while you're in line to grab half a baguette inside Les Halles Boulangerie, and for another $2.75, you can mop the stuff up and give yourself a little more base for the "wine" part of the festival.

Wave to me as you walk by (I'll be in my Pirates of the Caribbean ears trying to get a decent pic of my kir) and hoof it on over to Japan to grab up an eel temaki ($9.50). On the pricy side, but filling thanks to a nice serving of protein and a heap of sushi rice, this one is shareable for the intimate. Translation: Don't attempt to cut the nori, this one's a "bite-and-pass" plate.

At the American Adventure, however, there's plenty of saw-able sausages at Flavors of America, featuring a selection of hot dogs, from New York- and Chicago-style to the Southwestern option that we sampled. At $7.25, it's a little pricier than the rest, but this one comes wrapped in bacon and smothered in beans, jalapeno, avocado crema and queso fresco on a fluffy French roll.

This one begs for a beer, so I grabbed a 6-ounce pour of Brewery Ommegang Farm Fresh Ale conditioned on Wildflower Honey ($5.75) to wash down my half. Beer is the best bang for the buck at Food & Wine, I think. I love that there are two sizes (beer is FILLING). I love how refreshing it is in what's still steambath-like weather. I love that it's neither batched cocktail nor barely-boozed Slurpee. And truly, the options seem endless. This one was really good.

And it wouldn't be my last.

Beer and wings are compulsory anyway, but few excuses for a brewski are better than this year's literally hot new offering, the Unnecessarily Spicy Yet Extremely Tasty Carolina Reaper Pepper Curry Wings ($7.75).

This is a new addtition at the Brew-Wing Marketplace. Last year's version featured Scotch bonnet peppers. I didn't try those, but this four-wing tray came with a couple of hefty drums and flaps. And though they could have been crispier, the heat did not disappoint. These pack a serious wallop. The cucumber raita on top is somewhat cooling, yes, but only if you're truly cuckoo-for-capsaicin.

Also noteworthy, the heat on these is cumulative. Which means the more you eat, the hotter they get. And amazingly, you can still taste the curry. Nice balance, Disney chefs! Bravo!

We paired these with two 12-ounce pours ($9.75 each) of the Keel Farms Elderberry Serrano Hard Cider and 3 Daughters Brewing Palm Paradise, both of which hit beautifully. The extreme heat of the wings countered the sweetish cider nicely. I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it as much without the reaper magic. The 3 Daughters offering out of St. Pete was a universal win. Easy drinking and refreshing.

For dessert, we checked out the brand-new Milled & Mulled to play pretend-fall in the 90-degree heat and grabbed a plateful of autumn with the Boursin fig & balsamic cheesecake with fig jam and pomegranate ($5.25). Fresh figs and sweet jam balance out the savory hits in a not-too-sweet bite or two of shareable meal ender.

Not counting the drinks, this totals $46.40 for two (including that add-on baguette). And since we're back in France, voila! For less that $50, the "food" portion of your festival visit is covered -- with all-new offerings.