2018 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: August 30 to November 12, 2018

[woodleygrrl]

Man, I am PO'ed.

I called for one thing and one thing only: The Hibachi Experience on Oct 29th and it is BOOKED! Thats some real crap right there. I had to settle for the Italian Regional Lunch on the same day.

 

[Missyrose]

Is anyone else bummed about how thinned out the event schedule now is? The signature meals are gone, so are most of the most interesting events. The demo schedule has been cut by two-thirds and doesn't include anyone remotely interesting. I'm just not sure what direction Disney is taking F&W. I know the booths are the moneymakers, but the other stuff was what made the event special (for us, at least).

Since I wasn't booking any F&W events this year, I put the money toward a photo session for my family at Epcot. So I guess that's the silver lining?

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Man, I am PO'ed.

I called for one thing and one thing only: The Hibachi Experience on Oct 29th and it is BOOKED! Thats some real crap right there. I had to settle for the Italian Regional Lunch on the same day.

Check again tomorrow when general booking opens. No guarantees but in the past they’ve only released a fraction of the seats for early booking and held some back.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Is anyone else bummed about how thinned out the event schedule now is? The signature meals are gone, so are most of the most interesting events. The demo schedule has been cut by two-thirds and doesn't include anyone remotely interesting. I'm just not sure what direction Disney is taking F&W. I know the booths are the moneymakers, but the other stuff was what made the event special (for us, at least).

Since I wasn't booking any F&W events this year, I put the money toward a photo session for my family at Epcot. So I guess that's the silver lining?

It does seem odd. Would love to know what their “master plan” is.

 

[automaticsoap]

The Disney Parks blog posted some information on the signature events this morning. The full schedule can be found here: https://secure.parksandresorts.wdpr.../06/Epcot-Signature-Dining-Events_UPDATED.pdf

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The Disney Parks blog posted some information on the signature events this morning. The full schedule can be found here: https://secure.parksandresorts.wdpr.../06/Epcot-Signature-Dining-Events_UPDATED.pdf

Took them long enough!

Man, I am PO'ed.

I called for one thing and one thing only: The Hibachi Experience on Oct 29th and it is BOOKED! Thats some real crap right there. I had to settle for the Italian Regional Lunch on the same day.

This is a very hard event to get into. There are only 16 seats.

 

[woodleygrrl]

Check again tomorrow when general booking opens. No guarantees but in the past they’ve only released a fraction of the seats for early booking and held some back.

Ok I will try that. Thanks for the advice. I have decided to just book the Swan and Dolphin and be happy with that. Disney is disappointing me. Shame, too. I would have given them all of my money.

 

[holcomb-mania]

I was very tempted to do the Parisian Breakfast but it would be 160 clams for us. We can eat A LOT at Les Halle's for a fraction of that. We'll continue to keep it simple with beverage seminars and booths. Going for all of them this year!

 

[Brocktoon]

It does seem odd. Would love to know what their “master plan” is.

I'm almost afraid to say this ... but I'm expecting an even larger focus on the kiosks/booths this year pertaining to profit margin. IE. Disney knows the kiosks are the main draw so will we see a larger than usual price jump this year for kiosk items coupled with lower cost ingredients and even smaller pours?

Cut down on the events and seminars so that attendees will spend more time at the kiosks where they can be squeezed dry at a faster pace

 

[YodasMom]

I was very tempted to do the Parisian Breakfast but it would be 160 clams for us. We can eat A LOT at Les Halle's for a fraction of that. We'll continue to keep it simple with beverage seminars and booths. Going for all of them this year!

The pastries are very good but unless you can drink a lot of Mimosas, the Parisian breakfast is expensive (IMHO) for what you get, unless you have a huge appetite. Like you said you can get the pastries at Les Halle's, and they open up early (before World Showcase).

 

[Missyrose]

I'm almost afraid to say this ... but I'm expecting an even larger focus on the kiosks/booths this year pertaining to profit margin. IE. Disney knows the kiosks are the main draw so will we see a larger than usual price jump this year for kiosk items coupled with lower cost ingredients and even smaller pours?

Cut down on the events and seminars so that attendees will spend more time at the kiosks where they can be squeezed dry at a faster pace

I know Disney doesn't care about lines and crowds, but gutting the other experiences will just serve to make already-busy kiosk lines even more interminable, which makes the experience for guests worse than it was before. I know the cash is in the kiosks for Disney, but if I get frustrated with the lines after three kiosks, how does that help Disney's bottom line?

 

[Miss Frankie J]

The Disney Parks blog posted some information on the signature events this morning. The full schedule can be found here: https://secure.parksandresorts.wdpr.../06/Epcot-Signature-Dining-Events_UPDATED.pdf

Thanks so much for posting. I've been trying to come up with what event we want to try for the first time but because we are going early-mid September many event arent even offered. I'm scared now that it going to be super packed. last time we went late-mid October, but picked early-mid September because of price and what worked well with our work schedules.

I'm not sure if I should try and go through the painful hassle of booking something extra....

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

So I finally decided to try to book the Parisian Breakfast. So now I am on hold with Disney Dining. It's been a long time since I called and they have really hyped up the advertising. Not really appealing!

 

[ksromack]

I am finding it so easy to get caught up with everyone's excitement about various events and think I need to schedule them too. But I am realizing that if I schedule too many events, I wont get to enjoy the booths. I had to stop myself from booking a regional lunch. LOL It will just give me incentive to come back next year.

I know, right? I'm "this close" to booking the Italian Regional Lunch but then that cuts our time in DHS short and also our booth time. I think I'm going to sit it out this year too. We did it in 2015 and it was lovely but that also gives us $200 to spend elsewhere

 

[kellyr66]

Is anyone else bummed about how thinned out the event schedule now is? The signature meals are gone, so are most of the most interesting events. The demo schedule has been cut by two-thirds and doesn't include anyone remotely interesting. I'm just not sure what direction Disney is taking F&W. I know the booths are the moneymakers, but the other stuff was what made the event special (for us, at least).

Since I wasn't booking any F&W events this year, I put the money toward a photo session for my family at Epcot. So I guess that's the silver lining?

I can't say I'm bummed. I prefer the lunch events and most of those remain. The "signature dinners" always seems way overpriced and I avoided them. It is strange that the F&W fest has expanded year after year but for some reason this year there are less events.

I usually allow a couple days of no events just to do the food booths. On the weekdays there aren't long lines. I do think the food booths are expensive for what you get. Paying $7 for a 2oz pour of wine sucks. I much prefer French Family Meal Traditions. It's 3 hours with all the wine you want for $100.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Is anyone else bummed about how thinned out the event schedule now is? The signature meals are gone, so are most of the most interesting events. The demo schedule has been cut by two-thirds and doesn't include anyone remotely interesting. I'm just not sure what direction Disney is taking F&W. I know the booths are the moneymakers, but the other stuff was what made the event special (for us, at least).

Since I wasn't booking any F&W events this year, I put the money toward a photo session for my family at Epcot. So I guess that's the silver lining?

I am bummed. When we went in 2014 we did the VIP package with the reserved areas for the booths, the wine and chocolates in the hotel room, the limited edition Magic Bands, etc. We LOVED that. We LOVED the chef signature dinners. This year we are repeating the same events we have done before, because THAT is what they are offering. I am rather cranky about the whole thing.

 

[gharter]

Any info any where for the Signature Dinners yet?

Disney Food Blog is reporting that all F&W activities outside of EPCOT have been discontinued.
And some of the previous Wine and Food Pairings.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Well, Tokyo Pairing is a non-issue since it isn't offered on our dates. Same with French Family Traditions. So I guess we are finished booking F&WF events. We might attempt to do some of the Festival Center demos as walk-ups, but I am not going to reserve and pay for any of those in advance.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Updated info on the Festival from Disney Parks Blog: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...val-signature-dining-events-starting-june-14/

 

[kat_lh]

Sounds like a plan. We absolutely LOVED the FEA dessert party!

Always good to hear! We're doing SWAGS as my birthday party (on the night of my birthday) and decided to trade HEA party for the early morning magic but I hope to sneak FEA in too!

My girls are very excited about the breakfast - they didn't even hesitate to give up their princess meal for unlimited croissants!