***2009*** Epcot Food & Wine Festival ENDED NOV. 8

[Skoolie]

The need to bring the wine walk about back. I thought 12 dollars for tasting 4 wines was decent but 12 dollars for tasting 4 beers at 4 oz a piece seems over priced escpecially for what type of beers they are providing.

A belgian Saison would be nice
what about Deliruim Tremens
Perhaps a microbrew from Lost Coast or Dogfish Head
and a Germain hefeweizen

 

[Skoolie]

Sorry for the multiple post in a row, but we went for a lunch today to the fawf. We were home and I was sick of doing chores. Their were no lines, well barely. we walked up straight to the cashiers. The longest line we saw was for the margarita stand in mexico, and Munich, Germany.

This means I won the bet, my husband said it would be crowded due to saturday holiday, I said it wouldn't be due to the fact that the Fawf is not a halloween event.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Hi,

We just left The World today and spent a couple of days at EPCOT for the F&WF and attended a few of the culinary seminars (Robert Irvine and Andrew Zimern)

One thing we found a bit annoying was that we were unaware that they were giving out wrist bands for the book signings until we got out of the Robert Irvine seminar and were informed that all of the wrist bands were gone and even though we paid to see his seminar we would have to get at the end of a very long line that had started forming while we were in the seminar and hope that he stayed long enough to see us. We decided to not wait as we didn't want to cut that time out of our day.

Once we knew about the wrist bands we made sure to get them for Andrew Zimern, but still, we think it would be good if they offered those who attended (and paid for) the seminar an opportunity to have their book signed before those who didn't attend.

We were glad that the portions for both seminars were pretty good (especially Robert Irvine's) and overall enjoyed the festival (although we didn't do any of other events)

 

[webray]

Hi,

We just left The World today and spent a couple of days at EPCOT for the F&WF and attended a few of the culinary seminars (Robert Irvine and Andrew Zimern)

One thing we found a bit annoying was that we were unaware that they were giving out wrist bands for the book signings until we got out of the Robert Irvine seminar and were informed that all of the wrist bands were gone and even though we paid to see his seminar we would have to get at the end of a very long line that had started forming while we were in the seminar and hope that he stayed long enough to see us. We decided to not wait as we didn't want to cut that time out of our day.

Once we knew about the wrist bands we made sure to get them for Andrew Zimern, but still, we think it would be good if they offered those who attended (and paid for) the seminar an opportunity to have their book signed before those who didn't attend.

We were glad that the portions for both seminars were pretty good (especially Robert Irvine's) and overall enjoyed the festival (although we didn't do any of other events)

Wow, we didn't encounter wristbands for any of the book signings this year, and basically there weren't any lines either. Robert Irvine has gathered huge crowds for his book signings in the past. When he first showed up, I waited in line almost three hours to be sure to get his autograph on our cookbook. The line was so long, people didn't even know who he was but they got in line, because there was a line, lol.

Sorry to hear you didn't get a book signed...you are right...anyone who attends one of the paid seminars should get an wristband and be moved to the front of the line, or the books should be signed/pics taken before whoever leaves the seminar for the regular book line.

I would have been really ticked!

 

[Tatania]

tony 67 - I agree with your analysis - well said. At the end of the day, my sister and I had fun, it was not solely because of the Food and Wine Festival. We both agreed, if you're serious about food and wine there are much better festivals to go to, for the same amount of money it costs to travel to Orlando, pay the park fees, and what is being charged for these samples, you could try the same kind of food and wine in any cosmopolitan city and get bigger portions and better quality.

 

[podsnel]

tony 67 - I agree with your analysis - well said. At the end of the day, my sister and I had fun, it was not solely because of the Food and Wine Festival. We both agreed, if you're serious about food and wine there are much better festivals to go to, for the same amount of money it costs to travel to Orlando, pay the park fees, and what is being charged for these samples, you could try the same kind of food and wine in any cosmopolitan city and get bigger portions and better quality.

I have to say, I agree- I love F&W because of what it adds to EPCOT and the availability of all those countries' offerings all in a unique world to be trying them in. But the pours at the tastings? Really? There was not even a swish in the glass.

 

[BriarRosie]

I have to say, I agree- I love F&W because of what it adds to EPCOT and the availability of all those countries' offerings all in a unique world to be trying them in. But the pours at the tastings? Really? There was not even a swish in the glass.

I was stopped at Epcot to see if I wanted to do an email survey about the Festival. I saw the email today and did the survey.

One of the comments I made was that for the amount of money they are charging for events that used to be free, they should at least match the amounts we can get at the kiosks. I even tossed in the phrase "thimbleful of wine".

 

[oybolshoi]

I was stopped at Epcot to see if I wanted to do an email survey about the Festival. I saw the email today and did the survey.

One of the comments I made was that for the amount of money they are charging for events that used to be free, they should at least match the amounts we can get at the kiosks. I even tossed in the phrase "thimbleful of wine".

That sounds an awful lot like a comment that I made last night on my survey!

 

[podsnel]

I was stopped at Epcot to see if I wanted to do an email survey about the Festival. I saw the email today and did the survey.

One of the comments I made was that for the amount of money they are charging for events that used to be free, they should at least match the amounts we can get at the kiosks. I even tossed in the phrase "thimbleful of wine".

YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!

 

[Dizzyworld]

One thing we found a bit annoying was that we were unaware that they were giving out wrist bands for the book signings until we got out of the Robert Irvine seminar and were informed that all of the wrist bands were gone and even though we paid to see his seminar we would have to get at the end of a very long line that had started forming while we were in the seminar and hope that he stayed long enough to see us. We decided to not wait as we didn't want to cut that time out of our day.

Once we knew about the wrist bands we made sure to get them for Andrew Zimern, but still, we think it would be good if they offered those who attended (and paid for) the seminar an opportunity to have their book signed before those who didn't attend.

We encountered this problem with Jamie Deen's book signing. I even asked a CM about the wristband and was told it wasn't anything, I had my ticket for the lunch so just go get in line? She made it sound like it was some tracking system for people that pre registered and those who didn't.

Then Jamie said he would be signing books after our event even though the schedule said 2.5 hours later. So we got the book and waited in line. The CM didn't say that he would be coming out until 2:30, he just said "soon." A little after the halfway mark for waiting, the CM said about the wristbands deal and that those of us in line without wristbands might not even get our books signed. About 20 minutes before 2:30 about 45 people showed up with wristbands. One person had at least 8 books. I thought the deal was max. two books to get signed?

In the end, after wasting a large chunk of my afternoon waiting for "soon," I got my books signed. If I wouldn't have gotten the books signed, I would have returned them. I will not make that mistake again.

The next day we went to Sweet Sundays with Warren Brown. Due to my experience with the book signing the day before, I didn't even bother to buy the book.

I agree, that there should be something for the people that paid that amount of money for these events. I think my DH and I paid $260. They should give you copies of the current book for these prices.

 

[Bunnylee]

I have mixed feelings about the festival this year.

Regarding the paid wine/culinary seminars, on my first day I was upset because nothing was available when I went to try to get into one of them. I was not aware that one could go online and book them in advance. I now know that info was available online if you looked for it but it would have been nice to also have it pointed out in Disney emails too. For subsequent trips I was able to get in to events I wanted after finding out here I could change my status to "non-passholder" and finding openings. For those that were still unavailable, I found out I still had a chance to get into them if I got there early (ie 9am) since they hold ~18 spots for day of registration. So once these tricks were learned, I actually liked the idea of the paid events because it saved that 1 hour line wait. Though in all honesty I had no problem with that in the past--got a lot of reading done! I did notice that several of the seminars I went to were not full but I also noticed the absence of the rudeness of leaving mid-seminar that was so common in tha past.

The size of the pours in the seminars are just right for me as it allows me to do several, plus a little world walk tasting and not get to the point where I have had too much. But I do think that the wine pairing with the culinary events is too small. The so-called thimble wine. It should be more--maybe not the size of the paid kiosk wine but more like a serving you might get in one of the wine seminars.

I missed out on many of the culinary seminars due to not knowing what was being prepared. Being a vegetarian, I could not sign up online for anything but the known dessert ones.

While there were several wineries at the seminars that I found to be quite good, I did notice that many of the ones from years past were absent. I thought overall, I was missing out on some well known wineries. I am not sure if this is related to Disney or just the economy in general.

Party for the Senses. Good and bad here too. I went to 2 this year--the Asian and the Fall Harvest. The bad was I thought the overall quality of the wine was lacking in comparison to previous years. The good was it was not as crowded--again not sure if that was due to the changes or the economy in general. The wine view lounge did take away from the ability to put more food/wine stations in as compared to the past but I am not sure they would have existed even without the lost space. I had no problem finding a table to stand at when I needed one and only once had an issue with someone unwilling to share a standing table (even though she was the only person at it!!). I assume most of the people who have a need to have a designated table were either in WVL or at one of the sit down tables. As far as the 2 that I went to--I liked the food of the Fall Harvest the best but the entertainment of the Asian.

The world tastings......I do wish the food at the kiosks would change more than it does year to year---but that is also my wish for all the restaraunts too! I also want the walkabout back. I always looked forward to the Australia walkabout and was greatly disappointed it was gone. So I hope they bring a walkabout back--it doesn't have to be Australia, maybe US walkabout, South American, Europe, etc.

Overall I enjoyed the festival felt the good outweighed the bad and will definitely be back as usual next year. I hope some of the better wineries are back also. It is always nice to find new wineries that you enjoy but it is also nice to have the known high quality ones there too.

 

[TDC Nala]

Yep - didn't know about the book signing wristbands. Turned up for Andrew Zimmern's signing to learn they give out wristbands first thing in the AM. They formed a standby line and Mr. Zimmern did manage to get to everybody - although yesterday they'd run out of his book, so the Disney people were giving out photos and postcards (of him) for him to sign.

Loved the new laid-back Party for the Senses. When the line to talk to Cat Cora is longer than the line to try her food you know it's not crowded.

 

[Inkmahm]

How was PFTS last night?

 

[tony67]

I missed out on many of the culinary seminars due to not knowing what was being prepared. Being a vegetarian, I could not sign up online for anything but the known dessert ones.

This is one advantage of not booking in advance.
It would be nice to have an idea in advance when you are booking of what the dish will be, but if you show up at 9am on the day there are tickets for all the events and you can see what is on the menu before you buy.
I ended up booking things I would not have otherwise, like the stacked breakfast.
I would never have booked this based on the chef.
I ended up really liking her, the food and the drink.


Also they were flexible in allowing people to cancel and change even though they said they said would not be.

I had made a mistake on the very user friendly web site and double booked the champagne seminar and not booked the rum seminar. They swapped the tickets for me no problem. I also know their people who were vegetarian were allowed to make changes day of. Obviously YMMV, but I felt they were really better than I had expected about these type of things.

In the end I don’t think that the F&W festival is very vegetarian friendly and that is one of many reason my wife no longer goes.
I don’t want them to change it too much (I enjoy just about any type of meat within reason), but a few vegetarian options might be nice.
Most people would be happy with a nice vegetarian Indian or Asian dish for example.

Maybe I just missed them.

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

We returned recently from our annual F&W trip (Oct 15 - 18)

Some general thoughts...

Enjoyed it very much and agree with previous posts that we see it as an added feature for EPCOT rather than a F&W event in an of itself.

Spent more time enjoying the booths this time. Particularly enjoyed Ireland and Canada. Advance comments from the dis boards and WDW radio podcasts really helped.

Pre-signed up for 5 wine seminars, made it to 4. Enjoyed all but the Bedell Wineries one. Champagne and Cognac ones were particularly entertaining. My husband didn't like having to pay. I didn't mind as we could arrive at the last moment and didn't have to worry about getting a spot. He didn't like preplanning so far in advance but we managed. As we paid the $5 fees, I thought it was reasonable.

We did the Classic PFTS. Not sure what Classic means but we really enjoyed both the food and wines. We didn't pay for the wine lounge and were glad we didn't. Tables were plenty and we found the fenced-in table configuration odd. There must have been less food booths to accomodate?
I guess it's good for people to have the option ot guarantee a table but it wouldn't be our choice.

Overall, it was a great vacation. We are taking a break from the fall vacations for a few years and so we tried to enjoyed every minute of this one and definitely did.

 

[JillU-DVC]

Just back from the Food & Wine festival - we were there Fri Oct. 23 through Sat Oct. 31.

Saw huge crowds on Fri & Sat nights (10/23 & 10/24), then crowds were very light. This was our first time at teh Food & Wine festival, so can't compare to previous years.

Our top three favorites:

DH: Salmon in Canada, Paprika Beef Stew in Poland, and Braised short ribs in France

Mine: Chicken & rice in Puerto Rico, Braised short ribs in France, Pork pot-stickers in China

Fourth for both of us would be Lobster and Scallop pie in Ireland.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

I just wanted to add my 2 cents....about my experience at this year's "event".

Loved:

The food and wine pairing at Tutto.....we had a great table with great Disers One brought her mom, and she was so sweet.
Loved the Banfi....refills were even sweeter
Lots of food, more than anticipated....didnt even order an entree at Citricos that night! ha!

Didnt have much love for:

The wine seminars....had the song from Mary Poppins "Spoonful of Sugar" in my head, cause thats about how much wine you received...a Spoonful!

We actually skipped one...

We did 2 wine/culinary...felt it was at least worth it since there was food involved

Tequila Tasting!!

They did their best, but we had some drunkards in the bar area who ruined the event...love the cave though!

Loved Tutto enough to book an ADR for lunch there next month

Met some nice disers at events, so that was an extra free perk

 

[Steve-O]

I felt that crowds were down this year. I suspect it was for econmoic reasons rather than format changes. I had reserve for one Wine Seminar but didn't go. I attended Wolfgang Puck Signature Dinner, Jens Dahlmann Signature Dinner, French Regional Lunch (Bordeaux) and French Regional Lunch (Burgundy). Puck's dinner was the best, by far. The French lunches were their usual wonderful (although for Burgundy the kitchen got behind and we ended up drinking maybe 50% more wine than usual as we were there for almost 4 hours). Come to think of it, it was like lunch in France! Dahlmann's dinner was good but not great, however the wines were fantastic. We compared a French and a Califiornia Pinot Noir with three of the courses. First course had a Meursault, so no need to compare to anything!! I have to say that Jean Charles produces some fantastic California Pinots (JCB #7, #11, #22). He also brought some terrific French Wines to the Burgundy lunch. Best kiosk food: Parmentier de Boeuf (short rib).

 

[ElizabethB]

We, too, attended the Wonders of Life Signature Dinner featuring Jean Charles Boisset wines. The food was nice, but the wines were off the charts -- exactly the kinds of wines that keep us coming back to the Festival each year. The Boisset Burgundy wines were truly outstanding -- and pairing each with a Boisset Pinot Noir from CA for comparison was inspired. We loved it! This event was the closest thing to an Exquisite Evening at Epcot that we've attended since the sad demise of those dinners. It was great to have Pam Smith back as moderator. Jean Charles was a charming and delightful host with a true passion for wine -- both the old world Burgundies and the new world Pinots. Truly a wonderful night!

 

[betterlatethannever]

We, too, attended the Wonders of Life Signature Dinner featuring Jean Charles Boisset wines. The food was nice, but the wines were off the charts -- exactly the kinds of wines that keep us coming back to the Festival each year. The Boisset Burgundy wines were truly outstanding -- and pairing each with a Boisset Pinot Noir from CA for comparison was inspired. We loved it! This event was the closest thing to an Exquisite Evening at Epcot that we've attended since the sad demise of those dinners. It was great to have Pam Smith back as moderator. Jean Charles was a charming and delightful host with a true passion for wine -- both the old world Burgundies and the new world Pinots. Truly a wonderful night!

Couldn't agree more. I do not think I have tasted wine from such small productions - 450 bottles (not cases) - before.

The only downside to the evening was having to walk through Epcot to get there. I wasn't expecting that at all. (When the info on the dinner says Epcot ticket not required, I didn't think I would have to walk through Epcot). Too bad Disney couldn't have brought back the Exquisite Evening/Reserve Dinner feature of a limo ride to the venue.

As TDC Nala mentioned in her review, it is a long walk from the IG.

Ed